PagePlus user...new Droid owner

[facesnorth]

Just bought a Droid off Craigslist for 250 shipped. It came with the plug, cable, and battery, but not the microSD card. It's a class 2 card anyway. Looks like the 8gb cards are better bang for the buck right now, so I may just start with one of them until the 32gb cards come down in price. I was thinking of going with a class 6 8gb card, since they can be had for about 21 bucks it looks like. Comments on that?

Also, as I mentioned in the title, I'm a Page Plus user. Meaning I am going to be somewhat of an odd one out on this forum. I am going to be looking for ideas on how to maximize my usage of this phone with very limited data access, meaning under 50mb per month. However, I will be making full use of wifi and offline apps. In particular I'm looking for info on how to utilize the GPS with little to no data access. I also may be switching to opera mini for email because of the lower data use. Any tips anyone can offer me to meet my goals are appreciated.

 

[LtKen]

Just bought a Droid off Craigslist for 250 shipped. It came with the plug, cable, and battery, but not the microSD card. It's a class 2 card anyway. Looks like the 8gb cards are better bang for the buck right now, so I may just start with one of them until the 32gb cards come down in price. I was thinking of going with a class 6 8gb card, since they can be had for about 21 bucks it looks like. Comments on that?

Also, as I mentioned in the title, I'm a Page Plus user. Meaning I am going to be somewhat of an odd one out on this forum. I am going to be looking for ideas on how to maximize my usage of this phone with very limited data access, meaning under 50mb per month. However, I will be making full use of wifi and offline apps. In particular I'm looking for info on how to utilize the GPS with little to no data access. I also may be switching to opera mini for email because of the lower data use. Any tips anyone can offer me to meet my goals are appreciated.

Higher the class number the faster the card is... Sort of self explainatory

Why would you want to limit data usage? You have unlimited data on the phone...

Edit: Brain fart on the Page Plus. Sorry OP.

 

[pandroid]

because he has pageplus for his service

edit: sorry i didnt add anything useful to this thread earlier.

heres a few tips...

keep your 3g connection off unless your using it. you dont want any background apps pulling data
use wifi as much as possible. i was surprised to see how many open networks exist around town, and i live on a tiny hawaiian island

 

[facesnorth]

Thanks for the replies and tips. FYI I know the higher class cards are faster and better to use. Comments I was asking for was on whether paying 21-22 bucks for a class 6 8gb card is wise while I wait for 32gb prices to come down. Or will the 8gb fill up too fast. 16gb cards are pricey now, especially if I get a higher class, and I feel silly buying a class 2 anything.

 

[jbby]

definitely disable 3g. i honestly do not know how you expect to stay under 50mb a month :blush: . sd card wise i think you will be fine with an 8gb card as long as you are not loading it up with tons of video or music.

 

[facesnorth]

Like I said I'm going to be the odd one out around here. It's going to be a challenge, but I think the pros are going to outweight the cons for me.

 

[facesnorth]

To be specific on the microSD cards I'm looking at:

Amazon.com: Transcend 8 GB Class 6 microSDHC Flash Memory Card TS8GUSDHC6: Electronics

Amazon.com: SAMSUNG 8GB MicroSD/MicroSDHC (TF) CLASS 6 HIGH SPEED with Free SD adaptor: Electronics

Anyone recommend one over the other? Or aware of a better deal to jump on?

 

[pyro6128]

Yea def gonna have to turn off 3g. I don't know how you would turn off 3g other than going into airplane mode. I guess you could just turn the background sync off. The last thing you want is apps trying to sync info in the background all the time if you're trying to stay under 50mb.

 

[pandroid]

To disable data:

- Open dialer
- Dial *#*#4636#*#* - 'Phone Info' screen appears
- Press Menu button
- Tap on More
- Tap Disable data connection

 

[LtKen]

Thanks for the replies and tips. FYI I know the higher class cards are faster and better to use. Comments I was asking for was on whether paying 21-22 bucks for a class 6 8gb card is wise while I wait for 32gb prices to come down. Or will the 8gb fill up too fast. 16gb cards are pricey now, especially if I get a higher class, and I feel silly buying a class 2 anything.

As far as the size of the card goes, you'll have to answer that one yourself... I dont usually put more than 100 songs and a couple of movies on my phone, so I've never gotten near 8Gb. The extra stuff (temp files, rooting/flashing stuff, ringtones) usually accounts for about 1Gb...

For 20 bucks, I say get the 8Gb card and see how long it lasts you. You can always stick it in a converter and use it in a video camera if you find it's insufficient for your phone.

 

[facesnorth]

Thanks for the replies and tips. FYI I know the higher class cards are faster and better to use. Comments I was asking for was on whether paying 21-22 bucks for a class 6 8gb card is wise while I wait for 32gb prices to come down. Or will the 8gb fill up too fast. 16gb cards are pricey now, especially if I get a higher class, and I feel silly buying a class 2 anything.

As far as the size of the card goes, you'll have to answer that one yourself... I dont usually put more than 100 songs and a couple of movies on my phone, so I've never gotten near 8Gb. The extra stuff (temp files, rooting/flashing stuff, ringtones) usually accounts for about 1Gb...

For 20 bucks, I say get the 8Gb card and see how long it lasts you. You can always stick it in a converter and use it in a video camera if you find it's insufficient for your phone.

Yeah, I went ahead and bought the Samsung, because the price of the Transcend went up a couple bucks so the Samsung was cheaper. At class 6 it will be handy for video cameras as you said, so I'm glad it came with the adapter. The biggest class 6 SD card I have now is only 4gb so this will be handy either way. It will probably hold me over until the 32's come way down. I just can't wait till this stinking thing arrives. I haven't gotten to play with it yet. I ordered it on craigslist and he just mailed it yesterday.

 

[facesnorth]

Why can I still not post anywhere except this forum? I'm on a LOT of forums and usually can post the same day I register. In the last couple days I've signed up at a few droid related forums, and on the majority of them I'm still waiting to be able to post. What gives?

 

[cornucopia]

In particular I'm looking for info on how to utilize the GPS with little to no data access. I also may be switching to opera mini for email because of the lower data use.

I will be in the same boat soon.... My guess is to install a third part GPS software with map data.

 

[facesnorth]

To disable data:

- Open dialer
- Dial *#*#4636#*#* - 'Phone Info' screen appears
- Press Menu button
- Tap on More
- Tap Disable data connection

OK, I just got my Droid and switched my ESN over to it on my pageplus account.

This procedure didn't work for me. FYI, I don't want to disable data perse, I just don't want any background connections occurring without my directly asking it to. I can't figure out how to disable 3G yet.