OK, this will probably seem like a really dumb question to most of you, but I have a very basic pay as you go cell phone and am looking to upgrade. I’m interested in a phone that can also access the Internet, send and receive e-mail; things like that.
Do you have a favorite device? Thanks for reading, and any advice you may have.
Most cellular phones these days can connect to the Internet, and allow both email and some web browsing. Larger units like the Treo or Blackberry or the new Motorola Q allow for more fully functional web browsing.
It all depends upon what service you have, what it costs to upgrade to web browsing, and what your needs are.
I bought a used Treo on eBay for under $ 200.00. I haven’t had it activated yet by Verizon, but it seems to work fine in all other modes besides Phone mode. I plan to pay for email and web services for it.
I’ve got a Treo & have been happy with it. I’ve never tried a Blackberry or other internet-capable cell phone, so I can’t really say how it compares to the others.
When I had AT&T Wireless (and a bit longer after the Cingular buy) I was accessing the internet, more or less, on a Nokia–well, whatever the 6010 replaced. Brick phone, no keyboard, camera, or other junk like that. Anyway, it was actually more like a portal. Only some sites were easily accessible, although you could in theory enter any URL. Whether or not it would render would depend on the code of that website. I could easily get to Yahoo and even check/compose email, though it wasn’t easy to navigate and writing was difficult. Sites like ESPN, CBS Marketwatch, Weather.com, CNN, and so on were available. When I switched to a different plan I dropped the wireless internet. I rarely used it, so I was paying $10 a month to maybe check the weather while traveling every three or four months and NFL wildcard playoffs that week while on the ground in various airports. I’m not sure what they’ve come out with now, but if I really needed that sort of access I’d probably also make sure to get something with a keyboard.
do you want a smart phone (qwerty keyboard, no toich screen) or pda phone (touch screen).
if uou’re looking to read and delete email, the smart phone might be good for. moto Q, samsung has an ultra thin lightweight smart phone that is dead sexy.
i’m tapping this note out on a I-mat4 JAMin, which is a windows mobile 5 powered device. I can’t live without this and get my job done. I do customer meetings, internal meeting notes, email on the road, surf the dope, etc