Smart phones?

[Nick]

Just got the Motorola Atrix 2. For a hundred bucks it's a pretty sick phone.

Good job sticking with android

 

[deadheadskier]

I'm on a family plan with 4 lines and 700 minutes/month and unlimited text...total cost with taxes is over $150/month. Tacking on a $30/month data plan just wasn't something I wanted to do...and I would have had to add on a data plan to each line that I upgraded to a smart phone.

I'm sure smart phones are nice to have but the plan costs are out of control...

wife has a smart phone / data plan. Forget what it costs. I know it only cost us $10/month to add an extra line.

 

[hammer]

wife has a smart phone / data plan. Forget what it costs. I know it only cost us $10/month to add an extra line.

That's just the extra line costs...what gets me is that I pay that for 3 lines plus $30/month for unlimited text (have a teenage daughter so that's a no brainer), andthen I'd have to pay $30/month more for data per smart phone if I had smart phones.

Between that and our full Fios service (TV/Internet/Phone) over $300/month goes to Verizon...and we don't even have any premium services.

 

[tekweezle]

The plan through pagepluscelluar is 55$ flat per phone so that 220$ for 4 lines. No extra taxes or fcc fees. You can get discount codes of up to 5% if you know where to look.

Your vzw plan would be 150$ plus 120 plus an additional 10-15% taxes and fees for 4 fully capable smartphones.

Btw, if you just need talk and text, ppc has a 1200 min 3000 txt plan for 29.99 a month.

I agree that data pricing is crazy and should go down..... I am on vzw but will switch when contract is up. My gf is on ppc and it's been good.

Sent from my Htc Incredible via tapatalk....

 

[Geoff]

I'm sure smart phones are nice to have but the plan costs are out of control...

If I had to pay for it myself, there's no way I would have a smart phone. I'd drop back to a flip phone. I might even use my old RAZR Vc3. I did that when I was unemployed for 14 1/2 months. A $33.00 Verizon bill was kind-a nice. In these days of ubiquitous WiFi, an iPod Touch is more than adequate.

 

[4aprice]

Do people with smart phones do dumb things?:razz: Love that ad.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[tekweezle]

for most people it;s a luxury item but having a smartphone can be useful. it;s handy to be able to do a quick internet search on the road even if to just check movie times or restaurant reviews or to double check an address or get an answer to a question. the GPS app is a huge time saver as well as having access to my email.

not everyone needs it though and if there was more free wifi available it would lessen the need. some internet providers have wifi hotspots you can connect to if you already have their cable service.

i don;t like that the phone companies are trying to give you less data for the same amount of money(it should be the other way around!) but i used some apps to track my usage last month and even with some extraneous tv streaming, i only used about 1.5 gigs of data. I used about 2 gigs of wifi as well. if I cut out the streaming, I;d probably use the average amount which is about 500 meg to 1 gigs worth of usage.

some of the other tricks I use to save money-I don;t have texting plan(5$ extra per month?) but use an Android app called TextGold Plus to send text messages for free over wifi/3G. it uses a different number than your phone though. I hear you can do the same if you used a google voice number. internationally, I use Skype to make calls.

if you don;t talk much, Verizon has a family loyalty plan you can demand to be switched to for 550 minutes for 59$ for 2 lines. each additional line is about 9 or 19$. might save you a couple of bucks. most people seem to text more than talk.

 

[drjeff]

I liken smartphones to shaped skis -many are very skeptical and often initially resistant to the general concept on principle. Then one day you finally "give in" and try it, and you start wondering why you didn't convert to the "newer" concept sooner

 

[hammer]

I liken smartphones to shaped skis -many are very skeptical and often initially resistant to the general concept on principle. Then one day you finally "give in" and try it, and you start wondering why you didn't convert to the "newer" concept sooner

Seems like a good analogy...but were shaped skis more expensive than straight skis at first?

 

[HD333]

We have 2 between the wife and me. She gets hers paid for through work I do not. She uses about 10% of the "phones" functionality. I use mine for everything and couldn't go back to not having one.

 

[tekweezle]

i think smartphones are like helmets. you don;t need one if you ski carefully and not in dangerous places but having one gives you piece of mind should you need it. it;s not like avalanche gear or powder skis for tooling around the east coast. well whatever you decide, goodluck!

getting one is all about need and application. here is a useful application of smartphones-i have a couple of ip based cameras pointed at the front yard driveway and back yard. also some PTZ cameras in the office as well as jpgs from a security system posted to a website. I can use my phone to access these cameras/views using an app i downloaded from the app market. if you got rental property or need to keep an eye on the house, could be pretty useful to have.

 

[Glenn]

My wife and I are still on Blackberry 9700's. We were going to get the 4S...but we're holding out for the 5. That being said, even a phone like a 9700 would be a huge upgrade from a regular phone. However, there are some better options out there right now. I love Blackberry, I just think they need some time to get things together.

Whatever you get, see if you can play around in the store first. See what OS/Hardware you like and go from there.

 

[SkiDork]

I just got a Droid Razr. Amazing technology. Only downside is the battery life.

 

[drjeff]

Only downside is the battery life.

Agree. I have to keep telling myself that I'm actually trying to run the equivalent of a pretty powerful laptop on that small lithium ion battery thats in my phone, and that even my much bigger laptop battery needs to be charged every 5 to 8 hours!

That being said, I now do plug my phone into a charger more times when I used to, such as the moment I get into my car, when I put in on my desk at work, very soon after I get home, etc. I'm also way more cogniscent of turning off battery draining things, such as bluetooth, wifi, and gps connections when I don't need them, as well as certain apps that tend to be big battery drains. If i'm being battery conscious on a usual volume day, 24-36hrs of battery life isn't a problem. If i'm using my phone a lot and a bunch of apps, then 5 or 6 hours of battery life can be the case

 

[SkiDork]

I actually purchased this for it:

 

[tekweezle]

The free batteries that come with the phone are usually underpowered. Can't be help as like memory, they expect you to buy a third party one so the can save costs. Search for extended batteries in the 3500 mah range on ebay. If you've got a popular supported phone, they will be available. The first name brand battery I bought cost me 69$. Got 2 generic ones for about 7$ each 8months later.

Sent from my Htc Incredible via tapatalk....

 

[SkiDork]

The free batteries that come with the phone are usually underpowered. Can't be help as like memory, they expect you to buy a third party one so the can save costs. Search for extended batteries in the 3500 mah range on ebay. If you've got a popular supported phone, they will be available. The first name brand battery I bought cost me 69$. Got 2 generic ones for about 7$ each 8months later.

Sent from my Htc Incredible via tapatalk....

except Droid Razr has a sealed battery

 

[andrec10]

And the Iphone a sealed battery as well!

 

[Greg]

I just got a Droid Razr. Amazing technology. Only downside is the battery life.

The Atrix 2 has amazing battery life given the size of the screen. One of the biggest improvements over the crappy Backflip I had. I can go all day on a charge, GPS on, Pandora rocking away on the commutes.

Angry Birds Yo!

 

[Nick]

Actually I need to pick up an extended battery for my phone for this year. When I'm on the slopes, it's just not cutting it, I make it until MAYBE 1pm if I get an 8AM start and I'm trying to record my tracks.

I'm really eying that Galaxy Nexus on Verizon.....