Cell phone noob looking for suggestions for phone to get

[PingSpike]

I've been thinking of getting a cell phone for basically emergency use and so my wife could get in contact with me. I'm basically a luddite when it comes to phones, I've never really owned one. And I saw that there are prepaid plans that would work well for me for that purpose. I was thinking of using Page Plus Cellular which has a plan that's about $86 for the first year and if you just keep topping off it can be as little as $36/yr after that. Which would be alright with me.

But I'd also like to easily play audio books during my morning commute (in MP3 form, probably downloaded onto my PC first or ripped from CD) and I'd generally like to increase my knowledge of the phone platforms from zero to something greater than that.

So I was thinking of getting some kind of basic smart phone, then I guess I buy a sim card or whatever or maybe I just need to activate it on PPC's network. I gather most providers don't let you do that, requiring you to choose from their limited selection of phones. Tracfone had an OK alternate plan as well but they didn't seem to have many phone choices.

But I don't entirely know where to begin. Preliminary reading suggests the android platform is where I want to go. I don't need the latest and greatest I don't think and I don't want to spend a ton of money as I'd rather not carry something around that I'd be really upset if it was lost/broken/stolen. Maybe $100 but again I don't know much so no idea how reasonable that is.
Additionally, I'd *like* the following features but don't know how hard/expensive they are to get:
Cheap easily swappable batteries
Ability to do wifi internet (I don't plan to have any data plan)
MicroSDHC card support probably?
Good call quality and reliable I guess
Camera (why not)

Is there a way to do text message (or something like it) over wifi to communicate with the wife over wifi with no extra charges? What about those QWERTY slideout keyboards...are those a bad idea or what?

TLDR: Recommend a good cheap android phone for use with prepaid page plus cellular that can play MP3s and do wifi internet

 

[jpeyton]

You want a Samsung Galaxy Fascinate (SGS1 branded for Verizon).

It's inexpensive, runs Android Gingerbread stock (runs CyanogenMod as well).

It costs around $100, has microSD for expansion, WiFi (granted every smartphone has this), and cheap easily swappable batteries. Call quality is good.

I put my mom on a Fascinate with Page Plus and it works great. You can use Google Voice for free texting.

 

[dbk]

So any Verizon phone will work on PPC.. maybe a used Droid 2?

Fascinate has some issues with its GPS.. Google Maps and Navigation hardlocking phones.

 

[jpeyton]

So any Verizon phone will work on PPC.. maybe a used Droid 2?

Fascinate has some issues with its GPS.. Google Maps and Navigation hardlocking phones.

I never had any GPS issues, but the Droid 2 is another great option. Actually a Droid 3 would be even better since it's dual-core, but it is closer to $175 where the Droid 2 can be found for $100 or less. Both are QWERTY sliders, if you're into that.

 

[ImDonly1]

You want a Samsung Galaxy Fascinate (SGS1 branded for Verizon).

It's inexpensive, runs Android Gingerbread stock (runs CyanogenMod as well).

It costs around $100, has microSD for expansion, WiFi (granted every smartphone has this), and cheap easily swappable batteries. Call quality is good.

I put my mom on a Fascinate with Page Plus and it works great. You can use Google Voice for free texting.

I set a family member up on page plus. They are using the $80/year plan which includes 2000 minutes. I got them a fascinate and rooted it to put droid wall and block all data. Works good but gps is not working at all. If you are going to use gps don't get a fascinate. Get like a droid incredible or something else.

They $80 plan is not listed on page plus website you have to buy it from a reseller like callingmart.com

 

[PingSpike]

Do GPSs work without a data plan?

 

[Thegonagle]

Heads up:

AFAIK, Page Plus doesn't support Verizon 4G LTE phones. (Those require a SIM card, which can only be activated directly through Verizon at this time.)

If you want to put a Verizon smart phone on PP, I believe you're limited to 3G-only models.

 

[Thegonagle]

Do GPSs work without a data plan?

Google maps needs a data connection to work properly, but many 3rd party GPS apps can store all the maps you need locally.

There are tricks to making google maps kind of work without cellular data. For instance, you can set your destination at home on the wifi, and scroll through the route onscreen to cache the map data before you leave, but that's more useful in a pinch than something to rely on. If you get detoured or make a wrong turn, it can't reroute you on the fly.

It's a trade off: buy a 3rd party app, or use some cellular data with Google. (As long as you don't overlay the satellite view, navigation doesn't exactly use a ton of data.)

 

[s44]

You can persistently cache a bunch of areas in Google Maps. Max per area is 100mb, but that's enough to fit basically the entire NY metro area.

 

[mosco]

Although the GPS chips in the phone use your data connection to download sat location and other stuff.

