Anyone Use Helio?
Posted by David Tucker in UncategorizedJan 26th, 2008 | 10 responsesMy contract with Verizon ends next month. I am evaluating which carrier to switch to (or to stay with Verizon). I was curious if anyone has used Helio. I was thinking about getting the Helio Ocean. I like it over the iPhone because it has 3G, GPS, and auto-uploading to Flickr. I was probably going to get my wife the new Mysto. Helio’s data plans end up being quite a bit cheaper than AT&T or Verizon ($45/mo – I don’t think so). I could also see the Flickr auto-upload being fun for conferences (like 360Flex Atlanta).
10 Responses to “Anyone Use Helio?”
About Me
David Tucker is a Rich Internet Application developer, author, and trainer. David currently serves as a Software Engineer at Universal Mind. In addition, David also blogs regularly at InsideRIA where he produces the Weekly RIA RoundUp podcast. David also recently completed the AIR 1.5 Cookbook (with a great group of co-authors) and the Lynda.com series, AIR for Flash Developers.
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just fyi~~~~
3g isnt that much noticeable.. my friends bf has a helio and its 3g isnt faster than my iphone, i even saw some guys in germany test an iphone against a 3g device and they too called it a draw. Not only that but if you travel you will find the edge is the only thing available in a lot of areas (like my moms house in ky) and that if you are on 3g your battery life will be miserable.
The helio’s gps isn’t very accurate either, actually none of the phones that have gps are and I would assume most are using the triangular cell tower method and not really a gps and the iphone now does that as well but uses both cell and wifi spots for a more accurate location. I haven’t really tried it yet against the helio but I can tell you the helio got us hella lost by giving a wrong location.
The guy with the helio spends more time playing with my iphone than his helio…
and that tiny screen on the helio……
I just switched from my Verizon to Helio, and so far I’m satisfied with everything but the “611″ tech support (a ditz answered, and wasn’t even aware of the features of the phone or the service.)
I access my web portal, get Yahoo! messages, get notified when I receive Gmail, view my faxes and documents, have a stereo bluetooth headset that automatically cuts out when I get a call, the gps works perfectly here in the Boston area – using the free google maps, and I have a 2gig micro card that looks like a hard drive when I plug in the phone to my Mac (I play my South Park full-length episodes, along with my music favorites.) And I’ve only begun to explore the features of the phone. Next thing is for me to figure out how to access while in Europe.
Also, I was paying around $200 a month for my Verizon phone; I tried to get them to make me any deal that would come close, but they wouldn’t budge (even though I’ve had Verizon for 8 years!) And I was surprised to know that my Helio roams no-charge to the Verizon network if the Sprint network is unavailable. (I have the unlimited plan with Helio.)
@dave,@Stephen – Thanks for the input guys. I am glad to hear that your experience has gone well Stephen. Things like this are leading me closer to Helio. That is also really awesome to hear that your phone can roam on the Verizon network for no fee – I hadn’t heard that yet. Helio has some awesome phones, and it is so much cheaper than Verizon. (If only they let you do laptop tethering).
I switched to Helio back in Oct and got the Ocean for $150. I was with Verizon for 4 years and had an unlimited data plan, which I barely used. I was paying around $230 a month for the voice minutes I needed. When I found Helio with unlimited minute and unlimited data plans, I decided to try out the service (I wasn’t very aprehensive because of the 30 day trial period). I think most cell customer service isn’t that great, and I can usually take care of all my minor problems. Anyway, I love the Ocean and the Helio service. I have to say that having both Sprint and Verizon towers to roam off of makes all the difference in the world. Not 1 dropped call yet and I love having unlimited minutes. In Nov I hit 12,000 minutes. Yikes! If you are interested int he Mysto, I saw it online for $99 at hello helio. I think their website is http://www.hellohelio.net
Any way there is my two cents.
I switched to Helio. I was Boost prepaid for almost a year and I was conviced through comaprison that Helio IS the way to go. It has all the extra features you’d pay a ton to use included into the base price!
I have found the mobile device I’d love to use and will not feel regret to pay the bill each month.
***CORRECTED ACCURATE UPDATE****
I switched to Helio. I was Boost prepaid for about 3 years and I was conviced through comaprison that Helio IS the way to go. It has all the extra features you’d pay a ton to use included into the base price!
I have found the mobile device I’d love to use and will not feel regret to pay the bill each month.
@Steve – Thanks! My contract with Verizon ends this week, so as soon as I can get to a Helio store (and actually play around with the devices) I will probably switch over.
I have been using it for years and wouldnt use anything else!
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