Finally joining the "data plan" family ....

[Calico]

Quote:

Originally Posted by martyp I've had an iPhone for 4 yrs. I currently have an iPhone 5. I have an AT&T unlimited data plan from way back. I never actually speak on the phone. It is a small computer and internet connection in my pocket. I use the camera feature the most. Facebook. Traffic maps. Etc. I don't wear a watch anymore. I just check the time on my phone. Wouldn't leave home without it. If you can't afford it . . . well that is one thing. But just to resist the technology for the sake of resisting. I never understood that. If everyone had dial phones and you wanted to walk over to their house and talk face to face . . . would you resist getting a phone?

I can easily afford a smartphone. I just don't want one. I am connected to computers at work, and at home I live on the laptop or tablet. The only time I am not connected is when I am out and about, and I LIKE that. I LIKE not being reachable and not being connected at times.

Another (huge) reason for me not to get a smartphone is because without one, my workplace cannot expect me to work 24/7. The day they try to give me a smartphone is the day I hang it up.

To each their own. I don't criticize folks who feel the need for a smartphone (which basically includes 99% of the people I know). Doesn't mean I have to join them.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever I have the smart phone equivalent of your flip phone, Calico--the HTC One with Virgin Mobile.

DW feels your pain.

She had the Virgin Mobile HTC One for a year - actually she had three, as they kept malfunctioning. For mental health reasons - to protect her sanity and mine - I replaced it with a Samsung Galaxy 3 for Christmas. Now she's a happy phoner.

[Calico]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever I have the smart phone equivalent of your flip phone, Calico--the HTC One with Virgin Mobile. It was the last 3G smart phone sold as I apparently have Sucker written on my forehead, so the data is slow and awful and the sound is even worse. But it is unlimited data and everything else at $35/month which should make me feel better about it, but frugality is sometimes overrated. And the camera is terrible too! How I let myself be talked into this at Best Buy is beyond me. It replaced my ATT go phone or whatever that was called, prepaid minutes plan, that stopped holding a charge. Meanwhile, DH is on his second iPhone with Verizon.

Hmmmm....sounds like you might need to buy yourself a nice smartphone as a birthday present for yourself this year. Heck, as a late Christmas present to yourself. It sounds like in this case frugality is not worth it! I believe in frugality when possible, but not when it is painful. As stated in my other posts, my reasons for having a "dumb" phone are not cost-related, they are lifestyle related.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsmeow I think it just depends on how you would use it (or if you would). Things I use my iPhone for (and DH uses his Android phone similarly): 1. As our phone. We have no landline so a good phone is important to us. 2. For texting. Yes, that can be done on a "regular" (aka dumb) phone but it is easier on a smartphone (IMHO). 3. Reading books. Today DH and I went out shopping. He was in a slow line at the store so I went back to the car and opened up a Kindle book on my phone and read. 4. Flashlight. 5. Compass 6. Level 7. Sync my Fitbit through Bluetooth on it. 8. Camera - I even have a new lens to make the camera better. olloclip macro, telephoto, wide angle, fish-eye, and polarizing iPhone photo lenses Yes, I have a "real" camera but I've found with this phone that it handles about 99% of my photo needs. 9. Upload photos and posts to Facebook (and read Facebook) 10. Keep recipes on Cook'n, my recipe program. 11. Look up calories and WW points for restaurants while I'm at the restaurant or if we decide while out to go somewhere. 12. Calculate WW points for food I look at in the grocery store. 13. Read the newspaper 14. Listen to music 15. Watch videos 16. Check the weather 17. Find my way using the map and GPS 18. Check the stock market 19. Buy things at auction on World of Warcraft 20. Provide my authenticator for my World of Warcraft account 21. Use Skype 22. Record what I eat on MyFitnessPal 23. Play games. 24. Use the calculator 25. Use it as a remote for my TV. 26. Take notes 27. Record and look up reminders 28. Use Twitter 29. Read this forum. 30. Make deposits to my bank Hmm...need to go get some more apps....

How about to check the time?

