Did you know that Dollar General sells smartphones? I purchased a American Telephone and Telegraph Calypso, two prepaid telephone for only $40 dollars. I had not used nor purchased a smartphone in 5 years.
However, a bank that will remain anonymous claimed they detected suspicious activity. Thus, they required that I take a picture and upload a government document. Otherwise, they would continue to restrict my ability to withdraw money.
Also, their stupid website would only allow this task completion with a smartphone. I did not want to spend much money on a dumb device, er I mean a smartphone, since I never use them. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that some Dollar General stores sell smartphones.
I searched online which Dollar General stores sold these telephones. Also, I searched for what brands and models. When I arrived at a local Dollar General, the brand and model was sold out.
I think there were only two or three other smartphones available. I choose the American Telephone and Telegraph Calypso, two prepaid telephone because of the low price and the fact it did not require any contract or credit check. Also, it was sold for a flat rate of $40 dollars plus tax.
I thought that was reasonable considering my predicament with the bank that basically stole access to my money. Anyways, that is a very lengthy blog post in of itself. I thought I would let you know that I was able to scan a picture and upload it to this bank's server.
A few days later, the cockroaches at this large bank that most people had heard of released the withdrawal restriction. By the way, I thought I would let you know that it was the banks' fault and nothing I nor anybody else accomplished that caused this disgraceful action. This monolithic monster of a corporation never apologized.
Anyways, on to the American Telephone and Telegraph Calypso 2 prepaid phone demonstration video. You can watch the full video demonstration embedded above. This smartphone came with a cardboard box and some additional documents. Here are some quick technical specifications of this satin silver smartphone.
- 5.5 inch high definition plus display including scratch resistant glass
- 8 megapixel rear camera including light emitting diode flash
- 5 megapixel front facing selfie camera
- 32 gigabytes of internal memory
- secure digital card slot
- 2500 million amp hours battery life
- wi-fi calling capability
- Google Android version 11 go edition operating system
This American Telephone and Telegraph Calypso two prepaid telephone comes with a two-year warranty. In order to activate the service, you are not required to enter in a contract. Also, no credit check is required.
The box that protected this smartphone included a cover that was detachable with velcro. Inside were activation instructions. Basically, in order to activate this smartphone, you need to follow three simple instructions.
- Turn on this smartphone and complete the telephone setup
- Receive the activation text message
- Click on the provided link in this test message and follow any remaining prompts
I have not and do not plan on activating this American Telephone and Telegraph Calypso, two prepaid smartphone. I purchased it for one purpose. Any remaining usage of this device I guess is a bonus.
I verified that this smartphone indeed has a quad core processor. Also, the internal memory is 32 gigabytes. I think it supports a 128 gigabytes or 256 gigabytes smart digital card.
Compared to previous older smartphones I used five years ago, it is quite responsive. However, as is most smartphones sold by the telephone service providers, it is heavily locked down. In order for me to unlock this device, it would require, I think, three months of paid service.
I did appreciate the fact that a credit card is not necessary to actually pay for the service. You can purchase an official American Telephone and Telegraph refill card with minutes. However, you would have the option of entering your credit or debit card information, entering your checking account information, using Paypal, as well as signing up for automatic payments.
You can receive activation assistance by visiting att.com/activateprepaid. This smartphone included a thin plastic sheet over the front glass. Also, the cardboard box included two separate pieces of plastic, I assume to further protect it.
A quick start guide, safety information guide, activation quick start guide, and two activation instruction sheets. One of them was written in Spanish. Mi espanol es muy mal.
You will receive a free subscription to American Telephone and Telegraph ActiveArmor.
- Manage annoying calls
- Block anonymous unknown calls
- Enable device security option
- Receive security breach reports
Amazingly, this American Telephone and Telegraph two prepaid smartphone came with a wall charger and universal serial bus type c cable. The universal serial bus type c cable was removable. Meaning you can use it to connect this smartphone to a computer.
