If I had a cell phone, I would hardly use it...I can't even stand talking on a landline for long. (I don't understand how people talk so long on the phone...what the heck do they have to talk about). I tried using a trac-phone and it sucked. Would Virgin Mobile be any better? I would prefer not to have any kind of contract for now.
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine
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My small answer
Fri Oct 26, 2007 at 08:15:08 AM EST
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My advice? Get a contract w/a free phone and sign up for a lower to medium number of minutes. The people I know who've had the pay-as-you-go phones, have usually switched to contracts for the convenience - not having to worry over the whens & wheres of refilling minutes or wondering if their minutes would run out during an emergency situation, etc. We use our cells for our long distance calls (free!) which saves us 30/40 bucks a month in landline fees for our home phone, which aside from making the occasional local call, we really only use for incoming calls.
I use Verizon and have never had a problem with coverage or customer service. YMMV, obviously :-)
Oh, and I use the basic cell phone w/camera. I don't feel the need to do anything other make and receive calls. I don't surf the Web, buy ringtones, play games, text people, or any of that extraneous crapola that some people seem addicted to...
Somewhere in my soul, there's always Rock -n- Roll... Joe Strummer
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Re: My big question
Fri Oct 26, 2007 at 11:08:02 AM EST
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I've heard reasonably good things about Virgin Mobile, but their coverage area can be spotty. Some of the major carriers have prepaid service too (ATT has their "Gophone" plans, for example), so if you're comparison shopping make sure to check them out. If you don't make many calls, then whether to go prepaid or with a contract would probably depend on how many long distance calls you currently make on your landline. If you're willing to make all those calls with your cell phone, and you make enough that you could potentially save $20-30 a month, then it's probably worth it to go with a contract. Otherwise, prepaid is probably the way to go, as long as you're willing to take the time to manage your minutes (the biggest issue I've found with the prepaid phones is that your minutes expire if you don't use them - so it's hardly different from having a contract, in that respect).
Ce n'est pas une pipe. C'est une signature.
I terminated my land-line service two days ago. We're a cell phone only family now, and that is saving us a ton of money.
I have Sprint, and I am mostly pleased with them. The value is pretty good (although I've had them for going 3 contracts so I have a metric boatload of discounts and free perks added in, so YMMV). My only caveat would be if you go with Sprint to make sure you get the free America roaming package. One time when I traveled across country I could not get coverage all the way from Butte Montana to Minneapolis. Not cool. Verizon seems to have a much better network, even in the rural areas but with the roaming package this is negated.
Otherwise everything else is fine. The usual customer service problems are there but with enough patience and polite conversations you can usually get everything solved.
Spread it on!
I've had ATT Wireless since they were originally ATT Wireless (then bought out by Cingular, then re-branded ATT after SBC bought ATT and took on its name). Through all that, I've had one impression - they're the low-cost carrier. Customer service is mediocre, service levels are mediocre (despite their claims in their commercials, I've found that I have had quite a few dropped calls and there are plenty of areas where I don't get good service), call quality is mediocre. On the other hand, they do have very extensive national coverage, even in rural areas. I drove across country with some schmuck that had a Sprint phone, and I had coverage (on ATT's network) in many random places in the Rockies and the Great Plains while his brick of a phone just read "Out of Network" ;-). So overall, I'd rate their service a solid "B-". That said, they are pretty cheap. All of the "big three" have a 450 anytime-minute plan for $39.99, but ATT's version allows you to "roll over" any unused anytime minutes into the next month (they "keep" for 12 months). This is nice for people like me and my wife, as we make a lot of calls around the holidays, but otherwise generally stay under the 450 minute allowance. If we were with a different cell phone company we'd probably have to go with a more expensive plan, or be a lot more careful watching our minutes. A final niceness about ATT is that they use GSM, so if you travel in Europe, their phones are much more compatible with the phone network over there. You still have to get a different SIM card for your phone, but it beats Verizon or Sprint (which require you to get an entirely new phone).
Ce n'est pas une pipe. C'est une signature.
7-11 is offering a package for non-techie pre-paid users who are tired of losing their minutes after 30 days. You get 365 days. Also there are no activation fees or processes that require you give up any personal info. Rates are cheap too, 20 cents a minute. You also have all the usual call features as well as the option of transferring your current number. Details are at this product's unofficial page.
The official page is ass.
I am not sure what the deal is with someone going through all the trouble to promote this product.
The catch is that you must buy their phone for $75, which is also ass. But it is fine for me since my old crappy phone's (Sony Ericsson T-200), battery has died and they are charging 40 bucks for a new one.
Am I a great person? Hell no - by most metrics I'm pretty much an asshole. -TSlothrop
