Lothar's Smartphone Thread

[lothar]

After being a dumbphone user since 2004, I decided to get a smartphone.
I ordered the "international"(or European) Samsung Galaxy S II on *day through Amazon. This would be my 3rd phone ever.
Nokia 3310 in Aug '04 >>> Jumped to LG Voyager in Dec '08 >>> Samsung Galaxy S II in Oct '11.
New phone should be arriving soon in a few days.

I also bought a Nokia E71 refurb through Straight Talk, and plan to use them for their $45/month unlimited plan(I know it's not really "unlimited" so no need for the lecture)

I will be porting my Verizon number to Google Voice next week or so.
I could have waited till the AT&T version, but decided not to because of flexibility.

Pro:
a) Cost. Straight Talk is a cheaper plan, same coverage as AT&T post-paid.
b) Modding support. If it's any indication like the original Galaxy S phones, the international version will be more supported by the modding community than the US carriers specific versions.
c) Flexibility to go to AT&T anytime I want if I'm not satisfied with Straight Talk without having to signup for their $25 2GB smartphone plan, unlike if I had bought the AT&T version.

Con:
a) NFC capability (this isn't really a con because only 2 phones out of thousands ion the market support it. By the time NFC becomes widespread, my phone would have long been outdated.
b) Warranty.

Nexus Prime? Who knows when that would be released? I also didn't have a grandfathered unlimited plan. Oh, and Verizon "world" phones suck. That's the main reason I left them probably...and the fact that my company employee discount

Sprint? No, thank you. If their network coverage was up to snuff and they get rid of that $10/month 3/4G tax, they would be my default choice.
Oh, and did I mention that their "world" phones suck as well?

T-Mobile? Same deal with Sprint regarding coverage...Not to mention I would only get Edge speeds.

AT&T? Surprising they were the cheapest of the major telecoms, but I want to give prepaid a try first. They will serve as my backup just in case.

 

[Fire&Blood]

Ok to ask how much you paid for it?

You make good arguments and all your points are very valid. Unless you got a good price, the only counter argument I could make is that you should have bought it sooner.

And just in case the Prime should arrive soon and appeal to you, the intl. version has a better resale value as well, if you were to go to that route.

You sure you don't need that lecture about "Straight Talk $45/month is not unlimited"? If you change your mind, I'm standing by with the lecture ready.

 

[zinfamous]

hmm, I might have to try straight talk...does it even work here?

I got the same phone off of amazon and have been using it for almost 3 weeks now, with my T-Mobile SIM (no contract) lol.

the lack of 3G or more hasn't bothered me yet--I have plenty of wifi in the area, and i don't currently have a data plan--waiting on family options for ATT, possibly.


anyway--no complaints. this is actually my 5th phone, first smartphone. Previous was Samsung Behold (TMo)...I hated that phone. gah.

LG EnV on Verizon (liked it quite a bit), some motorolla free silver flippy thing (verizon--worked fine), and some blue samsung thing on T-mobile--free, my first cell.

 

[zinfamous]

Ok to ask how much you paid for it?

You make good arguments and all your points are very valid. Unless you got a good price, the only counter argument I could make is that you should have bought it sooner.

And just in case the Prime should arrive soon and appeal to you, the intl. version has a better resale value as well, if you were to go to that route.

You sure you don't need that lecture about "Straight Talk $45/month is not unlimited"? If you change your mind, I'm standing by with the lecture ready.

i'll share my info:

$600, shipped off of Amazon, received in 2 days with Prime

I was approved for a new Chase Freedom card with instant $250 cash back on first purchase, no interest on purchases for 12 months, no annual fee.

so...the night that card came in, I activated, bought the SGS2. so...$350 for me, off contract.



--

so straight talk uses the same 1900 frequency as ATT for 3G and more?

do they have HSPA+ ?

:hmm:

damn, I need to look into this. my GF recently switched her TMo plan to a much cheaper pre-paid, but she's already had 2 hassles with the day that that plan is supposed to turn over.

