Recommend me a phone and/or plan

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Recommend me a phone and/or plan

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

FlyingCheese posted:

This is what I'm paying Verizon right now (plus tax/fees, etc). My only benefit to doing this is having no contract and 50 more minutes that I'll never use anyway. I was hoping for a cheaper rate with a small number of minutes (~200). And yeah, I planned on buying the N1 outright.

Thanks though.

right, but with a smartphone on verizon tack on $30 a month extra. Plus TMobile there is no contract to be signed if you buy the phone outright.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2010 22:10

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 14, 2024 10:55

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

Annath posted:

# Country/Provider: USA/VERIZON

# Current contract status: ELIGIBLE FOR UPGRADE, on family plan, my line currently costs about $15/mo (9.99 access and $5/mo unlimited texting)while total bill for the 4 lines is like ~$60. currently using an enV Touch

# Budget (phone/plan): budget for a Phone is anything $250 or less after discounts. Plan wise, if I can get off my current plan for a cheaper individual plan, thats great.

I really like the Droid, and Droid Eris, but my line's cost would be $45/mo on my family plan, and it'd be a whopping $90/mo on a new individual plan, if I'm reading right. If Goons know of any awesome Verizon plans that can get me a smartphone for less, I'm all ears.

Edit: if there is an awesome phone on another provider for a cheaper plan, feel free to mention it. I'm not totally against switching.

Sprint and TMobile both have smartphones at way below Verizon pricing (basically they got rid of charging $30 a month for smartphone internet). Check coverage, but usually they are both pretty good.

Sprint EPRP Data: $59.99, unlimited text, data and calling to cellphones, 500 mins for landlines plus GPS. HTC Hero and Samsung Moment are both really good.

TMobile: $79.99 unlimited everything (i think) if you buy the phone outright. Recommend Nexus 1 at outright price (save more long term on monthly plan).

# ¿ Feb 15, 2010 00:52

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

Angora posted:

I posted about a month ago about my gf looking for her own plan and phone, but the situation has changed quite a bit. She got a cheap first generation iphone from a coworker that I'm going to unlock for her later. However, she's pretty excited about getting it activated. I really don't want to see her sign a 2 year contract with AT&T since her income isn't too steady and was hoping she had other month-to-month options.

Anyway I'd really appreciate a prompt reply, since this is her first smartphone and she's understandably a little excited to get it going

Country/Provider: USA - Rochester, NY

Current contract status: none

Budget (phone/plan): under $75/mo

Features I know I want: 700 minutes/month, unlimited texting, iphone data plan or substitute

So, what alternatives to AT&T are there that offer this, preferably without a contract.

If you unlock def go TMobile wuth the Even More Plus plan, I think its about $59.99 for 500 mins, $79.99 for unlimited (both include data and text). No contract. And just fyi all iPhones are Edge on TMobile (no 3G) but a 2G iphone can only do Edge anyway. My experience with TMo is their Edge/reception is really good unless you go to the boonies, plus free roaming on ATT when needed, 3G can be a bit spotty but this is a non-issue for you.

Duckman2008 fucked around with this message at 18:07 on Feb 19, 2010

# ¿ Feb 19, 2010 18:04

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

Nair McBoodles posted:

Do you think that Sprint will add any "good" phones to the list available on SERO? The difference in cost between the HTC snap and TP2 is large, and I feel like there's no reason to upgrade to the very best (given that I don't care for touchscreens, keyboards, etc. anyway) if the TP2 is going to drop in price when something better comes along soon.

No, Sprint will very likely be dropping any new smartphones from SERO once Windows 7 Phones start hittin late this year.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2010 17:50

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

crime fighting hog posted:

Here goes

[*]Country/Provider: USA/Alltel

[*]Current contract status: Expired

[*]Budget (phone/plan): I have around $400 I can spend at the moment, but I don't know if that's enough or not for a simple 2-year contract for a higher end phone.

[*]Features I know I want: I don't do much extended talking, so maybe 600 or so minutes a month? I text a lot though, so probably unlimited. I DO need to access my email as I'm on the run a lot of and that's how I get all my assignments from work. Any ideas? Also I don't want a camera on my phone preferably, if it makes much of a difference.

