Need some smart phone smarts

[Gary Fowler]

Finally breaking down and looking into smart phones. But the info I get is confusing.

Looking into various plans we find unhelpful info from the providers.

We'll probably buy our phones outright & go with a no contract plan.

Cost is important.

We don't text & probably won't.

So, questions, in no particular order:

1. Red Pocket Mobile: Any good? Are there a lot of dead zones or is there coverage pretty good? Their pamphlet mentions "unlimited MMS" What are MMS?

2. 500 MB mobile web: Enough? $10 more ($60/mo.) for 2 GB. Is that worth it?

3. Do you find coverage good (or bad) with your provider? Which ones have the best coverage & which are worst?

4. Simple Mobile: Again, any good? What about Virgin, Boost, Cricket, Net 10, and all the others?

5. Any gotchas from your provider?

6. Good places to unlock a phone? Cost?

7. Any advice?

Thanks

If you are getting a smart phone plan with unlimited talk time and even minimum data download for $60 per month that seems to me to be a very good deal compared to what we went thru a year or so ago. My daughter gave my wife a Iphone 3G when she upgraded to a 4 GS and we were going to activate it with AT&T. The minimum was $100 per month. We like you don't see a need to text, just call if you have something to say, never could understand the teenage fad of texting (secret messages in classroom aside). We finally decided to just get a plain jane phone to replace her broken Motorola razor and continue with a "dumb phone" We got her phone and piggy backed mine on it with unlimited talk for around the same price as the one smart phone minimum package was going to cost.
I have GPS devices in both cars so we don't miss that feature and we sure can do without checking emails for a few hours while shopping or traveling. Call me old fashioned, but I don't miss the linked in 100% of the time since I retired. I do my computer time early in the morning, then go do my daily tasks, maybe check in again at lunch or mid afternoon when I take a break. Otherwise, nothing is that important that a phone call cant take care of. My wife has her phone on all the time as she is mostly in the house, I don't take my phone out when I am working.

 

[dmccarty]

...We like you don't see a need to text, just call if you have something to say, never could understand the teenage fad of texting (secret messages in classroom aside). ...

I don't text either but I think I am in the minority in my age group. :laughing::laughing::laughing: The other thing I have NOT done is turn on voice mail for my phone. :shocked: The smart phone records who called. I will call back when I can. Leaving a voice mail just slows me down from calling people back since I have to listen to the voice mail. When I call, we just repeat the voice mail conversation and then get on with things.... :confused3: At one of my jobs, almost everything is done via email and instant messaging. Only one guy leaves voice messages which is a social call more than work related. It has been years since I have had a work related voice mail other than it is time to change your password. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[MacLawn]

I will NEVER go on a two year (or any) contract plan again! Wife's iPhone 5 has been on Straight Talk a while now, $45 per month, great! Much cheaper in two years time than a contract.

Me? I'd get the iPhone on T-Mobile now. No contract, no interest for $20 per month to pay for phone, can leave any time (of course, you pay balance owed oh phone!! Some people seem to think that's an extra charge!). Let us know how it goes for you.

 

[wyeguy]

AT&T coverage was perfect for home use but I travel a bit for work, so I sacrificed home use performance (it works, just not as well) for better overall Verizon coverage. Had to use AT&T's 14 day take back policy, which I think is standard. So I'd advise to check out whatever you get as much as possible as soon as possible before you're stuck with it.
Sailfast has a habit of personal attacks posters he doesn't agree with; a "need to be right" or something. I wouldn't put too much trust in that source of "information". Doesn't really help the OP at all...

 

[Travelover]

Here is a cheapskate's solution. I bought a Droid X2 Android phone off eBay for $80 - like new. I turned off the 3G, so it just texts and provides voice calling. I registered in on Page Plus, which uses the Verizon network. Since I rarely call, I got the $10 every 120 day plan. That's right $2.50 a month. If you call or use data a lot, there are more expensive plans that are still a lot less than Verizon. With this device I use wifi for free, use it as an MP3 player, a GPS, an 8 meg camera with flash and anti-shake, plus have access to all the Android apps and games. If I ever need 3G in an emergency, it has the capability, but is expensive ($1/meg) on this plan.

 

[sailfast]

AT&T coverage was perfect for home use but I travel a bit for work, so I sacrificed home use performance (it works, just not as well) for better overall Verizon coverage. Had to use AT&T's 14 day take back policy, which I think is standard. So I'd advise to check out whatever you get as much as possible as soon as possible before you're stuck with it.
Sailfast has a habit of personal attacks posters he doesn't agree with; a "need to be right" or something. I wouldn't put too much trust in that source of "information". Doesn't really help the OP at all...

