<p>I know there have been a bunch of threads on cell phones, but, most of them either say Iphone or blackberry or that they don't need a new phone.
I'm going to be a college freshman in september.
So in the hypothetical situation that it's upgrade time already, and your current phone isn't really working, should you:
A)Get a Blackberry Tour(The newest edition) even though you're a biology major and won't be leaving the country for 99 dollars.
B)Get an older version of the Blackberry Curve for 30 dollars ( if bought online.)
C)Or Get the HTC Ozone, Samsong Saga, Samsong Reality ( Range from 30-50 dollars)</p>
<p>This is verizon so I can't get the iphone or the new blackberries.</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with a Blackberry even if you don’t go out of the country. All the phones you mentioned include a $30/month data plan so there’s no real difference there. I think it’s personal preference. I was in your “hypothetical” situation a few months ago, I had a crappy phone and wanted an upgrade. I ended up getting the MotoDroid and it’s great. It’s definitely a good idea for college, I think, to get a phone with a nice email client.</p>
<p>I’m just going to keep using my non data plan phone. I never have felt the reason to get a smart-phone or blackberry, but if that is what you want, get it.</p>
<p>Honestly, I would just go with the cheaper option. I have a lot of friends that bought high tech phones (me included) for school and didn’t even utilize the features such as the calendar, etc. I NEVER use my calender. I only use my iPhone for the phone (obvs), iPod, internet, and occasionally the dictionary app (which the internet could easily substitute). </p>
<p>Don’t get my wrong, I LOVE my iPhone but do I really need this high tech phone for school? No. </p>
<p>P.S. I know you said no iPhones but I’m just giving an example.</p>
<p>This reminds me… Last year when my roommate ****ed me off I made it a point to send the nightly update emails for the student org I run that she was in while she was sleeping so her phone would ring.</p>
<p>I like having a smartphone because of e-mail. I get soo many on my school email, and sometimes they’re very urgent–it’s nice to be able to check them anywhere I am, even if that’s not around a computer. And yes, the games are nice too :P</p>
<p>I got a simple phone because my campus has wi-fi all over and if I need to go online l i just use my laptop which I bring to class anyway. My parents offered to get me a smart phone but I didn’t think it was necessary/worth the money.</p>
<p>having a Blackberry’s program called Blackberry Messenger is really useful when one considers catching up with high school friends…so I would say that you should buy a BB, any kind of BB</p>
<p>Having a blackberry or a similar phone that allows you to read your email can be a huge help if you’re goign to be involved in a lot of campus activities. Keeping track of your email traffic in college can be a job in and of itself, so it’s nice to be able to get what you need and not be tethered to a computer for it.</p>
<p>For the iphone theres an app for everything. The most useful app for me in college is the CATA bus app. It shows in real time where the buses are in the loop. So you can decide if you want to wait for it or just walk if the bus already passed. </p>
<p>As a bit of a phone-geek, I find the topic a little funny.</p>
<p>But seriously, get an HTC Incredible ($199). Don’t get a Blackberry. They’ve been a bit behind the curve for a while now (but still better than a “regular” phone). If that’s a little high for the budget, at least get a Palm Pre ($30). The Pre can act as a “mobile hotspot”, which would allow other devices (such as a laptop) to use Verizon’s 3G connection to access the internet.</p>
<p>Seriously, you’ll be glad you got a smartphone.</p>
<p>I second whoever said droid incredible. The phone is just amazing. Android has emerged as a leading OS.</p>
<p>I would advise against an iphone only because of the control Apple feel necessary to have. You cannot install certain apps for silly reasons. For example a recent pultizer prize satirist was denied for making fun of people in the media. When apple realized who he was they allowed the app, but that shows what kind of control they feel necessary for them to take.</p>
<p>I still don’t understand why people are willing to spend so much on data plans. I’ve got everything I need on my “regular phone” - unlimited texting and insurance for $20 a month (it’s a tacked on line to my parents, so I have more than enough minutes).</p>
<p>I have yet to get an email that is so urgent in college that can’t wait until I’m out of class. If you’ve got wifi all over campus, you can check your email with a laptop or ipod touch.</p>
<p>So I was thinking of doing the following, should actually be cheaper than just a voice/messaging plan. There’s Wi-Fi everywhere on campus and that’s where I’ll be spending nearly all my time, so might as well take advantage of it.</p>
<p>Get a Motorola Droid unlocked, costs around $400-500 (I think any droid phone would work here you just need WI-Fi and Sipdroid; the G1 is around $300 unlocked and I would get that but it doesn’t have an audio jack -.- Backflip and Devour have obnoxious motorola bloatware on it)
Get an AT&T gophone plan, basic
Get Sipdroid or Gizmo or some other thing like that and use google voice to make free VoIP calls and email-to-text messages over Wi-Fi as long as I’m on campus (nearly all the time); it’ll save me from spending $60 monthly contracts. So I just need to spend pay-as-you-go stuff for receiving calls (or maybe I don’t not sure about this part) and if I’m off campus which won’t be much. Downside is I have to give people 2 phone numbers to avoid caller ID confusion though…</p>
<p>Would this work? I’m not exactly that familiar with cell phone stuff so maybe someone can comment on it…</p>
<p>Spoilers: it won’t work because the Droid is a CDMA phone and AT&T is a GSM network. The Nexus One would be your best bet if you want a stock Android phone unlocked, although it doesn’t have a keyboard</p>
<p>sorry Motorola Milestone not Droid; Milestone is the euro version that is compatible with AT&T’s voice network I believe. It doesn’t work with AT&T 3G but I don’t need that part.
Hmmm I might get the HTC MyTouch 3G Slide unlocked instead since it’s cheaper. Yea I want a physical keyboard; I have kinda large fingers/hands and I don’t like typing on touchscreens. And the Nexus One costs too much; it’s like $600+.</p>
<p>If you have Google Voice, you can get a Google Number which takes out the hassle of having more than one number.</p>
<p>I’d recommend just getting a single phone. I don’t think I’d want to deal with the hassle of having two different phones for wi-fi/non wi-fi situations. Get T-Mobile or Sprint, they have cheaper plans than Verizon and AT&T (at the cost of weaker phone selection, it seems).</p>