LG 306G vs LG 840G Tracfone Comparison

Compare the Tracfone LG 306G Vs. LG 840G

LG 306G vs LG 840G Tracfone Comparison

The LG 306G is a somewhat recent phone released by Tracfone that has many similarities to the older LG 840G. So which one is better? Is it worth upgrading form the LG 840G to the LG 306G? We will cover these questions and more in this cell phone comparison!

Tracfone is a prepaid wireless phone and service provider that focuses on low cost services and phones. The LG 840G and LG 306G are both touchscreen phones, but neither use the Android OS that so many smartphones use these days. (take a look at our List of Android Phones from Tracfone to learn more about the many features these phones have)

This comparison will go over the many similarities these two phones share, and then cover some of the important differences that may just make the difference in which phone you would prefer.

Let's start with a list of the similarities between the LG 306G and LG 840G.

Similar Features for the LG 306G and LG 840G

Both phones offer the following features:

LG 306G Comparison

• Triple Minutes for Life
• Single 'pool' for minutes
• 2 MP Camera
• WiFi and 3G connectivity
• Bluetooth
• Email
• Mobile Web
• 3.2" touchscreen
• Text and Picture Messaging
• Hands free speaker
• Voicemail, Caller ID, etc.
• Alarm Clock, 1000 Entry Phonebook
• About 2 weeks battery standby time, 3 hours talk time

As you can see, these phones share many features such as the same size screen, same camera and both have WiFi.

The size of the two phones is also very close, with the LG 840G measuring 4.0 x 2.4 x 0.5 inches and the LG 306G coming in at 4.08 x 2.47 x 0.47 inches.

The LG 840G and LG 306G are both (obviously) made by LG and use a proprietary java based operating system that does allow the installation of applications, but it is not as easy as using Android or an Apple phone.

The reality is this, the LG 306G, despite being released several years after the LG 840G, is not really a big upgrade over the LG 840G and both have many of the same features. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as the LG 840G is a great phone. But there are a couple differences that may sway your purchasing decision one way or another/

Let's get into the differences for the LG 306G VS LG 840G.

Differences Between the LG 306G and LG 840G

LG 840G has square corners

The most eye-catching difference is the shape of the LG 306G. It has rounded edges and seems a little more modern in design. It looks somewhat like the Samsung Galaxy Centura The LG 840G, on the other hand, has a very square, boxy design very similar to the LG Optimus Dynamic.

The LG 306G comes with five customizable home screens, which is an upgrade over the LG 840G. However, unless you really like organizing you icons on many different screens, this isn't really a big feature.

Both the LG 306G and LG 840G come with Micro SD cards for extra storage, but the LG 306G comes with a 4GB card and the LG 840G only has a 2GB card.

Lastly, it is possible to install Google Maps on the LG 840G which is a very convenient feature, but there are mixed reports about whether the LG 306G comes with GPS, and if you can use it. We will update as more information becomes available.

You can take a look at our full reviews of the LG 840G and LG 306G to compare the phones yourself and learn more about each one.

Which Phone is Better - LG 840G vs LG 306G

The LG 306G has several features that make it a little better than the LG 840G. But they share so many similarities that these differences don't make that much of a difference. If the shape and look of the phone is important to you, then you can choose the one you like best.

If the questions behind the GPS functionality on the LG 306G is cleared, ti would probably be the clear winner.

A few notes to consider when thinking about buying these phones. First, there are not many cases available for the LG 306G at this time, but there are lots of options for the LG 840G.

And finally, price. The LG 840G typically sells for around $20, with a pink version currently going for $10.

The LG 306G also is going for around $20 in many online stores. There are also a number of minutes bundles available with these phones which can make them even cheaper.

In conclusion, The LG 840G is a great phone, but gets slightly edged out by the LG 306G because of a few differences and upgrades. Is it worth upgrading you LG 840G to the LG 306G? No, probably not. You would be better off upgrading to an Android phone or perhaps an iPhone 4 which can now be used on the Tracfone BYOP program.

And if you really want to get a great deal on minutes, check out our Guide to the Tracfone Family Value Plan and Individual Plan.

We hope you found this comparison useful. Let us know if we missed any important differences and leave your thoughts or questions in the comment section below!

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iMessage updates in iOS 8.

iMessage in iOS 8, a better way to message.

Apple’s Messages app has been solid, but it is well overdue for the update it's about to get, and it should make it more competitive with the other popular texting apps like Snapchat and WhatsApp.  There are many great new features coming in the new Messenger, you’ll be able to create voice and video snippets to post along with your text and photos. You'll also be able to share your location for a set period, for instance an hour, through the end of the day, or indefinitely. And, with a tap, you can view all the attachments in a conversation—all the photos and videos—without having to scroll through text to find them.   Today's blog is only covering the new voice recording feature.  

