Does a good starter smartphone exist?

[railer]

I was waiting around for that $10/200 MB T-mobile dataplan to roll out....but now that it's here it looks to be not that cheap when coupled with a call and text plan. The cheapest talk/text/web plan from Tmobile is $60 month.

I've got a tracphone now, and I avearge $15 per month between calls and texts. I would love a plan that let me do the rather small amount of calling and texting that I do, plus a limieted amount of internet (200 MB/month should be fine), and free WIFI whereever I could find it.

Does such a thing exist? I con't care if it's prepaid or on contract, but there's no way I'm going to spend $60/month, plus taxes and fees, on some phone that I get only a tiny bit more use out of than my junky tracfone. I thought the Comet or the the Optimus T would be good phones for me. I'd love to get out of the 90's here....just need a bit of advice.

 

[ew915]

buy a used n1 and get the unlimited $10 plan with $29.99 even more plus making it $40.
I get "unlimited" data, tethering, free texts with google voice, skype 3g calling and wifi calling.

 

[cronos]

Depends on what you mean by 'smartphone'. Do you need a touchscreen?

How much are you willing to spend for the phone? Because prepaid seems to be the way to go and therefore full price phones.

How is Sprint coverage over there? Other major carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile)?

 

[railer]

I don't care about touchscreen.

I guess smartphone to me means - phone that serves as a capable web browser, with a decent camera/mp3 player thrown into the mix.

A few people I work with have "free" phones, but they pay over 80 bucks a month for their plan. I don't mind paying up front for a decent phone, if that meant I could get by with a cheaper pay as you go plan, with no mandatory monthly bill. Heck, if I could find enough hotspots, I'd even let the data plan expire, so that would be another reason to go prepaid. I don't think that unlimited $10 data plan from Tmobile exists anymore.....and I didn't see on their website any way to get just data...they always seem to bundle it with other talk and text plans that push the cost up over 70 or 80 bux per month.

And my trackphone coverage is excellent in upstate NY....I'm not sure whose cell towers they use, but it works well. I've heard that Tracfone rents from Verizon, or any available service, but I'm not sure what the truth is.

 

[shortylickens]

Somebody in this forum showed me a prepaid service that has 1 Android phone and its only 50 bucks a month. That was for unlimited data which is actually pretty damn good.

Also, you could go with Verizon and get the limited data plan for 15 dollars a month. But getting a smartphone with limited data usage is probably going to drive you nuts. If you really like it then you will always be going over.

And what means Smartphone to you does not mean smartphone to most of us nerds.
All phones serve as decent media players these days. None of them have good cameras and it always amuses me when people actually consider the camera on a phone to be a feature.
Many can browse the web with minimal hassle so I dont think you really need a true smartphone. A basic multimedia phone would be fine for you.

 

[ew915]

I don't care about touchscreen.

I guess smartphone to me means - phone that serves as a capable web browser, with a decent camera/mp3 player thrown into the mix.

A few people I work with have "free" phones, but they pay over 80 bucks a month for their plan. I don't mind paying up front for a decent phone, if that meant I could get by with a cheaper pay as you go plan, with no mandatory monthly bill. Heck, if I could find enough hotspots, I'd even let the data plan expire, so that would be another reason to go prepaid. I don't think that unlimited $10 data plan from Tmobile exists anymore.....and I didn't see on their website any way to get just data...they always seem to bundle it with other talk and text plans that push the cost up over 70 or 80 bux per month.

And my trackphone coverage is excellent in upstate NY....I'm not sure whose cell towers they use, but it works well. I've heard that Tracfone rents from Verizon, or any available service, but I'm not sure what the truth is.

You can still get the $10 data plan but you need to call in and ask for it expressly. Just don't tell them you have a N1 then change your apn and you are good to go.
Well actually any unbranded phone works with the $10 data plan such as the nokia n900. But i'm quite positive the $10 will plan will be phased out soon when the tiered plans are introduced.

 

[pm]

Boostmobile is unlimited everything for
$50/month -> $45/month (after 6 months -> $40 (after 1 year) -> $35 (after 1.5 years).
http://plans.boostmobile.com/monthlyunlimited.aspx
They have the Blackberry Curve and Samsung Seek.

Virgin Mobile is 300 min/unlimited web/unlimited text for $25/month:
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/beyond-talk-plans.jsp
They have the Blackberry Curve, LG Rumor (Symbian), and Samsung Intercept (Android).

 

[shortylickens]

buy a used n1 and get the unlimited $10 plan with $29.99 even more plus making it $40.
I get "unlimited" data, tethering, free texts with google voice, skype 3g calling and wifi calling.

???

 

[murphy55d]

Boostmobile is unlimited everything for
$50/month -> $45/month (after 6 months -> $40 (after 1 year) -> $35 (after 1.5 years).
http://plans.boostmobile.com/monthlyunlimited.aspx
They have the Blackberry Curve and Samsung Seek.

Virgin Mobile is 300 min/unlimited web/unlimited text for $25/month:
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/beyond-talk-plans.jsp
They have the Blackberry Curve, LG Rumor (Symbian), and Samsung Intercept (Android).

That Boost mobile with the blackberry curve seems like a pretty good deal.

 

[cronos]

Yeah, these (Boost and Virgin) are exactly the reason I was asking about Sprint coverage above. If you have good Sprint coverage, then go with one of these two.

 

[railer]

Yeah, these (Boost and Virgin) are exactly the reason I was asking about Sprint coverage above. If you have good Sprint coverage, then go with one of these two.

