# PHONE questions.



## Mike1950 (Oct 8, 2013)

Getting ready to dump our cell carrier and will be getting new phones. Now I have the dumbest one I could get- it is barely smart enough to ring- and it does not very often. Kathie has a not so smart-smart phone. 
Forget Iphone- at 1K plus- That is crazy!!!!!! What works goo out there- you guys and gals that use and abuse are the ones I want input from. Thanks a bunch -M&K


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## SENC (Oct 8, 2013)

What carrier are you going to, Mike? Have you looked at any of the pay as you go options, like StraightTalk? If not, might be an option. Walmart is a good place to check them out.


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## Andrew M (Oct 8, 2013)

I'm with verizon but, have heard nothing but good things about the Straighttalk SENC mentioned. If I was to drop my current carrier that's the first place I would start.


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## Mike1950 (Oct 8, 2013)

SENC said:


> What carrier are you going to, Mike? Have you looked at any of the pay as you go options, like StraightTalk? If not, might be an option. Walmart is a good place to check them out.



I am leaving Verizon- We have not decided where we will go yet- thanks for the suggestion.


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## healeydays (Oct 8, 2013)

I just traded out my phone 1 month ago and picked up a MOTO-X and love it. My wife, who has had a Iphone since the beginning is thinking of getting one.

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## jimmyjames (Oct 8, 2013)

Mike1950 said:


> SENC said:
> 
> 
> > What carrier are you going to, Mike? Have you looked at any of the pay as you go options, like StraightTalk? If not, might be an option. Walmart is a good place to check them out.
> ...



Any of the carriers you can get the phones for free or close to free and that goes for smart phones as well. Me and my wife have verizon and have 4 months left on our contract and will be dumping them as well, verizon is just waaaay to expensive compared to other carriers not too mention all of the other problems verizon has.....

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## davebug (Oct 13, 2013)

As others have said it depends on what carrier you want to go with. If you do not use the cell much and are not into getting the latest and greatest phone, I would recommend going with a prepaid phone. There are a few reasons why if you do not use the phone or upgrade much why prepaid are a better choice, first one being you can usually get a prepaid contract with smaller allotments of minutes and such. Second if you do not upgrade your phone with a new contract as soon as it comes available you are giving them free money. They act like they are doing you a favor by giving you a discount on the phone price but it is built into your monthly bill, so when you don't upgrade they profit. Even with all these new upgrade anytime programs they are worse the way I see it you end up paying more for the phone since you are still paying the subsidy month to month and still paying for the phones, in reality these new programs are just leasing you the phone since you either have to have paid the phone off or turn it in when you get a new one. Prepaid through some one like Tmobile is cheaper too even if you shell out full price for lets say an Iphone 5s 16gb $649. Tmobile's unlimited everything plan prepaid will run you $70 per month so 70x24+649=$2329 for 24 months on Tmobile. For ATT you get your choice of $199 upfront or $27 a month for 20 months but you can upgrade after 12 months and turn in your working device. For ease lets say you go with the $199 upfront, for unlimited Voice its $69.99, for 3GB data its $30, and unlimited messaging since your choices are unlimited or none its $20 more which gives you a 24 month cost at att of 69.99+30+20x24+199=$3078.76. So in this comparison Tmobile would save you $749.76 over 24 months. I used Tmobile and att for comparisons because they are both GSM carriers vs some of the others that are cdma. I realize from what you are saying you probably do not need unlimited but savings will still occur with less minutes/data/messaging. Another advantage of the prepaid carriers is if one ticks you off you finish the month and jump to the next. Costs also drop as you add lines faster with some carriers then others, but that usually involves postpaid contracts. My favorite plan is Tmobile's $30 online only plan, you used to be able to get it a walmart too but they stopped that about a week ago. For $30 you get 100 minutes unlimited text and web with 5GB at 4g speeds before they throttle you back to 2.5 or 3g speeds. If you are not sure 100 minutes a month are enough for you, you can either buy additional at around .10 each or setup a free google voice number and use that which is what I do. They even have some of the not so smart phones for you if that is what you are after. 

As far as the phone goes, for not tech savvy people I would say go with a Iphone they are dead simple to setup use and sync with a computer. I personally use a android but root it and install custom software on as they are easier to customize. Any of the more popular phones out right now you can get durable cases for I like otter box's or caterpillar just released a new phone not to long ago. They make others as well but I think the cat b15 is the latest.

If you go the prepaid route you can buy the phone new from a vendor of your choosing or buy a used one from many online sellers. I would avoid craigslist as many stolen phones show up on it and unless test and activate it first you may get burned as its imei number could be blacklisted. But many of the online used phone sale companies guarantee them to be not stolen and in good working order. 

