how do you buy your phones/some advice please

[sunnycnm5]

Hello everyone,

I've got a general question and then a specific one related to my needs.

Where/how do you buy your phones?

The reason I ask is because I am determining the appropriate action for myself.

My situation: I have a two year old unlocked blackberry 9700 + 16 gig memory card in pretty good condition that while I am happy with, am getting a bit bored. My cell contract is with rogers and it expires between 6 months to a year from now (can't remember exactly). It is just under $30 a month for 300 minutes + evening and weekends + unlimited long distance + rogers to rogers + caller id/voicemail + 2500 texts etc.

I am eligible for an HUP upgrade in December.

I am curious about a few things
- is now a good time to buy a phone? (there seems to be great prices on the past two nexus devices but maybe it would be wise to wait until the latest nexus comes out????)
- does buying phones through HUP offer good value? for example, would I be better off buying a phone from a third party, and then when my HUP comes around, I buy that phone solely to sell? or just leave the HUP alone?
- What is the outlook on Wind? The reason why I am hesitant to extend my contract with Rogers is because at some point, I would like to support Wind. However, I am on a plan with Rogers now that is cheaper than anything I could get with Wind and provides reliable service.
- How much money could I get for my current phone?


Thanks for the assistance everyone. If there is anything else that I forgot to mention but seems relevant, I would love to hear about it.

[bembol]

Unless Rogers doesn't want to give me an early upgrade, I buy it from kijiji.

My sister wasn't eleligible for an upgrade but I talked them into it and and waived the $60 fee.

[Jimboski]

Unless Rogers doesn't want to give me an early upgrade, I buy it from kijiji.

My sister wasn't eleligible for an upgrade but I talked them into it and and waived the $60 fee.

$60? Thought It was $35!

[bembol]

Not the activation but the Early Hardware Upgrade fee.