Smart phone for less, a lot less ...

[Asylum Seeker]

I just bought a Xiaomi Poco F2 Pro for $550 last week...

 

[Vini darko]

Very true; before we used to talk to people, now we talk to our phone.
Maybe our phone is smarter than people?

Its already their civilization we meatbags are just along for the ride .

 

[Racheski]

Its already their civilization we meatbags are just along for the ride .

Skynet.

 

[RickSanchez]

It is amazing how much computing power you can get in a tiny package and even at $1,000 it would a be great deal if people used them for 5-10 years.

What kills me are the people that have to upgrade to the latest and greatest every year and then they complain about not having money and that being someone else's fault.

Agreed. I picked up a used iPhone X a couple years ago for around $600. I'm genuinely hoping to get a minimum of 6 years out of it -- assuming I don't break it or lose it. And if I'm really lucky + Apple keeps support for it (unlikely) maybe I can get 8 years.

 

[Old Listener]

Moto G7 here.

View attachment 77448

Smart move, Ray.

I use a Moto G6 and so does my wife. I recommended the G6 to a friend who uses it.

My wife and I don't use our phones heavily. Well, my wife some racks up 250 minutes of talk time in some months. None to a few texts a month. We normally have mobile data turned off. Our monthly Ting bill is between $ 16 and $ 24 for the two lines combined.

I do use my phone for calendar, contacts, music playback, camera and GPS logging. No "adult children" uses though.

 

[JeffS7444]

iPhone 11 is my second brand-new smartphone, replacing an iPhone 5 which lacked VoLTE, and that replaced a secondhand iPhone 4 which lacked LTE, and that in turn replaced a used iPhone 1 which lacked 3G. Before that was a Siemens phone that I couldn't get a decent replacement battery for.

Had considered buying a Punkt, but they hadn't gotten VoLTE working with USA carriers at the time.

 

[North_Sky]

Its already their civilization we meatbags are just along for the ride .

One race to dominate them all ... Artificial Intelligence.

 

[North_Sky]

Smart move, Ray.

I use a Moto G6 and so does my wife. I recommended the G6 to a friend who uses it.

My wife and I don't use our phones heavily. Well, my wife some racks up 250 minutes of talk time in some months. None to a few texts a month. We normally have mobile data turned off. Our monthly Ting bill is between $ 16 and $ 24 for the two lines combined.

I do use my phone for calendar, contacts, music playback, camera and GPS logging. No "adult children" uses though.

$16 to $24 a month for the two lines combined! You must live in paradise telecommunications best central zone.
Where I live that money doesn't even cover the monthly fees!

Cell phone plans in Canada are the most expensive of planet Earth.
And a smartphone that costs say $1,000 in the USA, here in Canada it's $1,300 before tax (add 12% + activation fees, etc.).

 

[Vini darko]

$16 to $24 a month for the two lines combined! You must live in paradise telecommunications best central zone.
Where I live that money doesn't even cover the monthly fees!

Cell phone plans in Canada are the most expensive of planet Earth.
And a smartphone that costs say $1,000 in the USA, here in Canada it's $1,300 before tax (add 12% + activation fees, etc.).

Owchy

 

[Frank Dernie]

Look @ smart TVs now; people talk to them ... to change the channels, know the weather, adjust the sound, tune the image, switch inputs, ...
You don't need a remote anymore...or you can even talk to your phone to change TV channels. People even talk hand-free to other people ... Bluetooth and Real Life (with a mask and 2 meters away).

I feel a complete idiot talking to voice operated stuff and would not impose the noise of the reply on the environment. I tried the voice operation stuff in my car about 15 years ago and haven't since. Never even activated the voice control on a phone.
I hate noisy disturbance, background music, in fact everything except silence in the background.
My son uses voice control a lot.

 

[North_Sky]

You're like my Mom...she's not into voice activated searches and commands.

* As for driving, I prefer voicing than typing.

 

[Tks]

Agreed. I picked up a used iPhone X a couple years ago for around $600. I'm genuinely hoping to get a minimum of 6 years out of it -- assuming I don't break it or lose it. And if I'm really lucky + Apple keeps support for it (unlikely) maybe I can get 8 years.

Apple policy of software support: 4-5 Years (so expect 2022 to be the last year you get new updates)

Android vendors: 2 Years

Samsung recently: 3 Years

The problem you'll have is if you care for future features, that you won't be getting 8 years later. Also the more pressing problem, is you'll have to swap batteries, as degredation forces the internal logic to tank the CPU and GPU core frequencies, turning the phone into a slower piece of kit to prevent further stress on cell depleted internal batteries. Expect to fork over somewhere around $100 per battery swap.

