I'm going to dump my land line, dump my cable internet, throw away my two ATT flip phones and go to 2 I-Phones, an internet MyFi hotspot with 20 gigs/month of data----- for $240/month (all Verizon). Comments??They are offering us Apple 5C's, Droid Max, or Galaxy S4 --- all basically free with a 2 year contract. I've been told they are all outdated phones. But would an old fellow like me care? Should I buy my own smart phones to get the latest?Oh, the precipitater in all this was the telemarketers driving us crazy on the land line. They are the only ones who use it, don't know why I pay the bill. Yeah, I tried the no call list, bought a commercial blocker, etc--- just too much hassle.

What do you want a smart phone for? That is the ? You need to answer first.Mifi is nice, but not really necessary. Smart phones have wifi capabilities that just need to be turned on.As fas as which smart phone, you need first to decide which technonogy. If you have other Apple products then its ammo brainer. Personally, I hate DWs Iphone, preferring my Android. But thats just me.

5thwheeleroldman wrote:I'm going to dump my land line, dump my cable internet, throw away my two ATT flip phones and go to 2 I-Phones, an internet MyFi hotspot with 20 gigs/month of data----- for $240/month (all Verizon). Comments??Sure - I try about every two months to find something cheaper from some carrier with equal coverage and fail. So try it and see if you want to drop down to 10G.5thwheeleroldman wrote:They are offering us Apple 5C's, Droid Max, or Galaxy S4 --- all basically free with a 2 year contract. I've been told they are all outdated phones. But would an old fellow like me care? Should I buy my own smart phones to get the latest?Frankly? Naaaaaaaaaaaa - there's probably not much on the newer phones like the iPhone 6/6+ or the Samsung 6 that you'd *need*. I've got a 4s, 5s, 5c, and a Samsung S5 in the house. They're all fine. I'm not dumping my Samsung 5 for the 6. I'll wait and see what the next rev brings.5thwheeleroldman wrote:Oh, the precipitater in all this was the telemarketers driving us crazy on the land line. They are the only ones who use it, don't know why I pay the bill. Yeah, I tried the no call list, bought a commercial blocker, etc--- just too much hassle.Just bear in mind that telemarketers will find you on your smartphone too. :)And please read up on E911 or have a good discussion on the differences between E911 on a landline and a cell phone.Some things are better, some things not so much. It's always a good idea to assume that the emergency responders won't know exactly where you are unless you *tell* them.

Realize that those "free" phones are not really free. The connection fee per contracted smart phone per month is $40. If you purchase a new phone through Verizon edge or bring your own, the connection fee is only $15 (on any plan over 10gb). So you are paying an extra $25 a month to subsidize each of those "free" phones that are already obsolete!. Over 24 months each free phone will cost $600!!! Why not just get 16GB iPhone 6 or new android on the edge plan for the same amount of money? Or even buy a used 5c and get that $25 per phone discount? As stated above Mifi is not needed because all smart phones will act as a hotspot. So you should be able to get 2 brand new phones on edge plan and 20gb/mo with unlimited talk and text for $220, or bring 2 of your outside purchased smartphones and it will be $170

Personally, you made a smart move. I did the same and it was the best thing I've ever done. No more BS calls and if you do get one, just block the number on your cellphone. I think you're paying for E911 to work via your cellphone bill. I would check with the city. I did register my number with the city and now get emergency calls. Personally, I hate IoS and dealing with itunes but that's just my opinion. I now have a Galaxy S5 but the S4 was a really good phone. AT&T upped my 15G data plan to 30G for free so I have plenty of data, plus they roll over unused data for the next month. I use Directv for the home and rig. Good move.

The beauty of the VERIZON MIFI units is they are stand alone - do not need to tie up any of your phones - will connect to five or more of all your WIFI enabled devices (laptop/tablets etc). They are also direct connected to the internet using VERIZON as the Internet Provider. All of this is pretty much secured with passwords etc...If you use the MIFI sitting in WILSON SLEEK CRADLE with External Antenna rolling down the road is nice with all your other WIFI enabled devices up and running...We are using the older DROID smart phones and it does all we want to do with one.We also subscribe to SIRIUSXM in the mobile with the travel package which give us a great WX BROADCAST display and travel info - great $20 a month thing for us...Roy Ken

Old Man Going I-Phone ------ Advice Please | Good Sam Community

2112
Explorer II
Jun 01, 2015
I don't know what part of Texas you are in but Verizon has a huge dead spot west of San Antonio. Garner State Park is in the middle of it.

