Phoning it in

[gwyn]

I have a Motorola Razr phone and I'm on AT&T, with a plan they no longer offer, probably because it's too cheap for them now with all their fancy schmancy stuff (it's a holdover from when I was on Cingular). I'm not dedicated to them (evil corporate entity and all), and my phone was long ago paid for, and I got the Razr off eBay because it was unlocked. But the firmware is absurdly out of date, and I have no way to update it without paying for it, plus the phone keeps breaking when I drop it. The back cover has come off so many times, and I have to SuperGlue it back on, which means that when I need a new battery, I'll probably have to drop it again so the cover comes off.

There are things about it I love, and things I'm not super fond of. I wouldn't even really need a phone these days because only about two people ever call me on it, and I don't text, but now that Dad's in a bad situation, I use it more (this is always true with me and cell phones -- whenever someone's in a bad way, I use it a lot, the rest of the time it just sits there and I use it primarily for long distance). AT&T covers the two areas I travel to most often, while I've seen a friend unable to call in the Ventura/Santa Barbara area.

I'd really like to be able to keep my SIM card so that all my phone numbers are stored and I don't have to go through that again. From what I understand, many companies don't use SIM cards on their phones, so transferring my card wouldn't be possible if I buy one of their phones. However, I don't want to get locked into a contract with someone just so I can buy their effing phone.

I assume most plans give you free long distance these days (my primary reason for using my mobile), and they seem to emphasize the unlimited texting but I don't really care about that. While I like the idea of having a smart phone for traveling, the truth is I don't travel much anymore, so the idea of paying for a really complex phone that I'll use for GPS once a year or something seems wasted... and I don't DL fic to read or whatever. I have an iPod or two, so I don't need another place to put music, though I see the utility of putting music and phone together in one device; I'm just not sure that's enough value for me to yet again have to move my music around. I just need to be able to call when I'm at Escapade or Vividcon or somewhere else (yes, I'm even dreaming of Vidukon, but I have a feeling that's really just a dream).

So, given all that, if I were inclined to get a new phone, which I kind of am because this poor phone, while I love it, keeps breaking and it does have some features I don't like (the buttons on the side of the top flip make me nuts), is there a phone/carrier you might recommend? While those emergency based phones/plans like from AAA are interesting, they often don't have phones that display the number calling (essential), or they don't have long distance or roaming. It's interesting that texting and web access have become more important than roaming and long distance...

Is there a less schmancy smart phone you like that you think is a value? All this 4G 3G shit drives me crazy and I don't care. I only really care about coverage. Are there... I guess... lesser smart phones than going batshit and getting an iPhone or a Droid, which I don't think i want to pay for? Does your phone/carrier use a SIM card or not?

Comments

[lapillus]

In poking around at possible pay-as-you-go sevices, T-Mobile seems to be winning handily, and they, like AT&T (and most of the rest of the world), use GSM phones so are more likely to talk to your sim. They seem to have the sanest pricing policies (if you spend $100 at once the time lasts for a year, if you spend less 30 days, and minutes are reasonable for as little as you or I call, and if you need it, you can get a day's unlimited data for $1.50/day which would come out of that pot). One thing to be aware is that pay as you go phones don't receive the subsidy that contract phones do, which isn't as big an issue if you just want something to call on, as plain old phones are pretty cheap. If you want to keep open the possibility of using it in the UK it may be worth at least looking at worldband phones (which are pretty common these days).

If someone recs an AT&T phone or a UK phone or whatever that sounds like one that fits exactly what you want, but you decide to go with T-Mobile (or it's on T-Mobile and you want AT&T) do a search for the model and "unlocked" and you should be able to use it on the other network. CDMA phones, since they don't use SIMs, are a different kettle of fish and don't unlock quite the same way. I don't have any phone recs because I'm looking for something significantly different than you are (I've found that since I don't use phones much, cell or otherwise, unless I'm on the front desk at work, the only way I'll think to bring phone is if it does other things I enjoy, like web browsing, ebooks -fannish and otherwise or music and only if it has decent battery life. Oh, and is extremely hardy. (I've only had one model of phone I haven't cracked a screen on, and that's mostly because I keep forgetting to carry it and because it has a very heavy duty case.) I think I may have found one, the Motorola Defy, that has a chance of surviving in my front pocket with my scary keychain, but it would be way overkill for what you want.