What is your opinion on cell/smart phones for travling?

[eZAK]

We are looking to purchase new cell phones to replace our Moto Razr's.
We currently have Verizon pre-paid. We are some what neutral about keeping Verizon. In general, we don't use our phones a whole heck of a lot. It takes me about 3 mos. to go through 1,000 mins. It takes my wife about 5 mos. to go through 1,000.
We talk and text (would be nice to have a keyboard or voice recognition)

Also, We are open to paying for data to access the net on occasions.

So what we are looking at is a reliable carrier across the USA and a easy to use reliable phone with a good battery life.

[Altern]

eZAK wrote:
Does anyone know about unlocked phones?

Not to hi-jack the thread but what did you want to know?
Feel free to PM me if necessary.

[mowermech]

Yes, jmt, you are absolutely right. I don't see any value in a smart phone for me.
I don't text. Those who wish to communicate with me can make a phone call, they have my number. I have a Garmin in the car and one in the Jeep. Either one can be removed and installed in the motorhome when needed. I have an amateur radio in the Jeep, the motorhome, and in the house and the capability to install a CB radio in each.
My laptop computer has a docking station, keyboard, and monitor so it replaces the huge desktop, and I can take it with me in the motorhome.
If I want to take pictures, I have an excellent digital camera and two 35mm cameras. I do not use the camera in my cell phone.
Besides, I do not want my entire life entered into a single electronic gadget that is subject to loss, theft, damage, or being corrupted. I most assuredly LIKE having things spread around among several devices.
I am quite happy with my dumb phone. It makes and receives phone calls. THAT is all I want it to do. Shucks, I was very happy with my old Motorola bag phone. Yeah, it was a big old clunky thing, but it WORKED, and in some areas it was better than my little flip phone!

[john_bet]

mowermech wrote:

WyoTraveler wrote:

mowermech wrote:
Many areas of the West have poor cell coverage, regardless of carrier. Here in Montana, coverage is good near many towns, and along the freeway corridors, but generally on State and Federal highways between towns you can forget it. Oh, you might catch a tower from the top of a hill somewhere, but you will lose it in a half mile or less.
Verizon seems to be the best bet here, or one of the pre-paid plans that use the Verizon network, such as Trac-Fone.
wi-fi will not be found at the best camping spots (state parks and Forest Service campgrounds). Most of them don't have cell service, either.
Many commercial campgrounds have wi-fi, but it often isn't very good. "Adequate", but not "excellent". Some of the out-of-town RV parks don't have cell service.

Very interesting. I make a lot of trips to and from Bllings using AT&T. Never had a problem. Took I -90 west from Billings to Wash and Oregon. Never a problem except in a few places very rural.

Well, like I said "...coverage is good near many towns, and along the freeway corridors,..."
That is, I-90, I-15, and I-94.
The next time you go, get off the freeway and take U.S. 87 to State 200 West to Missoula. Let us know how your cell coverage is on that route. Or, travel North to U.S. 2, and take that highway all the way to Everett, WA. Again, let us know how your Smart Phone works.
good luck.

Or try MT 200 from Glendive west to Great Falls. You will loose cell service pretty quick out there before the next town of size. We use that route when coming in from the east on I-94. We even loose it when we go out of Billings on 3 to 12 to 3 to 200 to Great Falls. Heck I can even loose it in some spots in my home county here in southern Ind. and I am on Verizon. My cell was a very nice thing to have this past Oct. when we broke down 25 miles west out of Glendive,MT. I was able to call my road service for help. I have used it to locate address of places we want to visit so I could load it in my GPS. Very glad I have what I have. My life goes on.

[eZAK]

All good comments so far!

Does anyone know about unlocked phones?

[jmtandem]

There will always be those of us who do not believe that we have a real NEED for a smart phone. The number of us may be decreasing, but we will always be here.

You are probably correct. There will always be a few that do not see the value of having so much in such a small package that actually replaces other things that you might not need either like GPS, data on fuel stations, restaurants, weather, traffic ahead, internet connectivity, e-mail, texting, voice commands, etc. I suspect you came into the computer age thinking that personal home computers would never be needed. I have just about decided a landline phone can now be added to my not needed list as the cell technology does all that and much more.

Most responses here favor smart phone technology for RV travelers. The issue about no coverage in some rural areas pales in comparison to the areas they do work very well. Maybe the cell coverage glass is half full for some of us as we look at this issue and half empty for those that look at it the way you seem to.

Anyway differences of opinions are what make the forums interesting. Thanks for posting.

[SailorPam]

I've found that I use my smartphones over the years far more than I thought I would. In fact my smartphone, mobile hotspot and laptop allow me to travel and maintain my business during my down season. It's a no-brainer for me. We currently use US Cellular which uses the Verizon network. We chose them because they had good coverage and good pricing - a little better than Verizon. And the customer service I've received has been very good. That being said, we now realize they don't have a presence in all markets, so if we have equipment problems in an area where they aren't we may be inconvenienced. So at some point in the future we will switch to Verizon I'm sure. We started with AT&T, but encountered more lapses in coverage on the west coast which is why we switched.

