Expert: DebiN - 7/21/2009

Question
QUESTION: I have used a Palm Treo with Verizon for more than two years and recently
discovered that my wife and I have never used even one third of the airtime
allowance our (minimum) family share plan (with my wife) includes. It costs
$80 a month, including taxes and fees. My wife's phone is not a PDA. We do
no email or web browsing, and have no data plan. I need the PDA phone,
however, to keep organized (contacts, calendar, and notes) and sync with my
Mac desktop at home. My wife's airtime usage has averaged 15 minutes a
month for the last year.  She uses her phone only for emergencies and finding
me during the rare times we are away from home and not in immediate view
of each other. I, however, use the bulk of our shared minutes, probably
averaging about 100 to 150 minutes per month, for voice calls only. Our two-
year contract recently expired, so I decided to buy my wife an unlocked
Motorola i9 with a Boost mobile prepaid SIM card, which, at her level of
usage, should cost only three to four dollars a month! She has no interest in
changing her usage pattern, and she'll be able to take it with her overseas.
However I had the idea that I might be able to get a new cell phone for
myself that would double as a good camera, iPod, and portable GPS device -
all things that I now do with separate devices, as well as web browser to
access Google, check weather, find local services, movie times, news
headlines, etc. when I am away from home. My wife and I enjoy foreign travel
fairly often. I thought that getting a new unlocked GSM cell phone that has all
these capabilities would allow me to do all of these things, and take the
phone with me when we travel so I could continue to listen to podcasts, use
the GPS feature and web browser without paying the exorbitant roaming fees
of US carriers (I accept that I'll have to swap SIM cards and temporarily use a
new phone number when I travel, but that's OK). Can I do all of this with an
unlocked GSM cell phone (I expect it to be expensive, but that's OK if I have a
chance of making up for it with reduced monthly costs eventually). Or does
my hoped-for usage pattern mean I have to have to pay more and have a
regular US plan, take another unlocked cell phone when I travel, a separate
GPS device and iPod, separate camera, and give up the web browsing while
overseas?

ANSWER: What carrier were you planning on using service with for this unlocked GSM phone that you are thinking of buying? They won't work with Verizon service (your current carrier) or with Boost (your wife's carrier) and all these features that you want will not work on an unlocked GSM phone with prepaid service. For what you want in a phone, your very best bet would be to buy the new iPhone 3GS from AT&T. It does all the things you want with no trouble. When you travel abroad, you can either use your wife's phone or just get the international data roaming for the iPhone. I can assure you that an unlocked GSM phone will not allow you to do any of the web browsing things you are wanting to do properly and GPS and the iPOD features will not work properly either. You are 100% better off just getting service and a phone from a carrier that does all of this. T-Mobile's G1 would work also. That's the way that I would go, if I were you. Let me know. Thanks. DebiN

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you, DebiN. Actually, I didn't have a specific carrier in mind, but knew
I'd have to go either with a regular GSM carrier, or a prepaid GSM carrier. I'm
very grateful you took the time to answer my long-winded question. I was
already thinking how to reword it more simply. I think the essence of my
question is more: since I don't use much voice service, but would like to use
more data service (e.g., GPS services and web lookup capability), and would
like to be able to use the same device overseas and at home, can I save
money by buying prepaid service that covers such a pattern of usage, rather
than what appears would be quite expensive monthly plans? My question
may boil down to: Are there plans where the same prepaid minutes can be
used for both voice and data, and you can simply add minutes as needed to
keep using all the features, while still paying substantially less than monthly
plans require? I also want a good camera in the device, with flash and more
than 3 megapixels. It would be wonderful not to have to carry around three
different devices (camera, GPS, and cell phone) to do all of these things.
Actually, I have looked at the iPhone 3Gs, but it seems that, feature-wise,
there are better phones out there, such as the new LG Dare, or Nokia N97. I
think I'd prefer an real QWERTY keypad, or one that at least gives tactile
feedback, like the Dare. Thanks again for your advice.

Answer
Unfortunately, there really aren't prepaid or occasional plans that will do what you need as it relates to data. Data is one of those things that require a monthly service plan, so if you really need and want data features like accessing the internet and GPS and email and the international ability, you really have to get a data plan ($30.00 a month). But I cannot stress strongly enough that you definitely should not buy a SIM unlocked GSM device. Get your device from a GSM carrier (AT&T or T-Mobile). That is the one and only way to guarantee that features will work. GPS will not work properly without your carrier. If you start up service with either of these carriers, you will get a good price on a new device and will not have to worry about anything in regard to things working, etc. In my (and many others) opinions, there is NOT a better device than the iPhone. Not a one. Feature-wise, every single data device pales compared to it. The Dare is absolutely nothing compared to an iPhone, in every way, believe me. If the new 3GS iPhone is an option for you, go for it. You won't be sorry. The hardest thing to get used to is the soft keypad, but it doesn't take very long to get used to and beats the pants off of everyone. I hope this helps. Thanks. DebiN