I have tested and am able to connect this device to a Linux computer. I have successfully uploaded both pictures and videos. Also, the supplied universal serial bus c type cable charges the smartphone when connected to a computer.
Both of the cable and wall charger came in small plastic wrapping. In the AT&T Calypso 2 prepaid phone demonstration video, I stipulated the battery was already installed. Actually, this was not true as I remembered having to install the battery.
The battery came in plastic wrapping. All you have to do is remove the silver back cover. Then insert the battery correctly.
The back cover did not require the removal of any screws. One quick tip pertaining to the packaging. The three plastic wrappings came with the model numbers and part numbers for each item.
You may want to save the wrappers and or write down the battery, wall charger, and universal serial bus c type cable model numbers and part numbers. You never know when one of those fore mentioned items will fail or need replacement. The exact model that I ended up purchasing was the U319AA.
You can perform an Internet search for this exact model number to find out more details pertaining to this American Telephone and Telegraph Calypso 2 prepaid smartphone in the demonstration video.
AT&T Calypso 2 Prepaid Phone Demonstration Video Transcript
0:00
this is Aaron with anet
0:02
computers.com website I had to purchase
0:06
a smartphone
0:08
and I have not used one in like five
0:10
years but I'm not going to discuss that
0:12
story that's too lengthy but
0:14
I did actually purchase a smartphone
0:17
because I have because I had to scan
0:19
something in for a website that I will
0:22
not mention not yet
0:25
I purchased this American Telephone
0:27
until graph prepaid
0:30
calypso 2. smartphone
0:34
as you can see that's the box for it
0:37
and I'll just go ahead and just start
0:39
this is not an unboxing video this is
0:41
just like a review video I only spent
0:44
forty dollars I purchased it at a Dollar
0:47
General believe it or not some of the
0:50
dollar stores like Family Dollar and
0:52
Dollar General they actually sell
0:55
smartphones I don't know if Dollar Tree
0:57
sells smartphones they I don't think
1:00
they do but anyways I digress back to
1:02
this
1:04
it is a quad core so I will just show
1:07
you the box to begin with it's an
1:10
American Telephone Telegraph prepaid
1:13
Calypso five and a half inch display
1:17
with scratch resistant glass eight
1:19
megapixel real camera rare camera
1:24
lead flash 5 megapixel selfie so it has
1:28
two cameras a front pacing and a rear
1:31
camera
1:33
it does have 32 gigabyte intro memory I
1:35
verified that
1:37
the one that I purchased it does have a
1:40
small what is it SD card smart
1:45
Drive I think that's what that stands
1:46
for sold separately but I have not
1:48
expanded it yet but it does have the
1:50
slot
1:51
it has a long lasting 2500
1:56
what is it amp hours milliamp hours or
2:00
whatever battery the battery is pretty
2:02
good so far you know I mean it does
2:06
support Wi-Fi calling although it does
2:08
not work I couldn't get it to work
2:10
Android 11 go Edition it's pretty it's
2:13
pretty locked down actually it doesn't
2:15
have root access or anything like that
2:17
it's an American Telephone talk about
2:19
two year warranty and then the side of
2:22
the Box doesn't show much it just says
2:24
that no annual contract no credit check
2:27
and then here's the rear of the box
2:31
American Telephone Telegraph prepaid
2:34
covers what 99 and just a bunch of kind
2:38
of legal disclaimers or just blah blah
2:40
blah on the back I'm not going to go
2:41
away that and I will open up and I'll
2:43
show you what's in the box but this is
2:45
not an unboxing video I'm actually going
2:46
to show you the actual smartphone I have
2:50
it on the charger in here so this would
2:53
this is I think the Box this is exactly
2:55
the way it was when I bought it and I
2:57
can even show you the
3:00
this little front piece that comes off
3:03
it has it you can right there so
3:08
