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A good mobile phone for me?
March 8, 2016 at 6:28 pm
(This post was last modified: March 8, 2016 at 6:32 pm by ReptilianPeon.)
I have remained loyal to BlackBerry for many years, but my most recent BlackBerry, of several years now, is dying. I liked the keyboards, but I also liked that BlackBerry wasn't made by Microsoft or Apple (who made it, as Richard Stallman once said in an interview with RT, "fashionable to have handcuffs put on oneself") and it wasn't Android - because as it's so common people are more likely to be able to put malware onto it, etc, and because it's made by Google and good hates privacy. So, what I am left with?
I have looked into BlackPhones and FireFox OS. I am a bit bummed that newer BlackPhones are on Android, but it still looks like a decent buy. And FireFox OS doesn't have much of a choice of phones with it. Perhaps I'm too harsh on Android though. Any suggestions for the picky consumer? I still kind of like BlackPhone.
Key considerations:
- Let's say the maximum I'd be willing to spend is US$250.
- Word processing software bundled as standard is a must.
- Spreadsheet software would be nice too, although that doesn't matter as much, but it would be a welcome additionality.
- Decent web browser; obviously I'd want to use it to visit http://atheistforums.org.
- Calendarial features are also a must, though I suspect most mobile phones now support this.
- Stopwatch/timer.
And that's about it.
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RE: A good mobile phone for me?
March 8, 2016 at 6:36 pm
(March 8, 2016 at 6:28 pm)MrNoMorePropaganda Wrote: [*]Word processing software bundled as standard is a must.
[*]Spreadsheet software would be nice too, although that doesn't matter as much, but it would be a welcome additionality.
These two requirements are going to limit your choices to zero, AFAIK. No phone that I am aware of bundles these kind of apps.
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RE: A good mobile phone for me?
March 8, 2016 at 6:48 pm
My thought was since I usually wind up hating whatever phone I get I might as well have a cheap one.
Costco had a Samsung (YEA !!! It's not a Motorola or an LG !!!) Galaxy Core Prime for $24 and supposedly in a few months I get a $25 Costco gift card.
Works way better than my old Droid Razr M.
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RE: A good mobile phone for me?
March 8, 2016 at 6:52 pm
(This post was last modified: March 8, 2016 at 6:53 pm by ReptilianPeon.)
(March 8, 2016 at 6:36 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote: (March 8, 2016 at 6:28 pm)MrNoMorePropaganda Wrote: [*]Word processing software bundled as standard is a must.
[*]Spreadsheet software would be nice too, although that doesn't matter as much, but it would be a welcome additionality. [*]
These two requirements are going to limit your choices to zero, AFAIK. No phone that I am aware of bundles these kind of apps.
I don't know where you got that idea from. My past two phones (both BlackBerry) have had office software included without extra payment. I certainly think that it's still possible.
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RE: A good mobile phone for me?
March 8, 2016 at 7:00 pm
(March 8, 2016 at 6:52 pm)MrNoMorePropaganda Wrote: (March 8, 2016 at 6:36 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote: These two requirements are going to limit your choices to zero, AFAIK. No phone that I am aware of bundles these kind of apps.
I don't know where you got that idea from. My past two phones (both BlackBerry) have had office software included without extra payment. I certainly think that it's still possible.
I was under the impression that you were in the market for something *other* than BlackBerry. If you don't want BlackBerry, and you require bundled WP/SS software, your choices are approximately zero.
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RE: A good mobile phone for me?
March 8, 2016 at 7:08 pm
Android has Google Docs which has both word processing and spreadsheet apps.
Your privacy concerns are valid and I get it, but if you're going to have a smartphone and you want it to perform for years with privacy/security--get another BlackBerry.
Otherwise, get a new Android phone with Marshmallow on it, and you can revoke permissions for any app to do anything. Don't put a lot of apps on there, disable the native Anroid apps that you don't want on there, and move forward. Keep location off, turn your data off when you're not using it, (you can set up Tasker to turn off radios at certain times.)
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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RE: A good mobile phone for me?
March 8, 2016 at 7:12 pm
Guess I'm quite clueless about the mobile phone market then. I have been living in a bubble in this regard. Maybe I should stick with BlackBerry after all. I don't really want to let go of my current mobile but it's reaching the end of its usable life.
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RE: A good mobile phone for me?
March 8, 2016 at 7:16 pm
SteelCurtain - BlackBerry sent me an e-mail recently saying that they have made the move to Android. That was interesting. I haven't looked into the specifics, but to me it's at least a little concerning. I want Google to know as little as possible about me.
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RE: A good mobile phone for me?
March 8, 2016 at 9:03 pm
(March 8, 2016 at 7:16 pm)MrNoMorePropaganda Wrote: SteelCurtain - BlackBerry sent me an e-mail recently saying that they have made the move to Android. That was interesting. I haven't looked into the specifics, but to me it's at least a little concerning. I want Google to know as little as possible about me.
I get the concern, but, really, what are your fears? Google knowing what porn you look at or who you call? Why are they interested in you, other than to make money off of you?
I have a Google Nexus 6P with Android Marshmallow on it. You can opt out of any of the analytics and tracking data you want. The anonymous metadata that Google collects, seriously, is just to sell you shit.
If you're doing anything shady on the internet, you can bet it's your ISP and the NSA that care, not Google.
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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A good mobile phone for me?
March 8, 2016 at 10:41 pm
Tell me what is wrong with the iPhone again.
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