Best pre-paid cellular?

[slackerinabox]

I gotta get one for emergencies and not for every day use.. Any suggestions? I heard Virgin Mobile is pretty good since the minutes don't expire.. Any other ones I should consider? In NYC Virgin Mobile, T-mobile, AT&T, Cingular, and Verizon all have prepaid options.. Is one really better than the other?

 

[NogginBoink]

I got Virgin because the minutes expire every 90 days... longer than the competition.

So far I'm happy with it, but I use the phone very rarely.

 

[rpc64]

My mom and sister use Virgin Mobile and they really like it. It's cheap and they have NEVER had a problem with reception or call quality or anything.

 

[ROTC1983]

Hmm, I am interested to know too

 

[slackerinabox]

Cool.. Sounds like Virgin's pretty decent.. Will be picking up a phone tomorrow (unless someone shares negative experiences with me!).. I used to have verizon prepaid but the minutes were really expensive from what I remember (and there was an annoying account status update before EVERY call- I hope virgin doesn't do that)

 

[ROTC1983]

Hmm, I guess I will be gettin Virgin too. Sounds cool with me. Sorry for using your thread to help me too

 

[syzygy]

Originally posted by: NogginBoink
I got Virgin because the minutes expire every 90 days... longer than the competition.

but if you buy more minutes before time expires don't you extend the
life of your base amount of minutes indefinitely ?

for example, you purchase your first pre-paid phone. it comes with 60
pre-paid minutes that must be used before 30 days otherwise they expire.
but if you purchase 20 additional minutes before your original 40 expire,
then don't you extend the life of all the minutes you had left over (from
the original 40) plus the 20 you just purchased ?

that is my understanding as it was explained to me from a number of
store vendors. i'm looking to switch myself because i simply don't need
all the minutes my monthly plan provides.

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: syzygy

Originally posted by: NogginBoink
I got Virgin because the minutes expire every 90 days... longer than the competition.

but if you buy more minutes before time expires don't you extend the
life of your base amount of minutes indefinitely ?

for example, you purchase your first pre-paid phone. it comes with 60
pre-paid minutes that must be used before 30 days otherwise they expire.
but if you purchase 20 additional minutes before your original 40 expire,
then don't you extend the life of all the minutes you had left over (from
the original 40) plus the 20 you just purchased ?

that is my understanding as it was explained to me from a number of
store vendors. i'm looking to switch myself because i simply don't need
all the minutes my monthly plan provides.

That's how my dad's phone works (t-mobile) - minutes expire after 30 days but can be extended up to 60 days (I think) depending on how many minutes you add ($10 adds 15 days, etc). I'm not sure how virgin works but I believe their minutes are the cheapest (cheaper than most regular cellphone companieS)..

 

[NogginBoink]

Originally posted by: syzygy

Originally posted by: NogginBoink
I got Virgin because the minutes expire every 90 days... longer than the competition.

but if you buy more minutes before time expires don't you extend the
life of your base amount of minutes indefinitely ?

for example, you purchase your first pre-paid phone. it comes with 60
pre-paid minutes that must be used before 30 days otherwise they expire.
but if you purchase 20 additional minutes before your original 40 expire,
then don't you extend the life of all the minutes you had left over (from
the original 40) plus the 20 you just purchased ?

that is my understanding as it was explained to me from a number of
store vendors. i'm looking to switch myself because i simply don't need
all the minutes my monthly plan provides.

Yes.

But you only have to 'top up' with Virgin every 90 days, as opposed to shorter intervals with other carriers.

So you have to pay a minimum of $20 every 90 days, I believe. Which would be $80 a year for cellphone service. Not bad.

 

[Nocturnal]

AT&T's Go Phone is excellent.

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
AT&T's Go Phone is excellent.

Don't they charge like a minimum amount monthly though ($20 i think)?

 

[syzygy]

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212

That's how my dad's phone works (t-mobile) - minutes expire after 30 days but can be extended up to
60 days (I think) depending on how many minutes you add ($10 adds 15 days, etc). I'm not sure how
virgin works but I believe their minutes are the cheapest (cheaper than most regular cellphone companieS)..

ok. thanks. the amounts do vary. i don't know if you are purchasing days or minutes stretched over a 4 or
6 week period. i begin with 120 minutes for the first 30 days. i use 20, left with 90 before the 30 day perod
on the original card expires. i then purchase 30 additional minutes for, like, 20.00, and the total of 130
minutes is extended for another 30 days ? or what ?

 

[syzygy]

Originally posted by: NogginBoink

Yes.

