tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145775112024-03-13T07:57:11.038-07:00Go4PrepaidAll I've Found Out About Prepaid Phones, at go4prepaid.netUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger733125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-56440081501617803722009-02-16T05:19:00.000-08:002009-03-23T22:16:14.503-07:00Got a deal for you...If you've been reading this blog, you probably know by now that I periodically work with a few prepaid airtime sellers online. One of them has come to me with the following deal. I'll be putting it permanently on here so everyone knows about it..."permanently" meaning until the deal runs out...<br /><br /><b><span style=";font-family:Courier New;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:10;" >Special Offer: </span></span></b>Use promo code <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">70003</span></b> at <a href="https://www.prepaidwireless.com/products/airtime/refill_details.cfm?type_id=25&promo_id=163"><b><u><span style="color:blue;"><span style="font-weight: bold;color:blue;" >PrepaidWireless</span></span></u></b></a> to save $3 on your first Tracfone order + cash discounts, Reward Points and pay no sales tax. Just great savings!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-66775091763084948792009-02-05T23:39:00.000-08:002009-02-05T23:45:04.896-08:00Three Tracfones Show Up On Activation SiteLooks like I was wrong and The Turk (from the forums) <a href="http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/single/?p=8001367&t=8064361">was right</a>...the Samsung t101g, t201g and t301g have now shown up on Tracfone's (and Net10's) activation pages. The pictures are somewhat low-res, however here's the scoop so far, from what I can gather...which is pretty much exactly what The Turk predicted:<br /><ul><li>t101g - basic candybar with a color screen</li><li>t201g - basic flip phone with an external display but no camera</li><li>t301g - slider phone with Bluetooth...and a camera?</li></ul>This will be Tracfone's fifth phone brand for recent history. Looks like companies are offering them cheap phones that are right down the alley of their customers, while pushing the envelope just a bit to deliver more features to low-use coverage-sensitive customers that Tracfone is great for. Aside from being the first Samsung phones available, the t301g is Tracfone's first slider.<br /><br />Let's hope things keep getting more interesting at this rate...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-37367445317798255522009-02-05T23:16:00.000-08:002009-02-05T23:39:15.184-08:00More Boost Mobile Phone DetailsAnother hit from <a href="http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/topic/8054072/2/">the forums</a>: Boost Mobile's upcoming lineup:<br /><ul><li>Motorola Mako (replacement for the i335), $90, coming October 1...probably Bluetooth and a camera for that money</li><li>Motorola i465 (aforementioned texting phone), $110, coming June 15...looks a bit better than I thought</li><li>Motorola Banfi (slider with ?WiFi? to ameliorate subpar iDEN data speeds), $140, coming August 2...quite nice, and WiFi on an iDEN phone is an interesting concept</li></ul>Granted, the launch date for the i290 was a few months off, but that just means that the above handsets will be released sooner. In any case, Boost is building a strong phone selection with these items. That's a good thing when you want to get people signed up for unlimited service on a data-poor network. Or, for that matter, pay-per-minute service.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-65748727407929852282009-02-05T23:04:00.000-08:002009-02-05T23:16:05.222-08:00Virgin Mobile Leaks X-tcOnce again, the forums are abuzz with the most cutting-edge of phone news, this time about the <a href="http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/topic/8067181">Kyocera VMM200</a>. What does the "VM" stand for? Why, Virgin Mobile of course! Who, by the way, prefers to call this Qwertyphone the "X-tc".<br /><br />The spec list is relatively impressive for a prepaid phone:<br /><ul><li>1.3 megapixel camera</li><li>Bluetooth (not sure about stereo Bluetooth but it's likely)</li><li>Media player</li><li>MicroUSB port (data transfer only, no charging)</li><li>Slide-out QWERTY keyboard</li></ul>I'm asuming this phone, like the Audiovox...um...UTStarCom...um...PCD Shuttle, will have EvDO but I'm not sure on that one. It does however have the distinction of being unusable for typing in phone numbers unless it is slid out in horizontal mode. Fine on a touch-screen device, somewhat baffling on something that doesn't fit the profile.<br /><br />Still, the phone looks to be a quite nice model, and a worthy successor to the Wild Card and the Switch_Back, for about the same price: $99.99. Or at least that's what Virgin Mobile had up on their website before they took pricing info down.