Cool. I own a Toshiba Windows PC. I used Toshibas since middle school and they fit my needs perfectly (amazing upgradability and durability - I dropped mine off a 3ft table and I didn't see as much as a scratch). I also love to mess around with tech and that's why Android, Windows, and soon Linux fit my needs. Again, just my 2 cents. Just a bit of anti-Apple banter. :)

Get the 5S. Apple products always have a good resale value so you'll make it up on the back end.

About 2-3 months ago, Verizon Wireless had an offer for a 32G iPhone5C for free with a 2 year contract. My husband took advantage of it and really likes his 5C. That phone is bright!

How about an iPhone 5S with 16 gigabytes for $99.00 if you sign up for a contract of two years with Verizon Wireless, Mary2e?

It sounds as though 16GB is not enough. Though the 32GB is also $100 cheaper now, weighing in at $199 instead of $299 when OP first posted, and so is the 64GB now at $299.

First, if you can wait, the 6 will be coming out in a few months.

A fun money-saving strategy is to get the 5S and then immediately sell it.

The 5S is selling for close to $700 for new in box.

You can then buy a used Verizon iPhone 5 for about $320. Or buy a 4S used for $200. Put that $380 right in your pocket. The iPhone 5 is just about as good as a 5S.

Once the new model comes out, the last model drops $200 or so in price, but used iPhones never really go below $200 no matter how old they are.

Great strategy if you are putting kids on your plan, etc.

I used to do this when I had my parents on my plan. We'd renew the contract, get new phones, and they would just keep using their old ones.

Be warned when Apple released a new OS, they sometimes slow down old hardware. I made the mistake of upgrading my iPhone 4 to iOS7. The 4S is fine on iOS7, but will certainly be too slow for iOS8.

I am pleased to announce that I have finally become part of the 21st Century and am the owner of an iPhone 5s :)

Verizon started the $100 off a Smartphone of $199 or more last week, and I ran off to get one. I was on vacation, and hit a Verizon store while away :) I figured it would be faster than waiting at my local store on a Sunday. It was - took less than 30 minutes ^^

I did not add texts to my plan, and have already sent a few that were "green" indicating they were not iphones. I looked at my usage and it's not showing any charges for texts. I used iMessage to send them. Perhaps they don't count.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice.

^ Welcome! :D

Blue indicates iMessage, green are plain old texts. You can't send using iMessage if the recipient doesn't use iMessage, it's an all or nothing deal... it's not possible to send using iMessage and have the recipient receive it as an SMS. So if you're to be charged for text messages, I'd expect the green ones to eventually hit your usage/bill.

Now that's odd. I clearly sent iMessages to green recipients :)

Maybe Apple has got an server issue again. Anyway I only got "Messages" and within it I can either send a text or an iMessage. You descripten is a little weird!

Let me be clearer then :)

I have 1 app icon - for Messages (it's green with a white circle in it) From there I sent texts - the blue messages I was told are for those with iPhones, the green are for those without. I was expecting to see text charges from last week show up in my account activity for the green messages. The calls I made are there :)

So sorry for the confusion. It's the same place.

Yes, there is one app. The app automatically decides whether the message will be sent as an iMessage or a text message. As for why it's not showing up in your activity, couldn't tell you... is the other person a Verizon user? Perhaps you have some sort of mobile-to-mobile feature that applies to text messages just like it does to calls within the Verizon network?

You probably have a bucket of free texts you're using.

Blue messages are iMessages, which use data and can only be sent between iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

Green messages are standard text messages.

You can turn off iMessages in Settings -> Messages if you want. Then, everything will send as standard text messages.

Thank you :)

Very strange... We kept our old plan and just added data. We did not have the text message option, at one point we did for $5/mth but turned it off when we realized we weren't using it.

It's the old "covered america" plan, or something like that. It's one of the first family plans.

One of the other users has a iphone but is not on Verizon. The other definitely doesn't have an iphone, but might be on Verizon :)

I'll just wait and see if it shows up on my bill. Or I can call and ask :)

Did you enable iMessage on the new phone?

Go to Settings/Messages and make sure you've enabled iMessage. Use your Apple ID to enable it if you haven't, that's the fastest way to get it working on your phone. You have to re-enable it on new devices, sometimes when you change SIM cards, etc. Test it by trying to send to somebody you know that has it working already. If it's not working, then try disabling and re-enabling it, using your Apple ID. You can even try sending one to yourself.

