Prepaid Cellphone Deals

[Macro2]

Free LG 1200 flip phone AR. Use coupon code at top of page and get addition 12% off.

10 cents/min nights and weekends, 12 cents/min weekdays

There used to be a $15/mo carrying charge for the phone but that's been eliminated. I don't think there is a monthly charge now. Look into it.
The network is Sprint. Good coverage and roaming and LD is the same as the rate.
International can be added on as an extra charge.

http://www.cheapphonecards.com/cccart/c...ESSID=4ea721b3cfe3d3a3c967447baf63d359

 

[thaugen]

I bought one from cheapphonecards a few days ago after reading this thread:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=1577635&enterthread=y

 

[mscdex0]

Net 10 is better. 10cents/min. anywhere anytime. No hidden charges or fees. I'm going to sign up for net10 here shortly, it's just the kind of service i've been looking for.

 

[exit88]

Originally posted by: mscdex0
Net 10 is better. 10cents/min. anywhere anytime. No hidden charges or fees. I'm going to sign up for net10 here shortly, it's just the kind of service i've been looking for.

Net10 seems to have a very high minimum of 300 minutes a month or 3000 minutes if bought by the year. Therefore you have to pay $30 a month minimum. T-mobile seems to have 10 cents a minute with no monthly minimum.

 

[mscdex0]

Originally posted by: exit88

Originally posted by: mscdex0
Net 10 is better. 10cents/min. anywhere anytime. No hidden charges or fees. I'm going to sign up for net10 here shortly, it's just the kind of service i've been looking for.

Net10 seems to have a very high minimum of 300 minutes a month or 3000 minutes if bought by the year. Therefore you have to pay $30 a month minimum. T-mobile seems to have 10 cents a minute with no monthly minimum.

Well, t-mobile xxxx minutes for one entire year is the same thing as getting 3000 minutes for 1 year with net 10. I don't see the difference really, it's just that t-mobile (afaik) doesn't offer month-based cards, only year-based cards.

 

[Macro2]

Does Net10 give you the phone for free AR?

Sorry if this is a repeat thread but I did do a search first.

Anyone with the STI phone have it working OK?

T-mobile... the minutes expire and the only way to get .10 a minute is buy the $100 card.

 

[mscdex0]

Originally posted by: Macro2
Does Net10 give you the phone for free AR?

Sorry if this is a repeat thread but I did do a search first.

Anyone with the STI phone have it working OK?

T-mobile... the minutes expire and the only way to get .10 a minute is buy the $100 card.

The phone isn't free AR with Net10, but then again, I hate rebates, so I don't mind

Still beats out STI by .02cents/min during weekdays

 

[Scarpozzi]

I cancelled my cellphone this month and am going to only activate when I need it. Do any of these phones have minutes that don't expire?

 

[Devistater]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
I cancelled my cellphone this month and am going to only activate when I need it. Do any of these phones have minutes that don't expire?

No because they all want you to keep paying them monthly. The average is 30, 45, or 60 days before expiring (unless you add minutes). If you are lucky you can buy a year card for some of them, but usually that costs $100 minimum.
Funny enough it ends up usually costing $10 a month minimum for prepaid phone. And I think you can get deals close to that with a normal cell phone. The phone companies rig the system

 

[Macro2]

Prepaid is good if you have 0 credit or use the phone sporatically. Like one month and then not the next month or so.

 

[hansmuff]

TracFone has a 150 minute card you can buy that lets you keep your airtime for a year. No need to buy monthly. That card costs you $90. For my usage pattern, that's way cheaper than any contract service and most other prepaids. I use about 30 to 40 minutes/month.

 

[childcare945]

Check this paragraph out about STI prepadi in www. cheapphoncards.com

"PLAN 1 - .10 Nights/Weekends & .12 Days with low direct dial international rates.
PLAN 2 - .18 Domestic and FREE INTERNATIONAL CALLS to over 200 countries. You just pay the .18 airtime charge.
PLAN 3 - Unlimited Plans are listed to the left.

On plans 1 and 2, the minutes do not expire, but you have to use your phone at least once every 60 days."

I do believe that STI has better deal if it is ture that the minutes never expire!

