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Ugg

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 7, 2003
1,992
16
Penryn
I've been a VM customer for 5 years. I'm perfectly happy with their CS and pricing but not so hAppy with their coverage.

I don't like the fact that the phone VM offers is locked to VM. I like paying $30 rather than $45 but am wary of ST's shoddy CS and heavily accented CS people. I do like that the ST phone will be unlocked, increasing its resale value.

Any thoughts?
 

Spectrum Abuser

macrumors 65816
Aug 27, 2011
1,377
48
Straight Talk does indeed have more coverage then Virgin Mobile, but at a higher monthly rate. Both Virgin Mobile and Straight Talk offer 'unlimited' data although Straight Talk reserves the right to terminate your account for obsessive use. Virgin Mobile states that your account will only be throttled until the next billing cycle with no fear of termination. If tethering is one of your ideas of a feature then Straight Talk is not for you. They have no official tethering plan and reject any sort of tethering in their TOS. Virgin Mobile does support tethering for $15 additional dollars a month on top of the normal plan rates with no over-usage charges.

It's your call really. No tethering and higher monthly rates for more coverage[Straight Talk], or tethering and lower monthly rates with less coverage[Virgin Mobile].
 

Ugg

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 7, 2003
1,992
16
Penryn
I'm tempted just to wait until the next version of the iPhone comes out and then see if the price on the 4s is reduced. I like VM but hate the crappy Android phone I have. Now that there are finally prepaid iPhone options, it's almost like I have too many choices...
 

Demonface

macrumors 6502a
Mar 13, 2012
696
71
Jersey/Miami
I'm tempted just to wait until the next version of the iPhone comes out and then see if the price on the 4s is reduced. I like VM but hate the crappy Android phone I have. Now that there are finally prepaid iPhone options, it's almost like I have too many choices...

I suggest that you wait til the new iPhone is released instead of shelling out above 600.00 for the 4S.
 

NoCleverSNForMe

macrumors regular
Jul 12, 2003
188
111
That doesn't mean Virgin Mobile will be getting the next iPhone right away.

Exactly! Activated mine today, got AppleCare+ on it, and I am loving it.

To the OP - Virgin Mobile is an official carrier now, so you can get MMS built in, along with Visual Voicemail. Visual Voicemail is a must-have feature for me, so I loved that.

And to counter your thoughts about the phone being locked to VM - I had the same thoughts too, but then I realized that I'm going to keep my iPhone for awhile. I don't think resale values will hurt, because there are many folks out there who want a prepaid option. There were long lines at the Best Buy mobile section near me...so it's definitely popular.

My two cents! :)
 

jav6454

macrumors Core
Nov 14, 2007
22,303
6,257
1 Geostationary Tower Plaza
I've been a VM customer for 5 years. I'm perfectly happy with their CS and pricing but not so hAppy with their coverage.

I don't like the fact that the phone VM offers is locked to VM. I like paying $30 rather than $45 but am wary of ST's shoddy CS and heavily accented CS people. I do like that the ST phone will be unlocked, increasing its resale value.

Any thoughts?

Go with ST... unlock has a value.
 

Ugg

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 7, 2003
1,992
16
Penryn
If tethering is one of your ideas of a feature then Straight Talk is not for you. They have no official tethering plan and reject any sort of tethering in their TOS. Virgin Mobile does support tethering for $15 additional dollars a month on top of the normal plan rates with no over-usage charges.

It's your call really. No tethering and higher monthly rates for more coverage[Straight Talk], or tethering and lower monthly rates with less coverage[Virgin Mobile].

Tethering is an issue and I didn't realize that VM offered it for only $15. I got an ATT iPad3 recently and like the speed of 4G but it is $30 a month although ATT has better coverage here than VM does.

And to counter your thoughts about the phone being locked to VM - I had the same thoughts too, but then I realized that I'm going to keep my iPhone for awhile. I don't think resale values will hurt, because there are many folks out there who want a prepaid option. There were long lines at the Best Buy mobile section near me...so it's definitely popular.

My two cents! :)

I tend to keep my gadgets so I guess resale is sort of pointless and it is an iPhone so it will be easier to sell than some generic Android phone.

Go with ST... unlock has a value.

