I ordered this phone off of CheapphoneCards a few minutes ago. It's a camera phone, which I used to consider a mere oddity that was totally worthless, but I'll talk about that later. After the rebate this phone will be just $40.29, plus it has a $10 card, a car charger and a leather case, the last of which I'll sell to somebody (I don't know who). I used refill18 to take the price of the phone down by about $11.70, thus making it this nice price. I'm selling my old phone (3 months old, LG 5225) for $20 net ($40 but $20 goes to a replacement screen as the external screen as I said before is sort of peeled and bleeding for absolutely no reason and LG didn't want to repair it except for $75). So the net cost of this camera phone, per se, is $20.29 to me. Not bad for a non-monthly prepaid phone, though I'll have to keep the phone active for 90 days before they process the rebate (no big deal; all I'd have to do is make two or three calls, and as this will be my main cell phone I'll certainly make more than that).
Anyway, as you can see the title of this post is a hotlink. It's to the PhoneScoop specificaitons page for the LG 225 (aka PM-225 by Sprint's naming scheme as this is a Sprint phone). Besides the camera, opposed to the LG 5225, I get a two-way speakerphone, improved battery life, analog capability (for emergencies; as of yet no analog roaming is available on STi but I can see them pulling that rabbit out of their hat as well with all the neat things that have happened lately) and a couple other smaller features that I've forgotten to mention but are still there.
As to the reason I'm getting a camera phone, I "do" two other blogs besides this one and it would be really nice to be able to simply snap a picture and in just a few seconds have it publish to the blog of my choice. It's also cheap, at 29 cents a day and even this amount discounted and even zeroed out by reward points at CheapPhoneCards. The 29 cents also includes web browsing, or so the VCheapPhoneCards site says, so as I would want the web browsing package anyway picture messaging's net cost is just 10 cents a day. I'm not sure if unlimited text messagin is included in this fee, but if it is I'll surely use it :).
Just so everyone knows, I do have a normal camera, an Olympus C-5050 Zoom with 640 MB of CompactFlash cards (3 total). However, the camera is fairly large and a little under a pound with the batteries and card installed, so needless to say I can't quite take it everywhere. I can take a less-than-an-inch-thick, 3.3-ounce camera that also happens to be a cell phone pretty much everywhere though. Granted, the image quality of a camera phone right now, especially these early-generation 640x480 models, is a far cry from that of my camera but it is certainly bearable for internet posting and the portability factor is a big plus. I'll probably still carry around my camera many places but with the phone I'll probably be able to get snapshots and such that the bigness of a conventional camera wouldn't have afforded me.
So, to end the slight bit of a rant on camera phones, cameras certainly have their place in the world, as do PDAs, another function that some people have said cell phones would take over, but it's nice to have something that will take a picture, send it to a blog, surf the web and make a phone call all in a small package where a camera, a laptop or PDA, and even a small basic cell phone would not fit.
And to end all of this, yes I will post about my own experiences with STi and what looks to be a really nice phone for the price (though it's now free I think on sprint.com).
Friday, November 25, 2005
Tracfones Just Got Cheaper
I went on Tracfone.com today, as every Friday they usually refresh the list of phones for sale with something different or cheaper. This time I was in for a nice surprise: the Motorola c155 phone is down to $30. I personally don't like the phone, as the screen is small and the navigation buttons are a bit too easily pushed, but the fact remains that it's now the lowest-priced color SingleRate phone available (the black-and-white Nokia 1100, which I would rather have, is $20).
The second, in my opinion better deal is with the Motorola v170. It is now $50, so you can finally afford the only color Tracfone flip phone. Granted, its screen is very small and it has no caller ID screen, but the phone itself is on the small side and if you want a flip phone that uses Cingular's contract-class GSM network this is it.
The second, in my opinion better deal is with the Motorola v170. It is now $50, so you can finally afford the only color Tracfone flip phone. Granted, its screen is very small and it has no caller ID screen, but the phone itself is on the small side and if you want a flip phone that uses Cingular's contract-class GSM network this is it.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Coupon Is Great, Virgin Mobile Shorty
Just to let everybody know, refill18 seems to work on everything in the prepaid phones and cards section of CheapPhoneCards.com. Which means you can get a nice little discount off the LG 225 camera phone $149 package. I think I will get that either today or tomorrow...
Also, I had a firsthand, though very fleeting, look at VIrgin Mobile's Nokia Shorty (aka 2115i\2116i). It has nice poly ringtones and is nice and small with an OK-sized screen but the fact that it's greyscale kind of threw me off. Granted it's $30, but hey. Tracfone has a color one of these for $20. I don't think that the blue backlight, or whatever color it was, kicked in enough to shed the dreariness of a greyscale screen paired with such a nice form factor. I hope Virgin Mobile comes out with a Color Shorty like Tracfone has; a color screen would make the phone hjust about right...
Also, I had a firsthand, though very fleeting, look at VIrgin Mobile's Nokia Shorty (aka 2115i\2116i). It has nice poly ringtones and is nice and small with an OK-sized screen but the fact that it's greyscale kind of threw me off. Granted it's $30, but hey. Tracfone has a color one of these for $20. I don't think that the blue backlight, or whatever color it was, kicked in enough to shed the dreariness of a greyscale screen paired with such a nice form factor. I hope Virgin Mobile comes out with a Color Shorty like Tracfone has; a color screen would make the phone hjust about right...
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Note on the code and STi Web
I just got an email giving me the code that I already posted. It also said the code expires the 27th so get your refill cards soon because this promo may not last.
Also, when I got my phone back I nearly immediately activated web access. At 19 cents a day with the first 14 free for unlimited, faster-than-dialup access, needless to say I'm happy. When I get the LG 225 cameraphone (which will be soon) I'll most likely get a cable so I can have a nice fast always-on connection on my computer. And of course be able to directly transfer all of those pretty picutres I take if I'm not in the mood to send them over the web.