activation is easy it just has quick
3:10
activation instructions family plan pay
3:12
your way it has a uniform resource
3:15
locator that you could att.com activate
3:18
prepaid I have not activated it I do not
3:22
have service I used it just to upload
3:25
something for a website that will remain
3:27
anonymous for now you know what I'm
3:30
saying it's a bank I'll just give you a
3:32
clue it's a bank and I'm really pissed
3:34
off at them but they forced me to use a
3:36
smartphone
3:37
in order to get back into my to with
3:40
withdraw money
3:42
you know what I'm saying okay
3:45
just the barcode that's it okay
3:48
so let me show you what came in the Box
3:50
this is a plastic protector that the
3:53
smartphone is in this right here it was
3:56
actually on the smartphone and I just
3:58
decided to save it for the
4:00
the video demonstration
4:03
[Music]
4:04
so I mean these this is pretty good
4:07
plastic you know what I mean and it did
4:09
Cover the entire smartphone
4:11
this was just on top of it so the
4:14
smartphone is right here now and I'll
4:17
show it to you
4:20
this was a fix to it
4:23
is the actual really this was just on
4:25
top I don't even know if it worked it
4:26
sticks anymore prop now it doesn't it
4:29
well sort of but not nearly as good as
4:31
it was
4:33
but that's how it came shipped
4:36
all right oh yeah it works okay it let
4:38
me
4:40
close that real quick okay I'll get to
4:43
it I'll demonstrate I just want to show
4:45
you what was in the box if you're
4:46
interested some people
4:48
are interested but this is not an
4:51
unboxing video now that's just a
4:53
container for the prop for the Box
4:56
for now
4:58
this is just a phone quick start guy
5:00
from American Telephone Telegraph
5:02
America Kelvin telegraphical episode two
5:04
yeah I'm not going to go over any I just
5:06
want to show you what it looks like it's
5:08
just really quick it's just like a quick
5:10
start guide
5:13
it shows you the battery the how to use
5:16
it voicemail blah blah blah blah blah
5:19
they're pretty decent instructions
5:22
and some more oh that's it that's it so
5:25
just a quick start guide
5:28
now that the battery I think came yeah I
5:31
you had to put the battery in I think
5:34
yeah I'm pretty sure that's what this is
5:36
for or it does it does come with a type
5:39
c
5:40
USBC cable let's go over that really
5:42
quickly
5:47
it's right here you should be able to
5:49
see it this is Type C if it's the camera
5:52
picks it up
5:55
it's the newer USB type c
5:58
it's the it's not the older one that our
6:01
angled this is rounder this right both
6:04
it's rounder it's also
6:06
it doesn't matter which way you plug it
6:09
in because it's rounded okay and then it
6:11
did come with the charger
6:15
this is an AC wall charger right here
6:18
you just plug it into it any in America
6:21
110 115 volt whatever and then the this
6:25
is a USB
6:27
USB old what C or well USB 2.0 3.0 or
6:32
whatever the older School USB
6:35
and then you just plug it into the wall
6:39
and then boom you got it and it did come
6:42
with it it did I was concerned about
6:43
that but it actually did come with a
6:45
charger
6:46
so that was a good good thing
6:50
okay
6:51
and I do have a spare USB C cable throw
6:56
in case I lose it but hopefully I will
6:59
not okay I want another quick start guy
7:01
I don't need go over that now here's
7:02
your activate your service this is just
7:04
like what came with it it's a quick
7:06
start guide for activating your service
7:08
I haven't even opened it I'm not going
7:09
to open it because I don't plan on
7:12
actually but just to show you auto pay
7:15
they've got auto pay what else do they
7:17
have
7:20
they have instructions in in Spanish
7:23
espanol what's this other management
7:27
support and then they've got the quick
7:29
start guide I'm not going to go over any
7:32
of that and I'm not even going to take
7:34
that out because I just I'm not going to
7:36
activate it but if you but those are the
7:38
instructions to activate it it's a
7:40
prepaid phone
7:44
safety information this came with it I
