You Know It's Time....

[GWguy]

...to get a new phone when the apps fail saying your phone is too old, and uninstall themselves. My GMC remote functions quit, even Redbox stopped working.

Had a Samsung Galaxy S3 forever. Dropped it a few times, cracked the screen and case, compass wouldn't work anymore, but it worked great otherwise. Crystal clear voice in both directions, still on the same battery when I bought it, never had any real issues with it, it just worked.

Looked around, had my eye on another Samsung, but the prices were kinda high. Over the weekend I found an S7 on sale thru StraightTalk for $300. I can deal with that. It's not exactly current, but still in the top 10. Android v6.

Powered it up and the first thing it did was upgrade itself to Android v7. Cool. In the past, you had to provide the new old ESN, the new ESN, more info, and wait hours for a new phone to activate. Went to the StraighTalk website, entered the old and new rebooted the phone and it was live. Less than 5 minutes. Cool. It also came with a transfer utility. Using NFC (near field communications) it copied my old data and apps to the new phone in a few minutes.

Now my apps all work again. I'm a happy camper.

 

[Starman]

Yea I hang on to my Nokia N71 because of the sound quality. Manufacturers keep making worse and worse vocoders to create more and more bandwidth for all the crap they shove across the pipes anymore. It’s an unlocked GSM phone and it works pretty much everywhere on the planet I go. Just pick up a SIM card locallly and I’m all set.

 

[GURPS]

if you are not using data intensive apps .... instead of straight talk, I recomend look at Ting - you pay for what you use

for my wife and I the bill is between 40 - 60 bucks ... only hitting 60 if we use more than 3 gb of data

 

[Starman]

if you are not using data intensive apps .... instead of straight talk, I recomend look at Ting - you pay for what you use

for my wife and I the bill is between 40 - 60 bucks ... only hitting 60 if we use more than 3 gb of data

Whose service is Ting reselling? Do you get LTE speeds for data or is it cut back to 3G or something?

 

[glhs837]

Remote funtions? How much does GMC charge you for that? Friken Jeep wants like $15 a month.

 

[GWguy]

Remote funtions? How much does GMC charge you for that? Friken Jeep wants like $15 a month.

Nothing. I have a freebie 3 year basic Onstar service without the phone or emergency services and the app is free. My dad kept locking us out of my truck so I got it just to have the remote door lock access. It also supports remote starting and the ability to download a map route from the phone to the truck's GPS.

 

[SamSpade]

.

Looked around, had my eye on another Samsung, but the prices were kinda high. Over the weekend I found an S7 on sale thru StraightTalk for $300.

Staight Talk.

There's a bunch of these kinds of companies - MetroPCS Cricket, etc.

How happy are you with the performance in this area? The ONLY reason I stay with Verizon is coverage. I can't be in parts of the county where the coverage is spotty.
It's already bad enough at my HOUSE, and it's because I live in some kind of coverage "valley". I live 5 miles from First Colony, but I might as well be in the middle of the ocean sometimes.

 

[GWguy]

Staight Talk.

There's a bunch of these kinds of companies - MetroPCS Cricket, etc.

How happy are you with the performance in this area? The ONLY reason I stay with Verizon is coverage. I can't be in parts of the county where the coverage is spotty.
It's already bad enough at my HOUSE, and it's because I live in some kind of coverage "valley". I live 5 miles from First Colony, but I might as well be in the middle of the ocean sometimes.

StraightTalk in this area is run over a Verizon service. I've had no issue anywhere I've been.

Interesting enough, when my StraightTalk phone boots, it displays a TracPhone logo. You could get a TracPhone plan at lower cost and get the same coverage as a Verizon phone.

 

[SamSpade]

StraightTalk in this area is run over a Verizon service. I've had no issue anywhere I've been.

Interesting enough, when my StraightTalk phone boots, it displays a TracPhone logo. You could get a TracPhone plan at lower cost and get the same coverage as a Verizon phone.

I got a TracPhone for my son last summer, but buying minutes for it seemed outrageous. I only wanted it as a burner - once he was done with it, it was done.
But I spent quite a bit just to have it a few months.

So - you're saying Straight Talk network is the same as Verizon? Can I take my Verizon phone there? What's the downside? To get THAT big a discount, there MUST be some trade-off.

 

[GWguy]

So - you're saying Straight Talk network is the same as Verizon? Can I take my Verizon phone there? What's the downside? To get THAT big a discount, there MUST be some trade-off.

Go to the StraightTalk website and look for 'bring your own phone'. It will tell you if you need a new SIM card or not. I've had no downsides. It's there, it works.

I have the $45 unlimited (up to 8Gb), but there is a cheaper plan too.

 

[glhs837]

Nothing. I have a freebie 3 year basic Onstar service without the phone or emergency services and the app is free. My dad kept locking us out of my truck so I got it just to have the remote door lock access. It also supports remote starting and the ability to download a map route from the phone to the truck's GPS.

Jeep offers that functionality, but want $15 a month for it. We had a free year of voice to text, but now that's gone and while it still reads them, it only offers a few canned responses, no voice to text unless you pay the money. And 15 a month is just too damn high.

 

[GURPS]

Whose service is Ting reselling? Do you get LTE speeds for data or is it cut back to 3G or something?

T-Mob .... yes I have LTE on my current One Plus 3

my One Plus One did not have the latest channels, so I was lacking coverage down here until I upgraded the phone


https://ting.com/rates

 

[GURPS]

StraightTalk in this area is run over a Verizon service. I've had no issue anywhere I've been.

when I had Straight Talk - GSM Phone - it was Sprint
[the sell both depending on GSM or CDMA]

I have the $45 unlimited (up to 8Gb), but there is a cheaper plan too.

that is an upgrade, it was $ 45 for 4.5 when I was still on [maybe a yr ago]

 

[GWguy]

that is an upgrade, it was $ 45 for 4.5 when I was still on [maybe a yr ago]

Every so often they bump the limits up, as do other vendors. When I first got my StraightTalk service, it was 2Gb for $45.

 

[RareBreed]

Just got a S8 today. Waiting for battery to charge so I can activate it. Thought I'd read through the instructions on how to use it but there is none. Guess I will have all weekend to learn the ins and outs of it. I see there is no Home button so that makes things interesting right off the bat.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

when I had Straight Talk - GSM Phone - it was Sprint
[the sell both depending on GSM or CDMA]



that is an upgrade, it was $ 45 for 4.5 when I was still on [maybe a yr ago]

Sprint is a CDMA network.