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Default OT - cell phone advice

On Aug 11, 8:53*am, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
My parents are still able to drive, go shopping, eat out,
and so on. But, there have been a couple moments when the
car broke down. Or, one was out, and the other didn't know
why it was taking so long. I suggested they get a cell
phone. The reply was that we don't *have the money to
support another monthly bill.

I've heard of phones where you buy the minutes in advance.
Has anyone used such a phone, and which brand, where bought,
etc? If it was twenty bucks or so, I'd buy the phone
outright, and give it to them as a gift.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
*www.lds.org
.


For about $10 per month you can probably add a line to YOUR account
for them. Then YOU pay the bill and they get it for free. They then
use YOUR minutes. Plus the phone will probably be free with a
contract. They will then be able to call you for free and that'll
make you the good son.
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Default OT - cell phone advice

Phisherman wrote:
On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:14:31 -0700, "cm" wrote:

You can buy a pay as you go phone at Wal Mart for around $30. As long as
they don't use it much it will not cost too much. The phone card you buy to
load minute onto the phone expires at some point after it is activated so if
you buy 30 minutes and don't use all those minutes within that time frame
they will expire.

Good luck,

cm


I don't like that. If I keep a cell phone in the glove box of my
truck, it expires, I have an emergency, then what? Do Tracfones
expire too?


Any cell phone I've ever heard of can always call 911 even if it's not
paid, registered or whatever. If you keep it in the car, better have a
charger that plugs into the cig lighter. Actually my brother just told
me there is a cheap low wattage $10 inverter so you can use the free
120VAC charger in the car and never buy another special car charger again.
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FlavorFlav wrote:
wrote in :

On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:46:34 -0700, SMS
wrote:

Free directory assistance is already available, but not live. I guess if
they want to place calls with a live operator, versus entering the
number or selecting the name from a list of contacts, that's an
advantage of Jitterbug, but boy do you pay a premium for that.

$100 a year, that seems to be what everyone else here is saying.
If you have kids scattered across the country toll free incoming calls
is a plus too.
I know you said there were services as cheap as $30 a year but what
kind of service is that? Who is the carrier?


It kinda sounds sub-sub par - the $30 one. Like something mentioned on Law
and Order all the time. "can't track it, it's a prepaid phone".


And that is a Bad Thing?

But seriously- prepaids aren't for everyone, and there are better and
worse companies. I apparently chose one of the worse with Virgin, but at
the time, that is all I saw in the stores around here, and a coworker
recommended it. I was preparing for a road trip for a family emergency
(cleaning up after a suddenly deceased relative), and had other things
on my mind. I just needed a portable phone. I was in a hurry, and it
was 'good enough' at the time, and most of the time since then. For as
little as I use it, a conventional cell phone and account is simply out
of the question. I could care less about texting and pictures- I just
need a phone.

--
aem sends...
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My vote is for Net10. The phones are cheap, and the air time is 10 cents a
minute. You might want to check their web site for coverage in your area
but I went on a 2700 mile road trip and it worked everywhere except the very
boonies.

--

__
Roger Shoaf

Important factors in selecting a mate:
1] Depth of gene pool
2] Position on the food chain.



"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
My parents are still able to drive, go shopping, eat out,
and so on. But, there have been a couple moments when the
car broke down. Or, one was out, and the other didn't know
why it was taking so long. I suggested they get a cell
phone. The reply was that we don't have the money to
support another monthly bill.

I've heard of phones where you buy the minutes in advance.
Has anyone used such a phone, and which brand, where bought,
etc? If it was twenty bucks or so, I'd buy the phone
outright, and give it to them as a gift.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.





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Roger Shoaf wrote:
My vote is for Net10. The phones are cheap, and the air time is 10 cents a
minute. You might want to check their web site for coverage in your area
but I went on a 2700 mile road trip and it worked everywhere except the very
boonies.


Net10 is good for a moderately heavy user, but the minimum monthly cost
is $15 which is pretty high. The 10 cent a minute cost is also rather
high. On the plus side, they do allow roaming off of AT&T onto other GSM
networks at no extra cost.