7:47
don't I didn't even go over it I didn't
7:49
even read it really well I'm one of my
7:51
quickly glanced through hearing aid
7:54
compatibility it's just a lot a lot of
7:56
safety information handle battery okay
7:59
let's talk about the battery I don't
8:01
know if I want to show you because I
8:03
don't want to take the phone apart but I
8:04
did have to
8:06
take the battery okay so quick this
8:08
comes with it and then the Box really
8:11
quickly this is the rest of the box so
8:14
the smartphone was in here
8:16
with the plastic over it what does it
8:19
say it's the same specifications
8:21
okay long lasting yep
8:24
those are the exact same specifications
8:26
that's on the front of the Box we don't
8:27
need to go over there okay so this just
8:30
came with this to protect it and that's
8:32
it that's it for the
8:34
that portion of the video now I'm going
8:37
to get to the smartphone that I wanted
8:39
to go over
8:42
what I had to do for the battery so I
8:44
saved these These are the the this is
8:46
for the USBC cable and also they have
8:49
part numbers so here's a tip I have an
8:51
information technology background I have
8:53
decades words of in information support
8:57
information Technology support here's a
9:00
tip I tell people when it comes to
9:02
computers and any kind of electronics
9:05
any kind of
9:07
you know
9:09
technology whatever
9:12
you might want to say this because it
9:14
has the part number and it has a model
9:16
number now some of these smartphones are
9:21
finicky when it comes to replacing parts
9:23
and that includes the wall charger
9:26
sometimes they even tell you
9:28
they're not necessarily Universal it
9:31
deals with physics it deals with how
9:33
much electricity you and the type of
9:34
game did you know that there's different
9:36
types of USBC cables there's like three
9:39
major ones some support audio and video
9:42
some support they just data some only
9:46
will charge okay but I don't want that's
9:48
a separate video but so so my tip in
9:51
this video is to save part numbers and
9:54
model numbers just in case you need to
9:55
order them and you'll have them you
9:57
might use the cable or it may break or
10:00
just may quit working and right there
10:02
you can look it up on the internet and
10:03
potentially order a new one or a
10:05
replacement
10:06
okay so that's enough of that now the
10:08
battery came in here so this again oh
10:11
this is the charger my bad model number
10:14
yeah so if you wanted to replace the
10:17
charger that I showed you that's plugged
10:19
in this is the model number and the part
10:22
number two
10:23
okay the battery no you know what I
10:26
think the battery my bad the battery was
10:28
already installed but it's really easy
10:30
if you need to replace it now these
10:33
aren't very this isn't very expensive
10:35
and it just comes right I don't want to
10:38
do it but they do show you the
10:41
instructions showing you basically here
10:43
you see where the gray area is and then
10:45
you have the the black area
10:48
there's no screws here
10:50
you you might want to use like a guitar
10:53
pick or
10:55
smartphone repair technicians know what
10:59
I'm talking about and so do other
11:00
computer technicians prepare repair
11:03
there's tools that are made out of
11:05
plastic and they're designed to separate
11:09
plastic from each other I I didn't have
11:12
to I just took my hands but this silver
11:14
cover back cover comes off
11:18
and it's not that hard to take it off
11:21
okay just to let you know the batteries
11:24
underneath there so if you ever need to
11:25
replace a battery it wouldn't be that
11:27
difficult all right now so this is the
11:30
Calypso II it is it's a quad core also I
11:33
can't recall what the actual gigahertz
11:38
it may be somewhere between two and
11:41
three gigahertz I I can't recall what it
11:43
is you could look that up online but I
11:45
did verify that it is a quad core
11:49
okay and hopefully you can't hear that
11:52
somebody has an alarm
11:58
yeah I'm not it's kind of loud