I don't know anything beyond browsing this forum for the last few days, so I'm sorry if I sound retarded.

What type of email? If its gmail or something standard even a basic phone can do that, so I would just recommend something like the LG ENV 3 with unlimited text and data (which should be cheaper than a smartphone data). I'm assuming that Alltel is now Verizon in your area.

Also, every phone except for online ordered blackberrys comes with a camera now a days. No avoiding that one.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2010 17:52

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

BlazinLow305 posted:

I need help deciding a Prepaid carrier.

Right now I live in little lovely town with bad reception in the outskirts although its fine in town, and I'll be commuting to a big normal sized city to look for jobs and stay with my mother on those days. I want the phone to put on my application so they have better chance of reaching me since I'll be on hte move a lot.

It will be my main phone about 3 days a week or so, but I still don't plan on using it to talk a LOT.

I was thinking of AT&T, and from what I understand they charge a dollar a day when you use it(no dollar if you don't use it that day), then 10 cents a minute after that and free AT&T to AT&T. It seems like a rip off kind of, I mean that's 30 dollars a month plus 10 cents a minute.

I was also thinking of this one off brand reseller at Wal-Mart, that has cars that are 30 bucks for 1000 minutes/equivalent amount of texts for the month, or 45 bucks for unlimited for the month. This seems fishy because the 30 dollar card comes out to 3 cents a minute which is ultra cheaper than anything else prepaid. Will it have a horrid signal or something?

Also TracPhone/Net10 seemed decent because they are simple, cheap and seem to have their unused minutes rollever providing you update with more minutes every couple of months or so.

I'd need this phone to be my primary cell phone like described for about 3 or 4 months, once I find a job in the big city and settle in I'd likely go back to a contract.

So, I really don't care about customer service. I just care that is doesn't cost me and arm and a leg, and that it gets at least half rear end signal because I'll be using it some for job interview calls. Right now I'm leaning towards the one thats 30 for 1000 minutes/45 for unlimited. I just feel like there is something horribly wrong with it like there is a catch since it doesn't have the gay dollar a day type poo poo most main prepaid providers do.

edit: The 45/unlimited one is called Straight Talk, and from what I read the only con is poor CS.

No experience with straight talk, but for low call only uses I usually recommend Net10. A flat 10 cents a minute, minutes last 90 days. If you are only talking to employers i would imagine you would be fine. Plus, Net10 uses either ATT or Verizon (depends on the phone) so coverage is actually really good. Simple and cheap (for low calling).

# ¿ Feb 22, 2010 16:02

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

Peven Stan posted:

This is interesting, since we basically have the phones in question but are looking for the cheapest plan. My dad has a Nokia E71 and I'm getting an E72. What is the cheapest family plan for 2 nokia smartphones with/without data plus two regular dumbphones, assuming the minimum 750 minutes plus unlimited texting.

TMobile Even More Plus. $109.99, no contract!!

That's with data.

# ¿ Feb 25, 2010 16:08

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

Peven Stan posted:

E72 came out last year chiefo!

Nokia's are cool, but Symbian in general is currently out of date compared to Android.

# ¿ Feb 26, 2010 14:04

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

Eyecannon posted:

That's not too bad, what are the android choices for Sprint though? Is the Pre the best?

Highly recommend the Hero or Moment over Palm. The Pre is really cool, but i have just had too many returns to really justify it over Android. The Moment has a better processor than the Hero (slightly noticable), other between those two its a style difference. They both work great and are getting upgraded to 2.1 hopefully in a month.

# ¿ Feb 27, 2010 00:17

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

900ftjesus posted:

Sprint is rumored to be getting the HTC Legend (Hero 2) and HTC Supersonic (4G jesus-phone) both Android 2.1 devices soon. The bitch is that neither one has a real keyboard. I'm torn. No official date has been announced for either one.

I though neither was coming until June at the earliest (which I guess isn't soon for me). But either of those I think would justify no keyboard.

Does Android support Bluetooth keyboards (i've only heard of people using them with Nokia)?

