OT I have a cell phone with no data plan.

I'm reading about using email from the phone, but is email data?

Does that mean no email for me?

Thanks.

On 05/09/2015 08:23 PM, micky wrote:
OT I have a cell phone with no data plan.

I'm reading about using email from the phone, but is email data?

Does that mean no email for me?

Right.

If the phone has wifi you can use it via wi fi.
Mark

On Sat, 09 May 2015 22:23:04 -0400, micky
wrote:

OT I have a cell phone with no data plan.

I'm reading about using email from the phone, but is email data?

Does that mean no email for me?

Thanks.


Yes, it is data. Depending on the carrier, it is at least $15 to $25
a month.

However, you can connect via Wi-Fi and that is free. There is free
Wi-Fi in many places when you travel. A lot of stores and restaurants
have it, some cities even have free connection on the street.

wrote:
If the phone has wifi you can use it via wi fi.
Mark

Then usually you can receive but can't send email.

On Sat, 09 May 2015 22:57:48 -0600, Tony Hwang
wrote:

wrote:
If the phone has wifi you can use it via wi fi.
Mark

Then usually you can receive but can't send email.

Why? If you can connect to the incoming server you can connect to the
outgoing server. Mine always worked both ways before I had a data
plan.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sat, 09 May 2015 22:57:48 -0600, Tony Hwang
wrote:

wrote:
If the phone has wifi you can use it via wi fi.
Mark

Then usually you can receive but can't send email.

Why? If you can connect to the incoming server you can connect to the
outgoing server. Mine always worked both ways before I had a data
plan.

For example Starbuck WiFi won't tx email out only rx. it maybe my email
server which is thunderbird or my ISP. I did not try other servers.
Maybe I should try hotmail or gmail.

On Sat, 09 May 2015 23:51:01 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On Sat, 09 May 2015 22:23:04 -0400, micky
wrote:

OT I have a cell phone with no data plan.

I'm reading about using email from the phone, but is email data?

Does that mean no email for me?

Thanks.


Yes, it is data. Depending on the carrier, it is at least $15 to $25
a month.

However, you can connect via Wi-Fi and that is free. There is free
Wi-Fi in many places when you travel. A lot of stores and restaurants

How can I keep forgetting that I have wifi? Thanks a lot.

Of course this means I have to read the part of the manual dealing with
email.

have it, some cities even have free connection on the street.

I was just south of Wilmington Delaware and couldn't find the stores I
was looking for. I saw a Home Depot on the othe side of the road and a
McDonalds much closer. They had wifi. It turned out one of the stores
was next door to the McDonalds but had been torn down. I gave up
looking for the other one.

Thanks all.

On Sat, 09 May 2015 22:23:04 -0400, micky
wrote in

OT I have a cell phone with no data plan.

I'm reading about using email from the phone, but is email data?

Does that mean no email for me?

Thanks.

Yes, anything other than a voice call is considered "data".
--
Web based forums are like subscribing to 10 different newspapers
and having to visit 10 different news stands to pickup each one.
Email list-server groups and USENET are like having all of those
newspapers delivered to your door every morning.

Tony Hwang wrote:
Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sat, 09 May 2015 22:57:48 -0600, Tony Hwang
wrote:

wrote:
If the phone has wifi you can use it via wi fi.
Mark

Then usually you can receive but can't send email.

Why? If you can connect to the incoming server you can connect to
the outgoing server. Mine always worked both ways before I had a
data plan.

For example Starbuck WiFi won't tx email out only rx. it maybe my
email server which is thunderbird or my ISP. I did not try other
servers. Maybe I should try hotmail or gmail.

I found when I was "commuting" between Mwemphis and home that I could
receive my Mtn View emails but not send from Memphis . My msn.com worked
equally well in either location . I think it's that way with most ISP's ,
you can receive but not send when you're connected to another ISP .

--
Snag

On Sun, 10 May 2015 06:37:24 -0500, CRNG
wrote:




Yes, anything other than a voice call is considered "data".

Almost. Texting does not go against the data and is not voice. You
need either a texting plan or pay per use.

On Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 7:38:02 AM UTC-4, Terry Coombs wrote:
Tony Hwang wrote:
Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sat, 09 May 2015 22:57:48 -0600, Tony Hwang
wrote:

wrote:
If the phone has wifi you can use it via wi fi.
Mark

Then usually you can receive but can't send email.

Why? If you can connect to the incoming server you can connect to
the outgoing server. Mine always worked both ways before I had a
data plan.

