smart phones... uggg...

[ironraven]

OK, I'm finally going to break down at get one of these wretched things.

So, everyone who has something OTHER than a iPhone, tell me why your model rocks. And who you carrier and bill is, if you are in the US- money is an object. And what software should I be adding. I'm basically needing very limited web browsing, email (gmail), the ability to support Kindle books and PDFs (but other ereader formats would be cool), and the ability to used as a modem for my laptop on limited/semi-emergency basis.

[captain spaulding]

I do not have a smart phone anymore, but when I did I had a Galaxy S2. All the help I can give is for web browsing download Google Chrome.

[mrynnr]

OK, I'm finally going to break down at get one of these wretched things.

So, everyone who has something OTHER than a iPhone, tell me why your model rocks. And who you carrier and bill is, if you are in the US- money is an object. And what software should I be adding. I'm basically needing very limited web browsing, email (gmail), the ability to support Kindle books and PDFs (but other ereader formats would be cool), and the ability to used as a modem for my laptop on limited/semi-emergency basis.

I have an iphone ... But Ive also had an HTC. Pretty much any Android phone you get, you will be good to go with kindle books. Just download the kindle app. I also used Aldiko book reader for pub and PDFs.

[jzmtl]

Budget for hardware or monthly plan? If you don't really have a requirement for latest and greatest (which doesn't sound like you do), DX has two models on presale that are quite decent, especially consider both are less than $100 brand new. 2nd hand is an option but there are lots of scam going around, check out swappa.com which is one of the safer options.

Software wise, Opera offers server side data compression (they have another app that can compress all traffic from your phone), so your data plan goes further.

Tether with laptop is standard android feature, but some carriers disable it on phones they sell, so something to keep in mind.

[detron]

I have a Galaxy S4,

the kindle app is free, and works great,  HOWEVER I love the app  Moon+ Reader

for PDFs, I use ezPDF Pro  there is a trial, but the pro had features I use.

the galazy S4 has a 1080p screen,  what that means to me is that I can actually read a PDF on the screen, since it is not blurry when the font is so small

[jerseydevil]

I finally broke down last year and got myself a smart phone.  I ended up with a Samsung Galaxy Centura, a lower-end Galaxy.  Works just fine for what I use it for, including typing this post.   It cost me $100 at Walmart.  For a plan, I've actually been using Walmart's Straight Talk prepaid service for years.  For $45 every 30 days, I get unlimited talk, texting, and data.  I've never had an issue with the service.  As to apps, I have Tapatalk and several other simple ones installed.  The most important is the NJ Devils app, if I'm not watching a game I get updates and can stream the live radio feed. Handy if I'm out in less civilized areas on game night, though starting October 10 I try to have 82 clear evenings with no plans.....

[RoboYeti]

The cheapest smart phone plan in the U.S. is the T-Mobile $30 a month prepaid plan. It is only offered at Wal-Mart stores, not on T-Mobile's website or in other stores. You get unlimited data and texting, but only 100 minutes of talk time. My wife uses this plan and it works great if you live somewhere with good T-Mobile coverage. She had an LG Optimus L9 phone, which was great except she had to charge the battery a lot during the day. The battery life on it was very poor. Now she has a Nokia Lumia 521. It's a Windows Phone, not Android, so there are fewer apps. The battery life is very good though, it easily lasts over a day of very heavy use. We got it for about $70.

I used to have Virgin Mobile, which has a $35 a month plan with unlimited data and texting and 300 minutes of talk time. Virgin Mobile is a subsidiary of Sprint, and uses Sprint's network. The coverage is better than T-Mobile, but the data speeds are much slower. If you go with them, be sure to get a phone that has LTE. Their 3G only phones are unbearably slow. I would recommend the LG Optimus F3.

[RamoN]

I cant recommend sony xperias enough. There are a lot of models and options, they are very good quality, there is a lot of support, the hardware is very good.

I have the lt26w acro (great specs and small size for todays standards) which is water proof scratch proof and shock resistant from the factory. Believe me i tested that thing and i had nothing but joy out of it. It once survived a motorcycle trip under heavy rain and when i pulled it out it was in my bag full of water for hours. I dropped it from standing on the concrete more than once and is not even dinged.

Oh and tethering (using as a modem) is done in 5 seconds, there is an easily accesible option for it and the speed is as fast as your connection.

I dont know if its for you but its an option to consider for sure.

[kirk13]

Don't do it,they're evil! I've a Huawei Assend android. It's great as a pocket computer but smurf as a phone! I very nearly shot it the other day at the club

[Whoey]

As mentioned most Androids will come preloaded with Chrome for browsing, and Gmail as well as an alternate email client.

There are plenty of free Google apps to do most of what you want, both Drive and Quickoffice will open PDFs (and a lot more)

As mentioned the Kindle app is also available free.

I have a LG Nexus 4 (E960) from Google. It's been good for everything I've thrown at it, battery life isn't so great when it gets a lot of heavy use and is not easily replaced, the camera could be better, and a microsd slot would be nice. Otherwise it's been a solid phone even though it has been known to have issues with people breaking the back glass on it, mine hasn't yet (I bought a good case for it immediately). I have to mention I've used it on two providers over here in Europe (Vodafone/Ono) and Bell in Canada with no issues, just swapping the microsim.

Phone wise your best bet may be to visit a store that has display models you can actually play around with (one that are turned on, but with no cell service, not the dummy units a lot of places have on display) check whatever is within the price range you want to spend, see which feels more comfortable to you, and maybe look a little over your top limit. This is what my wife did for her phone, and she found one that she was happy with the text size on the screen, etc. (It's a Samsung Galaxy Core)

Pages like http://www.gsmarena.com/ are great if you want to compare some hardware features and read some basic reviews of devices.

[ironraven]

Thanks everyone.

I was thinking maybe someone would be willing to take my money today, but I was at five different carriers' stores and after a half hour in each without anyone making any serious attempt to assist me, I left each one of them. Understaffing is not a good business model. When you have two-three people on staff, and 10+ customers....

[jekostas]

Thanks everyone.

I was thinking maybe someone would be willing to take my money today, but I was at five different carriers' stores and after a half hour in each without anyone making any serious attempt to assist me, I left each one of them. Understaffing is not a good business model. When you have two-three people on staff, and 10+ customers....

You know, I just finished a round of mystery shopping cell phone places for the new Samsung stuff (Gear Fit and Neo, S5) and the level of customer service was astonishingly bad.  Probably why Samsung wants these places mystery shopped.

[Whoey]

These days it seems like 2min further down the road there's another identical shop. Maybe that's just me.