Will a Droid Incredible 2 serve my purposes?

[ScottyDsntKnow]

In the states, ATT and T-Mobile SIM cards can be used but you will be on 2G EDGE and unable to use 3G at all. And that is after you unlock the phone so you aren't stuck with the pile of poop Vodaphone SIM. You'd also have to buy one outright for the $400-$500 or whatever they cost so you don't get stuck having to pay the VZW monthly rate so I really don't see this as any sort of viable option. If you want a smartphone but don't want to pay crazy monthly prices... get something from Virgin or boost that operate on Sprint towers so you get pretty good nationwide coverage. If you just want to call and text then just get a prepaid GSM phone and be done with it.

[jntdroid]

Discussion is fine, it's not like you're trying to steal anything or mess with an esn. I know for a fact, as stated, the Inc2 can run with a Tmobile SIM, what I don't know is how much work it takes to get to that point.

I'd have to agree, though, there are cheaper ways of accomplishing your goal, especially if you're having to pay outright for the phone.

I'll throw in some suggestions in a few when I'm on my computer. I've played the game you're trying to play quite a bit for budget purposes!

Sent from my SGH-T679 using Tapatalk

[jntdroid]

Weird, tapatalk seems to be ignoring formatting...

edit: evidently only in Tapatalk as it looks fine on my computer.

Sent from my SGH-T679 using Tapatalk

[jntdroid]

I think T-Mobile will be your best bet, even if you can't get the T-Mobile SIM to work in your Inc2. Here's my reasoning...

They have a prepaid "Monthly4G" plan that's $30/month - you get 100 minutes and unlimited text and data, and that's 4G data (well, T-Mobile's version anyway). And it's unlimited, but they throttle after you hit 5gb of data - which you wouldn't, obviously. So that's one good option. Though it would cost you $30/month, and you might not need the data. Though, if you use GPS a lot, you'll want some data - even with map caching, data is required to keep up navigation for any period of time. Anyway, you get the point. edit: you would likely only get their 4G data speeds with a compatible 4G T-mobile phone... doubt you could get it on the Inc2 through the SIM

If that's still too much, they have one of the better "basic" prepaid plans on the market. A lot of times, the kicker with prepaid minutes is how quickly they expire. With T-Mobile's "Pay as you Go" prepaid plan, you can pay $100 and get 1,000 minutes that don't expire for an entire year. That's really what makes that deal the best. Text messages count for one minute. Multimedia messages count for two minutes, I believe. There is old school "wap" data, also goes against minutes - but it's almost worthless. So theoretically, you could pay $100 now, and not have to pay $100 again for a year if you didn't use the minutes. That would definitely be a bare bones plan, though, with no data outside of wifi.

I think those would be your best options plan-wise. Virgin isn't bad, but their coverage isn't as good as T-Mobile's. They use Sprint's towers, but without any roaming. Sprint would be worthless without roaming capabilities. Google their respective coverage maps and you'll see what I mean.

Now, the phone. I'm assuming you already own the Inc2. Some quick googling/perusing makes it look like it's not too hard to get a T-Mobile SIM to work in the Inc2, for voice. I'm reading some people having issues with data - but that might not be a concern for you anyway. However, if you can't get it to work, T-Mobile has some very solid mid to top-mid-range Android phones (and some great top-of-the-line phones if you're willing to fork out the cash). You could sell the Inc2 via something like Craigslist or swappa.com, and then turn around and purchase a T-Mobile phone the same way - swappa.com is for buying/selling Android devices... great site.

There's my .02... I haven't exhausted everything, but I've done a LOT of switching around over the past couple of years, and done a lot of digging into getting the most bang for my buck. There might be a better option out there, but I think that'll be a good one regardless.

Sidenote - you can get directions and contact info and lots of other stuff through Bing 411, via text (you text them, they text you what you request). Google 411 used to do this, but they discontinued it. So you can even get a very dumbed down version of "navigation" on a dumbphone.