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-76721051586821926422009-02-05T22:55:00.001-08:002009-02-05T23:04:15.888-08:00Boost Intros Motorola i9 "Stature"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nMh090llLD8/SYvg5XK2yCI/AAAAAAAADjE/v2m3CoK0onE/s1600-h/image002.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 305px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nMh090llLD8/SYvg5XK2yCI/AAAAAAAADjE/v2m3CoK0onE/s320/image002.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299576662608234530" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nMh090llLD8/SYvgu9eD62I/AAAAAAAADi8/r-aAqz3bego/s1600-h/image001.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 94px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nMh090llLD8/SYvgu9eD62I/AAAAAAAADi8/r-aAqz3bego/s320/image001.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299576483910773602" border="0" /></a>On first glance, the Motorola i9 Stature, press-released a few days ago for a cool $300 if bought on Boost Mobile ($200 if bought with a Sprint contract), could be confused at first glance with a portly Motorola Razr2. However, a contract-length after the introduction of the Razr2, you're looking at a better phone. Much better. If a bit inhibited data-wise by the iDEN network it runs on.<br /><br />First off, you've got push-to-talk...of course, since you're looking at an iDEN phone. Second, a 3.1 megapixel camera with flash and video recording puts even the iPhone to shame. Third, there are more touch-sensitive multimedia controls on the front of this baby than you can shake a stick at. Fourth, GPS...but that's again standard on iDEN phones.<br /><br />The bottom line: high-end, high-dollar Boost Mobile phones are back, with features untouchable by even most contract-bound "dumb phones" and even some smartphones. Plus, with iDEN thin is now in and this flip is no exception.<br /><br />One more thing: I got some PR pix of the phone, hence the first pictures on this blog in...I dunno...forever?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-90987690504533982712009-02-01T15:22:00.000-08:002009-02-02T00:15:37.065-08:00Tracfone: New on Samsung, Old on Page PlusLooks like Tracfone is getting some Samsung handsets, all GSM. The model numbers: t101g, t201g and t301g...<br /><br /><a href="http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/topic/8064361/">http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/topic/8064361/</a><br /><br />No details on the t101g at the moment, though it showed up on the FCC's website in October. Probably will be a low-end flip phone, judging by similarly-named models (like the T-Mobile-branded t109).<br /><br />The t201g is only slightly less mysterious. According to some very basic FCC <a href="https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/ViewExhibitReport.cfm?mode=Exhibits&RequestTimeout=500&calledFromFrame=N&application_id=648021&fcc_id=%27A3LSGHT201G%27">documents</a>, the phone looks to be a rounded flip style reminescent of the m300 on CDMA. Anything more than that, and SAR ratings, are veiled by a 180-day NDA. Since the FCC filing was in October, the phone will likely come out before the FCC shows internal and external drawings of the phone.<br /><br />The t301g, submitted to the FCC in November, is the least mysterious of the three phones Tracfone is about to introduce, though a search only reveals three disclosed <a href="https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/ViewExhibitReport.cfm?mode=Exhibits&RequestTimeout=500&calledFromFrame=N&application_id=324317&fcc_id=%27A3LSGHT301G%27">documents</a> related to the phone. This squarish flip phone will have a 3.7V, 500 mAh battery and, more importantly feature-wise, Bluetooth. Beyond that it's anyone (well, anyone except FCC and Samsung peeps') guess.<br /><br />In other news, looks as though you may be able to take Tracofnes and put them on Page Plus, if said Tracfones are CDMA models. Specifically, the Kyocera K126c has made it to the Verizon-based low cost provider with a bit of coaxing, see here:<br /><br /><a href="http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/topic/8064641/">http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/topic/8064641/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-12141766045899212382009-02-01T15:02:00.000-08:002009-02-01T15:15:25.783-08:00Boost To Intro iDEN Razr and Keyboard PhoneWant to get Boost Mobile? Don't like the rather lackluster phone selection currently available? Soon, there will be a solution...<br /><br />http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/topic/8059299/<br /><br />The "iDEN Razr" i9 is comparable to a Razr2 on other networks, however it'll be a bit thicker due to the iDEN technology. But it's nice to have a high-end thin phone n a network that was made for near-isntant communications. On the other hand, iDEN internet is slow...very slow...