Done

[COSteve]

Done

[gamekeeper]

I too will need a replacement phone soon and was thinking "smart phone"
Thanks for the tip...

[Blaine]

I pre-ordered a Droid Incredible before they hit the market. They must have paid close attention to the first ones...it's still going strong, and on the original battery. I see there is one with a 5" screen. When they have been out for a year, I can prolly get one for free by renewing for a couple years. I don't need anymore features. I would like to get a pad so I can WiFi on the road. Check out downloading a Section of Google maps, and designating it as offline use. No signal needed, and the GPS will show you where you are. Sort of a cheapo Garmin.

[Griff]

Do NOT download "Angry Birds"! It will immediately rob you of 100 IQ points.

[Old Savage]

You will love it - easier as you go but you sound like you are on to it already. Check the power and what is using it in sttings - sometimes things can be running that really sap the battery.

[Old Ironsights]

I HATE being on a contract.

Get yourself an "Unlocked" GSM phone and go with the "StraightTalk" $45/mo unlimited plan. You aren't locked into anything. Totally pay as you go.

I just ordered a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 clone with 16gb TF & 2 batteries for $214 delivered.

Those things usually go for about that price WITH a contract, but since they are all made in China anyway, I cut out the middleman and ordered direct.

[Old Ironsights]

Do NOT download "Angry Birds"! It will immediately rob you of 100 IQ points.

At least "Angry Birds - Star Wars" has both Kitsh & Geek appeal...

[piller]

I don't have one, and will only get one when there is no other choice. I hate my current phone and only got it because my old phone was killed by Verizon. I have held smart phones, and for some strange reason they start running apps or dialing random numbers when I just hold them without even touching the screen. I can run the battery down on one in about 30 minutes just having it in a carrier on my belt. I don't like them.

[Old Ironsights]

Biggest reason I have one is: I'm on the road a lot in a relatively small cab.

I don't want to haul around my laptop, but I do want to log in here when I can.

That, and the bigger phones, like the Note, have a large enough screen to be a viable on-dash GPS - especially when linked to a cell booster.

[El Chivo]

Great, now the government will know where you are at all times.

[COSteve]

Done

[Mac in Mo]

Me too Steve. I'm the only one in my family with no smartphone. I still have a flip phone as do most of my friends. Not long ago, as we all know, this was pretty advanced tech. I still find it amazing that I can call home when I'm in the woods hunting. So I have to laugh when my kids or some younger people call me a dinosaur for having my "ancient phone". There is a much bigger gap between my generation and my kids as opposed to the one between my parents and me. I do my best to teach my kids the "old " ways. I certainly can't teach them the new ways.


Kevin

[Grizz]

true 'dat El Chivo

the VERY SCARY THING is that BOTH the camera AND the microphone can be turned on and used from the outside (dotgovt, dothacker, dotneighbor, whatever) whether you are using a camera or sound app, or NOT. Read the user agreement. You OK'd that and it cannot be stopped to my knowledge. We can and do unplug the cameras from the computers we skype on. We control the exposure.

and b. about the online banking via "smart" phone: NOT SO SMART. There are successful 'man in the middle' attacks that are taking incredible amounts of personal info off of those phones. how smart is that?

3 About the best thing I know about them is that there is an app that allows you to BRICK the phone remotely when it gets stolen. Don't know the name of it but the fanboys will have that info via search.

[Old Ironsights]

Easy to defeat snoopers. Just carry the phone in one of the many available "faraday cage" wallets available.

Don't use it for anything critical or financial.

the camera(s) can be defeated with nail polish &/or tape.

The GPS can't be totally disabled, but again, any phone in a faraday wallet is essentially "invisible". Of course, you can't receive calls, but that's what voicemail is for.

Nothing a smart person can't handle.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Phone ??? My grandmother used to listen in on the party line on her`s .
Turn the crank and ask central to ring a number.
To new fangled for me!

Maybe someday when they get the bugs out of them...

[Shasta]

I'm trying to just ease into the transition:





SHASTA

[gak]

Shasta, I just had a belly laugh.
I'm behind the times I'm told by friends and family as I still have my old (3 yrs! ha) Blackberry. It's slower and not nearly as many apps as the newer-fangled stuff - Droid and Apple products, but it's been reliable as iron and still amazes me. I still prefer its manual "qwerty" keyboard--BB's main calling card in addition to email capabilities--versus others, the especially strictly touch keyboards but also manual "BB" types on some Droids these days. I'm on it 99% of the time--including checking in here--vs the computer any more. The day it finally goes to the great smart phone holster in the sky, it'll probably be a Droid of some sort replacing. Blackberry's been hurting lately, criticized for not "keeping up," but I'll still be tempted to check out the top-of-line Bold before moving on (maybe!), such has been my good BB experience to date.

[M. M. Wright]

Shasta, Where can I get one of those?

COSteve, I have a Samsung Galaxy and am starting to know how to use it. Installed the photobucket app and can put my pictures from the phone, (some can be pretty good quality) on there easily. In fact some of the latest stuff I've posted here were from that phone. Worst thing, I have to pay $3 a day for internet access on the contract I currently have. Gotta get out of that soon.

[El Chivo]

how about the Maxwell Smart-phone:

[FWiedner]

I finally gave in to my wife's complaining about "falling behind the times" and surrendered my 'dumb' flip-phone about 3 weeks ago for a smart-phone.

I got one of the Nokia Lumia 920s. It's a Windows 8 phone.

It's interesting and does some fancy stuff, but I don't see anything to howl about except the newly inflated phone bill.

I guess it's OK.

Doesn't fit in my watch pocket the way the lil' flipper did though. Now I have to worry about accidentally sitting on the silly thing.

[J Miller]

I've had my pre-pay cell for about 5 years or so now. No camera, no GPS for me, what's inside I don't know. No flip thing, no computer screen, just a phone. I have no use for a portable computer that everyone else can access from the outside.
If that's what I get forced into in the future, I'll just scrap it and do without.

Joe

[Grizzly Adams]

I resisted for a long time, but have to say that I would not be without one now! It's like have a small lap top computer on your hip. I have the apple iphone5, and the wife has a Samsung Galaxy SIII. Both are great tools. The more accurate descriptor for these things is "device," as "phone" don't really cut it any more.

PS: Apple had better stay sharp, or Samsung is going to eat their lunch.....

[AJMD429]

I got a 'Droid', and my first task was to get it NOT to say "Drrroiddd" when it rang (without using a bullet ), but I've grown to like it.

I can pull up radar and check the river level (goes over the road nearby and alters my commute route majorly) even when our satellite internet is down.

Still haven't hooked up my emails yet, but I'll have someone half my age do it for me in half the time it would take me...