joebedford
Nov 23, 2014Nomad II
Tracfone data usage - smartphone vs. dumbphone?
I know there was a thread on this sort of subject not long ago that started quite goofy then actually evolved into some useful information (total opposite of what happens to most threads here ;) )
I've had a Tracfone for years and it suits me and my usage pattern quite well (just phone calls and only 5 months of the year).
My flip phone is getting long in the tooth and I'm toying with the idea of replacing it with a Tracfone smartphone. I have something like 2000 minutes of unused airtime. I thought there was an algorithm to convert minutes to MB. Apparently there IS such an algorithm but it doesn't apply to smartphones? I've taken a few photos with my phone on the odd occasion when I didn't have my camera. I guess emailing those to myself used some minutes of airtime converted to data use?
Anyway, is it correct to assume that if I get a Tracfone smartphone that the airtime voice minutes I have can be transferred over but I would start with 0MB data? I see they have data cards for $10 to $50 - 300MB to 2GB. I would only surf when actually rolling down the road to research campgrounds and such. 2GB would last a long time. I understand the GB roll over as long as the subscription doesn't expire (we buy 1 year at a time)
Sorry for the rambling post. I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know if I understand correctly. (DW needs to know how much it's going to cost before she'll authorize the expenditure).
Oh, one other question - do all / most smartphones switch to wifi when it's available for data use?
I've had a Tracfone for years and it suits me and my usage pattern quite well (just phone calls and only 5 months of the year).
My flip phone is getting long in the tooth and I'm toying with the idea of replacing it with a Tracfone smartphone. I have something like 2000 minutes of unused airtime. I thought there was an algorithm to convert minutes to MB. Apparently there IS such an algorithm but it doesn't apply to smartphones? I've taken a few photos with my phone on the odd occasion when I didn't have my camera. I guess emailing those to myself used some minutes of airtime converted to data use?
Anyway, is it correct to assume that if I get a Tracfone smartphone that the airtime voice minutes I have can be transferred over but I would start with 0MB data? I see they have data cards for $10 to $50 - 300MB to 2GB. I would only surf when actually rolling down the road to research campgrounds and such. 2GB would last a long time. I understand the GB roll over as long as the subscription doesn't expire (we buy 1 year at a time)
Sorry for the rambling post. I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know if I understand correctly. (DW needs to know how much it's going to cost before she'll authorize the expenditure).
Oh, one other question - do all / most smartphones switch to wifi when it's available for data use?