The Conservative Cave
The Help Desk => Computer Related Discussions & Questions => Topic started by: Eupher on October 03, 2012, 09:25:21 AM
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Okay, I'm one of those people that uses a cell phone to make phone calls, calendar entries, and very infrequently, to text my sister using a QWERTY keyboard that I can use without resorting to using a stylus -- meaning the damned keyboard has to be big enough to accommodate my meathook fingertips.
I don't do the Smart phone thing and I don't need a phone that calculates reentry trajectories for the Saturn V rocket.
My current phone is misbehaving to the point that I want to shitcan the thing. But I am absolutely not willing to sign on to AT&T for another two years just to replace my current phone.
What are my options? Can I buy a cell phone from a source other than AT&T, swap out the SIMM card and be on my way? Or do I have to do the BOHICA thing and allow AT&T to rape me once again?
If I bought a phone from say, Wally World or another source that doesn't cost me $200 and a box of used condoms, would I have to take that phone in to AT&T and have them program the phone with my current number? How does that work?
All snarky answers cheerfully responded to in kind. :-)
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Take a look at a Blackberry.
http://us.blackberry.com/smartphones/blackberry-bold.html?lid=us:bb:devices:blackberrybold&lpos=us:bb:devices#!family=Bold
(http://www.bbscnw.com/images/blackberry-bold.jpg)
Personally, I am an iphone guy. But I also do a lot with it.
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Take a look at a Blackberry.
http://us.blackberry.com/smartphones/blackberry-bold.html?lid=us:bb:devices:blackberrybold&lpos=us:bb:devices#!family=Bold
(http://www.bbscnw.com/images/blackberry-bold.jpg)
Personally, I am an iphone guy. But I also do a lot with it.
No.
The Crackberry requires a data plan. I'm not interested in a data plan since a) I use a cell phone for PHONE CALLS and not COMPUTER WORK and b) I'm convinced that the cell phone companies are deliberately scaling back their support of poor bastards like me and are almost FORCING you to buy their expensive-as-hell data plans.
Screw that.
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No.
The Crackberry requires a data plan. I'm not interested in a data plan since a) I use a cell phone for PHONE CALLS and not COMPUTER WORK and b) I'm convinced that the cell phone companies are deliberately scaling back their support of poor bastards like me and are almost FORCING you to buy their expensive-as-hell data plans.
Screw that.
That's why I'm sticking with a pre-paid phone.
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If you want just a phone, I would suggest that you go to your local cell dealership and see what they have. They should have something you are looking for.
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use a cell phone for PHONE CALLS
Im not sure cell phones do that :)
If the phone you have has a sim card in it you can buy a wally world phone and just switch the sim cards as long as it made to go on the same network.
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I have straight talk.with qwerty board. I love it!!
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I have an LG phone for a Net10 plan I got at Walmart. It cost me $15.00 per month.
My wife has a Samsung CONQUER 4G. On weekends she can drive the Mars Rover.
My phone works while driving all the way across Oklahoma. My wife's does not.
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I have an 0bama phone. Oh wait I mean I help pay for those 0bama phones.
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You can pick up a prepaid "Osama Phone" from just about any supermarket here. They're not fancy but they do make calls and send SMS.
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Take a look at a Blackberry.
http://us.blackberry.com/smartphones/blackberry-bold.html?lid=us:bb:devices:blackberrybold&lpos=us:bb:devices#!family=Bold
(http://www.bbscnw.com/images/blackberry-bold.jpg)
Personally, I am an iphone guy. But I also do a lot with it.
I'm seriously looking at going back to a CrackBerry...either the Bold or the Torch. My iPhone 3Gs is struggling to run iOS 6 and to get a 4S or a 5 would require me to sell one of my children.
Right now I can get a used Torch 9800 for $130.
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I'd stay away from Blackberry anyway. Those things are ancient now. If you want a good phone, I'd say go with your basic Motorola or Samsung. I can't really recommend an exact phone because I'm a smartphone gal, but I've always found Motorola and Samsung to make great phones for just talk/text.
