need a new cell phone - have no idea...

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Joe Bass said:
@sburns As you may or may not know, I'm tech ignorant. That being said, I believe I still have to play with settings for some apps that run in the backround and drain the battery (fb, msngr etc) but I'm barely a year into my phone and I can kill it it 4 hours. Mind you, I am a heavy user. How do you have a 5s with a battery that is still good?

sent from my Purple LGG4 on the GTAM app
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Ha! Hey Joe I have caught wind of your tech troubles someplace else on the forum all good.

I dunno I am pretty lucky I guess. But yes I can kill the battery pretty quick with some lousy apps, specifically Maps.ME. That drains the sucker pretty quick. Otherwise mostly what I use is mail, whatapp, news, googlemaps, SMS. some social media. I don't tend to make a lot of calls theses days, as everyone is sending messages. Also I keep an eye out for unusual drainage as mentioned and quit the app, I think waze is another one of those. There was also a software patch some time ago which actually improved battery usage as well. I'm on my desktop a fair bit and I don't jump all over my phone to check everyone's mundane post or update.
 
JavaFan said:
some good points, and it's all personal preference of course

I have a few androids in service, my daily driver is solid and has no issues
the others have been semi-retired and have had multiple ROMS on them
some have been buggy, some have not

but that is what many like about android, you are free to do whatever you want with it
sure you can play a bit with an iphone, but you have seriously jump through hoops to get
any little bit of software on it that doesn't come directly from apple

did you actually say you use itunes to manage apps?
if you see that as a good thing, you've def drank too much koolaid bro
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Nope, itunes does have a justified bad wrap but it's fine to download apps and update them. Works for me.

Like what apps? Serisouly?? I think this is also just a personal preference the fact that is seems "unlock" in andriod land. Everyone still downloads from google play. You tell me you are not using Google Play to get apps and are manually loading stuff onto your phone, like what?
 
kwtoxman said:
That's a sweeping generalization.

No one uses lightning ports except apple so you have to buy special adapter cables. And they have to be apple-only since they have incorporated authentication chips and don't permit 3rd party cables. And soon as apple sells it the price becomes much higher.

Want to fast charge an Iphone X? Need more $$ for an apple adapter cable to get that. https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/3/...rging-usb-c-lighting-power-brick-cable-how-to
Want to use an external DAC on an Iphone, need more money for an apple adapter cable.
Need another apple adapter cable to hook up a camera to a lightning port.
Want to use wired headphones with no headphone jack, need another apple lightning adapter cable.
Need a digital AV adapter... that's another apple lightning cable.

All of those products include cables that make them plug and play with most other phones/hardware. But not apple and the "lightning jack".

And it's great having 3rd party vendor products available. I can pick up a USB cable almost anywhere and very inexpensively. Many vendors means many options which can be so useful, such as offering different lengths, etc. Cables wear out and need to be replaced.
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It is an accurate one.

What so you can't swap cables and charges between all platforms somehow makes it non-propritory??
Are you downloading apps from the MS store on your andriod phone? Or from BB?
Are you swapping batteries between handsets.

The wired headphone cord is included, just like it is with an android phone without a headphone jack.

Monoprice is a great 3rd party vendor for cabling, far cheaper then Apple and they work. There is a 10ft cable on sale for $6 buck (maybe $US) seems reasonable to me. Buy 5 of them for the price of 1 Apple cable and put them were you need them.

I fail to see why a everyday user needs to hook up a external DAC or camera to a phone?
These really seems like a special use scenarios.
 
sburns said:
Nope, itunes does have a justified bad wrap but it's fine to download apps and update them. Works for me.

Like what apps? Serisouly?? I think this is also just a personal preference the fact that is seems "unlock" in andriod land. Everyone still downloads from google play. You tell me you are not using Google Play to get apps and are manually loading stuff onto your phone, like what?
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one of the secondary androids that is really now just a media player
the app content on it is from apk files that are sent to it via a micro usb cable
in fact it doesn't have any google services on it, it's plain jane android

core apps are network browser, VLC, amazon music, audible, player FM
none of them came from google play
 
sburns said:
What a phone that works well, has a great app ecosystem, software updates for all current models, and a past few generations, and several tiers of hardware options for each budget?? What is ridiculous about it, other then personal opinion.
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I guess you're asking about Apple but what you said could just as equally describe Android, or any other phone OS that is/was/will be widely adopted. As I said, what is ridiculous about Apple is charging us for the privilege of forcing us to do only what they think we should do.

