seeking wireless only phablet advice/suggestions

[Jedherman]

Hi there. looks like an interesting group here. Thanks in advance for your interest.

I'm economizing dramatically out of necessity and am finding it eerily easy. got rid of my calling and data plans and instead have a go phone (pay as you go) and am using freedompop (which is totally cool if you are unfamiliar - free 500mb of data/month to use with any compatible device upon one time purchase of a $50 wifi generator operating on clearwire)) to make skype calls and otherwise connect with my ipad mini. great!

BUT, an ipad mini is not so mini and i'd like something a bit smaller, cheap and functional to do essentially the same thing -- make calls over wifi, read news, access music files, limited games, email. i'm on a mac and the ipad mini and the logical choice is an ipod touch, but old generations are still listing at approx $150 and i'm not going to spend more than upper limit $75. the phone att&t makes you pay $15 to use as a gophone doesn't have wireless capabilities. suggestions? i'm also interested in how you would describe what i'm looking for...not a phone, not a tablet, a "mobile wireless only device?"...thanks so much!

 

[strollin]

You might be able to buy a used smartphone that has wifi capability but don't register it with a cellular provider. That way, you can use it as a wifi only device.

Freedompop sounds interesting but 500MB of data is not enough for me. I checked their website and they said they don't have coverage at my address. I couldn't find any info on their website about what it costs after you use up the free 500MB.

 

[carnageX]

You might be able to buy a used smartphone that has wifi capability but don't register it with a cellular provider. That way, you can use it as a wifi only device.

This.

Check out Swappa; people sell their slightly used phones/devices on there. Usually in pretty good condition for a decent price.
Buy and Sell Used Mobile Phones and Tablets > Swappa

 

[Jedherman]

You might be able to buy a used smartphone that has wifi capability but don't register it with a cellular provider. That way, you can use it as a wifi only device.

Freedompop sounds interesting but 500MB of data is not enough for me. I checked their website and they said they don't have coverage at my address. I couldn't find any info on their website about what it costs after you use up the free 500MB.

thanks. NYT article about freedompop from this sunday: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/t...-always-within-range.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

500mb isn't enough for me either, but it's free! there are scalable up opps for not too much. put in an address that is likely to be covered by clearwire to begin the process on the site and those add-ons will be presented. i don't need the service at home since i have wifi through my cable internet, so it would still be worth it to me even if i didn't have coverage on the map... gl and thanks again.