New phone

[holsterguy]

Hi guys. Wondering if anyone can tell me, I'm thinking about getting a new phone,possibly a different brand. My phone is my only computer, so I'm curious,when I look on Google search to get to the forum as soon as the forum comes on the screen, it knows who I am. Will I lose that, or anything else?

[DerekP Houston]

you will need to remember your username and password. If you are using google chrome with 'saved' password and logged in with a gmail account, most of it will transfer over to the new phone. Not exactly secure for banking etc, but for forums I don't really care. Just use a different password than your normal ones so it isn't easy for people to steal.

If you remember at least your username you can usually do a 'forgot my password' or 'password recovery' option where they email you a link to change it.

[dragon813gt]

It's a browser and uses cookies. If you have them enabled you will be fine. Safari can get a little screwy w/ this if you start closing tabs. The cookie is linked to that tab. And as usual if you delete your history you delete all the cookies.

Using a forum browser, like Tapatalk, avoids all these issues. It also gets rids of all ads and you don't have to zoom in and out to read posts. I know some don't like them but it's all I use.

[DerekP Houston]

It's a browser and uses cookies. If you have them enabled you will be fine. Safari can get a little screwy w/ this if you start closing tabs. The cookie is linked to that tab. And as usual if you delete your history you delete all the cookies.

Using a forum browser, like Tapatalk, avoids all these issues. It also gets rids of all ads and you don't have to zoom in and out to read posts. I know some don't like them but it's all I use.

I use my phone as little as possible for reading hurts my eyes. Guess I might need to stop ignoring that tapatalk recommendation after all.

[starmac]

I use my phone to talk on. I got a call from a verizon salesman (he had some fancy title, but was what we used to call a salesman) he ask if I realised I was elgible for an upgrade and I was still using a flip phone? I told him, I was talking to him on it, so I was pretty sure I realised it and it was still working just fine. lol He informed me it was old, and I had been elgible for an upgrade since 2010. lol I told him, that I thought I was elgible when I got this one, and bought what I wanted. lol
I have a hard enough time typeing on a full size keyboard, and just can't imagine using my phone to view forums.

[crowbuster]

Well we dont have to worry about them bugging us at the phone store starmac. Last kid actually ran away from me straight to my wife when he saw my flip fone. Dint know she was with me. She was in the to smart a fone for me section. HAHAH. mine has been dropped, ran over, submurged, subjected to all kinds of dust, dirt, saw chips, vibrations. Still tickin.

[victorfox]

Hahaha funny... I'm the usual rat packer and over the years I collected a ton of stuff. My main phone broke some days ago and looking at the current prices, i decided to give one of the oldies a go... Between a samsung flipper or an ugly zte with keyboard... I used the samsung sometime, then switched to the zte because of it's whatsapp capabilities (use for business...). But my FIL got some upgrade point with his carrier and gave me his almost new moto g 3rd... I'm still keeping the old trash for some emergency... The new phone renders this site beautifully in its browser

[bangerjim]

I use my iPhone and iPads all the time to view this site and never have to remember my info. The browser does it for you.....unless you have settings to clean out all cookies and browser history (bad thing to do).

I do not know about other phones, but iPhones are the absolute best all around! That is all I use in my company and for the family.

banger

[holsterguy]

Banger, that's what my wife keeps telling me. I'm using a galaxy right now and am thinking about going iphone. Still haven't made up my mind. Heard the iPhone is way more user friendly.

[DerekP Houston]

Shrug, it is all in what you are used to. My wife had an iphone 4s or 5 and switched by to galaxy s6. I had a blackberry for work and now have a S5 since it was free and they provided it. I still miss my physical keyboard on the blackberry. Both my parents use iphones and seem pretty happy with them. I personally don't care for Apple but that is just a tech guy not liking a brand . Our only ipad was bricked by a forced iOS update. Apples answer was "buy a new one"....

iPhone is still running great without a contract, it just plays games for my son and music at night. We have an ipod too, but honestly who still uses those.

My only personal caveat is be careful with your service provider. We fell for the t-mobile advertising and price point, my verizon s5 is barely compatible and has issues still with picture messaging and internet occasionally. The cell service is much weaker in our area and I get frequent dropped calls. Considering how strong my verizon signal was, and what I've seen from co-workers with at&t plans, i will most likely switch back to one of them once the "prorated" phone cost for my wife is finished.

[bangerjim]

Your service provider is a big thing to look at. We (me, family, company) use Verizon with 100% success. BTW....that's 12 phones. Coverage where we need it. Every single time. Fast LTE connect rates in most cities these daze.

I use my iPhone as a hot spot for my iPad when not in secure WIFI connect areas. No extra charge.

Yes I think the iPhone has the corner on the market. I have had several Android ***'s from several makers and service providers and all were horrible.

Good luck on your choice!

Remember.........."the wife is NEVER wrong!"

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I was so happy when they came out with a color other than black

[Handloader109]

Well, it is all relative to your unique situation. I've used AT&T since we moved up here to Arkansas as my prior carrier was a small local that wouldn't service outside of MS. Bought a first Gen Motorola moto x and phone was good, daughter had 2nd and it was better, I bought a third a year ago and it has been great, purchased my daughter the latest one at Christmas and it has been flawless. Gigantic screen, super fast charger, (about 15 minutes vs an hour for mine) good camera. My wife has a 5s, and phone reception is ****, drops calls, poor poor phone. So, Android in our situation has been much better than an iPhone.....

