Need a Decent Phone
- Thread starter LunarMist
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Santilli
Hairy Aussie
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Thanks. Looks like next phone is S20 something.
Can't find if the S20Ultra has the audio out jack.
6.9" screen, and microsd card slot.
12 gb ram.
Price ok.
Does anyone have a suggestion for someone who used 22 gb of data last month?
A plan that works, but is cheapest possible?
2 phones.
Thanks
Can't find if the S20Ultra has the audio out jack.
6.9" screen, and microsd card slot.
12 gb ram.
Price ok.
Does anyone have a suggestion for someone who used 22 gb of data last month?
A plan that works, but is cheapest possible?
2 phones.
Thanks
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
I usually suggest Boost Mobile to people looking to cut their mobile bill. Boost is a Tmobile MVNO that has a $25 for everything plan with IIRC a 30GB throttled cap. Being an MVNO means you won't get priority on cell towers vs a direct Tmo customer, but if "The Big One" hits CA or you are busy celebrating the forthcoming Woke Utopia in the Bay Area on Election Night, it just means it might take a little longer for your SMSes and 5G-whatevers to go through but it does not impact your priority for voice service.
Not sure what you mean by eyes are going. Assuming a recent prescription is inadequate, what about cataracts or something else like a degeneration has been diagnosed? If the person really has low vision, then they probably want a large screen and don't care about the highest resolution that only a child can see. In the S9 series there are 11, 12.6, and 14.6" versions, respectively S9, S9+, and S9 Ultra. I have the 11" S9 FE because I don't need the fast processor for gaming, the display is fine for normal use, and it was about half the price.
There are cheaper ones, but all the recent Samsung tablets have multiple OS updates like the phones. That keeps them usable for a long time.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
The Tab S10 is said to not have the smallest 10" option, which will instead be released as the Tab S10FE.
I have an S8 and an S9+ (the 12" model) as well as an older S6 around the house. I actually think the 12" model is a little too big for my liking, so I currently use the S8 for tablet stuff, which for me is a remote display of my camera on shoots, ebook reading and very occasional gaming or video-watching away from home. The Sx tablets can also be used as digitizing tablets for image editing on a PC, like a Wacom device.
I have the keyboard cover for the S6 but I don't use it very much, so I didn't bother to buy them for the newer models.
Samsung offers non-stop trade-ins and discounts on new models and enough gear passes through my hands that I always have things I can swap for up to date hardware. It's a great way to get rid of ipads and surface devices.
I have an S8 and an S9+ (the 12" model) as well as an older S6 around the house. I actually think the 12" model is a little too big for my liking, so I currently use the S8 for tablet stuff, which for me is a remote display of my camera on shoots, ebook reading and very occasional gaming or video-watching away from home. The Sx tablets can also be used as digitizing tablets for image editing on a PC, like a Wacom device.
I have the keyboard cover for the S6 but I don't use it very much, so I didn't bother to buy them for the newer models.
Samsung offers non-stop trade-ins and discounts on new models and enough gear passes through my hands that I always have things I can swap for up to date hardware. It's a great way to get rid of ipads and surface devices.
I did not even think about the 10 series yet. Like you, I'm not interested in a giant tablet. The 11" with just a basic 3rd party cover are getting close enough to a laptop weight that the portability value is becoming questionable. However, small laptops are getting heavier again, not to mention that the Surfactant and similar are also blurring the lines. If there is no 11" I wonder if the S10 FE would be in 2025 or along with the S10 series and what SoC the FE would use.
Santilli
Hairy Aussie
- Joined
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Panasonic Semi-Rugged Tablet FZ-Q2 , Intel Core m5-6Y57 @1.10GHz, 12.5 inch FHD, 8GB, 128SSD, Wifi, Bluetooth, Webcam, 4G LTE, Windows 10 Pro (Renewed)
Panasonic Toughbook 33, CF-33, Intel i5-7300U, 12" QHD Touch+Digitizer, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Webcam, 8MP Rear Camera, dGPS, 4G LTE, 2D Bar Laser, Dual Pass, Premium Keyboard, Win 10 Pro (Renewed)
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
Dude, you do not want to own anything with a Core m CPU. Those are ultra low voltage devices and they're beyond pathetic. Like "SoCs in Tracphones laugh at them"-grade bad.
sedrosken
Florida Man
Yeah, no, I have a Chromebook with a Core m7-6y75 and it's borderline unusable, even in a bare window-manager Linux environment. It'd be better if it would actually hit its max rated turbo at 3.1GHz, but I've never, EVER seen mine tick over 1.9. I'm guessing it's some power limit fuckery, where it needs like 10-15W to hit 3.1 but I'm capped at 6. And with 8GB of RAM it'll just be even more miserable -- my Chromebook was high end in its day and has 16GB of RAM. A 128GB SSD in Windows in $currentYear should be a capital offense.