12:02
I might have to I can't pause this video
12:04
I'm not using my normal
12:08
so there it is right there that's it
12:10
if you notice it's got the camera there
12:13
it's got a flash
12:16
camera flash that I believe is the
12:20
speakers I think yeah I think so
12:22
right there that's where the sound comes
12:25
from
12:26
and then this is the USBC Port
12:29
connection this is a I can't believe it
12:31
came with it but it came with a 3.5
12:33
millimeter Jack
12:36
so I can't like
12:40
ear plugs or or
12:44
headphones yes or anything really and
12:48
you might be able to you you may be you
12:52
may need to do an adapter but what you
12:54
would do if you wanted to use an
12:56
external microphone
12:58
and record audio from this Smartphone
13:02
American Telephone and Telegraph Calypso
13:04
2 is you would get an adapter a 3.5
13:07
millimeter adapter plug it there and
13:09
then the adapter would have another
13:11
connection for an external microphone
13:13
and possibly a condenser microphone a
13:16
better quality microphone
13:17
just to let you know and then I think
13:19
the little you see that little tiny
13:21
right by over my fingernail was at
13:23
that's I think a microphone and I think
13:25
there's a microphone at the bottom you
13:27
see that little tiny right there where
13:29
my finger nail is that's a microphone
13:31
also that's about it that I recall and
13:34
then the camera the front facing camera
13:36
is right there
13:38
I don't know if the camera will pick it
13:40
up let's see if I can
13:44
I don't have this set up I used to have
13:46
a setup long ago where I recorded
13:49
technical videos where I had the cameras
13:52
okay right there the cameras right there
13:55
were about where my fingernail is it's
13:57
hard to tell because it's black
13:59
and then okay but it does have two
14:01
cameras
14:02
now it's on the side it's got the
14:05
proverbial Bowl
14:09
power button up volume down volume
14:12
and then just three buttons there and
14:15
that's it that's a pretty simple I mean
14:17
for forty dollars it's pretty good I
14:19
don't well I don't know I'm not an
14:21
expert with smartphones I don't like
14:22
them I can't stand them I haven't used
14:24
them in a long time
14:26
I went five years without using a
14:28
smartphone until my bank
14:30
the bastards locked me out of my account
14:32
well I can still access it but I
14:35
couldn't withdraw money until I uploaded
14:37
some documents and I had to use a
14:39
smartphone they wouldn't let me use a
14:41
computer it was just absurd
14:45
okay so this is what it looks like
14:51
trying to position it there we go
14:55
okay
14:57
so it's just a standard Google Android
15:00
smartphone now it's pretty
15:03
you know it's a quad core
15:05
it's pretty responsive
15:07
you know I can do that for you
15:12
and then I don't know about anything
15:14
else you know
15:16
you know it's 98 percent
15:20
battery
15:22
you know I mean I could open up what
15:24
could I open up for you
15:26
oh I could open up the camera app
15:29
maybe that's not a good idea how about
15:33
how about the clock
15:36
just to show you how responsive it is
15:38
that's just this is a standard
15:40
application that came with the
15:42
smartphone
15:43
it's got a clock it also has a timer
15:46
that I that I use it's got a stopwatch
15:49
and an alarm I'm just demonstrating that
15:52
it is responsive
15:55
oh it's a quad core and it's got 32
15:58
gigabytes of
16:01
um
16:03
what on board
16:06
internal internal memory
16:10
now most of these came with it since
16:13
it's an Android I added authi that's an
16:16
authenticator I added Facebook
16:20
what else did I add Instagram I added
16:22
that
16:23
what else did I install VoIP this this
16:26
text
16:27
app that I use and YouTube I added did
16:31
it have it YouTube it may have already
16:33
had YouTube installed I'm trying yeah I
16:35
think it probably did since it's an
16:36
Android
16:38
you know what I'm saying but what else
16:40
could I demonstrate for you oh Missy
16:42
Droid that's a screen capturing well
