[eogintz]

Hi Folks,

I am posting this question here because it had been posted in the Communications Thread but with almost no response. I thought that I may get more of a response in the General Forum.

I am looking for a new basic cell phone which is NOT a smartphone that will work and pair well with my 2008 328XI. I simply use this phone for calls and texting and have no need for, nor want a Smartphone. I need the following;

AT&T network configured
good call quality, reception and volume
good battery life
something sturdy that will last (my current Motorola is 7 years old)
pair well and easily with BMW
a touch screen or traditional keypad would be OK

I visited two dealers who were only able to provide me with a listing of NEW phones which were all Smartphones that are compatible with BMW. This info was of no use to me.

Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Ed

[mccannable]

iPhone.

[E90Company]

Pretty much any phone you buy nowadays, that has bluetooth, will work with your car.

I reccomend the blackberry. There was just one released for ATT that has a keyboard and touch screen. That will for sure be compatible and very easy to use. They are bricks if you drop them

Good Luck!

[eogintz]

Thanks guys for your input but both of the phones you recommended are smartphones and subject to monthly data plan charge. I do not want or NEED a smartphone and I am just looking for a good quality basic phone which seems harder and harder to find these days.

My wife has an old IPhone 3 that she would give me but would you believe that AT&T has told me that this is classified as a smartphone and subject to a $30 monthly data plan fee. I said this is riduculous since I will only be using it for calls and texts and need no data use at all. They said ANY phone classified as a smartphone is subject to monthly data plan fee if I use data or not. What a joke!

[BenTrovato]

Buy an unlocked used blackberry in mint condition. There are lots around, and then just subscribe yourself to a voice and text plan.

[CUTigers]

Samsung a777(free)
LG GU295(9.99)
LG A340(19.99)
AT&T F160(19.99)
LG Xpression(49.99)
Samsung Rugby 2(99.99)
Motorola Tundra (199.99)

Got those of the AT&T website. Any of those should not require a data plan. They all have Bluetooth.

The rugby 2 and tundra are rugged outdoor phones if you want that. The cheaper phones are some regular phones. Hope this helps.

[ChasVS]

Motorola Tundra
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-pho...id=eHmnxpSzCO6

[cgpublic]

Here's the skinny to unlock an out-of-contract iPhone:

http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2012/04...res-imei-only/

Once unlocked, you should be able to secure a non-data plan from AT&T; if not, try T-Mobile.

[RoundelM3]

I have a Samsung Convoy - it works very well with the bluetooth in my E92. I don't have iDrive, and this phone does everything I need. Finding a number via the radio display is easy and the voice comman works quite well too. I will probably replace the Convoy with a new Convoy II when my 2 years on this phone are up.

[AcidMal]

Trust me bro, you need one.
iPhone will change your life.
Even if you only talk and text.

Would you drive a steam engine if you only needed to get from a to b?

I promise you one thing, technology is much like any luxury product, anyone can claim its not necessary but you really don't know how much you needed it until you buy and use it. Then you will refuse to live without it.

This is why I got convenience package. Now I will never buy a car without it.

[username604]

+1 on iPhone
it's like having a bmw haha
probably 95% of current new phones will work with bmw's bluetooth. it's just regular bluetooth from what i've experienced. i've connected multiple non-smart phones (dumb and annoying phones!) to my car with no problems.

edit: here's my iPhone 4

[eogintz]

Thanks everyone for your quick replies. I truly appreciate your input.

I just got off the phone with AT&T and found out the following;

1) IPhones locked or unlocked are considered smartphones and subject to data plans. I could use them but they will be picked up by AT&T's equipment as smartphones and charges will be added accordingly.
2) Blackberry's are considered smartphones.
3) CUTigers list is good and will work but some quick checks on CNET show that these phones get very mixed reviews. I will need to check more thoroughly and see which one is the best.
4) Samsung Convoy put out by Verizon and I have AT&T
5) Last entry regarding buying Iphone and data plan. I am retired and receive about 10 calls per week and perhaps 15 text messages per week. Any business or e mails that I do I use my laptop at home. I don't download music, take pictures, don't use Facebook, Twitter, etc. so I really have No need for a smarthphone for an additional $30 a month. Can't see me ever using features of smartphone and I hate to give AT&T $360 bucks a year for something that I will definitely not be using.

Thanks again for all of your comments and I will keep looking. There are a couple of older Motorola's V9 and Z9 that seem to get good reviews and can be purchased on Ebay. They do not require any data plans.

Ed

[CUTigers]

No prob. I just pulled what ATT had on their site as new phones available. I could list a million of used phones that work lol. I had an LG Dare that I connected before my iPhone 4.

I feel ya about the data plan. It's senseless if not used.

