Advice Wanted...Please?

[shadowkat]

You helped a great deal on the humidifier problem...so wondering if you can help with the smartphones?

I need to upgrade to a smartphone. Feel like the last person on the planet with an old cell phone. Which can't text. Been trying to do this for about a month now. But each time I walk into T-Mobile or any store for that matter, I'm overwhelmed with options.

No idea which one to pick.

My needs are very simple:

1.texting, (probably will do this more than make actual phone calls - people text don't call now.)
2.phone calls,
3. apps for airlines
4. Personal GPS - navigational aid (tells where closest subways are and how to get around)
5. internet access. Don't need it for music (have ipod touch for that). Won't use it to read - already struggling with small print as it is. Probably will use for Facebook. Not for livejournal. And do not envision watching tv or movies on a tiny screen.

I currently have a T-Mobile Nokia Classic flip-phone that is over three years old. Last one I got was in 2008. So no longer on contract. But changing services could be dicey or difficult. Might be easier to stick with T-Mobile even if their in-store service is horrible.

Can you help? Please see poll below of all the types of phones that I know of:

[Poll #1878263]

Comments

[green-maia.livejournal.com]

I have an android phone, a Motorola Droid, and I like it. But as soon as my contract is up in April I am going to downgrade to a "dumb" phone. Yes, there are things about a smartphone that are nice and useful, but for me, at least, it really, really isn't worth the extra money.

I didn't get a cell phone at all until 2004, and then I got a simple Samsung that didn't do anything but make and receive calls and send and receive text messages - it didn't even have a camera. It was cheap, simple, reliable, and the charge lasted for days. I loved it. In 2011 I dropped it in a stairwell and Verizon told me repair was impossible, and then offered me a free "upgrade" to a smartphone, and I bought the sales pitch...and have regretted it ever since. I have to charge it every single night (and if I'd lost power in the hurricane I would have been in trouble - the battery goes so fast). I don't use most of the "smart" features. It's really not worth the extra money.

So...I would recommend thinking twice before you assume that you must have a smartphone.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of my own experiences with phones. I didn't get a cell phone until 2005. Held out as long as possible - an insanely long line at an airport motivated me to buy one. Now you sort of need them, since pay phones are few and far between. I remember using pay phones. Not that I miss them. Pain in the neck. There are a few emergency phones still around though - saw on the other day in the subway.

I may go for one of the simpler Samsung models that receives calls and text messages. Currently have a Samsung, but you can't text to save your life. All it really does is receive phone calls and text messages. Also I sort of want the GPS and Airline apps.

Reluctant to jump carriers. Just because cancel one and do another.

The i-phones are bloody expensive. I can see spending 100 bucks a month if I'm using it all the time, but my phone is off most of the time. Not a phone person. Find the things annoying.