16:45
video screen capturing program I
16:47
installed very small
16:49
I guess I could just show you messaging
16:51
I don't use it I don't have service so
16:55
that this is the default code that you
16:58
get when you in order to activate the
17:02
data plan the from ATT you get a text
17:06
message and that's I think the code
17:07
you're supposed to use or something like
17:09
that I don't even know if you can delete
17:10
I just I'm going to leave it there
17:13
so that you can even you may be able to
17:15
see what date I bought it
17:17
maybe anyways let's go back
17:23
you know it's got Maps
17:26
it's just got the proverbial Android
17:29
default applications it is it is locked
17:32
down
17:34
you know I can't oh I'm disappointed the
17:39
camera application that it has
17:41
it you can't adjust any of the settings
17:44
it does have Android you know what I can
17:47
show you
17:49
it has Android 11. if you go I think to
17:53
about phone that's the model number
17:55
right there
17:56
that's the if you want to learn more
17:59
about this Android you would Google
18:03
u1319aa and you should find it it's an
18:05
American and telephone Telegraph Calypso
18:08
too
18:09
it does it does come with the SIM
18:12
it has an ATM TCM that's already in the
18:16
phone so I didn't have to purchase that
18:18
that comes with the phone
18:20
some I don't know about American
18:21
teleport on Telegraph but some of these
18:25
phone providers they will charge you
18:27
money for the the Sim like I think
18:31
Cricket charges you a dollar some of
18:33
them might charge you two dollars
18:34
they they get it comes with it that's
18:38
the there it is right there that's the
18:40
Android version 11. I'm not an expert
18:43
with dumb devices I'm not sure what the
18:46
difference is the distinction is with
18:48
the Android 11 go Edition it may be
18:53
I'm I'm assuming that it may be
18:58
some kind of a
19:01
I don't know a
19:05
stripped down version maybe I'm not sure
19:09
it does support Wi-Fi
19:12
so I can connect on the internet over
19:14
Wi-Fi
19:17
it doesn't have a phone number because I
19:19
don't have service and I don't plan on
19:21
giving getting service
19:23
I mean I could open up Google Chrome
19:26
just to show you that you know
19:29
let's see I don't know if I have
19:31
anything
19:35
okay okay that's fine I just wanted to
19:37
make sure
19:38
it does have history and let me make
19:42
sure here
19:45
okay that's fine this will be con this
19:48
is my website anandcomputers.com and I
19:51
sell VoIP service and I was just looking
19:54
at my page I was test now this is a a
19:57
you know as an entrepreneur or
20:00
self-employed you almost have to have a
20:03
smartphone
20:04
or if you're banked you're if your bank
20:07
or bastards you almost have to have a
20:09
smartphone
20:10
but one good use of a smartphone is to
20:13
test your website this is my website
20:14
anaccomputers.com
20:16
and it is mobile compatible except for
20:19
the menu does not work that's a big
20:21
bummer I'm not sure why that is I don't
20:24
know if it's because of this version of
20:26
Android Android 11 or now that website
20:30
that is mobile compatible I designed it
20:33
as mobile compatible
20:35
but the menu it drops down but each one
20:39
of these are supposed to be a menu that
20:40
you can see and it just doesn't do it so
20:43
I'm not sure anyways let me close out of
20:46
that but yeah I mean I can use this to
20:48
test my website
20:50
and I do sell web service if you're
20:52
interested okay
20:54
no contracts no no credit checks no
20:57
nothing
21:00
okay
21:02
let's see I don't know what happened to
21:04
the video now
21:12
oh let's see
21:16
oh
21:20
I may have to end this now I'm not sure
21:23
what happened to the
21:28
it froze up on me you might be able to
21:31
still hear me I went over quite a bit
21:33
that might be the video that might be a
21:35
good time just to you know end the video
21:37
so that is my video pertaining to the
21:39
American Telephone and Telegraph Calypso
21:42
2 smartphone adios