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I'm seriously looking at going back to a CrackBerry...either the Bold or the Torch. My iPhone 3Gs is struggling to run iOS 6 and to get a 4S or a 5 would require me to sell one of my children.
Right now I can get a used Torch 9800 for $130.
I am going with the iPhone 5. It makes me drool...
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txradioguy - If you want a good smartphone, get a Samsung Galaxy S3 it has 4G capability. My 4G always works great for me. I'm on T-Mobile's network and never have problems. I can't speak for the other networks.
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I settled for a Pantech Renue.
http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/pantech-renue-at-t/4505-6454_7-35404521.html
Y'all can keep your smart phones. I'll stay less smart, but retain a bit more cash. :tongue:
I have noticed the short battery life on this thing - the Samsung Solstice that I had had a much longer battery life of 3-4 days.
Yep, that's how little I actually use this thing. Computers are just too handy to spend a lot of money putting all that in a phone.
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txradioguy - If you want a good smartphone, get a Samsung Galaxy S3 it has 4G capability. My 4G always works great for me. I'm on T-Mobile's network and never have problems. I can't speak for the other networks.
My wife has the Samsung Conquer 4G through Sprint. She's had a few problems. Nothing awful.
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I'd stay away from Blackberry anyway. Those things are ancient now. If you want a good phone, I'd say go with your basic Motorola or Samsung. I can't really recommend an exact phone because I'm a smartphone gal, but I've always found Motorola and Samsung to make great phones for just talk/text.
I've been looking at the Torch. The BB OS 7 looks to be on par with iOS 6 and I've always liked their keyboards for texting and emailing. And the cost is less for the phone.
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I am still going with an iPhone 5 :-)
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I love my pre-paid Net10 LG900g, it's the LG version of the Blackberry:
(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ9NBwDkWhA6mtLi54h5KovUel9cw0YwJuoK_uH9DUfoNHkl1Cz3A)
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Love my IPhone have my IPhone 5 on reserve
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Love my IPhone have my IPhone 5 on reserve
Hi5.... Nothing beats Apple .... :-)
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Hi5.... Nothing beats Apple .... :-)
And I agree.
But however...because of the way our contract is set up here in Germany..I'm not eligible for an upgrade.
I've seen iPhone 5's on Amazon going for $1,200.
As much as I would like on and as much as I support and use Apple products...it's just not practical right now.
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And I agree.
But however...because of the way our contract is set up here in Germany..I'm not eligible for an upgrade.
I've seen iPhone 5's on Amazon going for $1,200.
As much as I would like on and as much as I support and use Apple products...it's just not practical right now.
Hi5 to you also, Bud.
$1,200? They aren't near that much here - Apple has them for $199.00 (http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone). I can't believe people are actually paying that much for them.
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Hi5 to you also, Bud.
$1,200? They aren't near that much here - Apple has them for $199.00 (http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone). I can't believe people are actually paying that much for them.
That is insane to pay that much for a phone
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That is insane to pay that much for a phone
Yeah, especially when the iPhone 6 is supposed to be coming out in the fall of 2014 :)
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Hi5.... Nothing beats Apple .... :-)
Yeah there is. It's called the Samsung Galaxy S3.
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Yeah, especially when the iPhone 6 is supposed to be coming out in the fall of 2014 :)
Will you guys finally have the beam options like we do on the S3? Or will you have to wait until the iPhone 7? ;)
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Yeah there is. It's called the Samsung Galaxy S3.
iOS beats Android, hands down... ;)
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Yeah there is. It's called the Samsung Galaxy S3.
Right on !
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iOS beats Android, hands down... ;)
*cough* Bullshit *cough*
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iOS beats Android, hands down... ;)
You wish.
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The Android has maps... ;)
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The Android has maps... ;)
Apple has maps.
(http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/1803lelqrhtkzjpg/xlarge.jpg)
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Apple has maps.
:nelson:
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And I agree.
But however...because of the way our contract is set up here in Germany..I'm not eligible for an upgrade.