Actually you have a habit of fear mongering.

Anything you can do to can do to scare someone into agreeing with you when the real world doesn't support you.

There is a difference btwn a personal attack and calling you on your bad behavior.

Funny, you travel a lot for work. Thought you were a retired master electrician... At least you were in that other thread. The one you were giving electrical advice in. Funny how that works.

 

[aczlan]

I don't text either but I think I am in the minority in my age group. :laughing::laughing::laughing: The other thing I have NOT done is turn on voice mail for my phone. :shocked: The smart phone records who called. I will call back when I can. Leaving a voice mail just slows me down from calling people back since I have to listen to the voice mail. When I call, we just repeat the voice mail conversation and then get on with things.... :confused3:

My phone sends missed calls to my Google voice number which transcribes them and sends them to me as texts. lets me get the gist of what they said in 1/4 the time and listen to it if I need to.

Aaron Z

 

[Scotty Dive]

If you actually worked in wireless you would know that Tmobile and Att use exactly the same basic technologies. Hence both have simultaneous voice and data.

Sailfast you are right. They do use the HSPA+ network, but they also (with Metro PCS merger) use CDMA. They are growing and you are right you can use both voice and Data at the same time. So to the OP, if that feature is important to you, you can do that on BOTH AT&T and T Mobile. T- Mobiles coverage is smaller than the major options, but they are rolling out LTE as fast as they can. They are a nice choice if the coverage is good for the OP. They do offer unlimited data - but that is not usually a factor unless you are a large data user. Like I mentioned earlier - over 90% of users use less than 500 Mb's - actually its less than that - say 200Mb's. and yes that is an industry fact.

As for the blackberry, I'm not particularly a fan, but BB company will be around and sported for longer than the useful life of any phone purchased today.

I hope you are right - but I would not take the bet. More competitors brings more innovation and gives customers choice - a Great thing. Not sure what you mean when you say sported for longer than the useful life of any phone. That makes no sense to me. They are of no higher quality of anything else out there. I feel that BB excels in fixed keyboards and email but they have dragged where Apple and Android have excelled. BB's excelled in the business environment when email was everything, but their share is dwindling and very fast. Businesses are swapping out their BB's for other solutions. Oh, and I am not here to debate you, so I don't need you to answer this.

I now recognize you from other threads and your "way" about you. I will not engage in any dialogue further with you, and I feel confident I can answer any questions from the original poster in a forward and positive manner. I make it policy not to divulge who I work for in a public forum as I do not and cannot speak for them publicly. The info I share is strictly my opinion and I would not provide it unless I felt that I was adding value or an expert in the field, which in this case I am.

 

[crazyal]

I would look to see how good of data coverage there is in your area. Check with friends and family. Around me Verizon added 4g service and a new tower so the signal is great.

I don't text either. I have 4g worth of data a month and rarely use more than 1g a month. When waiting for someone or something I do surf the net with my phone or laptop (connected through the phone). I also find that I'm much more likely to get things done. I'm the type of person who thinks of stuff that needs to get done at the wrong times. I'll be out walking the dogs when I realize I need to call someone. With data I can get the number off the web and call. I'm also checking email much more often.

 

[joshuabardwell]

I.E. It depends on the technology in you area and the phone, not the carrier as to making calls and using data at the same time. T-mobile allows simultaneous voice and data with most phones across its entire network. Verizon does as well.

As far as I know, Verizon (and other CDMA carriers like Sprint) only allows voice+data at the same time over 4G. When on 3G or lower, you can't do voice and data at the same time. GSM/HSPA carriers like T-Mobile and AT&T can do voice+data at the same time regardless.

As for the question of whether 500 MB is enough, it depends entirely on what you plan to do with your phone. My girlfriend and I watch a LOT of Youtube and Netflix on our phones, especially since our son came along and we use it to entertain him on car rides or in waiting rooms, etc... Even though we use Wi-Fi 100% of the time at home, we still go through about 3-4 GB of cellular data a month. (We also use Netflix and the Internet for 100% of our TV watching--no cable or other TV at all in the house, and we typically use about 250 GB of data a month on our wired Internet connection.) I think we are probably in the minority, though. Take a look at what your carrier does if you exceed your allotment. Some carriers will ding you with ridiculous overage charges, but other carriers will simply sell you another "block" of data at a reasonable price.