 

[ew915]

The only problem i see with this is the entry cost, which is $700 since you paid $600 for the GS2 and $100 for the E71, now a similar AT&T plan would cost you in the $100 month so yeah you'd be saving money past 12 months i don't know if you can live that long on ST since they watch data like the gestapo so you really shouldn't go over 2Gb or else they turn your data off and you will have to call CS and explain them how you managed to use more than 2Gb of data on a E71.
Now not everyone needs unlimited talk or text so the actual plan you need may be less so you will be needing more time to "recoup" your investment, i don't know i had it and while i was using it i was actually making money on it since they had specials every month where they give away a free phone for every $45 refill card, i was buying 5 phones every month when they had the good phones out so my service was almost free. They don't have that anymore.

 

[lothar]

Ok to ask how much you paid for it?

You make good arguments and all your points are very valid. Unless you got a good price, the only counter argument I could make is that you should have bought it sooner.

And just in case the Prime should arrive soon and appeal to you, the intl. version has a better resale value as well, if you were to go to that route.

You sure you don't need that lecture about "Straight Talk $45/month is not unlimited"? If you change your mind, I'm standing by with the lecture ready.

$567

I generally agree...But then when I look at this chart, I'd say no. Okay so I missed the price stability by a month and should have bought then but I'm not paying $700-900 for a phone like the people that bought earlier did. That's just crazy talk. D:

And when is that supposed to be released?
How long after the initial US release does it take for Google's GSM Nexus lines to make their way to Europe? Does it take 6 months like it does for Samsung Galaxy phones here? If you're talking November for a Verizon release and January-February for an international GSM release, that's still a bit far away.

Don't use more than 2GB per month. Crappy customer service unless you contact them on Facebook or call some number in Florida. That's what I got from Howard Forums. Anything else you have to share that I don't know?
If this Straight Talk thing doesn't work out, I'll just sign a contract with AT&T to get the iPhone 5, sell it immediately, and use a dummy IMEI to setup the $15/month unlimited Medianet plan and change back to my Galaxy S II.
That was why I insisted to have the international version and not the AT&T version where you'd have to sign up for a $25 2GB data plan because they know the IMEI numbers of their branded phones. I know people who've been using unlocked international phones on AT&T for years on the Medianet plan.

 

[zinfamous]

damn, i't already dropped 40 bucks. I wish they had best-price guarantee with phones, like they do with TVs.

 

[lothar]

The only problem i see with this is the entry cost, which is $700 since you paid $600 for the GS2 and $100 for the E71, now a similar AT&T plan would cost you in the $100 month so yeah you'd be saving money past 12 months i don't know if you can live that long on ST since they watch data like the gestapo so you really shouldn't go over 2Gb or else they turn your data off and you will have to call CS and explain them how you managed to use more than 2Gb of data on a E71.
Now not everyone needs unlimited talk or text so the actual plan you need may be less so you will be needing more time to "recoup" your investment, i don't know i had it and while i was using it i was actually making money on it since they had specials every month where they give away a free phone for every $45 refill card, i was buying 5 phones every month when they had the good phones out so my service was almost free. They don't have that anymore.

I don't see how this would be a problem.
If you signed up for AT&T today, you'd have a 2GB limit with overage fees and throttling.
If one can manage 2GB on AT&T, then you should be able to manage 2GB on Straight Talk or anywhere else, no?

You're right about that, I don't need unlimited talk. I'm not one of those people that yaps around on the phone all day long. I don't use more than 450 minutes a month. I don't care about text once I transfer my number to Google Voice.

I'm willing to give Straight Talk a try.
Like I said before...if it doesn't work out, I'll just sign a contract with AT&T to get the iPhone 5, sell it immediately to pocket the price difference, and use a dummy IMEI to setup the $15/month unlimited Medianet data plan and change back to my Galaxy S II.

 

[lothar]

hmm, I might have to try straight talk...does it even work here?