I've seen iPhone 5's on Amazon going for $1,200.
As much as I would like on and as much as I support and use Apple products...it's just not practical right now.
Would an IPhone from Amazon work over there? Or is there a way to break your contract to get one?
What carrier does the cell plans over in Germany?
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iOS beats Android, hands down... ;)
If it's brand is crApple, it has to suck ass. :fuelfire:
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Apple has maps also. It is ran by Garmin.
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If it's brand is crApple, it has to suck ass. :fuelfire:
Some people just can't appreciate the good things in life :-)
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Some people just can't appreciate the good things in life :-)
Some people just don't know greatness when they see it. It is almost like a Green Bay Packers fan :-)
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Droid Razr M by Motorola.
I like it. :-)
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Some people just don't know greatness when they see it. It is almost like a Green Bay Packers fan :-)
:cheersmate:
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Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away, I used my father in law's most recent acquisiton called "a bag phone". The year was 1996 and his phone had been tuned up because he was near deaf. This thing worked. Fast forward several years somewhere in early 2000 when I bought a pre-paid Nokia for the wife for Christmas. This thing was a brick which the young lad, over for Christmas breakfast, ended up with since he was the only one who could figure out how to make said brick work as a phone.
We actually did need a mobile phone to keep in touch while we were on the road so another Nokia was purchased for M/zeit. It was actually activated (AT&T) in the woods of Maine. Classic story where the operator says "well can you go to a pay phone and call me?" M/zeit says "um, you think there is one on every other pine tree? Were in the woods here." They managed to get said phone activated. Said phone worked forever and doubled as a hammer and personal defense weapon. But as with all things planned obsolesence finally caused it to be replaced with a flip phone.
In betwixt and between I also aquired a flip phone from Virgin Mobile which was basically an emergency use phone for the car. It had become easier to find a pay phone on a pine tree in the woods. That phone also became obsolete and I was got a new one from VM as did M/zeit from AT&T. These are both pre-paid stupid little phones which get 'er done. No texting or surfing the web but if you are out late and need a phone they work.
I have been debating a new phone but until we go back on the road I really have no great need. Friends have the 4S Apple and it is impressive but so too is the Samsung.
By the time I get ready to make the jump to hyperspace I may even go with a 'plan' but at this point I am still thinking 'no contract pre paid'. Coverage will be a key issue.
Who has the best coverage coast to coast and at what cost?
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Would an IPhone from Amazon work over there? Or is there a way to break your contract to get one?
What carrier does the cell plans over in Germany?
It would work. I've looked at them and they too are still too expensive for me.
I started with a BlackBerry...looks like I'm going back to it. I've enjoyed my iPhone...and I've gone the Droid route with a G1 when they came out.
The only thing (to me) that gives the iPhone an advantage...albeit a small one...over BB or Droid is the iMessage feature. But even that's been mitigated with the addition of Messages in OS X 10.8
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Before I got the Razr in May (great time - it's was a Mother's Day special, I was due a new phone, got it free except for a $30 data transfer fee, plus they grandfathered in my old data plan of $20/mo) ... I looked into getting a pre-paid.
Runnin' Buddy and I had been looking at them for several months . She had a Blackberry and I had a Treo. We each found phones that would work for us (different phones) at Sprint and one at AT&T.
She went with the AT&T one that was most similar to her Blackberry and switched back at Christmas time. She has since had to change her pre -pay plan twice. And she told me the other day, she's going to have to do something different. She doesn't get text messages in the order they are coming in....said she will send a message and the reply comes back like it's in a different time zone, because it puts a time on it of an hour earlier, so it goes into her messages at that earlier time stamp. Example...she texted me Saturday night, that she would come pick me up to go have a "Big Lots" experience if I wanted to go while guys were watching football game. Texted her back about 5 minutes later to come get me. Hour later I called her to find out where she was (she lives 10 minutes away) and she was still at home. Never got the message. Looked in her phone and it was tucked back in the prior hour's messages. She's having problems getting calls too. Sunday she called and said she's going looking for a new phone and going on a plan, cause she's spending almost as much as what her plan was with Verizon, and she wasn't missing calls and messages with them!