Also, when I got my phone back I nearly immediately activated web access. At 19 cents a day with the first 14 free for unlimited, faster-than-dialup access, needless to say I'm happy. When I get the LG 225 cameraphone (which will be soon) I'll most likely get a cable so I can have a nice fast always-on connection on my computer. And of course be able to directly transfer all of those pretty picutres I take if I'm not in the mood to send them over the web.
STi Coupon Code and My Phone
FIrst, the refill8 coupon code for CheapPhoneCards and STi Mobile has gone down to 2% now. In its place is refill18. Granted, the latter takes the 8% off the already-discounted card, thus making the discount a few cents less, but it's still very, very close to a full 11% discount so the party isn't over yet :).
Second, I didn't want to pay $75 to fix an $89 phone so my phone still has the inexplicably cracked and bleeding outer LCD, which has gotten a little worse, and a slight dark spot, which is getting less and less evident, on the inner LCD. I'm negotiating to get a new screen set for $20 though so when I sell this phone to a friend it will be just as good as the day I bought it.
Speaking of buying, the $89 rebate for the phone, which came back from Huntsville Tuesday, came in the mail Monday. That phone is now officially better than fgree, just like those TMIWireless Black Razrs with the two-year Cingular contract :)
Second, I didn't want to pay $75 to fix an $89 phone so my phone still has the inexplicably cracked and bleeding outer LCD, which has gotten a little worse, and a slight dark spot, which is getting less and less evident, on the inner LCD. I'm negotiating to get a new screen set for $20 though so when I sell this phone to a friend it will be just as good as the day I bought it.
Speaking of buying, the $89 rebate for the phone, which came back from Huntsville Tuesday, came in the mail Monday. That phone is now officially better than fgree, just like those TMIWireless Black Razrs with the two-year Cingular contract :)
T-Mobile To Go: My Experience
To start off, sorry that I haven't posted for ever so long. I'm here now to say that you can start clicking those ads again; I've got a lot to post tonight.
Last Tuesday my drama teacher gave me her "old" phone, a Cingular Nokia 6010. The battery charger didn't work but as all but one of my family's phones are Nokias that problem was easily remedied by using one of our other chargers. A few hours later the phone was, after just two tries, successfully unlocked and just waiting for a shiny new T-Mobile To Go simcard, which I got off of eBay with $30 of credit for $15 and which arrived in an envelope Monday. That evening I put the simcard in the phone, and as it was already activated the T-Mobile signal bars showed up right away.
A fairly quick call to 611 gave me a new, closer-to-local though not quite local number (I'll probably port in something later) and later I got the web and MMS settings. Still later I was happily surfing the free, albeit limited, T-Zones and buying Let It Be as a ringtone. I also sent a picture message (which for some nice odd reason was free) to enable my phone for receiving multimedia messages, then sent it several MIDI ringtones which arrived over the rest of the night and the next morning when I turned the phone on again.
Later that day I found out the bad side of T-Mobile To Go to its utmost, which granted isn't horrible but would steer me clear of it for my area, but for my area only as the service seems solid.
The thing I noticed with the phone was that coverage was very "fragile", probably due to my being in some wierd fringe coverage areas (even in the middle of town) and T-Mobile's operating on the less-persistent PCS 1900 frequency. It could've been the phone, but it would have to be a defect with that specific phone as the Nokia 6010\3595 (same phone, different faceplate) has one of the best RFs (reception ratings) of any phone of that network (GSM). This basically means that you can be ten feet away in the same atmosphere (either open air or in the same type of building with practically the same walls between you and the outside air) from a full signal and get practically nothing, along with the dropped calls and such that a one-bar GSM signal brings.
Due to this problem, I was double-charged for a ringtone that warranted a call to customer service to get sent correctly (and to kill the second charge). I'd have to say that their customer service is truly world-class though. I don't think I'll make T-Mobile To Go my main prepaid phone, as I got it mainly to have unlimited text messaging (STi is cheaper for voice since I can get 12 cents a minute in denominations as low as $10) anyway. But if T-Mobile's signal is good in your area and you want a wide selection of phones (any 1900-capable unlocked or T-Mobile phone will do if it's GSM) T-Mobile To Go is a superb option.
Last Tuesday my drama teacher gave me her "old" phone, a Cingular Nokia 6010. The battery charger didn't work but as all but one of my family's phones are Nokias that problem was easily remedied by using one of our other chargers. A few hours later the phone was, after just two tries, successfully unlocked and just waiting for a shiny new T-Mobile To Go simcard, which I got off of eBay with $30 of credit for $15 and which arrived in an envelope Monday. That evening I put the simcard in the phone, and as it was already activated the T-Mobile signal bars showed up right away.
A fairly quick call to 611 gave me a new, closer-to-local though not quite local number (I'll probably port in something later) and later I got the web and MMS settings. Still later I was happily surfing the free, albeit limited, T-Zones and buying Let It Be as a ringtone. I also sent a picture message (which for some nice odd reason was free) to enable my phone for receiving multimedia messages, then sent it several MIDI ringtones which arrived over the rest of the night and the next morning when I turned the phone on again.
Later that day I found out the bad side of T-Mobile To Go to its utmost, which granted isn't horrible but would steer me clear of it for my area, but for my area only as the service seems solid.
The thing I noticed with the phone was that coverage was very "fragile", probably due to my being in some wierd fringe coverage areas (even in the middle of town) and T-Mobile's operating on the less-persistent PCS 1900 frequency. It could've been the phone, but it would have to be a defect with that specific phone as the Nokia 6010\3595 (same phone, different faceplate) has one of the best RFs (reception ratings) of any phone of that network (GSM). This basically means that you can be ten feet away in the same atmosphere (either open air or in the same type of building with practically the same walls between you and the outside air) from a full signal and get practically nothing, along with the dropped calls and such that a one-bar GSM signal brings.
