VirginMobile question

[chipy]

thinking of going to VirginMobile prepaid since i don't talk very much. i think they have the best price for the talking time.

my question is: can i bring in other phones not offered by them and use it with their prepaid service? or can i use my current phone (Verison). if so, i'm guessing the phone would have to be unlocked?

thanks guys!

 

[Swivelguy2]

For a very light talker, T-mobile is the best deal. From the other recent thread:

For someone who uses the phone very, very little, T-mobile is the cheapest prepaid plan. You put $100 (1000 minutes) in it to start, which gets you into the "gold" plan, meaning minutes never expire as long as you don't go a year without buying any. So you can theoretically keep the phone active and keep your minutes alive for as little as $10/year. And with T-mobile, you get a SIM card and can use any unlocked GSM phone.

With Virgin, you're on the hook for a minimum of $20 every 90 days to keep the phone active. They use CDMA, as does Verizon, but it's very unlikely that you can get them to activate your existing phone, because they'd rather sell you one.

 

[chipy]

thanks Swivelguy2. i'll have to reexamine those plans... plus i guess if i can use any unlocked GSM phone that would be pretty cool...

wait, isn't the iphone a gsm phone? so if i can find an unlocked iphone i can take that to a t-mobile store and they can put a sim card in it and i can use it with their prepaid plan?

 

[pm]

Right. What Swivel said. Said that in the last thread too.

T-Mobile prepaid is a bit cheaper than Virgin Mobile prepaid if you opt for the $100 option.

And yes, you can use an iPhone with a T-Mobile prepaid SIM - my sister is doing this with the $100 prepaid T-Mobile plan. You don't get data though.

 

[chipy]

Right. What Swivel said. Said that in the last thread too.

T-Mobile prepaid is a bit cheaper than Virgin Mobile prepaid if you opt for the $100 option.

And yes, you can use an iPhone with a T-Mobile prepaid SIM - my sister is doing this with the $100 prepaid T-Mobile plan. You don't get data though.

yeah, that's not a problem for me. though data would be nice, i don't want to pay for it and i can still use some other apps/features (e.g. mp3 player, calculator, notes taker, compass, etc.)

where did your sis buy her unlocked iphone? i'm looking on ebay and due to the prohibitive prices of the new 3G/3GS, i'm looking at getting an older version (2G?).

 

[pm]

My sister got it from our mother. My mom got an original iPhone back around the time Apple lowered prices the first time - August/Sept. 2007 ish, I think. My mother finished her contract and then bought a 3GS and AT&T unlocked the original iPhone and my mother gave it to my sister who has been using it on a T-Mobile prepaid $100/year plan since about August 2009.

I'd get an original iPhone - the improvements in the 3G don't really justify the price unless you can use it with 3G. You can get a 4GB iPhone "2G" for somewhere between $150-200 on Ebay. If you get lucky on Craigslist you can get one for $100-150.

 

[chipy]

thanks pm for confirming that. thanks swivel for your original input. let's hope i can find one and cut my monthly costs!