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Help, I Need a Cell Phone Soon


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Hi Folks,

 

I've been without a cell phone since Feb. 2021, when I found out I couldn't rebuy minutes as the old one is not 5G. I got frustrated and quit looking until now. Due to the fires and potential evacuation, I need one ASAP.

 

I think Forty Rod has a Lively. Now that you've had it a while, how do you like it? I forget whether you said it was a flipper or smarty.

 

Would anyone else recommend for a phone model and plan?

 

My old phone was a dumb flipper that I only used to call out, either AAA or Hubby when I was gone. I know that is pretty primitive; but I spend too much time on my PC when I'm home. So, I don't want it for all of the apps. Although, an alarm and camera would be nice. Maybe new flippers have that. My old one was about 13 years old.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

AM

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 said:

Hi Folks,

 

I've been without a cell phone since Feb. 2021, when I found out I couldn't rebuy minutes as the old one is not 5G. I got frustrated and quit looking until now. Due to the fires and potential evacuation, I need one ASAP.

 

I think Forty Rod has a Lively. Now that you've had it a while, how do you like it? I forget whether you said it was a flipper or smarty.

 

Would anyone else recommend for a phone model and plan?

 

My old phone was a dumb flipper that I only used to call out, either AAA or Hubby when I was gone. I know that is pretty primitive; but I spend too much time on my PC when I'm home. So, I don't want it for all of the apps. Although, an alarm and camera would be nice. Maybe new flippers have that. My old one was about 13 years old.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

AM

 

 

Is the 5G requirement only in Cali?

Verizon has prepay/no contract phones.

Best price is at Wallyworld.

Flip phones with canera as low as $20...

Simple phones under $100.

We use $40 service...has all I need.

They have plans from $15 to up...

Our phones are 4G...

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iPhone. Verizon. Been with this combination for about ten years, about to get a third replacement.

 

Unless you travel internationally, then: iPhone, AT&T.

 

I do have a droid tablet (it runs automotive diagnostics) and I just don't like droid. That would be your other choice for a phone.

 

Then after that is everything else and all other networks.

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4G phones should still work in the US for the rest of this decade, I don't see a driving reason to go to 5G at this time. No objection to it being on any phone I may get in the future, but it would not be a deciding factor today.

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24 minutes ago, Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 said:

PS Hubby wants a phone with a keypad (flipper?) as his fingers (neuropathy) don't cooperate on touch screens.

 

If he does have a C phone tell buy his own...Get one you like that fits your wants and needs...Hang him out to dry or upgrade....

 

Texas Lizard

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Allie, I got a new flip phone a few months ago. Military spec for water, dropping etc. I have to drive 40 miles to get a cell signal so no real reason to have a smart phone as I only take it when traveling in case of emergency on the road.  Have a satellite phone for when out of cell range out here. Satellite internet also.  I have found that if you are out in the wilderness Verizon has by far the most coverage. Phone is KYOCERA Dura XV Extreme. You can get it without a camera if you frequent restricted areas. Mine has no camera. Has 4G coverage and the battery lasts for weeks. Actually if I only make a couple of calls a week the battery lasts 3-4 months to 1/2 charge. Signal seems stronger than the smart phones I come across that others have when in the area.

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24 minutes ago, Texas Lizard said:

If he does have a C phone tell buy his own...Get one you like that fits your wants and needs...Hang him out to dry or upgrade....

 

Texas Lizard

You can do the prepay per each phone...different or same...doesn't matter.

Verizon does best on our travels.

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2 hours ago, Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 said:

PS Hubby wants a phone with a keypad (flipper?) as his fingers (neuropathy) don't cooperate on touch screens.

 

 

28 minutes ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

FYI the "buttons" on a modern smart phone are far larger than the little press buttons on a flip phone.

Size of a soft button does not matter, resistive screens will have more problems than capacitive screens with neuropathy and a handful of other conditions. Good luck with having the sales associate having a clue about this for the phones being sold.

 

But real buttons will always work.

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I use my touch screen Samsung with a stylus..  Don't know if that will work with the neuropathy.  It opens up a lot of possibilities. Having stupid fingers, I wouldn't know what to do without mine.

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17 minutes ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

FYI the "buttons" on a modern smart phone are far larger than the little press buttons on a flip phone.

Larsen brings up a very good point. 
 

Here are some screen shots from my iPhone XS Max. These are dimensions of an XS Max:

image.thumb.jpeg.272ec1f544c473f301899b12770d8181.jpeg
 

Here is the main screen of my phone. Note how large the buttons are at the bottom of the photo:

67B05896-0EC6-4151-B274-CD333D310D41.thumb.png.04efb3526907e642e260793e7a18393c.png

 

The screen of the phone is just a tiny bit smaller than the exterior dimensions. The phone is easy to hold and buttons are large. 
 

