$MART PHONE$, What am I missing?

[Potstubsdustbins]

I and the lads have smart phones, but mine is purely for work.

The number of times we go to a boiler break down and when we ask for the instructions are met with a blank stare is numerous to say the least, with a smart phone we can just down load them of the internet and carry on with the job.

When doing heating surveys we can take pictures at the time as an aide memoir for later.

We can access merchants site and pre-order spares for collection that alone must save hours of waiting every week, just walk in and its on the counter.

If we have a difficult tenant the phone will be switched on to record before we enter the premises, it's strange but no one seems to think we are recording their ranting and raving ready for play back should it be needed.

We take and share evidential photographs between our selves and clients instantly the list goes on.

I don't even like mobile phones but would struggle without them in this day and age, they have become a fact of life.

[Bren In Pots]

Reason for one is the bigger screen, phone calls, texts and emails.
The one app I suspect that I would find useful is a map. However any map app would need the phone to be set to use a free wifi connection. I distrust the providers and do not want o find they have downloaded the whole UK map, gone over some limit and stick me a bill for £10.

Kirk have a look at maps.me once downloaded you don't need a internet connection to view the maps, I used to to use it a lot before my internet provider included a free sim complete with mins, data and text messaging with our package.

[DannyK]

DWS per Wikipedia it would seem you have a smart phone albeit lacking a touch screen.

Kirk check to see if your number is still working as some providers will reallocate what appear to be dormant numbers. They like to see a call every six months or so.

I have a coal fired Blackberry Bold which I top up with £10pa Tesco PAYG!

I keep toying with getting a more modern phone as the cameras are very good but I find the cost off putting.

Has anyone any experience of refurbished phones? I see Apple have greatly reduced replacement battery costs.

GPS looks useful too. I'm fed up with those maps hotels hand out.

[Newt]

It really depends on what you want to get out of your phone.

I did just fine for the vast majority of my adult life with just a simple text-and-calls black-and-white PAYG mobile phone, but I wouldn't go back to that now.

Not even for the JCB phones that can apparently withstand a drop from 3 storeys, being dropped in a bucket of wet concrete and being run over by a literal truck. And make JCB engine noises.

But that's because I have specific things I appreciate having a smartphone for.

1. Spouse's older sister and nieces live in the USA, and calls are expensive. They moved out there over a decade ago when the nieces were tiny, and can only afford to come over every few years. But, we have casual conversation with the big sis almost every day, share silly photos of whatever we're doing on a regular basis, and I've gotten to enjoy recordings of the nieces important life milestones and school plays and things. Having whatsapp and instagram on my smart phone has enabled me and Spouse to foster a much closer relationship than we'd have had with them if they'd stayed in the UK but living as far away as they did before they emigrated.

2. Spouse's younger sister moved up North for uni, and has since completed her studies and moved there permanently to be with someone she met there. As with the older sis, we've managed to continue to have a really close relationship with her specifically because we still get to enjoy the sort of casual, silly banter we did when she lived just a town away and we'd babysit for her. We've been able to each put the same movie or show on our computers at home, skype call, and chat about it like we're in the same room.

3. My parents live in Spain, have no landline phone and no household internet connection. Having a smart phone, and covering the cost of a cheap smartphone contract for my mum as well, means I've been able to help her start her small business out there by handling the internet side of it and letting her know what's going on with it.

4. My grandad has MND, and sadly for such a charming, witty and sociable man the first thing it took from him was his ability to speak. But at 82 he's tech-savvy and has a desktop computer, a tablet, a tablet specifically for text-to-speech conversion and a smartphone. He's been able to use these to maintain a lot of his social connections with people, and it's been that much easier for him to adapt to using the assistive tablet because he was already comfortable with the technology from having used his phone. I've no doubt that the mental and emotional health this helps him retain will mean we get more time with him than otherwise.

5. When I'm at work at my boring desk job, it's great being able to stream music, podcasts and such from my phone. Yes I could have an MP3 player and download stuff onto it, but frankly my spotify account is way cheaper than buying digital copies of everything I want to listen to, and it's allowed me to keep up with bands I'd forgotten about and their new releases, and discover new bands I'd never have tried before.

6. When flying to visit any of the relatives we have living all over the bloody place, I can download netflix shows onto my phone and watch them in-flight.

7. I have a closer relationship to my teenage cousins than I otherwise would have. I don't understand all of the stuff they're into, but having some of the same apps they have and seeing what they post on them means I've been more able to understand and connect with their perspective on the world, which I've really appreciated. And it's allowed me to be more easily available to them when they want advice or a sympathetic ear from a family member who is old enough to be able to offer good advice but young enough to not feel like an authority figure.


But, those are all specific things that make it worthwhile for me. That doesn't make them universally useful, and your mileage may vary.

[lottie dolly]

I like mine,handy for all sorts,ask it a question,look up something,get your DR appointments sent to it,a night clock,a an emergency torch,and lots more,i only pay £8 per month from virgin,because we already have a virgin set up in home,it does what i want it to,and much more if i could understand how to go about it.

[Kirk]

Kirk check to see if your number is still working as some providers will reallocate what appear to be dormant numbers. They like to see a call every six months or so.

Number is working fine, have used it for text and a few calls recently.