# ¿ Feb 27, 2010 16:30

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

DoctaFun posted:

I'm in the market for a new phone, here's my info, I currently have a samsung gravity.

Country / provider: T-Mobile
Contract status: On a family plan, but due for an upgrade
Budget: $150ish
Features I want: GPS, fast internet, customizable.

I stopped by the T Mobile store, and it looks like an Android phone is the way to go. My sister has a Blackberry 8520 and the internet on that can be painfully slow, so the salesman steered me towards the 3G devices. Basically it looks like it's the G1, MyTouch, Behold or Cliq. All of them are in my price range, and it looked like the MyTouch was the best option. Any of you have experience with that particular phone? I basically want a phone that can browse the internet fairly quickly, can use GPS for my golfing addiction, and maybe has a few neat apps/games I can download on it.

I think the Nexus One is a little out of my price range, or I'd get that. Is the My Touch a suitable internet browsing machine? I know 3G is faster than the EDGE crap my sister has, but how great is T Mobile's 3G coverage?

Thanks for the help!

TMo has been rampng up their 3G fairly quickly by this point, so you should hit it in most areas (not all). If you live in a city it'll be pretty solid, just when you get out to the boonies that you won't have it.

MyTouch is a solid phone, but it does run older hardware so just keep in mind the N1 is a bit more, but its def worth it. I would buy with no contract and go even more plus, you'll save money in the long run.

# ¿ Mar 1, 2010 15:34

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

DoctaFun posted:

Unfortunately I do not have enough money right now to shell out on a non-contract phone, how much is the N1 without contract, like $500? I couldn't afford much more than $150 up front. I am on a family plan, and my wonderful parents pay the entire phone bill every month, so the only cost I have is the phone, and then the data plan every month. I guess I should have said that in the original post huh? I'm not clear on how much the N1 would cost with a contract, the website says $279 if you are eligible. What do you have to do to be eligible for that "contract" price? Although $280 is a little out of my price range .

Out of the other android phones TMobile offers, is the MyTouch the best?

MyTouch will work fine. What I mean by no contract is that TMobile will let you pay like, $150 or whatever today, and then you pay the phone off in $20 installments. Still on the bill, but separate from the plan so it isn't exactly a contract on the plan. I'm still a little fuzzy on it myself, but from what i have looked into i would do it.

# ¿ Mar 1, 2010 23:11

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

MonkeyFit posted:

Verizon doesn't have service up here and T-Mo's website spits me back to the home page when I put in my Alaska zipcode. I'm pretty much stuck with AT&T as far as major carriers go. Any known reason why 3G wouldn't work?

EDIT: Apparently T-Mo only has roaming coverage up here.

I have a friend who lives in Alaska, your best bet coverage wise is AT&T. N1 should hit it later, it really is a much better idea to wait for the 3G version. Otherwise this is one case i might recommend a Blackberry Bold 2 or iPhone.

# ¿ Mar 3, 2010 23:37

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

MonkeyFit posted:

If I'm reading the tech specs and the shack FAQ correctly, then the current iteration does have 3G. Even if Verizon is coming up here, I would rather get a GSM 3G phone simply because if I decide to vacation out of the country, I can get a local sim card for cheap and swap it out. I suppose I just don't understand why 3G would be limited since AT&T supposedly has 3G coverage in my area according to their map, and I would be buying an unlocked phone that should accept their card.

The current Nexus 1 will NOT do 3G on AT&T. Period. If your local carrier has the band that the N1 does (aka TMo 3G band) then you are gold.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2010 00:04

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

-Blackadder- posted:

Country/Provider: Anchorage, AK USA / AT&T
Contract status: Expired.
Phone Budget: Best bang for the Buck for the budget-minded. As low as possible without being "cheap" and sacrificing quality.
Plan Budget: Currently on AT&T's $39.99/month 450 Rollover & 5000 Night/Weekend & Unlimited Mobile-To-Mobile Minutes
Features: Fairly traditional, rugged and cool looking, but not too complex in usage. Can stand roughing up. Good call clarity and battery life. Can take decent pictures (and possibly video) and text/email them. No other bells and whistles required. Not a G'z One but possibly a superior rival.