After checking service availability with pre-paids, I ended up staying with a "plan" but Verizon was able to rework mine, and reduced it $50 a month from prior plan when I switched to the Razr. I have to be able to call Sandy, Utah, with no glitches at any time, for work. I found out that pre-paid phones do not have the same coverage as plan phones. I have no idea why, cause the towers are there so what difference does it make? I checked Verizon, Sprint, Virgin Mobile (from Walmart), At&T and US Cellular and I could not get a guarantee of service with anyone of them! Verizon came closest, but couldn't guarantee. If you only call east or west coast numbers, they are all pretty good, but go out into the midwest and mountain areas, it gets really scattered between the different companies.
Regardless of which type of phone or plan available, I think they are all a racquet. :( Kind of like cable companies, but at least when we switched to Knology, we got such a great rate, it offsets staying with the cell phone plans.
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Before I got the Razr in May (great time - it's was a Mother's Day special, I was due a new phone, got it free except for a $30 data transfer fee, plus they grandfathered in my old data plan of $20/mo) ... I looked into getting a pre-paid.
Runnin' Buddy and I had been looking at them for several months . She had a Blackberry and I had a Treo. We each found phones that would work for us (different phones) at Sprint and one at AT&T.
She went with the AT&T one that was most similar to her Blackberry and switched back at Christmas time. She has since had to change her pre -pay plan twice. And she told me the other day, she's going to have to do something different. She doesn't get text messages in the order they are coming in....said she will send a message and the reply comes back like it's in a different time zone, because it puts a time on it of an hour earlier, so it goes into her messages at that earlier time stamp. Example...she texted me Saturday night, that she would come pick me up to go have a "Big Lots" experience if I wanted to go while guys were watching football game. Texted her back about 5 minutes later to come get me. Hour later I called her to find out where she was (she lives 10 minutes away) and she was still at home. Never got the message. Looked in her phone and it was tucked back in the prior hour's messages. She's having problems getting calls too. Sunday she called and said she's going looking for a new phone and going on a plan, cause she's spending almost as much as what her plan was with Verizon, and she wasn't missing calls and messages with them!
After checking service availability with pre-paids, I ended up staying with a "plan" but Verizon was able to rework mine, and reduced it $50 a month from prior plan when I switched to the Razr. I have to be able to call Sandy, Utah, with no glitches at any time, for work. I found out that pre-paid phones do not have the same coverage as plan phones. I have no idea why, cause the towers are there so what difference does it make? I checked Verizon, Sprint, Virgin Mobile (from Walmart), At&T and US Cellular and I could not get a guarantee of service with anyone of them! Verizon came closest, but couldn't guarantee. If you only call east or west coast numbers, they are all pretty good, but go out into the midwest and mountain areas, it gets really scattered between the different companies.
Regardless of which type of phone or plan available, I think they are all a racquet. :( Kind of like cable companies, but at least when we switched to Knology, we got such a great rate, it offsets staying with the cell phone plans.
I started out with Sprint and for a time used Cingular. Couldn't get a consistent bill with them from one month to the next and the coverage was dodgy at best.
Finally we switched to T-Mobile and they were the best carrier we had in the states before we moved to Germany. Always knew what our bill was form month to month and if we ran up against it before the next billing cycle...we didn't get charged any overages. Granted we could only receive calls until the bill was paid...but it beat all the charges for going over our minutes.
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Before I got the Razr in May (great time - it's was a Mother's Day special, I was due a new phone, got it free except for a $30 data transfer fee, plus they grandfathered in my old data plan of $20/mo) ... I looked into getting a pre-paid.
Runnin' Buddy and I had been looking at them for several months . She had a Blackberry and I had a Treo. We each found phones that would work for us (different phones) at Sprint and one at AT&T.