Due to this problem, I was double-charged for a ringtone that warranted a call to customer service to get sent correctly (and to kill the second charge). I'd have to say that their customer service is truly world-class though. I don't think I'll make T-Mobile To Go my main prepaid phone, as I got it mainly to have unlimited text messaging (STi is cheaper for voice since I can get 12 cents a minute in denominations as low as $10) anyway. But if T-Mobile's signal is good in your area and you want a wide selection of phones (any 1900-capable unlocked or T-Mobile phone will do if it's GSM) T-Mobile To Go is a superb option.
Outrageous Boost Mobile Deals!
I'm really sorry for myself since I passed this deal combo up but I may yet be able to get it. The first deal is only valid through Saturday, sdo you'll have to hurry, and is available only at Target though you may be able to get a pricematch elsewhere. The second deal is available until January 31, 2006 I'm pretty sure and isn't store-specific. Also at Target any Boost Mobile phone comes with a free Boost Mobile compilation CD, normally $6, if the CDs are around.
1. At Target and during this week you can get the Boost Mobile i415 phone for just $50, and get a $20 card for free to boot, thus making the phone really $30 including the $10 activation credit. So you can have as much as 6 months of service...
2. If you activate any Boost phone or reactivate any dormant Boost sim card ($15 I think) you get $25 extra credit!
So combining the two above promotions you can get $55 (maybe $45 but I think $55) of airtime and a phone for $50 plus tax, making the phone somewhere between $10 and free! The i415 is a nice phone too, not some Nextel freebie (read decrepit nobody-buys-it i205). It has a fair-sized color screen, GPS (go through the menus and you can get your coordinates, no fees involved), free MotoTalk off-network digital walkie-talkie through a hack from the guys at HowardForums (range is five miles I think but of course you can only talk to other MotoTalk-capable handsets that are in MotoTalk mode) and of course the thing that makes Nextel phones just a tad bigger than the rest: that $1.50 a day unlimited, lightening-fast Direct Connect walkie-talkie service that makes Nextel stand out from every other carrier.
Now to yell at our local Wal-Mart's manager enough to let me get this deal as a pricematch, or maybe even two of these phones so we can really do MotoTalk...
1. At Target and during this week you can get the Boost Mobile i415 phone for just $50, and get a $20 card for free to boot, thus making the phone really $30 including the $10 activation credit. So you can have as much as 6 months of service...
2. If you activate any Boost phone or reactivate any dormant Boost sim card ($15 I think) you get $25 extra credit!
So combining the two above promotions you can get $55 (maybe $45 but I think $55) of airtime and a phone for $50 plus tax, making the phone somewhere between $10 and free! The i415 is a nice phone too, not some Nextel freebie (read decrepit nobody-buys-it i205). It has a fair-sized color screen, GPS (go through the menus and you can get your coordinates, no fees involved), free MotoTalk off-network digital walkie-talkie through a hack from the guys at HowardForums (range is five miles I think but of course you can only talk to other MotoTalk-capable handsets that are in MotoTalk mode) and of course the thing that makes Nextel phones just a tad bigger than the rest: that $1.50 a day unlimited, lightening-fast Direct Connect walkie-talkie service that makes Nextel stand out from every other carrier.
Now to yell at our local Wal-Mart's manager enough to let me get this deal as a pricematch, or maybe even two of these phones so we can really do MotoTalk...
Monday, November 21, 2005
STi Developments
I was having a chat with an STi rep last night and I got these tidbits, some good, some not so good:
1. The rep said web is 19 cents a day. I've heard both 17 and 19 so I can't really confirm this, but just so everyone would know both reps that I've talked to have said it is 19 cents. I'll find out for myself when I get my phone back tomorrow and activate web browsing.
2. The rep said that picture messaging, at 29 cents a day, not only includes text messaging (pretty sure about that) but also includes web browsing! So if you have a camera phone and want web and will send a few picture messages each month by all means go for the picture messaging option.
3. The rep said that push-to-talk (aka ReadyLink) is 79 cents a day (!). This includes web access but, outside of the normal price for web access this service is 60 cents a day, or about $18 a month! Sorry, but I don't need walkie-talkie that bad. The fee is charged every single day but of course a quick call to 611 can turn it on and off. Granted, Boost Walkie-Talkie is $1.50 a day but Nextel Direct connect is faster than any CDMA-based system so far. Personally, there is no longer a hard choice between the LG 225 and the Sanyo 2300, STi's only phone so far capabl;e of ReadyLink.
4. STi's site will be updated "soon"...
5. There are several phones hiding out in Staples, the last of which will make it (maybe more) to STi's website:
Sanyo 200 (voice)
Samsung a660 (internet)
Audiovox 8912 (camera phone)
Sanyo 2300 (ReadyLink)
1. The rep said web is 19 cents a day. I've heard both 17 and 19 so I can't really confirm this, but just so everyone would know both reps that I've talked to have said it is 19 cents. I'll find out for myself when I get my phone back tomorrow and activate web browsing.
2. The rep said that picture messaging, at 29 cents a day, not only includes text messaging (pretty sure about that) but also includes web browsing! So if you have a camera phone and want web and will send a few picture messages each month by all means go for the picture messaging option.
3. The rep said that push-to-talk (aka ReadyLink) is 79 cents a day (!). This includes web access but, outside of the normal price for web access this service is 60 cents a day, or about $18 a month! Sorry, but I don't need walkie-talkie that bad. The fee is charged every single day but of course a quick call to 611 can turn it on and off. Granted, Boost Walkie-Talkie is $1.50 a day but Nextel Direct connect is faster than any CDMA-based system so far. Personally, there is no longer a hard choice between the LG 225 and the Sanyo 2300, STi's only phone so far capabl;e of ReadyLink.
4. STi's site will be updated "soon"...
5. There are several phones hiding out in Staples, the last of which will make it (maybe more) to STi's website:
Sanyo 200 (voice)
Samsung a660 (internet)
Audiovox 8912 (camera phone)
Sanyo 2300 (ReadyLink)
Sunday, November 20, 2005
I Am Not Affiliated...
I was just looking at www.go4prepaid.com, seeing if it was available should I wish to upgrade to a real domain name. It wasn't (yet another phone card seller) so let me say one thing: they and I share nothing but the same. And sorry but I don't know who went online first...
