Comments on: Can't afford smartphone. What will do instead?

Question: Can't afford smartphone. What will do instead?

dhartung — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:27:09 -0800

A Rumor Touch looks like my best bet to stay with this carrier. I might like the LG Prime, though. Do I have any other good options? Can I find an affordable no-contract smartphone?

OK, my old Samsung slider has bitten the dust. The internet was so abysmal I rarely used it.

As a Virginmobile customer, I can upgrade to a Loft, a Rumor2, a Rumor Touch ($130), and a Blackberry Curve. The Touch looks like my price point. It's a "messaging phone" and comes with a number of built-in apps. It sounds like I could do some real mobile web stuff, even YouTube, and use a Facebook app, so that would satisfy a lot. I know it isn't a smartphone, but is this going to just whet my appetite more or will these additional capabilities really be useful? If not I could just stick with a cheapo option like the Loft.

I'm intrigued a bit by the LG Prime offered by AT&T GoPhone. How would it compare with the Rumor Touch, or any other phone in this class? Am I right that this is around the best I can expect without going to the next level up? (I must be missing other options, but so much of what you can read about is contract-only tech.)

Ultimately, is there a no-contract smartphone option out there? I don't need the latest and greatest device, but I recognize there are risks to old tech in this space. I could go either way between iPhone or Droid, but I'm open to other choices like Palm.

Finally, I am sort of bound to VM by having this sweet legacy plan (from 2001!) that I think saves me about 10-20% on talk minutes. But I have a number out of my local area code and need to change that. A new account would be on a new plan (e.g.), and I'd need a data plan for any real internet use, so I bet I would soon not notice the difference. Concur? I live and work at home so I mainly use my PC, so it's not something I'll use necessarily daily, but I expect it to add up anyway.

By: hey you over in the corner

hey you over in the corner — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 03:45:57 -0800

I'm writing this from a VM rumor touch. It's okay... I do almost everything through the opera mini browser - the facebook app etc. are garbage. You'll need the new data plan though. I get unlimited data and text + 300 min for $25/mo. You can only officially load vm apps right now, but headway has been made on a workaround for other j2me stuff.

By: doncoyote

doncoyote — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 08:27:09 -0800

I've been reading about the LG Touch and other VM phones on howardforums.com.

By: mskyle

mskyle — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 08:46:21 -0800

I have the Rumor Touch, and I also have the same plan as hey you. I like it all right. It's better than no smartphone-like-thing at all (it was nice to have when I had just moved and hadn't gotten my internet set up yet), and some of the apps are handy. I like the Google Maps app and the Opera browser. There aren't a whole lot of useful apps, but the price is right. With the LG Prime from GoPhone it looks like you'll pay a lot more.