I got the same phone off of amazon and have been using it for almost 3 weeks now, with my T-Mobile SIM (no contract) lol.

the lack of 3G or more hasn't bothered me yet--I have plenty of wifi in the area, and i don't currently have a data plan--waiting on family options for ATT, possibly.


anyway--no complaints. this is actually my 5th phone, first smartphone. Previous was Samsung Behold (TMo)...I hated that phone. gah.

LG EnV on Verizon (liked it quite a bit), some motorolla free silver flippy thing (verizon--worked fine), and some blue samsung thing on T-mobile--free, my first cell.

Straight Talk works anywhere AT&T works.
If people have good AT&T service in your area, then it works. Find someone with an AT&T iPhone and confirm.

 

[Fire&Blood]

so...the night that card came in, I activated, bought the SGS2. so...$350 for me, off contract.

WOW

so straight talk uses the same 1900 frequency as ATT for 3G and more?

do they have HSPA+ ?

:hmm:

Not sure about that. However, it doesn't cost much to try and for some, even EDGE doesn't put a dent in the deal if they have easy access to WiFi or simply don't care about data speeds.

lol At $45 per month, some could even afford Verizon's LTE hot spot and be close to what they currently pay.

 

[lothar]

so straight talk uses the same 1900 frequency as ATT for 3G and more?
do they have HSPA+ ?

:hmm:

damn, I need to look into this. my GF recently switched her TMo plan to a much cheaper pre-paid, but she's already had 2 hassles with the day that that plan is supposed to turn over.

Yes, if you get the E71 or the other phone 6xx0 I forgot the model number.
They both use regular AT&T sim so any AT&T phone(or other GSM phones that have AT&T frequency) will work once you swap.

No, they don't have HSPA+ as far as I'm aware, but you can get "fake" 3.5G (about 5-6MB/s) which is faster than regular 3G service. Compare that to the 3G service on Verizon and Sprint.

 

[zinfamous]

Straight Talk works anywhere AT&T works.
If people have good AT&T service in your area, then it works. Find someone with an AT&T iPhone and confirm.

ah yeah...so damn, it sucks. lol.

maybe no worse than TMo, though.


Berkeley is a terrible place for reception--bay area in general. Geography makes it difficult, on top of the 2? towers that are allowed, because whenever one is proposed, all the dirt-eating hippies show up at the city council meetings and bitch about brain cancer and disturbing the energy waves from their pyramid stone triangles and bullshit like that. It is...the only voice that anyone ever hears in these matters.

sigh....

so if it works with ATT, that means it works on 3G as well?

what I have discovered so far, googling after reading this thread, is that Straight Talk does not allow audio, video streaming, or internet access outside of the particular phone's applications...but this was from 2009.

sounds like you had to get that phone to get better "unlimited" data?

 

[zinfamous]

Yes, if you get the E71 or the other phone 6xx0 I forgot the model number.
They both use regular AT&T sim so any AT&T phone(or other GSM phones that have AT&T frequency) will work once you swap.

No, they don't have HSPA+ as far as I'm aware, but you can get "fake" 3.5G (about 5-6MB/s) which is faster than regular 3G service. Compare that to the 3G service on Verizon and Sprint.

OK, so you have to get those two phones, can't chose others.

honeslty, I'd like to get the less minutes, less texts (I barely push 300 talk minutes, or 200 texts per month--that's closer to 50, heh).

if it's pre-paid, i assume I can switch out to the cheaper plan the next month--with this 2GB data limit? ....:hmm:

time to look

 

[lothar]

ah yeah...so damn, it sucks. lol.

maybe no worse than TMo, though.


Berkeley is a terrible place for reception--bay area in general. Geography makes it difficult, on top of the 2? towers that are allowed, because whenever one is proposed, all the dirt-eating hippies show up at the city council meetings and bitch about brain cancer and disturbing the energy waves from their pyramid stone triangles and bullshit like that. It is...the only voice that anyone ever hears in these matters.

sigh....

so if it works with ATT, that means it works on 3G as well?

what I have discovered so far, googling after reading this thread, is that Straight Talk does not allow audio, video streaming, or internet access outside of the particular phone's applications...but this was from 2009.

sounds like you had to get that phone to get better "unlimited" data?

