[ale] [OT] Cell phones

Charles Shapiro hooterpincher at gmail.com
Thu Aug 18 10:41:28 EDT 2016


Swappa ( http://swappa.com ) is your friend.  I've had good results buying
several phones from them, including my current Daily Driver ( HTC One M8
running CM 11).

When you get your new phone, install a 3rd party build on it. Here's one
good reason (
https://slashdot.org/story/16/08/17/1640259/verizon-offered-to-install-marketers-apps-directly-on-subscribers-phones
) Here's another ( http://mashable.com/2011/12/01/carrier-iq/#SmGKWjVxjqqK
).   I favor CyanogenMod (http://cyanogenmod.org), but YMMV.  I usually
start by finding what phones are compatible with my chosen brand of AOSP
("Android Open Source Project") OS  and working backward from there.

Verizon is notably unfriendly to letting you control your phone, but I have
managed to root and install my own OS on a Verizon phone in the past. Alas,
Verizon's network is all CDMA, which means that your phone won't work
overseas in most places. GSM networks (open protocol, used in most places)
require a SIM card, which you can easily buy and replace to change your
network in a foreign country.  Some few phones are bi-modal, but most are
one or the other. T-Mobile runs a GSM network in the USA, but their
coverage is notably poorer than Verizon's.  T-Mobile is also at least
marginally more friendly to people who wish to actually own their own
phone.  Ain't no such thing as a perfectly straight high. AFAIK, both
carriers will work with your phone -- ask to see "BYOD" (Bring Your Own
Device) plans.

Be aware that the radio software in your phone is a nightmare of
untouchable proprietary code and unknowable security holes.  OTOH, Apple
devices are *entirely* that nightmare.

Real Writers Use Emacs and TeX.

-- CHS

On Thu, Aug 18, 2016 at 10:17 AM, Leam Hall <leamhall at gmail.com> wrote:

> My current Galaxy S3 from Verizon hasn't been OS patched in a while and
> has been dropped more than once. A replacement might be good. Looking at
> the Verizon pages and doing the math, an unlocked S4 or S5 might be a good
> deal. I try to keep stuff until it dies and may do some overseas travel.
>
> Is the plan to buy my own and use it with Verizon feasible? What other
> things should I look at? The goal is an Android based phone with a pretty
> simple usage pattern; text, calls, web, and one 3rd party app.
>
> On a different note, my wife wants me to move to Mac and iPhone. I'm a
> fledgling writer and most of the tools real writers use don't work on
> CentOS.  :(  So, is there a reason for Android, in that I'm not at the
> level of writing my own apps for it?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Leam
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