For example Starbuck WiFi won't tx email out only rx. it maybe my
email server which is thunderbird or my ISP. I did not try other
servers. Maybe I should try hotmail or gmail.

I found when I was "commuting" between Mwemphis and home that I could
receive my Mtn View emails but not send from Memphis . My msn.com worked
equally well in either location . I think it's that way with most ISP's ,
you can receive but not send when you're connected to another ISP .

--
Snag

What's going on here may depend on what kind of email
system you're using, ie is it web based or client/server based?
If you're using web based, then it should work anywhere
as long as you're connected via either wifi or data plan.
That's what I use and I haven't seen it not work. Whenever
I've tried my email while traveling around, it's worked on
every wifi. On the
other hand, if you're using a client/server based system
that relies on access to the email server at your ISP,
then IDK. In some cases, maybe the ISP only provides
access to their email server if you're on their system?
Seems odd, as I would think this would be a big problem
today, with so many people mobile.....

On 5/10/2015 7:47 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2015 06:37:24 -0500, CRNG
wrote:




Yes, anything other than a voice call is considered "data".

Almost. Texting does not go against the data and is not voice. You
need either a texting plan or pay per use.


Following thread, it's also an answer I would like to know.

I have a basic Tracphone with thousands of rolled over minutes.

I just use it for calls but apparently have internet access but cannot
address anything as email because there is no way to make the "@" sign.

I see Tracphones with touch screens with internet access and some say
they need a data plan.

Just wondering if you could occasionally consume minutes for this or if
phone would only work with wifi access.

On 5/9/2015 10:23 PM, micky wrote:
OT I have a cell phone with no data plan.

I'm reading about using email from the phone, but is email data?

Does that mean no email for me?

Thanks.



Maybe Ting has a better plan for you?

https://ting.com/rates

And FWIW, if you ever need assistance, Ting's customer service is awesome!

On Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 8:51:43 AM UTC-4, Frank wrote:
On 5/10/2015 7:47 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2015 06:37:24 -0500, CRNG
wrote:




Yes, anything other than a voice call is considered "data".

Almost. Texting does not go against the data and is not voice. You
need either a texting plan or pay per use.


Following thread, it's also an answer I would like to know.

I have a basic Tracphone with thousands of rolled over minutes.

I just use it for calls but apparently have internet access but cannot
address anything as email because there is no way to make the "@" sign.

I see Tracphones with touch screens with internet access and some say
they need a data plan.

Just wondering if you could occasionally consume minutes for this or if
phone would only work with wifi access.

Not sure exactly what the question is. Tracfone has smartphones and
smartphone plans that include data. I would assume that if you have
one of their smartphones that supports data and one of their plans,
you could use it for email on the network and also use it on wifi like
you can with every other phone I've seen.

If you have a phone that doesn't have an "@" sign, it's not a smartphone
and IDK what kind of email capability it would have, but I would suspect
none. One game that most carriers still play is that even though from
a technical perspective, you could buy a smartphone and only use it for
voice on their network and rely strictly on wifi for data, they won't
allow you to do that. They insist you have a data plan with a smartphone.

On Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 9:08:50 AM UTC-4, Bill wrote:
On 5/9/2015 10:23 PM, micky wrote:
OT I have a cell phone with no data plan.

I'm reading about using email from the phone, but is email data?

Does that mean no email for me?

Thanks.



Maybe Ting has a better plan for you?

https://ting.com/rates

And FWIW, if you ever need assistance, Ting's customer service is awesome!

I went with Zact a year and a half ago, which is similar to Ting.
Both ride on Sprint's network and offer plans where you can buy
just the mins, texts, data that you need. Pricing was even similar,
biggest difference was that the granularity or bucket size if you will,
was smaller on Zact. And Zact had a promo going where I got a ZTE Awe
smartphone and 4 months of free service for $100. I've been very happy
with it. Previously I had Verizon, the coverage, signal strength, isn't
as good, but it's worked perfectly adequately, no dropped calls, sound is
good, etc. Difference is that Verizon wanted $80 for a data plan back
then. I've been paying about $15 a month with Zact.

Last summer, Virgin Mobile bought out Zact and took the concept and
sales of the phones exclusively to Walmart. I didn't see any advertising,
anything to try to sell the phones. In Jan, they announced they are ending
sales. But the plans are continuing, at least for now. Having been selling
the phones as recently as a couple months ago, I would expect they will
keep the plans going for existing customers for at least a year.