That's why I can't ever live in California.
Environmentalists are dangerous. There's a lot of money to be made in alarmism.

Yes, 3G and "fake" 3.5G will work as well.

They do not.
The E71 comes with a native Youtube and Facebook app.
If they ask, I'll just say I was using the Youtube app that came with my E71.

The agreement says those things to scare people but there's no way for them to know.
I'd wager that them packet sniffing is almost impossible. There's no way for them to tell whether you used your 2GB to stream music, watch youtube, or download pr0n. They only care about the 2GB amount.

Just make sure you don't use more than 2GB period. I've heard the cap is officially 5GB from a few people and others say 2GB. Just stay 2GB to be safe...That's the same amount AT&T allows anyway so I don't foresee this as a problem.

 

[lothar]

OK, so you have to get those two phones, can't chose others.

honeslty, I'd like to get the less minutes, less texts (I barely push 300 talk minutes, or 200 texts per month--that's closer to 50, heh).

if it's pre-paid, i assume I can switch out to the cheaper plan the next month--with this 2GB data limit? ....:hmm:

time to look

If you intend to use an AT&T or international GSM phone, then yes you have to get either of those 2 specific phones.
http://www.shopstraighttalk.com/bpd...siteType=&market=GSM5ATSPR&gotoPhonelist=true
Get the Nokia E71 or Nokia 6790 refurb for $99 and put it in a sock drawer.
Never sell it or give it to someone.

Straight Talk doesn't offer any lower plan(unless you want the plan that only has 30MB data allowance).
http://www.straighttalk.com/ServicePlans

 

[zinfamous]

That's why I can't ever live in California.
Environmentalists are dangerous. There's a lot of money to be made in alarmism.

Yes, 3G and "fake" 3.5G will work as well.

They do not.
The E71 comes with a native Youtube and Facebook app.
If they ask, I'll just say I was using the Youtube app that came with my E71.

The agreement says those things to scare people but there's no way for them to know.
I'd wager that them packet sniffing is almost impossible. There's no way for them to tell whether you used your 2GB to stream music, watch youtube, or download pr0n. They only care about the 2GB amount.

Just make sure you don't use more than 2GB period. I've heard the cap is officially 5GB from a few people and others say 2GB. Just stay 2GB to be safe...That's the same amount AT&T allows anyway so I don't foresee this as a problem.

well, I whole-heartedly disagree with that, I just don't like idiots. none of these people are environmentalists, and certainly aren't seeking profit--they're just flat out idiots.

I'm a biologist in training and upbringing--but I simply do not tolerate bullshit, of any stripe.



and I've had TMo reps tell me to simply change my plan a month later to whatever I want with no worry. I always assumed it was like that most places (this was always without data, though)


and this is what i was referring too:
http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/2705

again, it is dated 2009, so I'm not sure how relevant it is now, but the service plan specifically says "no audio, video streaming, uploading, or internet use outside of whatever aps." it doesn't say anything about 2GB limit.

I'm a noob with this stuff, but i guess it's possible that they are able to put that language in contracts, without the ability to check for specific types of data, as that type of data use covers the 2GB limit...without them having to say 2GB? ...sounds odd to me, but whatever.

I'm going to have consider this, strongly...after I move on Friday.

 

[lothar]

well, I whole-heartedly disagree with that, I just don't like idiots. none of these people are environmentalists, and certainly aren't seeking profit--they're just flat out idiots.

I'm a biologist in training and upbringing--but I simply do not tolerate bullshit, of any stripe.



and I've had TMo reps tell me to simply change my plan a month later to whatever I want with no worry. I always assumed it was like that most places (this was always without data, though)


and this is what i was referring too:
http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/2705

again, it is dated 2009, so I'm not sure how relevant it is now, but the service plan specifically says "no audio, video streaming, uploading, or internet use outside of whatever aps." it doesn't say anything about 2GB limit.

