7 posts tagged “at&t”
Guess what - I'm getting a new phone!
But you already got a new phone, you say.
And then I say - well, yeah, but I really really hate the LG Neon and am exchanging it tomorrow for a different phone. Seriously, I hate that phone with a passion.
It's difficult when you are used to using (IMHO) a fabulous phone like the Sony Ericsson w810i. I had one complaint about the phone when I first got it 2 years ago and promptly forgot about it because it wasn't that important (you can't turn the phone on when the alarm goes off).
I'm sure someone somewhere likes the LG Neon and that's great. It has some good features but for me, it is just close but no cigar. Qwerty keyboard (but not like iPod touch's), 2.0 MP camera (but not like Sony Ericsson w810i0), stylish white casing (but hideous lime neon green with orange writing). Are my standards just too high? I don't think so. And today's wonderful (not!) discovery - the alarm will not work if the phone is turned off. Is this an LG thing? I can't remember all my past (Nokia, Motorola) phones but I know for sure that the alarms on the Motorola v300 and Sony w810i both work even when the phone is off.
My sister says get an alarm clock.
I did find out that the touch-screen keypad will have the alphabet letters sometimes. I guess just not when you're dialing a number (but it will appear if you are in the middle of a call).
Anyway, I am getting (hopefully) an LG CF360. This is the phone that my sis got. It's a slider phone, but a more traditional non-smartphone. The LG Neon is not a smartphone but it's more of a tweener/teener text-messaging phone. Think T-Mobile sidekick. And though the MP on the camera is lower (1.3MP), the pictures are clearer!
Overall, it just seems like a better phone than the Neon (knock on wood). The additional features of the Neon just don't make up for it's subpar performance in the non-smartphone arena. I mean - 8 ringtones (on the neon) compared to 20 on the CF360. Sure, you can always add your own ringtones, but I like having choices already there. Options to change font color and size. Like the Sony w810i! I'll still have to leave the phone on overnight (I do most of the time anyways) but I think I can deal. This time around :)
As my contract expired, I upgraded/extended for another 2 years and got a free LG Neon phone. I'm not much of a texter, and I don't use the internet on my phone, but I didn't like the style of the other phones they were offering (I don't like the flip phones these days, and I don't really care for the sliders).
The Neon is a slider phone - but laterally, as it has a QWERTY keyboard. For regular phone use, there is a touch-screen capability where you can type in the phone number on screen, but that's it. You can't even type in alpha characters in there. Which reminds me - I'll have to memorize which numeric keys correspond with the letters of the alphabet, in case I need to dial 1-800-numbers or something.
My favorite phone in my 10+ yrs of owning a cell would have to be the Sony Walkman w810i, the phone I was using up until 1 day ago. I don't care for the walkman feature - I have an iPod shuffle which does exactly what I need it to do - play music. I also have an iPod touch but using it for music would be a waste of battery.
The Neon has mp3 capabilities, but just like with the Sony - I'm not going to be using it. The camera is 2 MP, just like the Sony, but the quality is not as good. I also don't like the zoom feature. I'm not sure if it's the same with all LG phones (I think maybe), but there is not true zoom feature. Instead of zooming in, you can change the resolution size, effectively zooming in or out. However, when you are trying to take a pic on the fly, the last thing you want to do is have to push 5 buttons (or so) to zoom in. By that time, the pic opp is gone.
As for the QWERTY keyboard, well, thinking it would be useful may have been silly on my part. First, with a traditional phone keyboard, you can text with one hand. With a QWERTY, you can't. Compared to the QWERTY on the iPod touch, it's not quite as good. I'm used to the iPod touch suggesting words and correcting spelling, not to mention you can push the space bar (button) twice to insert a period and a space. To enter a period on the Neon, you have to hit the function key and then a button.
The phone itself is lightweight. It's slimmer than my Sony, but longer and wider. It fits well into pockets, though. On the side, there is a covered port for the headset/charger and for the microSD card. The coverings look as though they can fall off easily - it's pretty standard on LG phones, though.
Which brings me to the charger. The guy at the cellphone store told me to charge the phone for 10 hours (initial charging usually requires longer - but at least it isn't the 14 hours they used to suggest). I checked in the owner's manual but it didn't say anything. After 8 hours, I couldn't tell if the phone was done charging or not - there was no "charge complete" notification. However, it didn't look like it was still charging. And it was a booger trying to unplug the charger from the phone - it's wedged in quite deeply.
I'm not sure about battery life - it's reportedly supposed to be good. However, after using the phone for less than 1 day, I'm down to 2 (out of 3) bars. Is it because I didn't charge it long enough? Also, I don't like the 3-segmented battery icon that LG uses - it's too difficult to tell how much battery is left. Sony uses what iPod uses - an (unsegmented) battery icon. Plus, with the Sony, you could push one of the volume buttons and get phone information (how much battery left, etc).
