Help me pick a new device

[Liquidambar]

The four of us are on a pay-as-you-go plan and we spend about $80 every three months to keep our plans active. Occasionally someone will next add texts or data but it doesn't go above $100 for the three months.

May I ask what your phone plan is?  My pay-as-you-go dumb phone is becoming too obsolete to connect to the cellular network, so I'm researching cheap options that could include some data for my next phone.

(Sorry about the thread hijack, Polly.)

[Hibush]

The four of us are on a pay-as-you-go plan and we spend about $80 every three months to keep our plans active. Occasionally someone will next add texts or data but it doesn't go above $100 for the three months.

May I ask what your phone plan is?  My pay-as-you-go dumb phone is becoming too obsolete to connect to the cellular network, so I'm researching cheap options that could include some data for my next phone.

(Sorry about the thread hijack, Polly.)

Pay-as-you go plans have gotten a lot more flexible. Mine is still about $100 per year for all the data, text and calls I can make (1200 MB/msg/min to be specific). The plan allows many different phones, they don't have to be from that vendor but do have to be on the right network. You can get a refurbished smartphone of reasonable vintage for about $150, which should last two or three years. The cost difference from a flip phone is small and the usability difference substantial.

[ohnoes]

I have a fantastic Motorola smartphone that I bought new for less than $175 and a prepaid Mint Mobile plan that gives me unlimited talk/text and way more data than I need for $15/month.  If I ever use it all, I'm just kicked down to the next level; I  can still use the data but will not wind up with a nasty surprise bill.

[polly_mer]

(Sorry about the thread hijack, Polly.)

The goal is discussion.  A whole world of phones is unfolding.

[paultuttle]

(Sorry about the thread hijack, Polly.)

The goal is discussion.  A whole world of phones is unfolding.

Very usefully, I might add.

[Antiphon1]

How about an ipad?  We bought the youngest Antiboy an ipad mini for his birthday.  It is compatible with apps but can also be used for light word processing via bluetooth key board.  He also uses a wireless mouse on occasion.  I think you can get some good deals through Walmart on refurbished newer generation retreads. 

[professor_pat]

Pay-as-you go plans have gotten a lot more flexible. Mine is still about $100 per year for all the data, text and calls I can make (1200 MB/msg/min to be specific). The plan allows many different phones, they don't have to be from that vendor but do have to be on the right network. You can get a refurbished smartphone of reasonable vintage for about $150, which should last two or three years. The cost difference from a flip phone is small and the usability difference substantial.

Hibush, can you share what plan that is? $100/year would save me enough money to buy two iPhones, one for me and one for SO.

[cc_alan]

The four of us are on a pay-as-you-go plan and we spend about $80 every three months to keep our plans active. Occasionally someone will next add texts or data but it doesn't go above $100 for the three months.

May I ask what your phone plan is?  My pay-as-you-go dumb phone is becoming too obsolete to connect to the cellular network, so I'm researching cheap options that could include some data for my next phone.

(Sorry about the thread hijack, Polly.)

Pay-as-you go plans have gotten a lot more flexible. Mine is still about $100 per year for all the data, text and calls I can make (1200 MB/msg/min to be specific). The plan allows many different phones, they don't have to be from that vendor but do have to be on the right network. You can get a refurbished smartphone of reasonable vintage for about $150, which should last two or three years. The cost difference from a flip phone is small and the usability difference substantial.

(I'll tag onto Hibush's and Liquidambar's post)

No investment in the following companies. Just used/use them!

We used Virgin Mobile for a few years until we switched to Tracfone which appears to have better coverage in our area. VM made it so frikkin' difficult to move our number to a different company that we just abandoned the phone numbers and had new ones issued to us from the new company.

And as Hibush wrote, buying phones is much easier but you do have to be careful and get one that will work on your network. Our oldest kid did the research themselves and then picked up a new sim card when the phone came in after talking to tech support for our service provider. Spouse and I decided to buy phones right from the company which made it incredibly easy to port our number from the old phones to the new ones (not changing providers this time, just phones).

I'm not a power user on the phone so I don't need a crap-ton of data and minutes. I piggy-back on wireless networks (home and work and other places) and only turn on data when I really need it.

So to use Tracfone as an example only because that's what we use-

I use a 90 day plan which gives me 6 hours of phone calls, a little under 200 texts, and a little under 200 MB of data for $20 ($2 discount if I enable auto-pay). If need it, I can buy an inexpensive add-on for 1000 texts and another inexpensive add-on for a gig of data.

To use the $100/year figure Hibush mentioned, that would gives me 20 hours of phone calls, over 1000 texts, and over 1.2 GB of data.

Unused rolls over.

[downer]

I use Tracfone. I find that quite often I don't have coverage when other people I'm with do. It's only occasionally a problem. It does make me more careful to download offline maps ahead of time.

There is a useful piece on how Tracfone networks work here: https://www.whistleout.com/CellPhones/Guides/tracfone-coverage-map

[polly_mer]

I use a Tracfone as my flip phone for travel.  I haven't encountered too many problems with no coverage, but then I've not tried it when stranded in the middle of nowhere.  It works great in airports and hotels to call home and update the newly changed plans.