<br /><br />Additionally, it looks as though Motorola iDEN engineering has hired on the folks that brought you the "iPod chubby", to bring a functional but ugly-duckling Qwertyphone to Boost Mobile: the i465...<br /><br />http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/topic/8063199/<br /><br />It's nice to have a phone with a keybard on Boost Mobile other than the iDEN BlackBerries, even if it looks rather "meh".Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-12727477803234387722009-02-01T14:46:00.000-08:002009-02-01T15:02:21.612-08:00AT&T Intros 100MB plan for the price of "unlimited"According to the link in the title of this post, AT&T is replacing their "unlimited" $20 per month prepaid internet plan (which they discontinued a few months ago) with a 100MB plan. Also, no more $10 plan...it's $5 for 1 MB or $20 for 100. 1MB is hardly enough for anything...and 100MB is not enough if you're using a smartphone for more than light activity. Plus, no more $20 aircards. Ah well,<span style="font-style: italic;"> c'est la vie</span> when it comes to telecom advancements as dictated by telcos.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-11480786806948855382009-01-28T11:34:00.000-08:002009-01-28T11:35:06.090-08:00Yay 18!Yep, I'm officially an adult...<div>Now, back to the news...</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-23699417397986086402009-01-23T00:16:00.000-08:002009-01-23T00:22:28.576-08:00Boost Mobile Intros i290Along with an unlimited plan, Boost introduced a new phone today, albeit a basic one. The price: $40. The features: text, web, MMS, GPS, walkie talkie, color screen, phone calls and a slim profile. The name: i290. The brand: predictably, Motorola. The network: iDEN. Nothing to shout about, but for people looking for a less angular phone than the rather long-and-wide i425, this may be just the ticket. Then again, the i335 is even shorter and has a slightly larger feature portfolio.<br /><br />Any way you look at it, Boost needs all the phone choice they can get. The spec page for the i290 is <a href="http://www.boostmobilestore.com/bpdirect/boost/Start.do?action=view&id=i290">here</a>, by the way.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-14506617591907008062009-01-21T13:11:00.000-08:002009-01-21T19:01:35.816-08:00Forums DownSorry for the inconvenience, folks. There seems to be a problem with ZetaBoards (the platfrm on which the Go4Prepaid forums are hosted), and our forums have fallen victim to said problem. I'll updatehere when the forum is up. At any rate, comment here if ya wanna talk.<div><br /></div><div>UPDATE: Five hours later, we're up. Not too horrible. Business as usual, I suppose :)</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-92188417703814919302009-01-16T16:49:00.000-08:002009-01-16T16:58:33.951-08:00Motorola em326g on Net10...it snaps, it slides, it plays music!Again thanks to <a href="http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/topic/8056923">the forums</a>, specifically The Sweeper, I got a tip about a new phone coming down the pike to Net10 (and maybe Tracfone?). This is the biggest thing to happen to Net10 since the introduction of the camera-toting, web-enabled Motorola c261. Slightly bigger than the introduction of the Bluetooth-equipped Motorola w376g.<br />
<br />
Theough the <a href="http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/01/15/motorola-em326g-old-school-in-a-bad-way/">Boy Genius Report</a> pooh-poohs the phone, we prepaid peeps know better; this will be the first Net10 phone with a<br />
<ul><li>Slider formfactor</li>
<li>1.3 megapixel camera</li>
<li>Focus on music</li>
<ul><li>MP3 player</li>
<li>MicroSD slot</li>
<li>Full-sized headphone jack</li>
</ul></ul>It's also nice to see that Tracfone isn't totally ditching Motorola for their higher-end phones, in favor of LG. I'd guess the pricing of this phone would be around $100. Nice price for a nice phone on a nice network with a nice plan...with no contract required. If the phone comes out with a decent-ish price I'll probably pick it up for personal use; I don't want to take my super-expensive PDA phone everywhere.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-2931506057452043152009-01-16T16:42:00.000-08:002009-01-16T16:48:30.284-08:00Virgin Mobile Ups Text Pricing...Again...Thanks to the folks <a href="http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/topic/8055545">over at the forums</a>, I've been made aware that Virgin Mobile will soon up text message prices, for a la carte usage, by another five cents apiece. Granted, this is actually a little behind the rest of the wireless industry, who has already jacked message prices up to 15 or even 20 cents per message, but it's a sad thing to see, for people who just want to text once in awhile and not break the bank for that feature.<br />
