For those who say that you only get 300 mins on VM..if you are worried about having less minutes than another plan...need to remember that there are apps in which you can use to make calls over wifi...its called VoIP!
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Virgin mobile or Straight Talk?
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For those who say that you only get 300 mins on VM..if you are worried about having less minutes than another plan...need to remember that there are apps in which you can use to make calls over wifi...its called VoIP!
Your only option is Straight Talk. Yes, you'll get 3G (if you were getting 3G with AT&T). FYI, StraightTalk can use a LOCKED AT&T iPhone, but since you are eligible to unlock it, it is best to go ahead and get it unlocked.
Straight Talk all the way. Don't waste $600 on a device that will be replaced in short order. The 4S (while still a fantastic, high-end phone) is getting long in the tooth. We all know 5 is coming soon. Virgin may or may not get it quickly. Either way you end up having spent top dollar for a locked iPhone which cannot be used with other carriers. Do yourself a favor and grab the GSM iPhone 4S, you will be glad you did. Virgin Mobile uses Sprint network which sucks balls (I don't want to hear from the one or two here that claim Sprint is fine--try the other 99% of the USA) and so you get what you pay for. $30 is $30 too much for 300Kbps (on a good day) data speed and the extremely limited coverage Virgin (SPRINT) offers. I don't care about voice either way, data is the new voice.
Cliff notes: Don't be penny wise and pound foolish.
Cliff notes: Don't be penny wise and pound foolish.
If its unlocked you can use it with any GSM carrier. Not CDMA, and Virgin, Sprint, Verizon is CDMA.
If you use it on tmobile you will get edge for data, there's many other US GSM carriers that use AT&T's network and with those you will get 3G.
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Couldnt have said it better.
ST. It's not even a decision. It's obvious. Full AT&T coverage PLUS roaming, or Native Sprint only? That's easy. Also, a ST iPhone is a lot cheaper, as you can buy an AT&T-locked on on Ebay cheap and use it on ST.
It's "obvious" only if you are techie (or have an acquaintance who is one). Out-of-the-box, a ST iPhone microSIM does not provide support for data or MMS. The data part requires a few manual steps but MMS requires jailbreaking or access to a T-Mobile microSIM, or desktop software to manipulate some configuration files on the iPhone.
As for buying an AT&T-locked iPhone on eBay, with very, very few exceptions, those phones are USED...and they aren't cheap. Yes, they're cheaper than a new VM iPhone, but then you have the uncertainty of what that USED phone has gone through before you purchased it.
Well it's not like you only save $50 on a used phone online...a new 16gb 4s is what, $650? You can easily find one online in the $3-400 range. And it's not hard to inspect the phone - if you don't have the option to do so (either in person or with detailed pics) then I wouldn't take it...if it is cosmetically fine and runs fine, then what's the problem?
Anyway - I'm just saying buying a 2nd hand phone isn't that crazy, especially when you're doing a pre-paid plan and don't have the option of buying an iphone at a subsidized price. Once you have the phone and are using it, after a bit you won't even remember how you got it, it'll just be your phone.
Buying a used phone isn't buying a used car. If it seems to be in good condition, warranty check out's, the water sensor's aren't tripped and sold by a reliable seller with good feedback. It's almost never a problem. Beside PayPal protects the buyer every time.
Exactly. And it's not exactly rocket science to set up, the instructions are all out there. Of course most people probably don't know that StraightTalkSIM exists, so that's a plus for VM, and probably self-selects the people who would be able to go on Google and figure out how to set up MMS and such.
Thank You For The Info. Bout Visual Voicemail Is Must Have Feature For Me Too And MMS Out Of The Box Is Great!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!
I've had Straight Talk for about a month now on my iPhone 4S, and it's been working terrifically.
Thanks for starting this thread Ugg. I've found it very helpful. I'm currently with Virgin using the LG Optimus V and I like the inexpensive service with the flexibility of a "Pay As You Go" plan. The customer service people are nice too. All of these things go a long way in my opinion. However the coverage is not great and the data speeds have been extremely slow or non-existent in many cases for me. After reading through all of the thread here I'm strongly considering the T-Mobile plan of $30/month for 100 minutes voice and 5GB data. My question is, can't the data side of the phone plan be used for Skype just like it's used for the internet? Other posts by people here seem to assume that Skype can only be used on the WiFi portion of the phone. I'm pretty sure 100 minutes is not going to be enough for me and I won't always be around WiFi when I need to make a call! I've used my iPod Touch a lot with Skype for making calls, but since I can only do that when WiFi is available, I always thought having an iPhone would be the better option because I should be able to use Skype over the phone network. Is this a false assumption?
That was my assumption too so I looked around and here is the most educated info about it that I could find.
Paul O'Flaherty
One of the comments to his post states that:
So, the key seems to be that it's necessary to be on TMobile's 4G network in order for Skype to work. That makes sense in a way because on T-Mobile, the iPhone is limited to 2G, Skype may not work that well on 2G.
I am definitely leaning towards an unlocked phone. I'd rather go with T-Mobile than with Straight Talk, but given the limitations of T-Mobile's network coverage and the 2G issue, I'm not sure it's the best choice right now. Perhaps when T-Mobile's network build out is more complete. Having an unlocked phone means it's easy to switch. With VM, that's not possible.
Thanks Ugg! This is very helpful information! Hopefully T-Mobile will be getting better 4G coverage before long...
I'll play devil's advocate here. I recently switched from VZW to VM. In the two weeks since I've had my VM iPhone, I have experienced similar data speeds that I got from VZW. Speed isn't everything to me as long as it's reliable. Voice and data coverage when I'm in the city is acceptable (certainly on par to what I experienced with VZW). However, the downside is paying $600+ to a VM locked iPhone. While I probably will not get the new iPhone right away (especially since I doubt VM will get it at lauch), paying $30/month for acceptable data speeds and decent voice coverage is good enough for me. I have had no issues with checking my email, sending/receiving iMessages and checking Facebook & Twitter on VM (Sprint's) network. I know it all depends on the area you live in, but as long as you decent Sprint coverage, then the only downside really is the price of the locked phone.
Virgin Mobile does not have access to Sprint's roaming agreement with Verizon. Hence, it cannot roam on Verizon in the ~65% of the US that is covered by Verizon and not Sprint for CDMA. However, by federal law, a compatible network and phone, regardless of service or roaming, must be able to dial 911, hence the name SOS-only. Outside of Sprint's native area, a VM phone will show SOS-only and the bars from a Verizon tower. You can't do anything except dial 911.
Theirs must be defective.The customer reviews on virgins website say otherwise.