It looks like Virgin Mobile has no roaming agreement with anyone. They may use the Sprint/Nextel network, but for whatever reason they don't have roaming. That $25 plan through Virgin looked pretty good too...

This is off their website:

__________________________________________________________________________

Does Virgin Mobile coverage include roaming? With Virgin Mobile, there is no roaming. No roaming means no roaming charges.

You can use your Virgin Mobile phone anywhere in Virgin Mobile and extended digital coverage areas across the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

If you leave our coverage area, all your text messages will be saved for up to 72 hours. Voicemail messages will be saved until you return.

 

[railer]

I found this about Boost Mobile. Looks like I'm stuck with one of the larger carriers:

There's a lot of confusion out there as to whether someone moves their service from Sprint to Boost Mobile (Sprint Subsidary) whether or not they will have the exact same coverage area and roaming area. The truth is, NO. Sprint has roaming agreements with other carriers including Verizon Wireless, and Boost Mobile does not. Boost Mobile offers almost the exact same footprint in coverage as Sprint, however when it comes to roaming Sprint has the BEST and COMPLETE coverage versus Boost Mobile. This isn't something new to the Pre-Paid Cellular Marketplace as pre-paid carriers like StraightTalk (which uses Verizon's network and others) reduce their overall costs by not offering roaming. This is why they can offer a cheaper discounted airtime or unlimited plans. So, if you travel extensively you may want to consider staying with SPRINT however if you just want reliable home coverage and the same coverage as Sprint (but without the roaming) then you should really consider BOOST MOBILE.

 

[maniac5999]

I'm on Virgin with the Intercept. To be honest, it's pretty weak for an Android phone, but it is android, and it's $25/mo. That's the same as I was paying for my line with 500 texts and no data under my family's old family plan with Verizon.

The make it or break it decision is going to be how good sprint's coverage is where you live. Look at the map below. I'm in NJ, and I've never been without a signal except when I'm on the subway. (but even Verizon won't give you signal there)

From my limited experience the coverage map is pretty honest. From a quick inspection, it looks like it's pretty good if you're in the eastern US or CA, so as long as you don't live in the middle of nowhere you might want to consider it.

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/check-cell-phone-coverage

Also, if you use less than 300min/mo I'd go for Virgin over Boost, it's just cheaper.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Another option is Page Plus, score a used Droid and activate it with their $29/month 1200 texts.1200 minutes 50 mb plan. Gives you Verizon's network for coverage. Install 3G watchdog so you don't go over the 50mb limit and use WiFi for most stuff.

What killed me was Navigation, I went over the 50 mb pretty quickly...

 

[vshah]

Another option is Page Plus, score a used Droid and activate it with their $29/month 1200 texts.1200 minutes 50 mb plan. Gives you Verizon's network for coverage. Install 3G watchdog so you don't go over the 50mb limit and use WiFi for most stuff.

What killed me was Navigation, I went over the 50 mb pretty quickly...

jesus, is there a phone/plan that you haven't tried?

 

[Pliablemoose]

jesus, is there a phone/plan that you haven't tried?

I've never signed a contract with Verizon, although I was playing with a Droid X and a Galaxy Tab in a Verizon store yesterday : ninja;

 

[railer]

Another option is Page Plus, score a used Droid and activate it with their $29/month 1200 texts.1200 minutes 50 mb plan. Gives you Verizon's network for coverage. Install 3G watchdog so you don't go over the 50mb limit and use WiFi for most stuff.

What killed me was Navigation, I went over the 50 mb pretty quickly...

Would I need an unlocked Droid? That doesn't look too bad, and especially at prepaid I wouldn't be out anything if it didn't pan out.

I'm looking at some Cliq XT's on ebay - mostly because they're about $100 used and I was going to try a workaround with T-mobile. But if I could use a T-mobile Cliq with Page Plus I might try that too.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Would I need an unlocked Droid? That doesn't look too bad, and especially at prepaid I wouldn't be out anything if it didn't pan out.

I'm looking at some Cliq XT's on ebay - mostly because they're about $100 used and I was going to try a workaround with T-mobile. But if I could use a T-mobile Cliq with Page Plus I might try that too.

You don't need to unlock your phone, but the Cliq won't work it's GSM and Page Plus uses Verizon's CDMA network.

http://www.kittywireless.com/pageplus/index.html

http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php/364-Page-Plus-Cellular

 

[railer]

Well I do appreciate all the responses, and I'm looking to pull the trigger on an Android phone....just not sure which one or what plan to use with it yet.

One last question.....can any wifi capable smartphone utilize any open wifi connection? Or do certain carriers restrict that access? I'm reading about T-mobile hotspots, and it almost sounds like they have some proprietary hotspot network. I'd like to be able to take my future android, even if it's off contract, and take it to some McDonalds or some other place with free wifi, and be able to get on the web. Is that not realistic with all plans?

Thanks!

 

[zerocool84]

Well I do appreciate all the responses, and I'm looking to pull the trigger on an Android phone....just not sure which one or what plan to use with it yet.

One last question.....can any wifi capable smartphone utilize any open wifi connection? Or do certain carriers restrict that access? I'm reading about T-mobile hotspots, and it almost sounds like they have some proprietary hotspot network. I'd like to be able to take my future android, even if it's off contract, and take it to some McDonalds or some other place with free wifi, and be able to get on the web. Is that not realistic with all plans?

Thanks!

Certain carriers have their own specific wifi spots. AT&T and T-Mobile have them but if it's an open wifi then any device can use that.