Prepaid cell phone recommendations?

[13Gigatons]

What I want:

1. Voice mail
2. Make and receive phone calls (not many and low minutes)
3. text message (once in a while)
4. The least amount of money


So many on the market now so looking for others experiences first to avoid the pitfalls.

 

[abaez]

Pretty much any phone will work for you. Take a look at some older models. I personally have the samsung x820. Bought it unlocked from HK and it's still the thinnest phone out I believe and been using it with prepaid for awhile now. People still make comments about it two years later. It's like $125 now.

You can buy many unlocked, cheaper phones at http://www.myworldphone.com/ You'll only really find GSM phones there though. I have no idea about CDMA.

 

[Throckmorton]

I use T-Mobile. It's the best pricing... All the others require that you pay $1 on the days you use the phone, etc.
The cheapest phone is $20 at Target and works fine, but has limited text message space so I keep having to delete them. But really-- $20. That's cheap enough that you can buy one, get $100 worth of minutes, and for $120 you have a backup phone forever as long as you add some minutes yearly.

 

[Jugernot]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
I use T-Mobile. It's the best pricing... All the others require that you pay $1 on the days you use the phone, etc.
The cheapest phone is $20 at Target and works fine, but has limited text message space so I keep having to delete them. But really-- $20. That's cheap enough that you can buy one, get $100 worth of minutes, and for $120 you have a backup phone forever as long as you add some minutes yearly.

Errr... no. Net10 doesn't require $1 a day and I know a couple of the others don't either. I bought a Net10 LG phone with 300 minutes from Walmart for $30.... they only charge for what minutes you use.

 

[13Gigatons]

Originally posted by: Jugernot

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
I use T-Mobile. It's the best pricing... All the others require that you pay $1 on the days you use the phone, etc.
The cheapest phone is $20 at Target and works fine, but has limited text message space so I keep having to delete them. But really-- $20. That's cheap enough that you can buy one, get $100 worth of minutes, and for $120 you have a backup phone forever as long as you add some minutes yearly.

Errr... no. Net10 doesn't require $1 a day and I know a couple of the others don't either. I bought a Net10 LG phone with 300 minutes from Walmart for $30.... they only charge for what minutes you use.

I'd like to hear more details of net10, I hear the use AT$T network which means better coverage?

How long do the minutes last until they expire?

 

[RU482]

Net 10 and tracfone are both pretty good for what you are looking for (same requirements I have) I use tracfone. the nice thing is, they have certain phone that give you double minutes. i.e. you buy a 60 minute recharge card, and it puts 120 minutes on your phone. There are also alot of codes that give you free minutes. I got my deals and info here