I am thinking about purchasing the ZTE Valet Tracfone but have a few questions. I just don't understand this data concept. If I buy a years contract I get 1200 mobile phone minutes, 1200 texts, and 1200mb of data. What I don't understand is: When does my data allotment get tapped? If I connect to the web using mobile web do my mobile minutes get deducted as long as I am connected? What gets deducted from the data allotment in this situation? Do I get one byte deducted for each byte sent and each byte received? If that's the case how long will the data allotment last? Would it be better if I only connected using wifi? What about GPS. Does anything get deducted when I use this feature? There is nothing anywhere I can find that explains any of this. Its like they start out assuming you already know a lot of basic stuff... HELP.
ZTE Valet TracFone
- Thread starter stan1776
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I am thinking about purchasing the ZTE Valet Tracfone but have a few questions. I just don't understand this data concept. If I buy a years contract I get 1200 mobile phone minutes, 1200 texts, and 1200mb of data. What I don't understand is: When does my data allotment get tapped? If I connect to the web using mobile web do my mobile minutes get deducted as long as I am connected? What gets deducted from the data allotment in this situation? Do I get one byte deducted for each byte sent and each byte received? If that's the case how long will the data allotment last? Would it be better if I only connected using wifi? What about GPS. Does anything get deducted when I use this feature? There is nothing anywhere I can find that explains any of this. Its like they start out assuming you already know a lot of basic stuff... HELP.
- Mar 9, 2012
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Welcome to Android Central! I assume that you mean you get 1200 of each of those items per month, correct?
Mobile phone minutes refer only to calls you make. The 1200 mb of data is when you're connected to 3G or 4G and sending or receiving data. Remember that you don't have to be actively doing anything to have your phone use data, since it is often doing some background syncing and updating. If you use wifi to connect to the web, then your mobile data connection should turn off temporarily, thus preventing you from using up more of your data allotment, but this doesn't always happen depending on the phone. In this situation, it is often a good idea to turn off your 3G/4G connection while on wifi to ensure that you're not using up your mobile data.
1.2 GB of data per month is fairly average for the moderate user. If you plan on streaming a lot of music or videos while not on a wifi connection, then you might need more.
GPS itself does not use mobile data, but apps that use the GPS can use mobile data (like, for example, Google Maps). GPS isn't entirely necessary unless you need a precise location--without GPS, the phone can triangulate your position within reasonable accuracy (say, around 1000 feet) using the cell towers or the wifi address.
Please be aware that the ZTE Valet is very much an entry-level phone. Its specs (ZTE Valet Specs, Features (Phone Scoop)) say that it has 512 MB of system RAM, which is pretty low these days (most phones have at least 1 GB, and high end phones have 2 GB). Low RAM means fewer apps can stay in memory, which means more sluggish performance and app switching. It also only has 4 GB of onboard storage ROM, of which only 2.3 GB is available to you. This storage ROM is the only area where you can install apps, so it will limit how many apps you can install, and how big they are. Inserting an external microSD card will not allow you to install more apps--it's mainly good for storing media files, like music, photos, videos, etc. If you can afford it, and if these things are important to you, I would suggest finding a phone with at least 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage ROM.
Good luck!
Mobile phone minutes refer only to calls you make. The 1200 mb of data is when you're connected to 3G or 4G and sending or receiving data. Remember that you don't have to be actively doing anything to have your phone use data, since it is often doing some background syncing and updating. If you use wifi to connect to the web, then your mobile data connection should turn off temporarily, thus preventing you from using up more of your data allotment, but this doesn't always happen depending on the phone. In this situation, it is often a good idea to turn off your 3G/4G connection while on wifi to ensure that you're not using up your mobile data.
1.2 GB of data per month is fairly average for the moderate user. If you plan on streaming a lot of music or videos while not on a wifi connection, then you might need more.
GPS itself does not use mobile data, but apps that use the GPS can use mobile data (like, for example, Google Maps). GPS isn't entirely necessary unless you need a precise location--without GPS, the phone can triangulate your position within reasonable accuracy (say, around 1000 feet) using the cell towers or the wifi address.