In the screen capture above, you'll notice the microphone just above the word "I'm" (That's the predictive keyboard at work, predicting what I'll type!).  Now take a look at the screen capture below.  

When you press the microphone icon, a 3 quarter circle appears with an X (left), an Arrow (Top) and a circle with a red square inside (middle).  The X cancels the recorded message.  The Arrow pushes the voice message into the body of the message (see below).  The red square stops the recording.

So, if you need to be discreet, and don't want to type out a message, the voice recording is a fantastic way to go.  

Look for my next iOS 8 update towards the end of the week, it will be covering the new iCloud drive!

How to Set Up the Tracfone Family Value Plan

The Tracfone Family Value Plan is A Great Deal

The Tracfone Family Value Plan (and the Individual Value Plan) is a monthly automatic plan that provides a certain number of minutes and 30 service days at a great price. With the Individual Value Plan you can choose 50, 125 or 200 minute amounts at $10, $20 and $30 respectively. With the Family Value Plan the first line gets 50 minutes for $10, then each additional line gets 40 minutes for $6 each month.

These plans, once set up, will automatically credit your phone with minutes and service days, and charge you to a credit or debit card. It is a very convenient way to keep minutes and service days on your traction device.

But how do you set it up, and how much does it really cost, and do you get double or triple minutes added as well? All these questions and more answered below!

How To Set Up the Tracfone Family Value Plan

To begin, if you don't already have an account on the Tracfone Website, then set that up for your phone. It is easy to do and just requires a few bits of information like phone number and email.

Next, add the other phones you want to put on the family value plan onto your online account on the Tracfone Website (if you don't have any other phones you want to add, then skip this). If you don't have all the details on these phones, you can call up Tracfone and have them do it as long as you have the phone number for these phones.

Cell Phones By  Dru Bloomfield

Now that all the phones you want on the value plan show up on your account with Tracfone you can begin purchasing the family value plan.

The first phone added to the plan (located under Buy Minutes Online> Plans> Family Value Plan) will cost $9.99 and get 30 days of service and 50 minutes. All others added to the plan will get 30 days of service and 40 minutes for $5.99.

If your phone as double or triple minutes for life, you will get 100 or 150 respectively. Others on the plan will get 80 or 120 minutes, depending if the have double or triple minutes.

To choose which phone will get the 50 minutes per month, and cost 9.99, simply add it first and purchase the Family Value Plan. Proceed to checkout and complete your order.

Then do this process over again, but when you select the Family Value Plan, the website should recognize it is for 40 minutes at $5.99. Checkout and repeat this for each additional phone you wish to add.

If you run into any problems, you can call Tracfone support to help complete the process.

 How Much Does it Really Cost?

You might be wondering, how much does this value plan really cost, it can't be this cheap for a prepaid cell phone plan can it?

Well, it really does only cost $10 for the first phone, and $6 for each additional phone. Of course, there are some taxes etc. which add a dollar to the final cost, but in the end you could have a family of four each with cell phone service for about $30 a month. If that isn't incredible, I don't know what is.

$30 a month is half what most consumers pay for a single cell phone service plan.

So, how much could you save?

Read our Cell Phone Reviews to start looking at phones with Triple Minutes for Life!

Let's take a closer look at the cost per minute for these monthly plans. We will assume you have Triple Minutes for Life.

For the Family Value Plan, you get 50 minutes (tripled to 150) for $10 = $0.067 per minute

Each additional phone added to the plan gets 40 minutes (120) for $6 = $0.05 per minute

The Individual Plan for 125 minutes (tripled to 375) for $20 = $0.053 per minute

And the 200 minute Individual Plan (600 minutes) for $30 = $0.05 per minute

As you can see, the Value plans actually do provide great value. For comparison, a 60 minute card comes out to over 10 cents a minute (but you do get 90 days of service). ($20/180 minutes = 0.11)

Are There Any Drawbacks or Other Information?

The first drawback is that if you have people in your family (such as teenagers) who use their phone a lot, they may run out of minutes. But you can always purchase more minutes while on the Value Plan.

Perhaps this would be a good way to help younger people manage their resources, by giving them 40 minutes and 30 days of service each month, but anything over is up to them to pay.

For the Family Value Plan there are no hidden fees, no cancellation fees, and the payment is automatically charged to your account each month on the day you enrolled in the plan.

Cancellation is pretty easy, all you need to do is call the Tracfone customer service, or you can even change which phones are on the plan on the Tracfone website, in your account area.

