Fifty Plus (50+) - Need help with smart phone

I know this is not the best solution, but it's one that I have to live with. For a variety of reasons I'll have to check work related e-mail on a pretty regular basis (once every 1.5 hours) for 12 hours at a time (I got the noon to midnight shift). So, to allow me the freedom to be on my bike and still meet this work requirement, I'm looking for a good and reasonably priced smart phone. My carrier is Verizon, and it's not likely to change. Any of you have any recommendations for a smart phone (it would be nice if it was WiFi) in the $200 - $300 range? I must confess this is new territory for me and I've spent hours reading reviews on line only to learn that if a phone is rated high one place it's rated low somewhere else. So, I'm looking for recommendations based on real use and experience. Any help would be appreciated. If I can't find one that will work, I'll be stuck with short rides or rides using free INTERNET access as stopping points.

I can check my AOL email regularly (and I do) with my standard Motorola V710 Verizon phone. I can even send emails. It is pretty standard - you just need to spend an additional $5 per month for that feature.

However, you have to manually enter your password each and every time you check, and at times it requires 2-3 tries, as it seems to occasionally have transmission problems. That said, I have checked my email from CA to ME, and responded to an email while walking along the beach in CA on this little phone. It is not a "Smart" phone - just a phone. I bet you already have that option, but just have never engaged it. Check for the "Open wave" option - on mine, you push the left directional arrow to engage it. This is not wi fi, however. As long as I have digital service, I can check my email. There are other email services available besides AOL.

Wish I could help you. I'm not smarter than anything anymore.

I use Verizon's Treo 700p with excellent results. It is not wiFi capable however. I can receive and send e-mail wherever there is a phone signal. It is also an excellent phone. Contacts and appointments are easily synched with your Outlook files. There are thousands of add on software applications available for the Palm operating system. The reviews I read as well as our local Verizon people recommended the Palm operating system over the Windows OS as they felt it is more reliable.

Good luck!

I don't even know what a smart phone is.

So--- if they have smart phones does that make the rest of the phones stupid phones?

I have a Motorola Q, set up to automatically sync email, contacts and appointments with our Exchange Server at work. Works well for me.

I'm assuming you do not want to use a blackberry and your corporate-supported Blackberry server. If that's the case, there's a few choices, but this depends on the carrier's capability of having a mail sync client and your PC at work always being on, so that the email gets forwarded on to you.

The Samsung i830 from Verizon can be had at a discount if you basically tell Verizon that you are choosing between them and AT&T's iPhone. There's a number of other Verizon choices that support their Wireless Sync Client; just check their website.

If your email at work supports text messaging, just forward your directly to your carrier's text messaging client.

Lastly, I would consider forwarding your corporate mail to one of the clients that the iPone supports, or use the iPhone directly with your corporate IMAP4 server (if your company has one).

Verizon is announcing a new Treo as we speak which will be available in early January. I'm finding it pretty interesting. I think it's called the Treo 755p or something. It's always a challenge to find a smart phone that will sync with Macs and allow me to continue using Entourage for email and a pop3 server.

Do you just check your mail or do you need to see attachments and also send replies? If it is just to check then almost any phone these days can get mail from a SMTP server, exchange is a bit more complicated, so check with your IT. If you need to see attachments then you have to move up to a phone that supports that i.e. windows mobile, blackberry, palm etc. If you need to send messages out look at a phone that has a small keyboard, trying to send messages using standard phone keys sucks.

I am in the position of needing to get mail and look at attachments but do not really do many replies that cannot be canned like "Looks good". So I use the Blackberry Perl.