I just came into a refurbed Elitebook 840G5 with an i7-8550U and it runs rings around the Core m. I went from taking 35-40% of my CPU at max boost to talk in a Discord voice chat to hanging around 10-15% and not even ticking above 900MHz. The difference is simply that stark. And that's only marginally newer... the 7300U is 7 years old, and you won't be able to run Windows 11 on it. Not without hoodwinking it with Rufus (not supported per Microsoft, even with TPM2), anyway, and there's no telling whether Microsoft will cut those "unofficial" installs off at any time. 8GB of RAM also precludes it from being usable, as does the 256GB SSD IMO -- if you can't have at least 512 these days you'll start having a rough time unless you pay very close attention to what you're using.
8GB was a fair helping of RAM in Windows 7's day, my Core2Quad box with 7 performs great with 8GB of RAM, but those days have been over for a few years. I still think it's criminal that Apple still sells an 8GB SKU of their MacBooks -- even with the M-series not being all that RAM-starved in the same amount of RAM, it's a stupid amount of RAM to put in a device that can't take more. 32 is the sweet spot with 16 really being a minimum in my opinion at this point.
I just came into a refurbed Elitebook 840G5 with an i7-8550U and it runs rings around the Core m. I went from taking 35-40% of my CPU at max boost to talk in a Discord voice chat to hanging around 10-15% and not even ticking above 900MHz. The difference is simply that stark. And that's only marginally newer... the 7300U is 7 years old, and you won't be able to run Windows 11 on it. Not without hoodwinking it with Rufus (not supported per Microsoft, even with TPM2), anyway, and there's no telling whether Microsoft will cut those "unofficial" installs off at any time. 8GB of RAM also precludes it from being usable, as does the 256GB SSD IMO -- if you can't have at least 512 these days you'll start having a rough time unless you pay very close attention to what you're using.
8GB was a fair helping of RAM in Windows 7's day, my Core2Quad box with 7 performs great with 8GB of RAM, but those days have been over for a few years. I still think it's criminal that Apple still sells an 8GB SKU of their MacBooks -- even with the M-series not being all that RAM-starved in the same amount of RAM, it's a stupid amount of RAM to put in a device that can't take more. 32 is the sweet spot with 16 really being a minimum in my opinion at this point.
Santilli
Hairy Aussie
- Joined
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WHAT is "Turn on Extended Security Updates" for a Chromebook????
Just popped up after I updated my Acer Chromebook...
Looks like you get security for a device that doesn't need it, and loose being able to use all your software...WTF???
Looks like Google trying to make the only software you can use, theirs...
Your posts made me remember my shelf, also known as a Chromebook, that I hardly ever use.
Got it out to see if it had an m processor. Doesn't. Looks like intel.
By the way, my desktop uses 20 gb of ram on a pretty consistent basis.
The new backup uses about 5GB?????
Just popped up after I updated my Acer Chromebook...
Looks like you get security for a device that doesn't need it, and loose being able to use all your software...WTF???
Looks like Google trying to make the only software you can use, theirs...
Your posts made me remember my shelf, also known as a Chromebook, that I hardly ever use.
Got it out to see if it had an m processor. Doesn't. Looks like intel.
By the way, my desktop uses 20 gb of ram on a pretty consistent basis.
The new backup uses about 5GB?????
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sedrosken
Florida Man
Core m is Intel, just a very low-voltage SKU of it from the Broadwell and Skylake generation. Your Chromebook is terribly unlikely to use one as it would have been prohibitively expensive -- mine was, like I said, super high-end for a Chromebook and cost well over a grand when new. It was kind of like HP's take on a Chromebook Pixel. Yours would be likely to use something along the lines of a Celeron or Pentium N-line chip. Those would have been what most Chromebooks would run, if they weren't just ARM to begin with.
Sounds like your Chromebook is either out of or close to being out of support. Mine certainly was -- after a certain version it just stopped updating. And you do need to make sure you're getting updates, because they come with new versions of the browser with CVEs and such patched. It's not just Google trying to make sure you can only use their stuff -- you agreed to that much when you bought the thing, and didn't immediately wipe it and throw a real Linux distro at it.
