[ale] Moving my Wife/Kids phones into the 20th Century

[JD]

On 04/22/2013 11:01 AM, Neal Rhodes wrote:
> Sorry if this is turning into
> alt.gripe.about.phones.just.because.android.resembles.linux, but...
> 
> Does anyone know of a carrier that will sell an android smartphone WITHOUT a
> data plan?
> 
> Meaning, it works like a phone to call and text, and when in WIFI coverage, it
> will do the groovy smartphone things.
> 
> I've got three people here that are customers.


Don't buy a carrier phone. Buy an unlocked phone to start, then buy the plan you
want from the carrier YOU want.  I've been on the same t-mobile plan
(pay-as-i-go) for 6+ yrs. Bought a new microSIM ($1), migrated the old plan to
the microSIM for free, and haven't looked back.

I saw a slickdeal yesterday for a Galaxy III for $240-ish - unlocked.

The key is to be on a world-standard phone - that means GSM. In the USA, that
means either AT&T or T-mobile or someone that resells from those 2 major
providers.  Since you (and I) don't care about data, we don't care if LTE2 or 4G
is available on the data plan. It doesn't matter.

My cell phone plan costs under $2.50/month, so I figure if I use $100 in a
month, I've still come out 2000x cheaper than monthly plans.  Actually, I've
added $10 to the plan every year for the last 5 yrs to keep it alive. The first
year had lots of up-front costs, but those have clearly been recouped.

Like I've previously stated, I have a Nexus 4 (16G model ~ about $360) - comes
unlocked directly from Google. I miss
* swapping batteries
* microSD slot
but besides those items, love the quad-core phone, fast GPS locks, and many apps
that work disconnected just fine.

Also, disabling a cellular data connection is trivial in Android.  Once it is
disabled, it stays disabled regardless of "airplane mode" use or not. When I
leave the country, I do pull the SIM to prevent any accidental voice roaming
charges, but that's just a good idea for anyone with any phone.  GPS works fine
without a SIM, BTW.  At least it does on Android.  I've been in remote places
where people with iPhones discover that GPS doesn't seem to work. It has been a
few yrs, so perhaps Apple has fixed that major flaw, but I dunno.