<br />
Granted, you can get a $2-for-30-messages-per-month pack from Virgin Mobile for light texters, which is nice. Still, considering the audience, this is sad but expected.<br />
<br />
If you're currently on Virgin Mobile and have a la carte texts, you may well be "grandfathered in" under the new rate structure, keeping your texts at 10 cents per message. Similar happenings have been observed with the switch from 5 cent to 10 cent messages, from the old 25/10 pricing scheme, and from Virgin Mobile's 18-cent to their 20-cent "pay as you go" minute pricing. Then again, things may change for the worse here as far as keeping your old texting rate are concerned.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-47971631578596164232009-01-03T20:31:00.000-08:002009-01-03T20:41:55.815-08:00Kajeet Offers $70 Plan/Phone RebateAs pointed out by forum member offthegrid <a href="http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/topic/8051946/1/#new">here</a>, <a href="http://www.kajeet.com/kajeetStore/phones/index.html?utm_campaign=H02&utm_source=HPM&utm_medium=HPM">Kajeet</a> is offering a $70 rebate to anyone who buys a phone in the next few days, activates it before the month is half gone, and sticks to their $20, 150-minute-per-month plan for three months. Net effect? Either three months of free service and $10 off your phone, or $70 off your phone with a three-month contract, depending on hw you look at it.<div><br /></div><div>If you're calling it a $70 phone rebate, that takes the LG Rumors down to $100, the Sanyo Katana II's down to $30, the original Katana and Samsung m300 down to $0, and the refurbished phones of various types (as well as the LG LX160) down to better-than-free.</div><div><br /></div><div>Pretty good deal if you want a Kajeet phone.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-55933034646091850092009-01-03T12:58:00.000-08:002009-01-03T13:02:35.106-08:00More Cell phone Deal InfoClick the title of this post. The result: a Digg-like site where the latest prepaid cell phone deals are aggregated. Nothing to do with Go4Prepaid, but it does provide a nice, quick look at the latest prepaid phone deals...though it appears to be an incomplete list. I'd say it's a perfect complement to the <a href="http://s7.zetaboards.com/go4prepaid">forums</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Again, check it out <a href="http://bargains.best-prepaid-cell-phone-plans.com/">here</a>.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-11162669206071540812008-12-12T22:00:00.000-08:002008-12-12T22:14:07.000-08:00T-Mobile and TuYo updatesOn the T-Mobile front, a few things have changed on the phone lineups. The Samsung t109, a basic phone, is $50. The nokia 1680, a camera bar phone, is the same price. Currently T-Mobile has a promotion, however, that'll give you an extra $10 at activation, $10 after a month of service and $10 after another month of service, presumably in addition to the usual $15 in activation credit you get with a t-Mobile To Go phone, though I might be wrong about that last bit.<div><br /></div><div>On TuYo, the largest t-Mobile reseller, you've got a Sony Ericsson z310a (review coming sometime in the future) for $90 (ech), the Motorola w220 for $50 (meh) and the Nokia 1208 (review coming eventually) for $30 (hmm). Rates are good, though; text messaging is a scant five cents per message at this point. You can also, for $5, get no-extra-charge calling to Mexico, Hondouras, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. Finally, Club MAX is out, a loyalty program that is at least halfway decent. $50 in refills gets you a $5 bonus, another $50 gets you another 45, another $100 gets you another $10 and a final $100 gets you $20 additional added onto your account.</div><div><br /></div><div>At that point, you're a TuYo VIP. Problem is, I'm not quite sure what that means. The website isn't set up to tell you, either. What I did find out though is that, for $3 per month, you can get 100 text messages per month, a decent discount from the already-cheap 5 cents per message on pay-per-use texting.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-67770170719907772392008-12-12T21:51:00.000-08:002008-12-12T21:55:41.242-08:00Gophone Loyalty Program ShrinksIn these troubled economic times (drink) AT&T is lowering the value of its Gophone program for people who have been on the service for awhile. This comes on the heels of turnig their "unlimited" $20/month data plan into a 100 MB/month plan, which is only enough for non-smartphones...just like AT&T likes it.<div><br /></div><div>The change: after your first $100 refill 9where you'll get $5 as a bonus) you'll get $10 per $100 added. This is in contrast to the current program, which steps up to $15 and eventually $20, depending on how much money you give AT&T.