It all works, only "problem" is that the phone is old, basic and as I suspect whatever money I put on it back in 2012 that must have been used up by now. Had to call the RAC and other things a few times.
I know the RAC number is "free" but that is generally not always true of mobile calls, also the announcement warned me I would be charged.

As said I seem to have fallen off the radar, I have a phone, basic, that I appear to not get charged for the small, but actual, use I make of it. It is working other then that OK. Suppose that in the back of my mind is what if some system checks and disables me and I do not find out until I need it.

Just thinking it might be useful to enter the 20th centuary. Not yet keen on the 21st.

My somewhat minimal use is the sticking point, PAYG would seem the best but a low cost "continuous" option is also attractive. I just seriously doubt I would ever get close to even £5 usage a month on average.

I have BT broadband and they have a £6 a month offer. Would be easy as they would add it to the BB and it should be eay. Equally BT started offered it at £5 not long ago, so a small increase but either £1 or 20%, however their £5 offer went up and all their stuff says price may increase. Also it needs me to keep the BT broadband. So starts to get "conditions" placed on it.

Starting to lean towards the phone I saw and the GiffGaff offer. Basically the least strings attached the better.

Bren: I do download the maps to the tablet, just might be better to not have to each time. Equally I seem to be able to get around using road signs. I am one whoi really hates keyboards, comuters etc making a noise. I live in fear of the day they give self service checkouts speech recognition. One potential use is friend whose dietry requirements are restrictive (Her choice) so locating suitable places to eat is sort of 150% useful.

Scarlet: Will check, but at this time use is sort of Herts and London. The home counties would I expect be fairly well covered.

[Newt]

If you're thinking of a cheap offer, I can definitely recommend GifGaff. Mine is PAYG but specifically a package I get that gives me data and "free" texts and such. For not much money you get quite a lot of texts, calls, data etc so if it's rarely used that may be the way to go. It's also easy to go up or down a level in what you pay if you find you're not using all of your allowance up - the website shows you how close you come to using your data allowance etc each month.

But well worth looking into the BT offer if you can get one that they'll bundle in with your broadband etc. Especially if that nets you a cheaper or free phone out of the bargain.

[1Bee]

I use my smart phone for (in order of most use/most time used).

Reading books (in the dark in sons' bedrooms, when on bedtime duty - both mine need someone with them to fall asleep)
Making contact with my support network (other mums and adopters who struggle sometimes)
Weather forecasts
Managing bank accounts and paying invoices
Taking photos
WhatsApp (free texts and picture messages) keeping up with my few friends and with our morris dancing group
Emails - Home, writing committee, charity trustee
Grapevine
Texts
Online shopping
Phone calls
Entertaining kids in emergencies (it has a locked down, safe, parental controlled alternative desktop loaded onto it, so kids can't get to calls, internet, shops etc)
Sending picture cards to family, foster carers etc.

I'm sure I've missed stuff. Some of this I can only do on a smartphone, most of it I would find much harder to find time to do on the PC or in person.

It's whatever suits you, though. I was very late to smart phones. I don't like it when people sneer at people 'always using their phone' when actually a little time spent on that powerful device means a lot more time for my family. I won't sneer at anyone who doesn't want them, because if you're not careful they can be an awful time-suck! Husband plays some games more than I'm comfortable with.... ;-)

[bramble]

Yes, I wouldn't be without it.
Like most peeps on here I use it for a list of stuff but not banking.
Love the picture quality as I love taking pics.
Use it for music, memo, alarm clock, weather, WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook, games, weights and measurements.
I could go on and on.

[DWSmith]

DWS per Wikipedia it would seem you have a smart phone albeit lacking a touch screen.

Well, I know it's not really a smart phone but I don't really know what a smart phone is to know the differences. Seems smart enough for me but that's not saying much.

[DWSmith]

My wife's and son's new smart phones arrived yesterday so they began setting them up early in the evening.

NO THANK YOU!!! My son was faster at it but it took my wife at least 3 hours to get her new phone working like her old phone did. Glad I didn't change phones.

I must admit that they are both very pleased with their new phones. And I'm very pleased with the new phone plan; unlimited data. It will partially free up the hotspot device we've been using so there's less contention.

[Scarlet]

I don’t set mine up teenage boys love to do that part.

[Bren In Pots]

I like to mess with things so I set up my own phone

[Lumpy]

I’m just going to blame you lot for encouraging me. I now have my very first mobile call plan - £10 a month for 6.5 Gb (not sure what that is as it could be info stored in a matchbox to info transported on an oil tanker) unlimited calls and unlimited texts. Best of all I was paying £7 a month for 24/7 calls on the landline so I’ve cancelled that.

The deal now costs me an extra £3.

[Philthy]

I don't have a smart phone

My last phone purchase was a new one from Nokia out last year - Nokia 216 SIM Free - on PAYG. Cost me the princely sum of £30. I love it. I use it for calls and texts. It has internet but it's not great, I've only ever used that to download a few games and get weather updates. The camera is rubbish but useful for 'text' photos e.g. name tag of a plant spotted while out and about. And it has a great torch which I use a lot. Battery life is excellent.

My job doesn't require me to be on call 24/7, I'm not out on the road, and I don't work for myself (if I did I'm sure I'd view my phone choice differently), so being permanently connected to the world wide wait is not a necessity for me. I can have internet at my fingertips at work or home as I need it. If I'm in neither of those places, whatever is going on, I'm sure I'll find out later