For a phone that is more likely to work in the boonies, albeit at extra
cost per minute, use Tracfone CDMA phones, or PagePlus, or Verizon InPulse.


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On Aug 12, 1:32�am, Tony wrote:
Phisherman wrote:
On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:14:31 -0700, "cm" wrote:


You can buy a pay as you go phone at Wal Mart for around $30. As long as
they don't use it much it will not cost too much. The phone card you buy to
load minute onto the phone expires at some point after it is activated so if
you buy 30 minutes and don't use all those minutes within that time frame
they will expire.


Good luck,


cm


I don't like that. �If I keep a cell phone in the glove box of my
truck, it expires, I have an emergency, then what? �Do Tracfones
expire too?


Any cell phone I've ever heard of can always call 911 even if it's not
paid, registered or whatever. �If you keep it in the car, better have a
charger that plugs into the cig lighter. �Actually my brother just told
me there is a cheap low wattage $10 inverter so you can use the free
120VAC charger in the car and never buy another special car charger again..- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


911 cell is a required federal law mandate.

but do try your old phone, the analog ones no longer work since every
carrier went all digital. the phones will still power up, but not see
any system since analog no longer exists
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Phisherman wrote:

I don't like that. If I keep a cell phone in the glove box of my
truck, it expires, I have an emergency, then what? Do Tracfones
expire too?


If you get an unregistered CDMA phone, you can sign up with ARN for
$10/year.

Outgoing calls only. You don't get a phone number. From 25¢ to $1 per
minute.

"http://www.americanroaming.com/retail_buy.php"

Be aware that you must have a CDMA phone that is unregistered with any
carrier, not just deactivated. These can be hard to find. I've seen them
on eBay though.
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On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:08:47 -0700, SMS
wrote:

[snip]


Is there anything wrong with Virgin Mobile, other than limited
coverage area?


1. High per minute cost (recently increased)
2. High texting rates (they used to have the lowest texting rates)
3. Comparatively high monthly minimum (not really suitable for a glove
compartment phone).


That last one is important since I do want this for occasional use
(glove compartment phone).


I'm wanting to get a phone that works in Brownwood Texas. It's 49
miles off the interstate highway, and neither AT&T or Verizon provide
coverage there. According to their map, it looks like Virgin does.


Yeah, there are a very few areas where Sprint is the only major carrier,
and it looks like you found one!


I found out that Virgin does NOT cover Brownwood (Sprint does, but
it's roaming).
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us

"Properly read, the Bible is the most potent
force for atheism ever conceived." -- Isaac Asimov
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On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 01:32:03 -0400, Tony
wrote:

Phisherman wrote:
On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:14:31 -0700, "cm" wrote:

You can buy a pay as you go phone at Wal Mart for around $30. As long as
they don't use it much it will not cost too much. The phone card you buy to
load minute onto the phone expires at some point after it is activated so if
you buy 30 minutes and don't use all those minutes within that time frame
they will expire.

Good luck,

cm


I don't like that. If I keep a cell phone in the glove box of my
truck, it expires, I have an emergency, then what? Do Tracfones
expire too?


Any cell phone I've ever heard of can always call 911 even if it's not
paid, registered or whatever. If you keep it in the car, better have a
charger that plugs into the cig lighter. Actually my brother just told
me there is a cheap low wattage $10 inverter so you can use the free
120VAC charger in the car and never buy another special car charger again.


How efficient is the inverter? Older ones could be bad that way.
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us

"Properly read, the Bible is the most potent
force for atheism ever conceived." -- Isaac Asimov
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On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:06:20 -0700, SMS
wrote:

[snip]

Combine that Alltel service with Google Voice and chose one of your free
options as a "favorite number" that you set to your Google Voice number.
You then have unlimited incoming and outgoing calls without using any
minutes because incoming calls are routed through Google Voice and come
from your "favorite number" and you call your Google Voice number to
place all outgoing calls and all outgoing calls are to your "favorite
number."


Good idea. What would you expect to see on caller ID when you do this?

Alltel has discontinued offering their own prepaid plans and
the 75 cents/day plan is no longer available.