If I was looking for a new phone today, Ting would be the place I'd start.
It all depends on usage. If you use 1000 mins, 1GB of data, etc, then
any of the major carriers are an option. They all have plans of ~$35 now.
But if you only use a couple hundred mins, couple hundred megs of data, etc,
then you can save a lot with Ting. The problem I see for Ting is that just
18 months ago, those plans from the majors were costing ~$80. That left
a lot of room underneath for Ting, Zact, etc. With the major carrier plans
now down to $35, and likely headed lower, there isn't that much room left below.

"Bill" wrote in message
eb.com...
On 5/9/2015 10:23 PM, micky wrote:
OT I have a cell phone with no data plan.

I'm reading about using email from the phone, but is email data?

Does that mean no email for me?

Thanks.



Maybe Ting has a better plan for you?

https://ting.com/rates

And FWIW, if you ever need assistance, Ting's customer service is awesome!

I went with Republic wireless. For what they call $ 10 per month ( $ 12
after the taxes) I get unlimiated calling and texting. The data is by the
wifi networks. Anytime I want to, I can switch to data over the cell towers
and off again for the rate of $ 20 per month. With all the wifi around , I
have never tried to do the data over the cell towers.
Only down side I know of is that you have to use their phones and the
cheapest one is about $ 100. I did go with a $ 200 phone. Nice Motorolo G
one.

On Sun, 10 May 2015 06:10:07 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:


If you have a phone that doesn't have an "@" sign, it's not a smartphone
and IDK what kind of email capability it would have, but I would suspect
none. One game that most carriers still play is that even though from
a technical perspective, you could buy a smartphone and only use it for
voice on their network and rely strictly on wifi for data, they won't
allow you to do that. They insist you have a data plan with a smartphone.

I don't know if I got around something or not. I got a GO-phone, a
pre-paid phone from ATT, with no data, and then I bought on ebay a
smartphone. Switiched the SIMM card and now I have a smartphone with no
data plan.

Later I saw the very same smartphone for sale new, at BestBuy (only 100
dollars) and Walmart as a GO-phone, but think it required a data
plan, even with prepaid. (I'd better check again.) Even assuming I
got away with something, I don't know if one could when not using AT&T.

The only thing I've done so far that involves wifi is to enter a url
that says if airplanes are on time, (This worked at home, but I
couldn't find a place at the airport which had wifi without getting out
of my car, and that was too much trouble.)

I hate the smart phone, and as soon as I find my flip phone, I'm putting
the SIMM card back in it, and I'll carry the smart phone in the car's
trunk, for emergencies, if any.

On Sun, 10 May 2015 09:09:06 -0400, Bill wrote:

On 5/9/2015 10:23 PM, micky wrote:
OT I have a cell phone with no data plan.

I'm reading about using email from the phone, but is email data?

Does that mean no email for me?

Thanks.



Maybe Ting has a better plan for you?

https://ting.com/rates


AIUI, it's no better. Just the same ting.

And FWIW, if you ever need assistance, Ting's customer service is awesome!

I'll check it out.

On 05/10/2015 12:44 AM, Tony Hwang wrote:

[snip]

For example Starbuck WiFi won't tx email out only rx. it maybe my email
server which is thunderbird or my ISP. I did not try other servers.
Maybe I should try hotmail or gmail.

Thunderbird is an email client, not a server.

"rx but not tx" isn't a WiFi problem, but a server problem. I would
suspect you are using an email server operated by your ISP. The outgoing
(SMTP) server is probably blocking access other than from that ISP. This
is common. It should work if you're at home and connected to your own WiFi.

The above is one reason why I use a different server (I have a
registered domain) for email. It's accessible from anywhere.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"I don't want to be your other half. I believe that One and One make
TWO." -- Alanis Morrisette: "Not the Doctor".

On 05/10/2015 08:09 AM, Bill wrote:

And FWIW, if you ever need assistance, Ting's customer service is awesome!

Yes, you get to talk to a real person who speaks English.

On Ting, MMS (picture messaging) is data, and costs a lot less than SMS
which is not considered data.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"I don't want to be your other half. I believe that One and One make
TWO." -- Alanis Morrisette: "Not the Doctor".

On Sun, 10 May 2015 09:45:57 -0400, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


"Bill" wrote in message
web.com...
On 5/9/2015 10:23 PM, micky wrote:
OT I have a cell phone with no data plan.