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Wal-Mart Deals In Person
I was at Wal-Mart a few minutes ago and found several neat deals and confirmed some others. Some have to do with postpaid, but there are prepaid deals too. There are also postpaid ripoffs...
PREPAID
1. Heard of Movida, the 20-cents-a-minute Spanish-oriented prepaid? Right now they're giving $45 worth of airtime, equivalent to 225 minutes, with at least their Nokia 2270 phone, which is $30, at least at my Wal-Mart. Calling the phone free the cost per minute would be about 13.3 cents a minute. Not bad for Sprint service with a free phone that doesn't need any rebates, though I wouldn't get anything beyo0nd the phone as STi's rates are so much better in the longer run, plus you get a fancier phone for free.
2. I saw the light...um...er...the Nokia 2126. This has to be one of the neatest-looking budget phones out there. Personally, I don't like the slightly overstated look of the original Nokia Shorty (too shiny on the front) but the form factor is to be beat and the 2126does it right. I didn't see a price today but the Wal-Mart guy told me this little gem is $19.88 when I called yesterday so it looks very, very good. One small problem is it has a paltry fifteen ringtones, but there are probably some good ones in there.
POSTPAID
1. I reconfirmed what I saw last time: at least my Wal-Mart is offering the Sanyo 2300 phone for free with a 2-year Sprint contract, or for $40 with a 1-year, or $190 without any contract whatsoever. I have a feeling this one is going to show up on STi sometime soon, since reps hinted about it last month, though I may have to search bricks and mortar stores to find it. It is on the large side, but has a super speakerphone (look at that lovely grill on the outside :) ), a nice big screen, web access and ReadyLink. I heard tell that the last is being offered (I'm assuming using this phone) on STi for 9 cents a day. If this phone comes in as free with a rebate, which it probably will, I'm going to have a heck of a time deciding which phone to buy, this one, which most likely has the great Sanyo reception that its phones on Sprint are known for, or the LG 225 cameraphone.
2. First, the neat thing about the new Sprint plans: both networks (Sprint and Nextel) now have an unlimited plan direct from the carrier. Granted, it's $200 a month but for Sir (or Madam) Talks-A-Lot (and I mean A LOT as Sprint\Nextel also has up to 4000 minute Fair & Flexible plans, though the tab for this is in the order of $150 a month) will love having no overages...EVER. Oh, and it looks like roaming is included on the Sprint plan so we now have a cell phone that you can talk on almost anywhere for as long as the battery holds out every day of the month and not worry about the bill being larger than...something... For $10 you can get unlimited Walkie-Talkie or ReadyLink, whichever technology (Nextel for the former, Sprint for the latter) you choose. Nextel has had an unlimited plan for quite a while now, but I'm thinking it was maybe $20 more expensive or so. Qwest also had an unlimited plan (they run off of Sprint) but it too was around $220 and limited to Sprint's home network.
3. Now the bad things about the new Sprint plans. On Nextel they have a Fair & Flexible plan for 1000 minutes, which is $56. Thank you very much, but for $50 I can get a plan on T-Mobile with half again that many anytime minutes. They also have a new lower end Power Connect plan (unlimited local Walkie-Talkie, otherwise like any other carrier's normal plan, with free nights and weekends, but no mobile-to-mobile) for $36, with a paltry 300 minutes. Again, T-Mobile has a similar plan (though without the free nights or Walkie-Talkie) for $30. For $4 more a month you get 100 extra minutes. Of course then you could just get T-Mobile's 1500 anytime minutes promo, which is about what "unlimited" carrier users call per month anyway. There is also the incredulously expensive $30-for-200-minutes Fair&Flexible deal on both Sprint and Nextel, as well as the horrendous $60-for-400-minute Sprint PCS Fair&Flexible family plan. If my memory serves me right you can get 500 minutes and the same features for $50 on T-Mobile, though I think SPrint Fair&Flexible is the America variety which means that up to half of your minutes can be off-network roaming.
And that's about all I found out at Wal-Mart tonight.
PREPAID
1. Heard of Movida, the 20-cents-a-minute Spanish-oriented prepaid? Right now they're giving $45 worth of airtime, equivalent to 225 minutes, with at least their Nokia 2270 phone, which is $30, at least at my Wal-Mart. Calling the phone free the cost per minute would be about 13.3 cents a minute. Not bad for Sprint service with a free phone that doesn't need any rebates, though I wouldn't get anything beyo0nd the phone as STi's rates are so much better in the longer run, plus you get a fancier phone for free.
2. I saw the light...um...er...the Nokia 2126. This has to be one of the neatest-looking budget phones out there. Personally, I don't like the slightly overstated look of the original Nokia Shorty (too shiny on the front) but the form factor is to be beat and the 2126does it right. I didn't see a price today but the Wal-Mart guy told me this little gem is $19.88 when I called yesterday so it looks very, very good. One small problem is it has a paltry fifteen ringtones, but there are probably some good ones in there.
POSTPAID
1. I reconfirmed what I saw last time: at least my Wal-Mart is offering the Sanyo 2300 phone for free with a 2-year Sprint contract, or for $40 with a 1-year, or $190 without any contract whatsoever. I have a feeling this one is going to show up on STi sometime soon, since reps hinted about it last month, though I may have to search bricks and mortar stores to find it. It is on the large side, but has a super speakerphone (look at that lovely grill on the outside :) ), a nice big screen, web access and ReadyLink. I heard tell that the last is being offered (I'm assuming using this phone) on STi for 9 cents a day. If this phone comes in as free with a rebate, which it probably will, I'm going to have a heck of a time deciding which phone to buy, this one, which most likely has the great Sanyo reception that its phones on Sprint are known for, or the LG 225 cameraphone.