Remember that whatever RAM you're not actively using for applications and video memory, you're using for cache. Windows caches incredibly aggressively these days into RAM. There is no such thing these days as "wasted" RAM. You can hit diminishing returns where you really don't need more, but if you have it, it will eventually be used for something.
Sounds like your Chromebook is either out of or close to being out of support. Mine certainly was -- after a certain version it just stopped updating. And you do need to make sure you're getting updates, because they come with new versions of the browser with CVEs and such patched. It's not just Google trying to make sure you can only use their stuff -- you agreed to that much when you bought the thing, and didn't immediately wipe it and throw a real Linux distro at it.
Remember that whatever RAM you're not actively using for applications and video memory, you're using for cache. Windows caches incredibly aggressively these days into RAM. There is no such thing these days as "wasted" RAM. You can hit diminishing returns where you really don't need more, but if you have it, it will eventually be used for something.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
Chromebooks mostly have either Celeron N-something, Ryzen 3s for the rare AMD models, or Mediatek Kompanio, Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 or Kyro ARM-based SoCs. High end Chromebooks can have full-on laptop CPUs in them, but those are famously bad at being Chromebooks since they drop all pretense of being power efficient devices in the name of being faster on the one type of device that least needs a fast CPU. "Gaming Chromebooks" also exist and that's something I can't begin to fathom, save as a cheap way to get an emulation system.
Chromebooks made since about 2020 have had seven years of mandatory software support from Google although some have more for some reason or other (e.g. My Lenovo Duet is supported until mid-2028 even though Lenovo started making them before 2020). I'm pretty sure . You can continue to use an out of support Chromebook in much the same way you can use an out of support Windows version. It just isn't the brightest idea from a security perspective. You can search for your "Chromebook brand and model AUE" or "end of support" to find out when it stops getting updates.
Most Chromebooks can be made to run Linux if you want to continue using them after they're out of official support. I wouldn't bother doing this on anything that has 2GB RAM or eMMC storage, but for the most part, anything that pathetic wasn't made in the current decade.
There's also such a thing as ChromeOS Flex, which is a bootable image you can download from Google that runs well on basically everything, but it too has support end dates for specific hardware. ChromeOS Flex works great if you just want a computer to run a browser, but AFAIK it doesn't allow operating devices to run Android applications, which is a standard feature of native ChromeOS devices. I mostly put ChromeOS Flex on out of support Macs so I can continue to pay zero attention to them and really have zero change in how they were being used before they went out of support.
Chromebooks made since about 2020 have had seven years of mandatory software support from Google although some have more for some reason or other (e.g. My Lenovo Duet is supported until mid-2028 even though Lenovo started making them before 2020). I'm pretty sure . You can continue to use an out of support Chromebook in much the same way you can use an out of support Windows version. It just isn't the brightest idea from a security perspective. You can search for your "Chromebook brand and model AUE" or "end of support" to find out when it stops getting updates.
Most Chromebooks can be made to run Linux if you want to continue using them after they're out of official support. I wouldn't bother doing this on anything that has 2GB RAM or eMMC storage, but for the most part, anything that pathetic wasn't made in the current decade.
There's also such a thing as ChromeOS Flex, which is a bootable image you can download from Google that runs well on basically everything, but it too has support end dates for specific hardware. ChromeOS Flex works great if you just want a computer to run a browser, but AFAIK it doesn't allow operating devices to run Android applications, which is a standard feature of native ChromeOS devices. I mostly put ChromeOS Flex on out of support Macs so I can continue to pay zero attention to them and really have zero change in how they were being used before they went out of support.
The Iphone 16 is coming. https://www.apple.com/iphone-16
The intelligence is missing at present and expected later.
The intelligence is missing at present and expected later.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
Gross.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
iOS should not be countenanced.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
I can't use iOS without chafing at its restrictions and stupid and unfixable UI. iOS is designed in such a way that even the concept of files us set outside user experience, and as a result, it doesn't have functional userland file browsing. There are many immutable defaults and Apple does not allow a third party web browsing engine to exist on its devices. Many, MANY iOS "apps" are just containers for web pages that are viewed in Safari. The native keyboard is an abortion. Notifications are needlessly disorganized; many iOS users I know are simply not aware that they've received Email or messages because notifications are listed one item at a time in chronological order instead of grouped by the notifying application. Apple demands that video and audio be reencoded to its anointed formats before they become visible to its native media playback apps; users can't mix and match formats but rather they have to use different players. There are many, many Apple tools that simply don't interoperate with anything else. For example, non-Apple tools are not allowed to back up data to a cloud service unless they are the foreground application.
