No contract phones

[mrdills]

Can anyone help me out with this question, I am looking at a no contract phones and WOW what a dilemma, there is so many things to consider. Does anyone have one and if so how do you like it? :undecided: :shrug:

[Dynasty]

I have Verizon now, if I put $100 on it, that lasts me a year. I like the Verizon because I can talk as long as I wish to my friends and family who have Verizon phones.

Previously I had Virgin Mobile. Great deal also, you were required to put $20 on every 3 months and the unused money carried over.

So bottom line, I would choose Verizon if you talk to people who have Verizon cell phones. If not, I would choose Virgin Mobile.

[ladydoc]

Can anyone help me out with this question, I am looking at a no contract phones and WOW what a dilemma, there is so many things to consider. Does anyone have one and if so how do you like it? :undecided: :shrug:

I have a really nice tracfone and I love it. I don't care much about bells and whistles...I just want a phone that I know how to make and receive a call. So, I am happy with what I have. I have no need to be in constant reach of everyone. In fact, very few people even have my number.

We were at Radio Shack today getting hubby a new android cell phone WITH all the bells and whistles. They have severl no contract phone plans there and the staff were really helpful about explaining the differences between the plans. The contract plans seem to be lower in price then they used to be...

Are you looking for a phone to carry just for emergencies or will this be your primary phone? If it will be your primary phone then you should look into a plan with unlimited minutes. I think WalMart has one for about $40 a month.

[redwitch]

I'd definitely look at Verizon or Virgin. Most of the towers in TV are Verizon towers. Virgin has contracted with Verizon to use its towers worldwide, so both work well here. You can get a decent phone for Virgin at Target (amazingly, much better buys there than at Wal-Mart).

[barb1191]

We use our cell phone rarely. Mainly for driving and no long conversations.... No contract, $10/month prepay with 100 minutes/mo carry-over. Think in two years, we're about up to 2,000 unused minutes. Provider is Pure Talk and we're very pleased with this, especially that there are no taxes added on to the service. Our house phone is within the Comcast bundle (television, cable, phone) where one can call anywhere in US/Canada free.

One is not committed to any contract this way and can cancel the service at any time.

[bestmickey]

I have a tracfone that I purchased on HSN (Home Shopping Network). It gives me triple minutes for life. Each time I purchase minutes, which is minimally required once per year, the minutes are tripled. It has texting, internet access, etc. LOVE the phone. While I'm living in upstate New York, I've used it while visiting The Villages and have never had access problems. While there have been lots of complaints from people re: registering the phones, I have never experienced any problems, and over the years I've upgraded my tracfone three times. Each time I registered the new phone(s), I had great customer service and was able to retain my old cell phone service phone number. I highly recommend getting a tracfone from HSN, because I'm not aware that any other vendor currently offers triple minutes for life. (Many offer double minutes, however.) A one year "card" (minutes purchased) is for 450 minutes, costing ~$99. But, I got 1,350 minutes for $99. The phone itself cost about $100 or $120 on HSN and came with the car charger. And, if you don't use all your minutes in one year, they will roll over into the next year. I can call anywhere in the country and it even allows me to call internationally to approximately 20 countries.

[jblum315]

I have a very simple idiot-proof Motorola cell phone which I seldom use. It's from Consumer Cellular, no contract, $18 per month, includes 250 minutes, works everywhere in the U.S., no roaming charges, no extra charge for texting. Has a camera and can include web browsing if you want to pay extra for it.

[snitzel]

We use our cell phone rarely. Mainly for driving and no long conversations.... No contract, $10/month prepay with 100 minutes/mo carry-over. Think in two years, we're about up to 2,000 unused minutes. Provider is Pure Talk and we're very pleased with this, especially that there are no taxes added on to the service. Our house phone is within the Comcast bundle (television, cable, phone) where one can call anywhere in US/Canada free.

One is not committed to any contract this way and can cancel the service at any time.

I would like to second Pure Talk. We've been on their system for a little over a year now. Since we don't use their cell phones that much and all of the minutes carryover we also have over 2000 carryover minutes. They also have a family plan which is $10 per month for the first phone and five dollars per month for each additional phone and you can allocate the minutes for each phone as you see fit. This plan gives you 150 min. for the two phones. The $15 per month that we pay is it, no taxes no fees. And I get a really good signal everywhere in the villages.

www.puretalkusa.com

[philnpat]

We each have a net10 phone purchased at Walmart for around $40 which includes the phone, charger, 300 minutes and 60 days use. For $30 you get 300 minutes and 60 days use. It can be recharged online or by buying time with a card at many retailers. Unused minutes roll over. Coverage hasn't been a problem.

[Avista]

I have a very simple idiot-proof Motorola cell phone which I seldom use. It's from Consumer Cellular, no contract, $18 per month, includes 250 minutes, works everywhere in the U.S., no roaming charges, no extra charge for texting. Has a camera and can include web browsing if you want to pay extra for it.

I have Consumer Cellular also. Especially like not having a contract.

[billybye]

Another vote for tracfone
I have 2 phones bought for about $20.00 each that are more than adequate for us
Total cost per month with tax for both phones is about $17.00 on family plan
Have 100 minute per month on one and 50 minutes on the other. They also have a special where you can double the minutes for life on certain phones bought.
They work about same as ATT phones that used to cost us over $70.00 per month.

[cybrgeezer]

And yet another vote for Tracfone. I've been using them for about 8 years. With my use, it runs about $6.67 per month (a $20, 60-minute card renewable every 90 days and the unused minutes carry over).

The cards are available everywhere. I usually buy mine at either Wal-Mart or Publix.

[gatherer47]

I also use the tracphone and use a net10 minutes card.$30 for 2 months and 300 minutes.