I do like how LG phones are fairly customizable - you can change the soft keys and the directional key shortcuts. That was one thing I hated about the Samsung (SCH 300?) phone that my mom tried - soft keys were pre-set and unchangeable. She isn't going to need a shortcut to AIM plus there was no bluetooth.
I don't like how LG AT&T phones have a media net button (in the center of the directional pad) - I never use the internet but you can't change this button. It also serves as the "okay" button but you have to make sure you don't accidentally hit it and incur data charges (as my parents can attest to). On my sis's new LG phone (slider - CF360), they don't have such a button. Lucky!
I don't like the color scheme - the white color is fine. But the lime green (neon) color, with orange lettering - not so good. I think they used to have a blue/teal version which looks nice but it's not available anymore.
All in all, the Neon seems to be a nice phone. Not comparable to the Sony (for my purposes) and from what I've read, if you are a heavy texter, you should try the LG Xenon. Nonetheless, this phone is what I'll be using for the next 2 years - I think it'll be fine.
I'll be out of town for about 6 days in early May - being so attached to my email, I decided to add the unlimited data plan to my cell phone. I'm bringing my laptop and my iPod Touch, but this would ensure that I get my emails even without wi-fi.
I did the same thing when I went to Pittsburgh two years ago - but with a Motorola v300 on T-Mobile. Now, I have a Sony Ericsson (non-smartphone) on AT&T.
So I added the data plan today, the first day of the billing cycle. The first thing I noticed was that it was slow. I'm used to fast email on the iPod touch. Granted, that is wi-fi, this is not, but going from a wi-fi connection on a 3" screen, compared to the tiny sony screen.
And java - ugh. I don't like using java apps much. The email app on the sony only works with yahoo, hotmail and AIM. I use gmail, so that's not helpful. I did try to access my yahoo mail, but it wouldn't load. Switching to gmail - I installed gmail's mobile app. It worked okay, but when I went back to open the app, it disappeared. I then went back to gmail's website and tried downloading the app when I was informed that it was already installed. Then why can't I find it?!
So the only thing that I could use to check email was gmail's site directly. It was okay, but nothing great.
After some thought (like 10 minutes?), I decided that the slow connection wasn't worth it. I'd rather increase my text messaging plan to unlimited, and use gmail to send copies of my emails to my phone. Sort of like 'push" email, but since it's done through sms, there's no data charge. Of course, there are caveats - mostly the 160-character limit and not being able to send email out (unless I don't mind it being from my phone number@att).
But it would be low maintenance - I don't have to log in to get new messages, I don't have to start java, and I'm pretty sure it takes up less battery. I used to do this when I had t-mobile's unlimited family messaging plan (at just $10 for all the phones on the plan. It's now $20 on T-mobile, which is still cheaper than att's $30).
Anyway, yeah, I called customer care and told them that I wanted to remove the data plan and add the messaging (unlimited) plan. I also asked if my usage today would be pro-rated (so like $15/1 month = 50 cents per day, so just 50 cents) or if somehow I would be charged pay per use for today's usage. I think it's the first method - I tried explaining my question to customer care and I think that's what she answered.
I hope so... we'll see on the next bill...
1. Spent over 20 mins total trying to get the FAN for my mom's work, so we can get a discount on our AT&T wireless bill. AT&T is quickly getting on my nerves. I absolutely won't conduct business with Sprint (they were completely inept when it came to getting my former boss's account exempt from some tax, I forget which one - despite numerous calls and mailing in the form as they required several times) and I'm about to put AT&T on that list. Just 23 and a half more months to go.
2. People need to learn to not use "reply to all". It's really annoying and I don't need to continuously get emails regarding something that I don't care about.
3. Deadlines are deadlines for a reason.
Researcher: Oh, timesheets!
Me: They were due last week.
Researcher: Oh, okay, I was busy with such-and-such.
And yet you had time to listen to another researcher ramble on about his safari trip and watch video that he shot? Seriously, how long does it take to submit a timesheet?
Researcher: *puts t/s on my desk* Here's my timesheet.
Me: You need to get the boss's signature and then give it to me.
Researcher: Okay.
Yeah, it better be okay. I'm not going to haggle you about stuff you should know about - everyone else (even people who are younger) can follow the rules and deadlines, so can you.
4. Eat what you want, not what someone else wants you to eat.
We went to the med ctr for lunch today. I wanted to get pizza and fries. But then I decided not to, partly because one of the girls I was with said "no, don't eat burgers, don't eat pizza. It's greasy." No way?! Really?! I ended up getting breaded chicken with rice and broccoli. The breaded chicken was white meat - I like dark meat, not white. I should have just gotten what I wanted in the first place.
5. I think the expiration date on my friendship with a couple of the girls I eat lunch with is quickly approaching. It's funny - you don't realize it until it's almost time... they are getting on my nerves...
Just got my first Cingular (AT&T) bill. I have to pay a pro-rated amount for 7/1 to 7/7, and then the full monthly rate for 7/8 to 8/7. Hmmm, does this make sense? Why would I be paying the monthly charge for 7/8 to 8/7, when the month isn't over yet? How do they know what phone calls or messages I'm going to make or send?