"No longer available" applies to NEW customers. My service continues
to work as well as always. However, the options I chose are "text
messages" and "nights & weekends", and changing one to "favorite
number" might trigger that "no longer available" (requiring a Verizon
plan).
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us

"Properly read, the Bible is the most potent
force for atheism ever conceived." -- Isaac Asimov


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Tony wrote:

Any cell phone I've ever heard of can always call 911 even if it's not
paid, registered or whatever. If you keep it in the car, better have a
charger that plugs into the cig lighter. Actually my brother just told
me there is a cheap low wattage $10 inverter so you can use the free
120VAC charger in the car and never buy another special car charger again.


That's an odd way to save the $3-5 cost of a car charger.
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Mark Lloyd wrote:
On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:06:20 -0700, SMS
wrote:

[snip]

Combine that Alltel service with Google Voice and chose one of your free
options as a "favorite number" that you set to your Google Voice number.
You then have unlimited incoming and outgoing calls without using any
minutes because incoming calls are routed through Google Voice and come
from your "favorite number" and you call your Google Voice number to
place all outgoing calls and all outgoing calls are to your "favorite
number."


Good idea. What would you expect to see on caller ID when you do this?


It depends how you set up your Google Voice. You need to configure it so
its the Google Voice number that is sent out by Google Voice, not the
number that called the Google Voice number. Hence _all_ incoming calls
made via Google Voice to the cell phone will show as the Google Voice
phone number and your caller ID will be pretty worthless.

There may be some violation of the terms of service to do this---if they
can catch you.

Alltel has discontinued offering their own prepaid plans and
the 75 cents/day plan is no longer available.


"No longer available" applies to NEW customers. My service continues
to work as well as always. However, the options I chose are "text
messages" and "nights & weekends", and changing one to "favorite
number" might trigger that "no longer available" (requiring a Verizon
plan).


You might call them and ask. Couldn't hurt.
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bob haller wrote:

but do try your old phone, the analog ones no longer work since every
carrier went all digital. the phones will still power up, but not see
any system since analog no longer exists


Contrary to popular belief analog most certainly does still exist. It
was turned off in urban areas by major carriers, but out in rural areas
there is still a lot of analog service still operating. The FCC gave the
carriers _permission_ to turn off analog, they did not require that
analog be turned off.

A lot of coverage on the fringes of urban areas was lost when analog was
turned off in those areas.
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In article ,
SMS wrote:

Tony wrote:

Any cell phone I've ever heard of can always call 911 even if it's not
paid, registered or whatever. If you keep it in the car, better have a
charger that plugs into the cig lighter. Actually my brother just told
me there is a cheap low wattage $10 inverter so you can use the free
120VAC charger in the car and never buy another special car charger again.


That's an odd way to save the $3-5 cost of a car charger.


Hey I could use a $3-5 car charger for my cell. Where's the best place
to buy one?


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All the cell phone companies have it set up where they get their
gallon of blood out of you per year one way or another. Don't be
fooled.

Since so many other people have cell phones, just paint up a big sign
for them to keep in their car that says "CALL 911".
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Smitty Two wrote:

Hey I could use a $3-5 car charger for my cell. Where's the best place
to buy one?


I saw some for $3.50 yesterday in a store near me, Action Surplus. These
were after-market ones with the mini-USB connector used on a lot of
Motorola, HTC, and Blackberry models.

I buy the original Motorola car chargers for $5.95 from
"http://www.cellularaccessory.com/syn1630.html". They have after-market
ones for $2.95 "http://www.cellularaccessory.com/motv3cla.html." I've
had after-market ones fail after a couple of years so now I prefer OEM.

Use "gift4u" as a coupon code for another 5% off.

U.S. mail shipping is pretty cheap from them. $1.95 on Total under $5
$2.95 on Total $5-$20.

