Martinjmpr
Wiffleball Batter
After successfully resisting for years, I feel myself being pulled into the vortex. Assimilated into the 'borg collective. Brainwashed into the cult. Zombie-fied.
Yes, I think I'm going to have to get a smartphone. :elkgrin: I'm eligible for an "upgrade" and it's just occurred to me that there are too many times when a smartphone would have been useful for me to ignore the obvious benefits.
I guess the first choice would be "which phone?" My last two (non-smart) phones have been Casio G'Zone ruggedized phones: A Boulder (flip phone) and a Brigade (Clamshell texting phone.) Nice to have a rugged phone that is water and shock resistant.
I know Casio makes a ruggedized smartphone (the Commando) but I have to say that after reading the reviews on Verizon's web site, it doesn't seem like a good choice.
Honestly, I'm thinking I'll go to the granddaddy of them all, the iPhone. Verizon offers the 4s for $99.00 which seems like a decent deal (with a 2 year activation, of course, but I'm planning on being with Verizon for a good long time anyway.) They also offer the iPhone 4 for free but the 4s seems like the better phone.
My rationale for going with Apple (and no, I'm not a Mac user) is just the fact that it's so universal that finding accessories/apps for it ought to be easier than with the myriad of 'Droid phones.
I also did the side-by-side comparo of several different phones and one thing that intrigued me was the 4s's ability to work as a "global phone" in GSM areas.
So, that being said, what advice can you give a prospective new smartphone user?
Reading a lot of the user reviews, I see many complaints about battery life, this is on pretty much all the phones. I am used to charging up my phone maybe once a week. I guess with a smartphone that's not realistic. I get it, a smartphone is a mini computer that is running all the time so of course it's going to use up its battery faster. So what techniques have you all adopted to deal with this situation? I see little "emergency chargers" sold in stores, I guess those are usually for smart phones.
Next question: I have heard the screen can be fragile. The smartphone with the cracked screen seems to be something of a cliche. What can be done to protect it? Can it be replaced and if so how expensive is that? Does the touch screen work if it's cracked?
Third question: May sound dumb, but I know a smartphone is a little computer - how does it compare as a phone? I'm used to my Casio and Motorola phones working in pretty remote areas. Does the iPhone (and other smartphones) work well as a telephone? It would be silly for me to "upgrade" to a new phone and find that while it's a great computer/camera/music player/gps, it's a lousy phone.
Fourth question: Apparently the basic Verizon service comes with something like 2gb per month of use. So how much "data" is that in terms of what people normally use? What I'm asking here, for those who have similar 2gb (or 4gb, can't remember exactly), do you find yourself "running out" of data? Or running "over" and incurring huge charges for excessive data? Or do you find yourselves having "extra" data at the end of the month?
And...any other recommended thoughts/devices? Any tips/tricks for a new user? I'm sticking to the "free" or <$100 phones I can get from Verizon, so the iPhone 5 isn't an option nor are the newest 'droid based phones.
Thanks in advance! :ylsmoke:
Yes, I think I'm going to have to get a smartphone. :elkgrin: I'm eligible for an "upgrade" and it's just occurred to me that there are too many times when a smartphone would have been useful for me to ignore the obvious benefits.
I guess the first choice would be "which phone?" My last two (non-smart) phones have been Casio G'Zone ruggedized phones: A Boulder (flip phone) and a Brigade (Clamshell texting phone.) Nice to have a rugged phone that is water and shock resistant.
I know Casio makes a ruggedized smartphone (the Commando) but I have to say that after reading the reviews on Verizon's web site, it doesn't seem like a good choice.
Honestly, I'm thinking I'll go to the granddaddy of them all, the iPhone. Verizon offers the 4s for $99.00 which seems like a decent deal (with a 2 year activation, of course, but I'm planning on being with Verizon for a good long time anyway.) They also offer the iPhone 4 for free but the 4s seems like the better phone.
My rationale for going with Apple (and no, I'm not a Mac user) is just the fact that it's so universal that finding accessories/apps for it ought to be easier than with the myriad of 'Droid phones.
I also did the side-by-side comparo of several different phones and one thing that intrigued me was the 4s's ability to work as a "global phone" in GSM areas.
So, that being said, what advice can you give a prospective new smartphone user?
Reading a lot of the user reviews, I see many complaints about battery life, this is on pretty much all the phones. I am used to charging up my phone maybe once a week. I guess with a smartphone that's not realistic. I get it, a smartphone is a mini computer that is running all the time so of course it's going to use up its battery faster. So what techniques have you all adopted to deal with this situation? I see little "emergency chargers" sold in stores, I guess those are usually for smart phones.
Next question: I have heard the screen can be fragile. The smartphone with the cracked screen seems to be something of a cliche. What can be done to protect it? Can it be replaced and if so how expensive is that? Does the touch screen work if it's cracked?
Third question: May sound dumb, but I know a smartphone is a little computer - how does it compare as a phone? I'm used to my Casio and Motorola phones working in pretty remote areas. Does the iPhone (and other smartphones) work well as a telephone? It would be silly for me to "upgrade" to a new phone and find that while it's a great computer/camera/music player/gps, it's a lousy phone.
Fourth question: Apparently the basic Verizon service comes with something like 2gb per month of use. So how much "data" is that in terms of what people normally use? What I'm asking here, for those who have similar 2gb (or 4gb, can't remember exactly), do you find yourself "running out" of data? Or running "over" and incurring huge charges for excessive data? Or do you find yourselves having "extra" data at the end of the month?
And...any other recommended thoughts/devices? Any tips/tricks for a new user? I'm sticking to the "free" or <$100 phones I can get from Verizon, so the iPhone 5 isn't an option nor are the newest 'droid based phones.
Thanks in advance! :ylsmoke:
