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Cell Phone Plan/Suggestions [Seriously]

ecstasy

ecstasy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 9, 2009
267
0
Well, after having not used a cell phone plan for about 6 years, my family is deciding on a cell phone plan for us (2 lines).

Here's the catch: Budget is $50/month. (price can be negotiable, no higher than 80).

It seems almost impossible. I was given the task of finding a good cell phone company. After some Google research, I've thrown out Boost and Verizon as possibilities (not good experiences with Verizon phone at home).

Here's what I'm looking for:

- Good amount of texts
- Decent coverage and calling
- Good amount of minutes
- Keyboard phone (mainly for texting)

The thought of a prepaid plan has crossed my mind, but I'm new to all of this.

Can any of you MR members point me in the right direction? I'm kind of in a rush to get one, because college is starting, and I'm probably the only one without a phone (plus, I'm a commuter :().

Thanks a lot!
 
fireshot91 said:
Check if you have Cricket Wireless in your area.
Click to expand...

This seems to be the best deal in that price range, if you don't want a particular smartphone. They are however also CDMA, so depending on why Verizon is not good where you live, their network might also not be good where you live. Unlike the GSM providers, though, they have domestic roaming that isn't free/unlimited, so you have to read the plan details in that respect.

(Incidentally, wow, they have a 5GB/mo plan for a mobile broadband card for $40/mo without even having to have cell service with them!)
 
fireshot91 said:
Check if you have Cricket Wireless in your area.
Click to expand...

mkrishnan said:
This seems to be the best deal in that price range, if you don't want a particular smartphone. They are however also CDMA, so depending on why Verizon is not good where you live, their network might also not be good where you live. Unlike the GSM providers, though, they have domestic roaming that isn't free/unlimited, so you have to read the plan details in that respect.
Click to expand...

Cricket does indeed looks like the best deal. I checked the coverage, and it covers a majority of the NY/NJ area.

:)

Have any of you personally tried it out? I don't want a phone that allows texting, but texts are received after 15 minutes (Boost Mobile).


And mkrishnan, the main problem we have with Verizon is that they always seem to charge ridiculous prices when our monthly bill comes in. One call to another city in the same county was roughly $3.


Edit: Sounds almost too good to be true. The reviews on CNET (http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/cricket-communications/4505-6454_7-32890531.html) are completely varied.
 
Don't forget Verizon land line and cell are different. The cell side might be better than the home phone side.
 
Pay as you go AT&T?

You can grab a sweet unlocked GSM phone, throw your SIM in there, and you've got a nice device for a low monthly cost.
 
ecstasy said:
And mkrishnan, the main problem we have with Verizon is that they always seem to charge ridiculous prices when our monthly bill comes in. One call to another city in the same county was roughly $3.
Click to expand...

Like previous poster said Verizon Communications and Verizon wireless are two separate.

All of VZW's plans (Nationwide, America's Choice) are nation-wide, and no domestic long distance. :)
 
^^ Thanks all for the replies! I'll have to look more into Verizon's cell plans.

On another note, my school has this Ramcell phone plan for students.

Here's the lowdown:

- $45.99/month for 400 minutes // $55.99 for 1000 minutes
- Full 1-year contract required
- Unlimited:
-- text
-- night-weekend minutes at 7PM
-- Sprint Mobile-to-Mobile Calling (Does this mean it's Sprint network?)
-- internet access
-- Domestic roaming & Long Distance
-- Voicemail, Caller ID, & Call Waiting

The phone they offer/recommend is the Centro by Palm.
===

I know nothing about cell phones, at all. Anybody think this is a solid plan?

PS - I'm sending them an e-mail right now.
 
I had Sprint for almost 10 years when I switched to AT&T for the iPhone and I have no complaints. The Palm Centro is crap if you ask me, you're better off going with one of their Samsungs or a Blackberry if you're on Sprint, they never have had the most spectacular line of phones.

Hopefully it works out.
 
IF you have Cricket coverage in your area:

$40 a month (No contract) gives you:

Unlimited minutes to anybody in the US
Unlimited text/MMS
Mexico text
Caller ID/Call Waiting/3 Way Calling/Voicemail.


If you go out of Cricket zones, you'll be charged roaming (Provided you make calls/text).

Their $50/month plan has 30 roaming minutes a month.
 
^ I've read reviews about Cricket, and most agree that it's horrible.


After some extensive research, the most ideal plan right now is Page Plus. But being un-knowledgeable about cell phones in general, I have no clue.


It's almost impossible to get a good, inexpensive plan. I'm killing myself here.

:(
 
ucfgrad93 said:
Those do seem to be mutually exclusive conditions, don't they?;)
Click to expand...

Hehe.

:eek:

ucfgrad93 said:
If you go for the one from Ramcell, I would go with the 1,000 minute plan.
Click to expand...

I agree. That seems to be the best.

I haven't asked them yet, but I'm assuming that if you don't use up the 1000 minutes/month, they don't carry over to the next month, correct?

So you'd basically start each month with a new 1000 minutes.
 
ecstasy said:
I agree. That seems to be the best.

I haven't asked them yet, but I'm assuming that if you don't use up the 1000 minutes/month, they don't carry over to the next month, correct?

So you'd basically start each month with a new 1000 minutes.
Click to expand...

The only company I know of that lets you keep your unused minutes is at&t.
 
PagePlus, Prepaid. $39.99 a month unlimited talk and text and 20mb data. Uses the Verizon network but isnt actually Verizon (MVNO). You can use any Verizon phone.
 
ecstasy said:
Here's the link, guys, of my post above:

http://www.fordham.edu/images/campu...echnolo/documents/ramcell flyer june 2009.pdf

---

Would anybody recommend this plan?

I'm looking at the $45.99/month, but 400 minutes seem to be little. Calculations are about 10 minutes/day.

That's honestly not a lot at all.
Click to expand...

400 minutes would be almost 20 minutes a day, seeing as each month is about a 22 day period (free weekends and nights). That plan seems pretty good, but I would do the one for $10 more, and the extra 600 minutes, and find out if you can lower a few months down the road when you can see what you are averaging monthly.
 
pb1300 said:
400 minutes would be almost 20 minutes a day, seeing as each month is about a 22 day period (free weekends and nights). That plan seems pretty good, but I would do the one for $10 more, and the extra 600 minutes, and find out if you can lower a few months down the road when you can see what you are averaging monthly.
Click to expand...

What do you mean when you say "lower a few months down the road"?

The plan is for 1 year, so I'd agree that it's ideal.
 
^^^

I think he means start with the 1000 minutes a month plan and after a few months, go down to the 400 minutes a month plan if you aren't using all of the 1000 minutes.
 
Yeah, it's a one-year contract.


Looking around some more, I found that Page Plus received some pretty nice reviews. I'm not sure if the customer service is great, considering how big of a following it's getting.
 
ecstasy said:
Yeah, it's a one-year contract.


Looking around some more, I found that Page Plus received some pretty nice reviews. I'm not sure if the customer service is great, considering how big of a following it's getting.
Click to expand...


Its a smaller company so they are a little swamped right now about a 13 minute wait last couple times i called. Once you get someone though there always extremely helpful. Im a dealer and have all my friends and family switched over.
 
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