Old Man Going I-Phone ------ Advice Please

[5thwheeleroldma]

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 I've been told they are all outdated phones.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.

[2112]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

.. ok. this page was a big gray box until I added this post.

[gerrym51]

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]

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]

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?

[paulcardoza]

Whatever makes you think the OP is focused on the "latest technology"?

pconroy328 wrote:
I really, really don't want to start anything but....................

If you were interested in the latest *technology*, I think you'd choose another manufacturer. If you're interested in the latest from Apple, then yes. If Apple follows past trends, this September will probably bring a 6s or 6+s and next year will be a 7.

We're an integrated family. Half of us are iPhone users the other half on Android.

[pconroy328]

I really, really don't want to start anything but....................

If you were interested in the latest *technology*, I think you'd choose another manufacturer. If you're interested in the latest from Apple, then yes. If Apple follows past trends, this September will probably bring a 6s or 6+s and next year will be a 7.

We're an integrated family. Half of us are iPhone users the other half on Android.

[Happytraveler]

APT wrote:
The 5C is almost 3yr old technology. While it is still fine for today, each year when Apple launches its new OS your phone performance suffers. Pay the $200 each for latest generation processor. Better yet, wait until September when Apple launches whatever it next.

Exactly!!

[APT]

The 5C is almost 3yr old technology. While it is still fine for today, each year when Apple launches its new OS your phone performance suffers. Pay the $200 each for latest generation processor. Better yet, wait until September when Apple launches whatever it next.