I'm a noob with this stuff, but i guess it's possible that they are able to put that language in contracts, without the ability to check for specific types of data, as that type of data use covers the 2GB limit...without them having to say 2GB? ...sounds odd to me, but whatever.

I'm going to have consider this, strongly...after I move on Friday.

A biologist is not an environmentalist. An environmentalist is not a biologist.
I associate environmentalists with people who are against nuclear(it can turn you into The Incredible Hulk), hydro(it kills the fishes), wind(it kills the birds), solar(it kills plant life and everything below it), coal, oil, gas, and anything else.
In essence, they are against all sensible energy forms. Sometime you will see them complaining about radiation, and other useless things.
Majority of environmentalists I've seen are idiots...especially the California ones.

Read this:
http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php/551-Straight-Talk (Main Forum Index)
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1733397-45-Unlocked-SIM-Data-Limit
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1730409-The-official-ST-answer-about-data-use.
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1720881-How-To-Straight-Talk-And-Android!-Everything-you-need-to-know(so-please-stop-asking)
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1669735-Straight-Talk-GSM-VS-CDMA-Coverage

They advertise "unlimited" with lots of restrictions...All telecom companies do this for wireless and broadband. AT&T, Verizon, Virgin Mobile were advertizing "unlimited" and but yet they're throttling users. The word "unlimited" for anything is a farce these days.
If you ignore those restrictions but never use more than 2GB, you should be fine.

 

[ew915]

Well is cool you give ST a try, my experience is that with ST you get the same coverage as AT&T and you can use all AT&T phones without the need to unlock if you get bored and even the iphone 4 works in the ST network, it remains to be seen if the iphone 5 works in the ST network but if it works it should be a heck of a deal.

I was using a new phone every week, from inspire, iphone 4, veer, infuse, nexus s, atrix it got to a point where i got too lazy to transfer all my stuff so i ended up signing for verizon before the unlimited data cut off. I am using a piece of crap tbolt and while the phone doesn't make my jaw drop the service has been outstanding and never had an issue where with AT&T or ST i had drop calls or calls that never connected during rush hour in traffic.

If ST works for you then you should keep it, i don't see them raising the prices because AT&T or VZW offers $50 monthly plans on crappy smartphones, while the selection that ST is offering isn't stellar the ability to use any AT&T phone is a great perk since you can go Craiglist hunting for deals and more often than not you will find phones that are severely under the market value.

The only issue here i see is the LTE transition, ST may never go LTE for the short time being.

 

[zinfamous]

yeah. I just call them crazies.

I'm very much an environmentalist, and i think nuclear is the greatest thing in the world.

....no real love for oil/coal, though. :hmm:

thanks for the info. I need to sleep though, damn...

:thumbsup:

 

[lothar]

Well is cool you give ST a try, my experience is that with ST you get the same coverage as AT&T and you can use all AT&T phones without the need to unlock if you get bored and even the iphone 4 works in the ST network, it remains to be seen if the iphone 5 works in the ST network but if it works it should be a heck of a deal.

I was using a new phone every week, from inspire, iphone 4, veer, infuse, nexus s, atrix it got to a point where i got too lazy to transfer all my stuff so i ended up signing for verizon before the unlimited data cut off. I am using a piece of crap tbolt and while the phone doesn't make my jaw drop the service has been outstanding and never had an issue where with AT&T or ST i had drop calls or calls that never connected during rush hour in traffic.

If ST works for you then you should keep it, i don't see them raising the prices because AT&T or VZW offers $50 monthly plans on crappy smartphones, while the selection that ST is offering isn't stellar the ability to use any AT&T phone is a great perk since you can go Craiglist hunting for deals and more often than not you will find phones that are severely under the market value.

The only issue here i see is the LTE transition, ST may never go LTE for the short time being.

I agree with you on that.

Sprint's LTE won't be available at major places for the next 3 years(if their WiMax roll out is any indication, not to mention they are using a 3rd party which can't possibly be faster than doing it "in house" like Verizon and AT&T are.)