[TednRobin]

I didn't know you could carry over minutes on TracPhone. I will have to look at it again. I always lost minutes if not used.

[zcaveman]

Question. I have an AT&T cell phone. If I was to switch to one of these no contract services can I keep my same cell phone number or do I have to get a new number?

[billybye]

You can keep your old number - we did

[KayakerNC]

Question. I have an AT&T cell phone. If I was to switch to one of these no contract services can I keep my same cell phone number or do I have to get a new number?

To Port In your existing telephone number to your TRACFONE and obtain wireless service provided by TRACFONE Wireless, Inc., you (the Subscriber) must agree to the following Terms and Conditions:

In order to transfer or port in your phone number to TracFone Wireless, Inc. you must have a TracFone wireless phone.
The number you are Porting must be active with your old service provider.
Once you have provided us with your information, the transfer process may take a few hours, or up to 2 business days for wireless phone numbers. It may take longer for landline phone numbers.
If you switch your home telephone number to TRACFONE, your home telephone service will be disconnected.
You must keep your TRACFONE service active by adding airtime within TRACFONE's guidelines for maintaining active service. For further information, please review TracFone Wireless� Terms and Conditions of Service.
If the ZIP Code associated to the phone number is not the ZIP Code for your local calling area your TracFone will be roaming in your local calling area.
If your TRACFONE service does not remain active, you will lose your wireless TRACFONE Number. [tec_128771_link1] to read about Service Extension Plans, which will help ensure this does not happen.
Until the porting process is completed, should you need to call 911 for emergency assistance, you must give the 911 operator your location as the 911 operator will not be able to reach you until the port process is completed.

[logdog]

We pay $16 per month for our travel/emergency Net10 cell phone and $3.50 per month for our Ooma home phone. Net10 gives us 200 minutes per month with carry over (we have over 2,000 minutes) and Ooma is unlimited calls within the US.

[bestmickey]

Question. I have an AT&T cell phone. If I was to switch to one of these no contract services can I keep my same cell phone number or do I have to get a new number?


When I initially switched to tracfone from my Sprint service, I transferred my number. As I've upgraded the phones I've used with tracfone, I've retained that phone number.

[ActsOfKindness]

i have a t mobile to go no contract phone for six years now in the villags and love it. i dont have alot of long distance calling or use the phone that much. you can purchase cards for ten dollars and up to cover the minutes..you can even use your credit card to do this by calling the t mobile customer service number. never an issue never a problem. and here is the real kicker. and again to reiterate, i dont use alot of minutes...but my cell phone bill for t mobile to go..every month is less than 5.00$ yes you read that correctly. i usually put about ten to l5$ on the phone . you have to keep it activated every 3 months..even if you have residual minutes leftover..which t mobile will give you . for instance if i have not used ten dollars worth of calls..(ten hours) it is cumulative for the next time around. but again to reiterate its a must you add minutes ..money to the tmobile account each 3 months..to not lose activation. also with t mobile..if you have a friend or relative that also has t mobile service and it does not have to be a contractural t mobile .any kind will do...its one dollar all day long..all night long..a 24 hour period..you can speak as long as you like and call as many times that same phone number within the time frame. i use it mostly for my son in las vegas....i hope this helps and p.s i m not representing the company. i just studied this and tortured myself with all the options with all the ways to go a few years ago..and this works for me fantastically. t mobile to go. walmart sells the cards...after you activate your phone with the sims card.

[zcaveman]

Thanks for all of the information. After a lot of checking and seesawing I finally ordered a TracFone. I will let you know if I have any problems porting my current cell phone number to the new phone when I get it.

[mrdills]

I got Tracfone and got triple minutes. I use there Value Plan for 19.99 a month and get 375 minutes. Can't beat this price for web, internet, and phone service. I got the Motorola EX 124G. Has anyone else bought this phone?

[ladydoc]

I have a tracfone that I purchased on HSN (Home Shopping Network). It gives me triple minutes for life. Each time I purchase minutes, which is minimally required once per year, the minutes are tripled. It has texting, internet access, etc. LOVE the phone. While I'm living in upstate New York, I've used it while visiting The Villages and have never had access problems. While there have been lots of complaints from people re: registering the phones, I have never experienced any problems, and over the years I've upgraded my tracfone three times. Each time I registered the new phone(s), I had great customer service and was able to retain my old cell phone service phone number. I highly recommend getting a tracfone from HSN, because I'm not aware that any other vendor currently offers triple minutes for life. (Many offer double minutes, however.) A one year "card" (minutes purchased) is for 450 minutes, costing ~$99. But, I got 1,350 minutes for $99. The phone itself cost about $100 or $120 on HSN and came with the car charger. And, if you don't use all your minutes in one year, they will roll over into the next year. I can call anywhere in the country and it even allows me to call internationally to approximately 20 countries.

I think I got the same phone...an LG that is smarter then I am. $99 for phone, 1350 free minutes and good for a year, with carryover. Great phone, great plan.

[villages07]

Z ... I have had Tracfone for years; a great service for the minimal cell phone user. Basically about $100 per year for 400 or more minutes and unused minutes roll over to the next year.

That being said.... last December, I bought a new Samsung 301 Tracfone to replace an old Motorola and expected to transfer my old number and minutes.

They said, to keep the number they would have to send me a new SIM card for the Samsung. OK, no big deal. Installed it and after some tech service calls, all was working.

The only BUT is that the overall quality of phone coverage/service for me is noticeably worse now. I think, depending on the model of phone and perhaps the SIM card they sent me.... you either end up on the CDMA network or the GSM network.

I believe my old phone used CDMA and the new one is GSM.

So, I would be very leery of a phone that used GSM. Mr 07 has an older phone using CDMA and his works much better.

Most of this is opinion and observation.... I have no hard facts to support it.