[ScottyDsntKnow]

1,000 minutes go up in smoke pretty fast especially if he is someone who talks alot or sends alot of texts. Again, this person would be MUCH better served getting an unlimited plan from one of the prepaid carriers like boost or Virgin. I had an Epic 4G that I self flashed onto boost and it was completely boss to pay $50/mo for unlimited EVERYTHING including calls to land lines. I will 100% not get into any discussion on the Epic on boost but as for the boost service itself... it uses Sprint towers, I never had a dropped call, texts were always fast and on time and the boost plan drops $5 every 6 on time payments so you can get down to $40 over 18 months of on time payments. The data speeds are meh compared to VZW but I was often able to pull pretty good speeds on speedtest depending on location.

Anyway, yeah pretty pointless to try to put a Inc2 onto T-Mobile or ATT prepaid when you can just sell it and buy a boost/Virgin Android and jump onto an unlimited plan that gets you data too on a pretty reliable network. Virgin actually just came out with an Android comparable to the OG Droid X which is still a pretty nice phone.

[jntdroid]

Oh I don't disagree at all on Virgin's plans - was with them for quite awhile. Had the LG Optimus V and the Moto Triumph (the one you referred to). I just got the impression that was more than he wanted, hence mentioning the 1000 minute thing.

[nikecar]

Ignore me as it seems you can do it, but not without issues.

Sent from someplace, and with something that you need not worry about.

[Bulldogg629]

Thank you JNT, thats what I needed. I was even going to do their $30 for 90 days and 160 min plan... as $100 all at once is even still a bit much for me. But its is a much worsedeal, doing it 90 days at a time works out to 640 minutes for $120 in the same year. It'll be a choice between those 2. As for the concern about burning through 1000 minutes lol you'd be surprised.. I currently use a trackfone and put 180 minutes on it every 6 months... I last filled it July 2011 and still have 75 minutes... and a lot of that was eaten up by texting myself reminders to my email. So you can see why I want to avoid the much larger monthly talk and full data plans. I dont own the inc2 yet but I'm going to be getting a used or refurbed one, Ive researched all android phones and the inc2 has the most features I want vs cost for a used one, so the tip from someone about going with a different carrier and phone is appreciated, but I have my heart set. Actually, with 75 min left on my cheap phone, Im not going to need new service untill this summer, so I'll just have the inc2 for camera, radio and mp3 in one pocket and the trackphone for emergencies in the other.

By the way, it was mentioned needing data for reliable gps, is that how smartphone gps works? through data and no data = no gps? not like a normal gps that runs on a direct signal?

Thanks again for all the help!

[jntdroid]

The Inc2 is a great device - one of my favorites over the last couple of years.

Navigation needs data to save (cache) the maps - it's not like a Garmin where the entire database is already downloaded. You can preload routes now through the 'labs' option in Google Maps, so it could work fine with some planning ahead.

[olimj]

Thank you JNT, thats what I needed. I was even going to do their $30 for 90 days and 160 min plan... as $100 all at once is even still a bit much for me. But its is a much worsedeal, doing it 90 days at a time works out to 640 minutes for $120 in the same year. It'll be a choice between those 2.

Check out pagepluscellular.com (or the PP wiki). It's pre-paid bring your own device on Verizon network (CDMA). Pretty much any VZ non-prepaid non-4G phone will work. You can get a barely used DINC2 on ebay for $200, just verify clean ESN. Even less on Craigslist, but I trust eBay more. Plans start at $80/yr for 2000 minutes (probably what you want) with other monthly plans for heavier voice/text/data users. You also still have option for 3G data and roaming (high per minute rate) in case of emergency. I've had a DINC2 on the $12/mo 250min/250txt/10MB data for several months now and loving it. I got it for much the same reasons you did, and mostly WiFi use.

By the way, it was mentioned needing data for reliable gps, is that how smartphone gps works? through data and no data = no gps? not like a normal gps that runs on a direct signal?

There are offline GPS apps like Sygic, Co-Pilot, or Navigon that act like traditional GPS. You pre-download the maps you want and no data required. Of course they aren't as fancy as Google Maps, but get the job done.