Tende

I'm planning a cross country tour for this summer. Thinking about using an Iphone or other smartphone for: cellphone, email, internet browsing, maps, & maybe music. I would probably bring a small camera.
Because I won't be following any established route, I feel the need for some kind of ongoing connection to map my route and discover points of interests, camping, lodging, or hazards.
I do not and would not want to submit to a contract. I only need it for, maybe 4-5 months.
Im wondering about buying a used phone off Craigslist and I need advise on what kind of phone and what service provider to use. I'm seeing used Iphone's for sale cheap, but they're for at&t - which I understand has spotty coverage.
Advice? Thanks.

dcrowell

I just recently got an iPhone, and unless you're charging it from a dynohub, you're going to have issue. I guess you could keep it turned off when not using it, but still. That seems to be true of all smartphones.

I would think any of the major carriers will have dead spots and even bigger areas with lousy data service. Your best bet would be pre-paid dumbphone, and an iPod touch to use when you find free wi-fi.

cpach

Here's a thread on the subject on the SomethingAwful Forums. Basically the most reasonable deal is going with Virgin and a LG Optimus V or maybe one of their other Android phones (this phone has a lot of community development and is generally well liked in addition to being cheap, though). It'll be $35/month for "unlimited" data that may start throttling speed after 2.5GB of data use. It's on the Sprint network for OK coverage, but won't roam onto Verizon towers like Sprint proper so will have somewhat worse coverage than a contract Sprint phone. Phone choice is limited. But this is probably the best deal. You NEED to buy phones specifically made for Virgin, but you could for example get a used Optimus V off of ebay for like $60.

A phone like this will be better if you have the technical wherewithal to flash the firmware to something like CyanoGenMod or another community maintained firmware--it'll be faster and more up to date etc. It'll do all the things you want but it won't be as smooth/snappy as a current high end phone available on a contract.

I think your idea is fundamentally sound Tende. Get some extra batteries, and try not to be in a situation where you NEED the phone to navigate your route as you definitely cannot assume data connectivity at all times, but it's useful to be able to roll into town and get your phone to tell you where the nearest delicious burritos are.

seeker333

Get a Verizon-compatible smart phone and use PagePlus as your service provider. You can find used Motorola and HTC devices in decent shape for <$200.

https://www.pagepluscellular.com/

https://www.howardforums.com/forumdis...-Plus-Cellular

I've used Pageplus for a couple years now for a dumb phone, which I use only occasionally. My cost is $30 per year at current usage rate. Service is identical to the Verizon service I had for over a decade prior to Pageplus. Data for a smart phone would increase cost obviously, but it would be PAYG for however long you want it, without a contract.

no1mad 

Smartphones drain batteries pretty fast if you're using them all the time. And depending on the route you choose on your trek, you'll more than likely find areas where you'll have little to no voice, let alone data. You might be better served using a Tracfone or the like dumbphone for voice and like a small WiFi-enabled tablet for everything else. Then you've got to figure out how to keep them charged.

Or just spend some time looking at coverage maps for the various carriers and preplan your route accordingly. Odds are you'll probably find less gaps taking a Southern route than a Northern one- basically the more dense the population, the better the service, and UT, ID, MT, and WY have a very low population density.

socalrider

I have a android evo phone and the battery life is fine as long as you keep in 3g mode.. The battery is user replaceable and easy to do. So when I do short tours I take a couple of extra batteries with me just in case I do not have the opportunity to charge them up.. I think the Virgin phones which are w/o contract work on the sprint network.

Burton

AFAIK it really doesn't matter who you deal with, you'll incur roaming fees for anything except WiFi use outside the area your number is tied to.

But the latest iPods will also access the Internet using WiFi, can use Facetime, download applications from the Apple Store and do pretty much anything a smart phone can short of making phone calls. No contract of course since to provider is involved. Personally I'd go that way and use a disposable phone as needed. You'll get better battery life to boot.

no1mad 

I don't believe that Tracfone (what I have) has roaming charges, though I haven't traveled to find out.

T-Mobile's network isn't as extensive as say Verizon, Sprint, or AT&T, but you could get a Wal-Mart Family Mobile phone (T-Mobile network) that has unlimited talk, text, and now data for $45/mo without contract. Downside is that their selection of phones is minimal- and all but the most basic phone is currently out of stock.

Burton

Looks like you're correct. I just checked with the big three here in Canada and long distance charges apply for calls but no roaming charges as long as you stay inside the country. Outside the country they all charge roaming fees for everything - text, data and calls.

But you can't be too careful because big business is .... heartless!

https://m.ctv.ca/bc/20110303/bc_iphone_bill_110303.html

no1mad 

That might hold true for Canadian carriers, but according to Tracfone:

What else should I know?

You get reliable Nationwide coverage on America's leading networks. Your Minutes and Days of Service carry over as long as your TracFone Service is active. Call nationally, internationally or roam at the same low rate. You can make international calls to over 100 destinations. You can buy Minutes and Days of Service directly from your TracFone, online or at retail stores. You can also sign up for convenient Value Plans and have Airtime added to your TracFone automatically.


Don't know how much data costs as I currently have no need for it, but I do know that texts are billed at a lower rate- 0.3 units of airtime for every text. So a simple Q and A via text uses less than 1 unit of airtime.

VT_Speed_TR

With Apple's ios 5! I can text message to any phone via Message app, or use Facetime for realtime talk, of course I need wifi. But no cost, I use a Tracfone for a number of years and have an great coverage everywhere. I then use an iPod Touch or now an iPad for everything else.

Tende

I guess I should have shared that I'm planning on riding from DC to 0regon.
I'm liking the Page Plus idea. It seems to have the best coverage (Verizon's network?), and I can get a fairly robust plan for $55/month. Now I need to find a decent smartphone on CL.

