Using smartphone with wifi and no service

[glaurent]

I would like to purchase a smartphone with the sole purpose of using it as a wifi device with no carrier service. This will allow me to use all of the neat apps available for smartphones without having to pay for a monthly phone charge. (I already have an old phone for making a few calls which costs me only $5 a month.) I'm not really trying to make calls without a service plan here (although that would be a bonus with sykpe, google voice, etc...), but mostly just using the device as a gaming / wifi browsing / camera / GPS / mp3 playing device.

Now I understand that I am essentially describing a iPod Touch, but my thrifty self am trying to minimize costs. It looks like I can get a used LG Optimus V (with a bad ESN) for around $15 shipped from ebay. I can also get one locally with a good ESN from craigslist for around $30. Getting such a device for about $15-20 seems like an amazing value for what I want it for.

My questions:

1. Will my plan work?
2. Will such phones with bad ESNs work?
3. Are there any other phones that I should be considering?
4. Are there any other similar dirt cheap options?

Again -- please do not suggest getting a iPod Touch as my hope was for a much cheaper option.

 

[KSoD]

1. In theory yes. As long as you dont connect it to try and make any calls or use any apps that require constant data.
2. In theory yes.
3. Yeah lots. But none that cheap. That is an old phone and is under powered.
4. No.

As stated the phone only has a 600Mhz CPU. It runs Android 2.2 which is called Froyo. Right now it couldnt run some of the newer games that are coming out for Android as they cant work on that device. Dead Space wont work. Blood and Glory wont work. Temple Run might even give you issues. Sorry to say but going this cheap route, you might as well stick with your current phone as this one will not be good for gaming, camera, GPS (Without data how would you do that? There is no roaming GPS functions and the newest Google Maps is not compatible with Froyo) and MP3 playback will be limited. I see nothing good by being dirt cheap in this matter. You only hamper yourself to every extent.

 

[carnageX]

Yes you should be able to use a device with wifi only. You can turn airplane mode on, and then turn wifi on so that it's not constantly searching for signal, as well.

Bad ESN's wouldn't matter, since it wouldn't be connecting to a carrier network.

Plenty of other phones, but depends on how much you want to spend on one.

Look around on craigslist and eBay. I've seen decent phones going for fairly cheap. I just upgraded from a Droid Incredible, and I plan on using my Incredible for just a wifi device (mp3 player / apps more than likely).

current phone as this one will not be good for gaming, camera, GPS (Without data how would you do that? There is no roaming GPS functions and the newest Google Maps is not compatible with Froyo)

Yes there are. There's several apps that allow caching maps. I've used Maverick before, and it's quite decent. Just have to download the map onto your phone before going out, browse the areas you're going to be, and you have GPS service. Granted it won't be as robust and feature-filled as Google Maps would be... but it would still be a GPS nonetheless.

If you get an older Android device, I would seriously consider rooting it, and putting a custom ROM on it (if available, CyanogenMod is quite nice for slower devices as its resource-light). Developers generally make a custom ROM for an Android phone that strips out a lot of unneeded features that slow a phone down, so I would look into getting one of those ROMs if you get a lower-end device.

If you're looking at some phones,I would check out the XDA Developer forums and see if anybody has made any custom ROMs for the device.
Edit: for the Optimus, here's threads on the subject: http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1089

 

[KSoD]

Yes there are. There's several apps that allow caching maps. I've used Maverick before, and it's quite decent. Just have to download the map onto your phone before going out, browse the areas you're going to be, and you have GPS service. Granted it won't be as robust and feature-filled as Google Maps would be... but it would still be a GPS nonetheless.

I am thinking of something completely different. When I say GPS, I mean something like those devices you use in your car that will give you point to point direction and can change the route if you go from the given path. That will require an active connection.

Cached maps are garbage. Cause you can see the map and you are given a route, but if something happens and you cant follow that route you are dead in the water. It is summer time and there is road construction everywhere. So you never know if that road is going to be closed or maybe you might want a faster way around.

So I never trust cached maps cause at that point why look at a 4" screen when you can buy a map for as much as that phone cost and have something that is the size of a wall to look at. Not everything has to be electronic to be good. When it comes to cached maps compared to real maps, real maps win.

 

[carnageX]

I am thinking of something completely different. When I say GPS, I mean something like those devices you use in your car that will give you point to point direction and can change the route if you go from the given path. That will require an active connection.

Cached maps are garbage. Cause you can see the map and you are given a route, but if something happens and you cant follow that route you are dead in the water. It is summer time and there is road construction everywhere. So you never know if that road is going to be closed or maybe you might want a faster way around.

So I never trust cached maps cause at that point why look at a 4" screen when you can buy a map for as much as that phone cost and have something that is the size of a wall to look at. Not everything has to be electronic to be good. When it comes to cached maps compared to real maps, real maps win.

You can't see construction on a physical map either, if you're going to use that as your argument .

