I'm thinking about this for ages and i just can't decide. I have an older Samsung "Smartphone" (the only thing smart about it is its touchscreen.. no Android or any other gadgets) and i rarely use it.. the occasional SMS and when i need to phone someone when i'm not at home. I'm not a heavy phone user so my phone costs are manageable (i'm even thinking about cancelling my contract and switching to prepaid because currently i pay more basic fees than what i use up talking). I'm totally not interested in social sites like Facebook so i don't need to check my pages all the time to see what everybody says and most of the day i'm at work where i don't have time to use my phone apart from lunch break. At home i use my PC of course and when i'm away i somehow don't need to check TrekBBS every hour or so.. my friends have computers where i can check email and some quick surfing if i want to. So.. this is my usage and thoughts. I know that most of you would say by now to not bother with Smartphones (the running costs to have a fitting plan with my provider would also be quite higher than what i'm paying now) but i'm wondering if i'm not missing out on something? There were some instances recently where i thought it would have been nice if i had a navigation system while driving.. new Smartphones can do that easily or when i really wanted to check on something while out but not having a computer at hand. So.. what am i missing out apart from regular Facebook checks? What do you do with your Smartphones all day that makes them worth it?
to be honest, if you don't use a smart phone, then there's no reason to actually get one... Personally i use my smart phone for email and media while i'm away with work... which is why i got the Galaxy Note, so i could make use of the huge screen. The thing about smartphones is that there's one out there for everyone really... while everyone has their own needs, and wants when it comes to technology, there's enough choices and variants out there for everyone to find one suited for them. But again, if it's something you're not going to use regularly, there's no real reason to upgrade, simply to stay with the current 'edge' of technology isn't a real reason, unless it's something you really care about, which from your post, doesn't sound like it's on your top list. M
I use mine for email, tracking things like the status of my servers (I have several), texting, a little gaming, navigation, jotting quick notes (like checklists of things to get at the store), fuel economy (Fuelly!), and listening to music (such as with Pandora.) A common use case for me is to have my phone paired via Bluetooth to my car, doing both GPS navigation and playing music via Pandora. I am somewhat of a power user, though.
I'd say if you don't need a smartphone, don't bother getting one. As for Sat Nav couldn't you just buy a basic sat nav device. A question to ask would the odd time you need a smartphone outweigh the costs of it, or coud the need wait until you got home and had access to a PC.
It is best to go visit a phone store and see what they're offering. I'm sure a sales person would be eager to show off the features. I never thought I'd need a smartphone. I hung onto my LG Lotus for 2 years before moving to the HTC Hero. Once you start using a smartphone, you'll wonder how you got by without one. Getting all kinds of data loaded onto your phone whenever you need it is terrific. Navigation apps are excellent and there are updates possible on a regular basis (whereas a dedicated navigation device are more troublesome to update and won't get updates nearly as often). And now with 4G networks taking hold, the speeds are pretty amazing.
I would never, ever, ever trust a phone carrier salesperson to recommend me a phone. They aren't paid to give a damn what the customer wants, they're paid to direct you to whatever their highest-margin model is.