Notes: This phone is for my dad so I'm looking something that's at least somewhat eye-catchy in a rugged way, can take some punishment, and is simple to use. He doesn't need or want a lot of extras just reliability, which means good call clarity, signal, and battery life. The G'z One is almost exactly the kind of thing I'd get for him except that I already have one and I don't really like it. It drops calls waaay more than my old Nokia.

As far as plans go, despite the fact (or maybe because of it) that he's retired, amazingly, he still runs his yap all the time. I checked his usage history and he talked 595 minutes last month and 779 minutes the month before that so keep that in mind when looking for a new plan if any. Although unless someone can tell me different, apparently AT&T is about the only game in town in Anchorage Alaska. I called them up and they told me his contract expired so he can just join another 2 year plan and get a new phone if he wanted. They some said of the ones would only cost tax. But I can't seem to find a list of the phones available on their website. Anyway, all suggestions welcome!

ATT is the only major carrier really in Alaska (see above), so you gotta go that or i believe there are 2 smalled providers. Just look for the most rugged ATT phone you can find.

And the only way to get more mins is to add em to your plan or up your plan. Kinda sucks.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2010 15:41

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

-Blackadder- posted:

Well I finally found a list of available phones for my dad. Would like to hear everyone's thoughts on them. The list is just the ones that are free with a new 2 year contract and a $40 Samsung Rugby because it sounded like something he might like.

Samsung Rugby
Sony Ericsson W518a
LG CF360
Samsung A237
Motorolla MOTO EM330
Nokia 6650
Nokia 2330
Samsung A777
Nokia Mural 6750
Nokia 6350

If he is looking for durability I do personally like the Nokia 6650. Nokias are setup weird, so it would take a bit getting used to, but its cool. I am not a fan of Sony Ericcson so i personally hate the W518.

Some of those are refurbs, and i especially don't advise refurbs if you are signing a contract. I think your best bet is the 6650 or maybe the Moto (i have no exp with it).

# ¿ Mar 4, 2010 20:30

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

Doug posted:

Country/Provider: USA/ Sprint

Current contract status: Out of contract

Budget (phone/plan): I'd be willing to go for ~$200 on a two-year contract

Features I know I want: I want a smartphone with good battery life. My Touch Pro doesn't have the best battery life and never really has.

I've got SERO on Sprint and can keep that if I want. However, work only pays $40/mo and won't pay overages at all. They have an account with AT&T where the whole thing gets paid for including overages. However, it seems the only option on AT&T is an iPhone. Reading the latest news about Apple pulling apps and just generally being crazy on app approval, I'm not sure if this is the path I want to travel down. The other option would be to stay with Sprint and get the HTC Hero. Feature wise it seems like they're pretty similar, but I read an article the other day on Slashdot that said there are looming problems for the Android platform due to how much it differs between phone manufacturers.

tl;dr- Should I get an iPhone or an HTC Hero? Both options are viable.

Monthly price seems to be the biggest difference between Sprint and AT&T, coverage on both are pretty good unless you have AT&T in San Francisco, really just depends on where you are.

It just depends on if you want to go with an open platform or closed. Both should have good support for the foreseeable future, and Android is more chaotic on WHEN your phone gets an update, but phones will eventually get them (IE the Hero should soon see a software upgrade from 1.5 to 2.1). I would also check to compare hardware, i think the iPhone 3GS has better hardware than the Hero.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2010 17:50

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

Doug posted:

I'm really not concerned with monthly price. If I go with Sprint I'll have SERO and get $40/mo from the company to pay the bill. However, if I have any overage minutes, I have to pay that out of my pocket. If I go with AT&T, the company pays the entire bill regardless.

You can't have an Android phone on SERO, Sprint will have you move to EPRP. Check the Sprint thread to see the differences:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3207622

# ¿ Mar 8, 2010 18:54

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

EvilCrayon posted:

I'm pretty open to a new OS since I barely tapped into the G1's full potential. Mainly using it for it's instant Gmail feature and the fact that it could sync contacts with my Gmail account as well.

