No contract cell phones - which one is best?

[Judique]

I have several phones on Page Plus and I cannot agree with the last statement. I have had to call customer service a few times. My experience is that you may be on hold for a few minutes until "the next available representative" will pick up but once connected to one I have found them pleasant and easy to understand. I've never felt that I was speaking to someone with an mailing address in New Delhi . Prepaid takes a little more effort on my part but I can accept this for a 70% reduction in my cell service.

Do you mean 70% reduction in COST or in cell service?

I switched to Virgin Mobile and have the Optimus V. Great phone and price for the money!

I travelled to South Carolina in November for a week and the service was spotty. In January in Florida it was just fine, but travelling through SC it was again spotty. Works excellent in Maryland where I spend most of my time.

There is a recent reduction in the data plan part - it is no longer unlimited. Still - I have no problems - my usage is well below the limits.

 

[MinnieForMe]

Pagepluscellular.com
not as well known or advertised as the other pay as you go plans- it runs on the verizon network,which is hands down the most reliable-I pay 29.95 per month which gets me 3000 texts, 1200 talk minutes and 100 mb of data(I never use that)
the coverage is GREAT worked in the Grand Canyon,at the waterfalls in Yosemite,and in the middle of Death valley,in fact,it even works at my house!

I'm very cell phone ignorant! Do I have to buy their phone?

Thanks.

 

[Jedimom]

My Mom is looking for one for talk and text and was thinking of the pay as you go one. Any suggestions?

I have a Tracfone. The reception/clarity isn't as good as I had with Verizon, but the price is a lot better. It's good enough for what I need a phone for, basically talk and text.

I bought a special Tracfone at Christmas which offers triple minutes for life of the phone. They only had two phones which offered this feature -- it's worth it for the triple minutes. The phone I have is a Samsung 404G with slider keyboard, similar to what I had with Verizon. It's features are a bit clunkier than what I had before, but again, a lot better price so I don't mind.

With that I bought a 1500 minute plan (tripled to 4500 minutes) for $200. That works out to $0.0477/minute. Texting costs you half a minute. I don't know what using the data/bandwith/internet/whatever it is costs you, as I don't use that feature.

 

[Dax]

I recently switched from Net10 to Virgin Mobile in Dec..I bought a Optimus V and it was my first smart phone, and for $35 a month.. I it. They are going to be limiting our data usage to 2.5gig a month, but that only affects 2% of users.

I am now trying to talk DH into switching.

 

[Judique]

I recently switched from Net10 to Virgin Mobile in Dec..I bought a Optimus V and it was my first smart phone, and for $35 a month.. I it. They are going to be limiting our data usage to 2.5gig a month, but that only affects 2% of users.

I am now trying to talk DH into switching.

Also, for those of you who do international calling, this plan is pretty decent.

I have a daughter who is presently working in Europe. I can put cash on my monthly Virgin plan and call her for 20cents a minute. (Yes we also talk free over gmail but she has to be at a computer for that and Magic Jack also.) This would be for when I can't wait for an email reply or when she isn't near the computer, not for our hour long chats!

That is cheaper - much cheaper - than anything my house phone and Verizon allows.

 

[libinatorsmom]

I have had Trac Phone for over 2 years now and i LOVE IT! Never a problem - easy to find mineutes ANYWHERE have traveled quiet a bit and has worked everywhere I have gone! Super Cheep too - Text and calls! I can pay what I want when I want! No Monthly bill - so if I dont use it but 2 or 3 mins one month its no biggie! I really love it and I dont think I will ever use anything else again!! But I am not a huge Cell phone user! I dont need Ulimited Mins or Texts so the Trac phone is prefect for me! But I can use it when I want to!

 

[lisaross]

i have pagepluscellular as well for my son. Never had a problem with customer service!!

I suspect it isn't as "well known" because of the lack of customer service. All the reviews I have read have been very mixed and negative in the customer service area (apparently, people that don't understand English and/or speak with a heavy accent).

 

[lisaross]

If u already have a phone - call the up and see if u can just hook that up - for my son we bought a phone from them - then after a year he lost it so we had an older phone from years ago and they were able to hook it up to his #.

I'm very cell phone ignorant! Do I have to buy their phone?

Thanks.

 

[Judique]

I'm very cell phone ignorant! Do I have to buy their phone?

Thanks.

I think the short answer is yes, unless you already have a phone that was used on that type of plan or network.

For instance if I buy another VM phone and sell my Optimus V on ebay to you for say $20, than you would be buying a 'plan' phone from me but I would be keeping my number and VM account.

Not an expert on this! Just my opinion.

 

[shamrock30]

I have a Tracfone. The reception/clarity isn't as good as I had with Verizon, but the price is a lot better. It's good enough for what I need a phone for, basically talk and text.

I bought a special Tracfone at Christmas which offers triple minutes for life of the phone. They only had two phones which offered this feature -- it's worth it for the triple minutes. The phone I have is a Samsung 404G with slider keyboard, similar to what I had with Verizon. It's features are a bit clunkier than what I had before, but again, a lot better price so I don't mind.

With that I bought a 1500 minute plan (tripled to 4500 minutes) for $200. That works out to $0.0477/minute. Texting costs you half a minute. I don't know what using the data/bandwith/internet/whatever it is costs you, as I don't use that feature.

I have the same phone through Tracfone and am happy with it.

 

[eeyoreforever]

Thanks for all of the input. It really helps to see what others have used and been satisfied/dissatisfied with.

I think I've just about made up my mind to go with Virgin Mobile and buy the Optimus V.

If I switch all 3 of us right now I will have to pay penalties for cancelling my Sprint contract early, but I figured up how much I'll be saving and I'm pretty much at a break even right now.

Still think I may just switch one of us and try VM for a month or so and if we love it then I'll do the other two also.