Smartphone to "dumb" phone

[emily_in_nc]

Like SheFly I've never upgraded from a dumb phone, but I have used a smart phone enough to know a little of what I'm missing. I have a basic, compact waterproof and shockproof phone, without a keyboard. I don't miss the keyboard, I message faster than I think anyway ;-). I'd prefer having a better camera, and sometimes I miss a better and larger screen. However, I really like having a small and bombproof phone without a large glass screen to break.

I haven't bought a smart phone because I know I'm too addicted to the net as it is, and would find it hard to not check email and facebook and TE all the time. I enjoy the downtime. But on longer vacations it's very handy having my dh's smart phone around, to check the news, the weather, email every now and then. But texting on it drives me up the wall.

I know I'm missing it out on various apps, though, so I may switch at some point anyway.

On another note - any tips on how to stay OFF the net... ;-)

lph, I'm like you, no smart phone. However, I did buy a Galaxy Tab 2.0 wi-fi tablet (7") for travel only. I never use it at home as I have my laptop, and I don't feel the need to take it in my pack when I head into town for shopping or whatever. Like many on this thread I am online so much when I'm home, it's nice to have a break, and a smartphone would just be too tempting to be in Facebook, etc all the time. On a trip we're so busy the Tab only gets limited use (mostly first thing in the morning and last thing at night), but it's nice to have instead of a full-size (heavy) laptop on a trip, to look up something quickly, delete all those pesky marketing emails, and be able to reply quickly to anything important.

Might be a nice compromise for you to look at something like that just for traveling as well. It has plenty of apps, including my favorite, the Kindle app, so also allows me to travel without a stack of books. Win!

Editing to add: Also, since it's not a phone, there's no monthly data fee. You pay once, and that's it. That does limit its use to where wi-fi is available, but we used it all over Mexico without issue; wi-fi is obviously more and more prevalent.