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Old 11-07-2013, 06:39 AM   #29
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No, but that's OK as I don't agree with AARP on some of the things they support either. Unfortunately my wife wrote out a check to them again this year.
Actually they do give the AARP discount, we get it. Don't agree with everything AARP supports either, but they are a pretty good advocate for us ole timers.

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Old 11-07-2013, 06:54 AM   #30
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Our unlimited Verizon plan is priceless to us. We use the phone as our hotspot and find that we use 4-5GB/mo just for routine surfing from both our laptops and the phones. We also enjoy streaming video in the evenings and that runs our usage up to ~35-40GB/mo.

We never use the smart phones to stream video to their own small screens; we find little purpose to that, but that doesn't stop us from using the phones for the purpose they were designed for, to act as small computers when you don't have a larger one around. It's amazing how much you can learn from a Google search when you're doing something as simple as walking around town and come across a historical marker that you wished to learn more about. Or, of course, the ease by which we can find a place to eat when we're in a strange town just by using free apps such as TripAdvisor or Yelp. The phone also gets used for depositing checks, ordering Rx refills, finding the position of the satellite we're trying to point the dish at, sending/receiving emails (when we're out away from the computers), and it can even give us step by step walking directions when we are on foot looking for an attraction in an unfamiliar city. Once in a while we even use it for talking.

Sure, everyone is entitled to do as they please, but I find so many seniors resistant to using smart phones for what they were designed to do. I'm a senior and didn't find the technology all that difficult to adapt to when I got my first one. If the print on the screen is small, didn't anyone show you how to use your fingers to make it bigger? This is the 21st century; talking on phones is so 20th century! Our grown children hardly ever talk to us on them, but we keep in close touch through texts, Facebook, etc, etc
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Old 11-07-2013, 07:27 AM   #31
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I retired from a large IT company and earlier in my career I was a mainframe programmer/anaylst, etc. I am about as tech savvy as a 71 year old could be but I'm not a full-timer on the road. If I was, then I would probably have Verizon with unlimited data. As it is now, I do everything and more that you can do on my smartphone, but I do it at one of my 4 computers I have at the S&B where we spend most of our time. We have 2 desktops and 2 laptops (don't ask me why, it just happened) and which ever room I'm in for a while, you can be pretty sure I'm on one of those while watching TV or whatever.

My smartphone is used sparingly when I am out around town as I don't use it while driving or golfing or most other stuff. I check email and IRV2 occasionally while I am out if I get notified. All in all, the screen is too small for any serious browsing and I do that anyway when I get home. If I did not have my cable ISP at unlimited data with around 20 Mbps, then I would be unhappy. But I'm not. My smartphone gets about 14.4 Mbps on HSPA+ thru AT&T towers, so that is not bad when I need it.

For my needs/wants Consumer Cellular or one like it works just fine as I don't use my smartphone as a replacement for one of my 4 computers. My smartphone is a handy way of keeping in touch when away from home. Unfortunately(?), I am at home more than camping. And, at one of our favorite campgrounds (National Recreation Area), they have a wifi hotspot within reach of my laptop or smartphone and I have a Wilson Sleek cell amplifier for voice and data in fringe areas.

Full timing is a different matter and requires a different set of solutions. JM2CW.


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Old 11-07-2013, 12:10 PM   #32
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I love my smartphone, and yes I always have it on me to take pics, send them on email to my friends and family, post whereabouts on Facebook, and look up things whenever I need to. The 500 mb limit I have works for me. We fulltime, so we always have our hotspot right with us also.
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Old 11-07-2013, 01:09 PM   #33
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We pay for Thom's mom and dad's pay as you go phone. Went to Target and got one for the Verizon network. We pay Verizon $50 a month. It has unlimited talk/text. Now we no longer have to worry about them when they are snow birding from MI to FL and back again or when his dad goes in the hospital. They tried a Trak Phone and then a Net 10 and then I don't know what. No more problems with the one we got them.
You have two phones and get unlimited talk and text?????

Are they smart phones?

If so let me know the name of the plan.
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Old 11-07-2013, 02:14 PM   #34
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Thom and I have phones on Verizon that we've had for years. Been so long with Verizon that we no longer have a contract. We still have unlimited data. We pay almost $200 a month for our 2 phones.

For Thom's mom and dad we went to Target and got a pay as you go phone on the Verizon network. It costs us $50 a month for them to have unlimited talking and text. They could use some data with it but they have no clue how to and we are NOT telling his mom how to use it ..... if we did she may just use more going on FB and the internet.
Every time we talked to them it seemed it was a new phone and number, they were always running out of minutes. Really frustrating when one of the calls is "Your dads back in the hospital for his heart, can't talk long, almost out of minutes 'click'" yep out of minutes now .... got tired of that so we got them a phone that we pay for that they will not run out of minutes on.
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Old 11-07-2013, 02:30 PM   #35
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This may be acceptable to you but it may not be to many others. 500MB is practically no data at all and 3G phones are basically obsolete. If you are primarily looking for a voice phone with text messages this may be sufficient but for any significant smart phone usage it is woefully inadequate.
Golly, docj, I don't see anywhere in my note that it was ..."acceptable to many others". I kinda think I was saying it was acceptable to me.
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Old 11-07-2013, 07:14 PM   #36
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What you are saying seems to fit us also.
Although we have NO smart phone and 4 computers
for the 2 of us, a lot of talk and text is not needed.
Consumer Cellular works great for us.

We do use the computers a lot.
For now I have decided to hold off on a smart phone or
a separate hot spot. It may be good to get away from
technology when we are away from home, if it is
not readily available. We will see.

I appreciate the info I have received in this thread.
Thanks.
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Old 11-11-2013, 12:19 PM   #37
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Not sure if this has been covered but after your contact exprires you are not obligated to sign up for another one. You can keep your current plan and go month to month and cancel whenever you want. The only time you get a new contract is when you want to get a new phone at a discount or perhaps change a feature. I still have a Verizon unlimited data plan that I got like 5 or 6 years ago, I can cancel whenever I want. You can buy a new phone for full price or a used one on the Internet if you want to save money and get a new phone and not be required to start a new 2 year contract.
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