[NoiseBoy]

I took the plunge 15 months ago because I wanted to be connected while on vacation in DC, but I didn't want to lug a laptop around all day. To keep the cost down I went with Virgin Mobile (Sprint Network) and a $200 3G phone. Since my "dumb" phone was with Sprint I knew what their coverage was like in my home area. At this point I am money ahead versus going with a 2 year contract on Verizon/ATT/Sprint. I pay $49 with fees and taxes for 1200 minutes, unlimited texts, and 2GB of data.


As far as being connected I will say that I will never go back. For instance, the next time I visit my parents I will pull up my sister's latest Facebook post with pictures of Christmas in Cali so that my parents can see their grand children (they are not connected and there are no open WiFi routers near by.)


I will say that I am shopping for a faster phone and network because Sprint has not managed to bring 4G to town. As of now I'm am planning to go with a 500Mb plan with T-Mobile because I want to get a GSM phone. I am interested in hearing if anyone has had a really negative experience with T-Mobile. Virgin's service in the major cities that I have visited has been fine, by the way. I probably would stay with them, and not get a GSM phone, if they had 4G where I live.

[Katsmeow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 How about to check the time?

I usually check my Fitbit Force for that, but yes I've done that. I've also used it as an alarm clock. And, I forgot to mention that I use it to take pics of receipts which I attached to Quicken on my phone. Also, I've used to take pics of a possible product at a store and then bring it home and research it.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsmeow I usually check my Fitbit Force for that, but yes I've done that. I've also used it as an alarm clock. And, I forgot to mention that I use it to take pics of receipts which I attached to Quicken on my phone. Also, I've used to take pics of a possible product at a store and then bring it home and research it.

That's a good idea about taking pictures of receipts!

Definitely - alarm clock. DH and I - he uses his iPhone, I use my iPad.

He gets shipping/delivery notifications from Amazon and sets various other alarms.

[Cassie]

I finally came into the 21st century 3 years ago when I bought an iPhone 3G because it was a free upgrade. my data plan is 200MB, 200 texts and 450+ minutes. I use it for texting, taking pictures, & occasionally talking. I don't upgrade every time a new version comes out. I never let my office know my number, I always gave my land line, I didn't want to be accessible 24/7, & managed to never get an agency Blackberry. I've save every phone I've had plus the one my Mom had. I'm trying to embrace technology.....and my iPad is my BFF!

[retiredatfifty]

Having each had water incidents with our Pantech "big number" flip phones we got the last time we renewed our 2 year ATT plan ... my wife & I now both carry no-frills ATT go-phones, just swapped the Sim cards that came with them for our plan Sim cards. I spend a lot of time boating & fishing, so not sure a pricey phone wouldbe right for me anyway. Accidents do happen. We have a 400 min per month ATT shared family plan that rolls over minutes. 19 y/o daughter has a fancy smart phone she wanted for her birthday a couple years ago with a couple gigs of data & 200 texts per month. Wife & I hardly ever text & daughter doesn't text often. I don't like texting & I hate when people text me ('cause it costs 20 cents to view it). Daughter uses her data some ... but not a lot ... and uses her phone on WiFi more often. Total for all is about $108 per month including all taxes, fees, etc. We never use up all of our minutes, although we seem to talk on the phone a lot. Nights & weekends don't count against minutes, nor do calls to other ATT cell phone users. (We also have a landline in the house that comes as part of our cableTV/internet package. We use that some.)

Wife and I have agreed smart phones might be a nice little luxury for us ... but one we can live without considering the total costs. Just not worth it. Maybe in the future if prices come down no no-contract smart phones - which they seem to be starting to.

We usually take one of our bargain-basement laptops with us on trips.

[JakeBrake]

I support three AT&T "freebie" flip phones on the voice family plan. Pay as you go data is the default option. If someone pushed the wrong buttons the phones would be off to the internet/data races. Also, I was receiving a large amount of data spam from unknown sources. I would be charged outrageous prices because I don't have a data plan. So, I blocked data from the three phones. I haven't missed it yet.

Although I will admit that now that I am now eligible for new replacement "free" dumb phones or reduced price smartphones I have been checking online with AT&T to see what is available.

