original post here at MacRumorsAn unlocked phone can be used on any compatible network. Eg. you buy an unlocked phone and all you need to do is remove the SIM card from your old phone and put it in the new one. I’ve done this a few times.
If you get a smart phone, you’ll also need a data plan with your phone service company to make use of it.
We’ve had Verizon for over 10 years and had no problems with them at all. They give discounts for a large number of employers also, so if you are still working, check on that. I got 17.5% through my employer and now that I was laid off, we’re getting 15% through my husband’s.
I traveled pretty much all over the country for work and was rarely without a signal on my personal Verizon phone. The company issued Sprint phone was an entirely different story. In fact to use the Sprint phone at home I had to stand in my backyard.
If you want a 5c, wait a few weeks until the iPhone 6 is out. You’ll see the prices drop a bit as people upgrade to the 6, and sell off their old phones.
If you think cell phone are cool, wait until you hear about the Internet! You can do searches on it and find out everything you need without embarrassing your self on FreeRepublic!
original post here at MacRumorsIt’s not about being hip. Hipness kinda left the cell phone thing in the nineties. The thing with a smartphone is it’s a little computer that’s easy to keep in your pocket to do things with. Real life things.
Some apps I really use every day for real stuff:
- email
- contacts
- calendar, schedule and reminders.
- fitness and nutrition tracking
- live data from my weather station
- stopwatch and timer
- clock (haven’t worn a watch in years)
- tide and current charts
- nautical charts
- listen to music during workouts
- live stream talk radio
- camera (amazing how handy it is to always have a camera)
- maps and directions
- stock ticker and trading
I’d recommend rethinking the fingerprint reader. And go ahead and get the iPhone 6. Apple Pay is going to change the world. Far more secure than credit cards.
Oh yeah, and it’s a phone too. :-)
Virgin Mobile doesn’t use SIM card. Also no contract, but you can set up an automatic debit, which is what I do.
I’m moving backwards, I already keep my cell phone at home, and soon will be rid of it entirely.
For my own part, I've given up even my cellphone, at present, though that truth never fails to amaze me, having never been a slacker with regard to advances in processing speed and connectivity; so-called "convergence." My first Email account, though little used at the time (indeed, only once, there being only 100 or so other accounts sharing the same mainframe), was supplied to me in 1980.
Thus far, aside from the obvious features, I've not personally seen the advantages to getting one of these devices. I'm a great booster for this sort of thing, so it isn't from any luddite tendencies or evasions. I simply don't see how such a convergence as it's been unveiled thus far is as yet essential - speaking only for myself. This could change at any moment, of course, and with little advanced notice, so I appreciated your inquiry.
In my opinion the first thing to do is pick out the provider to get the services you want at the best price. Once you have decided on the provider you can then start shopping for phones. See what phones the provider has. They also have good info about what to look for in a smartphone. I got my HTC android smartphone for free with a deal the provider had at the time. The iPhone wasn’t free, but discounted a bit. If you can’t get a good deal on the locked phones at the provider, then you can shop around more and see if you can get an unlocked compatible phone you do like.
What makes you think you need a “smartphone” or an “iphone” to get the capabilities you need? I have a Tracphone that provides all the options I need without a contract or demands for personal info, but then again I do not LIVE (exist) on the phone as so many others seem to do.
Why pay 450$US for a phone when a “phone” is supposed to be for calling and speaking with someone, when a company such as Tracfone offers cellphones for essentially free with a minimum 60-day activation card (up to one year), and other options can be accessed with pretty much any relatively new computer (as in for the last fifteen years at least) out there today?
I still have both (legacy from when one or the other would work, but not both in many areas I work in), but AT&T goes when the contract dies.
The smartphones from a few years ago that are now under $100 were the $500 phones of their day. An iPhone 5c will last you years (unless you shatter the glass).
Easy replacement you do yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zoyp6RmFjQ
I bought a Samsung Galaxy S4 at approx $400 for T-Mobile (1700 & 2100 freq) and I really did not need all the features. I just wanted a phones with a 4g data connection.
I have T-Mobile and none of the older phones would work at 4g on their network as T-Mobile only recently upgraded their network for LTE. Next year and after the phones will be much cheaper to buy and more models available to use.
I choose an android phone because they do not lock the phone as much as apple.
You can buy an app called PDAnet to connect the phone to your computer.
I can install PDAnet without needing to jailbreak it. Apple blocks the install unless you jailbreak. http://www.junefabrics.com/iphone/index.php
In a year or two you can buy smartphones cheap that have the same capability as the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S5.
When looking for a phone make sure it matches the freq that they use. http://www.wilsonamplifiers.com/frequencies-by-provider/
The screen for the iPhone is $49... wow. My Samsung is $170
http://www.repairsuniverse.com/iphone-5c-lcd-touch-screen-digitizer-replacement.html?utm_source=JerryRigEverything&utm_medium=iPhone%205c%20Black%20Screen&utm_campaign=JerryRigEverything
OK, long story so bear with me.