I can't see much of a difference between a MyTouch 3G and the N1 which is why I'm kind of wary. The HD2 seems like it'd be almost too cumbersome and will it sync up with my contacts in Gmail or will I have to manually do everything?

and could the HD2 ever run Android...?

Huge difference between the MyTouch 3G and the N1. They look they same, I guess, but the N1 runs a 1GHZ Snapdragon processor, twice the screen resolution, better color, larger display, Android 2.1, and more. I don't think I have seen another current TMo Android phone come close.

And they have apparently been putting Android on most WinMo phones, but it is all unofficial, hacker type stuff. If you are not comfortable with modding your phone, then pretty much no Android for the HD2. And even with it there, it probably won't function quite as well as a made for android phone.

With Win7 Phone coming soon, now is the worst time to buy Windows Mobile.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2010 23:38

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

KingFisher posted:

I need a phone

Carrier: Don't matter

Contract: Don't matter

Budget: cheap as possible/used even?

Features:

1. physical keyboard
2. wifi/bluetooth connectivity
3. be able to run Gizmo5, Googletalk, Googlevoice.

I will be using this as a peripheral to a net-book with a clearwire modem.
So it will be used for voice when making incoming and outgoing calls, and SMS.

Ideally it can also run other IM apps like aim/yahoo/msn, or I could just have those screenames signed on to forward to my Googlevoice number.

Even better would be if there were driver to run the usb modem with an android phone, a variety of splinters/adapter and power sources could meet the need with that.

I haven't done anything with Clearwire, is that Modem WiFi, or one device at a time?

# ¿ Mar 15, 2010 13:30

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

KracKiwi posted:

Country/Provider: USA/Verizon

Current contract status: Out of contract

Budget (phone/plan): $250 (price with 2yr contract/online discount)

[

Option #2 WITH DATA PLAN

Features I know I want:

Best non-BlackBerry smart/multimedia phone from Verizon. I'm assuming this is the Droid?

The Droid is indeed the current best. I would recommend researching into the Nexus 1 and HTC Incredible to see if either of those are phones you would want. The Droid is still pretttty close to their speeds though.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2010 06:40

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

KracKiwi posted:

Yeah I really hope the Nexus 1 comes to Verizon asap. I currently have an XV6800 because I thought I needed a physical keyboard, but it turns out it's more annoying than useful.

Still no concrete word on when the Nexus 1 will be available to Verizon customers, ey?

no, but likely very soon, and I would wait a week, the Incredible could possibly be announced with the Supersonic next week.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2010 21:32

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

A CRUNK BIRD posted:

Country: USA
Current contract status: on a Verizon family plan out of the goodness of my parents' hearts
Budget: I could probably spend about 200-300 dollars on a phone without wanting to kill myself from the guilt.
Features I know I want: threaded texts, decent camera, qwerty keyboard, doesn't look like a big clunky piece of poo poo, intuitive/non-hideous menus if possible, memory expansion slot, wifi ability would be awesome but probably outside my price range, I would love to be able to import mp3s from my pc and use them for ringtones or whatever. I have no idea if a smartphone is required for that kind of stuff.

I know pretty much gently caress-all about shopping for phones/plans, as I've been content (sort of) with my lovely samsung no-name phone and our family plan. But having the same lovely phone is starting to wear thin, especially after 4 years and putting it through the washing machine causing silly problems. As far as I know, there aren't any discounts or new every 2 type deals for me since I'm on a family plan, so I guess I'll be paying full retail price for a phone if I stick with Verizon? Just from looking around this forum, Sprint's employee discount plan seems pretty reasonable at something like $60 a month for unlimited data/texts and 500 minutes. May seem quaint to you, but I'm marveling at the idea of being able to go on the internet on my cell phone. However, I've heard sprint's reception can be kinda poo poo in my area (Rochester, NY) so if anyone has an opinion on that I'd love to hear it. On the other hand, I wonder how much it would cost (or if it would even be possible) to add unlimited texts and/or data to my Verizon line and somehow pick up a new phone without loving my generous parents (or my checking acct) over. I've been looking into the Alias 2 or EnV3, just as kind of a general idea of what I'm lookin for, but I'm definitely open to other suggestions (obviously.) Sorry if these are kind of vague questions, I'm really just testing the water here. This is all new to me.