Verizon's LTE is already at major places, but I don't have a grandfathered unlimited plan since I've never had a smartphone. Oh, did I mention that their "world" phones suck? I did an "upgrade" test with them before I made up my mind and they told me I need to have a $50 data plan to use my corporate discount. Screw that.

AT&T's LTE would have rolled out to majority of places in 2 years...By that time, it may be time for a new phone anyway. I'm not really a fan of LTE with 2GB limits. I actually prefer to have 3.5G or HSPA+ with 2GB limits so if I notice an app sucking data juice, I can cut it off immediately. My Verizon FiOS is faster than any LTE network in the US anyway, so I can use my WiFi.
I also have to find a way to secure an iPhone 2G so I can get grandfathered unlimited status with AT&T if I ever so desire but the ones I see on eBay are all broken screens, broken ports, "sold as is", etc...

From what I heard, carrier LTE's are inoperable.
Meaning AT&T's LTE won't work in Europe or any other place outside the US regardless of the frequency because they are using different versions over there, no?

 

[zinfamous]

anyone know the ave data consumption for every hour or so of Pandora streaming?

I'm pretty sure my data use would be quite light--outside of WiFi being primarily pandora, GPS/maps, and gmail, light browsing, here and there.

 

[alent1234]

anyone know the ave data consumption for every hour or so of Pandora streaming?

I'm pretty sure my data use would be quite light--outside of WiFi being primarily pandora, GPS/maps, and gmail, light browsing, here and there.

i remember it being around 100mb a day for high quality at around 4-5 hours of streaming per day

 

[lothar]

I just came from work and I've received 2 packages.
I assume one is the Straight Talk phone(FedEx) and the other is the Galaxy S II(UPS with Amazon box).

I'm excited, but I won't even waste my time trying to open them because I work a 12 hour shift tomorrow.

Things ordered:
1.) Phone: Already mentioned above.
2.) Case: I didn't care much. Just need a rubberized gel to absorb shock rather than a plastic case that doesn't do anything but transfer the shock to other places. This already arrived yesterday.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051PD826
3.) MicroSD card: I spent almost an hour(if not more) alone reading about this. I ended up going with a 32GB Class 4 SanDisk. This should arrive tomorrow.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OA8T92

 

[jpeyton]

I did the exact thing you did back in February.

Ported my number to Google Voice.

Signed up with Straight Talk $45/month.

My E71 has been collecting dust since then, but Straight Talk has worked great with every AT&T phone I've tried. I'm currently using an Atrix, but I'll pick up an SGS2 when they are reasonably priced on the used market (under $400).

The Atrix is a capable handset. It's rooted, unlocked, Tegra 2 running at 1.3GHz.

 

[zinfamous]

I just came from work and I've received 2 packages.
I assume one is the Straight Talk phone(FedEx) and the other is the Galaxy S II(UPS with Amazon box).

I'm excited, but I won't even waste my time trying to open them because I work a 12 hour shift tomorrow.

Things ordered:
1.) Phone: Already mentioned above.
2.) Case: I didn't care much. Just need a rubberized gel to absorb shock rather than a plastic case that doesn't do anything but transfer the shock to other places. This already arrived yesterday.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051PD826
3.) MicroSD card: I spent almost an hour(if not more) alone reading about this. I ended up going with a 32GB Class 4 SanDisk. This should arrive tomorrow.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OA8T92

I think I have that case. it is actually really snug and solid. but I use this one now

http://www.amazon.com/SGP-Samsung-Ga...7269594&sr=1-4

it's nice. ...certainly more than I ever thought I'd be willing to pay for a case, lol.
I wouldn't bother with a screen protector.

I'm still rocking my 8gb microSD from previous phone, will replace with 32gb when they are half current price...or less.

also, several people are confirming that the brand new ($300?) xc sd cards from sandisc, currently "only" 64gb, are working with the sgs2 (international, anyway).

same form-factor, but need a re-format (they do not work with FAT32)

this new class of SD is specc'd to go all the way to 2TB.....whoa.