[professor_pat]

I have an iPhone 5 a friend gave me when she upgraded a few years ago, and now I want an upgrade. My excuse is that the voice on the map/directions app is suddenly so quiet it's effectively useless, and the phone often informs me that it cannot connect to the app store, so I can only rarely get new apps or upgrade the old ones. But really, my motivation is a better camera and easier on-screen reading.

I'm looking at a 7 or 8. Budget is a factor, so I'd probably go with the 7 for that reason. Can I just pop the SIM card from my current iPhone into the new one and poof, it works? And can I order a new phone for delivery from Apple, then when it arrives, put in the SIM card myself?

[pgher]

Re Tracfone: a couple friends of mine took a road trip to visit me. The entire time they were in Kentucky, they had no coverage.

[Puget]

I have an iPhone 5 a friend gave me when she upgraded a few years ago, and now I want an upgrade. My excuse is that the voice on the map/directions app is suddenly so quiet it's effectively useless, and the phone often informs me that it cannot connect to the app store, so I can only rarely get new apps or upgrade the old ones. But really, my motivation is a better camera and easier on-screen reading.

I'm looking at a 7 or 8. Budget is a factor, so I'd probably go with the 7 for that reason. Can I just pop the SIM card from my current iPhone into the new one and poof, it works? And can I order a new phone for delivery from Apple, then when it arrives, put in the SIM card myself?

If you order the phone from Apple they can usually do the transfer with your carrier for you so your number will transfer to the new device as soon as you activate it (they will have you enter your carrier info when you order). Transferring contents from one iPhone to another is also usually really easy-- make sure your old device is backed up to either your computer or iCloud account and it will walk you through the rest when you turn the new phone on for the first time. Easy peasy, no need to mess with sim cards.

[Conjugate]

The spouse and I use Verizon because that's the only thing that gets reception where we live (not quite; but when my sister visited, she found that at some times she had to hold her phone next to a window just so to get any bars).

For a laptop, I've considered. Like Polly, my aging eyes would like a good large screen. I am fond of my now-ten-year-old laptop (3 gb, originally Windows Vista, getting slow under Windows 10). It's an Acer Aspire, so I think in September or so I will plunk down some cash to get another. Maybe 15" screen, full keyboard (with numeric keypad, because I use that), much more memory, faster chip. The Aspire E series still comes with the DVD/CD-ROM drive, so I can watch movies as well.

I have a Kindle app on the laptop and on my cell phone (LG g5, I think) as well as another generic eBook reader called CaLibre on the laptop. I like both those; the CaLibre app is good for ePub format eBooks, of which I have perhaps 500 (freely downloadable from places like Project Gutenberg and Manybooks) as well as PDF.

Also, my institution's site license for Maple means that I can get it installed onto my laptop for no charge, and it may be that this applies as well to the full version of Acrobat (I'll have to check). I'm pretty sure you can't get Maple for the Kindle. Then I'll install a newish version of Python (which I'm using more and more) and perhaps Octave (which is an open-source Matlab clone).

[octoprof]

I'm going to toss in a non-one-size-fits-all suggestion.

I don't use our home desktop too often although my spouse and kids do. I have a laptop I use to do the "heavy" lifting I need. I have an iPad Mini I use for a lot of work-related jobs that I can do without my work desktop. I also have an iPhone that's a few years old (it's new and was much cheaper than a brand new new one!) and a Kindle Paperwhite. The iPhone I also use for a lot of personal stuff, bike and other fitness stuff, and browsing that doesn't annoy me on the smaller device.

So I'm going to toss out the suggestion for a Kindle Paperwhite. I love the screen and the size is just right for me. It's light and easy to hold even with a cover on it. The battery lasts for days and days and days. And the newer version will do audiobooks.

Getting library books for it is so dang easy and cool. I log into the library's website, find a book, check it out, and it's autodelivered to my Kindle. You can upload ebooks and pdf docs to your Amazon account so you can then download it to the Kindle. I use Calibre to convert my "normal" ebooks to Kindle/Moble format and then upload them. You can sideload docs onto your Kindle via the USB cable but I prefer to go through my Amazon account for backup reasons.

I have some personal docs I've created using Word that have footnotes. I had been using paper docs and writing the notes all over it. Then I tried a basic Word doc with the typed notes but it got all crowded and hard to read. Now I use the footnotes/endnotes in Word and pop them up when I need them on the Kindle.

The Kindle is light enough that I can toss it and my phone in a bag and go.

I love paper books. I love holding them. Turning the pages. Hell, even the smell. But I love my Kindle.

I love the Kindle Paperwhite for reading, too. I've been using one since they first came out.

If you are more into surfing, an iPad of whatever size fits the bill.  I have both but exclusively read on the Kindle as it's so much easier on the eyes than any other device.

Or as I'm posting so late, perhaps you've already bought something.

professor_pat, have you sorted this yet? Your carrier or an apple store will do the transfer for you, generally. Your SIM card only has what you have saved on the sim card, which might not (probably not) be everything you need.