 

[DeviousTrap]

http://www.gobeyondwireless.com/catalog/airtime_rates.php

Those guys are cheaper as there are no minimums. No phone included but you can pick one up on eBay for $10.

 

[Banana]

Is it possible to port my current cell number to STI?

 

[ttown]

If the rebate involved with STI turns you off, and you'll only use the phone lightly, you might check out Virgin Mobile.

Target has a PHONE on sale this week for $30 out-the-door. (That's not Targets site... the price at Target is $29.99)

Virgins deal is you pre-pay at least $20 every 90-days and that balance gets charged $0.25/minute for the first 10 minutes a day, followed by $0.10/minute the rest of the day.
Any unused balance gets carried over from period to period.

Pricing can be as low as $60/year if paid up-front for a year -- and is more than enough to cover how little I use my phone (VERY light user... often <15 minutes/month)

Calculate your own costs with how you expect to use any cell phone before you commit to any.
For example, just to compare Virgin and STI...
Virgin with 10 minutes/day(their most expensive minutes only), everyday = $75/mo
STI with 10 minutes/day (their $0.12 rate used for comparison), everyday =~$36/mo

Virgin with 300 minutes/day, everyday = $945/mo
STI with 300 minutes/day, everyday = $1080/mo

So, as you can see... it all depends on how you use the phone.

 

[Banana]

Originally posted by: ttown
If the rebate involved with STI turns you off, and you'll only use the phone lightly, you might check out Virgin Mobile.

Target has a PHONE on sale this week for $30 out-the-door. (That's not Targets site... the price at Target is $29.99) . . .

I do believe we're going in circles.

 

[vfrjim]

Originally posted by: DeviousTrap
http://www.gobeyondwireless.com/catalog/airtime_rates.php

Those guys are cheaper as there are no minimums. No phone included but you can pick one up on eBay for $10.

I recently signed up for GoBeyondWireless and very happy. I bought a phone on ebay and called them to activate. They assigned me a phone number, gave me 35 minutes of airtime and it cost me 0$ to get started(less the almost free phone). Since they use Cingular/AT&T 's network, I have excellent coverage. I highly reccomend them.

Jim

 

[imported_Decaf]

Mods, could we make this thread permanent?
Otherwise, after a few days it wil drift down to where it's no longer visible, and then we'll have to start a new one.
People are constantly faced with a decision as to which prepaid service is best, and new deals will keep coming up.

We could rename this thread "Prepaid Cellphone Deals"

Thanks

 

[Macro2]

Well, I can change the title but not sticky it, a mod will have to do that.

 

[Macro2]

More ideas?

 

[Athena]

Originally posted by: Devistater
Funny enough it ends up usually costing $10 a month minimum for prepaid phone. And I think you can get deals close to that with a normal cell phone. The phone companies rig the system

Actually, $15 -$20/month is the cheapest you can get on a monthly plan and the minutes are measured per month. You can roll them over but not use ahead. $100/year for the convenience of having a phone available when I need it is much more reasonable for me than paying $180-$240/year for a plan. Also, T-mobile runs a regular promotion during December that gets you a 1 year expiration for $25 or more. It's easy to buy a phone off eBay and buy $25 or $50 cards.

 

[Athena]

Originally posted by: DeviousTrap
http://www.gobeyondwireless.com/catalog/airtime_rates.php

Those guys are cheaper as there are no minimums. No phone included but you can pick one up on eBay for $10.

I looked into Go Beyond Wireless a few months ago -- the rates and coverage are good but they don't have numbers available in very many areas. If you can get one for your aread, go for it.

 

[dude8604]

Originally posted by: Banana
Is it possible to port my current cell number to STI?

Yes, it is. You'll most likely just be able to tell them this when you activate the phone.

 

[Macro2]

Anymore?

 

[GTFan]

Athena sez:

I looked into Go Beyond Wireless a few months ago -- the rates and coverage are good but they don't have numbers available in very many areas. If you can get one for your aread, go for it.

For most people using prepaids this is a non-issue, since you're not (usually) taking calls on your cell, plus if your usual callers have free LD it's no biggie anyway. I wouldn't care if a cheap prepaid phone had an Alaska area code if I could get service for $10 a month or less.