Here is the keyboard screen when you push the phone button above then select keypad. 
0E9BF05E-6D58-4B52-82EF-69FB5174F4FF.thumb.png.37c87da670c065fd047d7ef834830c0f.png

 

This is the screen you see when adding a Contact. Note how big the keyboard buttons are as compared to the screen dimensions. 
593D2CE8-AE58-485C-B4C1-5E28D5FC4DC5.thumb.png.563c6d8910c6d5cd95a2b180648e735b.png

 

 

This is my main screen. Notice the icon on the top left? BFC6BEF0-3870-4686-85FB-BF9013075441.thumb.png.66ac82a2b9ef38e8b52d16f94df6a16d.png
 

When you press that icon that says “OnLine 1” (I named it) a window pops open and looks like this:

0AD3A826-CA37-4CA2-A610-4AA93E163A3C.thumb.png.62996952b5ce418ce084e341aadb7502.png

 

If I click Safari the SASS Wire and The High Road open up for me. :D

 

I find a Smart Phone much easier to operate than my old flip phone. 

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45 minutes ago, Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 said:

Wow! Pat, those photos are helpful. I like the size of the number pad. I suppose same would apply to an android.

It does apply to the Android as well. You can set your font to Huge...

Numbers are large as well.

The touch screen is difficult when my fingers go 'numb'. Don't know why...

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8 hours ago, Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 said:

Hi Folks,

 

I've been without a cell phone since Feb. 2021, when I found out I couldn't rebuy minutes as the old one is not 5G. I got frustrated and quit looking until now. Due to the fires and potential evacuation, I need one ASAP.

 

I think Forty Rod has a Lively. Now that you've had it a while, how do you like it? I forget whether you said it was a flipper or smarty.

 

Would anyone else recommend for a phone model and plan?

 

My old phone was a dumb flipper that I only used to call out, either AAA or Hubby when I was gone. I know that is pretty primitive; but I spend too much time on my PC when I'm home. So, I don't want it for all of the apps. Although, an alarm and camera would be nice. Maybe new flippers have that. My old one was about 13 years old.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

AM

 

 

it's a flip phone and it comes with about five features that I need.  There are others at added cost and I may add a couple later.  The batteryis good for about 18 hours, but I usually leave it on the charger when I 'm home

 

Being a luddite and dinosaur I had a bit of trouble with the learning curve, but I am getting used to it.  It's small, easy to use for most of my purposes, and I take it everywhere.  My iMac never got carried because it was big, difficult to use, and has about two dozen things that simply confused me.

 

I recommend it highly......and it cost me under $50.00 compared to most others that cost as much as some cars I've owned. 

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Maps

Text

Email

Calendar

Address Book

Browser (which covers a lot of uses)

Photos/Camera

Stopwatch/timers

Compass

Calculator

Deposit checks to bank

Flashlight

Music

GPS Dog tracker

 

 

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I have a Motorola G7, cost about $120 new, when I got it almost 2 years ago. Service is Tracfone, which uses verizon towers, $20 month unlimited talk, text and maybe 1 meg? data( I never use data). My old phone with verizon quit working because it was so old, same phone and plan would have been $65 from them. I also didn't want a smart phone, but talk to text is handy, I use it daily. When I first got the phone it would last 3-4 days on a charge, I only get about 2 days now. It took forever for me to learn how to use it, I still struggle with some stuff, so I intend to get a new phone ever few years from now on so I don't get so far behind again.

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We have Community Cellular, and I got an iPhone SE for around $200. It's a bit of a small one, but that's OK, I didn't want a great big one so I could slip in in a shirt pocket easily. My first smart phone, learning it was easier than I expected. My wife just upgraded her old one and got the same phone. We paid like $20 dollars down and $10 per month added to our phone bill (CC is CHEAP to start with) so the money was painless.

JHC

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Howdy,

After getting totally frustrated with an Iphone I went to target

and bought a smart android for about 100.  Consumer Cellular was

way cheaper than Verizon I had before.

I did have to key in all my contact numbers but I also reviewed

which ones I didnt use.  Remember the numbers stayed on the old iphone.

I dont seek out new tech like some folks.

I still read newspapers too.

The camera is ok.  Note that very nice digital cameras are available cheap on ebay

as a lot of folks just dont need them..  But a camera operates like a camera.

A phone camera is just handy.   

I avoid gear that uses weird batteries if possible.

I did this in late 2019 and it seems to work.

Best

CR

not G5

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4 hours ago, Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 said:

Some of the Apps seem tempting. What do you love in Apps or features of a smart phone?

To me one of the helpful features is using SIRI to get information quickly, or to have

it dial a phone number from voice command. 

I also use voice translation to do the same, as well as to write text messages. 

Can't stand typing on a wee tiny touch screen!

 

On my iPhone I use the following apps:

- Phone (duh!)

- Camera  (there was a time when I'd have killed for the amount of megapixels and video capability that seems commonplace now!)

