Cell phone plans for dummies anywhere?

[Thump553]

My contract with Verizon has expired and I'd like to explore the possibilities but researching the subject gets way too bogged down. Any sugggestions on sites/artilces to read?

Basically would be a two phone plan (maybe three), one phone (maybe two) a simple reliable phone would be fine. The other phone (mine) I'd like be able to share my Outlook 2007 calendar and contacts with, and teh ability to email/receive docs would be very useful. Don't want something I have to constantly charge. We use very few minutes, never text and rarely take pictures with a phone.

I'm pleased with Verizon's coverage but we are overpaying way too much there.

 

[Plugers]

If T-Mobile has good coverage in your area, the $30/month prepaid plan can't be beat. Just grab a GSM phone off ebay (get the IMEI # and check that it does not have a balance on it or anything before you bid) 3gs iPhones are going for $20 or so...

Call ATT and have them unlock the phone (which they will only do if the phone is out of contract with no balance. This is what the IMEI was for)

You can then have T-Mobile ship you a SIM, which you may have to cut down if they use microSIMs. You can then activate them yourself online.

No contract, 100min, unlimited text and data $30. No activation fee either.

 

[Sunburn74]

Actually I have been using virgin mobile non contract plans. I pay 35 a month for the HTC EVO 3d with 300 mins and unlimited text and data. For extra minutes I use a combination of free google gmail/google voice calling with my computer and with a 5 dollar app called groove IP which lets me use google voice calls for free on the cell phone.

Overall I'm happy with the plan and the phone except for one thing. ICS does not work with the public wifi at my work site. The service is generally pretty good and I get 4g as well. I dont plan on switching to another service at all. I wouldn't recommend the phone and the service if you are a power user but for intermediate users I think it's great.

 

[ImDonly1]

Google the following and compare plans on their websites.

Verizon Coverage
PagePlus
They have lots of plans.
-If you don't need many minutes they have a $80/year for 2000 minutes plan. You can only buy this plan from resellers like callingmart.com
-250 minutes/250 text/MMS* messages/10 MB of Data for $12/mo.
-1,200 minutes/3,000 text/MMS* messages/100 MB of Data for $30/mo.
-Check if your phone can be activated on VZW. Most 4G phones can't be. iPhone can be and most flip phones can also be (unless they are verizon prepaid phones).

ATT Coverage
GoPhone -$25/mo unlimited talk, text
RedPocket - Check website
Straight Talk $45/mo, awful customer service
Air Voice - Check website.
Others

T-mobile Coverage
T-mobile prepaid ($30/mo plan as mentioned in above post)
Straight Talk ($45/mo unlimited talk, text, 2GB of data, awful customer service)

Sprint Coverage
Virgin mobile $35/mo
Boost - Check website, bill shrinks with ontime payments by $5 up to $15 I think.

Can also look into Cricket or MetroPCS.

 

[kaerflog]

If T-Mobile has good coverage in your area, the $30/month prepaid plan can't be beat. Just grab a GSM phone off ebay (get the IMEI # and check that it does not have a balance on it or anything before you bid) 3gs iPhones are going for $20 or so...

Call ATT and have them unlock the phone (which they will only do if the phone is out of contract with no balance. This is what the IMEI was for)

You can then have T-Mobile ship you a SIM, which you may have to cut down if they use microSIMs. You can then activate them yourself online.

No contract, 100min, unlimited text and data $30. No activation fee either.

Just bad bad advice.
- You recommended a ATT phone to to use on a T-mobile prepaid plan.
- Also telling a non-ATT customer to ask ATT to unlock the phone ?? Read the prerequisites for unlocking a ATT phone.
http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB414532&cv=820#fbid=KgCmZ2fvkyC

 

[Thump553]

Thanks for all the info, at least it gives me a head start on ways to go. ATT coverage is very good in my area, Verison pretty much perfect, don't know about T-Mobile, will have to ask around to find people who have it. One person used Cricket at our house with no problems.

Plugers: Did you leave a digit out when estimating the ebay 3gs iphone price? A quick look seems to show them listing around $200.

 

[cardiac]

I've used Pageplus through http://www.kittywireless.com for about 2 years. You can bring your own device (There are some that you can't as Imdonly1 pointed out above), uses Verizon network, and the customer service at Kitty Wireless is second to none. My wife and I use the TNT1200 plan (1200 minutes-3000 texts-100mb data), my 2 teenage sons use the $12 plan (250 minutes-250 texts-10mb data). I have a Droid X2, hers is an HTC Incredible, one son uses the original Droid, and the other an old LG eNv. I just looked and saw this phone which would be perfect for you as it is Windows Phone 7 based:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VERIZON-HTC...0931078703?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item4168cc122f
and it can be used on Pageplus with no problems. I was spending over $200 a month on AT&T, and am now down to $84.....