2. First, the neat thing about the new Sprint plans: both networks (Sprint and Nextel) now have an unlimited plan direct from the carrier. Granted, it's $200 a month but for Sir (or Madam) Talks-A-Lot (and I mean A LOT as Sprint\Nextel also has up to 4000 minute Fair & Flexible plans, though the tab for this is in the order of $150 a month) will love having no overages...EVER. Oh, and it looks like roaming is included on the Sprint plan so we now have a cell phone that you can talk on almost anywhere for as long as the battery holds out every day of the month and not worry about the bill being larger than...something... For $10 you can get unlimited Walkie-Talkie or ReadyLink, whichever technology (Nextel for the former, Sprint for the latter) you choose. Nextel has had an unlimited plan for quite a while now, but I'm thinking it was maybe $20 more expensive or so. Qwest also had an unlimited plan (they run off of Sprint) but it too was around $220 and limited to Sprint's home network.
3. Now the bad things about the new Sprint plans. On Nextel they have a Fair & Flexible plan for 1000 minutes, which is $56. Thank you very much, but for $50 I can get a plan on T-Mobile with half again that many anytime minutes. They also have a new lower end Power Connect plan (unlimited local Walkie-Talkie, otherwise like any other carrier's normal plan, with free nights and weekends, but no mobile-to-mobile) for $36, with a paltry 300 minutes. Again, T-Mobile has a similar plan (though without the free nights or Walkie-Talkie) for $30. For $4 more a month you get 100 extra minutes. Of course then you could just get T-Mobile's 1500 anytime minutes promo, which is about what "unlimited" carrier users call per month anyway. There is also the incredulously expensive $30-for-200-minutes Fair&Flexible deal on both Sprint and Nextel, as well as the horrendous $60-for-400-minute Sprint PCS Fair&Flexible family plan. If my memory serves me right you can get 500 minutes and the same features for $50 on T-Mobile, though I think SPrint Fair&Flexible is the America variety which means that up to half of your minutes can be off-network roaming.
And that's about all I found out at Wal-Mart tonight.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Virgin Mobile Flasher Cheaper than Expected!
OK, now there's a reason to get the Audiovox 8910 Flasher V7 again: it's $10 cheaper or so than The Snapper. That's right, you can get a cameraphone now for a mere $90, without any rebate junk either. For the extra $10 you get a louder ringer and AIM capabilities though...
Interesting though that now the Flasher is the same price as the Vox, which isn't even a camera phone!
Interesting though that now the Flasher is the same price as the Vox, which isn't even a camera phone!
Virgin Mobile Phones Cheaper Than Expected
OK. I just found out that The Snapper (Audiovox 8915) on Virgin Mobile's site is just $100 so no biggie that Wal-Mart has it for just a few dollars less. But there are also some neat deals that Virgin Mobile has pulled out of the closet or pulled out of the rollback bag:
NEW PHONES
1. The Slider Sonic is now $190, so you can finally buy a music phone that is very, very modern, albeit low-end in the scheme of things, for a moderate price. It says that you can transfer videos from the phone to a Windows XP-equipped computer, but I'm not sure about photos. Help anyone?
2. The Snapper, as has been mentioned, is now down to $100, so there's no longer any reason to get the V7 Flasher.
3. The Kyocera K10 is back down to its normal price of $50, after a brief stint of being a whopping $60.
4. The Nokia Shorty phone is now down to a reasonable $30, though the Tracfone Nokia 2126 is a much better deal in my opinion, at $20 or thereabouts at Wal-Mart, plus the latter is color and can come with 120 minute (the refer-a-friend deal strikes again; email me)
OLDER PHONES (they have golden oldies out now, I guess to clean out their moldy stock :) )
1. The Kyocera Slider is back for a little bit for a very reasonable $40. So if you want one of them thar sliding telephones, this one is cheap and in color.
2. The Audiovox 8500 is back at $35. SKIP IT! everybody says this isn't a good phone at all, and granted it's the cheapest Virgin Mobile flip phone by a long shot, but it is cheap for a really bad reason and I wonder why it isn't cheaper...they are selling refurbished models with a 90-day warranty, so if it breaks on day 91 :( for you
3. The Kyocera K7 and K9 phones are back for $25. Why you'd get the K7 over the newer K9 (which was only phased out this summer I believe) is uncertain but hey, both of them are there so take your pick.
Not that I reccommend Virgin Mobile or anything, but hey, their phones just got almost across-the-board a good bit cheaper...
NEW PHONES
1. The Slider Sonic is now $190, so you can finally buy a music phone that is very, very modern, albeit low-end in the scheme of things, for a moderate price. It says that you can transfer videos from the phone to a Windows XP-equipped computer, but I'm not sure about photos. Help anyone?
2. The Snapper, as has been mentioned, is now down to $100, so there's no longer any reason to get the V7 Flasher.
3. The Kyocera K10 is back down to its normal price of $50, after a brief stint of being a whopping $60.
4. The Nokia Shorty phone is now down to a reasonable $30, though the Tracfone Nokia 2126 is a much better deal in my opinion, at $20 or thereabouts at Wal-Mart, plus the latter is color and can come with 120 minute (the refer-a-friend deal strikes again; email me)
OLDER PHONES (they have golden oldies out now, I guess to clean out their moldy stock :) )
1. The Kyocera Slider is back for a little bit for a very reasonable $40. So if you want one of them thar sliding telephones, this one is cheap and in color.
2. The Audiovox 8500 is back at $35. SKIP IT! everybody says this isn't a good phone at all, and granted it's the cheapest Virgin Mobile flip phone by a long shot, but it is cheap for a really bad reason and I wonder why it isn't cheaper...they are selling refurbished models with a 90-day warranty, so if it breaks on day 91 :( for you
3. The Kyocera K7 and K9 phones are back for $25. Why you'd get the K7 over the newer K9 (which was only phased out this summer I believe) is uncertain but hey, both of them are there so take your pick.
Not that I reccommend Virgin Mobile or anything, but hey, their phones just got almost across-the-board a good bit cheaper...
Cheaper and Cheaper! STi and Wal-Mart and Cingular
First off, STi's web access, according to an actual user haydeno (HowardForums) is actually 17 cents a minute, not 19. I'll take that extra 60 or so cents a month, which brings the price down to the $4.75-$5.25 range depending on whether it's February 2005 or October...