Do you need to be smarter than the phone so it will allow you to use it?:D

I don't like phones,:p of course thats just me. I carry a Palm TIX with Wi-Fi and blue tooth so i can check my mail and do Internet stuff at hot spots. I'm retired so i never worry too must about being contacted and I'm not going to do any business while I'm out on the bike. That said The TIX will allow you to use a GSM phone as a modem so this removes phone interface problems as long as the phone has mail and internet service setup. A friend I ride with has a GSM phone that will do mail and internet. The friend wanted to store some photos on the 2 gig SD card in my TIX so I got a password and access to that phone. This allows me to access mail through my friends phone when I'm in blue tooth range. my friend has an unlimited account so could care less how much it gets used.:D

I'm assuming you do not want to use a blackberry and your corporate-supported Blackberry server. If that's the case, there's a few choices, but this depends on the carrier's capability of having a mail sync client and your PC at work always being on, so that the email gets forwarded on to you.

The Samsung i830 from Verizon can be had at a discount if you basically tell Verizon that you are choosing between them and AT&T's iPhone. There's a number of other Verizon choices that support their Wireless Sync Client; just check their website.

If your email at work supports text messaging, just forward your directly to your carrier's text messaging client.

Lastly, I would consider forwarding your corporate mail to one of the clients that the iPone supports, or use the iPhone directly with your corporate IMAP4 server (if your company has one).

:eek::eek::eek: Now I begin to understand why the younger (office based, not lab based) portion of the workforce looks on me as a caveman.

Funny but skimming through the posts it seems no one has mentioned the iPhone, yet. Everyone I know that has one is raving about it. Don't have one myself but giving one to SWMBO for Christmas.

If you want an iPhone best to wait until next year. The current model does not support 3G speeds on the ATT network so unless you are in a WiFi area it is slow. For tunes and phone use it is Ok as is, mail connectivity is so so.

Heck I'm still using my 7 year old Kyocera 7135 Smartphone on the VZ network... Still gets my email fine.

I can't send however, as my Roadrunner/time warner connection for sending must use their graphic authenticator to open sendmail. Used to be just a simple script, and that I was able to put into my Smartphone... but they changed that. So now I can only download mail with that account.

I do have multiple email accounts set up though.

I like this Palm based Smartphone as it is the only flip Smartphone made. Sadly VZ no longer sells it... they seem to only support the Treos these days.
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I'm using a Treo 650, using the POS. I went from a basic phone to this geeky toy and in a month I stopped using my DayTimer. I don't have it set up to send and receive email, although it's easily done. I choose not to be that available.

What makes this particularly useful is that the infrared port will open lockboxes (I'm a Realtor) and I have access to my local MLS. Also, I like beaming my business card or added-on software to another Treo owner.

Bottom line: I'm happy with Verizon, happy with the Treo's functions and performance. I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.

If you can access your corporate email via a browser from an internet connected PC, you may only need a phone capable of internet access. There are lots of those. If you need full access to your corporate mail servers including attachments, manipulation of attachments, and full reply capabilities, you're likely limited by your corporate policy. Mine doesn't allow outside access or forwarding outside the company network, but I can get outlook-web-access if I first VPN into the corporate network.

For geneal internet access I hate fumbling with tiny phones and screens. I just ordered the AT&T "Tilt" and hope it is reasonably useful (I just switched from Verizon to AT&T). It is a personal experiment, and is not currently supported by my company email services. I will probably be able to run a VPN client and get outlook-web-access to corporate email, but we'll see how useful that turns out to be. I'm just looking for a cool PDA with easy internet access to see what I might want to do with it.

I don't need a smart phone, I need a smart me.

What in the heck are you guys talking about?




wiFi
OS
mail sync client
text messaging client.
corporate IMAP4 server
pop3 server
SMTP server
Palm TIX
GSM phone
blue tooth range
3G speeds
using the POS
I first VPN
cool PDA

I don't need a smart phone, I need a smart me.