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, not many people knew about this loyalty program, but dumbing it down doesn't help AT&T's case, especially if Verizon decides to keep Alltel's U Prepaid system around after the impending merger.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-59568675045232866592008-12-09T15:34:00.000-08:002008-12-09T15:39:49.071-08:00Tracfone Sweepstakes!Nope, I'm not dead. Just have been very busy, and there hasn't been too much prepaid news lately. I think I'll do some phone reviews over the break...which will be starting in a little over 18 hours for me...but until then<br /><a href="http://www.tracfonesweepstakes.com/"><br />TRACFONE SWEEPSTAKES!</a><br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/topic/8043996/">The Turk</a>, it has been brought to my attention that Tracfone is giving five winners per month, for the next twelve months, Visa gift cards of various values: $500, $250, $100, $75 and $30. Nothing to sneeze at, especially 1st through 3rd prizes.<br /><br />You don't have to have a Tracfone to enter the drawing, though you do have to fill out a short questionnaire about the phone plan you're on right now (oddly enough, Sprint isn't listed in the carrier selection dropdown, so I had to select Other). You can enter once per day, and anyone 13 or older can join the fun.<br /><br />Nothing to lose, so far as I can tell. I'd say enter early, enter often!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-65519205489309901842008-10-20T08:55:00.000-07:002008-10-20T09:03:02.415-07:00Boost Intros i776, drops pricing to 10c/minuteJust so everyone knows, I'm still alive and kicking. Just ridiculously busy and\or a bad time manager. But to the news...<br /><br />Boost Mobile has now lowered their talking rates so that now all calling is 10 cents per minute. Previously, only night\weekend\mobile-to-mobile calls were charged at this rate, and everything else was double. This leaves AT&T GoPhone as the only prepaid that has a really expensive per-minute plan, weighing in at a whopping 25 cents per minute, though VIrgin Mobile's per-minute plan is close, at 20 cents per minute, with the option to get a lot cheaper.<br /><br />Note however that text messages are now charged 10 cents per message to send and receive, unless you upgrade to the $1/day plan, which includes unlimited mobile-to-mobile, texting and nights\weekends.<br /><br />The other announcement: the Motorola i776. The usual features are there (GPS, Walkie Talkie, large chunky clamshell formfactor...which is slowly getting smaller...), as well as Bluetooth, a camera and a decently descriptive external display. The price, at $100, is a little on the high side for such a phone, however it's nice to again have a reasonably high-end phone on Boost's iDEN service again.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-90956450552554964762008-09-19T00:10:00.000-07:002008-09-19T00:15:21.971-07:00Page Plus Intros "New" PhonesLooks like Page Plus has come into 2006 or so; in addition to the old LG vx6100 ($60), the vx3200 ($20) and the vx4500 ($40), they now have the LG vx3300 (vx3200 + removable faceplates), the Motorola e815 (great phone, $60), the Motorola v710 (good phone, $70) and the Razr v3c ($90). Prices have been rounded up by 5 cents for readability, and I have to say that this is a small step in the right direction for Page Plus. But they do have two more years to go, at least, in phone models, before they're on par with...well...the phones that people actually use on contract carriers today.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-86177930330138515092008-09-18T12:02:00.000-07:002008-09-18T12:08:15.637-07:00Trac Hack - 300 extra minutesLooks like there's currently a trick you can use to get 320 minutes when activating a Tracfone instead of 20. See here:<br /><br />http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/topic/8023074/1/Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-62274414404879889032008-09-13T17:56:00.001-07:002008-09-13T17:57:48.527-07:00Tracfone LG 600g = Bluetooth-ness<a href="http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/topic/8022201/1/">Looks like</a> we've got double-confirmation that the Tracfone LG 600g, so far their most advanced phone, can do Bluetooth file transfers. So if you're into that sort of thing and want a phone that uses all of AT&T's contract-class network, this is it...<div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-86655500039255337892008-09-12T18:44:00.000-07:002008-09-12T18:48:57.544-07:00Motorola w377 on HSNNo, the Net10 Motorola w377 does NOT have a 3.0 megapixel camera or video recording capabilities like <a href="http://electronics.hsn.com/motorola-prepaid-cell-phone-with-bluetooth-headset_p-4556906_xp.aspx?web_id=4556906&ocm=sekw">HSN's website </a>says, but it is a halfway-decent deal, at $100 for both the phone and a Bluetooth headset.