There are lots of examples of them forcing people into their restrictive and expensive ecosystem, and making bank from it. They require music and movies be managed by iTunes, they lacked a file manager until iOS 11 (and it's still tightly restricted), they limit our ability to 'sling' or 'cast' video to anything but another Apple device, they never offer any model with an FM receiver, and the one that finally turned me against them; removal of all but their proprietary jack from their phones.

The thing with the removal of the headphone jack is that all of their 'explanations' for it have been proven false. This is not my opinion, they're well documented. Like the claim 'there was no room in the phone' - as if the size of the phone was dictated to Apple by some evil phone overlord, or as if the phone+adapter made the phone smaller than the phone with integrated jack. It was obviously a ridiculous claim and now we know it was a lie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utfbE3_uAMA That means there was no benefit to the user from removing the jack, it only benefits Apple. Or remember when the iPhone 4S was 'the perfect size screen'? These lies all cast doubt on all their other claims about their restrictive decisions being made to 'enhance the user experience'. How convenient that they all benefit Apple's bottom line.

In fact (this is where my opinion comes in) I think the very replacement of the 30-pin dock connector with the lightening jack just as the upcoming USB-C standard was released (around 2013) was done not for the sake of improving user experience but to protect Apple royalties with their proprietary connector. They likely saw that once USB-C became well known then their money-grabbing design strategy would be transparent if they didn't adopt it. So they went with lightening early on and now users seems to accept it as just one of the prices to pay for having the best phone. Bleurgh.

The thing that really bugged me personally about the scam that the headphone removal revealed is that I was willing to live with all of Apple's compromises up until then because they had the most secure ecosystem according to everything I ever learned about it. Better than BB even. Privacy is important to me. It seems Apple's zealotry to grab every last dollar from customers is matched by their zealotry to protect their users' privacy. Android OTOH is the worst on that front. So now we're left with the two major players that I described previously, and they both stink in their own special way.
 
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fastar1 said:
I guess you're asking about Apple but what you said could just as equally describe Android, or any other phone OS that is/was/will be widely adopted. As I said, what is ridiculous about Apple is charging us for the privilege of forcing us to do only what they think we should do.
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I like owning Apple stock, I haven't bought an Apple product in many years. Their touchpads used to be so much better than others that they were worth the premium. Not anymore, I actually prefer thinkpads as they leave you with a separate button. Apples continual push for design over all other considerations long ago pushed them to selling inferior functioning products while keeping premium prices.

My suspicion on headphone jack removal was to impede square and other similar payment solutions that were using the jack for a card reader because apple wanted to process payments themselves. Anyone that thinks removing it provided any benefit to the consumer is drinking the kool-aid.
 
Huh, that's another good example. I'll have to add that to my list. F* Apple. And f* Android too. One wants to own the world through our pocketbooks and the other wants to own the world through our data.
 
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Get the Google Pixel 2 straight from Google.

I got a Nexus 6P back in Nov 2015. My 6P started having really poor battery life at the typical 2~ year mark after regular usage. I contacted Google due to a little bird (Googling) told me that Google will send you a new phone. The 6P, btw, has a warranty of 1 year so it was already past it.

They sent me a 125GB Pixel 1. It's like buying two phones for the price of 1!

Note that the above only works if you buy directly from Google.
 
mimico_polak said:
Not withdrawing the thanks lol....the more I read about it, the info I've gotten is that the current slate of phones are still being supported, and no plans on cutting that off anytime soon. No new development, and I wish I snagged the IDOL 4S as it was on sale. But not anymore

One of my issues is apps that are missing. There's some that I use daily which I would want to ensure they are available (i.e.: OverDrive particularly) but I'm sure there are options.

Anyway for now just doing research...I miss the days of old with simple phones, but that means multiple devices to carry which I'm not fond of (i.e. for audiobooks / music against a simple phone)
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Cheers. Definitely do the research/reading and see what you think. The value is there but you'll want to confirm the phone will give you what you are looking for. I may be able to provide input or feedback on questions you have. FWIW, here's a link I found for the Overdrive app on W10M. https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/store/p/overdrive-media-console/9wzdncrfj3t4 .


sburns said:
It is an accurate one. What so you can't swap cables and charges between all platforms somehow makes it non-propritory??
Are you downloading apps from the MS store on your andriod phone? Or from BB?
Are you swapping batteries between handsets.

