Help with a new phone

philosofool

Senior member
Nov 3, 2008
283
19
81
My RAZR is nearly dead. The screen constantly goes blank. It's long passed the warranty.

I need a new phone.

However, my wife and I share a contract, which we can't get out of. I just want to get a new phone, add it to the present contract and be done with it. Moreover, my wife will probably need a new phone, and she's the one in the family that can really use a discount because she uses a smart phone. So we'd obviously rather not update our contract until she needs a new phone. We want the option to switch carriers when she gets a new phone.

Of course, our carrier doesn't provide any inexpensive phones unless you get a two year contract, <rant>because every single cell phone carrier is guilty of illegal pricing strategies that no one in our governement is trying to stop.</rant> I need to text messaging and calling with my phone, nothing else.

Is there any way to get a cheap phone for me while leaving our option to get a nice phone for her when our contract expires in a few months?
 

JohnAn2112

Diamond Member
May 8, 2003
4,895
1
81
Who's your current carrier? If you're with AT&T or T-Mobile, you can get one of their pre-paid, no contract phones for cheap and just pop your sim card in.
 

AtlantaBob

Golden Member
Jun 16, 2004
1,034
0
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JohnAn2112 - I was wondering the same thing. Just to confirm, all I need to do is get the new phone and pop in the SIM card? (Yes, it seems like it should be this easy, but given how screwy AT&T is...) Thanks. Philosofool, if I get one from them, I'll try to post a quick review of whatever I get. Looks like the prices are much better than those that come with AT&T's evil 2 year contract!
 

AtlantaBob

Golden Member
Jun 16, 2004
1,034
0
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Philosofool - hope this helps you.

Just an FYI, I'm on AT&T and just got their $30 Nokia pay-as-you-go phone from WalMart (http://www.walmart.com/catalog...o?product_id=11084518). All I had to do was swap out the SIM card, and I was good to go (except for the contacts stored on the old phone's memory). Not quite sure why they tried to put Sims: Castaways on it, but I can play mobile games and do such things on my iPod touch most of the time. For a simple answer the phone/get text messages device, this seems to be perfect. Even better to know that AT&T apparently approves of this (according to one of the documentation pieces inside the clamshell) -- basically, the phone/SIM card comes with a $15 credit for free minutes, but if you use this phone to upgrade an existing monthly account, AT&T will credit you with 150 minutes in a month or two. Not bad for $30!

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