Tende

The irony here is that I do own a tablet (Motorola Xoom), but I want to travel fairly light, and the idea of a dumb phone, camera, tablet, mp3, (plus a small headlight) - with chargers for all is daunting.
Plus, the Xoom is wifi only - I think having some mapping/GPS ability via g3 would be very useful as I'm not, for the most part, following an established route.

bud16415

After having two iPhones over 3 years, I will tell you that if you are anything like me after having one for a 4 or 5 month tour you will not want to go without one. That is coming from a guy that is skeptical about most new technologies. It’s a truly amazing little device, combining all the stay connected and much more needs into one small lightweight package. I will tell you what I did about some of the issues listed above surrounding touring. First I have the iPhone 4 and have it in a case called a (Mophie juice pack) It’s a nice case and adds about double to the battery life of the iPhone. It has a switch and when you get the warning low battery you flip the switch and the phone charges itself from the second battery in the case. When recharging USB etc it charges both batteries at the same time and doesn’t double the charging time. If you plan on being around power every other day this may be enough. In my case I made my own battery charger that works off of a battery pack filled with AA batteries, this could keep me going for weeks at a time and a trip to a store would get me new AA’s beyond that. I used the old style batteries because recharge type don’t hold a full charge for very long.

GPS will work with or without connection to data but you need data to get the maps that make the GPS location useful. There are two ways around this one is you can cache maps when you are at a location with internet or 3G and they will stay in the phone for a period of time. You do this by looking at the area you plan on being ahead of time and zooming in to the level you think you will need. It will speed viewing the map and if you don’t have connection it will use the cache and display the map you last looked at. A better method I like uses an app like MotionX GPS it’s a $1.99 app at the app store and it allows you to download maps that stay in cache till you delete them. It shows you how much mem it takes to do this and lets you set the levels to be viewed from and closeness plus the type of map, from simple roads to hybrids. It has a 100 other features also that are quite nice even will do heart rate if you want that. It has sub routines that let you play music or take photos within the app. Waypoints points of interest etc. times almost anything you can think of is in there. For 2 bucks why mess around doing a work around with Google maps that might decide to erase your cache at any time.

The music on the phone is all you will need I have over 3000 songs in mine. The camera is very nice and I have a small (tiny) 10X telephoto lens I carry. It’s not a pro SLR but it’s better than what most people remember a cell to do. The apps are endless and I never thought I would type more than a few words but find I can reply to a email almost as fast as with a keyboard. Read books watch tv the list goes on and on.
If staying in touch with family and friends is important the above app will allow you to set it up so they get updates as to your location automatic. With cloud storage now they can even view photos as you take them.

I use my phone to wake me up and help me keep track of so many things.

The HD movies it takes are pretty good also.

Tende

Dont know if I can spring for an Iphone, sellers on CL want $300 (Verizon). I see a Motorola Droid X for $130, but Iphone sure has better apps - like the sound of that MotionX GPS and the Morphie Juice Pak.

Tende

Here's an update:
I purchased a HTC Droid Incredible 2 (used). So far, I really like the phone. It came with an extended battery (but not with the original battery) and battery life seems exceptional.
For phone service Im looking at Page Plus. They are currently offering Unlimited Minutes + Unlimited Text/MMS* Messages + 20 MB of Data for $39.95/mo.

Anyone have experience with their service/coverage? Is 20 mb of data enough? Anything Im missing?

Im riding from DC to Portland,OR. up through the Dakotas and Montana where I know coverage is sketchy.

thanks!

Tende

I just saw a Page Plus plan for $29.95/month: Talk n Text 1200: 1,200 minutes/3,000 text/MMS messages/
100 MB of Data.
This looks better as I dont talk or text much, but will be wanting to pull up maps and GPS, etc.

christ0ph

Watch out for AGPS-only phones, which have a (crippled) GPS that requires a data plan to work at all.. (to download a 10k ephemeris file once every few days, its a total scam.)

If I was doing a cross-country bike trip I would add a separate cheap dedicated GPS logger so that I could have a complete, uninterrupted track file of the entire trip that was not dependent for power or maps or anything on anything else. The less frequently it saves its log the longer the batteries last. I am sure you can find one that will log for an entire day. I would back up the track file every day in the evening, and also save a backup on a flash disk or something that you keep separate.

My observation about coverage is that generally GSM coverage sucks compared to the old TDMA phones (which are no longer available.) CDMA is better. In most of the West, you can't get cellphone coverage except in towns.

GSM may be better now, I don't know, have not travelled as much in the last few years.

fietsbob

Roaming charges add up , I hear..

AdamDZ

On my few tours I had my iPhone plugged in all days to a $100 solar charger which was strapped to my rear rack. It kept the iPhone fully charged all day if it was sunny or about 75% if it was overcast. You can also carry a small battery meant to charge small USB devices. There are lots to choose from. The one I like is just an enclosure that takes four AA batteries, either rechargeable or alkaline, and can charge an iPhone twice from a set of fresh batteries.

bud16415

Here is the setup I just bought and have been testing the last few weeks. As mentioned above for a hassle free way of charging the phone a couple times alkaline batteries work great. It will also act as a charger for NMH or other recharge batteries. The other handy thing I have been using it for is plugging in one of those flex $1.00 USB LED lights and it’s a great little tent lamp.

https://www.tekkeon.com/productcart/p...&idproduct=194

.

AdamDZ

Yes, that's the battery thingy I have, Tekkon, sans the wall plug.

seeker333

How's the HTC + PP working out?

sauerwald

What about dumb phone + Garmin 800 cyclocomputer. With the garmin 800 you are not dependent on cell coverage to navigate, and battery life is much better than the phone.......

HK 45

A nokia phone with ovi maps might be your best option without using data and you can preload maps