I think there are apps that let you download that info over wifi, but just be aware that without a data connection, you aren't going to get the same accuracy as a stand alone GPS.

 

[NutBucket]

Fascinate has some issues with its GPS.. Google Maps and Navigation hardlocking phones.

On stock ROMS yes. When I went to ICS all my GPS issues vanished with the Fascinate. Funny how that works.

 

[ImDonly1]

On stock ROMS yes. When I went to ICS all my GPS issues vanished with the Fascinate. Funny how that works.

I'm not on a stock rom. I forgot which it's on now but before I had CM on it and still awful.

 

[Ksyder]

you don't have to do the 80 dollar plan for the first year... although it is the best deal price/minute wise.... you can always do the $10 card every 4 mos. if you don't use much.

 

[Thegonagle]

...without a data connection, you aren't going to get the same accuracy as a stand alone GPS.

It's not about pinpoint accuracy (or lack thereof), it's about Google Nav needing to contact Google's servers to get route and address information.

The GPS receiver can get lat/long coordinates with or without a cellular tower, and if the map is cached locally, it will place you on the map. But driving directions and on-the-fly rerouting won't be available without some sort of data connection. (You can get directions using wifi before you leave, and it will cache them for the trip, but rerouting will be limited without mobile data.)

 

[PingSpike]

One thing I don't understand about the prepaid cards is how roaming, texts or data use work. They are listed as costing dollar amounts on the website, but the cards seem to buy you minutes. Do they just use some amount of minutes or do they require you to load a balance to the account or what?

Anyway the GPS thing is really just a sort of nice to have feature. I think if I could cache a route from hotel wifi (while on a vacation that I can't afford now so this isn't really going to happen) that would be more than enough.

 

[PingSpike]

you don't have to do the 80 dollar plan for the first year... although it is the best deal price/minute wise.... you can always do the $10 card every 4 mos. if you don't use much.

Yeah, I kind of go back and forth on that one. The $10 cards are the cheapest way to keep running but there's so few minutes I could almost see running out of them. I actually might start that way and see how it goes. I could always add the 2000 later I suppose.

 

[s44]

But driving directions and on-the-fly rerouting won't be available without some sort of data connection. (You can get directions using wifi before you leave, and it will cache them for the trip, but rerouting will be limited without mobile data.)

Wrong. You can cache as many 100mb chunks as will fit in your phone's storage.

 

[NutBucket]

IIRC you can't cache a route with google maps, only the map "tiles" themselves.

 

[PingSpike]

Just bumping this to see if anyone has any other suggestions for some more affordable options. The Fascinate suggested seems nice but in order to get under the $100 mark I'm looking at buying used. Which is probably fine but there are just so many options out there.

I don't think I'm interested in the QWERTY keyboard afterall. Just to reiterate: Needs decent sound for MP3 output and decent call quality. Verizon network unlocked phones using Android. Even the GPS thing isn't much of a concern, I'm not looking for anything fancy I guess. Cheap batteries is good.

You can use a android phone for playing MP3s and the like without having any service I assume, right?

 

[SpongeBob]

I have a Droid Incredible i'd like to get rid of since I just upgraded to a Razr Maxx HD. Seems like it would meet your needs. I also have the extended battery for it (the HTC one, not aftermarket). PM me if you're interested.

As far a using it w/o any service, I think you would at least need to activate it first. Since I wiped my Incredible after I upgraded to the new phone now when i boot it up it immediately takes me into activation mode and only lets you activate or make an emergency call. There is probably a way to get around this, I never delved real deep into the OS with rooting and all that.

 

[PingSpike]

I have a Droid Incredible i'd like to get rid of since I just upgraded to a Razr Maxx HD. Seems like it would meet your needs. I also have the extended battery for it (the HTC one, not aftermarket). PM me if you're interested.

As far a using it w/o any service, I think you would at least need to activate it first. Since I wiped my Incredible after I upgraded to the new phone now when i boot it up it immediately takes me into activation mode and only lets you activate or make an emergency call. There is probably a way to get around this, I never delved real deep into the OS with rooting and all that.

Apparently you just have to tap the four corners.
http://www.androidcentral.com/bypass-activation-screen-your-android-device

 

[TuxDave]

IIRC you can't cache a route with google maps, only the map "tiles" themselves.

So if you're in a place without data (international) but you did cache the map. You wouldn't be able to use that for navigation purposes? Basically you'd have to "old school" it and treat it like a paper map and make your own routes?

 

[SpongeBob]

Apparently you just have to tap the four corners.
http://www.androidcentral.com/bypass-activation-screen-your-android-device

That didn't work but this did

http://androidforums.com/incredible...-bypass-activation-screens-use-wifi-only.html