Samsung Galaxy 3s?

[~~tiny3~~]

Posted: 8/15/14 at 2:50pm

I'm about to buy one on Amazon, based on my days of research. I have never had a smartphone, but wanted a larger screen, non contract. I know this is an older model, but I don't need to have the latest model. Just one that suits my minimal needs

.http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Galaxy-III-Triband-Mobile/dp/B00D9AVYBM/ref=cm_cd_ql_qh_dp_t



What do you think?

[sabrelady]

Posted: 8/15/14 at 2:55pm

What is your data plan? How much is needed? Otherwise looks good 2 me.

[~~tiny3~~]

Posted: 8/15/14 at 3:19pm

from the reviewS, etc., it's ALL UNLIMITED EVERYTHING, WITH the 40.00 monthly prepaid bill going down 5.00 ea month when you pay on time for 6 months ---soooo, from 40.00 to 15.00. Cool! At least that's how I understand it. I am not of the tech gen.

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 8/15/14 at 8:33pm

You need to read the fine print on their website Tiny. The unlimited plans are not eligible for the $5 "shrinking payments" so you will never pay less than the $40. Also, only your first 500mg of data from web surfing, e-mails, streaming videos, music etc. will be at "normal" 3G/4G speeds, then they slow you down to 2G for the rest of your monthly cycle which these days is INCREDIBLY slow, like dial up used to be, maybe slower. I have no idea how you will use your phone but for an average user who uses their phone to surf the web, send and receive e-mails, watch videos, listen to web based music etc. 30-60 minutes a day, it will probably last that person 5-10 days at most. Boost uses the Sprint network which is not nearly as developed as Verizon or AT&T so if you will use the phone 80-90% in the NYC area where everyone has good coverage it won't matter. If you travel a lot, you could find yourself hitting dead spots where you can't access their network.

Bottom line, if you are just going to use the phone mostly in the NYC area for calling and texting with only occasional and minimal use of web surfing, streaming videos, accessing social networks, using a variety of apps, then the plan and the phone is probably OK as long as you understand it won't decrease from $40 and that you are buying a phone that is 2 generations old.

[~~tiny3~~]

Posted: 8/15/14 at 8:45pm

Great info, bob, but I still have a few Qs...
I don't text, will not use for vids or movies, minimal surfing, I don't know what 500g is, will use a few apps. I would consider myself a very light user. Just a phone, w/some useful apps. Still, 40.00 is OK with me. I don't want a contract, and do not want to pay more than that. Yes, I will be using it mostly in NYC>

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 8/15/14 at 8:53pm

Then give it a try. If you see your access to the web and apps dramatically slowing, you will know you hit your limit and can try to use it less the next month. Some phones and carriers will have an app that will show you how much bandwidth you are using (as well as how many minutes, texts etc.) so you can see how close you are to hitting the limit. If their plan doesn't work for you after a while, you can investigate plans with other carriers.

[Alan Henry]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 1:06am

@Tiny - if all your doing is loading emails and webpages, you should be ok with 500mb. You may end up going a little over into the slower speeds but most likely not by much.

If you find your usage increasing, you'll know to look into other options. If it's not a contract - it can't hurt to try.

Bob - I have the same problem when I'm in the US with T-mobile. It works great in NYC but the minute I get a few miles out of town to go anywhere else I end up on Edge. I wish I had gone with ATT & T or Verizon. I knew the coverage was going to suck but got suckered in on price.

Tiny - let us know how it goes! I love the Galaxy phones.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 2:10am

My basic plan is good and cheap but my data is very small.(100mb) BUT when i went to the provers web side & used their calculator for how many monthly texts, texts +pic attachment,songs, apps i actually came out at about that- (112). as long as i can get an adapter for my SIM card, i'm gonna go this route. Oh and as a late adapter, i'm ok w older incarnations too.
waiting till sept when the sales go on.

[LaurenB]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 2:46am

I have that phone and am very pleased with it. I also have a no-contract phone with T-Mobile that only costs $30/mo --- unlimited text, unlimited data (first 5 GB at 4G speed), but limited to 100 minutes talk time.

The plan suits me fine, I'm not much of a phone talker and use it mostly for texting and checking email. You can easily check your usage and if you need more talk time (which I haven't in 2 years), you can easily purchase for a few bucks.

I bought the phone from the T-Mobile website and paid more for it, but over time the $30/mo has made up for it.

