Pre-paid cell phones - Opinions?

Pookymeister

Pookymeister

Moderator
Staff member
Feedback
736 (100%)
My Verizon 2 yr agreement just ended and I'm thinking about going the pre-paid cell phone route.

From what i've seen, T-mobile's $100 for 1000 minutes and good for a year deal seems to be the best option i've seen so far.

Anyone else use pre-paid phones and have thoughts/opinions?
 
[quote name='Pookymeister']My Verizon 2 yr agreement just ended and I'm thinking about going the pre-paid cell phone route.

From what i've seen, T-mobile's $100 for 1000 minutes and good for a year deal seems to be the best option i've seen so far.

Anyone else use pre-paid phones and have thoughts/opinions?[/quote]

A few questions

-Well how good is T-mobile's coverage in your area?

-How many minutes were you using when you were under contract?

-Have you talked to Verizon's CSR over the phone about leaving? They do EVERYTHING in their power to keep you...which includes a really good discount on a new phone (better than the new every 2 discount), or bonus minutes for another 2 years free.
 
Well, I know one thing that always hits people is the fact that pre-paid phones don't have free nights and weekends. (At least they never used to.) I only use about 75 minutes a month. But if you add nights and weekends to that, it'll be about 450.
 
Make sure those 1000 minutes don't expire. I've seen a lot of people get prepaid phones, then have the minutes expire in 90 days.
 
I use t-mobile prepaid and it works great for me. I use my cell sparingly though, so keep in mind how many total minutes you are using now.
 
- Service seems to be good based on their coverage map

- About 200-300 between two of us. Paying $80 month now.

- No, and I'm already getting 15% corporate discount so I don't seem them going too much lower. Bonus minutes don't mean much since i never come close to the 700.

T-mobile is offering phones for like $20-30 that come with a $25 prepaid card


[quote name='mtxbass1']Make sure those 1000 minutes don't expire. I've seen a lot of people get prepaid phones, then have the minutes expire in 90 days.[/quote]

Yea, they expire in a year. Though i'm not sure if true, I read somewhere that if you tag on extra minutes before expiration, they all rollover. I'll have to check on that one.
For the wife, 1 card will probably be good enough for the whole time. I'd prob wind up having to refill a couple times.
With Verizon being $960 a year, i think it will be a pretty big diff.
 
1) If you talk as much as you say, about 3-4 of the $100 cards should be fine. The $10-$25 cards can be a rip off.

2) They do last a year, unless you buy a new card, then the time you activate those will be the new 365 expiration date and your other minutes roll over too.

3) You can either get their cheap phones that are probably going to be discontinued a month after you buy them (happened to me twice), or you can buy an unlocked phone and put one of their sim cards in it (what I'm doing now). Their phones are also cheap in the way that they are finicky as hell and won't pick up signals if you're more than a few hundred feet away from a tower.

4) You get phone service,voice mail, EXPENSIVE downloadable crap, and text messages only. No email, no sending pictures, no using websites to get around their restrictions, and you can't even use the text messages to communicate with automated services. There is no web surfing, just a couple of sites they have a contract with (CNN, SI, etc). It'll be fine if you don't use bells and whistles. I find it frustrating as hell, but it's all I can afford.
 
Yea, i only use my phone as a phone and occasionally text messages, so im ok with that stuff.

I figured if the phone winds up being complete crap that i would buy a better one and switch out the SIMs.
 
I think pre-paid phones are all about your lifestyle, really. I use them, because I barely use my phone when I'm out of work, mostly I chat with friends via Skype, MSN or e-mail. I even cancelled the landline. I pay a little more per minute, but not having a subscription is bliss with my current life style.

I have been using a Motorola F3, and I'm very happy with it. It has a sleek design (for an old phone at least), some cool E-paper screen, and the battery can last almost 1 week with moderate conversation, since I do receive a lot of work-related calls. (it used to last almost 2 weeks, but the phone is already 1 year and a half). Awesome phone, even though it's just a talking device, and can barely text message, since the screen does not display a lot of characters at the same time.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
check out cricket i used them for a while before i moved and would still be using them if they had the service out there.
 
If you talk that little, a prepaid phone is probably the best/cheapest route for you.

I wouldn't do it as I talk and text more than that as I use my cell phone exclusively and haven't had a land line in a few years.
 
My brother had that Tmobile $100/1000 min plan a while back. One thing I do remember is, that you cannot add on a $10/$25 card and get the 10 cents/min rate your getting with the $100/1000 card, you need to keep on refilling with $100 cards. Not sure about the $50, but I assume the same.

As for calls, the only thing that he could complain about was that it sometimes took 10-20 seconds before his phone would even connect to someone elses, not sure what factor actaully affected that.
 
Jump on the current t-mobile prepaid deal right now.... Any of the $30 phones are excellent entry-level phones and come with a free $25 card (only one per household though). Just make sure you're happy with the service before you add on any minutes because they're non-refundable once added. Also, the 10c/min is only for the $!00 cards. $50 cards get close to that with 460 mins (after you've added $100 to your account and become "gold rewards").

If you think you'll use a lot of minutes you might want to consider going with Virgin Mobile (sprint) monthly plans (prepaid, no contract) as you can get rates less than 10c/min.
 
[quote name='Link927']As for calls, the only thing that he could complain about was that it sometimes took 10-20 seconds before his phone would even connect to someone elses, not sure what factor actaully affected that.[/quote]

Okay, I've never had that happen. Worst that ever happened was that I was too far away from a tower and the call would drop inside my house.
 
[quote name='DreamSymphony']Jump on the current t-mobile prepaid deal right now.... Any of the $30 phones are excellent entry-level phones and come with a free $25 card (only one per household though).[/quote]

Did you see this active 40 mins ago? It looks dead now - i know i saw it last nite and was just going now to order 2 phones :cry:
 
I don't use my phone a lot and I use Tracfone and I like it. Coverage is decent where I live and I have double min for the life of my phone. I picked up a 60 min card in october and also used a promo code for an extra 60. I still have 80+ left. :) Perfect for me.
 
Buy a used sidekick off of ebay, or any unlocked gsm phone for that matter, hell even an iphone works, you just want get the free data, thats only available for the sidekick users after t-mobile closed the loophole that allowed free interent. Its called the sidekick plan, its $1/Day and you get unlimited texting email internet and data (only a sidekick), and then if you want to make calls its 15 cents a minute. Its a decent deal IMO if text alot
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top