Please be aware that the ZTE Valet is very much an entry-level phone. Its specs (ZTE Valet Specs, Features (Phone Scoop)) say that it has 512 MB of system RAM, which is pretty low these days (most phones have at least 1 GB, and high end phones have 2 GB). Low RAM means fewer apps can stay in memory, which means more sluggish performance and app switching. It also only has 4 GB of onboard storage ROM, of which only 2.3 GB is available to you. This storage ROM is the only area where you can install apps, so it will limit how many apps you can install, and how big they are. Inserting an external microSD card will not allow you to install more apps--it's mainly good for storing media files, like music, photos, videos, etc. If you can afford it, and if these things are important to you, I would suggest finding a phone with at least 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage ROM.
Good luck!
Thanks B. Diddy. You answered most of my questions.
Yes it is 1200,1200, and 1200.
The GPS app that I am thinking about is a golf app that tells you where you are in distance from the pin on a given golf course. I assume the app is running all the time and tracking my location. I don't know how much data that will use. I guess I'll find out.
Yes it is 1200,1200, and 1200.
The GPS app that I am thinking about is a golf app that tells you where you are in distance from the pin on a given golf course. I assume the app is running all the time and tracking my location. I don't know how much data that will use. I guess I'll find out.
Keep in mind that the 1 year Service includes 400 minutes, which triples on your phone giving you 1200 minutes. Which gives you 1200min, 1200 text, and 1200 MB data. However if you use all your data, you will have to buy another card to add minutes onto your phone and extending the service for 90 days. It is not a monthly contract. I believe they recently started selling data only cards but still can be pricey if you were to blow through 1200 MB a month.
Can one update the Valet through Google from the 4.1.1 to another Android version or at leat patch the OpenSSL version that came with it?
I bought one of these phones from Best Buy for $49.00. There were a few minor issues that I rectified, but the phone works great.
I am a Snowbird from Canada so I only use the phone six months of the year. That gives me 200 minutes per month and 200 megs of data per month and 200 texts per month. For me, that is plenty, for a younger person or someone who uses the phone as a primary communications device it may not be the best answer. You can always add more minutes/data/txts if you want to.
International calls to Canada are the same price as making local calls. You can buy extra data separately and it is not very expensive.
As mentioned, it is an entry level phone but for me, hell its just fine.
I am a Snowbird from Canada so I only use the phone six months of the year. That gives me 200 minutes per month and 200 megs of data per month and 200 texts per month. For me, that is plenty, for a younger person or someone who uses the phone as a primary communications device it may not be the best answer. You can always add more minutes/data/txts if you want to.
International calls to Canada are the same price as making local calls. You can buy extra data separately and it is not very expensive.
As mentioned, it is an entry level phone but for me, hell its just fine.
My wife just got one of these phones...or rather, I got it for her...it was time to move up from the flip phone with the proprietary charging jack.
Anyway, hers is also through Tracfone, and while "only" 1200mb of data may not sound like much to someone who's been using a smartphone of some sort all the time, we've been using "dumb phones" for quite some time, and doing our mobile Internet stuff on our iPod Touches when we were at a place with free WiFi (McDonald's, Panera, Target, Red Roof Inn, etc).
With that in mind, I think that she (my wife, that is) will be able to make that 1.2gb of data last for the entire year that the card is good for. There's an app that lets you turn data on and off right from the screen, and we have it set so that the default is for data to be off. Then when she's somewhere without WiFi and needs to get online, she can make a point of specifically turning on the data, doing what she needs to do, and then turning it off when she's done.
Anyway, hers is also through Tracfone, and while "only" 1200mb of data may not sound like much to someone who's been using a smartphone of some sort all the time, we've been using "dumb phones" for quite some time, and doing our mobile Internet stuff on our iPod Touches when we were at a place with free WiFi (McDonald's, Panera, Target, Red Roof Inn, etc).
With that in mind, I think that she (my wife, that is) will be able to make that 1.2gb of data last for the entire year that the card is good for. There's an app that lets you turn data on and off right from the screen, and we have it set so that the default is for data to be off. Then when she's somewhere without WiFi and needs to get online, she can make a point of specifically turning on the data, doing what she needs to do, and then turning it off when she's done.
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