Messages is an app, it supports SMS and iMessage protocol. You can view it as IOS' "unified" messaging app. It will use iMessage if it's enabled and the recipient supports it, and will be indicated by greyed out "iMessage" in the empty text box and blue text. Otherwise it will show "text message" greyed out in the empty text box and use green text.

iMessage is a messaging protocol, supported by Apple and uses your wifi or data connection.

You will also may want to edit the email addresses and numbers you send/receive iMessages from in the same Settings, you can also choose which number or email address new iMessages are sent from.

-David

iMessage can only be used if you have Wi-Fi or cellular data switched on, which I usually do not because I have unlimited texting at no extra charge; and the only time I activate cellular data is if I have no Internet service...

...and if I want to download anything onto my iPhone, I simply do it at one of my Macintosh computers.

:confused: and you think that's applicable to Mary2e?

Yes, iMessage uses data. (Wifi or cellular data).

If you don't want to use it (like in the case you mentioned) just disable iMessage in Settings/Messages. But that really wasn't the issue here.

-David

Possibly — depending on the specifics of her plan.

even after reading post #51 and #54?

Yes.

What's the reason?:eek: "Saving battery"? :D

Yes, I enabled everything I could :) I used my iPod Touch as a template, since I had everything working fine on there. I've been sending and receiving messages without any issue.

Thanks for the tips!

I keep wifi on and cellular off, but I have 2gig of data, and it's not likely I will come close to using it, since almost everywhere I am has wifi these days, including my office, which has off-network service for guests and employee use on personal devices.

I switch on cellular when I want to get email when in the car. As well, I check email manually.

No — but it does help with me, as battery life is prolonged noticeably when I keep as many functions disabled as possible....and that is the reason why I brought the subject up: in case your allotted data limit is low, about which I was not sure — but now I know you have nothing about which to be concerned pertaining to iMessage.

Enjoy your new iPhone!

In Settings/Cellular, scroll down and you can toggle which apps can use cellular data and which can't. So, if you manage that list properly, there's no need to turn off cellular data unless you don't trust it. icloud backups won't normally use cellular data.

-David

great thanks!

I have 2gb data plan and if you use for emails, google search, social media,etc. will never go over. When I work out, also listen to music via google play.

It's the streaming of videos that usually get's you in trouble.

I have 2gb data plan and if you use for emails, google search, social media,etc. will never go over. When I work out, also listen to music via google play and iHeartRadio.

It's the streaming of videos that usually get's you in trouble.

OK... now for some questions ;) This one is about bluetooth & my car.

With my previous dinosaur flip phone once I set up the bluetooth connection with my car it would automatically connect when I got into the car and I could make and receive calls. When I was out of range with the car the bluetooth would turn itself off.

I figured it might be the same with the iphone. I was wrong :). The only way I could get it to work is to turn on bluetooth, which apparently sucks the battery dry in no time and go through a bunch of commands.

For example, I can't just say "call - husband" as I could with my old phone. I had to tell it bluetooth - voice - [I got siri] - call - husband. Again, all while this was sucking my battery dry.

Then I had to turn off bluetooth to save the battery. If I don't turn on bluetooth on the phone before I try to make a call it can't connect (of course). That also means if I get a call I can't answer it either :(

Is this the case or am I doing something wrong? FWIW - I have a Buick LaCrosse (yes, I know, first mistake) with Onstar which has the subscription, but the phone works even without the subscription.

I suspect your old phone wasn't actually turning Bluetooth on and off... just automatically connecting and disconnecting. When your phone isn't connected to anything, it's probably going to consume less power, because it's not using the Bluetooth radio to talk to connected devices as much... it will just check for known devices that come in range every so often.

I leave Bluetooth on all the time. It doesn't cut down my battery noticeably. But if you're coming from a flip phone, you're probably already sensitive to the fact that your battery life is much shorter now than it used to be. I'd suggest just leaving Bluetooth on and buying a car charger to keep your phone topped up on power.

As for voice controls and anything specific to the Buick, I can't speak to those... I drive a Dodge Charger and refuse to use Siri.

I just leave BT on all the time, no real additional battery issues. It connects automatically to my jabra bt car speaker thing when I get in the car.

The wifi radio probably uses more power than the BT radio does. But both are easy to toggle on/off from the lock screen or any screen. Just swipe up from the bottom of the screen and touch the icon.

-David

Thanks guys. Last night I found that I can answer a call when connected - it's just jumping through hoops to get to my contacts that's the issue. However, the car did give me the option to download my contacts. Right now, they're messed up, but once they're fixed I'll try again. It actually easier to state the number than to go through those menus :)