The Family and Individual Value Plans work on Tracfone's new Android Phones, which all have Triple Minutes, and even work for the BYOP program.

The bottom line is that the monthly minutes plans from Tracfone can be a great way to save money, and avoid worrying about tracking your minutes and buying new cards. And there are promo codes for new Value Plan registration!

Got any further questions about the Value Plan? Ask them in the comments section below and we will try to get back to you!

This was originally posted on 1/16/2013, and updated on 8/11/2014.

Hey Siri! Handsfree Siri coming to iOS 8.

It only took a few years, but Apple is giving iPhone and iPad users a great new (old) tool in iOS 8,  handsfree Siri!  There is a catch, your device needs to be plugged in, in order for Handsfree to work.  First, turn it on.  Go into Settings > General > Siri:

Turn the Voice Activation switch to On (or green), and your ready to go!  This is awesome for those of us who haven't learned that we shouldn't hold our phones (or use them!) while driving.  As long as your iPhone is charging, simply say "Hey Siri" and Siri is ready for your request.  I've used it (not in Deerfield because you can't use handheld devices in Deerfield!) and it works famously.  I've had it call ("Hey Siri, Call Erika"), I've had it text ("Hey Siri, text Eli"), I've had it check the price of Apple stock ("Hey Siri, what's Apple stock at today").  Now this isn't only for driving.  Handsfree Siri works whenever and wherever your iPhone or iPad is plugged in, to a computer, outlet or other charging device.  I'm quite pleasantly surprised at how well it's working in the beta software (currently beta version 5).  

So if you have to use your iPhone while driving, at least you'll finally be able to do it all hands free!

If you are testing iOS 8, I'd love to hear your thoughts, and if you are not, I'd love to hear your thoughts as well!  

More cool iOS 8 features to come soon!

How Do Minutes Work on Tracfone Android Phones?

A Short Guide to Adding Minutes to Tracfone Android Smartphones

Guide to Tracfone Android Minutes

Over the last year, Tracfone has begun including a variety of Android powered smartphones in their lineup of low cost cell phones.

Tracfone provides both cell service and phones at a low cost and sells cards with varying minute amounts (60, 120, 200 etc.) that users can buy and add to their phone. When the minutes are added, the phone then uses those minutes when you call or text. You also get 90 days (in most cases) of service with each card.

This system where users can buy minutes only when needed helps to make Tracfone service very inexpensive for people who don't use their phones very often.

Many Tracfone devices also come with double or triple minutes for life, meaning you get double (or triple) the minutes when you add a new card.

All of the new Android phones from Tracfone come with Triple Minutes for Life, which is a great bonus. Even smartphones like the iPhone 4 which you can use with Tracfone, and other BYOP phones get Triple Minutes for Life. Learn more about 'Bringing your own phone' to Tracfone to see what phones will work.

Let's begin by explaining exactly how minutes work on the Android smartphones from Tracfone.

How Tracfone Minutes are Added to Android Smartphones

With the Android phones, the way minutes are credited to your account is a bit different than how things worked for older phones. (see our full list of current Android smartphones from Tracfone if you're not sure which phones are smartphones)

For phones like the LG 840G, when you added a 60 minute card, you would get it tripled to 180 minutes which you could then use for talk, text and surfing the web.

For Android phones, Talk, Text and Web are split up when you add the minutes. So if you add a 60 minute card, you will get it tripled to 180 minutes, and then this is split up into 180 minutes for talking, 180 texts, and 180 MB for web.

So to make it clear:

• Non-Android phones use one 'pool' for minutes.
• Android phones use three separate 'pools' for talk, text and data.

For most people an Android phone is a great deal because you get the same number of minutes for talking, while also receiving texts and data. But there is an important difference that makes this not a great deal for everyone.

Related post - 6 Key Differences between Android and non-Android Tracfone Devices

The difference is that for people who text a lot, Android phones are not as good a deal. Let me explain:

For a non-Android device, each text costs .3 minutes. So with 180 minutes, you would get 600 texts.

On an Android phone, each text is 1 text (because texts are their own 'pool'). So with 180 minutes, you would get 180 texts (you would also still have 180 minutes for talking, and 180 mb of data).

If you are a heavy texter but want an Android phone, look into downloading apps that text for free. Simply visit the Google Play Store and search for 'free texting apps'.

The LG Optimus Dynamic II is one of the best Android phones currently available from Tracfone. So if you're looking for a smartphone, it is worth checking out.

For those who don't want to switch to this new minutes system, phones like the LG 840G we mentioned above, the LG 306G, Moto EX431G, and Samsung S425G still use the one pool system for minutes (and all of these phones have Triple Minutes).

