planning to get one from maxis.
but hope there will be a plan which is more suitable for me (unlimited data)
the i-Value plans are kinda . but if it's still not revised on my planned time of purchase (june/july), then looks like i'll just subscribe the plan anyway.

i find the price is ok actually. just ok, not great.

this calculation is based on what other people mentioned before,

consider the i-Value Plan 1 for 12-month contract, with commitment of RM100 per month.
1st of all, bear in mind that the contract is like "installments" for the phone itself.


(caps by teikwing)

so u'll have to pay RM2290 for 16GB model.
0.15 * 333mins = RM49.95
consider the 500MB data is complimentary, based on the Value Plus plan for 6-months contract,

(caps by teikwing)

the commitment fee is RM100. so we r paying RM50.05 per month for 12 months as "installment",
thus the total cost of owning the iPhone is around,
RM2290 + (RM50.05)(12) = RM2890.60.
i know u may find the ones from Garage Sales are cheaper a bit, but for the extra u r getting 500MB data monthly and warranty coverage.
it's not like u r purchasing iPhone (either gray imports or official) without pairing it with call plan anyway.

btw based on the FAQ on maxis site, the price for the 16GB iPhone itself is RM2700 (based on the rebate of 24-months contract). so if u wanna calculate the data bundle of 0.5GB, that should be,
(RM2890.60 - RM2700) / 12 = RM15.88 per month.
so if u recalculate the fee,
RM100 - (RM49.95+RM15.88) = RM34.47

but, if u r on prepaid or u r an SMS freak, u may find that this iPhone plan to be not suitable.



so cut a long story short, the iPhone itself is still around RM2.7k price range, like most of people will find in our market. only that u r forced to be tied on contract. but it isn't like u r not using an iPhone without a call plan anyway. anyway for prepaid user, better use imported iPhones as the iPhone plans by maxis arent that worth for changing your prepaid into postpaid subscription.

and yeah, there are no savings if u subscribe to the plan, unlike other telcos that provide the iPhone. yup, there are no savings anywhere. the price is almost the same as the gray imports here, if not a bit higher, so it's not worth if u r going to subscribe it just to resell it. well it's maxis we r talking about, and it's not like u have any other choice here other than imports. but i still think that it's better to invest in local warranty. so, my next purchase of iPhone will most probably be on maxis.

hope that they'll reconsider their iPhone plans, hopefully before the release of the next generation iPhone.

just my2cents.




This post has been edited by LaskarCinta: Mar 12 2009, 12:16 PM

actually there are also other country that provide iPhone for free for selected plans, from the start. take example of UK and Singapore sets, u can check at O2 and singtel sites.
but most probably that iPhone cant penetrate he market there really well, as most of them will opt for jPhones.
btw, there also some nice deals on iPhone last year while clearing stocks, most likely because the sales of 1st gen iPhone wasnt that good as of wide adoption of 3G network. in UK last year prior to the iPhone 3G rollout, CarphoneWarehouse of UK sold the 1st gen iPhone dirt cheap. no contract was needed (as of iPhone 1st gen time).

btw sorry off topic already.

This post has been edited by LaskarCinta: Mar 12 2009, 12:33 PM

lol.

ok i know what u meant. but for some people it will be more reliable if the warranty is available locally. u have prob with the iPhone, just drop by a maxis centre nationwide and they'll handle the rest. no need to depend to some people to do the logistical job, and wait patiently for the iPhone. although i've read somewhere that the service will be done in singapore while the customer will receive a seed iphone as replacement (just like practiced by other telcos that brought iPhone in their market). it's more reliable.

but yeah, different people got different thought. it's just a matter of preference. some will stretch every single ringgit for more savings, while some other willing to spend more for peace of mind.

This post has been edited by LaskarCinta: Mar 13 2009, 08:51 AM

mmm...for a person that's a maxis loyal customer (doesnt mean it should be u) that can afford monthly commitment of RM375, most likely he/she is already eligible for advance payment waived (minimum 6 month tenure with above RM250 usage). so no need to mention bout the 2k. and if the person isn't previously a maxis customer anyway, most likely the advance of 2k isnt a big deal (considering that he/she can pay RM375 per month).

and u asked maxis bout that, u should get the idea already. yup, unfortunately not the whole world can afford that kind of plan, so that's why maxis made other plans available to cater other market.



This post has been edited by LaskarCinta: Mar 13 2009, 10:04 AM

if u dont want to be bonded with contract for the Value Plan (6-months contract) u can just terminate it and u'll just have to add another RM100.

as i've said previously, different people got different thought. some will stretch every single ringgit to have more savings, while some are willing to pay a little more for peace of mind. btw as for me, for prepaid users better get the singtel unit (or equivalent).

but yeah it's not like u r using an iPhone without a call plan anyway. so the cost of ownership and usage should not differ that much anyway, in case u r considering the iValue Plans (12-months / 24-months contract), unless u r preferring on prepaid or other telcos call plans. but if u r not using it with tie to phone subscription anyway, why not just consider an iPod Touch? it's also the fastest touch device by Apple to date.

This post has been edited by LaskarCinta: Mar 15 2009, 09:49 AM