[Leica] OT: Tracfone and GPS

[pklein at threshinc.com (Peter Klein)]

Thanks, Sonny and Herb.

Tracfone costs me about $120 per year for 800-1200 "talk" minutes, which 
I don't ever use up. This yearly option is the least expensive way to 
go. So if this S390G "semi-" smartphone does most of what I can 
genuinely use, I'll be happy. It has WiFi, and I can always use up some 
of those surplus minutes for emergency Internet when WiFi is not available.

If that turns out to be not enough, I can move up to Virgin Mobile for 
about $400/year for a plan with 300 talk minutes/month and unlimited 
data. That's more than I'm paying now, but still a far cry from a 
regular cell provider with their financial shell games. They support 
both Androids and iPhones.

I found a factory refurbished Garmin 1450LMT GPS for $92 on Amazon, so I 
just went ahead and ordered that.  I can always sell it if I get a 
"real" Smartphone later. But I found this unit so easy to use on my New 
England trip that it may be preferable for use in the car anyway.

--Peter


 > There are relatively inexpensive GPS units from Garmin, Tom Tom, and
 > Magellan that are intended for automotive use and give audible turn 
by turn
 > instructions. A few years ago, I bought a Garmin Street Pilot for my 
wife,
 > choosing it over the (current) Nuvi (SP?) model because it was seriously
 > larger, giving it larger speakers and therefore better sound quality. 
The
 > theory of the smaller Nuvi was that it would serve both as an automotive
 > model and a hand-held one while walking. I don't believe the Street 
Pilot is
 > currently available.
 >
 > kanner at acm.org
 > 650-326-8204
 >
 > Question authority and the authorities will question you.
 >