So yes, iOS is gross.
So yes, iOS is gross.
So there are some differences, but that is not a reason for most normal users to avoid it. Many people like the entire APPLE ecosystem.
My main issue would be to re-establish every App. Do APPLE phones last as long as Samsung with the OS updates?
My main issue would be to re-establish every App. Do APPLE phones last as long as Samsung with the OS updates?
Chewy509
Wotty wot wot.
Typically 5+ years after last sale of the device.
The iPhone XS/XR (removed from sale 5 years ago), will be getting iOS 18 (to be released shortly).
The prior iPhone X, shipped with iOS 11, and stopped at iOS 16, and the last patch for iOS 16 was just over a month ago.
The prior iPhone 8 (released 7 yrs ago), shipped with iOS 11, and stopped at iOS 16, and the last patch for iOS 16 was just over a month ago.
I will give Apple credit, their support life span are provable based on history. IIRC Samsung only announced their long support times recently, so we'll have to wait and see how that panes out. Typically, IMHO you can only expected 1-2 OS releases to be supported on any Android device and have seen a few instances where some handsets get no new OS versions, and very infrequent OS patches/updates. (Sony handsets outside of Japan was bad for this, and the cheaper handsets tend to suffer this a lot more in the Android space than the more premium/flagship models).
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_version_history#Hardware_support
Chewy509
Wotty wot wot.
Also something to consider is the security options available on the device.
PS. While I know there are security/privacy focused versions of Android, these handsets are not readable available in physical stores (especially outside of the US), or require replacement of the original OS on your unlocked handset which may mean not everything works.
- Does android support something akin to "Find My", and the ability to remote brick the device. (if the device is lost / stolen)
- How long does it take for someone to acquire data off the device with out the users passcode/passphrase. (Hint: the Trump shooter's Samsung device was done in under 2 hours, with iOS devices even Apple can't do it when the users have enabled certain settings).
- With Advanced Data Protection, even Apple does not have any crypto-keys needed to decrypt the data on iCloud.
PS. While I know there are security/privacy focused versions of Android, these handsets are not readable available in physical stores (especially outside of the US), or require replacement of the original OS on your unlocked handset which may mean not everything works.
sedrosken
Florida Man
That's the thing -- usually, the thieves can't just reset an Apple before selling them on. That's how you end up with a ton of iCloud-locked stuff gumming up eBay searches.
I don't trust any company as far as I could throw them RE: privacy, but I will grudgingly admit that Apple seems to have my interests more at heart than Google ever did.
Yes, iPhones are very expensive on release, but the equivalent Samsungs are comparable at best, and at worst charge more for objectively worse hardware. Google subsidizes the cost of their Pixel line I believe but it comes at the cost of even tighter Google integration and technically the consumer subsidizes that cost by giving away their data.
Apple doesn't really do midrange offerings, they just keep offering older flagships at reduced prices -- my ip13 was on promo with my carrier for, I think, 300 dollars? Maybe 350 w/ taxes out the door? The 15 had just come out. I still fully expect my 13 to get updates well into 2027, if not 2028, and it's a 2021-2022 device. Like Chewy said, Apple has a more or less proven track record RE: software updates, where Samsung still hasn't fully satisfied a commitment they've made yet to my knowledge, though that they have made a commitment is admittedly a good sign.
I still maintain that if my old XR hadn't had that annoying screen issue that would have cost more to fix than the phone was worth I'd still be happily using it right now. It wasn't slow or anything, and it still got very reasonable battery life for having been an old phone by the time I got it. My 13 lasts multiple days with my usage on a battery only about 60% as large as the one in my work ZFold 4.
Like I said before, I want to hate Apple so badly, but I find the iPhone, specifically my 13, very difficult to hate. That's high praise for me for really anything.
jtr1962
Storage? I am Storage!
Admittedly this is a great feature. I just wish they would add letting you see the thief's face when they realize the phone they stole is now worthless.
My only concern though is this adds to e-waste unless there's a way to unbrick the phone if you manage to get it back.
