Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => Ctrl-Alt-Del => Topic started by: JennyB on 18 November, 2023, 10:28:15 am
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Now that I'm getting older and wiser, I'm finally coming round to having a mobile with me at all times, just for voice and text. I don't see it being used much, but I need to be sure it will work when I do. What does the panel recommend for reliability and lack of faff?
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A cheapo with a prepaid card would be a good thing to stash in the glove-box. Amazon have one for under 10€, but...
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A quick google gives the Nokia 105 as a good opinion. Not sure on best SIM deals these days, as many of the old style PAYG “load it up and the credit lasts forever” seem to have morphed into “buy 10Gb and it’ll expire in a month if you don’t use it” type deals. Many here rate giff-gaff. You might be as well of getting a £10 a month contract SIM. Others will know more.
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Sample of one:
I have a twenty year old Nokia 3210, given to me about ten years ago, used as a back up. They have such a reputation for reliability they've spawned a whole load of memes. Battery life on standby is a week+ and if a new one is ever needed they're available and replacing is tool free. Their cult status makes them a bit more expensive than alternatives from the same era, though that might also make it an investment!
I'm on GiffGaff, buy ten quid credit and it lasts forever as long as you use it once a month and you get a reminder to do so before it runs out. If you know someone on GiffGaff, get a referral and you'll both benefit.
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Just don’t try using a GiffGaff SIM in Abroad, where the FOREIGNS live, because you will run out of both credit and patience in very short order >:(
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Just don’t try using a GiffGaff SIM in Abroad, where the FOREIGNS live, because you will run out of both credit and patience in very short order >:(
Depends on your value of Abroad possibly. My GiffGaff SIM went with me this summer to .NL, .BE and .FR and worked like a charm and no extra expense. Did yours go to USAnia, for the watching of laying down bicycles?
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Just don’t try using a GiffGaff SIM in Abroad, where the FOREIGNS live, because you will run out of both credit and patience in very short order >:(
Depends on your value of Abroad possibly. My GiffGaff SIM went with me this summer to .NL, .BE and .FR and worked like a charm and no extra expense. Did yours go to USAnia, for the watching of laying down bicycles?
It did, and when I actually needed it to work it mostly didn’t. I was FUMMIN!
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Just don’t try using a GiffGaff SIM in Abroad, where the FOREIGNS live, because you will run out of both credit and patience in very short order >:(
Depends on your value of Abroad possibly. My GiffGaff SIM went with me this summer to .NL, .BE and .FR and worked like a charm and no extra expense. Did yours go to USAnia, for the watching of laying down bicycles?
It did, and when I actually needed it to work it mostly didn’t. I was FUMMIN!
To be fair, when it comes to Leftpondia, you're lucky if the phone speaks the same wossname. (Though I note they seem to have got with the programme in this respect since the 4G era.)
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My Nokia 2G handsets from the late 2000s still have good battery runtime and spare batteries are easy to come by. You can carry a spare battery instead of a charger. A week of standby is typical. They sell for around £10 on ebay and similar sites.
A Blackberry from the early 2010s will give similar functionality (calls and texts) but gives a much better text message experience due to a QWERTY keyboard. You'd get a standby time of 3 days and again the battery is removable so you can carry a spare. The models from around 2013 onwards also make usable music players, being compatible with multiple audio formats (including FLAC). You can buy these handsets for less than £10.
These are just starting to find a market as 'digital detox' phones for the smartphone generation, but prices haven't risen much as supply is plentiful - almost everyone has a spare phone in a drawer or in the loft.
As 3G networks are dismantled, any 3G handest will revert to the 2G network for calls, but that was good enough then, and it's good enough now IME, especially if this is being kept for occasional use.
Best PAYG deal I have found is 1p mobile, which requires £10 top up per quarter or £30 per year, on a direct debit. Texts cost 1p each to send, voice calls are 1p per minute and the credit rolls over. It runs on the EE network so will work for phones that have an Orange start-up screen or a T-Mobile one.
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We bought a cheap Nokia on Asda mobile PAYG.
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I didn't have my specs on when I sat down at the PC right now, and read the thread title as 'Emergency Trombone'.
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I didn't have my specs on when I sat down at the PC right now, and read the thread title as 'Emergency Trombone'.
That's prime Riker Googling (https://botsin.space/@RikerGoogling) material.
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Doro do a range of simpler/big button phones "for seniors", starting from around £30. They are generally a bit louder (ringer and speaker) than your average phone.
My mother unit will not entertain the idea of a hearing aid (fair enough) so she uses one of these. The last one I bought her met it's untimely demise after being dropped on a tiled floor. I will try and revive it at some point.
She bought herself a replacement and whilst swapping the SIM over, the dog stole the battery cover off of it and gave it a good chew. Enquiries were made about getting a replacement. We were prepare to pay for a replacement, but Doro sent one free of charge.