I'm reading about using email from the phone, but is email data?

Does that mean no email for me?

Thanks.



Maybe Ting has a better plan for you?

https://ting.com/rates

And FWIW, if you ever need assistance, Ting's customer service is awesome!

I went with Republic wireless. For what they call $ 10 per month ( $ 12

Ting does look good and Replublic sounds good and Zact is probably good,

But would I have to change phone numbers?

And I think my phone is still locked to ATT.

I'd have to unlock it somehow or get a different phone, right?

I don't like this phone and wouldn't mind getting a different phone.

If I find my flipphone, are they also locked to one carrier or another?

after the taxes) I get unlimiated calling and texting. The data is by the
wifi networks. Anytime I want to, I can switch to data over the cell towers
and off again for the rate of $ 20 per month. With all the wifi around , I
have never tried to do the data over the cell towers.
Only down side I know of is that you have to use their phones and the
cheapest one is about $ 100. I did go with a $ 200 phone. Nice Motorolo G
one.

Mark Lloyd wrote:
On 05/10/2015 08:09 AM, Bill wrote:

And FWIW, if you ever need assistance, Ting's customer service is
awesome!

Yes, you get to talk to a real person who speaks English.

On Ting, MMS (picture messaging) is data, and costs a lot less than SMS
which is not considered data.

Is any CDMA phones still in use down there? All GSM phones up here now.
It is a matter of swapping out SIM card in your phone if it is GSM type.
SIM card costs like 10 bucks. Unlocking is not that hard.

On Sun, 10 May 2015 07:47:57 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote
in

On Sun, 10 May 2015 06:37:24 -0500, CRNG
wrote:




Yes, anything other than a voice call is considered "data".

Almost. Texting does not go against the data and is not voice. You
need either a texting plan or pay per use.

Thanks for the correction. I don't own a cell phone and I didn't know
that.
--
Web based forums are like subscribing to 10 different newspapers
and having to visit 10 different news stands to pickup each one.
Email list-server groups and USENET are like having all of those
newspapers delivered to your door every morning.

micky posted for all of us...


But would I have to change phone numbers?


No, it is called portability by the FCC.

--
Tekkie *Please post a follow-up*

On Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 2:20:26 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2015 09:45:57 -0400, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


"Bill" wrote in message
web.com...
On 5/9/2015 10:23 PM, micky wrote:
OT I have a cell phone with no data plan.

I'm reading about using email from the phone, but is email data?

Does that mean no email for me?

Thanks.



Maybe Ting has a better plan for you?

https://ting.com/rates

And FWIW, if you ever need assistance, Ting's customer service is awesome!

I went with Republic wireless. For what they call $ 10 per month ( $ 12

Ting does look good and Replublic sounds good and Zact is probably good,

Zact is kaput. They got bought out last year by Virgin Mobile. Virgin
put the Zact phones with the adjust your plan on the fly concept into
Walmart, branded as VM Custom, for about 6 months, then discontinued it.
I still have the plan and phone with Virgin now, hopefully it will remain
the same for some time to come, but it's no longer available for new
customers.


But would I have to change phone numbers?

In almost all cases, you can port your number. Some carriers
might charge to do the port.



And I think my phone is still locked to ATT.

I'd have to unlock it somehow or get a different phone, right?

You have to see which phones the specific carrier of interest
supports. They have lists.



I don't like this phone and wouldn't mind getting a different phone.

If I find my flipphone, are they also locked to one carrier or another?

They might be.


after the taxes) I get unlimiated calling and texting. The data is by the
wifi networks. Anytime I want to, I can switch to data over the cell towers
and off again for the rate of $ 20 per month. With all the wifi around , I
have never tried to do the data over the cell towers.
Only down side I know of is that you have to use their phones and the
cheapest one is about $ 100. I did go with a $ 200 phone. Nice Motorolo G
one.


That plan sounds good if you rarely have to pay the extra $20 to
get data access. If you pay the extra most months, then it's the
same as the major carriers, ie ~$35. That's why I liked.
You can adjust the plan in smaller increments, any time, from
the phone, on the fly.
With Zact which became Virgin, I can get ~250V, 250T, 250MB data
for ~$20. With no data it's just $12.

On Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 1:51:47 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2015 06:10:07 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:


If you have a phone that doesn't have an "@" sign, it's not a smartphone
and IDK what kind of email capability it would have, but I would suspect
none. One game that most carriers still play is that even though from
a technical perspective, you could buy a smartphone and only use it for
voice on their network and rely strictly on wifi for data, they won't
allow you to do that. They insist you have a data plan with a smartphone.