The wired headphone cord is included, just like it is with an android phone without a headphone jack.

Monoprice is a great 3rd party vendor for cabling, far cheaper then Apple and they work. There is a 10ft cable on sale for $6 buck (maybe $US) seems reasonable to me. Buy 5 of them for the price of 1 Apple cable and put them were you need them.

I fail to see why a everyday user needs to hook up a external DAC or camera to a phone?
These really seems like a special use scenarios.
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Proprietary does not mean what you think it means by those strange comparisons. USB is an industry standard for example, the complete opposite of proprietary and lightning jacks. Those aspects significantly affect availability, uses and prices. And it's important enough of a difference that those terms are used in the very first sentence in each of their Wikipedia pages.

That was US $ for that site and to get it to your door won't be as inexpensive as the price shows. It's about more than just prices; one needs more cables, more crap means more to lug around, more mess, more potential failure/break points, more to lose, etc.

Your anecdotal experience connecting a phone to different hardware works for you but you can't use that to judge what others want. There are millions of internet search results on these topics and many portable DACs for phone use are being made, offered, used, etc.

Apple zealously applies its closed ecosystem and it's unfortunate in many ways. From proprietary jacks to only-apple-approved MFI chip certified cables to bricking Iphones that people get fixed from sources other than apple, etc.
https://www.wired.com/2016/02/apple-shouldnt-get-to-brick-your-iphone-because-you-fixed-it-yourself/
http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/06/technology/apple-australia-lawsuit-error-53-iphone-brick/index.html

Many people like Apple. But many don't as well. Either way, I think it's great to have choices.



On a separate note, check out the latest tech.
https://www.cnet.com/news/qualcomm-snapdragon-845-smartphones-chips-samsung-xiaomi/
 
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Fido is in on it now. Expires tomorrow.
Byod, 5gb+5gb, unlimited talk and text $60/ month
Tempting...

Sent from my [device_name] using GTAMotorcycle.com mobile app
 
kwtoxman said:
Javafan in the holiday deals thread posted that he got in on it .
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My coworker was on hold last night for 2 1/2 hours.
And a buddy went into Rogers today and they said their systems went down because of all the new sign ups. I wonder if they will extend it bc of this?

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Joe Bass said:
My coworker was on hold last night for 2 1/2 hours.
And a buddy went into Rogers today and they said their systems went down because of all the new sign ups. I wonder if they will extend it bc of this?
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I've heard of some crazy long wait times, but it's worth it. These deals are hitting the mainstream news. Shaw 'set off a bomb' in the cellphone data market, experts say

Lots of debate on if it's done when advertised; some saying it will be finished as the providers don't want to have very much of their main subscriber base changing over. Keep an eye on the RFD threads.
 
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Joe Bass said:
Anyone grab the deal?

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yup! 20min at BestBuy store. Walked in as Telus, walked out as Koodo (also Telus) as I didn't know Telus was also offering it :(

tried to get it for my wife yesterday and buy out her contract but wasn't planning on waiting 2+ hrs for it :(

was about to purchase the Moto G5 but BIL was selling his iPhone 6S for a good price so I picked that up instead....how I love people who update their phones often...
 
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sburns said:
You tell me you are not using Google Play to get apps and are manually loading stuff onto your phone, like what?
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If it's a paid app I'll pirate it and yes, put it on the phone without Google Play. Not that I need a computer or anything. You can download anything from the browser just like on a computer so I can download and install a pirated APK off some sketchy site all I want.

Joe Bass said:
Anyone grab the deal?

Sent from my [device_name] using GTAMotorcycle.com mobile app
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Gf on Rogers did it online in 5 minutes. I had to call Telus. 1-866 number was too busy and would just hang up on me. Called the international support number (which was actually a 416) and 5 minutes later I had the plan.
 
Thinking of switching to Chatr.
Paying $45 to Rogers for 500mb
For same price I can get 6gb with Chatr.
Heard the US coverage when travelling is spotty. Meh, I don't travel much.
It is a BYOD plan so......
My LGG4 is on it's last leg.

If I want a new phone sub $300 what is good?
Used phone I wanna stay below $200

Must haves:
Android
Good call quality
A vibration alert that actually vibrates like my old BB used to
SD card capable
Minimal bloatware (or someone to root a used phone for me...if I understand what root means lol)

There might be more, I'll add if I figure them out.

And any tips on buying a used phone?
Things to look out for?

Thanks

Sent from my purple G4 using Tapatalk
 
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