I have no affiliation with them, but I've been buying from them for a
long time.
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PatM wrote:

In fact, Stormin, you might want to port their home number over to
your cell phone service plan and let them give up their land line to
save money. Giving them each a cell phone would be cheaper than
keeping the land line. Step up and be the good son! :-)


Well my mother and stepfather need the land line for 911 service. They
now qualify for the quantity discount on rescue squad visits and
ambulance rides.
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Tracfone or buy any cell phone but don't turn on service. Every cell
phone has 911 on it. So, if it's really for emergencies ONLY, the
unactivated cell phone fills the need for FREE.
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On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 01:32:03 -0400, Tony
wrote:

Phisherman wrote:
On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:14:31 -0700, "cm" wrote:

You can buy a pay as you go phone at Wal Mart for around $30. As long as
they don't use it much it will not cost too much. The phone card you buy to
load minute onto the phone expires at some point after it is activated so if
you buy 30 minutes and don't use all those minutes within that time frame
they will expire.

Good luck,

cm


I don't like that. If I keep a cell phone in the glove box of my
truck, it expires, I have an emergency, then what? Do Tracfones
expire too?


Any cell phone I've ever heard of can always call 911 even if it's not
paid, registered or whatever. If you keep it in the car, better have a
charger that plugs into the cig lighter. Actually my brother just told
me there is a cheap low wattage $10 inverter so you can use the free
120VAC charger in the car and never buy another special car charger again.



Well, I probably won't ever get nor use one then. Strange I don't
use a cell phone, yet I can program the processor which is a lot more
fun than talking a lot about nothing.




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Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
SMS wrote:

Tony wrote:

Any cell phone I've ever heard of can always call 911 even if it's not
paid, registered or whatever. If you keep it in the car, better have a
charger that plugs into the cig lighter. Actually my brother just told
me there is a cheap low wattage $10 inverter so you can use the free
120VAC charger in the car and never buy another special car charger again.

That's an odd way to save the $3-5 cost of a car charger.


Hey I could use a $3-5 car charger for my cell. Where's the best place
to buy one?

Goodwill or Salvation Army. Seriously. They usually have a basket on the
shelf of various chargers and cords.
That is where I got my current one, after I accidentally donated my old
one along with a box of orphan phones to one of those 'cell phones for
at-risk people' programs. Boy was I ****ed when I tried to plug up the
incorrect charger I held on to, and found the plug was the wrong
diameter. Garage sales are another good source- I haven't been at a sale
in years that didn't have at least one baggie of cell phones and cords.

Side rant- why don't they standardize chargers?

--
aem sends...
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aemeijers wrote:

Side rant- why don't they standardize chargers?


They pretty much have standardized on Mini-USB and Micro-USB connectors
for charging. I certainly would not buy any new phone that used a
charging port that was not Mini-USB or Micro-USB. Of the eight phones in
our house, all are mini-USB for charging.
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On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:13:40 -0400, aemeijers
wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
SMS wrote:

Tony wrote:

Any cell phone I've ever heard of can always call 911 even if it's not
paid, registered or whatever. If you keep it in the car, better have a
charger that plugs into the cig lighter. Actually my brother just told
me there is a cheap low wattage $10 inverter so you can use the free
120VAC charger in the car and never buy another special car charger again.
That's an odd way to save the $3-5 cost of a car charger.


Hey I could use a $3-5 car charger for my cell. Where's the best place
to buy one?

Goodwill or Salvation Army. Seriously. They usually have a basket on the
shelf of various chargers and cords.
That is where I got my current one, after I accidentally donated my old
one along with a box of orphan phones to one of those 'cell phones for
at-risk people' programs. Boy was I ****ed when I tried to plug up the
incorrect charger I held on to, and found the plug was the wrong
diameter. Garage sales are another good source- I haven't been at a sale
in years that didn't have at least one baggie of cell phones and cords.

Side rant- why don't they standardize chargers?


For the same reason that don't standardize USB connections.
If they standardized them, they couldn't charge through the nose for
their own.

The U in USB is universal. That is a joke.
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aemeijers wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
SMS wrote:

Tony wrote:

Any cell phone I've ever heard of can always call 911 even if it's
not paid, registered or whatever. If you keep it in the car, better
have a charger that plugs into the cig lighter. Actually my brother
just told me there is a cheap low wattage $10 inverter so you can
use the free 120VAC charger in the car and never buy another special
car charger again.
That's an odd way to save the $3-5 cost of a car charger.