- Photo album (pix of the grandkids, etc.)

- search engine (DuckDuckGo)

- calendar (synchronized to home Outlook for appointments, birthdays etc.)

- e-mail

- notes (for shopping lists, etc)

 

For Travel:

- calculator and currency converter

- contacts file (for email and phone numbers)
- several different map tools (for navigating)

- DOT site for ferry schedule look up and Hiway conditions

- TrailLink (for hiking trails in the local area)

 

For Entertainment:

- Music play lists (several hundred hours)

- Spotify

- Sirius XM

- YouTube player

 

For Photography:

- Skyview (for night time sky object identification)

- Photopills - for photoshoot planning of night sky and sun/moon shots

- marine traffic tool (to identify ships in our harbors).

- Moon Phase calendar

 

When I travel to other parts of the country, or overseas, I download apps that are useful there such as city maps,

tour guides, train schedule and ticket purchase tools, airplane ticket and hotel rental search engines, language phrase

books and language translation tools, free WiFi locators, etc.  They generally all come back off once they're not needed.

 

The nice thing about the iPhone for me has been how easy it is to set up and customize for specific use.  Once I had mine die

(completely and beyond repair) for no good reason while in Edinburgh.  Went to the Apple store and bought a new one,

connected to the mothership and had most everything reinstalled in an hour, and the rest (music& photos) that night back in my

hotel when I synched it up to the laptop.  I don't allow personal info to go to the cloud, so I had to do the restore that night.

 

My experience with Android based phones is that they are power hogs, although frankly the iPhones seem to be catching

up in that field too.  Apple has it's idiosyncracies, but they're relatively benign. 

 

Hope this helps,

Shadow Catcher

 

 

 

 

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5 hours ago, John Kloehr said:

Maps

Text

Email

Calendar

Address Book

Browser (which covers a lot of uses)

Photos/Camera

Stopwatch/timers

Compass

Calculator

Deposit checks to bank

Flashlight

Music

GPS Dog tracker

 

 

Small size

Clear easy to see screen

Easy to use buttons. 

Calls out

Calls in

Voice mail

Contacts

Help, I've Fallen And I Can't Get Up button / Urgent Response list

Blocking numbers

Camera

Clock

Easy and efficient help line contact

 

The only one that doesn't come as standard on my Lively phone is Urgent response to my family and friends

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I had to look at my phone.

 

The keyboard keys are close together but if I turn the phone on it's side the keys spread out to go completely across the sideways screen.

The letters are the same size but there is space between the keys now.

 

I too have fat fingers when using cell phone keyboard.

I use the eraser end of a pencil.

Yes, a pencil.

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8 hours ago, Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 said:

Some of the Apps seem tempting. What do you love in Apps or features of a smart phone?

Email

Internet access

Weather apps - local, nationwide, radar. 

Photos

Forums (on Safari - Apple’s search engine)

DuckDuckGo

Music app

Amazon App

Star gazing apps

Notes app for lists

Calculator 

Clock

Calendar

Navigation and maps

Safeway and store apps

Earthquake app

Translation apps

Bluetooth that ties into my helmet cam. 


And that’s just half of it…

 

Oh yeah, it makes an okay Flashlight too. 

 

 

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On 8/20/2021 at 3:58 PM, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Larsen brings up a very good point. 
 

Here are some screen shots from my iPhone XS Max. These are dimensions of an XS Max:

image.thumb.jpeg.272ec1f544c473f301899b12770d8181.jpeg
 

Here is the main screen of my phone. Note how large the buttons are at the bottom of the photo:

67B05896-0EC6-4151-B274-CD333D310D41.thumb.png.04efb3526907e642e260793e7a18393c.png

 

The screen of the phone is just a tiny bit smaller than the exterior dimensions. The phone is easy to hold and buttons are large. 
 

Here is the keyboard screen when you push the phone button above then select keypad. 
0E9BF05E-6D58-4B52-82EF-69FB5174F4FF.thumb.png.37c87da670c065fd047d7ef834830c0f.png

 

This is the screen you see when adding a Contact. Note how big the keyboard buttons are as compared to the screen dimensions. 
593D2CE8-AE58-485C-B4C1-5E28D5FC4DC5.thumb.png.563c6d8910c6d5cd95a2b180648e735b.png

 

 

This is my main screen. Notice the icon on the top left? BFC6BEF0-3870-4686-85FB-BF9013075441.thumb.png.66ac82a2b9ef38e8b52d16f94df6a16d.png
 

When you press that icon that says “OnLine 1” (I named it) a window pops open and looks like this:

0AD3A826-CA37-4CA2-A610-4AA93E163A3C.thumb.png.62996952b5ce418ce084e341aadb7502.png

 

If I click Safari the SASS Wire and The High Road open up for me. :D

 

I find a Smart Phone much easier to operate than my old flip phone. 

So much stuff that I have no use for and don't want it cluttering up my phone.

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