Good luck with your decision.
T-Mobile $30/mo

[~~tiny3~~]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 2:52am

oh thanks everybody for the useful info...I too, sabrelady googled to try and find out about usage. Here it is:

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120115064444AAZjx0A

I may wait until Sept..perhaps Amazon will have another sale, although 200.00 for the Samsung is reasonable, esp. with the BoostMobile (locked), I'm too much of a nontech to try and buy a "used" one on Craigslist, although I saw some really great deals....but, 'ya know...it's electronics, which I know next to nothing about.

'm wondering if any of you guys use Walmart's Straight Talk? That seems like a decent deal, and extremely popular, too.

[Alan Henry]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 3:36pm

@Tiny - this may not be what you want to hear but just to play devil's advocate:

If you do go on a contract you are getting a brand new phone at a highly subsidized rate - and since the cost of the contract plan is usually similar to pay as you go - unless you're planning on not having a phone within the foreseeable future the better deal at the end of the day (value/$) is a contract where you get a brand new Galaxy S5 or iPhone (yuck!)

Because at the end of that contract - you own a phone you can sell on Craigslist for 200-300 dollars if you wish. Or keep. And at the end of the contract you'll be able to upgrade phones again for a very subsidized cost. (Sometimes they offer even better deals for returning customers) Your S3 would be worth nothing by the end of the same time period. Some cell phone companies even offer a trade-in where they'll put the value of your old phone to the new one.

Anyways, both pay as you go and contract are decent options. It depends on if you want to be able to upgrade your phone for a decent price in a few years.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 4:20pm

What happened to this phone, Tiny?


https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1074815&boardname=off&dt=8&boardid=2

Boost Mobile sucks, it's coverage is spotty with poor customer service.

[~~tiny3~~]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 4:31pm

I answerfed you on the other thread, Sutton, however, as a basic luddite, I'm curious as to why you don't like Boost. Does it depend on where you live? As for c/s don't they ALL suck? I mean most c/s these days is "offshore" Philipines/So. America, mostly, so I expect to talk with people who are reading off a "script.

Anyway, there's just too many options.

I may just end up keeping my SIMPLE
Razr Flip Phone.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 4:43pm

Smartphones are fun, but a lot of people I know have old phones because it's simple and you spend time actually living instead of staring at your phone! I say Boost sucks because last week I was vacationing upstate and my friend with Boost had no reception for the whole week. None. I guess if you stay in major cities the rest of your life, it's fine. But, that seems pretty limiting.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 7:28pm

"you spend time actually living instead of staring at your phone!"

TRUE DAT!
People who r constantly thumbing their phone tick me off royally. Are u a cardiac surgeon on call to save lives? Disconnect for a while, you'll survive!
I think that's why i'll keep the cheap plan w the low data- really all i need is calling capacity and some texting. Everything else i can live w/out. U don't miss what you never had.

[~~tiny3~~]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 7:49pm

+I agree, sabrelady. I don't use a phone, any phone at all when I'm outside, except for emergencies, or if I'm late for an apt, etc. In reality, I really don't need any "apps" to actually live. It's just a toy, really...maybe a useful tool for certain tasks, depending on one's lifestyle.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/18/14 at 10:43am

I gave my mother an S3 a few months ago. She never even texted on her old phone and was reluctant to use a smart phone because she didn't need all the functions. Now, she is constantly texting, taking photos, checking email, playing music, using the GPS and researching info on the internet when out and about. She never thought of doing all these things with a single piece of equipment before, but when given the tools and the ease of access, she ran with it and now loves it. I just switched from the Note II to the S5. Not as fond of the new interface, but the size of the phone and the speed of its processor is incredible (and I love having a 128 Gb card for storage).

[~~tiny3~~]

Posted: 8/18/14 at 3:08pm

Thanks, Matt -- that's very encouraging....Is your mom over or under 50?
It's the learning curve period (about a month) that aggravates me the most...but then it usually gets super easy. Patience, patience for learning new stuff.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/18/14 at 4:55pm

My mom is 68. But I'm under 50!

[sabrelady]

Posted: 10/6/14 at 9:47pm

Soooo my phone simply wouldn't hold a charge anymore so I bit the bullet and went for the MotoG LTE.
It's android kitkat, does Google & gmail and apps and texting good camera and has a nice size (2.5 by 5.5 inches) and was only $225. no plan.
The only thing is I can't quite figure out if i need a file manager to download music/photos or just drag and drop.