Hey I could use a $3-5 car charger for my cell. Where's the best place
to buy one?

Goodwill or Salvation Army. Seriously. They usually have a basket on the
shelf of various chargers and cords.
That is where I got my current one, after I accidentally donated my old
one along with a box of orphan phones to one of those 'cell phones for
at-risk people' programs. Boy was I ****ed when I tried to plug up the
incorrect charger I held on to, and found the plug was the wrong
diameter. Garage sales are another good source- I haven't been at a sale
in years that didn't have at least one baggie of cell phones and cords.

Side rant- why don't they standardize chargers?

--


Believe it or not, the manufacturers have actually gotten together
to set a standard for chargers before the government does it for
them, that is everyone except Apple. It looks like it will be the
micro USB. It's something that needed to be done years ago.

TDD
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The Daring Dufas wrote:
aemeijers wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
SMS wrote:

Tony wrote:

Any cell phone I've ever heard of can always call 911 even if it's
not paid, registered or whatever. If you keep it in the car,
better have a charger that plugs into the cig lighter. Actually my
brother just told me there is a cheap low wattage $10 inverter so
you can use the free 120VAC charger in the car and never buy
another special car charger again.
That's an odd way to save the $3-5 cost of a car charger.

Hey I could use a $3-5 car charger for my cell. Where's the best
place to buy one?

Goodwill or Salvation Army. Seriously. They usually have a basket on
the shelf of various chargers and cords.
That is where I got my current one, after I accidentally donated my
old one along with a box of orphan phones to one of those 'cell phones
for at-risk people' programs. Boy was I ****ed when I tried to plug up
the incorrect charger I held on to, and found the plug was the wrong
diameter. Garage sales are another good source- I haven't been at a
sale in years that didn't have at least one baggie of cell phones and
cords.

Side rant- why don't they standardize chargers?

--


Believe it or not, the manufacturers have actually gotten together
to set a standard for chargers before the government does it for
them, that is everyone except Apple. It looks like it will be the
micro USB. It's something that needed to be done years ago.

TDD


OOPS! Looks like it may only be for the EU and Apple seems to
have agreed to go along.

TDD


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On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:13:40 -0400, aemeijers wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
SMS wrote:

Tony wrote:

Any cell phone I've ever heard of can always call 911 even if it's not
paid, registered or whatever. If you keep it in the car, better have a
charger that plugs into the cig lighter. Actually my brother just told
me there is a cheap low wattage $10 inverter so you can use the free
120VAC charger in the car and never buy another special car charger again.
That's an odd way to save the $3-5 cost of a car charger.


Hey I could use a $3-5 car charger for my cell. Where's the best place
to buy one?

Goodwill or Salvation Army. Seriously. They usually have a basket on the
shelf of various chargers and cords.
That is where I got my current one, after I accidentally donated my old
one along with a box of orphan phones to one of those 'cell phones for
at-risk people' programs. Boy was I ****ed when I tried to plug up the
incorrect charger I held on to, and found the plug was the wrong
diameter. Garage sales are another good source- I haven't been at a sale
in years that didn't have at least one baggie of cell phones and cords.


Side rant- why don't they standardize chargers?


It is finally happening. Many phones accept mini-usb or micro-usb plugs.

Douglas Adams did a humorous piece called "war on donggely things" about
having boxes and boxes of AC adapters, exasperated by having another set
for the UK vs US.
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On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:54:16 -0500, The Daring Dufas wrote:
Believe it or not, the manufacturers have actually gotten together
to set a standard for chargers before the government does it for
them, that is everyone except Apple. It looks like it will be the
micro USB. It's something that needed to be done years ago.


It's only been possible with the advent of inexpensive dc-dc converters. It
used to be that if a device needed 3v or 9v for example, you had to have an ac
adapter that supplied 3v or 9v. You couldn't feed it the 5v from a usb and then
convert to the required internal voltage.
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AZ Nomad wrote:
On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:54:16 -0500, The Daring Dufas wrote:
Believe it or not, the manufacturers have actually gotten together
to set a standard for chargers before the government does it for
them, that is everyone except Apple. It looks like it will be the
micro USB. It's something that needed to be done years ago.