I guess they just charge you the monthly rate and then on the following month's - if you make any overage calls or send messages outside a messaging plan - then you pay the difference. Then I found out that this is how most phone services (e.g. landlines) work. You pay for the next month.
Except on T-Mobile. It's been over 2 years since our first T-Mobile bill and I can't remember what the first bill looked like, but judging from the monthly bills... I think T-Mobile does this differently.
For example, the bill received mid-May, due May 27th covers the period from 4/1 to 5/1. The way it should be. (This also allows you to upgrade your monthly plan if you use a lot of minutes, over your allotment, etc).
I'd be interested in finding out how Verizon handles this... kind of annoying for AT&T since I also read that they don't prorate the last bill and then you need to *fight* for that one month advance refund at the end (most people forget)...
AT&T, be forewarned. I will be keeping a *very* close eye on the monthly bills to make sure I don't end up paying for one month more than two years...
Question: How do I check my text/pic msg on my AT&T account?
Short answer: Type *DATA# (*3282#) and push send.
Long answer: You can't.
I don't understand why AT&T is so behind with this. Ideally, the *data# should work, but if you've made any changes to your calling or features plan, you have to wait until the billing cycle is closed before you can get this information. Aside from that - it takes between 2 to 10 days for usage information to appear online.
Now, come on - why would I need to know how many msgs I sent after the month is over? I need this information now - so I can either curb back on msgs or start typing away... before the billing cycle ends.
As far as I can tell, T-Mobile is the best at this - you can check their website for up-to-date usage information (give or take a day, at most) as well as send (free) txt msgs such as #min# and #bal# to get the information via free txt msg on your phone. If I remember correctly, you can also change your features plan mid-month to accommodate your usage. Say you have a 400 msg/month plan for $4.99. You find out that you've sent/received 500 msgs - the 100 msgs over your limit. Those extra msgs are 15 cents a piece, so that would be $15 plus the $4.99. With T-Mobile, there's no worries - you can change your plan to either the 1000 msg/month for $9.99 or the unlimited msgs for just $14.99. Either way, you would pay less than the $4.99 plan + overage. As long as you change the plan before the billing cycle ends (so like the day before would be okay).
And then the next month, you just switch back to your old plan.
From what I've read, AT&T pro-rates their messaging plans - so if you add mid-month, you only pay a fraction of the cost, but you also only get to use a fraction of the messages. What fraction? Well, I'm sure there's some formula but I don't know. That's just too complicated for me.
And as I mentioned earlier, if you make a change to your plan, usage information is not available either online or by phone. Which really stinks.
And it takes *forever* for a picture message to be sent. I thought the AT&T network was supposed to be better than T-Mobile? So far, I've had static-y calls and slow message sending. What's up with that?
I don't know how Verizon handles this. Anyone know?
Yay, the picture messaging (MMS) on my phone works now. See, on the w810i, there's a dedicated button for MediaNet. Well, I'm *never* going to use MediaNet and I don't want my phone to accidentally connect to it (and pay through the nose, since I don't have a MediaNet bundle). Anyway, I looked online and decided to delete the settings for MediaNet and set up a dummy account so if it attempted to connect, it couldn't.
Well, you need to have MediaNet set up in order to use picture messaging. And though I knew that, I thought "eh, I can live without picture messaging." Except that I'm so used to my unlimited messaging from T-Mobile (ah, how I miss thee) that I really wanted it back.
But no matter how much I tried re-entering the settings - manually or sent from the SonyEricsson website, it would not work. I even did a Reset Settings (which resets only the settings, but keeps everything else) to no avail. I did manage to get my sis's phone working, though. Not sure why mine wouldn't work.
So we stopped by the phone store today to get my parents new phones. They ended up getting LGs - works pretty well, camera seems nice, has bluetooth (big plus, like I mentioned before). I don't think you can change the soft keys, but at least one of them is not dedicated to IMing (seriously, what was Samsung thinking?!). The lady only had 1 phone though so she's going to mail us the other one.
Anyway, we passed by an AT&T wireless store so I went in and had them fix my picture messaging problem. The gal (Stacy?) asked my phone number and the name on the account and then type,type,type - turned the phone off and back on and asked me to try. Voila!
The picture above was the first picture message I have sent on the Cingular/AT&T network (I don't know why the multimedia stuff is still on the Cingular network - they need to decide whether to be Cingular or AT&T... I think they should stick with "Cingular" since it's a more widely known name for cellphones, but whatevs). Back to the picture - it's a picture of chinese knot thing in the shape of a pineapple. It was hanging on a plant in my eye doctor's office. The word "pineapple" in Taiwanese (ong lai) sounds similar to "fortune come". So it's supposed to be good luck.
And I returned the Canon Powershot A570 camera to Costco. They asked why we were returning it and I told them that I was thinking of getting a (digital) SLR rather than a point and shoot. Which is the truth.