I have discovered that if one of the dumb phones breaks before I am eligible for a "free" replacement, I can buy an identical phone on ebay at very low cost and install my existing SIM card and I'm good to go. I also discovered that if I lost one of my phones, AT&T will replace the SIM card for free and I can either buy one of their phones which are definitely not free or I can buy another phone on ebay.

[timwalsh300]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy29 You're not alone, but we're only now starting to see data with some cell phone plans becoming reasonable as long as you aren't a data hog... It doesn't even mean being a Luddite. I've been goofing around and working with computers since about 1980. I have a degree in Computer Science and spent 26 years in industry before being unceremoniously downsized in April. But I never felt it was a cost-effective thing to do.

Very well said; I share your thoughts. I spent part of this past weekend getting my father set up with some things on his new iPad and smartphone. I even read through most of the Android API this summer and fiddled with app development. The technology interests me, but I still don't feel compelled to spend several hundred dollars on a device plus another thousand dollars per year for a data plan. My $50 phone with $12/month service from PagePlus is fine. I spend much more time on my $300, four-year-old, Toshiba laptop.

Tim

[scrinch]

I've had a smartphone since 2002. They have just become part of life. On vacation in the US I use the $45 StraightTalk unlimited plan, and in Indonesia my monthly data bill runs about $25 for me and DW combined. I keep in touch with my kids, translate to/from Indonesian, cheat on crossword puzzles, look up the name of that old movie I can't quite remember, watch the Giants game/highlights on the way to work, read/listen to books, take photos... I find it worth the money and don't find it a tether at all.

[slowsaver]

I've had 2 unlocked Android smart phones since 2008, but never paid for a data plan. Too much of a rip-off. I pay for t-mobile's prepaid plan ($100 per year -- includes voice and text messages), and use WIFI for free, whenever possible.

[robnplunder]

I am now thinking to go with T-Mobile prepaid plan ($100, 1000 mins, 1 year duration), and let DW & DS upgrade their phones to data plan with Verizon.

[foxfirev5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by retiredatfifty Having each had water incidents with our Pantech "big number" flip phones we got the last time we renewed our 2 year ATT plan ... my wife & I now both carry no-frills ATT go-phones, just swapped the Sim cards that came with them for our plan Sim cards. I spend a lot of time boating & fishing, so not sure a pricey phone wouldbe right for me anyway. Accidents do happen. We have a 400 min per month ATT shared family plan that rolls over minutes. 19 y/o daughter has a fancy smart phone she wanted for her birthday a couple years ago with a couple gigs of data & 200 texts per month. Wife & I hardly ever text & daughter doesn't text often. I don't like texting & I hate when people text me ('cause it costs 20 cents to view it). Daughter uses her data some ... but not a lot ... and uses her phone on WiFi more often. Total for all is about $108 per month including all taxes, fees, etc. We never use up all of our minutes, although we seem to talk on the phone a lot. Nights & weekends don't count against minutes, nor do calls to other ATT cell phone users. (We also have a landline in the house that comes as part of our cableTV/internet package. We use that some.) Wife and I have agreed smart phones might be a nice little luxury for us ... but one we can live without considering the total costs. Just not worth it. Maybe in the future if prices come down no no-contract smart phones - which they seem to be starting to. We usually take one of our bargain-basement laptops with us on trips.

Sounds like our family scenario. I've had two go in the water off boats, one attached to my wife. Likewise, the laptop works better both at home and on the road for getting anything done. If you want to get in touch call me, if it's not critical send and email.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassie I finally came into the 21st century 3 years ago ...

You forgot about this 'classic'!




I skimmed the thread, but I'll throw in my 2 cents.

DW wanted something so she could text and share photos with the kids and friends (OK, she could text with her RAZR, but that's not EZ w/o a full keyboard). I was very hesitant to jump to some $30 plus a month plan, since we are 'Gold Status' with T-Mobile, which means just $10 a year (83 cents per month, yes, CENTS), assuming you don't use very many minutes/texts.

So I got her the Samsung Exhibit smartphone from Walmart for $200, and put her old SIM card in it, maintaining our 'Gold Status'. You can get full data for $2-$3 per day, and stick to the $10/year plan for as long as those minutes hold out. Mostly, she is within wifi rage, so she doesn't use many minutes. In fact, we have yet to turn on the $2-$3 per day data plan, but it is there if we need it. I did add $25 instead of just $10 last cycle to cover the added texting, but <$2.50/month is still cheap, cheap, cheap.

