(Note for mods)
Okay, So, I finally settled, well, not "settled" but found the phone I have been waiting for for a while, the Galaxy Note 2 from AT&T. As many of you may know, I recently dumped verizon due to the *ehem* mess that was the galaxy nexus. Tossing my unlimited data (and tethering!) along with it because the nexus, just did not work. So I went to AT&T, got a one x because I was gun shy on the SIII but my sister ended up getting one, and it worked great. The One X, while a good phone, it was not what I wanted. So, since I bought the One X out right, I was able to upgrade the device to an SIII of my own. Another great phone, just not quite "there" When the Note II came out, it was like WOW! Since I had the One X on its own line (it was kind of a pass-around-device for the household and some phone shuffling also happened in the house, I managed to upgrade the one x again for the note (I was going to buy the Note II full price to "buy out my contract" but AT&T did not allow that, they said I would need to terminate my line and so on so I just upgraded again. I know).
So, its going great with the Note II. Good service at work, around my usual places I typically go and so on, BUT I transfered to a new job location and guess what?
Barely any service out there! I even took the one x out today and it was the same thing. I can barely send a text message! I can use wifi on breaks but there is just one issue... the wifi don't reach me in most of the places and don't work outside. LTE and Data is hit or miss, totally unreliable for what I went into with these devices. Calls, well have had issues placing phone calls too. Basically, my AT&T devices are useless there.
Just a waste of battery.
Now, this is not a huge issue for most people, I am sure and even so for me, but weather is the issue. Being an avid weather watcher, and being on the look out for storms and so on, I cannot get the info! I can't check for important warnings and info. I cannot reliably share reports and other info, at least in real time.
Last year, the first of the season there was a reported tornado that touched down close to where I live and work. Like with in a couple miles... moving at 25mph and.... well, you get the idea.
So, this presents a dilema for me. A cell phone that I cannot use while I am out. AT&T has only two LTE towers. Verizon 6 and evidently one serves the new area I now work in.
So, I am thinking about going to verizon and opening up another line. Yes. It don't make a whole lot of since, I guess. I looked at small tablets and the smallest decent one is a 8.9" XYboard and it will not fit in my pocket. Or, something that would... an iPad mini
The ipad mini: No contract, pay as you go service. I get the radar maps I need, twitter service and a few other things too.
The price gets me though, even the low end model cost nearly 500 bucks! And, it would be awkward in my pocket and would likely attract unwanted attention while I am trying to sneak a peek at the radar map.
The other option? Another Galaxy Note II.
Yup. Same phone different network. And the possibility of carrying two devices at the same time.
All this, of course, is depending whether or not I can get a signal on a verizon device out there. If not, then I can call the whole thing off.
I think verizon gives me 3 days to totally back out of a contract. It would be a bit hard to test this in three days.
The long and short:
AT&T phones work almost everywhere I go... unless it is at work.
Run two phones at once (AT&T Note II and Verizon Note II) Or perhaps (and this makes a bit more sense) use my AT&T Note II and use say an iPad mini for the data, but if I need to make a phone call and the AT&T note II can't find a signal... well.
Thoughts? And please, keep the anti apple stuff out. Right now, the iPad mini is about the only thing on verizon that comes close, that would fit in my pocket. The Galaxy tab 7.7 runs honey comb and can I trust verizon to push out an update for this thing? And the cost of the outdated tech (Yes, I now, looks at ipad mini....
)
Got a bit of an issue.
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