"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
09/30/2019 at 21:46 • Filed to: None | 2 | 13 |
About two weeks ago my budget phone I have had for two years (Samsung J3) finally bit the dust. I am very much a cheapskate when it comes to phones so I sought out a replacement that would cost me no more than $100. Obviously this keeps me in the super budget market if buying new. However, I had the bright idea to check out high end phones from 2016-2017 since those would be of higher quality than a 2019 budget phone but without the 2019 high end price. One could argue the smart phone market updates far faster than that and I would be getting outdated tech but considering what it was replacing, that is a moot argument. My standards are $50 budget phone so its easy to beat.
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I placed my order via Ebay on Thursday 19 September and it had a “guaranteed arrival date” of Tuesday 24 September. This se
emed like FOREVER since I am away from home on work travel so having no phone would surely be inconvenient. But with my Nexus 7 and some strategic downloading and planning, it wouldnt be that bad. However, come Tuesday when I am getting sick of having NO phone I come to find out that my package has been reported as lost! So now not only have I waited 5 days with no phone, I have done so for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON. Given that the package was lost and I could not wait any longer, I just went to Walmart and bought a $40 LG Rebel 4. This phone was a stopgap that I would plan to return if the other package showed up or just keep as my primary phone if I wanted to continue being an absolute cheapskate.
The LG Rebel4 was not that bad honestly. A significant improvement to the Samsung so it felt like a win. Well a couple days later on Friday, it turns out that my package miraculously appeared in Pensacola and was now going to arrive the next day. The phone arrived in one piece Saturday afternoon and was as described, brand new in an open unmarked box. So far I believe the claim that it is new but I did run into another problem. The phone is T-Mobile locked when I had thought it was unlocked. Unfortunately the ebay listing does specify this so it was exactly what I purchased and I just didnt read too closely.
So now the next part of my journey was figuring out how the hell to get service on the phone. I have a straight talk sim that I pay $35 for 3GB of data and unlimited call/text. I found out that the only way to unlock the tmobile phone was to get a t mobile sim and have it active for 40 days. I decided to just switch to T mobile since im prepaid and that is the cheapest method for sure. I only use google voice for calls and text so I did another crafty thing and chose a data only plan intended for mobile hotspots. But it works perfectly fine in my phone and gives me 6GB of LTE for $25 a month. What a steal!
This was an absolute headache to get from phone purchase to finally working and I guess I come out ahead in the end. I am loving the phone so far and a cheaper phone plan with more data is absolutely a good thing. Tmobile service is generally worse than straight talk (on at&t) but I will have to see if it really matters with my usual usage. I did not once use the straight talk number on my phone within the 2 years I had it. So it seems appropriate to just go with no non-data calls for now. It allows for calls to 911 via the other number so it functions in emergency should I not have data connection.
Nibby
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2019 at 21:58 | 1 |
y u no motoro
la RAZR
AestheticsInMotion
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2019 at 22:27 | 0 |
I used Google voice briefly for a few businesses, but never tried it for personal use. What made you go that route?
404 - User No Longer Available
> Nibby
09/30/2019 at 22:45 | 2 |
bob and john
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2019 at 23:05 | 0 |
honestly, I spend so much time on my phone (wasting time, photos, work shit) that there is no reason for me to be a cheap skate on my phone.
that said, i wont replace it for the sake of replacing it. Nor am I going to buy a crazy top tier phone first year out. but a 1 or 2 year
old top phone, or the one thats 1 level down has worked WONDERS for me.
Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> AestheticsInMotion
09/30/2019 at 23:19 | 0 |
I wanted to keep my phone number regardless of what prepaid carrier I switch to. A lot of the times porting a number to random carriers requires jumping hoops and fees which are not worthwhile. Plus google voice is the best international option for calling to the US so I have had that for my trips to Europe. It has been fully integrated into android the last few years which helps me stick with it even more. It works flawlessly the same as just dialing a phone and more than 75% of the time I am on wifi when making a call for longer than a minute or two anyways, so it doesnt use much data and is reliable.
Wifi calling is probably the primary feature. Sure some phones and providers offer that as a “feature” but its nowhere near as seamless as using google voice on anything with an internet connection. I can dial phones from my laptop in gmail even, although I wouldnt do that lol. But using my tablet and phone has always been easy.
Ilike_cougars
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2019 at 23:20 | 0 |
I used to do the cheap phone for a while, but would get frustrated at how slow it used to get in a year, so I did splurge and got the one plus 6t, paid in full. and going by how it has worked so far, I think I wont be changing phones for the next 4-5 years.
Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> bob and john
09/30/2019 at 23:21 | 0 |
Exactly, I am very happy with my choice so far. Google camera port seems to work well and even the regular LG app seems decent too. I have to test out the camera a bit when I get home but I can already tell it takes far better photos than anything else I have had. If it werent for battery degredation, I would gladly keep one phone forever. I dislike this whole having to buy a new one every once in a while. I am hoping I can keep this one alive longer though.
Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> Nibby
09/30/2019 at 23:25 | 2 |
Well I was specifically looking for Skyrim running on a Motorola Razr but what I found is better:
Nibby
> 404 - User No Longer Available
09/30/2019 at 23:30 | 0 |
Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> Nibby
10/01/2019 at 00:11 | 0 |
I still have a razor. The battery is shot so I can I my get it I turn on when plugged in.
Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
10/01/2019 at 07:29 | 0 |
I also just switched to TMobile (from Verizon). I have regrets.
Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
10/01/2019 at 08:07 | 0 |
At least you are probably saving $100 a month! I’ve used t mobile in the past and it worked fine enough. The LTE coverage is actually slightly better than AT&T but the abysmal 3 G coverage is what makes the difference. Something like 20% coverage. So you either have good service or none at all, there is no poor/slow that just sort of works out in the sticks.
Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
10/01/2019 at 09:21 | 0 |
Only about $25 less but I do get more features, so there is that.