Wingsley
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2015
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 1
- Current Phone Model
- Motorola V170
This is a new question. I have never posted in the Motorola General Discussions forum before. This is similar to another question I posted in another forum, but the issue has changed.
I live and work in a very rural, hilly area where cellular service is spotty at best. Monthly subscription-fee-based cellphones from national carriers like Verizon Wireless and AT&T are available, but in my company's opinion (and mine personally), they are not worth the $40 (or more) per month for their subscription cellphone plans. Instead, we rely on pay-as-you-go, minutes-based phones from Tracfone. Buying minutes and keeping them active costs only $23 every 3 months. Larger minutes packages can also be purchased.
[NOTE: Tracfone offers a really sweet deal for Android users; if you buy a certain number of minutes, the actual number of minutes on your Android Tracfone triples. So buying 60 minutes from Tracfone means you actually get 180 minutes. And Tracfone further sweetens the deal with providing pools of units for both texting and data to match the voice-minutes.]
Over a year ago, we used to have nothing but dirt-cheap throw-away "dumb" cellphones (Motorola V170, locked into Tracfone), but we replaced one of the old dumb-phones with a QVC deal on an LG L39C smartphone. (Android Tracfone) It may seem old and hilariously backward to some here, but this LG was our bargain-discount introduction to Android. We don't use the LG for much; light phone traffic, occasional text and e-mail, using Google Maps for turn-by-turn navigation, and maybe as a calculator or an occasional web browser. That's about it. (The LG uses Android OS 4.1.2)
I will be starting a different job soon, and it will likely require me to use my own (separate) smartphone. I may be doing quite a bit of cloud-based work on an iPad at the new job, and the iPad would have WiFi-only, so the smartphone would need to occasionally act as a WiFi hotspot. Currently, I'm still using another ancient Motorola V170 dumb-phone as my personal cell. I'm looking at getting a newer, more current Motorola "Moto" Android, unlocked, and logging onto to Tracfone through their "B.Y.O.P." (Bring Your Own Phone) sim-card installation program.
Motorola actually sells some of its Moto smartphones, unlocked, through a direct web sales channel. This gives me some limited insight into what's available. Better deals on those same phones can be found on Amazon.
The best deal I found on the Motorola site (unlocked) is a Moto E (2nd generation). The 3G version starts at $119 from Motorola-direct. A 4G LTE version starts at $149 from Motorola-direct. The same unlocked Moto E (2nd gen.) with 4G LTE sells for $96 on Amazon, new.
The prices for an unlocked 3rd-generation Moto G are nearly identical between Motorola and Amazon; choosing options actually favors Motorola-direct.
Comments are welcome, especially if you are familiar with Moto E and Moto G smartphones.
I live and work in a very rural, hilly area where cellular service is spotty at best. Monthly subscription-fee-based cellphones from national carriers like Verizon Wireless and AT&T are available, but in my company's opinion (and mine personally), they are not worth the $40 (or more) per month for their subscription cellphone plans. Instead, we rely on pay-as-you-go, minutes-based phones from Tracfone. Buying minutes and keeping them active costs only $23 every 3 months. Larger minutes packages can also be purchased.
[NOTE: Tracfone offers a really sweet deal for Android users; if you buy a certain number of minutes, the actual number of minutes on your Android Tracfone triples. So buying 60 minutes from Tracfone means you actually get 180 minutes. And Tracfone further sweetens the deal with providing pools of units for both texting and data to match the voice-minutes.]
Over a year ago, we used to have nothing but dirt-cheap throw-away "dumb" cellphones (Motorola V170, locked into Tracfone), but we replaced one of the old dumb-phones with a QVC deal on an LG L39C smartphone. (Android Tracfone) It may seem old and hilariously backward to some here, but this LG was our bargain-discount introduction to Android. We don't use the LG for much; light phone traffic, occasional text and e-mail, using Google Maps for turn-by-turn navigation, and maybe as a calculator or an occasional web browser. That's about it. (The LG uses Android OS 4.1.2)
I will be starting a different job soon, and it will likely require me to use my own (separate) smartphone. I may be doing quite a bit of cloud-based work on an iPad at the new job, and the iPad would have WiFi-only, so the smartphone would need to occasionally act as a WiFi hotspot. Currently, I'm still using another ancient Motorola V170 dumb-phone as my personal cell. I'm looking at getting a newer, more current Motorola "Moto" Android, unlocked, and logging onto to Tracfone through their "B.Y.O.P." (Bring Your Own Phone) sim-card installation program.
Motorola actually sells some of its Moto smartphones, unlocked, through a direct web sales channel. This gives me some limited insight into what's available. Better deals on those same phones can be found on Amazon.
The best deal I found on the Motorola site (unlocked) is a Moto E (2nd generation). The 3G version starts at $119 from Motorola-direct. A 4G LTE version starts at $149 from Motorola-direct. The same unlocked Moto E (2nd gen.) with 4G LTE sells for $96 on Amazon, new.
The prices for an unlocked 3rd-generation Moto G are nearly identical between Motorola and Amazon; choosing options actually favors Motorola-direct.
Comments are welcome, especially if you are familiar with Moto E and Moto G smartphones.