Verizon (and any major carrier) allows you to individually upgrade your phone every 2 years (with a 2 year contract on lines upgraded only). With an ENV3 unlimited texts are $20 a month for an individual line ($30 for the entire family) and individual line data (that is REQUIRED for the ENV3) is $9.99 with a 25MB cap.

Your call on Sprint coverage, just goes sprint.com/coverage and check. Otherwise Sprint does have much lower price points than Verizon and you can have a smartphone with no extra data fees (just the $60 a month). Do the math, see what is cheaper, staying on the family plan and adding text/data, or switching to Sprint.

# ¿ Mar 24, 2010 16:53

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

Geno posted:

so the Incredible/Supersonic will probably be ~$200, right? i'm looking for a new smartphone and the Droid for $25 at Amazon is so tempting. will the Incredible/Supersonic be THAT much better?

The Supersonic has now been announced as the HTC EVO, check it out at sprint.com/evo

The incredible should be faster than the Droid, but from what I gather not by a whole whole lot. But def noticeable.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2010 01:59

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

A CRUNK BIRD posted:

Thanks for the tips, but how reliable are those coverage maps really? Also, 25MB sounds extraordinarily easy to burn through, is it fair to say anyone wanting real use out of the internet ought to go unlimited?

Yeah, but VZ unlimited internet is expensive ($30 for smartphones, i guess the same for feature phones).

Not completely, but go to deadcellzones.com or phonescoop.com and see customer reviews of the carriers in your area.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2010 05:17

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

Dick Trauma posted:

I own a Razr v3 but thanks to work have had to carry a Blackberry Curve 8320 around the last year and a half. It's chunky and clunky and crashes way too often.

I've been looking at some of the newer smartphones like Droid, Nexus, Pre and Pixi. I was hoping that one of them would be able to sync consistently with Exchange 2003 but I've been reading nothing but complaints about painful workarounds to get any of them to behave.

I've also read that build quality on the Palm devices is pretty bad, especially the sliding keyboard on the Pre.

Exchange would be my critical app if I'm going to try to escape using this Blackberry. After that for personal choices I'd like to have navigation software but from the Palm thread it sounds like Pre and Pixi can barely run google maps without hacks to increase CPU speed.

I suspect I'm looking for something that doesn't exist.

I'm guessing you are on Verizon.

The people I have helped with Palm on Exchange have found the main problem to be that it will get push on the regular inbox fine, but other folders you need to manually update (which sucks when most Exchange people have tons of folders from what I can tell). Otherwise the Palm Pre plus on Verizon actually should be decent build wise, most problems were with early Sprint models.

For Android I would just research more. Someone just posted this question in Android apps thread, so check that out, i think most people pay slightly extra and use Touchdown or Moxy Mail. The Droid will do what you are looking for otherwise if you need it now, if not Nexus 1 and HTC Incredible are also good bets.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2010 23:10

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

A CRUNK BIRD posted:

I think I've decided to stick with Verizon but just pay my parents for unlimited texts and data on my line. I'm pretty sure that works out to ten bucks cheaper than what I'd pay with sprint, and I remember reading that I can change my contract whenever, removing or adding features. But my only concern is that I'd kind of want a smartphone, so what happens if something comes up and I can no longer afford the data plan? They shut off the phone? Do they give options for a replacement or would I pay retail/have to go back to my old crappy phone?

Yeah, you can't go down on the data plan, so you either put a different nonsmartphone on it, or you could suspend your acct for a month or two (usually only pay $8-10 a month) to get your finances back together. Sprint and TMobile are really good working with you on payments, not sure about Verizon.

# ¿ Mar 28, 2010 17:31

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

Scipio posted:

Country/Provider: USA / Currently on Sprint
Current contract status: 2 phones, one out of contract the other expires May 2010
Budget (phone/plan): Currently spending 129.99 for both phones + TEP on both and -22% Employee discount.

Looking for something lower than $90/month

Features I know I want:

Hard keyboard
Android (I think, mostly because I want to see if google voice can save me money)

-------

My wife and I want to shave money off of our monthly bill. Our cellphone bill also includes a modem, but my company reimburses me for that. When everything is coupled together, our cell phone bill is more expensive than any other utility, which is retarded.