Second, Wal-Mart has really cheap prices on phones, even with tax! The Virgin Mobile Audiovox Snapper (8915 really) is, along with the V7 Flasher (8910), $97.66 at my local Wal-Mart, a full FIFTY DOLLARS cheaper than Virgin Mobile sells it for online, and about 40 dollars cheaper with tax included at Wal-Mart. Also, if you're in an area without SingleRate Tracfones (Nokia 1100, Nokia 2600, Motorola c155, Motorola v170) at least, and possibly in other areas, you can get the new Nokia 2126 "Color Shorty" on their CDMA service for $19.88 or thereabouts, really really nice for a small, color phone that may be able, through *228 and hitting option 2 if you're on Verizon, to have the coverage of the largest home and roaming network in the US! :)
Third, Cingular has the excellent Nokia 3120 on sale as a GoPhone package for $29.99, including a $10 activation credit for their prepaid service. I'm pretty sure shipping is free. Nokia phones are easily unlockable, so this just might become my next T-Mobile To Go phone (instead of the Cingular Nokia 6010 given to me, or maybe I'll keep it).
Second, Wal-Mart has really cheap prices on phones, even with tax! The Virgin Mobile Audiovox Snapper (8915 really) is, along with the V7 Flasher (8910), $97.66 at my local Wal-Mart, a full FIFTY DOLLARS cheaper than Virgin Mobile sells it for online, and about 40 dollars cheaper with tax included at Wal-Mart. Also, if you're in an area without SingleRate Tracfones (Nokia 1100, Nokia 2600, Motorola c155, Motorola v170) at least, and possibly in other areas, you can get the new Nokia 2126 "Color Shorty" on their CDMA service for $19.88 or thereabouts, really really nice for a small, color phone that may be able, through *228 and hitting option 2 if you're on Verizon, to have the coverage of the largest home and roaming network in the US! :)
Third, Cingular has the excellent Nokia 3120 on sale as a GoPhone package for $29.99, including a $10 activation credit for their prepaid service. I'm pretty sure shipping is free. Nokia phones are easily unlockable, so this just might become my next T-Mobile To Go phone (instead of the Cingular Nokia 6010 given to me, or maybe I'll keep it).
Thursday, November 17, 2005
STi is Rolling!
First off, I found out that the reason we're not seeing payme25 on the LG 225 at CheapPhoneCards is that they don't get near as much of a margin on that phone. Too bad...but I guess when the deal is a little older STi will be a little more generous generous and thus we will se that code for this phone.
Second, I'm getting my LG 5225 back from Huntsville, Alabama and their perfectly understandable technicians (yay for them!), but alas, the external screen isn't repaired. I'm not paying $75 to fix something on a phone that I could get for $84.95 with an $89 rebate! When my rebate comes in I'll sell the phone for $30, loaded with ringtones and apps (all downloaded for free of course) and in its slightly incapacitated, but still highly useable, condition, unless I find someone who will repair it for $20 or so.
Anyway, the reason I'm posting: STi now has out web access and picture messaging...and both are unlimited! Both services are charged daily and though you get charged every day (even when you don't use the service) you can, with a quick call to customer service, turn them on and off as needed! What's more, unlimited picture messaging includes unlimited text messaging. Text junkies rejoice! IM junkies should just get web access unless they have the 225 cameraphone.
Pricing for unlimited web access (don't know about tethering but if it's possible with the phone it's probably possible with the service) is 19 cents a day, or around $5.70 a month ($5.89 on long months, $5.32 or $5.51 in February), and unlimited picture and text messaging is 29 cents a day, or $8.70 a month ($8.99 on long months, $8.12 or $8.41 in February). I'll take that :)
Second, I'm getting my LG 5225 back from Huntsville, Alabama and their perfectly understandable technicians (yay for them!), but alas, the external screen isn't repaired. I'm not paying $75 to fix something on a phone that I could get for $84.95 with an $89 rebate! When my rebate comes in I'll sell the phone for $30, loaded with ringtones and apps (all downloaded for free of course) and in its slightly incapacitated, but still highly useable, condition, unless I find someone who will repair it for $20 or so.
Anyway, the reason I'm posting: STi now has out web access and picture messaging...and both are unlimited! Both services are charged daily and though you get charged every day (even when you don't use the service) you can, with a quick call to customer service, turn them on and off as needed! What's more, unlimited picture messaging includes unlimited text messaging. Text junkies rejoice! IM junkies should just get web access unless they have the 225 cameraphone.
Pricing for unlimited web access (don't know about tethering but if it's possible with the phone it's probably possible with the service) is 19 cents a day, or around $5.70 a month ($5.89 on long months, $5.32 or $5.51 in February), and unlimited picture and text messaging is 29 cents a day, or $8.70 a month ($8.99 on long months, $8.12 or $8.41 in February). I'll take that :)
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Beyond Wireless and STi Greatness
A Beyond Wireless rep told me today that new, GSM or CDMA (didn't say which or what carrier it would be on) service would be out in about two weeks. Yay Beyond!
Also, I haven't confirmed this myself but a post on HowardForums says that STi Mobile now has web for 17 cents a day, web and picture messaging for 29 cents a day and walkie-talkie (Ready-Link) for 9 cents a day, all for unlimited access! As I said I don't know about this as I don't have my STi phone right now (being inspected\repaired in Huntsville, Alabama) but if it's true STi rocks once again!
Also, I haven't confirmed this myself but a post on HowardForums says that STi Mobile now has web for 17 cents a day, web and picture messaging for 29 cents a day and walkie-talkie (Ready-Link) for 9 cents a day, all for unlimited access! As I said I don't know about this as I don't have my STi phone right now (being inspected\repaired in Huntsville, Alabama) but if it's true STi rocks once again!
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Unlock It!