She went with the AT&T one that was most similar to her Blackberry and switched back at Christmas time. She has since had to change her pre -pay plan twice. And she told me the other day, she's going to have to do something different. She doesn't get text messages in the order they are coming in....said she will send a message and the reply comes back like it's in a different time zone, because it puts a time on it of an hour earlier, so it goes into her messages at that earlier time stamp. Example...she texted me Saturday night, that she would come pick me up to go have a "Big Lots" experience if I wanted to go while guys were watching football game. Texted her back about 5 minutes later to come get me. Hour later I called her to find out where she was (she lives 10 minutes away) and she was still at home. Never got the message. Looked in her phone and it was tucked back in the prior hour's messages. She's having problems getting calls too. Sunday she called and said she's going looking for a new phone and going on a plan, cause she's spending almost as much as what her plan was with Verizon, and she wasn't missing calls and messages with them!
After checking service availability with pre-paids, I ended up staying with a "plan" but Verizon was able to rework mine, and reduced it $50 a month from prior plan when I switched to the Razr. I have to be able to call Sandy, Utah, with no glitches at any time, for work. I found out that pre-paid phones do not have the same coverage as plan phones. I have no idea why, cause the towers are there so what difference does it make? I checked Verizon, Sprint, Virgin Mobile (from Walmart), At&T and US Cellular and I could not get a guarantee of service with anyone of them! Verizon came closest, but couldn't guarantee. If you only call east or west coast numbers, they are all pretty good, but go out into the midwest and mountain areas, it gets really scattered between the different companies.
Regardless of which type of phone or plan available, I think they are all a racquet. :( Kind of like cable companies, but at least when we switched to Knology, we got such a great rate, it offsets staying with the cell phone plans.
I actually do have plans of heading into the midwest and mountain areas eventually. I will have to keep an eye on the MH boards for their take on things. I do know there are some signal amplification systems available for MH's but they don't do much if there is little or no signal. I must say the old bag phone did yeoman's work when we needed it on an east coast trip years ago. But the darn thing was so loud (it was really tweaked) that you could hear it two campsites away. :whatever:
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I started out with Sprint and for a time used Cingular. Couldn't get a consistent bill with them from one month to the next and the coverage was dodgy at best.
Finally we switched to T-Mobile and they were the best carrier we had in the states before we moved to Germany. Always knew what our bill was form month to month and if we ran up against it before the next billing cycle...we didn't get charged any overages. Granted we could only receive calls until the bill was paid...but it beat all the charges for going over our minutes.
RB has to keep adding on minutes, at $25 a pop. She got unlimited messages and I forget how many minutes, but she runs out before the end of the month. Not sure why, because I know one of the plans I looked at was $50 or $60 a month for unlimited minutes and messages.
I looked at Cingular and T-Mobile too. I went through the whole list of pre-paids I found online. Right now, my phone is $159/mo, but that's because I have a $30 fee on it, to make it a "hotspot" for my desktop when we had trouble with Comcast internet and they "couldn't" send a tech out for 5 days to fix it. :censored: I left it on when we switched to knology in case there was a problem with it and I forgot I put it on there. I need to take it off. I liked the hotspot capability with the Razr because it's not a contract fee. I had one of those plug-in things for my laptop and it was $60/mo. It was a 2yr contract that seemed like it would never end! :(
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I started out with Sprint and for a time used Cingular. Couldn't get a consistent bill with them from one month to the next and the coverage was dodgy at best.
Finally we switched to T-Mobile and they were the best carrier we had in the states before we moved to Germany. Always knew what our bill was form month to month and if we ran up against it before the next billing cycle...we didn't get charged any overages. Granted we could only receive calls until the bill was paid...but it beat all the charges for going over our minutes.
I used Tmobile for years until Sprint got the iPhone then I switched.
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Update:
So I took the plunge and got the BB Torch...and I LOVE IT!
It's an older one...but it's what I thought it would be in terms of using a CrackBerry.
Gonna use it until the summer when we're eligible for an upgrade.
Hopefuly by then T-Mobile Germany will offer the new BB 10 phones. I've been reading about the new OS...it should put these guys back into the game against Android and iOS.