Another cell phone thread

[Carruthers]

Well, I've finally been dragged, kicking and screaming, into the age of the smart phone.

For years I've had a PAYG phone which was OK as far as it went, but calls were a crippling £0.40 per min.
That's about $0.60, so a twenty minute call would set me back the equivalent of $12.
Texts were £0.14 each. That was with Vodafone by the way.

Today an iPhone 4s arrived which I know is not the newest model but I got a pretty good deal, as these things go, so I'm quite happy with it.
There was no 'up front' cost for the phone and £15 ($22.50) per month on a two year contract, buys 500 mins talk time, 5000 texts and 500mb of data.
The network is Talkmobile which is a virtual operator and piggy backs on the Vodafone network.
It's better value than going direct to Vodafone on a similar contract.

I'm still getting to grips with all the settings although I made my first call to Sundae this evening and that went well.
The old phone will remain in service for a day or two until I get a protective wallet for the new one.
I tend to have all manner of detritus in the pockets of my outdoor clothing, usually dog biscuit shrapnel, so I need some method of protecting it.

I just hope it doesn't go wrong!

[glatt]

I also have the 4S and recently replaced the battery to give it new life. It's still an amazing phone, two years later.

I've got the Otterbox Commuter, and it's a really good protector.

My favorite App is the Smugmug Camera Awesome, which allows you to control the focus and exposure setting of the camera. It was free.

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by glatt

I also have the 4S and recently replaced the battery to give it new life. It's still an amazing phone, two years later.

I've got the Otterbox Commuter, and it's a really good protector.

My favorite App is the Smugmug Camera Awesome, which allows you to control the focus and exposure setting of the camera. It was free.

Thanks for that glatt. I've heard good things about Otterbox products. I'll investigate further.

Rechargeable batteries are always a bit of a worry, so if I manage to get two years of service out of the present one, I think I'll be reasonably happy with that.

[glatt]

I started getting annoyed with the battery after a year and a half. But you put up with these annoyances for a while before you do something about it. Replacing the battery was actually fairly easy. Ebay sells these inexpensive battery kits with jewelers screwdrivers included, and there are tons of videos on youtube showing how to do it. If I could go back in time, I would have replaced the battery after a year. File this in the back of your mind for future reference.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Carruthers

There was no 'up front' cost for the phone and £15 ($22.50) per month on a two year contract, buys 500 mins talk time, 5000 texts and 500mb of data.

Keep an eye on that. Coming from a non-smart-phone, 500mb might seem like a lot, but the phone is going to make using that up very easy.

I'm not saying to buy more data, just keep in mind that there are apps that can use it very quickly.

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by glatt

I started getting annoyed with the battery after a year and a half. But you put up with these annoyances for a while before you do something about it. Replacing the battery was actually fairly easy. Ebay sells these inexpensive battery kits with jewelers screwdrivers included, and there are tons of videos on youtube showing how to do it. If I could go back in time, I would have replaced the battery after a year. File this in the back of your mind for future reference.

Done!

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

Keep an eye on that. Coming from a non-smart-phone, 500mb might seem like a lot, but the phone is going to make using that up very easy.

I'm not saying to buy more data, just keep in mind that there are apps that can use it very quickly.

Yes, I'm wary of coming a cropper on that front so my usage will be carefully monitored. No, make that very carefully monitored.

[glatt]

It's easy to just have it run on wifi when you are at a hot spot so you do your heavy lifting with that.

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by glatt

It's easy to just have it run on wifi when you are at a hot spot so you do your heavy lifting with that.

I've got it working on my wifi network OK. In the event of web access being required, and no available wifi network, does it default to the cell phone network and use up data that way?