A few hours ago I unlocked a Nokia 6010 a friend gave me (Cingular brand) so I can now use it on T-Mobile. I got the free NokiaFree unlocking calculator and on my second attempt (I messed up royally the first time, using the wrong, site-based calculator) successfully removed the restriction from the phone.
Yes, I can unlock other people's GSM (and GSM only) phones as well, at least all GSM phones supported by NokiaFree's software. This includes basically all GSM Nokias, a lot of Samsungs, some LGs, some Panasonics, Sony\Ericssons and some Siemens phones, as well as some lesser-known models like Vitel, NEC and Maxon. Sorry, there aren't any Motorolas on the list; your black Razr stays on Cingular, at least as far as I can help you.
All you have to do is email me (iansl AT gmail DOT com, symbols replaced to kill spam) with the IME1 number of the phone (serial number, can be found under the battery or usually by pressing *#06# like you're entering a phone number), what make\model of phone it is, and what network it's locked to, and what country you're in. I'll send you all seven or so codes, along with my reccommendation of which to choose first, as most GSM phones only let you have 5 or so unlock attempts before they become un-unlockable by this means.
The only thing I ask in return for the unlocking is that if you don't have the latest version of Firefox, take a minute to download, via the link button on the right, it and the Google Toolbar. If you already have Firefox 1.0.7 (or later; I am using Firefox 1.5 Beta right now) then take a little time to click on a few ads that you find intersting. Thanks.
Yes, I can unlock other people's GSM (and GSM only) phones as well, at least all GSM phones supported by NokiaFree's software. This includes basically all GSM Nokias, a lot of Samsungs, some LGs, some Panasonics, Sony\Ericssons and some Siemens phones, as well as some lesser-known models like Vitel, NEC and Maxon. Sorry, there aren't any Motorolas on the list; your black Razr stays on Cingular, at least as far as I can help you.
All you have to do is email me (iansl AT gmail DOT com, symbols replaced to kill spam) with the IME1 number of the phone (serial number, can be found under the battery or usually by pressing *#06# like you're entering a phone number), what make\model of phone it is, and what network it's locked to, and what country you're in. I'll send you all seven or so codes, along with my reccommendation of which to choose first, as most GSM phones only let you have 5 or so unlock attempts before they become un-unlockable by this means.
The only thing I ask in return for the unlocking is that if you don't have the latest version of Firefox, take a minute to download, via the link button on the right, it and the Google Toolbar. If you already have Firefox 1.0.7 (or later; I am using Firefox 1.5 Beta right now) then take a little time to click on a few ads that you find intersting. Thanks.
STi LG 225 Now On CheapPhoneCards!
CheapPhoneCards has finally come out with the LG 225 camera phone. There are two packages that they have. Unfortunately, neither of them have the deep discount that payme25 affords. I hope that CheapPhoneCards will fix that :).
The first deal (the link is the title of this article) is a more normal deal for CheapPhoneCards. For $149 (the price of the phone alone on STi, except that you can't get the phone alone on STi) you get the normal stuff (phone and $10 card) plus a car charger and leather case. They say they're worth $20 ($30 including the card). I say they're worth about $10. Anyway shipping is $5.75 here also, and there's only a 2% coupon (phone2) so you get a whopping $3 off of your otherwise-$154.75 purchase. So yes, the cheapest you can get the LG 225 cameraphone for right now is $151.75, $51.75 with the rebate, $41.75 if you count the card out of being the phone, $31.75 if you count the accessories out, but I wouldn't do that.
The second deal, which the first deal links to (look for Related Deals), gets you for $199 + $5.75 shipping the phone and a $50 card, just like at stimobile.com. Except that they do have a 7% discount coupon (phone7) that brings the total price down to $190.82 or thereabouts. Not a great deal IMO but the phone itself is $40.82 with the rebate this way.
As for me, I'm waiting for my rebate to come in and maybe by that time they will have better deals on the phone, such as maybe being able to apply payme25 to the purchase...
The first deal (the link is the title of this article) is a more normal deal for CheapPhoneCards. For $149 (the price of the phone alone on STi, except that you can't get the phone alone on STi) you get the normal stuff (phone and $10 card) plus a car charger and leather case. They say they're worth $20 ($30 including the card). I say they're worth about $10. Anyway shipping is $5.75 here also, and there's only a 2% coupon (phone2) so you get a whopping $3 off of your otherwise-$154.75 purchase. So yes, the cheapest you can get the LG 225 cameraphone for right now is $151.75, $51.75 with the rebate, $41.75 if you count the card out of being the phone, $31.75 if you count the accessories out, but I wouldn't do that.
The second deal, which the first deal links to (look for Related Deals), gets you for $199 + $5.75 shipping the phone and a $50 card, just like at stimobile.com. Except that they do have a 7% discount coupon (phone7) that brings the total price down to $190.82 or thereabouts. Not a great deal IMO but the phone itself is $40.82 with the rebate this way.
As for me, I'm waiting for my rebate to come in and maybe by that time they will have better deals on the phone, such as maybe being able to apply payme25 to the purchase...