It's only been possible with the advent of inexpensive dc-dc converters. It
used to be that if a device needed 3v or 9v for example, you had to have an ac
adapter that supplied 3v or 9v. You couldn't feed it the 5v from a usb and then
convert to the required internal voltage.


DC to DC converters have been around for many years and I think
it's more of a miniaturization problem than a cost concern. The
technology of putting it all on one SMD chip with a few outboard
components is a more recent development. I do board level repairs
on a lot of electronic gear and I've seen the converters get a
lot smaller as the years have gone by. The darn things used to be
the size of my palm.

TDD
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Default OT - cell phone advice

In article
,
mike wrote:

All the cell phone companies have it set up where they get their
gallon of blood out of you per year one way or another. Don't be
fooled.

Since so many other people have cell phones, just paint up a big sign
for them to keep in their car that says "CALL 911".


Mythbusters should try this out and see whether it actually works.
Remember the cardboard accordion windshield inserts to protect your
dashboard and interior from sunlight, that on the reverse side said
"Need help, call police?" I always wondered whether that actually worked.
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Default OT - cell phone advice

In article ,
SMS wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:

Hey I could use a $3-5 car charger for my cell. Where's the best place
to buy one?


I saw some for $3.50 yesterday in a store near me, Action Surplus. These
were after-market ones with the mini-USB connector used on a lot of
Motorola, HTC, and Blackberry models.

I buy the original Motorola car chargers for $5.95 from
"http://www.cellularaccessory.com/syn1630.html". They have after-market
ones for $2.95 "http://www.cellularaccessory.com/motv3cla.html." I've
had after-market ones fail after a couple of years so now I prefer OEM.

Use "gift4u" as a coupon code for another 5% off.

U.S. mail shipping is pretty cheap from them. $1.95 on Total under $5
$2.95 on Total $5-$20.

I have no affiliation with them, but I've been buying from them for a
long time.


Cool, thanks, I'll check 'em out.


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Default OT - cell phone advice

On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:54:16 -0500, The Daring Dufas wrote:
Believe it or not, the manufacturers have actually gotten together to
set a standard for chargers before the government does it for them, that
is everyone except Apple. It looks like it will be the micro USB. It's
something that needed to be done years ago.


I have had one case though where the plugs from two chargers were the
same (they would both fit my phone), but only one would actually charge
it. The other caused the display to read "unrecognized charger" or
something to that affect.

My son had a similar experience with a Garmin gps unit. He was telling
us he couldn't use it while the charger was plugged in (the charger did
charge the battery properly).

My wife and I both told him that it sounded nuts to us that they would
design it to work like that. Turned out he was using a cell-phone
charger with the same plug. When he switched to the charger that came
with the unit everything was fine.

So "compatible plug" != "compatible charger"

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Default OT - cell phone advice

Rick Brandt wrote:

I have had one case though where the plugs from two chargers were the
same (they would both fit my phone), but only one would actually charge
it. The other caused the display to read "unrecognized charger" or
something to that affect.


Ah, the old Motorola "Unauthorized Charger" display.

A standard Motorola USB charger puts ~1.4vdc onto the x pin (the 5th
pin) of the mini USB plug. A Motorola phone looks for that voltage and
will display "Unauthorized Charger" if it doesn't see it. So you can't
charge your phone from a USB port using a standard USB to Mini USB cable
(though if you have Motorola Phone Tools running on the computer it
will work).

I don't know if Motorola did this to sell more of their own chargers (if
so it didn't work because the after-market chargers quickly figured out
the necessary circuit) or for some other reason.

Motorola mini USB chargers will charge non-Motorola phones, but
non-Motorola compatible mini-USB chargers will not charge Motorola phones.

My son had a similar experience with a Garmin gps unit. He was telling
us he couldn't use it while the charger was plugged in (the charger did
charge the battery properly).


The GPS units have larger batteries and higher current chargers. There's
enough current to charge the battery, but not to charge the battery and
operate the unit at the same time.