 

[Chromatischism]

Well, they seem to finally be drying up, but the LG V20 H910 still has a lot going for it even at $170 NIB:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LG-V20-H91...-B-O-4g-Lte-Unlocked-Smartphone-/282894442140

You can get the LG V40 for $200. Bought one for my dad a few months ago. I always recommend these as one of the last phones you can get with a real headphone jack. It's a flagship, too.

 

[Frank Dernie]

You're like my Mom...she's not into voice activated searches and commands.

* As for driving, I prefer voicing than typing.

I am autistic so unnecessary noise has always been a considerable irritation.
I don't type in my car either.
I do sometimes phone somebody from my car but am aware of the studies which show even hands free phone use is about as dangerous as driving whilst a little drunk, so only when really necessary.
I am not keen on on touch screens, so voice activation in the car is definitely preferable here, I accept they are a useful jack of all trades on a tablet or phone but they are the master of the unintended selection. In a car they are certainly dangerous compared to proper buttons and switches in logical locations.
A very senior policeman of my acquaintance tells me they are so dangerous to use whilst moving there are moves to limit their use here. Some car designers chose that they may be disabled when the car is moving when they started using them in the early days but on the basis that the consumer is always right, I suppose, this logical design was dropped.
I don't drive much any more, the limiting factor will be me learning (and remembering) the commands!

 

[RayDunzl]

I do sometimes phone somebody from my car but am aware of the studies which show even hands free phone use is about as dangerous as driving whilst a little drunk, so only when really necessary.

I got assigned a cell phone for work in 2000 or so.

The first time it rang and I tried to answer and talk while I was driving I had to pull over to the side, it was so disorienting.

 

[Darvis]

Agreed. I picked up a used iPhone X a couple years ago for around $600. I'm genuinely hoping to get a minimum of 6 years out of it -- assuming I don't break it or lose it. And if I'm really lucky + Apple keeps support for it (unlikely) maybe I can get 8 years.

My very old iPhone 4 is in the clumsy hands of my mom now and still usable.

That being said, I'm not sure keeping an iPhone that long is a good idea. They sure work OK for a longer time than other brands but after a (long) while they become an irritant, too slow, exhausted battery etc. What people don't usually take into account is the absurdly high prices you can resell them, it really softens the initial financial blow and relativise it compared to other brands.

 

[RickSanchez]

I do sometimes phone somebody from my car but am aware of the studies which show even hands free phone use is about as dangerous as driving whilst a little drunk, so only when really necessary.

Agreed: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95702512

And even though I drive a lot less these days -- and traffic is much lighter where I live -- I'm a cyclist and anecdotally I can verify this basically every time I ride. Never a dull moment as drivers on their phones cut me off, blow throw stop signs and stoplights, weave in and out, etc. (Admittedly, some of them might also be drunk.)

For me that's one of side benefits of driving stick. Certain people get annoyed with me for not answering my phone / texting while I'm driving. I always respond with "Can't, I have to focus on driving because I have a manual." That excuse works with my friends / co-workers because the vast majority of them never learned to drive stick, and they picture it as a such a daunting task that they give me a free pass for not talking / texting while driving.

 

[Soniclife]

A very senior policeman of my acquaintance tells me they are so dangerous to use whilst moving there are moves to limit their use here. Some car designers chose that they may be disabled when the car is moving when they started using them in the early days but on the basis that the consumer is always right, I suppose, this logical design was dropped.

Lots of modern cars have so many features only accessible by touch screens I think that regulation is probably too late, at least retrospectively. Sensible policy would probably require the whole of the human interface to be signed off for safety by independent tests.

 

[Frank Dernie]

texting while I'm driving

Texting whilst driving is illegal here, as is using the phone hand held.
Causing an accident because of texting is dangerous driving and can result in a prison sentence if anybody is killed.

 

[Frank Dernie]

Lots of modern cars have so many features only accessible by touch screens I think that regulation is probably too late, at least retrospectively. Sensible policy would probably require the whole of the human interface to be signed off for safety by independent tests.

That is the dilemma.
Do they abandon safety because of the proliferation of dangerous car controls????
They think they shouldn't but probably can't get away with it.
I quite fancied a Tesla Model 3 and it certainly -looks- nice but the driver interface is only good whilst stationary IMO.