I don't know if I got around something or not. I got a GO-phone, a
pre-paid phone from ATT, with no data, and then I bought on ebay a
smartphone. Switiched the SIMM card and now I have a smartphone with no
data plan.


Sounds like you did.



Later I saw the very same smartphone for sale new, at BestBuy (only 100
dollars) and Walmart as a GO-phone, but think it required a data
plan, even with prepaid. (I'd better check again.) Even assuming I
got away with something, I don't know if one could when not using AT&T.

The only thing I've done so far that involves wifi is to enter a url
that says if airplanes are on time, (This worked at home, but I
couldn't find a place at the airport which had wifi without getting out
of my car, and that was too much trouble.)

I hate the smart phone, and as soon as I find my flip phone, I'm putting
the SIMM card back in it, and I'll carry the smart phone in the car's
trunk, for emergencies, if any.

Why do you hate the smartphone? I loved mine from the minute I got it.
I use it to access email, the web, it gives me constantly updated news
headlines, weather for the next 5 days on the homescreen, gasguru gives
me the lowest gas prices in the area. With dropbox, if I take a pic,
it's automatically sent to dropbox on my PC. I'd never go back to a
regular cell phone.

On Sun, 10 May 2015 13:27:45 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:




Why do you hate the smartphone? I loved mine from the minute I got it.
I use it to access email, the web, it gives me constantly updated news
headlines, weather for the next 5 days on the homescreen, gasguru gives
me the lowest gas prices in the area. With dropbox, if I take a pic,
it's automatically sent to dropbox on my PC. I'd never go back to a
regular cell phone.

All that and more. Track flights while waiting to head to the
airport, weather any place in the world, especially if you travel,
weather alerts, banking, deposit checks, (yes, deposit checks from the
phone, not the bank). Find restaurants, shop, the list just never
ends.

Never thought I'd be texting either, but I send a few every day.

"trader_4" wrote in message
...
after the taxes) I get unlimiated calling and texting. The data is by
the
wifi networks. Anytime I want to, I can switch to data over the cell
towers
and off again for the rate of $ 20 per month. With all the wifi around
, I
have never tried to do the data over the cell towers.
Only down side I know of is that you have to use their phones and the
cheapest one is about $ 100. I did go with a $ 200 phone. Nice
Motorolo G
one.


That plan sounds good if you rarely have to pay the extra $20 to
get data access. If you pay the extra most months, then it's the
same as the major carriers, ie ~$35. That's why I liked.
You can adjust the plan in smaller increments, any time, from
the phone, on the fly.
With Zact which became Virgin, I can get ~250V, 250T, 250MB data
for ~$20. With no data it's just $12.

It is not an extra $ 20, but it just goes up by $ 10 for a total of $ 20,
not $ 30. The data is free for the wifi with that deal and only costs if
going through a cell tower. I am not really that much into the data away
from home and have only used the wifi away from home. Sems like where I go
most places have wifi. I have only had the phone for about a year and a
half. One drawback on that phone is that it has special software and you can
not put a miniSD card in it. The camera says 5 meg, but I don't think it
takes as good of pix as a 4 meg digital camera I have. Almost never use
that function. Best thing I have found for me is the calander program to
keep up with things I forget about.

On Sun, 10 May 2015 13:27:45 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 1:51:47 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2015 06:10:07 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:


If you have a phone that doesn't have an "@" sign, it's not a smartphone
and IDK what kind of email capability it would have, but I would suspect
none. One game that most carriers still play is that even though from
a technical perspective, you could buy a smartphone and only use it for
voice on their network and rely strictly on wifi for data, they won't
allow you to do that. They insist you have a data plan with a smartphone.

I don't know if I got around something or not. I got a GO-phone, a
pre-paid phone from ATT, with no data, and then I bought on ebay a
smartphone. Switiched the SIMM card and now I have a smartphone with no
data plan.


Sounds like you did.



Later I saw the very same smartphone for sale new, at BestBuy (only 100
dollars) and Walmart as a GO-phone, but think it required a data
plan, even with prepaid. (I'd better check again.) Even assuming I
got away with something, I don't know if one could when not using AT&T.

The only thing I've done so far that involves wifi is to enter a url
that says if airplanes are on time, (This worked at home, but I
couldn't find a place at the airport which had wifi without getting out
of my car, and that was too much trouble.)

