I don't like smart phones.

[darrel]

And the extra you have to pay for a data plan.

 

So what is a person to do when you want to upgrade your 2g dumb phone to a 3g dumb phone because the wireless company is phasing out 2g.

 

The only concession I wanted, I wanted a camera in the phone and I wanted to download the pics into my laptop.

 

So I got a phone for $40 with camera, bought a usb cable to hook it up. But it wouldn't download any pics. The connection only showed the driver for the phone in a text file. Googling showed one way to download the pics by emailing them to myself, but that didn't work, I am right on the edge of coverage and didn't have enough of connection to hook up to the web.

 

Kept googling, then found out my laptop was bluetooth capable. I turned on BT in both the phone and my macbook pro and got them to recognize each other. But I still couldn't get the pics from the phone to the laptop. 

 

Now that I know they recognize each other, it was only a matter of time before I hit the right buttons.

 

The z221 being the shy chinese of age school girl she is wouldn't make the first move. So it was up to the macbook pro to make the first move. So the pro pushed the right buttons and the z221 opened right up to the pro's advances.

 

Hit BT drop down menu, found the device, browsed the device and found the pic file. Now why couldn't the phone manufacturer make it easier by using a data cable to do this?

 

This post is mainly for computer and smart phone dummies like me who resist paying extra money for a data plan when dumb phones will work until you can get back to your lap top.

 

 

 

 

[thisismatt]

Switch to tracfone, virgin mobile, kitty wireless, or any of a handful of other pay as you go providers.  You can get data plans for 30-50 bucks a month...

[Tristin]

Im going to assume that any phone these days thats $40 and its main selling point is "with camera!!" isnt a smart phone... that being said, no manufacture really puts much thought into those anymore so it can be a pain in the dick to do anything but use as a phone. 

 

My iphone automatically sends all photos into the cloud once I take them and when I log onto my computer they are already there waiting for me to upload them to Flickr. Hell, I can even enable my phone to upload directly to flickr if I so choose. I just dont upload every picture I take and when I do, I put them in certain folders. 

 

Its always been a pain to do anything remotely useful with a "dumb phone." It always sucks being in a shitty area for data coverage which limits the types of phones you can use. 

[darrel]

When I decided to even get a cell phone, the only reason I got it was for on the road use. Saw an accident and the drunk took off after sideswiping a lady with a baby in her car. Gave all the info to the police when they got there, I made sure the lady and her baby was ok.

 

Now when I got the phone, that's all I wanted or needed it for was for the phone. I don't care for the web, messaging, email, or ring tones. I still use it as a phone. The only upgrade I wanted was to take pics for when I go to walmart :-D. I didn't want to pay an extra $40 for a data plan. My cell bill(voice) is $39.95/$46/month after taxes. I use most of the 450 mins during the month. I haven't bought a contract phone since the original 2 yr contract expired 11 yrs ago. I just went to walmart and bought a go phone and just swapped my sim card.

 

This is my 4th phone, the one before was a 2g phone and after dropping calls and too much static I called up my carrier. Apparently they are starting to drop the 2g coverage. They are going to put in a new tower closer to me, but don't have a start date yet.

 

Now if I could get a plan that includes data/voice/message/web/roaming/coverage for what i am paying now for just voice, I would go for it.

 

I also wanted to be able to download the pics from the phone to the computer directly. Even with the data cable it couldn't be done. That's where the bluetooth capable lap top and phone helped. It's pretty cool now that I figured out how to download using bluetooth. There wasn't much on google explaining how to do it.

[thisismatt]

When I said $40 for a data plan, I meant for the whole phone plan - voice & data.  Contracts and the big networks are for chumps.  You can get a straighttalk plan with data that uses one of the big networks (like verizon) for less than a normal voice-only plan with the big companies.

[darrel]

I have had no problems with my carrier except recently with dropped calls. They even credited my account this month. I don't do contracts, I like to keep my options open and not be locked into anything. There is nothing I need to do that requires sending data that a phone call or waiting till I get home or get to a wifi spot. 

 

ST has $30/month+taxes plan with certain phones(dumb ones) which allows 30mb/month. What kind of usage does everyone have on their phones. When I had att on my IP2 for a month I had the 2gig plan and used it all up when I was on the road for a month. Would I use more than 30mb when I'm home?

 

So buying this chinese made phone makes sense to me, the only thing is reliability of the phone itself. It has been around a couple of yrs and not any overwhelming negatives. Like any phone you'll get lemons. This is my 4th phone over 13 yrs. The only thing I might look into would be a phone with better resolution for the camera. This one has a 2mp camera. If it doesn't cut it, then I would have to look into something better and pay more than a $100 for.

 

I started this thread in case there is anyone like me that basically wanted a phone for a phone and maybe a little extra like the camera and don't see the need for a smart phone and the more expensive plans. When I found I couldn't just use a data cable/usb to download pics to my computer, I found out how to do it using the provided bluetooth applications on both devices.

 

When I was one the road for a month, I had complete coverage from denver to southern ca. There was only one spot that i didn't have coverage, it was the canyon on I-15 between salt lake and LV.

[The Taterhead]

Not sure about over there but down here you can go to gamestop and get a net10 plan - no contract, $50 a month, unlimited talk/text/data. And they use at&t and t-mobile towers. They might limit the data speed however