Yeah, I have the Galaxy Nexus with Straight Talk. Good deal, as noted, but possibly overkill for a first-time smartphone owner. It’s the way to go if you want to be the first on the block to run a new Android operating system.
Straight Talk actually offers service through 3 of the 4 major carriers (no Sprint that I know of). If you go through the Bring Your Own Device plan, you can use either AT&T or T-Mobile. If you want Verizon’s service through Straight Talk, this is your smartphone option.
CowBoom (Best Buy’s clearance outlet) has some good deals on used AT&T or T-Mobile phones that will work with the Straight Talk BYOD plan.
Have you ever been walking around and wondered something idly? Like “Who was that actor in that movie?” or “Who did this one-hit-wonder song that’s been in my head?” With a smartphone, you just pull it out of your pocket and you have the answer in 30 seconds. Just having Google at my fingertips all day long is worth the price. Not to mention finding nearby restaurants in unfamiliar locations and knowing exactly how well they’re reviewed (this served us very well in Seattle earlier this year), having your consolidated work and home calendars at your fingertips at any time, being able to play games or surf the internet while waiting in line at the BMV or at the doctor’s office, visual voice mail, taking pictures and video as good as an average digital camera…I could go on, but you won’t really understand how incredibly useful they are until you get one. I HATED cell phones until I got my iPhone. Now I’d feel naked without it.
Every time I start to take the myriad uses of my smartphone for granted, I think back to how I used to watch Star Trek and think about how cool their nifty little pocket communicators were.
Now, the capabilities of a modern smartphone *far exceed *the communication devices we could even *dream *of a few decades ago! Even the most expensive phone and plan is still too cheap for that amount of “sci-fi” utility and power at your fingertips wherever you go.
Glad to to be corrected - verizon almost always has the best coverage but is difficult to get cheap. Too bad you don’t have any real choice in phones. Still, probably the best option if you need a verizon prepaid cell phone and you don’t already have a verizon phone you want - hardly worth $10/mo extra on Page Plus.
I have a tracfone so I’m not on a plan or really want to be locked into one. With the amount that I talk/text I can recharge the minutes on my phone for <$100 and be good for a year. If I was already on a plan and it really didn’t cost much more then I could see getting one. My wife is lucky to be on a plan through work that is also very cheap, so it wouldn’t really work for us to get a family plan. As for the things you quoted:
a) phone - have all the talk/text time I need for less than $10/month. Changing to a smartphone plan might also require me to get a new number and I don’t want that.
b) music/video player - I already have an ipod and don’t feel the need to replace it. If I’m going out jogging or something I’d rather risk losing or breaking the iPod than have to worry about getting a new expensive phone. If I am waiting for something and need to kill time, I’ve never thought that it would awesome if I could watch like 10 minutes of a movie. Maybe youtube or something, but it is so infrequent that I’m waiting like that that I’m fine just reading a magazine. If I’m at home I have a big TV that I can connect to my laptop or I have an internet connected blu-ray.
c)camera - my phone has a camera that I can use on the go and I can text pictures if I want. I have better cameras I can bring if I want to take quality pics. I don’t feel the need to instantly post pics I take on Facebook.
d)GPS device - I have a Tom Tom that I got on clearance for $35. It rarely leaves my glove box because I either know where I’m going or I look up where I’m going before I get in the car. I don’t like fiddling with things when I drive. It’s fine when I need it and I don’t feel the need to replace it.
e))portable gaming - not really my thing but my phone does have a few basic games that I’ve used while waiting for this or that.
f) web connectivity - my dumb phone actually does have basic web connectivity but it’s a crappy interface and uses a lot of minutes. I’ve only used it a couple times and otherwise really never feel the need for it. Maybe I would “need” it more if I had it, but it’s just not often that I’m out and about (aka away from home/work computer) and need to look something up immediately. I don’t really care about restaurant reviews and if I’m in a new city I’ll have researched that sort of thing in advance or will ask around.
I’m sure the time will come when my standalone devices wear out or become obsolete, but until then I’m happy to save the hundreds of $ a year it would cost me to be on a smart phone plan.
For most people, including me, a smart phone isn’t “worth” the money. It is a “luxury” that is fun, convenient, and helpful, if you can afford it. I don’t calculate ROI on luxury items.
I don’t have a phone land-line, nor cable TV, so any sort of broadband service is pretty expensive…basically they charge you nearly the same total as if you had the cable or phone service and added the broadband. SO, the smartphone with unlimited phone data, and a smallish tethering data allowance gets me by. Not real broadband, but it streams audio and reasonably high quality video OK, and is fine for anything non-video. If I added up what a not-smart cell phone and broadband access at home would cost, it is a win, plus I get phone data anywhere in the US.
The GPS is far inferior to my Garmin, but not usually enough so to make me want to carry the second device. Apps like Yelp are useful when I travel to unfamiliar cities, but I have found that my taste runs a bit counter to the average Yelp user…I have come to ignore the ratings and reviews.
I really missed having data everywhere when I traveled to Europe last summer, but it was still worth carrying for places that had WiFi service… The Google translation app was a godsend, if I could have just had a bluetooth speaker to wear on my mouth, it would have almost been a babblefish. Also, I was able to use google-voice to make and receive phone calls via WiFi without having to set up an account with a European cell carrier.
Flashlight
Book -especially at night, where I don’t need a lamp any more
Alarm clock and watch
time killer (ticket to ride, also chess)
Camera
To do list
Star chart
compass
mp3 player
and
phone.
Since I keep it in a bookbook case, it’s also my wallet.