Smart Phones and Smart Phone Sevice Plans Thread

Smart Phones are waaaay smarter than I am, in fact the "company just issued it's first real smart phone by upgrading from their Blackberry to these new Microsoft htc phones.

Now, Cathy is finally interested in a Smart Phone as she is now beginning to see how handy having internet access on her phone can be. She can currently upgrade to a droid phone for free, but what about service plans. They all seem so expensive!
We nearly have to have Verizon as that is the only cell reception we get at our house living in a box canyon.

Any suggestions on phones and service plans that financially make sense, or are all of you so into your phones no matter WHAT the cost... you phone junkies! :eh:

 

Re: Smart Phones and Smart Phone Sevice Plan Thread

BBJohn stop lurking here as I know you use a fliptop brick phone :lol:

Ohhh, and I'm so glad to see you back on the forum....I thought we lost you . . .

 

Re: Smart Phones and Smart Phone Sevice Plan Thread

Mikie, I have Verizon. For my Android (Samsung 4S Mini) and my daughter's Apple (I Phone 5) it's $40 per phone for access and $30 for shared 1GB of data. My monthly bill with fees and taxes is $129, but I have an extra charge for the "stupid fee" - if I ever lose, destroy, or render worthless my phone, they'll replace it.

Where they get you is if you go over your data limit. So just be careful and use WiFi where it's available. Which is almost everywhere these days.

 

Verizon here also for the wife and I. Plans usually have 3 variables, being: talking minutes per month, number of texts per months, and data usage per month. You can try to get by with the cheapest plan with the smallest allotments, but if you go over in any of those areas it costs big bucks. We went over our allotment on talk time once and it was something like $5 per minute Just depends how much you use that stuff (wife and I share 700 min, unlimited text and 2GB data I think and it's around $80 per phone per month. Probably better plans now, I need to look into it again.

Also, when picking out a phone, research and get one with good battery life. Nothing sucks more than to loose battery after a couple few hours of heavy use. Newer phones prob are better than the oldish HTCs we have.

 

hhmmm...Handheld computers with a phone feature.

I have ATT, and now that the Moto X is paid my bill is $60.00. Unlimited talk, text and 2G data but usually sits about 3G or more due to the monthly data roll-over.
This is used for friends, family and fun so only get minor use and not a lot of data used. used a few minutes a day.

I also have a iPhone 6 on ATT. It's a company phone and unlimited everything. But I do get dinged $40 month on that for Data.
I use this for business, and I use it A LOT. Our company has a app that allows me to do about half my data/inventory access on the iPhone. Used hours a day.

Also used to have Verizon, and I think it is probably a little better service, but it does cost more.

Moto X and iPhone 6 are both excellent phones, which is better? Given same provider and that both top end phones, I could flip a coin and be happy.
Both operating systems have idiosyncrasy's that kind of frustrate me. If Apple and Android would get along and share features we could have a near perfect smart phone.

 

As far as phones go I have an Android Galaxy s5. I am on my phone all day and am around 50% battery life after 12 hours. The phone is a year old so I imagine you could get one "free" with a plan from Verizon.

 

I'm on Tracfone, which uses Verizon's network for my particular phone and area, LG Ultimate 2. About $100 a year for 1200 minutes, 1200 MB of data, and 1200 texts (3 individual balances). Battery seems to last a decent length with default settings, lasting quite a while when just being carried (with GPS/location service off), using up about 10% in a day. Good inexpensive starter smart phone (extremely good bang-for-the-buck, IMO). I've had worse, which were really slow, but this one's actually fast enough to keep up decently with my inputs. I use FreeNav for GPS, which is really the main thing I use it for.

This is where I got it from: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/LG-Ultimate-2-4-5-Smartphone-White-w-1200-Minute-Te-xt-Data-Incl-Tracfone-/131531906000" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.ebay.com/itm/LG-Ultimate-2-4 ... 1531906000</a>

She should be good unless she likes NetFlix/streaming vids: <a class="postlink" href="http://i.imgur.com/viZ3uv4.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://i.imgur.com/viZ3uv4.jpg</a>

 

Thanks for the lead on this, I'm looking for a cheap cell phone/plan. I'd use mainly for mapping on Ride w/GPS, any guesses how much data that uses? And it connects to wifi at home for uploading pics or whatever I presume?

 

GPS shouldn't use data. It's downloading the detailed street maps, or accessing Strava website data that uses it up. GPS mainly just sucks up battery power. You can turn off data transmission to ensure that it's not using up your data balance. You can upload through wifi just like you would on an internet connection through a web browser, or the USB cable. Android is pretty smart about this kind of stuff, connecting automatically if you've already authenticated once before.

 

Mikie do you work for a company or own one? All these is very simple when you can write those costs off as a business expensive. If you don't already own a company then turn this website into a LLC and get your write offs. LLCs are not expensive or hard to set up. Then get a good tax accountant they will save you a bunch of tax money.

Besides having liability insurance for your website is not a bad idea. My attorney told me to stop organizing rides that if someone was hurt on a ride I organized I could be held liable. Now I just tell people where I am riding if they happen to be riding at the same time and place so be it.

My company is a little more complicated so it is a S Corp.


Dean

 

I do have a few things in the fire:
Tractor Business: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.dirtwerxinc.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">www.dirtwerxinc.com</a>
Website: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.imtbtrails.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">www.imtbtrails.com</a>
But I also work for Northrop Grumman
I have owned both Corporations and LLC's; and recently I have been considering moving imtbtrails to an LLC due to potential liability...
As well, I do have a great Tax person who has handled my Corporations and my personal taxes in the past.
Thanks for motivating me!
Mike

 

OK, thanks. I didn't know if the GPS function used data. I borrow my wife's phone most of the time, but wouldn't mind having my own. Just use it sooooo minimally that I just haven't bothered. And don't want to pay $60/month just for the little stuff I do.
Thanks!