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My main point of this thread was that everybody seem to think smart phones are cheap, so I was wondering if they were aware of a cheap alternative that I am not aware of. It seems that they are not aware of any such alternative.
Used Iphone 4 from Craigslist 50-75 bucks.
Activate on Page Plus with 12/month plan. Keep data always turned off only use wifi.
Theres your cheapest alternative
You want the most up to date Iphone and ability to use cell data? Gonna have to pay for it.
Sorry, I wasn't clear. What I meant is that almost all of my music was purchased from iTunes, and is in the iTunes AAC format, which non-iPhone smart phones probably cannot play. So it seems that I'm stuck either keeping my iPod Touch and dumb phone combination, or upgrading to an iPhone.
not sure what aac is but my old galaxy could play flac files. worth a try; but it mite be more worth it for you to stay with apple. re-purchasing apps would probably be more expensive.
However, with our free phones, we are paying only 24 x $45 = $1080 over a 2 year period.
Several people in that thread recommended Straight Talk, a "low cost" carrier that uses the Verizon network. However, it seems that they charge $45 per month, (so $90 per month for my wife and I) but we'd have to pay full price for the phone. They charge $650 for an iPhone. So the cost over a 2 year period would be $650 + $650 + (24 x $90) = $3460! Even worse than Verizon! So how is this a "low cost" carrier?
Is there any way that I could get 2 iPhones on the Verizon network without paying so much money? And why would anybody use those "low cost" carriers?
Total wireless is a subsidiary of Tracfone, but it uses the Verizon network. Two talk and text phones cost $50 a month. But you are free to buy Android Smartphones without an increase in price like Verizon ($20 per basic phone to $30 per smartphone).
But it would probably be worthwhile to go to $60 and get 5 GB a month of cellular data, just as a backup to always using WiFi.
You may not be able to use an iPhone as Total does not support 4G. Here are the standard options for Total.
LG Optimus Fuel™ $39.99
UNIMAX MAXPATRIOT $59.99
moto e $79.99
ZTE Savvy™ $79.99
Samsung Galaxy Ace™ Style $99.99
LG ULTIMATE 2™ $129.99
ALCATEL ONETOUCH POP ICON™ $149.99
ZTE Quartz™ $169.99
Samsung Galaxy S III $249.99
Total has no contract. So if you purchase two of the LG Optimus Fuel™ phones (which are Android and work well), you can try Total for a month or two. If you don't like it you can use the Fuel™ phones as lttle cheap tablets, and go to a different plan. If you do like it you can upgrade to a better phone.
One possible use for an inactive Fuel™ phones is you can download Google Voice/Hangouts and then you can make free wifi calls anywhere domestically. It makes a good backup if you lose your cell phone or if it is stolen. Put one in your car and one in your home as backups. If you need to you can always buy 120 minutes of cell time from American Roaming for outgoing calls only.
Last edited by PacoMartin; 05-04-2015 at 12:16 AM..
LGL31L Straight Talk. About $180 purchase. Nice Android (4.4) AT&T phone. Text, Phone, 3g/4G Data (up to 3 GB...then throttles down to 2 GB...I haven't gotten to 3 GB yet as I use a lot of wi-fi and real computers and tablets for most video and heavy web apps but I DO use data when needed). $43/mo prepaid 3 month plan... $41 for 12 mo plan. Maybe ST and others offer similar phones on Verizon...I don't have to look.
This setup is relatively cheap (may be cheaper now and will be more soon), good and fast... but it's neither Apple nor Verizon...so it works well for me...but not the OP. Everyone gets to set their own tech constraints...and everyone's service area varies.
One truism...Apple (and Verizon) u$e can be a viru$ that keep$ on taking. You choose...
Cheap is relative. .. $199 for a phone every 3 or so years isn't really that much to me. And neither is the $40 extra a month for the smartphone plan / data.
As long as you understand you're not paying $199 for the phone. That's only a down payment.
One truism...Apple (and Verizon) u$e can be a viru$ that keep$ on taking. You choose...
I think the OP's major point is that Verizon charges $20/month to connect a basic phone and $40/month to connect a smart phone. Most MVNO services charge for what you use and how fast you want your data.
Since he is only interested in TALK and TEXT on the cellular network, but he would like a "tablet" for data and he doesn't want to carry two devices he is being screwed by Verizon
As long as you understand you're not paying $199 for the phone. That's only a down payment.
Fully understand that, and you can pay full price for the phones and get a cheaper service plan. It's all about where you want to spend the money, and if you want to keep Verizon, and go out of pocket up front for a full price phone, then it's an option.
I actually have 3 lines of grandfathered Verizon unlimited data, so I pay full price for my phones (and I don't get any benefit of better pricing by bringing my own devices, as I'm locked into an old subsidized pricing structure), but the value outweighs the cost in my situation.
Would non-iPhone smart phones be able to play iTunes AAC files?
When did I complain about the 500 mb of data? I'm confused, to be honest. The premise is that since I have WiFi most places, I'd rather keep my iPod Touch and my dumb phone, rather than paying ridiculous prices for a data plan that I won't use very much. My main point of this thread was that everybody seem to think smart phones are cheap, so I was wondering if they were aware of a cheap alternative that I am not aware of. It seems that they are not aware of any such alternative.
I have music on iTunes and they transfered without any issues on my Sony Xperia Z3 phone.
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