Why must I take any action after a phone is lost or stolen to make it secure? Is it not locked adequately after the 2 minute timeout? Whatever the perpetrator does with it subsequently is not my responsibility. I would normally just go to the carrier and get a new phone and they would deactivate the old one.
sedrosken
Florida Man
Lunar I think you're misunderstanding. The phone itself is basically a brick to them for anything but emergency calls. The Find My feature lets you track it down either to pass information off to law enforcement or get your phone back if for instance you don't have insurance or your carrier doesn't replace your phone. I don't think they recommend going after criminals to get your stuff back, though. I think it's more for finding a phone you've left somewhere, actually, it just so happens to be able to be used in the event of theft. I don't like my phone knowing where I am 24/7/365, so I left it off, but that's a risk I'm taking myself. (I'm also aware that for stuff like law enforcement, my GPS is never truly off.)
That situation is far more common than you'd think. Most of my friends with iPhones just don't carry insurance on them, and if they got their phone lost or stolen, the carrier would shrug and ask if they wanted to finance another one.
I think it's more for finding a phone you've left somewhere, actually, it just so happens to be able to be used in the event of theft. I don't like my phone knowing where I am 24/7/365, so I left it off, but that's a risk I'm taking myself. (I'm also aware that for stuff like law enforcement, my GPS is never truly off.)That situation is far more common than you'd think. Most of my friends with iPhones just don't carry insurance on them, and if they got their phone lost or stolen, the carrier would shrug and ask if they wanted to finance another one.
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I would want not the phone back, nor would it be worth the hassle of trying to prove it was stolen unless part of a larger theft. It's only a phone, not like a stolen Tahoe.Lunar I think you're misunderstanding. The phone itself is basically a brick to them for anything but emergency calls. The Find My feature lets you track it down either to pass information off to law enforcement or get your phone back if for instance you don't have insurance or your carrier doesn't replace your phone. I don't think they recommend going after criminals to get your stuff back, though.
That situation is far more common than you'd think. Most of my friends with iPhones just don't carry insurance on them, and if they got their phone lost or stolen, the carrier would shrug and ask if they wanted to finance another one.
sedrosken
Florida Man
Well, that's you Lunar. A frightening number of people wouldn't be able to just absorb something like that and not care.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
Emphatically yes. I can access location for my devices and for those enrolled in Google Workspace administration. I can remote wipe them as well. I can do this from my phone or tablet or from the web. Samsung separately has its own version of this, although I've never bothered to mess with it. I tend to strip Samsung-specific applications off my devices. If the phone is off or in Airplane mode, it'll wipe itself the moment it's put back in a normal operating mode.
There are a couple issues involved here: One is that the physical safety of a person under Secret Service Protection was at stake. It's reasonable to believe that three letter agencies in the USA might have been willing to pull out some extra stops on that matter. This is the very definition of a case where all the tools of a state level actor could be engaged. The second is that we don't know the full security state of the device at the time it was recovered. Did the shooter make any extraordinary effort to secure his device?
IIRC the current standard is for an Android device to encrypt it internal storage. The end. Samsung adds Knox protection for dealing with Malware by default, but for all we know, this 20 year old might've just had a 4 digit pattern clearly visible in the smears on the screen as the only security in place. Android devices typically can be booted to recovery/single user/factory reset mode much like a PC can, although the specifics of how that works can be different per device.
IIRC Apple applies some security to devices at boot time for some moderately new devices that can make devices difficult to steal/unlock and I'm happy for them for having that, but IIRC Apple devices are singled out for theft in a way that nobody else's products are as well.
Do please remember that Apple is responsible for the biggest leak of personal data, and it was a product of social rather than technical manipulation. "The Fappening" is the reason we're well aware of the pubic coiffure of many, many female celebrities. Ask me if I trust any of the above with care of the adult materials I actually help to create? I'm definitely not 100% sure my Owncloud implementation is perfectly secure either, but I'm willing to take the bet that my dinky little private server isn't the rich target someone's iCloud or Onedrive would be.
Chewy509
Wotty wot wot.
Yeah, you can unlock when retrieved, so no issues there.
The thing is, the remote lock and wipe, is specifically designed to make the device e-waste to make them less desirable to be stolen. But as we have seen, people are dumb and only see the potential value in something.
If you read the Apple or Mac related subreddits, at least 1-2 times a week is someone asking how to unlock an Apple device, which they have often purchased on eBay or similar site. Guess what, they got scammed and bought a stolen item...