I hate the smart phone, and as soon as I find my flip phone, I'm putting
the SIMM card back in it, and I'll carry the smart phone in the car's
trunk, for emergencies, if any.

Why do you hate the smartphone?

When it's time to swipe the thing from the left to the right, to wake it
up, when first turning it on and other times, it can take me several
tries. Once it took over 8 tries.

Some other "buttons" don't work on the first try either. A gifl
friend tells me** I'm capacitively endowed, and that might be good but
not when using a cell phone.

When I get a call while driving, which has only been twice so far, once
just as I was getting on a narrow, curved expressway ramp, I can't
swipe that thing and drive at the same time. I'll pull over to talk,
but it will go to voice mail before I can pull over if I don't answer.
right away

When the screen goes dark, it takes 3 steps to wake it up again.

More stuff like that.

It was just so easy to use the "bar" phone and later the flip phone.

**Just kidding. But maybe there's some reason capacitvie buttons work
better for other people.

I loved mine from the minute I got it.
I use it to access email, the web, it gives me constantly updated news
headlines, weather for the next 5 days on the homescreen, gasguru gives
me the lowest gas prices in the area.

I will never do any of those things. I'm home a lot, but I'm out a lot
too, and only once have I wanted to read my email while out. (If a
particular email had come, I might have been able to do a second errand
in the same place on one trip. But when I got home, the email hadn't
come anyhow. (I think it never did,))

(But, if I ever had to, that's why I will keep the smart phone and a
car charger in the trunk.)

With dropbox, if I take a pic,
it's automatically sent to dropbox on my PC. I'd never go back to a
regular cell phone.

I do like the camera, though I've only used it a couple times, but I
don't need to send photos to the PC.

The previous phone, the flipphone, was a Samsung, which provided
software (Samsung PC Studio 3) to read and update the phone storage,
like the address book, as if it were a USB drive. Not as convenient as
Blue Tooth, but I only took a second to plug in the cable.

Android otoh keeps trying to get me to tie my phone to my gmail address,
and store all my contacts on their server. I don't want to do that.
It's bad enough people I know are storing my name and number on their
server.

On Sun, 10 May 2015 17:05:01 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On Sun, 10 May 2015 13:27:45 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:




Why do you hate the smartphone? I loved mine from the minute I got it.
I use it to access email, the web, it gives me constantly updated news
headlines, weather for the next 5 days on the homescreen, gasguru gives
me the lowest gas prices in the area. With dropbox, if I take a pic,
it's automatically sent to dropbox on my PC. I'd never go back to a
regular cell phone.

All that and more. Track flights while waiting to head to the
airport,

I wanted to do that once, but don't have a data plan and couldn't find
wifi without leaving my car. I figured he'd show up eventually, or
call, and he did.

weather any place in the world, especially if you travel,
weather alerts, banking, deposit checks, (yes, deposit checks from the
phone, not the bank). Find restaurants, shop, the list just never
ends.

I agree. It's a technical marvel.

Never thought I'd be texting either, but I send a few every day.

I don't plan to ever text, except.... it seems if one is contracting
with someone, it's good to get it in texts and save it. They use this
stuff all the time on TV court shows, and the litigants have agreed to
or admitted to everything much of the time,. IIRC regarding
Deflategate, there are text messages talking about how low the air
pressure was. Hard to believe people would write that down.

On Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 7:35:44 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2015 13:27:45 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 1:51:47 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2015 06:10:07 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:


If you have a phone that doesn't have an "@" sign, it's not a smartphone
and IDK what kind of email capability it would have, but I would suspect
none. One game that most carriers still play is that even though from
a technical perspective, you could buy a smartphone and only use it for
voice on their network and rely strictly on wifi for data, they won't
allow you to do that. They insist you have a data plan with a smartphone.

I don't know if I got around something or not. I got a GO-phone, a
pre-paid phone from ATT, with no data, and then I bought on ebay a
smartphone. Switiched the SIMM card and now I have a smartphone with no
data plan.


Sounds like you did.



Later I saw the very same smartphone for sale new, at BestBuy (only 100
dollars) and Walmart as a GO-phone, but think it required a data
plan, even with prepaid. (I'd better check again.) Even assuming I
got away with something, I don't know if one could when not using AT&T.