I use data, but not a lot. I have 1500 minutes but my wife and I combined rarely go over 500 minutes, and most of our calling is mobile to mobile. We do send shitloads of texts, and she uses a crapton of data.

Apparently t-mobile has a 15-20% student discount, so that might be viable, but that ends up costing just about as much as what I'm paying now.

I'm tempted to run revol, but I don't think they've got an android phone with a keyboard.

Only way i know of to get lower than that is to drop data. Sprint does not offer an option on the newer plans to have data/calling but no texting, so while GVoice is cool, it won't save you money on sprint. There also is no lesser plan than 1500 anytime minutes. So basically, for both TMobile and Sprint, what you are paying is about as low as you can go for a 2 smartphone data plan on any carrier (ATT and VZ are both usually more).

Never heard of Revol, but they look a lot like old school cricket, so I would not expect an amazing Android phone and it looks like they are just city to city, which sucks.

# ¿ Mar 30, 2010 17:57

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

dreesemonkey posted:

Anyone have any experience with a Samsung Impression? My friend is selling his for really cheap ($50), and it seems like a no-brainer to upgrade from my old rear end w810i.

I'm not going to have data on the phone, i would just like something a little nicer for texting.

For that price its a good buy.

# ¿ Mar 30, 2010 23:07

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

Burning Mustache posted:

tl;dr:
- What advantages of the Milestone (Droid) or Nexus One over the Desire am I missing (are there even any?)
- Is it worth waiting for the EVO if I'm considering buying a Desire or N1 and want a new phone rather sooner than later?

I don't think you will see the HTC EVO in Europe, the phone is a Sprint exclusive in the US as a CDMA WiMax phone, so unless they make a GSM version (possible, just have not yet seen anything) you're poo poo out of luck.

N1 is very similar specks wise to the EVO, so I would just recommend that.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2010 14:37

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

dodatron posted:

Through work I've been given the option of:

- Motorola Milestone (Canada)
- Blackberry Curve, possibly tour.
- iPhone

We use Telus as our provide.

I need the phone for email, messaging and of course phone calls, as well as GPS (I do a lot of traveling).

What would you do in a similar situation? I like the idea of the iPhone (I own a touch and love it), but have heard that for texting/email/calling they arent anywhere near the Blackberry.

Milestone with Android all the way, get the best of both worlds.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2010 17:30

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

dodatron posted:

It will be running my work email, which is not gmail, and will be used primarily for work related activities. How does it handle normal outlook style email (and that includes syncing dates etc)?

Why the massive hate on the blackberry? Im not that knowledgeable about all this, but it seems like it would be ideal for text/email/calls/bbm.

You may want to look into a 3rd party outlook app (touchdown and moxier mail are popular), but android does fairly well from the reviews i see.

# ¿ Apr 1, 2010 00:20

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

Kinkajou posted:

I'm looking for a thin, sleek, stylish phone for verizon. I don't care about anything beyond making calls and texting, I just want something that isn't a bulky swiss-army-knife type of phone. Any recommendations?

Its old at this point, but I have always been a fan of the Moto W755. No full keypad, but most full keypad phones require internet on Verizon now (lame).

Also, they do have that really thin nokia (music buttons on the front), and for just calling and texting that would do the trick.

# ¿ Apr 3, 2010 05:08

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

Mr.48 posted:

I'm looking for something in the neighborhood of $500 give or take $50.

I would like the following:

-A large high-quality screen for watching videos and crap

-A good quality camera preferably 8MP but willing to settle for 5

-Support for a variety of audio and video formats, not just MP4 and MP3 or whatever

-Wifi and GPS

-Full HTML browser and email support

Things I'm uncertain about :

-Not sure if I need a touchscreen

-Not sure if I need a physical keyboard (slide out or something)

-What kind of OS is a good choice

Phones I've considered and like:

Sony Xperia 2, Motorola Milestone, a crapload of Samsungs (i8910, Tocco, Jet, Innov8) and LG's (GC900, Renoir, Arena).