I hate smart phones. In order to get one you have to pay for a data plan, something I don’t think I should have to do because there’s WiFi almost everywhere, so why can’t I buy a smart phone without a data plan and just use WiFi for the “smart” part? I have a perfectly good flip phone, a Samsung Convoy II ruggedized phone, that is small, works well, and can withstand being dropped and splattered on. Plus, even the subsidized price of a Smart phone is much more expensive than the “free” I paid for the Convoy. Smart phones are just gimmicks.
Then my son gives me his hand-me-down Apple iPod Touch. Cool, I thought. Here’s a smart phone without the “phone,” and it uses WiFi for its data. So I carried both a phone and an iPod for about a year, looking like the nerd I am with two phone cases on my belt.
Then my wife says to me “I want a smart phone. Get me one. Now.” Well, she’s about as much of a tightwad as I am, so I explain the data contract part, and how much it will cost, and she says, “I don’t care, get me one.” OK, I say, and start looking for deals.
Both of our phones were overdue for our “new every two” upgrade from Verizon (evil, but as you pointed out, the best coverage in the US by far,) and Verizon sends me this email last April for a free iPhone 5c 32 GB. OK, problem solved, and I get one for my wife.
I play around with her phone from time to time, and it’s not bad. Its newer than my iPod, and has a better processor, so it surfs the web better than my iPod. When we’re out at dinner, she can look up stuff that I can’t because the resturaunt doesn’t have free WiFi. And she can do stuff while we’re travelling in the car. I begin to get “phone envy.”
Then last June Verizon sends me another email saying my phone is still eligible, and here’s an offer for another free iPhone 5c 32 GB. I hem and haw, debating if I really need it or not, and the offer expires in July. I finally decide on the last day of the offer to get one.
And I haven’t looked back since. I carry only one device now, it’s much more powerful than the iPod touch, and it syncs all of my contacts into one big contact list. My old phone contacts (imported via Verizon’s could backup,) my home email contacts, my work email contacts. At first I though “crap, they’re all mixed up now! Stupid $#@$%! Apple!” But wait, the iPhone’s search function is so powerful, that I type a partial name, first or last, or a partial business name, and all the possible contacts appear. Not too shabby, and it’s saved me from my poor memory more than once. “What’s the guy’s name from XYZ Corp? Oh yeah!”
I’m here to tell you today that if you offered me my old phone back, along with a shiny new iPod Touch, and my $20 per month back that I spend on a data plan, I’d politely say, “no, thank you.” I’m hooked. I’m addicted. And I’m never going back.
I scoffed at smart phones since they came out. I often admonished my children who’s data plans went up to $90 a month some months. They’re young adults, 24 and 23 right now, so what?
I broke down and got one 6 months ago. They quickly become a useful part of your life. Email, voice chat, google, music, visual voice mail, camera, translator. It gets scary very quickly as you’ll find you’ll start cerfing the web whenever you’re tied up in line, at a Dr. Office, talking to a boring relative.
Very quickly it turns to a security blanket of sorts. You’ll feel naked and vulnerable without it.
The problem is, kiss your personal information and security goodbye. There is no getting around it, you get a verizon smart phone and they’re going to hook themselves completely into your life, much like google does
Many people scoff at the idea that somebody is going to make them ‘bear the mark of the beast’, Now I’m thinking the old bible passage meant ‘carry’ the mark of the beast — as in carry a smartphone around.
Good info
I have a dumb phone, no apologies. I want to say, “hello, goodbye” and take a message.
OK I do like the camera too.
I got straight talk phone from walmart with AT&T. moved way out in the boonies and have great coverage and works everywhere I go.
Hubby got the smarter phone so he could go online, but can’t figure out the phone and doesn’t go online at all and hates his workings otherwise.
I like a dumb phone!
Are you specifically looking for an iphone?
The new Moto G is supposed to be a pretty good phone. $179, total cost, no contracts or obligation. If you get the GSM model, you can buy a prepaid sim card anywhere in the world and use the phone.
Now it's expensive($119 a month all taxes included), but for everything it does I like it. I have unlimited calls, texts, and 10GBS of data which is way more than I need.
It's basically a mobile computer.
As for the finger print part. If you ever served in the U.S. military or been arrested, then the FBI already has your finger prints. LOL! So I wouldn't worry too much about that.
If I were you, then I would just get Apple's latest greatest phone. This is because it should last you probably at least 5 years (you may have to get a new battery) with probably 0 problems.
Anyhow, here is a link and good luck on your research.
I have used Tracfone (pre-paid) since about 2008. I have never had a problem. There are a few areas where it will lose/drop a call, but so would most providers.
I used the Tracfone flipfone for years. Recently, I considered upgrading, but held off until my current ‘year of service’ needed to be renewed.
I happened to run across a QVC promotion — Tracfone. It is a semi-smart phone, but I was more interested in the screen size characters and readibility than the Internet connection. It cost less than what my ‘year of service’ renewal would have been, and I got 1500 hours of online service, a year of service, and lifetime triple minutes for $78.
I can connect it to the internet via my home router. If no router is available, it connects to 3G.
I am still learning how to use it, but am content. It is definitely a phone for someone new to smartfones, as it is limited in its functionality. I still prefer using my laptop and desktop for internet. Next upgrade will probably be full-andriod type.