So "compatible plug" != "compatible charger"


Unfortunately that's true, though it certainly would be possible to
build a high-current mini-USB charger with Motorola compatibility. It
would just cost more to build.
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Default OT - cell phone advice

Rick Brandt wrote:
On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:54:16 -0500, The Daring Dufas wrote:
Believe it or not, the manufacturers have actually gotten together to
set a standard for chargers before the government does it for them, that
is everyone except Apple. It looks like it will be the micro USB. It's
something that needed to be done years ago.


I have had one case though where the plugs from two chargers were the
same (they would both fit my phone), but only one would actually charge
it. The other caused the display to read "unrecognized charger" or
something to that affect.

My son had a similar experience with a Garmin gps unit. He was telling
us he couldn't use it while the charger was plugged in (the charger did
charge the battery properly).

My wife and I both told him that it sounded nuts to us that they would
design it to work like that. Turned out he was using a cell-phone
charger with the same plug. When he switched to the charger that came
with the unit everything was fine.

So "compatible plug" != "compatible charger"


Of course it's compatible chargers. What I'd like to see
is the ability of any phone to charge of any USB port on
any equipment.

TDD
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Default OT - cell phone advice

SMS wrote:
Rick Brandt wrote:

I have had one case though where the plugs from two chargers were the
same (they would both fit my phone), but only one would actually
charge it. The other caused the display to read "unrecognized
charger" or something to that affect.


Ah, the old Motorola "Unauthorized Charger" display.

A standard Motorola USB charger puts ~1.4vdc onto the x pin (the 5th
pin) of the mini USB plug. A Motorola phone looks for that voltage and
will display "Unauthorized Charger" if it doesn't see it. So you can't
charge your phone from a USB port using a standard USB to Mini USB cable
(though if you have Motorola Phone Tools running on the computer it
will work).

I don't know if Motorola did this to sell more of their own chargers (if
so it didn't work because the after-market chargers quickly figured out
the necessary circuit) or for some other reason.

Motorola mini USB chargers will charge non-Motorola phones, but
non-Motorola compatible mini-USB chargers will not charge Motorola phones.

My son had a similar experience with a Garmin gps unit. He was
telling us he couldn't use it while the charger was plugged in (the
charger did charge the battery properly).


The GPS units have larger batteries and higher current chargers. There's
enough current to charge the battery, but not to charge the battery and
operate the unit at the same time.

So "compatible plug" != "compatible charger"


Unfortunately that's true, though it certainly would be possible to
build a high-current mini-USB charger with Motorola compatibility. It
would just cost more to build.


I can see a little inline converter for the Motorola phones that
would supply the required voltage. A little lump in the cable or
a simple little pod with USB ports on either side that any USB
cable would fit.

TDD
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Default OT - cell phone advice

On Aug 13, 1:22*am, Smitty Two wrote:
In article
,

*mike wrote:
All the cell phone companies have it set up where they get their
gallon of blood out of you per year one way or another. *Don't be
fooled.


Since so many other people have cell phones, just paint up a big sign
for them to keep in their car that says "CALL 911".


Mythbusters should try this out and see whether it actually works.
Remember the cardboard accordion windshield inserts to protect your
dashboard and interior from sunlight, that on the reverse side said
"Need help, call police?" I always wondered whether that actually worked.


It probably depends on how big your boobs are.

But if no one comes, set out into traffic a few times and someone will
call the cops.


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Default OT - cell phone advice

The Daring Dufas wrote:
Rick Brandt wrote:
On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:54:16 -0500, The Daring Dufas wrote:
Believe it or not, the manufacturers have actually gotten together to
set a standard for chargers before the government does it for them, that
is everyone except Apple. It looks like it will be the micro USB. It's
something that needed to be done years ago.


I have had one case though where the plugs from two chargers were the
same (they would both fit my phone), but only one would actually
charge it. The other caused the display to read "unrecognized
charger" or something to that affect.

My son had a similar experience with a Garmin gps unit. He was
telling us he couldn't use it while the charger was plugged in (the
charger did charge the battery properly).
My wife and I both told him that it sounded nuts to us that they would
design it to work like that. Turned out he was using a cell-phone
charger with the same plug. When he switched to the charger that came
with the unit everything was fine.

