(OT) LG Cellphone browser upgrades.

[J.T]

I have a LG flip phone using prepaid Tracfone. It's NOT a smartphone, just a basic phone for calls, texts, and has a basic browser built in. I dont really want or need a smartphone. But I used to use the browser to get weather reports and a few other basic online things.

Several months ago, the browser just began rejecting most websites, even weather.com. All I get are error messages. Bu I know it still works for some stuff, for example I can still access Google. I believe the phone needs a browser upgrade. I called Tracfone but their customer service it terrible. I got some foreign person who could barely speak english, and did not understand my problem. After wasting close to an hour, nothing was solved. But Tracfone is affordable, so I stick with it. I have a landline anyhow, but when I'm away from home, I need a cell.

I cant find anything about upgrading it using google. Maybe one of you knows a place to get upgrades. If not, I either have to live with it as-is, or buy a newer phone. These phones are only $25 to $40, but retyping my whole addressbook is something I prefer to avoid, when I have around 200 names in it.

Thanks in advance.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I know that ATT and Verizon offices can transfer your contacts list, so, there is probably some way to do it with your phone. Try doing some searching on that as you may be able to save them to your computer and upload to the new phone.

[Jon Danniken]

You might be able to save you contacts to your sim card, then put that sim card in the new phone. Alternately, if you phone has bluetooth, you might be able to transfer your contacts to your computer (assuming your computer has a bluetooth card/dongle), then from there put them on the new phone.

Jon

[Terry Coombs]

In the past I was able to save the contact list to the SIM card , move that to the new phone , then save to the internal memory on the new unit . Swap the new card back in and save to it ... but the last phone I tried that with didn't work out so well . You might see if that will work in your case - get one of the g-kids to help , l'il buggers are a lot more computer-savvy than we usually realize .

[trader_4]

I would agree, it's probably more likely googling for how to move contacts on a Tracphone is going to be successful than how to upgrade the browser. On android smartphone upgrading is easy because it's an open system and designed to be used that way. Tracphone, IDK. I guess it's also a crap shoot if a newer Tracphone solves the browser problem he's having or not too.

Ting may be worth looking at as an alternative. You can bring your own phone, so you can buy a compatible phone, including used ones, on Ebay.

[J.T]

Flip phones dont have SIM Cards, at least nothing that is removable. But I know it has bluetooth, which is something I never used on it. But I can get a dongle and give it a try.

[Jon Danniken]

You are incorrect; all phones have a SIM card. You are also incorrect about all of them being non-removable (I've never seen one that isn't). Here is one example (from the tracfone lg420g):

Jon

[sms]

Time to move into the 21st century.

Tracfone BYOP (bring your own phone) can be even cheaper than Tracfone with Tracfone phones. Junky smart phones can be had for $40, and decent ones for $80.

$100 for 1200 minutes, 1200 texts, and 1.2GB of data, good for a year. That's $8.33 per month.

$200 for 4500 minutes, 4500 texts, and 4.5GB of data, good for a year. That's $16.67 per month.

Everything rolls over when you extend your service, so if you have too much left over at the end of 365 days you buy a smaller refill (or just pay to extend your service with no extra minutes, texts, or data).

If I were advising someone on a low-cost smart-phone phone and service I'd tell them to buy an $80 Moto E LTE and use it on Tracfone's AT&T service. Just avoid Sprint and T-Mobile at all costs.

While Tracfone's $20/90 day refill ($6.67/month) is the least expensive option on Tracfone, it's actually a terrible deal for low-use prepaid compared to Page Plus Cellular (Verizon), which is as low as $2.50 per month ($10 every 120 days).

[Ed Pawlowski]

My last two had them. ATT uses them, don't know about others.

[sms]

I have several flip phones with removable SIM cards. Two from AT&T, one from Pac Bell Mobile which was later Cingular. Useful when traveling if your primary carrier is Verizon. Just buy a foreign prepaid SIM card.

[Frank]

I've probably got the same phone but find browser practically useless.

See from other's post and checked mine and there is a sim card. Did not try to remove it but previously had got a cable to connect to the computer to try to get pictures off but it was not accessible.

When my flip phone finally bites the dust, as its predecessor did, I may upgrade to a smarter one.

[Mark Lloyd]

A phone had a SIM card if it uses certain technology. AT&T and T-mobile phones use SIM cards. A few phones allow either (GSM with SIM, and CDMA without SIM). AFAIK, all phones with 4G LTE use SIM cards. A Verizon or Sprint phone without LTE doesn't.

I currently have both Verizon and Sprint flip-phones. Neither has a SIM card. A friend has an AT&T flipphone. It does have a SIM card.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

If both phones support Bluetooth, you should be able to use it to transfer your address book. Pair them and look for an option to "send address book via Bluetooth" or something like that.

BTW, I used that to send the AB from my Verizon phone to the new Sprint phone (both flip-phones, I like the way the buttons are covered so my pocket can't make calls).

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

Usually true for those browsers. Some don't even support cookies. Anyway, I don't really like browsing on a tiny screen.

You may be able to transfer pictures and contacts with Bluetooth.

BTW, I've had more success with Linux than with Windows.

[Terry Coombs]

Gotta disagree Jon . The Mrs. sells these things at WM , and some of the new ones do not have a SIM card .

[notbob]

Yep. My last two tracfones either didn't have SIM cards or they were not removable. Either way, I never saw 'em.

nb

[sms]

If it's on Verizon or Sprint, a non-LTE phone would have no SIM card. And the proprietary Tracfone phones for AT&T and T-Mobile don't need an accessible SIM card, it can be built-in and non-removable and unseen.

The big deal with Tracfone these days is their "Bring Your Own Phone" program since you can bring an AT&T smart phone over to Tracfone and the monthly cost is very low for those that don't use a lot of data. For those that will mostly use Wi-Fi, but that want a smart phone, it's one of the best deals in prepaid. Decent smart phones are very cheap these days. You can get a Moto E LTE for $80.

[notbob]

I'm looking for a NFR capable Tracfone.

I do know the phones available to Tracfone users are dependent on where you live. This is due to the dominant service (tmobil, verizon, etc) towers in any given area, as Tracfone uses all providers. If I want the fuller featured Android phones, I gotta buy a Denver area code phone. If I want this area code, I have to settle for less featured phones.

nb

[Jon Danniken]

Thanks Mark, I stand corrected.

Jon

[sms]

That was the case with Tracfone's own proprietary phones. It's not the case with BYOP.

It will work on AT&T or Verizon phones (or unlocked GSM phones for AT&T service). You choose. Well they won't sell you service in areas where AT&T or Verizon doesn't have coverage but those areas are fairly small.

The question that is unanswered is if Tracfone is including off-network roaming like they do for their own phones. But with Verizon and AT&T the amount of off-network roaming that you would need is not huge, nothing like Sprint or T-Mobile.