The only thing I've done so far that involves wifi is to enter a url
that says if airplanes are on time, (This worked at home, but I
couldn't find a place at the airport which had wifi without getting out
of my car, and that was too much trouble.)

I hate the smart phone, and as soon as I find my flip phone, I'm putting
the SIMM card back in it, and I'll carry the smart phone in the car's
trunk, for emergencies, if any.

Why do you hate the smartphone?

When it's time to swipe the thing from the left to the right, to wake it
up, when first turning it on and other times, it can take me several
tries. Once it took over 8 tries.


Depending on the phone, you should be able to choose from
different screen lock options. I use the pattern draw and
you can change it to whatever pattern you want. There is an
option for a number code too. You've probably looked at
the options in your system security menu, but if you haven't
there may be something you like better.



Some other "buttons" don't work on the first try either. A gifl
friend tells me** I'm capacitively endowed, and that might be good but
not when using a cell phone.

Maybe you just have a bad phone. Mine is a ZTE Awe, nothing fancy,
but the screen works perfectly.



When I get a call while driving, which has only been twice so far, once
just as I was getting on a narrow, curved expressway ramp, I can't
swipe that thing and drive at the same time. I'll pull over to talk,
but it will go to voice mail before I can pull over if I don't answer.
right away

I rarely use it when driving, but I don't think it's much
harder to answer than my old non-smart phone. It comes up
with a blinking icon in the center, with a red dismiss one
to the left, a green answer one to the right. You just have
to swipe from center to left or right. The old phone, as I
recall, you had to press a button. I guess that might be a
little easier. On some, I think you can change how many rings
before it goes to voicemail.

Speaking of voicemail, one great thing on smartphones is you
can put a visual voicemail app on many of them. Instead of
having to go through 6 unknown msgs one at a time to figure
out who they are, etc, you can see the six listed on the app,
who they are and pick any of them to listen to in any order.



When the screen goes dark, it takes 3 steps to wake it up again.

The ones I've seen, eg iPhone or a couple of Androids, all you
have to do is the unlock process. Either enter a code, draw the
pattern, etc. You can disable the lock, but then if you lose
the phone, anyone has access.





More stuff like that.

It was just so easy to use the "bar" phone and later the flip phone.

**Just kidding. But maybe there's some reason capacitvie buttons work
better for other people.

I loved mine from the minute I got it.
I use it to access email, the web, it gives me constantly updated news
headlines, weather for the next 5 days on the homescreen, gasguru gives
me the lowest gas prices in the area.

I will never do any of those things. I'm home a lot, but I'm out a lot
too, and only once have I wanted to read my email while out. (If a
particular email had come, I might have been able to do a second errand
in the same place on one trip. But when I got home, the email hadn't
come anyhow. (I think it never did,))

If I'm expecting an email or have reason to check, I use mine
at home, even when watching TV, instead of going to the computer.




(But, if I ever had to, that's why I will keep the smart phone and a
car charger in the trunk.)

With dropbox, if I take a pic,
it's automatically sent to dropbox on my PC. I'd never go back to a
regular cell phone.

I do like the camera, though I've only used it a couple times, but I
don't need to send photos to the PC.

The previous phone, the flipphone, was a Samsung, which provided
software (Samsung PC Studio 3) to read and update the phone storage,
like the address book, as if it were a USB drive. Not as convenient as
Blue Tooth, but I only took a second to plug in the cable.

The problem is you still have to do it. Then manually transfer the
pics. And hence, unless it's something I really need at the moment,
then it rarely gets done. I like knowing that when I take a pic,
it's going to automatically get stored to the PC and optionally online
at dropbox too. That way it's not only done, accessible, but it can't
get lost and if I need space on the phone, I can just delete pics.




Android otoh keeps trying to get me to tie my phone to my gmail address,
and store all my contacts on their server. I don't want to do that.
It's bad enough people I know are storing my name and number on their
server.

I have mine set to back up all the critical data from the phone
automatically. That way if the phone is lost, screwed up, etc
I have it.

On 05/10/2015 01:44 PM, Tony Hwang wrote:
s any CDMA phones still in use down there? All GSM phones up here now.
It is a matter of swapping out SIM card in your phone if it is GSM type.
SIM card costs like 10 bucks. Unlocking is not that hard.

Verizon and Sprint use CDMA, AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM. Where I am,
Verizon is about the only real game in town. I've never had a problem
when traveling through the area west of the Rockies. At one time GSM was
more of a west coast thing but I believe it's spread out.