If you have further questions on how minutes work, feel free to leave a comment below. Now, we want to go over one more important point:

How to Check Your Minutes Balance on Android Phones

Tracfone airtime for Androids

This is a question many are asking, because there is no automatic location on Tracfone smartphones for accessing your current minutes balance like there is on non-Android phones.

But there is an easy way to check your balance. Simply sign into your account at Tracfone.com (or create one of you don't already have one) and go to your account page. You should see your phone listed there, and one of the options will be to check your current balance. Click this and after a few seconds you should see what your remaining balance looks like.

You can do this either on a computer, or from your phone. Additionally, there are two more options for checking your balance:

Enter the following url into your browser from your phone or computer and replace the numbers at the end with your phone number: https://www.tracfone.com/direct/CheckBalance?input_phone=1234567890

Or simply download the Tracfone App which allows you to see your service end date and balance.

That concludes this guide to how minutes work on Android phones. We hope you found this useful, and leave a comment with questions or thoughts.

Be aware that Tracfone Promo Codes don't work on Android phones, so this is also a small downside of the new smartphones.

Check out the latest and greatest sales, deals and discounts on Tracfone devices and minutes for some huge savings we've found around the internet!

Thanks for visiting!

iOS 8 Predictive typing keyboard

Smart and Swappable Keyboards

Have you ever used an Android, or do you know anyone who owns one?  If so, you've probably heard them speak about how great gesture typing is. Rather than tapping out words across a small keyboard, gesture typing allows you to coast across a screen, letter by letter, to send correspondence. Keyboard apps such as SwiftKey and Swype offer this functionality and also work quite well. With iOS 8, Apple is most certainly playing catch up, finally opening iOS devices to system-wide third-party keyboard apps. SwiftKey, Swype and many others are on the way.

Apple’s iOS keyboard may not get built-in gesture typing in the early iOS 8 releases, but it does have new predictive typing that learns from you. Apple calls it QuickType, and as you rattle off a sentence, it will suggest contextually appropriate words. QuickType guesses the words you might want based on what app you’re using (mail versus messages) and to whom you’re sending a note to—boss, friend, wife? 

Knows who you are writing too, and knows what the conversation is about!
The keyboard will provide word choices that are appropriate for whom you are writing too.  Your co-worker, friend, wife etc.  iOS 8 also understands if you are responding to a question and will  provide choices like "yes" or "no".

Look for more great iOS 8 updates later this week and further into this month!

Tracfone Promo Codes for August 2014

List of New Tracfone Promo Codes for August 2014

Below is a list of promotional codes for use with Tracfone prepaid service. These codes are collected for your convenience by de9w2dsl.

Tracfone Promo Codes!

Tracfone Wireless is a prepaid cell phone company with low cost phones and service. They provide promotional codes for extra incentives, and we have collected the newest codes for August 2014 here for you to use when adding a new prepaid minutes card.

Each month we collect and share new promo codes here, but you can also visit our main Tracfone Promo Codes page where we have more codes and keep a larger updated list.

Sometimes these codes don't work, so we suggest adding online where you can try several codes. Also, if the code doesn't work you can call Tracfone and they will usually give you the minutes.

It is important to note that these codes do not work on Android smartphones from Tracfone. If you're trying to decide if a smartphone is right for you, view our new post, 6 Key Differences between Android and non-Android devices from Tracfone.

Leave a comment below with which codes worked for you. Now, here are the codes for August!

Tracfone Promo Codes for August 2014

The codes are listed with the minute card they go with, but you can also use them on any cards of greater value/ So a code for a 60 minute card should work for a 120 or 200 minute card.

60 Minute Card - Enter 84464 or 40020 to get 30 bonus minutes

120 Minute Card - Use promo code 32102 for 60 minutes, or 88732 for 30 bonus minutes

200 Minute Card - Enter code 50600 or 24265 for 40 extra free minutes

400 Minute/1 Year Card - Use 88542 and get 300 free minutes

450 Minute Card - Add promo code 32313 or 93528 to receive 50 bonus minutes

These codes should all ve valid through August 31st 2014. Sometimes codes don't work, either because they might be one time use, or they are for a particular region/phone. Please leave a comment with which codes are working for you!

Check out some of our popular resources, including our Cell Phone Reviews page and Tracfone BYOP Phone List page. These pages offer information and resources about phones for Tracfone.

And don't forget to see our list of big summer deals and sales which includes some great deals on minutes too! We also just updated our Top 5 LG Phones from Tracfone list to include the new Android smartphones, so check it out!

Thanks for visiting, and we hope you found these codes useful and were able to get some free minutes!

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