NEED YOUR ADVICE

I'm a old (77) man living alone and on ss and would like to get a cell
phone. I cant afford anything expensive. someone told me that even those
pay-as-you-go phones have "catches" to them. I'd appreciate hearing from
you. Thank you! Charlie

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› See More: NEED YOUR ADVICE

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Charlie Allen) wrote:
>I'm a old (77) man living alone and on ss and would like to get a cell
>phone. I cant afford anything expensive. someone told me that even those
>pay-as-you-go phones have "catches" to them

Hello, Charlie,and welcome.

I guess I'm the perfect example of a low-usage cellular phone user. In six
months, I've received two calls and used it outgoing for under two hours.

My incentive was the $8 / minute that two different airports' pay phones
charged me last year, and to be able to call the wife when I'm out on the
bicycle and need to reach her from a remote location.

I got the T-Mobile prepaid service, which they call "T-Mobile ToGo." About
the only catch is that the fewer minutes one buys, the faster they expire.
So I purchased 1000 minutes, which is supposed to be a hundred bucks, and got
them for somewhat less via eBay. Apparently once one reaches that hundred
buck level, be it over time or all at once, future addons (even the $10 lowest
increment) last a whole year, and they give you a 15% bonus as well. So as
I'm still over 900 minutes, I'm basically going to be paying $10/year for the
foreseeable future or until they raise rates or throw on more restrictions.

But right now, there don't seem to be any "gotchas". The customer service has
been fine a couple times when I needed to talk with them, and I really can't
say anything bad about their prepaid service.

I'd say that if your disposable income allows you to proceed in this manner,
that you're looking at a quite inexpensive mobile phone solution beyond the
relatively modest initial outlay. As contemptuous as I am of the typical
cellular phone user, annoying restaurantfuls of patrons or endangering other
drivers, it is a nice convenience to have when used responsibly.

Art

On Oct 5, 2:46 pm, [email protected] (Arthur Shapiro) wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Charlie Allen) wrote:
>
> >I'm a old (77) man living alone and on ss and would like to get a cell
> >phone. I cant afford anything expensive. someone told me that even those
> >pay-as-you-go phones have "catches" to them
>
> Hello, Charlie,and welcome.
>
> I guess I'm the perfect example of a low-usage cellular phone user. In six
> months, I've received two calls and used it outgoing for under two hours.
>
> My incentive was the $8 / minute that two different airports' pay phones
> charged me last year, and to be able to call the wife when I'm out on the
> bicycle and need to reach her from a remote location.
>
> I got the T-Mobile prepaid service, which they call "T-Mobile ToGo." About
> the only catch is that the fewer minutes one buys, the faster they expire.
> So I purchased 1000 minutes, which is supposed to be a hundred bucks, and got
> them for somewhat less via eBay. Apparently once one reaches that hundred
> buck level, be it over time or all at once, future addons (even the $10 lowest
> increment) last a whole year, and they give you a 15% bonus as well. So as
> I'm still over 900 minutes, I'm basically going to be paying $10/year for the
> foreseeable future or until they raise rates or throw on more restrictions.
>
> But right now, there don't seem to be any "gotchas". The customer service has
> been fine a couple times when I needed to talk with them, and I really can't
> say anything bad about their prepaid service.
>
> I'd say that if your disposable income allows you to proceed in this manner,
> that you're looking at a quite inexpensive mobile phone solution beyond the
> relatively modest initial outlay. As contemptuous as I am of the typical
> cellular phone user, annoying restaurantfuls of patrons or endangering other
> drivers, it is a nice convenience to have when used responsibly.
>
> Art

I have to agree with Art 1000%. You can't be a lower usage user than
me. Got rid of my Cingular for a T-Mobile pre-paid Feb 21, nearly 8 mo
ago. After getting an inexpensive phone, just wanting a basic phone
for placing and rec'g calls, I settled on Samsung's T209, it comes
with 10 minutes of calling time. But before I bought anymore minutes,
which are not refundable if not satisfied, I waited till I got home,
making sure that the phone worked well enough from here, which it did
as well as my Cingular had. Anyway, once I determined that it did, I
also bought therir100.00 (1000 minutes) gold card. Can be done right
over the phone, or online, using a credit card. The phone came with 10
minutes, I bought the 1000 more, and they then give you a certain
percentage of free minutes. The important thing about the 100.00 Gold
card is that it makes you a gold card member, with those minutes good
for ONE WHOLE year. And however many minutes left at that yrs. end
(But don't go over that year), you need only add another TEN dollars,
to roll all your minutes over for another entire year. You only need
to buy that 100.00 card ONE TIME to become a Gold Card Member.

Now here comes the lowest usage champ. Oh yeah, there was a billing
problem, where something was not built correctly in their switch, and
my phone was not being debited minutes. I called them and for being
honest, they gave me another 100 FREE minutes. So I had a total of
1180 initially. Well after nearly eight months, last I checked, maybe
a couple of days ago, I still had 901>>LOL. No catches or hidden
charges. No monthly charges like Verizons, or Cellular Ones pre-paid
(What's with that, how is a monthly charge PRE-PAID).