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-18207864677357692572008-09-12T18:34:00.000-07:002008-09-12T18:44:27.805-07:00Virgin Mobile Changes Kickback PolicyEffective Tuesday (but only reaching my inbox today), Virgin Mobile has made a few changes to their Kickbacks program.<br /><br />Instead of money ($10 if I remember correctly) it's now more like the Tracfone refer-a-friend plan of yore: you get minutes, they get minutes. 60 minutes, to be exact. Worthless if you have an unlimited plan, but awesome if you would otherwise pay 20 cents per minute.<br /><br />The limit on referrals has also been increased, to 100 (!) per year. You heard me right: you could conceivably get 6000 minutes per year (500 per month) through Virgin Mobile referrals. Every person referred <span style="font-style: italic;">does</span> have to activate online and add $20 or more to their account within 45 days, but that's still a nice deal. One more thing: you have to register for the promotion to get your referral code, which can be posted wherever. More private than a phone number, so "wherever" really does mean wherever.<br /><br />To that tune, I'll be putting up a referral code up here the next time I review a phone. That way if you want an extra 60 minutes upon activation of your Virgin Mobile phone, you can get it. Information on the kickback program (with Go4Prepaid as the referrer) will be posted on the sidebar here once I get around to it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14577511.post-64534255404153257412008-09-10T16:16:00.000-07:002008-09-10T16:36:27.688-07:00Shuttles and Data Plans and Service Days, Oh My!Nope, this may be post 711, but the Shuttle isn't available at 7-Eleven stores...yet...it'll be coming to BestBuy with a price of either $80 or $100l, looks like.<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://s7.zetaboards.com/Go4Prepaid/topic/8021022/1/#new">The Sweeper</a>, nothing has gone unnoticed over at the Virgin Mobile HQ. Least of all their introduction of the Stereo-Bluetooth, music-playing, MicroSD-toting, rootin' tootin' red slider phone known as the Shuttle. Check out Virgin Mobile's page on it <a href="http://www.virginmobileusa.com/phones/phoneDetail.do?skuId=VMUTX2">here</a>. The Shuttle also has a page or two from Helio's book (they're part of Virgin Mobile now, remember?): Buddy Beacon GPS location. Very, very cool. Short of a keyboard, this phone has every feature a non-smartphone user on a contract plan could want.<br /><br />Virgin Mobile has also introduced new data plans to the arena, making them pretty competitive in that realm (though they don't have an "unlimited" option like AT&T's GoPhone does). $10 gets you 20 MB of data usage, $20 gets 50MB. VirginXL usage (ringtones and such from Virgin Mobile's own system) don't count against the limit, and if you have a monthly plan data costs are halved. If you don't have a monthly plan, the $5 for 5 MB monthly plan still stands. Virgin Mobile has also increased the minimum amount for pay-per-use data from $1 to 1.50 for a day pass, but the data allotment has been increased from 500 KB to 1 MB.<br /><br />What's interesting is that now an unlimited voice plan with unlimited messaging is $90, just like on Sprint, and 50 MB of data brings the monthly total up to $100. Granted, 50 MB of data isn't 5 GB (Sprint's soft cap) but for casual mobile web usage you won't go over 50 MB even on an EvDO-equipped phone (not that I said casual web uage, not putting music or video into the equation), plus Virgin Mobile's plan taxes and fees are less than Sprint's. So yes, you can get away with more and more these days on a prepaid plan, and if you're looking for a feature-rich experience with unlimited voice minutes Virgin mobile is it.<br /><br />One thing: if you look at the title bar on your browser when browsing Virgin Mobile's data plan apge, it mentions 2G data. The Shuttle is 3G. Are there even better plans coming?<br /><br />One more thing: if you buy a Wild Card, Slash or Shuttle from Virgin Mobile you, for a limited time, can get a full year of service when you activate. It looks like you have to add some sort of airtime card to the mix in order to do this, but that card could be as little as $10, and a year of service included with the phones is a goodway to keep people around and use all those high-end features the Shuttle (which will be out on the 28th, looks like) has to offer.<br /><br />In conclusion, Virgin Mobile's red-rimmed slider phone brings the provider up in my estimation in compparison of all cellular providers, contract as well as prepaid.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2