[jphughan]

Fyi, it's possible to own an iPhone without a data plan; you just obviously can't use cellular data. If you obtain one from wherever, just go to Settings > General > Network and turn Cellular Data off, then move your AT&T SIM into that iPhone. It will still work for talk and text just fine, and of course data will work if you're on Wifi. Just don't tell AT&T you've switched your SIM from your dumbphone into an iPhone or you'll get the whole "You need a data plan" line even though that's not technically true. Obviously this arrangement limits the iPhone's usefulness while you're on the go, but at least you're not paying for data. Just make sure to keep that Cellular Data option disabled because data rates when you don't have a data plan are beyond obscene.

But as others have said, an iPhone really will change your life. I offered mine to a friend who had the same "I don't really need a smartphone" belief, but after he watched the WWDC unveiling of the original iPhone to get an idea of what it offered, he decided to give it a shot with the data plan, and he was sold on it within hours. The cheapest data plan is only $15/month.

[ragingclue]

Doesn't AT$T have some pretty basic pay-as-you-go phones? Those should be alright, right?

[CarFan]

Originally Posted by eogintz

Thanks everyone for your quick replies. I truly appreciate your input.

I just got off the phone with AT&T and found out the following;

1) IPhones locked or unlocked are considered smartphones and subject to data plans. I could use them but they will be picked up by AT&T's equipment as smartphones and charges will be added accordingly.
2) Blackberry's are considered smartphones.
3) CUTigers list is good and will work but some quick checks on CNET show that these phones get very mixed reviews. I will need to check more thoroughly and see which one is the best.
4) Samsung Convoy put out by Verizon and I have AT&T
5) Last entry regarding buying Iphone and data plan. I am retired and receive about 10 calls per week and perhaps 15 text messages per week. Any business or e mails that I do I use my laptop at home. I don't download music, take pictures, don't use Facebook, Twitter, etc. so I really have No need for a smarthphone for an additional $30 a month. Can't see me ever using features of smartphone and I hate to give AT&T $360 bucks a year for something that I will definitely not be using.

Thanks again for all of your comments and I will keep looking. There are a couple of older Motorola's V9 and Z9 that seem to get good reviews and can be purchased on Ebay. They do not require any data plans.

Ed

I have AT&T and as a goodwill gesture right before Christmas they actually sent me a free phone in the mail -- its a Pantech Breeze -- no contract extension required. It's not a smart phone but it has built in Bluetooth. I gave it to my mother who doesn't even text but does have a car with bluetooth.

[Ryballz]

Take her iphone, turn off data.
Swap your sim card. Don't tell AT&T.

[tofu-]

My Nokia luma 8600 works great with the Bluetooth

[Jace_91]

Clearly people are not very good listeners, any phone that ATT currently sells I'm almost certain will have bluetooth and thats all you need in order to pair it with the car and it should be pretty straight forward… iPhone requires a data plan because it automatically updates a lot of things, and I still don't understand how you could live without a smart phone but hey to each their own. I personally would avoid pantech and HTC, Ive had friends with bad experiences with both. check out the samsung evergreen, it is simple and free, or the LG A340

[RoundelM3]

iPhone will certainly change your life, but not necessarily for the better. How many people do you see staring at their phone, thumbing through messages and texts, playing with apps and other activities when they should be paying more attention to what they're doing? If you need a gadget to "change your life", you might want to re-examine your priorities. The phone manufacturers and carriers all want you to think you NEED a "data plan", when very few people really can say they make use of it for other than personal amusement.

Eoqintz (OP), you may want to consider changing from AT&T to any other carrier - I've never had anything but bad luck with them. Verizon, on the other hand, has been my carrier for about 8 years now and I've never had a complaint.

[tofu-]

Originally Posted by roundel335

iPhone will certainly change your life, but not necessarily for the better. How many people do you see staring at their phone, thumbing through messages and texts, playing with apps and other activities when they should be paying more attention to what they're doing? If you need a gadget to "change your life", you might want to re-examine your priorities. The phone manufacturers and carriers all want you to think you NEED a "data plan", when very few people really can say they make use of it for other than personal amusement.

Eoqintz (OP), you may want to consider changing from AT&T to any other carrier - I've never had anything but bad luck with them. Verizon, on the other hand, has been my carrier for about 8 years now and I've never had a complaint.

i can't count how often being able to search the web or look up directions on my phone's gps has saved me or the person i was with A LOT of time

[RoundelM3]

I can count how many times I NEEDED to "look something up on the web" or look up directions - ZERO! I have a GPS in my cars and I have occasionally even stopped and actually talked to someone in person. There is such a thing as being TOO connected and in a symbiotic relationship with a gadget.