smartphones....worth it or not?

[camaro_z28]

I'm sure I'm old school. I still have a crappy calling plan with a basic phone. I've been looking at the smart phones for the wifey and I, just wondering if its worth the extra $30 a month (verizon) per phone for the fancy data plan. I like all the apps, etc. but still thats boat gas money. just want some input...pros, cons, is it worth it?

 

[Pack66Dad]

With Verizon, no.
ATT is still the only one with the iPhone and its the best hands down.
I'm not an Apple guy and I got drug kicking and screaming to the iPhone but its really the best on the market. I have had them all- Blackberry, Windows and Droid..... they all suck compared to the iPhone.

 

[Presentation]

There are prepaid wireless plans that may offer the voice, text, and data package that could significantly lower your monthly expense.

Just one example, look at the beyond talk plan packages here:
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/beyond-talk-plans.jsp



Just full disclosure, I use Verizon wireless. I have a track phone for my oldest daughter. Once my contract is up I will be reevaluating our needs and options.

 

[JediJD]

The better question is "worth what" and "to whom". A smartphone doesn't work any better than a Tracfone for making calls, and it is horrifically more expensive. Most of the apps are fun, and frankly I like mine, but if it was a choice between gas and the phone, I would be on MetroPCS in a heartbeat. At our Christmas gathering yesterday, three of the most successful people in the room still used regular phones and dayplanners...and didn't give a darn about it.

The upside is the instantaneous communication by voice, email and text. The downside is that you are now expected to be connected by voice, email and text-which is a lot less fun than you think. The screens aren't big enough to really function (although it certainly is possible to surf the web). I find the camera convenient for recording serial numbers and things like that...and there is a small utility in programs like Redline which compare prices off barcodes...I occasionally check in on sports scores when I'm stuck at boring events...and I like Boating Suite to keep track of my boat log, but for the most part, they are the great investments in productivity the commercials would have you believe. If you want to pay extra for a little convenience...do so, but remember it costs you $500/yr.

 

[Alex F]

I'm sure I'm old school. I still have a crappy calling plan with a basic phone. I've been looking at the smart phones for the wifey and I, just wondering if its worth the extra $30 a month (verizon) per phone for the fancy data plan. I like all the apps, etc. but still thats boat gas money. just want some input...pros, cons, is it worth it?

I guess, the mian question is "do you or your wife realy need it"?

Do you realy need all those bells and whistles like email and all those apps on your phone? I'm a palm user and had several models for for years. I'm using it to help me stay organize and keep things on track. I'm behind computer most of the day, so having emails on my phone wasn't necessary. Now that my personal emails are getting blocked at work I'm thinking of alternatives.

Iphone is cool and I agree that it's the leader on the market, however I find that typing on any touch screen is inconvenient. So, it's a learning curve, but I'm not convinced that I need to go trough it as there're many products on the market.

I've been verizon customer for about 15yrs just b/c they have the best coverage. So, I'm not sure I'm ready to switch, yet.

So, as you can see this is another "it depends" questions that you need to think thru to see if it's realy worth the extra expense for you.

Hope this thread will help you make the desicion.

 

[Big Island Lifer]

I now have an IPhone (my employer kept me on a blackberry but have since dropped their enterprise server). MY wife and I both have Iphones. If you want to talk about a monthly bill ours is...

ready

are you sitting down?


$180 bucks a month. :smt089

Yep.

Now I get a good chunk of that paid for by my employer but it is still spendy when you start adding a data plan on top of your monthly minutes as well as txting. Not to mention the cost of the phone and the accesories. I haven't even started talking about apps yet. You may find that you use fewer minutes but your data use will increase significantly.

Now that I have mentioned the bad and you're still reading...

You may struggle to figure out how you ever lived without one. My 68 year old mother got a droid a few months ago and LOVES IT! She is able to send email and pics from anywhere to her friends and grandchildren (they live overseas and its a lot cheaper then calling). She has even learned to figure out the directions and map(GPS) apps so she is no longer getting lost on a weekly basis. She loves to send and receive txts as well as surf the web. My father is even considering getting one.

I would definitely reccomend getting one. It just depends if you are going to switch to AT&T for an Iphone or get a driod on another network. I do appreciate the simplicity of the Iphone (it seems that every other "smart phone" on the market tries to improve on the Iphone but they seem to make it more complicated then it should be).

Let us know what you end up with.

 

[JimG]

With Verizon, no.
ATT is still the only one with the iPhone and its the best hands down.
I'm not an Apple guy and I got drug kicking and screaming to the iPhone but its really the best on the market. I have had them all- Blackberry, Windows and Droid..... they all suck compared to the iPhone.

I have Verizon with a Samsung Omnia II... great phone and service in my area. Handy for real-time weather radar, sporting scores, news, and quick photos.

The iPhone is OK... I don't like their PC software though... it embeds in like a virus. When I upgrade next year after the contract is out, I will look at Droid or another Windows phone.

 

[northern]

On my last contract work the company supplied me with a BackBerry. It had all the functions my office computer had and took pictures and movies. It took me 2 months to figure out how it all worked. I also have (personal) a basic cell phone a sat phone and air cards for my computer, this is enough for me to stay in touch on the boat and at home. When I left I gave them back the BB and do not miss it. I got 100+ emails a day. As some called them electronic leach. if you need to be connected all the time they work well.