That was a lot longer then I intended and sorry for the rambling, it is just my feeling that too many people pay far to much for a service that should be getting cheaper not more expensive.

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## hardtwist (Oct 15, 2013)

We had to leave Sprint when we moved here in Tn as there was no cellular coverage available at the house (were located wayyyy out in the sticks)

Went with Verizon prepaid with no contract. For $50 bucks per month, we get unlimited text, talk and web.... No free phone but the one we use is a very basic unsmart phone that cost about $20.

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## Mr. Bill (Nov 20, 2013)

Mike,

I wanted to second the idea of going with Straighttalk. Even though I liked the coverage that I got with Verizon, I was tired of paying their hefty monthly bill. A neighbor told me about Straighttalk and that he only had to pay $45 a month for unlimited* phone, text and internet service. I looked into it and I liked what I saw. 
I bought the Samsung Proclaim for several reasons. One being that it used the Verizon towers and two because it was described as a "beginner's Smart Phone". Currently ST is offering a free Samung Proclaim with each new activation.

*not truely unlimited. Supposedly it is capped at 2.5 GBs per montt

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## Mike Jones (Nov 20, 2013)

For rough use check out the casio g Z one commando

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## ripjack13 (Nov 20, 2013)

Mike Jones said:


> For rough use check out the casio g Z one commando



I have been using the casio line since they came out. (verizon) I have an old commando sitting around in my nightstand. I use it at night before I go to bed on the wifi while my new commando is chargin up. I would love to drop verizon but at&t and sprint service around here is very poor.


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## manbuckwal (Nov 20, 2013)

Wow ! Lots of good info here !!! But the question is , What is the most important thing you want out of a phone for you and your missus ? 
I love my iPhone and never plan on owning any other phone . Bestbuy is currently offering a 16GB AT&T iPhone 4S for 49.99 with a two year contract.

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## Mr. Bill (Nov 21, 2013)

Manbuckwal: I don't know which iPhone that you own but let's assume that you like it, it is unlocked and you want to keep it. You can buy a sim card from ST for $6.99 and either a $30 or $45 service card, all plus tax, and you will shortly be up and running on either your choice of T-Mobile or AT&T. All of this is without a contract. In the long run it is the less expensive than an "inexpensive" phone and a two year contract.

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## Mike1950 (Nov 21, 2013)

I think after considerable research we are going with tmobile- seems straighttalk has no roaming which with our location is needed.
She will get a smart phone- me I am resisted anything but the stupid ones but I am losing ground in that battle fast. After that we can add a phone for 10 bucks and maybe the grandson will get my old one.

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## manbuckwal (Nov 21, 2013)

Mr. Bill said:


> Manbuckwal: I don't know which iPhone that you own but let's assume that you like it, it is unlocked and you want to keep it. You can buy a sim card from ST for $6.99 and either a $30 or $45 service card, all plus tax, and you will shortly be up and running on either your choice of T-Mobile or AT&T. All of this is without a contract. In the long run it is the less expensive than an "inexpensive" phone and a two year contract.



I'd like to take a look at this . Can u post a link ? Thanks .


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## Mr. Bill (Nov 21, 2013)

Straighttalk.com


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## Mr. Bill (Nov 21, 2013)

manbuckwal said:


> I'd like to take a look at this . Can u post a link ? Thanks .


 As I posted from my phone, go to Straighttalk.com. I believe that one of the options is Shop. Then go to Sim Cards. After that you are on your own.

A good site that has a lot of information on the various carriers, including ST, is Howardforums.com.

On last piece of information: you can get a new phone number for your existing phone if you decide to go the ST route. Try it out for the month and that way you are only out $52 + tax if you don't like it. If you do like it then you can port your existing phone number over.

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## manbuckwal (Nov 21, 2013)

Mr. Bill said:


> As I posted from my phone, go to Straighttalk.com. I believe that one of the options is Shop. Then go to Sim Cards. After that you are on your own.
> 
> A good site that has a lot of information on the various carriers, including ST, is Howardforums.com.
> 
> On last piece of information: you can get a new phone number for your existing phone if you decide to go the ST route. Try it out for the month and that way you are only out $52 + tax if you don't like it. If you do like it then you can port your existing phone number over.


Thanks for the info. I will check it out. Would be very hard for me to change my existing plan bcuz I rely heavily on data usage . I was grandfathered in so to speak, and have "true" unlimited data as long as I don't change my existing calling plan .


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## Molokai (Nov 21, 2013)

If you need smart phone, buy a smart phone. If you are going to use just SMS and dial, then pick anything. I got samsung galaxy s2plus smart phone at reasonable prize and the phone is awesome but have to protect it from everything. There are cases to protect your phone falling and damage but cost 80 dollars or so...


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