It doesn't do voice at all but my Verizon MiFi is LTE.

micky wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2015 13:27:45 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 1:51:47 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2015 06:10:07 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:


If you have a phone that doesn't have an "@" sign, it's not a smartphone
and IDK what kind of email capability it would have, but I would suspect
none. One game that most carriers still play is that even though from
a technical perspective, you could buy a smartphone and only use it for
voice on their network and rely strictly on wifi for data, they won't
allow you to do that. They insist you have a data plan with a smartphone.

I don't know if I got around something or not. I got a GO-phone, a
pre-paid phone from ATT, with no data, and then I bought on ebay a
smartphone. Switiched the SIMM card and now I have a smartphone with no
data plan.


Sounds like you did.



Later I saw the very same smartphone for sale new, at BestBuy (only 100
dollars) and Walmart as a GO-phone, but think it required a data
plan, even with prepaid. (I'd better check again.) Even assuming I
got away with something, I don't know if one could when not using AT&T.

The only thing I've done so far that involves wifi is to enter a url
that says if airplanes are on time, (This worked at home, but I
couldn't find a place at the airport which had wifi without getting out
of my car, and that was too much trouble.)

I hate the smart phone, and as soon as I find my flip phone, I'm putting
the SIMM card back in it, and I'll carry the smart phone in the car's
trunk, for emergencies, if any.

Why do you hate the smartphone?

When it's time to swipe the thing from the left to the right, to wake it
up, when first turning it on and other times, it can take me several
tries. Once it took over 8 tries.

Some other "buttons" don't work on the first try either. A gifl
friend tells me** I'm capacitively endowed, and that might be good but
not when using a cell phone.

When I get a call while driving, which has only been twice so far, once
just as I was getting on a narrow, curved expressway ramp, I can't
swipe that thing and drive at the same time. I'll pull over to talk,
but it will go to voice mail before I can pull over if I don't answer.
right away

When the screen goes dark, it takes 3 steps to wake it up again.

More stuff like that.

It was just so easy to use the "bar" phone and later the flip phone.

**Just kidding. But maybe there's some reason capacitvie buttons work
better for other people.

I loved mine from the minute I got it.
I use it to access email, the web, it gives me constantly updated news
headlines, weather for the next 5 days on the homescreen, gasguru gives
me the lowest gas prices in the area.

I will never do any of those things. I'm home a lot, but I'm out a lot
too, and only once have I wanted to read my email while out. (If a
particular email had come, I might have been able to do a second errand
in the same place on one trip. But when I got home, the email hadn't
come anyhow. (I think it never did,))

(But, if I ever had to, that's why I will keep the smart phone and a
car charger in the trunk.)

With dropbox, if I take a pic,
it's automatically sent to dropbox on my PC. I'd never go back to a
regular cell phone.

I do like the camera, though I've only used it a couple times, but I
don't need to send photos to the PC.

The previous phone, the flipphone, was a Samsung, which provided
software (Samsung PC Studio 3) to read and update the phone storage,
like the address book, as if it were a USB drive. Not as convenient as
Blue Tooth, but I only took a second to plug in the cable.

Android otoh keeps trying to get me to tie my phone to my gmail address,
and store all my contacts on their server. I don't want to do that.
It's bad enough people I know are storing my name and number on their
server.


Hurry catching up. Things getting more hectic by the day.

On 05/10/2015 02:44 PM, Tony Hwang wrote:

[snip]

Is any CDMA phones still in use down there? All GSM phones up here now.
It is a matter of swapping out SIM card in your phone if it is GSM type.
SIM card costs like 10 bucks. Unlocking is not that hard.

Here, the only carriers that provide a usable signal are CDMA (Sprint
(which Ting uses) and Verion.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

On the sixth day God created man On the seventh day, man returned the
favor.

On 05/10/2015 03:24 PM, trader_4 wrote:

[snip]

Zact is kaput. They got bought out last year by Virgin Mobile. Virgin
put the Zact phones with the adjust your plan on the fly concept into
Walmart, branded as VM Custom, for about 6 months, then discontinued it.
I still have the plan and phone with Virgin now, hopefully it will remain
the same for some time to come, but it's no longer available for new
customers.

[snip]

Virgin uses the Sprint network (like Ting). However, I had some really
bad experiences with customer service. It's hard to get to talk to a
person and they ignored 90% or so of what I said (possibly because of
not speaking English well).

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

On the sixth day God created man On the seventh day, man returned the
favor.