 

[efizjb]

No matter what smartphone you get you'll still wish it did something, open a particular file etc. They have a lot of apps and are fun, but sometimes you wish it did more, and for what you pay for the phone and the services, it can disappoint at times. It also can become a time waster as well.

 

[Pack66Dad]

I have Verizon with a Samsung Omnia II... great phone and service in my area. Handy for real-time weather radar, sporting scores, news, and quick photos.

The iPhone is OK... I don't like their PC software though... it embeds in like a virus. When I upgrade next year after the contract is out, I will look at Droid or another Windows phone.

Like I said, I'm not an Apple guy. I hate their crap, always trying to sneek another program on your computer when it updates. BUT, my iPhone always works, it has all the apps I want or need and it is so easy to use. I cannot say that about any of the other "smart" phones I have used.

As far as the bill..... its all through my company and we pay a horrendous amount every month but we have quite a few phones with data plans and air cards

 

[floriduramax1]

No matter what smartphone you get you'll still wish it did something, open a particular file etc. They have a lot of apps and are fun, but sometimes you wish it did more, and for what you pay for the phone and the services, it can disappoint at times. It also can become a time waster as well.

Agreed! I have had the Iphone since it came out and now have the 4. I still don't understand why we can't have a "flash player" app or something:smt013

Like I said, I'm not an Apple guy. I hate their crap, always trying to sneek another program on your computer when it updates. BUT, my iPhone always works, it has all the apps I want or need and it is so easy to use. I cannot say that about any of the other "smart" phones I have used.

As far as the bill..... its all through my company and we pay a horrendous amount every month but we have quite a few phones with data plans and air cards

Same here. I have combined billing for all cell phones and land lines including fax lines. Bill for everything is 500.00/mo! Not really all that bad since it includes business! Plus all 3 of my Iphones are on "unlimited" data! We have had the plans so long we are "grandfathered" as long as we don't ever change the plan, thank God I changed to an "unlimited" minutes plan before they eliminated the "unlimited" data plan so there's really nothing for me to change:smt038

 

[Gofirstclass]

What do you guys think of the Windows based phones that AT&T has. Costco has a Samsung smartphone that's Windows based for $49. Is it a piece of junk I'd be unhappy with in a couple of months, or is it going to do what most of the other phones do?

 

[Turtlesboat]

I think any phone on AT&T is going to be city dependent. Their network in some cities is so overloaded that you want to take the phone and hurl it into a wall.

 

[Larry]

What do you guys think of the Windows based phones that AT&T has. Costco has a Samsung smartphone that's Windows based for $49. Is it a piece of junk I'd be unhappy with in a couple of months, or is it going to do what most of the other phones do?

I had from Verizon there pocket PC about 2-3 years ago and hated it... typical windows issues like having to "reboot" my phone almost once a day. I had a Blackberry Curve after and loved it, but just recently decided to get the new Droid 2 and I like allot of the features, but sometimes I do mis my BB, just a little......

 

[wish2fish]

Larry,
what do you miss about the BB? I've had one for 2.5 years and for anything outside of email/calendar this thing is not that great. Super slow, terrible for looking at anything on the net

I'm hoping for the verizon iPhone!

 

[Pack66Dad]

We have had the plans so long we are "grandfathered" as long as we don't ever change the plan, thank God I changed to an "unlimited" minutes plan before they eliminated the "unlimited" data plan so there's really nothing for me to change:smt038

:thumbsup: I have the exact same circumstance. :smt038

 

[Big Island Lifer]

Larry,
what do you miss about the BB? I've had one for 2.5 years and for anything outside of email/calendar this thing is not that great. Super slow, terrible for looking at anything on the net

I'm hoping for the verizon iPhone!

I had a BB Pearl for 4 years. I loved the size and with my fat fingers the keys were easy to use. I thought I would miss my keyboard (made a short and ill advised move to the BB Torch and regretted it for the two weeks I had it). I really don't. After 3 days I couldn't imagine going back to a BB. One usability thing that bugs me a bout the Iphone - Its easy to hang up on people. All you have to do is bruch the touch screen off button and the call is gone. I do miss the buttons for answering and hanging up.

 

[wish2fish]

I had a BB Pearl for 4 years. I loved the size and with my fat fingers the keys were easy to use. I thought I would miss my keyboard (made a short and ill advised move to the BB Torch and regretted it for the two weeks I had it). I really don't. After 3 days I couldn't imagine going back to a BB. One usability thing that bugs me a bout the Iphone - Its easy to hang up on people. All you have to do is bruch the touch screen off button and the call is gone. I do miss the buttons for answering and hanging up.

I heard AT&T requested that feature so they could blamed dropped calls on that feature!:smt043

 

[Larry]

Larry,
what do you miss about the BB? I've had one for 2.5 years and for anything outside of email/calendar this thing is not that great. Super slow, terrible for looking at anything on the net

I'm hoping for the verizon iPhone!

The only thing I really miss is the roller ball and the ease of emailing using different accounts... But I do like my new Droid 2.

 

[wavedancer37]

I just bought an epic 4g and I have had it 2 whole days. Today I was at lowes in desperate need of a washer and dryer. While waiting for salesman to come back I googled the model # and found they had the same thing online for 200 bucks less. Salesman comes up and says are you ready... I said do you price match online ? He says yes. WOOOOHOOOOO for me. Saved 500 bucks because he beat the online price. Thats just paid for my phone in itself in day 2. Smartphone all the way for me.
I had a BB before this one and is nice but way to slow for web browsing