cell phones

[beige_alert]

I have an old Motorola V120 with a tiny black-and-white screen, no camera, no nothing. I’ve been thinking of getting a new phone. My first cell phone was my brother’s old one which he gave me when he moved out of the service area of then-PrimeCo. My second was a cheap replacement for it. My third, which I got when they forced me to upgrade when their network would no longer support such old phones, was this one, which I selected basically because it was simple and cheap. This time, I’m obsessing over the choice. I’ve been looking at phones, reading endless comment threads on cell-phone-geek web sites, and just wasting hours on this. I’ve now gathered so much information that I’m not sure I really want to bother getting a new one. I actually use the thing a good bit these days, and I’ve even dropped my POTS line and now have just the mobile and Skype-out, and the new phones are all so cool-looking, but, you know, mine works fine.

Comments

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

I'm still waiting for cell service that isn't way too expensive for something that I actually feel a need for about 5 times a year. Cingular has a pre-paid plan that you only have to spend like $20 every three months on to keep current, which would be OK except that its coverage is sucky. A large part of why I want the thing is so that I can have a phone when I travel, so if if it doesn't have nationwide coverage, it's not worth much.

Unfortunately, I don't have the option of dropping my land line. For my voice use, it would be a great option, but out here in the boonies dialup is the only viable Internet access option I know of.

[beige-alert.livejournal.com]

My mother uses TracFone. It seems to work for her, though she almost never actually makes an calls on it. I don't know what their coverage is like---I can't get their web site to show a map.

There is always satellite internet. The upstream bandwidth is low, the latency is too great for voice-over-IP, and it's kind of expensive (say, $600 worth of equipment and $70/month for 500 kpbs down and 100 kbps up, for example, compared to no up-front fees and no contract and $45/month for roughly 4mbps down and 400kpbs up on cable here), but it is faster than dialup. Dawn and Drew out in rural Wisconsin upload their podcast by satellite and always grip about slow uploads, but it could be worse.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

The TracPhone looks like it might be getting close, but either their page to inquire for coverage is broken, or they don't actually cover anything. (Not only do all the zip codes in my area come up with "no coverage there", so does downtown Chicago.) I could probably live with <$100/year to have a phone I didn't use; if I find myself actually using it I'd probably go with a regular provider with a contract.

$70/month for satellite internet is way more than I'm ready to pay.

[peteralway.livejournal.com]

A tiny black-and-white screen is more than I've ever had or wanted on a telephone. I am sold on touch-tone over rotary, though. I get confused by the constant conglomeraton of features into various devices. I guess it won't be long before people just go to buy a "thing" that will include every high-tech gadget but the two that I actually want--the flying car and the robot maid.

I'm just so 20th century.

[beige-alert.livejournal.com]

Apparently in South Korea the kids think of e-mail as a slow, old-fashioned, formal means of communication that you might use for business or for communicating with old people like grandparents who are still stuck in the 20th century, and use SMS and IM to communicate with each other. I still don't understand the cell-phone text message thing. Here you are tapping endlessly at ten keys to painstakingly spell out text when the device you are using has a speaker and a microphone so that you could just talk. And talking is cheaper!

[barbarakitten-t.livejournal.com]

oh michael, get something truly high tech so you can access the web from anywhere and take phone pictures and do all sorts of stuff with your phone that phones probably shouldn't do....you know you want to.

signed,

the temptress

[beige-alert.livejournal.com]

Thing is, I really want a digital camera, and it's looking like I can get a fairly nice one for around $500 with memory and stuff. I could easily spend $100 on a fancy phone, once you add a car charger and maybe some sort of case, and though it could take pictures, it could only take crappy ones and then it costs 25 cents each to get them out of the phone. I've tried web access on my current phone, and though the tiny screen is a problem, the lack of a real keyboard seemed like a bigger problem, one that a new phone won't improve unless I got something like a Treo, but those are expensive and rather bulky compared to a plain phone.

[barbarakitten-t.livejournal.com]

in that case, get a digital camera and get the littlest sleekest, most spiffy looking phone you can find...or if you don't mind the phone you have now, save your money and keep your old phone. some of us don't have cell phones yet ;)

i am thinking about getting one when we move and ditching the land line, but tc has had the same phone number since the 1970's and i'm not sure i want to go to the hassle of learning a new phone number.

it would be nice to be on nextel so i could call my mom for free....

[beige-alert.livejournal.com]

I think you can transfer your old number to a cell phone nowadays.

You never call me....

[barbarakitten-t.livejournal.com]

I think you can transfer your old number to a cell phone nowadays.

You never call me....

i never call anybody. i am a bum.