I like unlocked mostly because I hate having the phone company dictate how I can use my phone. It's especially galling to pay full price to VM and then have it locked down to their network. Being able to use it in Europe would be great but the VM phone would be limited to Skype on wifi.

This is probably my single biggest issue.
 

chestvrg

macrumors 65816
Dec 13, 2010
1,176
75
Yes it is better unlocked, like factory unlocked where you can use it over seas with any SIM carrier provider. I assume since the VM version is CDMA, but purchased at full price the GSM part is unlocked.

PS: The OP should try a tmobile or AT&T SIM to see if the GSM part is unlocked since he bought off his 4S at full price from VM.
 

Diseal3

macrumors 65816
Jun 29, 2008
1,072
95
Well if your already with VM and current coverage isn't an issue for you I would stick with them.

The whole unlock thing of the VM may not be an issue if it's a 4S your getting. As far as I know the phone will be GSM unlocked so you can still travel over seas and pop in a foreign sim. Worst case give VM a call i'm sure they can unlock GSM portion since Sprint can. The only thing that won't work is domestic GSM carrier's (ATT + T-mobile)

Also I don't think VM not getting the new iPhone isn't a question. Sprint is using them to fulfill their iPhone order's from Apple so it would only be logical they get all new iPhone release's since Sprint now owns them.
 

Ugg

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 7, 2003
1,992
16
Penryn
Well if your already with VM and current coverage isn't an issue for you I would stick with them.

The whole unlock thing of the VM may not be an issue if it's a 4S your getting. As far as I know the phone will be GSM unlocked so you can still travel over seas and pop in a foreign sim. Worst case give VM a call i'm sure they can unlock GSM portion since Sprint can. The only thing that won't work is domestic GSM carrier's (ATT + T-mobile)

Also I don't think VM not getting the new iPhone isn't a question. Sprint is using them to fulfill their iPhone order's from Apple so it would only be logical they get all new iPhone release's since Sprint now owns them.

I just emailed VM to ask about whether I could use the phone in Europe by installing a local simcard. I'll let you know what they say.

At this point I'm very much leaning towards the VM iPhone.
 

aneftp

macrumors 601
Jul 28, 2007
4,362
546
Not sure why people always say Virgin Mobile is "cheaper" by $15/month.

It's only "cheaper" if you plan on using less than 300 minutes a month with Virgin Mobile. 300 minutes. That's all. This 300 minutes includes nights and weekend minutes so not many minutes at all.

The "average" cell phone user uses 650 plus minutes a month. That's nights and weekends also.

So if people want to compare apples to apples.

Virgin Mobile is $50 unlimited talk/text/data (throttled at 2.3GB) vs. straight talk $45 (unlimited talk/text/2GB soft cap.
 

Diseal3

macrumors 65816
Jun 29, 2008
1,072
95
I just emailed VM to ask about whether I could use the phone in Europe by installing a local simcard. I'll let you know what they say.

At this point I'm very much leaning towards the VM iPhone.

I don't see why they couldn't. All the major carrier's do it now with their own stipulations. However, if your buying the phone outright it should come unlocked. However let us know what they say.


Not sure why people always say Virgin Mobile is "cheaper" by $15/month.

It's only "cheaper" if you plan on using less than 300 minutes a month with Virgin Mobile. 300 minutes. That's all. This 300 minutes includes nights and weekend minutes so not many minutes at all.

The "average" cell phone user uses 650 plus minutes a month. That's nights and weekends also.

So if people want to compare apples to apples.

Virgin Mobile is $50 unlimited talk/text/data (throttled at 2.3GB) vs. straight talk $45 (unlimited talk/text/2GB soft cap.

Although this may be true, Straight talk has a reputation of shotty customer service as well as kicking you off if you exceed the cap. Plus for some people 300 minutes is excessive if you only use the phone in emergency's. Just because it does not satisfy your needs does not mean it won't satisfy someone else's.
 
Last edited:

Ugg

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 7, 2003
1,992
16
Penryn
Not sure why people always say Virgin Mobile is "cheaper" by $15/month.

It's only "cheaper" if you plan on using less than 300 minutes a month with Virgin Mobile. 300 minutes. That's all. This 300 minutes includes nights and weekend minutes so not many minutes at all.

The "average" cell phone user uses 650 plus minutes a month. That's nights and weekends also.

So if people want to compare apples to apples.