Notably the LG's and Samsungs are priced considerably cheaper than the Sony and Motorola and the only thing they seem to lack is a physical keyboard which I'm not certain I absolutely need.

Help me goons!

You live in the US? Nexus 1 so far is a good bet.

# ¿ Apr 3, 2010 22:21

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

Share Bear posted:

Is there a phone which just does text/calls and is not a piece of garbage and works on either Tmobile or AT&T?

Is there anything that also happens to be cheap (<$150)?

$150 with or without contract? The Gravity 2 on TMobile seems pretty solid, my g/f has the first gravity and its solid for that stuff.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2010 01:32

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

DammitJanet posted:

Country/Provider: USA/Verizon
Contract Status: I'm on my mom's family plan and I'm up for an upgrade discount in a couple of weeks. I think my mom's contract runs until 2012.
Budget: $100 or less considering the upgrade discount.

Features I know I want: Calling, Texting, Email (gmail), a good browser, and a good touchscreen keyboard.

Stuff I'm not sure about : I don't care about GPS or music player capabilities. I'd like to avoid a hardware qwerty keyboard but i'm not totally opposed to it.

Right now I'm using a Motorola Adventure V750 and I hate it. It freezes up frequently and I'm ready to add data to my life. Basically I've narrowed down my choices to either the Droid Eris or the Palm Pre Plus. I only mention the Pre Plus because I think its price was recently lowered. I could be wrong though. Feel free to try to sway me either way between those two but I'm leaning toward the Eris because I like HTC's form factor and as far as I know Android is preferable to WebOS in the long run. I would wait for the Nexus One to come to Verizon but I don't think it will be within my budget when it first comes out.

Price wise the Pre Plus was just lowered to $149.99 with $100 rebate, which is really, really good. Not only that, but they are offering the wifi tethering free. The Droid Eris is cool, specs wise though the Pre is probably a faster phone. WebOS is def more of a risk in terms of long term support than Android, but WebOS is really cool (I'm an android geek too) and really shouldn't give you any problems and do everything you want. Make sure you like the Pre's keypad.

In the end, both are overall good phones, go with whichever you like more.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2010 01:27

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

DammitJanet posted:

Slow first-gen? It seemed fine to me when I played with it in the store. The droid is kind of bulky and brick-like for my tastes, and I hate physical keypads.

He is correct. The Eris has hardware that is about a year old on it. The Droid would be much better long term performance wise. For what you are looking for though, the Eris still would probably do the trick.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2010 14:31

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

kri kri posted:

Country/Provider: Sprint currently. Open to move to Verizon, T-Mobile or stay with Sprint.

Current contract status: Contract ends next month. Non contract would be nice but the subsidies on the android phones are pretty decent.

Budget (phone/plan): up to $150 or so

Features I know I want: Android, either the EVO or Droid Incredible. Family plan with my mom is what I am wanting to do now. I am going to be getting 2 identical phones mainly so I can easily support my mom's phone. My mom needs to be able to use her phone overseas if at all possible.

Combined minutes needed is around 1500. I don't use my phone for calling that much, but my mom does. I use my phone mainly for data. Google maps, internet, streaming music are all things I want to be able to do with my phone.

I haven't seen any reports on either the evo or incredible being international so you may be poo poo out of luck there. Otherwise ts preference and where are you are at, if there is good sprit coverage sprint is cheaper. Either one make sure you find some kind of work discount.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2010 04:45

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

kri kri posted:

International I can get around, I can forward her phone to a europeean one pretty easily I think with Sprint. What is the discount like for companies? It will be through University of Minnesota. I checked their website but it isn't working right now.

I work for sprint (indirect) so I'll try and remember to check for you tomorrow.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2010 00:07

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 14, 2024 10:55

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

kri kri posted:

International I can get around, I can forward her phone to a europeean one pretty easily I think with Sprint. What is the discount like for companies? It will be through University of Minnesota. I checked their website but it isn't working right now.

You get a drat good discount. 23% and all activation fees waived. Here's the code: GUVHA_UOM_ZZZ

# ¿ Apr 21, 2010 00:20

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Recommend me a phone and/or plan

«‹›43 »