-ERD50

[Dreamer]

I just did my yearly buying of minutes for my Tracfone yesterday. Received 1250 minutes (bonus of 250 minutes) for $107.69 including the taxes and fees. I now have over 3000 minutes, but normally keep my phone turned off.

I do have the Ipod Touch, but have not tried using it as a phone via Skype. I should try that sometime. I normally use my Ipod as a camera and for listening to music when I am flying somewhere, which is not often. I usually keep it turned off also. I tend to forget about charging phones and Ipod, so find it is better to keep them turned off. I guess that I should try to use my Ipod Touch more often.

My spouse loves his Iphone and uses it for looking things up. He just came in and showed me when Ohio State plays its bowl, he texts and uses a lot of apps. If we were not together so much, I probably would break down and get a smartphone. I just don't think it would pay me to at this stage of the game. I am one of the few people that still prefer a land line phone. I know, I really do need to get with the times!

[Live And Learn]

DH and I have ancient flip phones also. I pay $100 / month for 4 phones (both our mom's are on our plans and I use a fair amount of minutes for my j*b). I have an Acer 7" tablet that I use for apps and photos. I don't pay for data and have found that free Wi-Fi is fairly easy to find. We're total homebodies so a fancy phone just isn't worth it. Once I retire I'm ditching the plan phones and going with annual prepaid for all of us.

[Calico]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dreamer I just did my yearly buying of minutes for my Tracfone yesterday. Received 1250 minutes (bonus of 250 minutes) for $107.69 including the taxes and fees. I now have over 3000 minutes, but normally keep my phone turned off. I do have the Ipod Touch, but have not tried using it as a phone via Skype. I should try that sometime. I normally use my Ipod as a camera and for listening to music when I am flying somewhere, which is not often. I usually keep it turned off also. I tend to forget about charging phones and Ipod, so find it is better to keep them turned off. I guess that I should try to use my Ipod Touch more often. My spouse loves his Iphone and uses it for looking things up. He just came in and showed me when Ohio State plays its bowl, he texts and uses a lot of apps. If we were not together so much, I probably would break down and get a smartphone. I just don't think it would pay me to at this stage of the game. I am one of the few people that still prefer a land line phone. I know, I really do need to get with the times!

I bought the same number of annual Tracfone minutes a few days ago, but I paid $109.79. Hey, you saved $2.00!

[Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsmeow I think it just depends on how you would use it (or if you would). Things I use my iPhone for (and DH uses his Android phone similarly): 1. As our phone. We have no landline so a good phone is important to us. 2. For texting. Yes, that can be done on a "regular" (aka dumb) phone but it is easier on a smartphone (IMHO). 3. Reading books. Today DH and I went out shopping. He was in a slow line at the store so I went back to the car and opened up a Kindle book on my phone and read. 4. Flashlight. 5. Compass 6. Level 7. Sync my Fitbit through Bluetooth on it. 8. Camera - I even have a new lens to make the camera better. olloclip macro, telephoto, wide angle, fish-eye, and polarizing iPhone photo lenses Yes, I have a "real" camera but I've found with this phone that it handles about 99% of my photo needs. 9. Upload photos and posts to Facebook (and read Facebook) 10. Keep recipes on Cook'n, my recipe program. 11. Look up calories and WW points for restaurants while I'm at the restaurant or if we decide while out to go somewhere. 12. Calculate WW points for food I look at in the grocery store. 13. Read the newspaper 14. Listen to music 15. Watch videos 16. Check the weather 17. Find my way using the map and GPS 18. Check the stock market 19. Buy things at auction on World of Warcraft 20. Provide my authenticator for my World of Warcraft account 21. Use Skype 22. Record what I eat on MyFitnessPal 23. Play games. 24. Use the calculator 25. Use it as a remote for my TV. 26. Take notes 27. Record and look up reminders 28. Use Twitter 29. Read this forum. 30. Make deposits to my bank Hmm...need to go get some more apps....

Yes! And them some. 40+ apps and use on regular basis. Will be setting up friend on plan soon.