Didn't say that cached maps were great (I said quite the opposite actually, I said its true they're not going to be as good as a live feed such as Google Maps); but if you want a poor-mans-GPS, then there you go.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/...xLDEsImNvbS5uYXZmcmVlLmFuZHJvaWQuT1NNLlVTQSJd

This one even explicity states it supports re-routing. All rerouting is, is checking the GPS coordinates in conjunction with the map / your current position. Would be the same as having a dedicated, basic GPS as those don't have a constant data connection. Basic GPS's go by satellite tracking, which is what most people want.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I am thinking of something completely different. When I say GPS, I mean something like those devices you use in your car that will give you point to point direction and can change the route if you go from the given path. That will require an active connection.

Cached maps are garbage. Cause you can see the map and you are given a route, but if something happens and you cant follow that route you are dead in the water. It is summer time and there is road construction everywhere. So you never know if that road is going to be closed or maybe you might want a faster way around.

So I never trust cached maps cause at that point why look at a 4" screen when you can buy a map for as much as that phone cost and have something that is the size of a wall to look at. Not everything has to be electronic to be good. When it comes to cached maps compared to real maps, real maps win.

That doesn't require an active connection, after all standalone GPS units don't have active connections and they have done turn by turn navigation and rerouting for many years now.

 

[KSoD]

That doesn't require an active connection, after all standalone GPS units don't have active connections and they have done turn by turn navigation and rerouting for many years now.

Really so when I deter from the path that it already calculated and it recalculates that isnt an active connection to the GPS Satellites to calculate the new route? Cause I have used Google Maps as my GPS before and I have used my dash GPS. I know for a fact that my phone was using Data to recalculate the route when I went off the given path. I know my GPS connects to the satellites. That is how they get your position to know where you are. Sorry mate but I do not believe that at all with no stretch of the imagination.

@carnageX, the fact is the active GPS is what makes all the difference. Cached maps or even road maps may not show you construction, but my dash GPS unit will use the traffic and re-route me.

Cached maps are only good if you do not deter from the given path. It is like printing out the direction from Map Quest.

 

[carnageX]

Really so when I deter from the path that it already calculated and it recalculates that isnt an active connection to the GPS Satellites to calculate the new route? Cause I have used Google Maps as my GPS before and I have used my dash GPS. I know for a fact that my phone was using Data to recalculate the route when I went off the given path. I know my GPS connects to the satellites. That is how they get your position to know where you are. Sorry mate but I do not believe that at all with no stretch of the imagination.

@carnageX, the fact is the active GPS is what makes all the difference. Cached maps or even road maps may not show you construction, but my dash GPS unit will use the traffic and re-route me.

Cached maps are only good if you do not deter from the given path. It is like printing out the direction from Map Quest.

Yes it has a connection, but not a cell data connection; it has a GPS data connection. That's what he meant.

Like I said before, a basic GPS unit has the maps saved on the device (as well as POI's, etc.). Essentially the same thing as a cached map. The GPS unit that you have, that's showing traffic, gets updates from Garmin, TomTom, or whoever, via the GPS connection, and forwards that info onto your unit. Basic models like ones that I've had, don't have traffic, just map files that you have to manually update to get the newest; essentially a cached map. Pretty sure the cached map on a phone would be more up-to-date than most people's GPS units (not sure how many people I know or have seen that are using outdated maps on their dash GPS units - they either don't know how to update them, or don't care).

The GPS apps that provide cached maps (that don't require a cell data connection) do exactly the same as a basic dash unit - give you turn-by-turn directions, redirection calculations, etc. It's not at all like printing out a map, because you still know where you are, where the roads are, and if you do deter from the path, it will recalculate your route.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Really so when I deter from the path that it already calculated and it recalculates that isnt an active connection to the GPS Satellites to calculate the new route? Cause I have used Google Maps as my GPS before and I have used my dash GPS. I know for a fact that my phone was using Data to recalculate the route when I went off the given path. I know my GPS connects to the satellites. That is how they get your position to know where you are. Sorry mate but I do not believe that at all with no stretch of the imagination.

@carnageX, the fact is the active GPS is what makes all the difference. Cached maps or even road maps may not show you construction, but my dash GPS unit will use the traffic and re-route me.

Cached maps are only good if you do not deter from the given path. It is like printing out the direction from Map Quest.

GPS is not an active connection, it is completely passive and the GPS receiver does not transmit or request anything from the satellites. I suggest you read this Wikipedia page if you don't believe me.

Global Positioning System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Your phone was using data because Google Nav doesn't store maps locally but there is no reason it has to be that way.

Traffic information is not provided by the GPS network itself, the device gets those using some other connection medium.

 

[zer0nix]

a friendly word of caution: if you want free gps, you should probably avoid any verizon phones as those tend to have some strange conflicts where non-paid, non-verizon gps services are somehow tremendously inaccurate to the point of being utterly useless.