I have a few questions.
1) I currently have the iPhone 3G, which I have not upgraded since I signed the contract in '08. If I decide to buy the international version of the phone (GT-N7000) instead of AT&T's branded Note (I717) can I request a new SIM from AT&T? I know the iPhone uses microSIM or something like that and I'm not certain if AT&T would frown upon me buying an unlocked phone to use on their network.
2) Since I have an upgrade available to me, and foresee myself staying with AT&T for a while, would it be wise to buy an I717 to sell unlocked near full, unsubsidized price, and use that money toward the GT-N7000 (or perhaps trade one for the other)? Are their any caveats to doing this?
I should mention that Connecticut does not currently have AT&T's LTE service available and they cap their data usage anyway. This makes the LTE chip inside the I717 much less appealing, and I would personally prefer the snappiness from the international version. I've played with the I717 in store, and I notice some lag and choppiness with the UI.
Perhaps it's just the TouchWiz interface, or Gingerbread, that causes this and the new ICS update will fix it. Either way I'm becoming more and more attached to the GT-N7000 based on YouTube videos and reviews showing how extremely fluid the UI behaves (especially with custom ROM/kernel).