I’m in the position of having to buy a new mobile phone, and it’s going to have to be cheap. I’ve got my eye on the ZTE Z431 because (plan+handset-wise) it’s about as cheap as you can go for a phone with a full keyboard (I’ve had enough of typing ‘7’ four times to get an ‘s’).
That phone comes with some kind of web browser, but I’m sure it has its struggles with fancy webpages. There’s only one webservice whose mobile availability would make my life a lot easier - Google Maps with transit directions.
I’ve had a hard time figuring out if that would work on the Z431; the browser is probably questionable, and it’s not an Android phone. Apparently you can get such apps on these sorts of phones using a Java environment called J2ME, but it’s not clear to me if Google Maps (with transit) is (still? ever?) supported on J2ME.
I’ve run out of avenues on cellphone revue sites – does anyone here have any idea?
These apps not only give directions, but also show service alerts, system maps, schedules, and real-time tracking – you can see when that bus that’s supposed to be here will actually get to your corner.
Most of the solutions there run into the same problem as Google Maps: no platform support for feature phones.
The Google Maps download page at Google lists only three alternatives: Android, iOS, and web app. “Web app” isn’t really an app at all; it’s using the web-based Google Maps service through your browser. And feature phone browsers are notoriously bad at javascript-heavy web app stuff, so even that may not be an option.
Likewise, the Chicago Transit apps page only lists apps for Google, iOS, Windows Mobile, and web apps.
I’ve used a feature phone, and although the QWERTY keyboard was nice for text messaging, the “browser” was a joke. Even so-called “mobile websites” didn’t display properly on it.
I seriously doubt that you’ll be able to get Google Maps to work on that ZTE phone.
One problem in L.A., and maybe elsewhere, is that aside from Google Maps there’s no app that covers all the local operators. Metro, the local “800 pound gorilla” in the transit world, does have an app, but it doesn’t cover independent municipals like the Santa Monica and Culver City bus systems. And those two agencies provide the majority of bus service not only within their city limits, but all over the Westside. So Metro’s app is worth about what it costs if you live in West L.A.
Can you afford $50, $50, or $70 for a new phone and $40 a month for everything unlimited with a half-decent data-cap? (1GB before they throttle you down from 4g to a much lower speed. But 1GB is plenty if you do most data intensive stuff on wifi.)
Exactly…why anyone wouldn’t simply get one of those or the Motorolla G (for $50 ish) is beyond me. You know, depending on where you live and which pre-paid carriers have such phones.
Really doubt the browser can handle the full Google Maps, but if you can access regular Google search on it, try typing “directions from X to Y” directly into Google Search. It should return a thumbnail map and a list of directions (car by default, but you can switch to transit from there) in plaintext.
I’m trying to decide if I can afford $35 for a phone and $100/year for the service. $40/month is a lot more, I’m afraid.
That might be the ticket right there. It seems to work on the desktop browser, as long as Google recognizes the locations. Street addresses seem to work better than intersections.
I’ll look into some of the other suggested phones. I basically want to know what the marginal cost of ‘device that can let me re-plan transit trips on the go’ is over ‘device that does voice and SMS’.
FWIW, Virgin Mobile has Android smart phones for $40 and service plans as low as $20/mo.
I used to have a top tier phone that I paid nearly $200 for, but when I accidentally smashed it (after only 1 year) I bought the cheapest smartphone Virgin had ($40) and was shocked to discover it was vastly superior to my so-called “premium” phone. The technology is improving so rapidly that I would never pay for an expensive phone again.
Am I reading that $100/year H20 PayGo plan right in that it includes 2000 minutes that are good for a year BUT you still have to pay an additional .05/minute for each of them? If so, it’s still cheapish, but you *actually *pay $200/year if you use all 2000 minutes in that year. PLUS, you’d also be paying .05 per SMS, .10 per MMS, and .10 per MB of data? If I’m reading that right, it’s not quite *that *cheap, and sounds like a royal PITA. All depends on how often you use the phone and for what. If you won’t use many voice minutes, won’t send or receive a lot of texts, and will only be using the web to access public transit info occasionally, then maybe it makes sense.
OK, I wasn’t reading that right. You pay $100 for the year and then they deduct from that based on the rates for each type of usage: .05 per minute voice, .05 per SMS, .10 per MMS, and .10 per MB of data.
Map access involves large amounts of data. Whatever phone you have, and whatever kind of data allowance comes with a $100-a-year PAYG plan, I can’t imagine that you wouldn’t be racking up excess data charges just from casual use of any Maps tool.
Yeah, this is the experimental part. Over the last few years I’ve been able to get by on much less than 400 minutes per year - last year well under 200. Data’s a new thing for me, though (my old phone didn’t do that). But, even if I have to buy a new $100 allotment four times a year (instead of once, as hoped), it’s still cheaper than a $40/month plan. The intent is to be aggressively frugal - baseline using the map app a few times a month when I get stuck by a bad bus connection or something.
Do the buses you use have WiFi? You can get cheap old Androids or iPhones and use them wifi-only. If you’re near cafes or such regularly anyway, you might not need cellular internet.
You can also download podcasts or copy over some of your music collection before you leave the house; that way you can have useful stored content wherever you go.
My wife just got the Moto E for £69, contract and carrier free. It is a fully featured smartphone and very good it is too. Big screen, good battery life, all the bells and whistles etc.
It runs google maps and if you cache the maps on wifi at home you can use it for finding your way around without any need for data.
If you want to use the turn-by-turn navigation from google (which is very good and free) then you will need a data connection and the best estimates I have for that is perhaps 5-20MB per full day’s use(no satellite imagery of course, that eats data and simple road layouts are fine).
As you’ll have no contract you should be able to just buy a cheap sim card and top up your balance as required