But you only have to 'top up' with Virgin every 90 days, as opposed to shorter intervals with other carriers.

So you have to pay a minimum of $20 every 90 days, I believe. Which would be $80 a year for cellphone service. Not bad.

thats true. but since i'm going to save a huge amount over the monthly plan i figure i can be a little
choosy with my new phone. t-mobile and at&t have a wider and sweeter selection of phones for their
pre-paid service than virgin. virgin's phone, the one i've seen at least, is fugly. i think they only have
that one model for pre-paid service.

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
AT&T's Go Phone is excellent.

Looked into goPhone - it's nice that you can get unlimited nights and weekends if you get the $30 plan.. Very nice for prepaid.. Hmm, but do the minutes roll over? Also, will free nights and weekends be justified? that's $360 free nights/weekends or $80 without..Hmmm.... That's like 1120 minutes...

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: syzygy

Originally posted by: NogginBoink

Yes.

But you only have to 'top up' with Virgin every 90 days, as opposed to shorter intervals with other carriers.

So you have to pay a minimum of $20 every 90 days, I believe. Which would be $80 a year for cellphone service. Not bad.

thats true. but since i'm going to save a huge amount over the monthly plan i figure i can be a little
choosy with my new phone. t-mobile and at&t have a wider and sweeter selection of phones for their
pre-paid service than virgin. virgin's phone, the one i've seen at least, is fugly. i think they only have
that one model for pre-paid service.

Their newest phone (flip phone) isn't that fugly..

 

[MaxDepth]

Cool. I never thought to look at Virgin's plan. Maybe something to do with the name, Virgin...

Anyway. On Amazon, there are 3 phones to choose from instead of 2 with Verizon's pay as you go. One phone says it costs $129, but after you get the plan it'll only cost you $79. The problem is that the price break is only listed for $20 off and there is no plan except the pay-as-you-go.


Huh?

 

[MaxDepth]

Hey. When it says CDMA as it's network capability, what does that mean?

 

[OITLadyOwl]

I just got a Virgin Mobile phone, and I like it. My last prepaid phone was AT&T, and they were the biggest dumbasses I ever had the displeasure of dealing with. They didn't have coverage in the area I'm going to school in, so they charged me UTB for roaming. I finally just said screw it.

I went with AT&T Wireless first, because at the time, their minutes didn't expire for 90 days, whereas Verizon's expired after 60, but then AT&T decided to screw everyone, and changed their expiration to 45 days. I was like WTH!?

 

[MaxDepth]

UPDATE: I just bought one. I'll let you know how it goes when I get it.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: MaxDepth
Hey. When it says CDMA as it's network capability, what does that mean?

Virgin is a SprinPCS reseller, therefore, the phones are CDMA phones. No roaming capability off the SprintPCS network, either, but I still think the plan is a pretty decent deal for prepaid.

I'm using an AT&T reseller currently, eCallPlus. They offer domestic roaming for no extra charge anywhere there is an AT&T national One Rate signal. They also have a 90 day expiration period and decent rates per minute.

 

[slackerinabox]

Since I started this thread I thought I should do a little recap.. Picked up the Audiovox "vox" 8500 flip phone for Virgin Mobile service.. Pretty nice phone - $99 and smaller than my old motorola v.60.. The display is a little dim (even with adjusting) but it works great and has some nifty features for a small so small and affordable.. Service was very easy to activate - went to a web site and filled out a small form.. I had one minor problem at 4 in the morning and called virgin customer service.. I usually spend at least 5 min on hold with att/verizon/etc. (even at 4 am) but there was no wait and the tech cleared up my problem ASAP (the problem was due to my ignorance and not the service/phone)... So here's what it breaks down to:

25 cents per minute for the first 10 minutes a day
10 cents a minute for the rest of the day after the first 10
Activation is free and includes a $10 credit (you can get $5 more free if you sign up for auto-refill.. I did not)
Text messages are 10 cents to send (free to receive)
Vmail, caller-id, call-waiting, etc. are free but you pay for airtime if you check messages using the phone
Minutes expire every 90 days unless you refill on the 89th day..You can automatically refill if you'd like
Acount management, ring tone purchasing, etc. can all be done online
24/7 tech support (that should be the norm but one prepaid company I used only operated during the day)

That's really it. My experience has been pretty good so far -strong signal out doors, mediocre signal indoors (but that seems to be the norm in NYC with everyone but verizon)... My mom and dad both think that the phone looks snazzy and regret getting their generic Nokias from t-mobile...

Anyways, I hope someone finds this usefull!