Virgin Mobile is $50 unlimited talk/text/data (throttled at 2.3GB) vs. straight talk $45 (unlimited talk/text/2GB soft cap.

For many people, 300 minutes is more than enough. I've had VM for ~5 years and in that time have only exceeded the limit maybe 4 times.
 

sracer

macrumors G4
Apr 9, 2010
10,271
12,994
where hip is spoken
Not sure why people always say Virgin Mobile is "cheaper" by $15/month.

It's only "cheaper" if you plan on using less than 300 minutes a month with Virgin Mobile. 300 minutes. That's all. This 300 minutes includes nights and weekend minutes so not many minutes at all.

The "average" cell phone user uses 650 plus minutes a month. That's nights and weekends also.

So if people want to compare apples to apples.

Virgin Mobile is $50 unlimited talk/text/data (throttled at 2.3GB) vs. straight talk $45 (unlimited talk/text/2GB soft cap.
I use less than 300 talk minutes a month. Why should I care if I get more minutes if I pay more? Even if it cost only $5 more for unlimited minutes, if I never use more than 300, then that is money wasted. That "warehouse shopping mentality" causes many people to spend more money on quantities that they don't need because "it is a good bargain".

Across America husbands are telling their wives, "if you save us any more money, we'll have to declare bankruptcy!" ;)
 

npro1464

macrumors member
Mar 15, 2011
67
0
I know it's not on your radar, but if I were to dive into the world of prepaid service (and I'm seriously considering it after VZW's announcement of axing grandfathered unlimited data), I'd go with T-Mobile's $30/month for 100 mins of talk, and unlimited (5 GB unthrottled) data/messaging. I do talk a lot, but I think I'd be able to make that lifestyle change of using Wifi spots + SIP Droid to make phone calls. They also have a $50/month unlimited data (2GB unthrottled), voice and text. The beauty in prepaid is you can switch carriers as many times as your heart desires, so the premium price of an unlocked phone IMO might be worth it over one locked to Virgin.
 

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
I know it's not on your radar, but if I were to dive into the world of prepaid service (and I'm seriously considering it after VZW's announcement of axing grandfathered unlimited data), I'd go with T-Mobile's $30/month for 100 mins of talk, and unlimited (5 GB unthrottled) data/messaging. I do talk a lot, but I think I'd be able to make that lifestyle change of using Wifi spots + SIP Droid to make phone calls. They also have a $50/month unlimited data (2GB unthrottled), voice and text. The beauty in prepaid is you can switch carriers as many times as your heart desires, so the premium price of an unlocked phone IMO might be worth it over one locked to Virgin.

Very well said.
 

Ugg

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 7, 2003
1,992
16
Penryn
Here's my reply from Virgin Mobile:

Hello Ugg,

Thanks for contacting Virgin Mobile Customer Care.

Regarding your inquiry, Virgin mobile iPhones cannot be used
internationally. You may find somebody that will succeed in unlocking
your iPhone for use in Europe, but Virgin Mobile neither recommends you
do it nor warranties it will work. Sorry.

Regards,

Humberto C.

So, the response is better than I thought it would be but VM is still locking down a full-priced iPhone and that sucks.

I haven't made my mind up yet but thanks to the poster who recommended T-Mobile. Straight Talk is $5 cheaper but I'm not sure that Carlos Slim, one of the richest men in the world, or the Waltons, need to be enriched any more than they already are. So, I've narrowed it down to either VM or T-Mobile.
 

andylaiphoto

macrumors member
Jan 17, 2007
74
1
Get the evo v (299) or the one v(199). There the first truly good phones that came out of virgin mobile. Both run android 4.0.

The Evo V is pure garbage. My fiancé has one and it needs rebooting constantly, camera app is horrible, 3D imagery is a joke, and the predictive text can't be turned off.
 

andyx3x

macrumors 65816
Mar 1, 2011
1,349
137
I know it's not on your radar, but if I were to dive into the world of prepaid service (and I'm seriously considering it after VZW's announcement of axing grandfathered unlimited data), I'd go with T-Mobile's $30/month for 100 mins of talk, and unlimited (5 GB unthrottled) data/messaging.

This is the plan that I currently have with my 4S and I sometimes have to pinch myself to actually believe that I only pay $30 per month after getting ass raped by AT&T and Verizon for the past 5 years.
 
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