Nope if you are within T-Mobile's coverage area, THEY CAN NOT BE
BEAT!!!! IMHO

On Oct 6, 8:58 am, "JoshIII" <[email protected]> wrote:
> "Charlie Allen" <[email protected]> wrote in message ...
> > I'm a old (77) man living alone and on ss and would like to get a cell
> > phone. I cant afford anything expensive. someone told me that even those
> > pay-as-you-go phones have "catches" to them. I'd appreciate hearing from
> > you. Thank you! Charlie
>
> JoshIII responds:
> For the best rural area coverage, go with one
> of the CDMA model TracFone (prepaid).
>
> Note: T-Mobile rural area coverage is limited
> or nonexistent.
>
> The new LG3280 flip phone TracFone offers
> (online orders only) is single-rate, uses
> CDMA technology, and will fall back to
> analog mode if no digital signals are present.
>
> "Single-rate" means you will never need to worry
> about roaming calls (making calls when you are
> on the road outside your local calling area).
>
> Single-rate phones deduct the same during calls
> whether it is for local, long distance, or roaming.
>
> Other CDMA TracFone models (that are
> not single-rate) but include: Nokia 2126 and
> Motorola c343. All the other TracFone
> models use GSM technology, so your
> carrier will more than likely be AT&T
> when you activate one of the TracFone GSM
> models.
>
> A TracFone can be activated and
> maintained for about $50/year, which
> includes 480 minutes/year. For
> an emergency use only phone,
> this is all you will need.
>
> The problem with *all* prepaid phones
> (regardless of company) is you have to
> be good at punching numbers into the phone
> to add airtime cards every 2 to 3 months to keep
> your service active. Anyone that can
> handle this challenge should have no
> problem with a prepaid cellphone.
>
> With TracFone you can also purchase a $90 year
> service card that comes with 480 minutes.
> This way you would only have to enter airtime
> once a year.
>
> JoshIII
> upstate south carolina
> josh3i at hotmail . com

$90???? For only 480 minutes. Lets hope that he dang well is not in a
rural area and is served well by T-Mobile. $100.00 for 1000+ bonus
minutes beats that anytime IMHO. And he will only have to fumble
around with the keys adding minutes once per year, unless he actually
uses all those minutes up, which I will never come close, with my
small usage. With T-Mobile, that can also be done online OR with a
real person via an 800# or 611. I have to agree about the coverage
though. The Wife and I last week spent the week enjoying our Calif.
Central Coast, Cambria to be specific. You want cell phone service???
You'd be better off with two tin cans and a string. Except, Verizon
manages to get through there, also Cellular One, even though, the
Calif. Coastal Commission refuses to allow cell towers on the coast.
MORONS are living in the 19th century, and not concerned about their
visitors or residents safety, cars breaking down, accidents, etc. etc.

In article <[email protected]>, Jazz_Azz wrote:
> Nope if you are within T-Mobile's coverage area, THEY CAN NOT BE
> BEAT!!!! IMHO
>
I agree! I use T-mobile ToGo with my unlocked Nokia 6340i. It
works perfectly around Torrington Connecticut, where I live. and while
I am signing up for Flexpay (using the same phone). I will keep my
T-mobile ToGo fed so I can fall back on that SIM when I need it.

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"Charlie Allen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm a old (77) man living alone and on ss and would like to get a cell
> phone. I cant afford anything expensive. someone told me that even those
> pay-as-you-go phones have "catches" to them. I'd appreciate hearing from
> you. Thank you! Charlie

It depends on where you live and how many minutes you want.. For most
people, the Verizon network offers the best coverage. If you live in native
Verizon country, I'd say go with Airvoice Express, a $50 PIN which lasts a
year, and a new Verizon INpulse phone from Wal-Mart or Best Buy for $40 (you
can use any Verizon phone). That'll give you 48 mins/month at about 8.6c/min
by the time you factor in the $1/month fee deduction. Not bad at all. You'll
be roaming in much of the central US at 94c/min but you'll have coverage
virtually everywhere, especially with a tri-mode phone.

Tmo2go's coverage is always improving but nothing beats Verizon right now
for most people. Check the coverage maps where you live. Your initial
investment will be about $140 with Tmo2go vs $90 for Airvoice Express. But
at least roaming is free with Tmo2go. Once you pay $100 for airtime with
Tmo2go, you only have to then pay $10/yr. But your mins will dwindle.

The problem with TracFone is that if you lose or break your phone, you lose
your minutes. And the cost is not as good as Airvoice, even with the $140
phone/airtime bundle which gives you double mins for the life of the phone
(but not you, LOL).

Check out these web pages:

http://home.earthlink.net/~jconrad607/granny

http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm

http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=249

Coverage:

Tmo2go http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/Prepaid.aspx

Airvoice (Verizon)
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/C.../coverage+maps

For Verizon, use the National SingleRate map. If you are in the yellow you
are OK. "Extended" means roaming, "Analog" means you need a tri-mode phone
(AMPS).

One of the cheapest initial ways to have a phone is if someone gives you
their old Verizon phone (assuming the battery is good) and you activate it
with Page Plus Cellular for $6 on EBay w 100 free mins (use Ugly Eric).
You'll have to pay $10 every 4 months. This will give you only 16.5
mins/month, however, by the time you factor in the 50c monthly fee. Roaming
is 59c. Larger PINs give you much more time. Many people buy the $80 PIN
(1400 mins, 6c/min) and then just top up with the $10 one. Network is
Verizon. They will soon have web access.

Best all-around compromise for MOST lite users: A new INpulse phone and an
Airvoice 1yr $50 PIN.

IP Daley