Other than that, I like my Samsung Note.
mich800
Explorer
Jun 01, 2015
The iphone 5c was never intended to be the performance model. If you got the 5c for that reason you made a mistake. The 5c is the cheaper model. It was not the cutting edge iphone when new.
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Jun 01, 2015
Hammer & Chisel Opinion

With a set of earphones my Samsung Galaxy 4 has stunningly clear and loud sound. Speech is crystal clear and the other end says my voice comes through clearer.

I don't Netflix or try and trigger false launch alerts at NORAD, but as far as a phone is concerned the Galaxy 4 hits the spot. The camera has enough pixels to take great images.

We measure ping down here with a sun dial so the internet is just so-so. My rental is 300' away from a cell tower. Found out the more krap they stuff into the case the quicker the battery runs down. Also true of the load of Apps a person loads. I dont want a communications device that lasts one hour then needs to suck on a nipple.
camping_man
Explorer
May 31, 2015
PUCampin wrote:
Realize that those "free" phones are not really free. The connection fee per contracted smart phone per month is $40. If you purchase a new phone through Verizon edge or bring your own, the connection fee is only $15 (on any plan over 10gb). So you are paying an extra $25 a month to subsidize each of those "free" phones that are already obsolete!. Over 24 months each free phone will cost $600!!! Why not just get 16GB iPhone 6 or new android on the edge plan for the same amount of money? Or even buy a used 5c and get that $25 per phone discount?

As stated above Mifi is not needed because all smart phones will act as a hotspot. So you should be able to get 2 brand new phones on edge plan and 20gb/mo with unlimited talk and text for $220, or bring 2 of your outside purchased smartphones and it will be $170
I Agree, I picked up two Galaxy notes,$150 each , I won't pay $1200 for two phones in a contract, it's still $1200 out of my pocket . Simple math.
Gjac
Explorer III
May 31, 2015
I'm old also and finally parted with my flip phone reluctantly 6 mos ago. My old phone was $30/mo with 450 min talk. The I phone 5C was free and cost $40/mo. I got the Iphone only because my kids had it and could show me how to use it. Besides having unlimited talk and text when I signed up with the family plan they double my sil gigs from 15 to 30 so for me when I travel it is great I never run out of data. I downloaded Copilot and saved $400 over a RV specific GPS. It is also a hotspot for my laptop, a camera both video and still, an alarm clock, trip planner, has traffic updates, and weather alerts. With the 8 gigs of storage I download pictures to my laptop which is not a problem( I haven't figured out how to use I cloud yet). There are many more features that I don't use now but may use someday as I learn about the phone. My wife says I don't like change but this was a good one.
Dakota98
Explorer
May 30, 2015
ChopperBill wrote:
My old iPhone 4 does one heck of a job as a telephone, and occasional text. Takes a pretty good picture too. Refurbished $69. Gotta iPad for computer work. Refurbished Garmin for GPS work. $60. Guess it works about as good as others I been reading about.

I'm with Bill, if you need the absolute latest & greatest ( a lot of bells & whistles you won't use ) THERE IS A PRICE TO PAY. That's what Apple counts on & has done a very good job in marketing the "I got to have mentality" !!!

The OP does not need a $700 - $1000 phone.
2oldman
Explorer II
May 30, 2015
.. ok. this page was a big gray box until I added this post.
gerrym51
Explorer II
May 29, 2015
5C is a mistake not because 5c is bad but bacause to meet a price point this 5c is only 8 gigabytes storage and no upgrades of it.

apples ios system uses a lot of memory. you will never be able to upgrade the operating system Ios keeps getting bigger and bigger.

get a 32 gig android
FlatBroke
Explorer II
May 29, 2015
My old iPhone 4 does one heck of a job as a telephone, and occasional text. Takes a pretty good picture too. Refurbished $69. Gotta iPad for computer work. Refurbished Garmin for GPS work. $60. Guess it works about as good as others I been reading about.
2oldman
Explorer II
May 29, 2015
5thwheeleroldman wrote:
I don't know what I want to do with an I-phone, except block annoying calls to my hearts content. Guess I will discover more things as I get to know it?
You don't need to block anything. Any call from an 800 number is spam. Robo-calls are infrequent, and, you can see who's calling so you don't have to pick up. The DNC list is a joke, but telemarketers are much more cautious about spamming mobile phones. At least that's what I see.

More things? Level, compass, flashlight, Netflix, tap&pay, Starbucks card, weather alerts, GPS, mapping programs, camera... should I keep going?

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