Smart phone - Which service & which phone?
This past weekend did it for me. I decided to get off my butt and get a smart phone instead of just talking about it. We were camped with friends in an open area just south of Quartzsite, AZ.
Friday AM we were getting ready to return to San Diego when I got a call asking if I knew about the winds along I-8. Nope, I hadn't heard a word. I used my cell phone to call Calif. Hwy. Road Conditions Info. The recording for I-8 said a Wind Warning was in effect in the general areas of Boulevard and Jacumba
and high profile vehicles, and on and on were advised to stay off the road. So, what do I do??? Now, if I had a smart phone I figure I could at least have checked one or more weather sites. As it was I could only call some friends and ask them to do some checking for me.
I am now home in San Diego (turns out the Wind Warning was, how should I put it, not accurate. Sort of like the weather forecast for NYC & Philly for today. Huge snowstorm was predicted. It snowed some, but nothing major as I understand it).
Now, I think I'll start shopping for a smart phone. I'm not a heavy user of cell phones, don't do Facebook, etc. But I would like to go online when I want to, have a hotspot so I can use my laptop online whether or not our campground/RV park has wi-fi, etc. (I know not to do NetFlix and things like that 'cause they are data hogs.)
We plan to hit the road for about 4 months this spring and I would like to be all set up by then. By the way, when traveling we stay off the interstates and take US & state highways when feasible. We avoid large towns and congestion as much as possible.
So, which carrier should I go with; Verizon (I'd really prefer to avoid a 2 yr contract although I understand Verizon has the best overall coverage of them all), Sprint, or T-Mobile (doesn't require a contract but as I understand it, their coverage isn't nearly as good as Verizon)?
So, I ask your advice. What do you suggest? Is T-Mobile's coverage really that bad? Is Verizon that much better?
This morning I went into a Verizon store and a T-Mobile store. I gave the same story of how I think I'd use their device.
The T-Mobile guy said I'd probably use 1, maybe 2 GB of data/month. He said cost would be approx. $50/mo plus cost of a phone.
The Verizon guy said I'd probably need at least 10 GB at a cost of a little over $100/mo which I think included a basic smart phone.
Also, do I need a pretty fancy smart phone such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 or S5 or would a pretty basic one such as the LG L90 be OK for my use? I really don't know and would like your input.
Thanx,
Glenn
Friday AM we were getting ready to return to San Diego when I got a call asking if I knew about the winds along I-8. Nope, I hadn't heard a word. I used my cell phone to call Calif. Hwy. Road Conditions Info. The recording for I-8 said a Wind Warning was in effect in the general areas of Boulevard and Jacumba
and high profile vehicles, and on and on were advised to stay off the road. So, what do I do??? Now, if I had a smart phone I figure I could at least have checked one or more weather sites. As it was I could only call some friends and ask them to do some checking for me.
I am now home in San Diego (turns out the Wind Warning was, how should I put it, not accurate. Sort of like the weather forecast for NYC & Philly for today. Huge snowstorm was predicted. It snowed some, but nothing major as I understand it).
Now, I think I'll start shopping for a smart phone. I'm not a heavy user of cell phones, don't do Facebook, etc. But I would like to go online when I want to, have a hotspot so I can use my laptop online whether or not our campground/RV park has wi-fi, etc. (I know not to do NetFlix and things like that 'cause they are data hogs.)
We plan to hit the road for about 4 months this spring and I would like to be all set up by then. By the way, when traveling we stay off the interstates and take US & state highways when feasible. We avoid large towns and congestion as much as possible.
So, which carrier should I go with; Verizon (I'd really prefer to avoid a 2 yr contract although I understand Verizon has the best overall coverage of them all), Sprint, or T-Mobile (doesn't require a contract but as I understand it, their coverage isn't nearly as good as Verizon)?
So, I ask your advice. What do you suggest? Is T-Mobile's coverage really that bad? Is Verizon that much better?
This morning I went into a Verizon store and a T-Mobile store. I gave the same story of how I think I'd use their device.
The T-Mobile guy said I'd probably use 1, maybe 2 GB of data/month. He said cost would be approx. $50/mo plus cost of a phone.
The Verizon guy said I'd probably need at least 10 GB at a cost of a little over $100/mo which I think included a basic smart phone.
Also, do I need a pretty fancy smart phone such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 or S5 or would a pretty basic one such as the LG L90 be OK for my use? I really don't know and would like your input.
Thanx,
Glenn