What in the heck are you guys talking about?




wiFi
OS
mail sync client
text messaging client.
corporate IMAP4 server
pop3 server
SMTP server
Palm TIX
GSM phone
blue tooth range
3G speeds
using the POS
I first VPN
cool PDA


I only recognize one of these terms...and I'm pretty sure they are talking about something other than what "POS" means to me. :lol:

+1 on what DnvrFox said:
* wiFi
* IMAP4 server
*I first VPN

But it did remind me of the watermelon guy ... Gallagher ... with his spin on bumper stickers:
* I © my dog.
* I § my wife.

I only recognize one of these terms...and I'm pretty sure they are talking about something other than what "POS" means to me. :lol:

POS=Palm Operating System.

The rest doesn't compute. I'm not that smart. :o

Well, I must admit I know what WiFi is, as I have it installed in my home. I just threw it in for effect. And I also know what OS (operating system) is, and have a bit of a clue about bluetooth (a way to communicate between two different electronic devices - I think) - my phone is equipped with it, but I have never used it, and I also think I know what a PDA (??Personal Data Assistant??) is. But the point is that I find folks who work in "IT" do not naturally use language that those of us not in "IT" (Information Technology) can even begin to understand.

Perhaps the gap is unbridgeable?

PDA = Personal DIGITAL Assistant

PDA = Personal DIGITAL Assistant

Oh darn!

3G is where data starts to make sense over mobile devices. 4G will be the real answer, but wifi support (go into a starbucks and use their internet hotspot) is a very nice compromise for now (I think apple made the right decision). Blackberry's and iPhones aren't 3G.

BTW, the new starbucks network (rolling out in 08) has some very cool cooperative and co-marketing arrangements with iTunes and Apple (like caching servers so that popular songs download in seconds).

If you can access your corporate email via a browser from an internet connected PC, you may only need a phone capable of internet access. There are lots of those. If you need full access to your corporate mail servers including attachments, manipulation of attachments, and full reply capabilities, you're likely limited by your corporate policy. Mine doesn't allow outside access or forwarding outside the company network, but I can get outlook-web-access if I first VPN into the corporate network.

For geneal internet access I hate fumbling with tiny phones and screens. I just ordered the AT&T "Tilt" and hope it is reasonably useful (I just switched from Verizon to AT&T). It is a personal experiment, and is not currently supported by my company email services. I will probably be able to run a VPN client and get outlook-web-access to corporate email, but we'll see how useful that turns out to be. I'm just looking for a cool PDA with easy internet access to see what I might want to do with it.

Did you use any smart phone on Verizon? I am curious about the data speed differences between Verizon and AT&T.

3G speeds and throughput are roughly the same between the EVDO of Verizon and the HSPA of AT&T/Cingular. I have tested speeds and throughputs using data cards on both networks many times (also Sprint and T-Mobile). There may be differences in who has deployed the best technology into which areas, but where both have done their best the speeds are very similar.

Sprint bandwidth is also very good with EVDO. I have a EVDO Rev B chip inside my Vaio notebook (the case is CF btw) and I can logon anywhere. This has been a great advantage to me as most of my clients will not let you put a notebook on their network when you are on-site.

I don't need a smart phone, I need a smart me.

What in the heck are you guys talking about?




wiFi
OS
mail sync client
text messaging client.
corporate IMAP4 server
pop3 server
SMTP server
Palm TIX
GSM phone
blue tooth range
3G speeds
using the POS
I first VPN
cool PDA

I've been into computers from 1979. I maintained a computer used to operate the population systems on a guided missile destroyer as one of my many jobs on that ship. It had 8 thumb wheels with ones and zeros, a light above each thumb wheel indicating if there was a 1 or a 0 in that address, an execute button and a mylar tape reader so you could load the program if it lost it's memory. My first personal computer was a Timex Sinclair in 1982. In 1983 I obtained a Commodore 64 and adapted it to load the program for the engineering computer instead of the mylar tape. This cut load time from 2 hours to 15 minutes as the mylar tape had mistakes or "bugs" which required manually changing bits in memory with the 8 thumb wheels and execute button. Just look at how much we have progressed!

Now I understand why my Dad never used his VCR.