I've found that the people I talk to who have smartphones almost unanimously say they use them more than they thought they would. Those who say they hardly ever use a cell phone are packing non-smartphones (dumb phones?).

[mowermech]

WyoTraveler wrote:

mowermech wrote:
Many areas of the West have poor cell coverage, regardless of carrier. Here in Montana, coverage is good near many towns, and along the freeway corridors, but generally on State and Federal highways between towns you can forget it. Oh, you might catch a tower from the top of a hill somewhere, but you will lose it in a half mile or less.
Verizon seems to be the best bet here, or one of the pre-paid plans that use the Verizon network, such as Trac-Fone.
wi-fi will not be found at the best camping spots (state parks and Forest Service campgrounds). Most of them don't have cell service, either.
Many commercial campgrounds have wi-fi, but it often isn't very good. "Adequate", but not "excellent". Some of the out-of-town RV parks don't have cell service.

Very interesting. I make a lot of trips to and from Bllings using AT&T. Never had a problem. Took I -90 west from Billings to Wash and Oregon. Never a problem except in a few places very rural.

Well, like I said "...coverage is good near many towns, and along the freeway corridors,..."
That is, I-90, I-15, and I-94.
The next time you go, get off the freeway and take U.S. 87 to State 200 West to Missoula. Let us know how your cell coverage is on that route. Or, travel North to U.S. 2, and take that highway all the way to Everett, WA. Again, let us know how your Smart Phone works.
good luck.

[WyoTraveler]

My wife & I both have a smart phone. It is nice to have lap top for some things. Both AT&T and Verizon offer an internet connection module. Beware of sticker shock though. However, for 2 smart phones and running a hay business plus our internet connection we run about $215 a month. (we have no land line and no other internet hard line connection)

[MTPockets1]

azdryheat wrote:
I absolutely rely on my smart phone as the wi-fi at almost all rv parks is abysmal. If it wasn't for my phone I wouldn't have internet on the road. I've been a customer of Verizon for a very long time and find them to be a very good company.

.
Ditto....

[WyoTraveler]

mowermech wrote:
Many areas of the West have poor cell coverage, regardless of carrier. Here in Montana, coverage is good near many towns, and along the freeway corridors, but generally on State and Federal highways between towns you can forget it. Oh, you might catch a tower from the top of a hill somewhere, but you will lose it in a half mile or less.
Verizon seems to be the best bet here, or one of the pre-paid plans that use the Verizon network, such as Trac-Fone.
wi-fi will not be found at the best camping spots (state parks and Forest Service campgrounds). Most of them don't have cell service, either.
Many commercial campgrounds have wi-fi, but it often isn't very good. "Adequate", but not "excellent". Some of the out-of-town RV parks don't have cell service.

Very interesting. I make a lot of trips to and from Bllings using AT&T. Never had a problem. Took I -90 west from Billings to Wash and Oregon. Never a problem except in a few places very rural.

[Dick_B]

Our smartphone is sometimes a better GPS than our Garmin; more up-to-date for finding places. We bought one that advertised longer time between battery charges.
The August 2013 issue of PC World has the results of a study of the four fastest wireless networks in the U.S. and T-Mobile is the winner for 3G service, At&T for 4G service and the loser in both categories was Sprint. Verizon, which we have, is somewhere in the middle of the mix. The results depend on where you are in most cases.

[wildtoad]

Stick with Verizon I have ATT and coverage is very spotty to non exist at many of the off beaten path state parks. Even been to many small towns where cell service is bleak.

Regarding smart phone, my personal opinion is the IPhone is the easiest to setup, most reliable smart phone I've owned. And I've owned a bunch.

You may encounter some sticker shock going from a cell phone to a smart phone when you add in the cost of data plans, so take your meds!

[Dutch_12078]

I have a Tracfone ZTE Valet Android smartphone on the Verizon network. They offer a 400 minute/400 text/400 MB card that's good for one year, and the phone triples the minute/text/data counts when you activate the card. Additional time/text/data can be added at any time, either online or with readily available cards. I estimate my monthly cost to be about $10.00.

[2oldman]

Voice to text is a godsend for texting.

[MickeyBrennan]

Verizon offers V Z Navigator. A navi feature that includes truck routes, traffic warnings or detours, fuel prices, attraction and restaurants.

Verizon also has a United States and Mexico plan. Our phones do not care where we are! Great coverage in the US and our part of Mexico.

Cost for 700 minutes, V Z Navigator, 3 gigs of data and 1000 texts a month for two phones is $98. (YMMV old plan)