[dragon813gt]

The iPhone sucks as a phone. It's honestly the worse mobile phone I've ever had. When watching the Matrix check out the Nokia slider they use. I had that phone, before the movie came out, and miss it. It was the best mobile phone I've ever had. But the iPhone does so many other things well. It's why I have one. But it's jailbroken so I'm not forced to stay in Apple's happy little box they confine you to.

I will never understand Verizon's claims of most coverage. There is a huge dead zone where I live. And there are other ones all over PA. I'd imagine it's the same in other states. Combine this w/ CDMA being inferior to GSM, especially when it comes to building penetration, and it's a losing proposition. Will be interesting to see how many customers they're going to lose due to the price hikes.

[bangerjim]

Well, it is all relative to your unique situation. I've used AT&T since we moved up here to Arkansas as my prior carrier was a small local that wouldn't service outside of MS. Bought a first Gen Motorola moto x and phone was good, daughter had 2nd and it was better, I bought a third a year ago and it has been great, purchased my daughter the latest one at Christmas and it has been flawless. Gigantic screen, super fast charger, (about 15 minutes vs an hour for mine) good camera. My wife has a 5s, and phone reception is ****, drops calls, poor poor phone. So, Android in our situation has been much better than an iPhone.....

Don't blame the phone.....blame your carrier for those problems!!!!!! My iPhone works everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. Been in 13 different states, down in underground vaults and valleys and mountains and it it AND Verizon work perfectly. My son had ATT on an iPhone is they were a *** for service, but iPhone was fine! Buddy has an iPhone on another carrier and he has to borrow mine Verizon phone to make calls!!!!

[dragon813gt]

Funny because the current company I work for got rid of Verizon due to poor service. We work in all fifty states. One of the biggest issues is building penetration. Can't have guys walking outside all the time to make phone calls

Left out that since AT&T is GSM all it takes is a call to switch our plan to an international one and our phones work worldwide. This isn't a situation most people or small businesses will run into.

[DerekP Houston]

I will never understand Verizon's claims of most coverage. There is a huge dead zone where I live. And there are other ones all over PA. I'd imagine it's the same in other states. Combine this w/ CDMA being inferior to GSM, especially when it comes to building penetration, and it's a losing proposition. Will be interesting to see how many customers they're going to lose due to the price hikes.

The price hike is why they lost our business to begin with. They *do* have strong market presence in our particular area though and the signal was a night and day difference compared to tmobile now. Is it worth twice the price? Not in my opinion, but next time we will compare and see. Most of the data halls I work in now or are near have AT&T repeaters or are literally owned by AT&T. hard to argue that their signal won't be just as strong.

I've never used the data package on my phone to date...and I use the net *a lot*. I'm always connected to a wifi signal of some kind, so the fact my tmobile s5 from verizon isn't compatible with the new carrier and wifi calling, picture messaging, and data really irks me. We have been at the max roll over data for tmobile simply because I can never access enough signal to make it worthwhile.

[leadman]

We have a mountain on the west side of our house and a ridgeline on the south side. I can see 4 cell phone towers from my roof but my approximately 15 year old Nokia flip phone was dropping calls. Then my wife tells me her IPhone 4S is doing the same thing. Verison was not any help at all. Wife got a text they corrected the problem, then I dropped another call. Guy at Verizon said that 3G was not good in our area and the 4G was and got the attention as far as service went.
Like Bangerjim I have good service with Verizon everywhere but in our house. She now has an Iphone 6S Plus and I have an Iphone SE. Service in the house so far is great. My phone is set to only talk with, everything else is turned off, just like my Nokia, which I am keeping.
I was thinking about going to T-Mobile 'cuz my son gets great service in our house, but not as good as I do when we are up north in the woods. T-Mobile uses a different signal than Verizon so I have been told that the phones from one service don't work on the other.

[bangerjim]

I have been in 35 foot deep steel grate-covered cement vaults many times where my Verizon service has 4 bars and the guys I was with and NexTel, ATT, and other carriers and I was the only one with excellent service. We had to share the phone for data and voice! I finally turned on my hotpsot so they could use thier phones for data!!!!

Coverage is totally user location dependent. As with shoes, one size does NOT fit all. I know what works for me, my family, and my company in many various locations and states.

good luck on your phone/carrier choice!

banger

[jmort]

"AT&T is GSM"

I had an I5s and my daughter wanted it so I got a Samsung Galaxy. Have no problem with Apple or Android. I use Chrome and Gmail, so in my opinion the Samsung is a better fit for me. The newer I Phones are flimsy compared to the I5. I believe it takes around 120 lbs to break an I5 and aound 60 lbs to smoke the newer I Phones. I use ATT and I am happy with ATT. T-Mobile uses GSM as well. Used T-Mobile and then unlocked the phones and went to Straight Talk which uses ATT network for $45 flat rate. Just needed an ATT compatible SIM card to switch from T Mobile. I agree that coverage is location dependent. Where I have lived, ATT has the edge over Verizon, but no doubt that is a location location location issue.