Can I buy a phone that a cell carrier does not sell and it will still work. - Page 2
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Thread: Can I buy a phone that a cell carrier does not sell and it will still work.

  1. #16
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  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by question2012 View Post

    The large phone may look way out of proportion to your face when using it but when you have bad eye sight like mine and big fingers having a much larger screen so the print is larger and you get more print on the screen and the keyboard keys are larger and easier to type one character at a time it is more of functionality for your personal needs compared to what looks right in my case - of course with meeting my financial budget.
    Know what you mean. Large hands (10" span) and old, bad vision here as well. So whenever possible, I use dictation, (I talk to my phone and it types it into my messages for me). I also use Google's "Voice Search" (instead of trying to type it in). Once you get used to it, talking to it is not only easier, it's one heck of a lot faster than trying to type in one character at a time on a little on-screen keyboard.

  3. #18
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    SpywareDr yes I do the same thing when I can. Speaking into the phone so it types is much easier and faster although on a regular keyboard I can do about 60 words minute, but on a small phone it is not nearly as easy to do.

    My problem though is that since my phones internal memory is so darn low (I guess this is the issue) that when I try and use the "speak to phone" function it does not always work. It just keeps saying "initializing". Especially when trying to send out a text message. So I have to exit messaging and go back in for the darn speach thing to work. Sometimes that takes more time than just typing the darn text out to begin with. The other issue is that while typing out a text "messaging" just bombs out and I lose all that I just typed in and have to start all over again. So i am forced to send out just one sentence at a time so if it does bomb I only lose one sentence instead of three paragraphs.

    I don't know if it is because of the type of phone I have or the particular service but I use the messaging service that comes with the phone from Boost. When I get text messages from people that are very long the message will come in in several segments at once instead of one text message and when it does come in in several segments it does not come in in any organized order so I have to figure out what segment I have to start with and which segment is next to read and so on. What a pain!!

  4. #19
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    Yeppirs, that does sound like a real PITA. There is no doubt you need a better solution.

  5. #20
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    Some information on text message length and limitations:

    https://www.twilio.com/docs/glossary...haracter-limit

    More than you ever wanted to know about text messaging:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS#Message_size

    What I generally do when I want to send a text message is to send it using a computer and the carrier's e-mail to text message system. Each carrier has a different e-mail address format that you would send to. Using a computer, you can compose the message using WordPad or Word so you don't have to worry about losing it if something goes wrong, then just copy and paste it into an e-mail and send it. You still have the limit on size, and it will be broken up if it is too long. Below is a link with information on how to do this and the e-mail address formats to use for different carriers. The drawback is that you have to know which carrier your recipient is using for this to work.

    https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile...email-account/

    Note: If you want the message to appear on your phone also, you can send a copy to yourself by putting the appropriate phone # @ your carrier's e-mail to text address into the CC: field on the e-mail.

  6. #21
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    I've been following this problem. Have you tried using a pencil eraser or a stylus to hit the keys of a phone that's otherwise right for you?

    Win7 Ult/ 3.40 GHZ Intel Core i5-3570K /ASRock mobo Z77 Pro4 /SSD/ EUFI MS 3400 MHZ/8 GB RAM; Win 7 Ult/Verizon FIOS wired network
    Waterfox Classic/Chrome / Firefox 115esr
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    "The medium is the message." - Marshall McLuhan

  7. #22
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    Pencil eraser or stylus - no I have not. The only thing on me at the moment when I need to send a text message or email is/are my fingers. I really don't have the time or ease of using these two things. They are a good idea but being "on the go" I can't be carrying these with me just for sending a text. But thanks for the suggestion.

    Now realizing that the calluses on my fingers are making it even more difficult for me to reply to message and emails is even more now complicating my ability to send a text or email. I guess the phone screen does not "sense" my finger with my callus on the particular finger I use.

    Hey maybe soon they will have a phone that you can just "think your thoughts" which will convert to "typed words" so you don't have to bother typing all the words out.

    My present phone is ready to go flying thru the air against the wall. Getting very frustrated about now.

  8. #23
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    Although I appreciate the links (and sorry for the delay in my response) reading all this just does not make any sense to me and is far too complicated for me to retain or remember.

