Need $200 phone for T-Mobile service.

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ninjaturtle

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Old Tracfone user( LG 800g, half smart phone).

Need a phone to hookup my laptop to if I can't find a WiFi signal, I think it is called tethering?

Planning on getting the $30/month: 100min/ unlimited text/ 5GB Data plan since I rarely talk and text.

Wal-Mart has the Samsung Exhibit 2 for $175: 1Ghz CPU, 512MB RAM, 4GB storage + uSD slot to 32GB, Android 2.3.
Don't have to mail order to get it.
Should be good for light gaming, running emulators(NES, SNES, arcade). Might see if there is a Bluetooth controller housing that I can put the phone in.

Anyone have a better one for the around $200usd retail or web?

Thx, d.

Also, what do you think about upgrading Android and rooting for T-Mobile phones?

EDIT: must have uSD slot.
 
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I have had the Exhibit II / Galaxy Exhibit for the last few months and have really enjoyed it for what it cost ($199 at the time I bought it). Yes, it's only a single core Snapdragon with Adreno 205 graphics but Samsung have done a really good job of tuning Gingerbread (Android 2.3) and I must say the phone is pretty much lag free doing everyday things like web browsing, email, texting, angry birds, etc.

It will run most emulators quite well and the Adreno 205 is good enough to run some of the fancier racing games like Asphalt 5 and 6 and Temple Run.

The 3MP rear camera isn't anything special, but it does have an LED flash.

The front facing camera works great for Skype, Oovoo, Facebook, and other video chat. Hard to find a FFC in a $200 phone so that's a nice bonus.

4G here in the Dallas / Fort Worth, Texas area has been pretty damned sweet - very fast. In fact most of the time speedtests run faster than my home DSL, especially on the upload. It's really nice to be able to upload pictures or a video in seconds instead of minutes.

For under $200 I think it's a steal. :)

(NOTE: As of June the name was changed to 'Samsung Galaxy Exhibit' instead of 'Samsung Exhibit II')
 
Oh, and as far as ROMs go for the Exhibit... the ROM community for it is pretty small. An XDA member by the name of Jocala has been pretty much the star of ROMs for the Exhibit II.

There is a CM9 (Ice Cream Sandwich) ROM but the camera doesn't work properly on it due to Samsung not releasing source code for it.

Jocala has a ROM called 'Peach Sunrise' that is basically the stock Gingerbread ROM with all of the T-Mobile bloat removed and a few performance enhancements thrown in - and I highly recommend it. Everything works on it, it's fast and slick, and makes an already speedy phone that much better.

The Exhibit II / Galaxy Exhibit also is pretty frugal when it comes to sipping battery - it's not uncommon for my battery to last over 2 days on a single charge depending on my usage pattern.
 
Yeah, I been checking it's reviews for a while and any cons I see don't really bother me.
 
ninjaturtle said:
Yeah, I been checking it's reviews for a while and any cons I see don't really bother me.
Click to expand...

Yeah either get the exhibit or check craigslist for a used t mobile nexus s. Or save up for a galaxy nexus. The nexus phones are the best route if you can make it happen.
 
Coworker has the 32GB Nexus, she got a laugh when I told her the class is called a phablet. Sadly it doesn't have a uSD slot, tho I like the MHL feature so you can hook it up via HDMI and use a wireless controller.
 
ninjaturtle said:
Coworker has the 32GB Nexus, she got a laugh when I told her the class is called a phablet. Sadly it doesn't have a uSD slot, tho I like the MHL feature so you can hook it up via HDMI and use a wireless controller.
Click to expand...

The 32GB model is only available on Verizon, no? GSM is 16GB only...

I love the Nexus, but I swear that MHL thing pisses me off... why can't they just put a regular micro-hdmi output on the thing? It's not that it uses the micro USB port, I think that part is pretty nifty... but the MHL adapter requires an external power source to operate.

So in the end you have this huge dongle with two cords connected to it and it's a big mess.

Other phones have regular micro-hdmi... hell even the poor Motorola Triumph on Virgin Mobile USA had really nifty HDMI out.
 
I am in a similar situation moving from AT&T to T-Mobile. I went with the HTC Sensation because they can be found on CL for $200 or less and have a decent dual core CPU. Also these phones have ICS as a stock upgrade. I haven't played with it much as I just got it and haven't started using it as my daily phone (waiting for charger that arrived today), but so far I like the HTC Sense interface.
 
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