So "compatible plug" != "compatible charger"


Of course it's compatible chargers. What I'd like to see
is the ability of any phone to charge of any USB port on
any equipment.


And with a standard cable, no proprietary cables. You already can pretty
much charge any phone off of a USB port with a non-standard cable sold
by after-market accessory manufacturers. All phones use single cell
li-ion batteries of around 3.7V, and are able to charge at 500mA or less
(the official USB spec on how much current a standard USB port must be
able to supply even though most can supply more).
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Posts: 1,365
Default OT - cell phone advice

The Daring Dufas wrote:

I can see a little inline converter for the Motorola phones that
would supply the required voltage. A little lump in the cable or
a simple little pod with USB ports on either side that any USB
cable would fit.


It's a simple fix, just a voltage divider with resistors is all that's
needed. But the fifth wire of the mini-USB plug needs to be in the cable
and connected, not just left unconnected since the standard USB plug is
only 4 pins.
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Default OT - cell phone advice

SMS wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
Rick Brandt wrote:
On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:54:16 -0500, The Daring Dufas wrote:
Believe it or not, the manufacturers have actually gotten together to
set a standard for chargers before the government does it for them,
that
is everyone except Apple. It looks like it will be the micro USB. It's
something that needed to be done years ago.

I have had one case though where the plugs from two chargers were the
same (they would both fit my phone), but only one would actually
charge it. The other caused the display to read "unrecognized
charger" or something to that affect.

My son had a similar experience with a Garmin gps unit. He was
telling us he couldn't use it while the charger was plugged in (the
charger did charge the battery properly). My wife and I both told him
that it sounded nuts to us that they would design it to work like
that. Turned out he was using a cell-phone charger with the same
plug. When he switched to the charger that came with the unit
everything was fine.

So "compatible plug" != "compatible charger"


Of course it's compatible chargers. What I'd like to see
is the ability of any phone to charge of any USB port on
any equipment.


And with a standard cable, no proprietary cables. You already can pretty
much charge any phone off of a USB port with a non-standard cable sold
by after-market accessory manufacturers. All phones use single cell
li-ion batteries of around 3.7V, and are able to charge at 500mA or less
(the official USB spec on how much current a standard USB port must be
able to supply even though most can supply more).


I have several USB chargers that will plug into the cigarette
lighter in a vehicle. I wonder what will become of the lighter
when everyone quits smoking? *snicker*

TDD
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Default OT - cell phone advice

The Daring Dufas wrote:
SMS wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
Rick Brandt wrote:
On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:54:16 -0500, The Daring Dufas wrote:
Believe it or not, the manufacturers have actually gotten together to
set a standard for chargers before the government does it for them,
that
is everyone except Apple. It looks like it will be the micro USB. It's
something that needed to be done years ago.

I have had one case though where the plugs from two chargers were
the same (they would both fit my phone), but only one would actually
charge it. The other caused the display to read "unrecognized
charger" or something to that affect.

My son had a similar experience with a Garmin gps unit. He was
telling us he couldn't use it while the charger was plugged in (the
charger did charge the battery properly). My wife and I both told
him that it sounded nuts to us that they would design it to work
like that. Turned out he was using a cell-phone charger with the
same plug. When he switched to the charger that came with the unit
everything was fine.

So "compatible plug" != "compatible charger"


Of course it's compatible chargers. What I'd like to see
is the ability of any phone to charge of any USB port on
any equipment.


And with a standard cable, no proprietary cables. You already can
pretty much charge any phone off of a USB port with a non-standard
cable sold by after-market accessory manufacturers. All phones use
single cell li-ion batteries of around 3.7V, and are able to charge at
500mA or less (the official USB spec on how much current a standard
USB port must be able to supply even though most can supply more).


I have several USB chargers that will plug into the cigarette
lighter in a vehicle. I wonder what will become of the lighter
when everyone quits smoking? *snicker*

TDD


They will put labels that state "accessory power" on them and fit them
with a tethered or hinged cap instead of a lighter. Many vehicles are
already made that way.
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