    An example of what they say is as follows:
    A common mistake is to inadvertantly use a UCS-2 character thinking it's GSM7 character because GSM7 isn't a supported character set in many text editors. The classic mistake is to use "curly quotes" not realizing it's part of UCS-2 and not GSM7.
    I am 62 and not losing my mind yet but trying to understand all this just may cause me to before my "time". Wow!! - But thank you for the links. I guess I have to go back to school to learn what GSM7 and UCS-2 is. And to think I used to be a computer programmer and IT analyst.

  9. #24
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    Like I said above, learn to talk to it and let it do the work.

  10. #25
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  11. #26
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    Thanks so much for the links.

    Although some are very tempting I think at this point I am still leaning towards the
    Blue Vivo X that you SpywareDr suggested back in Feb.

    It is expensive but looking at the operating systems of many androids and the "space" they take up in gigs with their updates I am really pushing myself towards this phone.

    64 gigs internal and the other goodies and looking at the most recent "android" operating system with future updates which will in turn take up even more internal memory etc I think this is the way to go.

    It will allow me to speak to the phone and then the phone will trans"script" my words to "typed" words will do it. I know other phones will do this but with all this extra internal memory etc it will "flow" with me more so than other phones.

    I read here and there the great phones (so called) that have 16 gigs internal but after the operating system and the updates will already be up to 14 gigs which brings me back to the start again.

    This Blue Vivo X is out of my budget but buying a phone just "inside" my budget and realizing I will outgrow it in just months makes up for the extra cost I believe.

    Probably will be buying Blu soon as I scrape my pennies together.

  12. #27
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  13. #28
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    Well I did it. I bought the Blu Vivo X on Amazon. Will get it by Monday March 26th. Can't wait!!
    My problem now is finding a good shock proof case to protect it. Everywhere I look the cases are just cheap pieces of plastic. Paying this much for a phone I want to be sure it won't break because it drops. I must have dropped my present phone 54 times since I owned it but because of its great case it does not show any wear at all.

    Meantime I also bought the warranty with it for stupid stuff like spilling something on it. Dropping it etc. If I am spending that much for the phone I will spend $80 for the plan.

  14. #29
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    Awesome!

    Walmart may have some cases for that phone.

  15. #30
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    Well I got my phone on Monday as promised to me by Amazon.

    I could not wait to activate it so jumped in my car and drove 25 miles to the closest Cricket wireless store. Show it to the guy in the store and he says I can't activate it because it is not a phone that cricket sells and it won't work on the ATT network. Gee, how I love how they have people working in the store that don't know any better. I told him it is a GSM factory unlocked phone and it will work on ATT network.

    He said he never heard of a GSM phone before. Urgh!! no one else in the store and I was not about to drive home and come back another time when someone who knew anything about this was working. So I kind of pushed it on him to activate it as he would a phone that I would have purchased in the store. He went thru the entire process of attempting to activate it and after 45 minutes succeeded. But not without a "oh no" out of his mouth after he fired up the phone putting the sim chip in it. "It does not say Cricket when it powers up; see, I told you it would not work". I told him to at least make an attempt to place a call from it. He dialed the store number and the store phone rang. Both phones to his ears (one to each ear) he was speaking to himself. Shock on his face. Hung up the phones and looked at me and said "hey, it works". He fiddled a little more with the phone and said "holy heck, this thing has 64 gigs of internal memory - never heard of that!!". Don't you just love how they have people working in the stores that don't know much about other than exactly what they sell. Then as he was wrapping up the final transaction on the register the manager walked in from the back room, took one look at my phone and said "Oh, nice!! a Blu - crazy nice phone you got there". The manager knew all about it. Good thing I pushed the guy into at least attempting to activate it. Was going to ask him if there was a manager available but did not have to. I guess this guy learned something new on Monday.

    Meantime, it is wicked fast so far. Not going to promote the phone on this thread but I am very happy with it so far. Thanks SpywareDR for the suggestion.

    But when I am handling it I feel like I have 6 eggs in my hand and I don't dare drop them. I still for the life of me can't find a good solid shock proof case for it. All I can seem to find are screen protectors. I want a good shock absorbing phone case. I even did some "contact us" on some cell phone case sites asking for their best shock proof case price/model for my phone telling them I am willing to pay what it takes for a good case. No one ever replies to my inquires.

    All I can find are phone cases for a Blu other than the Vivo X. I am getting very frustrated now and almost feel like I don't want to take it out of my pocket unless I am sitting down, have my legs together and cradle the darn thing like a new born baby. The slim design makes it so easy to slip out of your hand.

    I paid this much for a very nice phone, paid the money for a protection warranty but can't find a lousy case to protect it. Really?!!

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