Cell phone help

[Doug]

My Samsung phone is still doing the shut itself off.  So I guess I'm buying a new smart phone.  I did what Samsung called a soft boot, phone off remove and re-install bat.  Been fighting this for months now.  I surrender.  

My choices are iPhones starting at $450 up (not even close) They hide cost with $25 per month deal the most expensive iPhone being $750 the $450 being way more than I"m willing to pay for the less than 30 min a month I spend on the phone.

Some
Huawei phones ( I haven't heard of them) most likely

Moto G 

Samsung Galaxy S

www.consumercellular.com/Info/Phones

Tentative choice unless y'all change my mind.
Huawei Vision 2 $100

[Dan McLaughlin]

Get a Samsung Galaxy 3 or 4, you don't need the 5. I just got the 4 after my flip phone died and am pretty happy with the 4.

[Doug]

Only Samsung currently offered by my provider is the Galaxy S and I don't think I'd like the slide out key board.

[Lonnie]

I have a Samsung Galaxy 4. I guess it's fine as far as cell phones go. But I still think cell phones are overpriced junk technology. Get off my lawn.

[mccoyblues]

Doug, your iPhone prices are way off base. You can buy the previous generation of iPhone (the 5c) which is still way better than whoever Huawei is for just 97 cents thru Verizon or AT&T. Of course you have to sign a contract for service but you're going to need service anyway.

[Bassman]

I vote for the iPhone, and I agree with Lonnie, overpriced, but I think thats from the carriers.

[Doug]

Oct 14, 2014 5:54:31 GMT -5 mccoyblues said:

Doug, your iPhone prices are way off base. You can buy the previous generation of iPhone (the 5c) which is still way better than whoever Huawei is for just 97 cents thru Verizon or AT&T. Of course you have to sign a contract for service but you're going to need service anyway.

I have service and I don't do contracts.  Phone contracts are a system where the company says, "We are going to lock you in at this price because we know if you shop around you will want to change"  

By way better do you mean it makes calls better or texts better.  The rest of the stuff I don't use and don't want.  I don't want apps on my phone I want phone on my phone.     The Samsung I have with the shutting off problem does a bunch of stuff I don't want and it just gets in the way of using the phone.

And on top of all that it's iDevil.  I went through iPad where every thing is done ass backward.  Android OS is a much more rational system. 

[mnhermit]

I've had the Huawei from CC for a couple years, really enjoy the smart phone aspects - even the texting, but I only have one person who texts with me so maybe that's why. The downside to it is that when you finally get the idea of using it like a little computer instead of just as a phone the Huawei just doesn't have enough oomph to it for a lot of what you want to do. And you can only fit so many of them on the phone before it's jammed full. Even with SD card additions, not every thing will migrate to the SD card. If I had the money I'd buy one of the Galaxys previous versions. But even they are too expensive for me right now.

[mccoyblues]

Sounds like you don't need nor want a smart phone. And your the one who brought up the iPhone in the first place. I was just correcting your mis informed pricing data.

[Doug]

Oct 17, 2014 11:48:11 GMT -5 mccoyblues said:

Sounds like you don't need nor want a smart phone. And your the one who brought up the iPhone in the first place. I was just correcting your mis informed pricing data.

That's what it cost from my provider. 

[Hobson]

I have a stupidphone. It's an LG, I don't know what model. It does voice and text. It also does video, but I've never used that. Each year I buy 1,000 minutes from T-Mobile. Voice and text calls are 10 cents per minute. The way I use my phone, this is more than I need. Mr. H has the same model phone and also buys 1,000 minutes each year. I think we paid about $30 for each phone 2 years ago. We still have a land line and primarily use the cell phones for long distance calls or when traveling.

Doug, unless you're making lots of calls, this type of thing should work for you. That is, if stupidphones are still available.

[Russell Letson]

The LG Optimus (L38c) Android from TracFone is still available from Amazon for $19.95. A year's subscription with 400 minutes costs $99.99, and with the phone's triple-minute status, that's 1200 talk minutes, plus separate "buckets" for text and data.

I got one in July and like it, though people who use their phones for all kinds of computer-y functions complain about memory limitations and the old version of Android (2.6) that limits which apps it will run. But as a phone-with-extras (like being able to use Wi-Fi to do simple internet tasks like check e-mail), it's quite nice. Screen's too small for much web browsing, but it's kinda handy to have a quick-and-dirty camera and sound recorder, though I rarely feel the need for those. (That's why I have cameras and digital field recorders.)

www.amazon.com/Optimus-Dynamic-Android-Prepaid-Tracfone/dp/B00GFTI0SO/ref=pd_cp_cps_3

(For an extra $5 you can get a white one.)

[billhammond]

Oct 17, 2014 15:43:02 GMT -5 Russell Letson said:

The LG Optimus (L36c) Android from TracFone is still available from Amazon for $19.95. A year's subscription with 400 minutes costs $99.99, and with the phone's triple-minute status, that's 1200 talk minutes, plus separate "buckets" for text and data.

I got one in July and like it, though people who use their phones for all kinds of computer-y functions complain about memory limitations and the old version of Android (2.6) that limits which apps it will run. But as a phone-with-extras (like being able to use Wi-Fi to do simple internet tasks like check e-mail), it's quite nice. Screen's too small for much web browsing, but it's kinda handy to have a quick-and-dirty camera and sound recorder, though I rarely feel the need for those. (That's why I have cameras and digital field recorders.)

www.amazon.com/Optimus-Dynamic-Android-Prepaid-Tracfone/dp/B00GFTI0SO/ref=pd_cp_cps_3

(For an extra $5 you can get a white one.)

I spose you could use it as a primitive nav device in a pinch, eh? Not GPS, but Google mapping, like the old AA TripTik?

[Russell Letson]

Actually, it has a GPS chip and nav software, as well as access to the Google stuff. That's pretty much beside the point for me, since when I need to navigate, I use the Magellan unit in the car. The phone might be usable for finding businesses, though, since the Magellan's points-of-interest function hasn't been updated for several years.

If I really wanted the fancier smartphone functions, I'd upgrade to TracFone's top LG model, but that's $60 more, and I just don't currently see myself in need of a shirt-pocket computer. If I were to find a cheap enough Android/Wi-Fi tablet, I might pop for one of those as a travel companion, but 90% of the time all I really need to do is make voice calls.

[Chesapeake]

Each to his own of course, but I'd rather pay under a buck a month for an installment plan on an advanced smart phone (I agree the 5c is plenty), and have a two-year contract - am I really going to go around every few months and see if anybody has come out with a cheaper plan? - and live in the 21st century with all its technological wonders that make life easier and cooler, than not. Sometimes you just need to not fight the machine.

[Russell Letson]

Oct 17, 2014 17:18:12 GMT -5 Chesapeake said:

I'd rather pay under a buck a month for an installment plan on an advanced smart phone (I agree the 5c is plenty), and have a two-year contract.

Am I reading that right? $1/month for voice/data service with a two-year contract? The deals I see start at $15/mo. with most north of $50/mo. My impression is that for college students the smartphone bill has replaced the car payment as the primary reason for needing a 30-hr/wk job.

[Chesapeake]

Russell, I was referring to the installment charges on the new phone, quoted by mccoyblues above for the 5c. Of course you also need a service plan for it to work, and that'll cost you something.

[Chesapeake]

And college students need to study more and talk less.

[Chesapeake]

On re-read, it looks like mccoyblues is saying you can buy the 5c for a one-time charge of $.97. That's pretty hard to resist if you don't just gotta have the 6.