Anyone here good with numbers?

[andrewducker]

I'm currently looking at the difference in price between going to a Samsung Galaxy Nexus by getting a contract (£35-ish/month) or by buying up front (£480+10/month). This works out to about £120-£140 cheaper by buying the phone myself, depending on exactly how I do it.

My question, then, is about discounting future costs. If I spend £480 now rather than in chunks then I lose the utility of that money over the next two years. How does one account for that?

I assume there's a simple equation I could plug in that would tell me to stop being so stupid and just buy the fucking phone, but I'd like to be sure...

Comments

[autopope.livejournal.com]

It also gives you the flexibility of not being locked in with a carrier whose quality of service may take a dive in the next year (this is unknown but possible).

That's why I am now buying unlocked iphones at full retail price direct from Apple. Combined with a SIM-only monthly contract it works out about the same price as a two year contract, but if my carrier goes pear-shaped I can walk at a month's notice. (Oh, and I'm choosing to buy alternate iPhones, i.e. I started on a 3G, skipped the 3GS, am now on a 4, am skipping the 4S, will probably upgrade to an iphone 5 a month or three after it comes out ... unless Apple piss me off in the mean time.)

[andrewducker]

Yeah, that's basically what I'm doing. Which gives the options of selling it after a year if the next one is so awesome that I have to have it (unlikely), and more freedom. It seems like a definite winner so far.

[undeadbydawn.livejournal.com]

I went 1G to 3G to 4S.
The 4S is a fucking fantastic phone, but I don't love it in the same way as I did the 3G. This is entirely down to form factor: I did not and still don't like the 4 design, though it is growing on me daily. As a device to use, it is quite wonderful.

I will be sorely tempted by the 5, assuming I can afford it. The mock-ups posted based on 'insider info' were stunning

having now played with a Galaxy S II, I'm very happy to stick with iPhone. It just feels better to use - and saved my life countless times in Moscow.