Dumb phone: recommend me one, please.

[r04DiE]

Instead of wasting money on another phone, why not turn your smartphone into a dumb one? Turn the data and the Wi-Fi off and you won't be bothered by anything other than text messages and calls, and you get to keep your nice big screen and easy to use keyboard.

There is too much unknown technology in a smart phone for you to know exactly what it is leaking out about you, even with WiFi, etc turned off. I don't trust them. I much prefer the idea of an old phone that only supports 2G. Anyway, its far too tempting to re-enable these services and just start wasting your time on the thing again.

 

[r04DiE]

... Where I am the 2G networks have shutdown, Vodafone was the last 2G signal around here but they too went dark just fortnight ago...

Thank you - this is exactly what I am after!

 

[Drago]

2G is the GSM signal. If 2G had been switched off you wouldn't be able to make any calls or send texts. Tamiya is probably referring to the Wireless Application Protocol, which was the earliest form of commercial mobile phone internet.

 

[r04DiE]

I have one of these, or one very like it:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-Ne...-Unlocked-Mobile-Phone-WARRANTY-/283000161062

Got mine for a tenner or not much more when they were still just about current. Unlocked.

Great phone - nice keyboard, which can (oo) be set to light up. Nicely made, nice feel, dropped it a fair few times with no great problems. Great for calls and texting. Nicely made. Small. Battery lasts for ages. Spare batteries can be obtained for not a lot from ebay for probably evermore. No frills, not even a radio or camera. Oh, makes a great alarm clock. Unlike some smart phones you can switch it off at night and it will, clever smart thing that it is, wake itself up to sound the alarm. Other basic functions like a countdown timer with alarm - handy - I set it whenever I out the espresso pot on the stove so that I don't forget it and fry the pot.

Worried that all remaining stocks would be buried in a purge I bought another second hand pretty much as new off ebay for a tenner.

Note that it cannot be used on the Three network. As it's 2G.

Mine is on Asda mobile - nice and simple.

Be aware that there is another basic phone under various brandings (forget them) that is appalling - sound quality dire and it, believe it or not, doesn't have predictive tesxting.

PS - can't help but be intrigued by your "privacy reasons".

Great write-up and thank you for that. I'll definitely be considering one of those.

The privacy thing started a long time ago for me. I value my privacy and all of these smart phones are basically tracking devices that not only record your physical position on the planet, but also also all of your browsing habits, metadata, etc, etc. I could go on but I won't bore you. I just value my privacy and I do take measures to make sure that it is not as easy as it might be for others to get their hands on it.

 

[r04DiE]

@r04DiE I am sorry to hear you have been through some hassle.

I had some trouble nearly 10 years ago on Facebook and more recently (2years ago) on WhatsApp. Intrusive and disturbing. I am no longer in touch with those people. I think in the eighties they would have been referred to as stalkers.

However rather than ditching the phone, I just removed the apps. Could you do that? I am self employed and I use my phone for client contact and invoicing during the day, every day.

I use it for music and podcasts when doing mundane work. During lunch and tea breaks, I catch up on CC where I learn and laugh a lot. I can also sort out household admin too. I would honestly be lost without it. I am one of the cyborgs you could say, but I don’t walk around glued to the thing. I don’t get it out my pocket if I am in a social situation or school gate etc. I watched (ok curtain twitched) with bemusement a couple of weeks ago, the weirdest BBQ ever. The young couple a few doors down had a gaggle of friends and kids over for a BBQ. They all sat around on the lawn in almost complete silence as they all mucked about on their phones. The men were worse.

Maybe cull all the intrusive apps that cause problems and run your phone as a slimmed down version.

Ha ha, thank you for that but I would just rather a basic phone because of this:

Great write-up and thank you for that. I'll definitely be considering one of those.

The privacy thing started a long time ago for me. I value my privacy and all of these smart phones are basically tracking devices that not only record your physical position on the planet, but also also all of your browsing habits, metadata, etc, etc. I could go on but I won't bore you. I just value my privacy and I do take measures to make sure that it is not as easy as it might be for others to get their hands on it.

 

[r04DiE]

2G is the GSM signal. If 2G had been switched off you wouldn't be able to make any calls or send texts. Tamiya is probably referring to the Wireless Application Protocol, which was the earliest form of commercial mobile phone internet.

Yep, I think so and I am happy to have none of that!

 

[jefmcg]

2G is the GSM signal. If 2G had been switched off you wouldn't be able to make any calls or send texts. Tamiya is probably referring to the Wireless Application Protocol, which was the earliest form of commercial mobile phone internet.

This is wrong. Australia is the process of switching off the 2g networks (to free the bandwidth for something else.

This is why I sadly disposed of 2 perfectly good old Nokia's because they would no one could use them in Australia, and packing them into a suitcase reminded me too much of my friend with then-undiagnosed schizophrenia, carrying a VCR he'd found 5 miles to our house.

I now realise I could have quickly found good homes for them here, perfectly usable with the addition of a poundland adapter.

Possibly they were this model:

 

[swee'pea99]

If I wanted a dumb phone I'd go for the classiest dumb phone ever made, which was:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nokia-82...044340&hash=item28330bdf51:g:RAwAAOSwWktaUsLc

At worst you might have to get a new battery, but they're in plentiful supply on ebay for seven or eight quid.

Real quality. A lovely piece of kit.

 

[r04DiE]

If I wanted a dumb phone I'd go for the classiest dumb phone ever made, which was:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nokia-82...044340&hash=item28330bdf51:g:RAwAAOSwWktaUsLc

At worst you might have to get a new battery, but they're in plentiful supply on ebay for seven or eight quid.

Real quality. A lovely piece of kit.

I like that one, thanks for that.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Second DORO phones. £15 and really loud ringer for when on bike.

 

[classic33]

Ericsson handsets accept and work with a 4g SIM card.

Your posistion can stilll be located by triangulation between masts. The handset still "logs onto" each mast.

 

[classic33]

@ro4die, given your other thread, would you be wanting it there?

 

[r04DiE]

Ericsson handsets accept and work with a 4g SIM card.

Your posistion can stilll be located by triangulation between masts. The handset still "logs onto" each mast.

Thanks, yes - I know about the triangulation thing. I just want rid of the smart phone as it saps too much of my time and I don't know what it is sending to whom. I just hate the whole smartphone thing now. I will keep mine for emergencies only!

 

[r04DiE]

@ro4die, given your other thread, would you be wanting it there?

I will take one but I will try to do without it. This is the only time that I would like a smart phone, just for when you might get stuck! Mainly I will be relying on my ELEMNT, but that is configurable only via the companion app, which is installed, you guessed it, on a smart phone! That said, there should be no reason that I need to configure it, but you never know!

 

[Drago]

Mobile phone masts are almost all omni directional. There are directional, or sectored, cells but they are rare and reserved for places like halfway up tall buildings where you don't want to waste electromagnetic energy cooking the residents.

As such, it isn't possible to trig very well using mobile phone masts alone. Best you can hope for is an ellipse, which in an urban area is liable to be several hundred metres, extending to miles in open country where the cell sites are further apart.