Beyond Wireless: New "Free" Phones
They've discontinued the "Free" 5165 deal (actually it's $6.95 for shipping) when you get a $10 card, but Beyond Wireless now has four "free" phones that you can get with a $10 card, all fulfilled by UsedCellPhone.com. They also have a facep[late store to personalize your Nokia 5165 or 5160 phone, or even your 5185 CDMA or 5190 GSM phone if you have one of those. Anyway, here are the phones that Beyond Wireless\UsedCellPhone are pretty much giving away with a $10 card:
Nokia 5160
On Nokia's Website
On Beyond Wireless's Website
Nokia 6160
On Nokia's Website
On Beyond Wireless's Website
Nokia 6161
On Nokia's Website
On Beyond Wireless's Website
Nokia 6162
On Nokia's Website
On Beyond Wireless's Website
Hope the last link works :)
Nokia 5160
On Nokia's Website
On Beyond Wireless's Website
Nokia 6160
On Nokia's Website
On Beyond Wireless's Website
Nokia 6161
On Nokia's Website
On Beyond Wireless's Website
Nokia 6162
On Nokia's Website
On Beyond Wireless's Website
Hope the last link works :)
Friday, November 11, 2005
STi Rehash #1
Okay. CheapPhoneCards is about to release the LG 225 camera phone that STiMobile.com has already released. I'd advise getting it at cheapphonecards when it comes out there simply because you can get a bigger discount (with payme25) and only have to get a $10 card with the phone. Web access and picture messaging should be ready by the end of this month says customer support. But anyway let me rehash what STi is:
1) STi runs on the Sprint PCS network like Virgin Mobile
2) Rates are 12 cents weekdays, 10 cents nights and weekends, or 18 cents 24\7 with free international calling to tons of places
3) Airtime doesn't expire
4) Their phones can be inexpensive (LG 225) or even free (LG 5225) with a rebate
5) Text messaging is 5 cents both ways
Now some extra tidbits for STi\CheapPhoneCards users:
1) The coupon code "payme25" (no quotes) saves 20% off of STi phones; it will also give you an invoice with a normal-looking (no coupon applied) cost for rebate purposes (heh heh)
2) The coupon code "refill8" (again no quotes) takes the discount for STi refill cards from 3% to 11%. So in reality you're paying about 10.7 cents for weekday minutes and 8.9 cents for nights and weekends, even on a $10 card.
3) CheapPhoneCards' reward points system round down to the nearest dollar so you actually pay $8 in reward points (280 points) for a "normally $8.90" ten-dollar STi card.
One word about all this as I wait for my phone to be repaired (for no reason that I can tell my external screen wierded out and my internal screen seems to be suffering a little because of it): sweetmess :).
1) STi runs on the Sprint PCS network like Virgin Mobile
2) Rates are 12 cents weekdays, 10 cents nights and weekends, or 18 cents 24\7 with free international calling to tons of places
3) Airtime doesn't expire
4) Their phones can be inexpensive (LG 225) or even free (LG 5225) with a rebate
5) Text messaging is 5 cents both ways
Now some extra tidbits for STi\CheapPhoneCards users:
1) The coupon code "payme25" (no quotes) saves 20% off of STi phones; it will also give you an invoice with a normal-looking (no coupon applied) cost for rebate purposes (heh heh)
2) The coupon code "refill8" (again no quotes) takes the discount for STi refill cards from 3% to 11%. So in reality you're paying about 10.7 cents for weekday minutes and 8.9 cents for nights and weekends, even on a $10 card.
3) CheapPhoneCards' reward points system round down to the nearest dollar so you actually pay $8 in reward points (280 points) for a "normally $8.90" ten-dollar STi card.
One word about all this as I wait for my phone to be repaired (for no reason that I can tell my external screen wierded out and my internal screen seems to be suffering a little because of it): sweetmess :).
XE Mobile
This is an interesting carrier running off of Cingular's postpaid (read every GSM in the US) network. Text is free to receive, 10 cents to send. Voice has three different plans, or rather two types of plans, one with two options:
1) 20 cents a minute flat rate
2a) 50 cents per day the phone is used for a voice call, 15 cents outgoing, first 100 incoming minutes per month free, then 10 cents a minute
2b) Same as above except $1 a day the phone is used for a voice call and 250 free incoming minutes per month
The phones are expensive but there is an OK selection. They have the Nokia 2600 and 3200, as well as a the Motorola v180 (aka XEna) and Razr, at $50, $130, $100 and $300 respectively. So if you don't like Tracfone's SingleRate phones, or don't want to hunt for deals all the time, XE Mobile is a good choice.
1) 20 cents a minute flat rate
2a) 50 cents per day the phone is used for a voice call, 15 cents outgoing, first 100 incoming minutes per month free, then 10 cents a minute
2b) Same as above except $1 a day the phone is used for a voice call and 250 free incoming minutes per month
The phones are expensive but there is an OK selection. They have the Nokia 2600 and 3200, as well as a the Motorola v180 (aka XEna) and Razr, at $50, $130, $100 and $300 respectively. So if you don't like Tracfone's SingleRate phones, or don't want to hunt for deals all the time, XE Mobile is a good choice.
Tracfone Nokia 1100 - Now $20
You saw it in Wal-Mart for this much. Now it's official: The Tracfone Nokia 1100 SingleRate GSM phone is $20, not bad at all when you consider that with a refer-a-friend promotion (email me) you're getting 120 minutes for that $20...16.66 cents a minute! And it has the coverage of Cingular, or T-Mobile if T-Mobile is in your area and not Cingular, and we're talking the contract plan here.
On a side not my Wal-Mart is selling the Nokia 2285 for around $20 right now as well, probably to move the stock for the new Nokia 2126. One thing I'm wondering here is whether Tracfone has a new phone up their sleeve, such as the long-rumored Nokia 2651 flip, which will push the 1100 out of retail existence for the most part and make the Nokia 2600 into the $30 phone.
On a side not my Wal-Mart is selling the Nokia 2285 for around $20 right now as well, probably to move the stock for the new Nokia 2126. One thing I'm wondering here is whether Tracfone has a new phone up their sleeve, such as the long-rumored Nokia 2651 flip, which will push the 1100 out of retail existence for the most part and make the Nokia 2600 into the $30 phone.
Simple Freedom Online Bonus!
Click on the link above to activate a Simple Freedom phone (the Nokia 3587i or 6015i is usually $40 or so at your local Wal-Mart, or you can get the color flip Kyocera SoHo for abiyt $70) and instead of $10 (40 minutes, 20 roaming) you get a whopping $30.01 (don't know where that extra cent is for but 120 minutes nonetheless) credit when you sign up, putting SF on par with a Tracfone with refer-a-friend purchase, except that the Tracfone is usually cheaper for the phone and more expensive for the minutes. But if you want Simple Freedom and the Alltel and Verizon network capability it beings go for it!
Monday, November 07, 2005
SMS Stuff
Two quick things about SMS. Okay, three.
1. I was emailed by the marketing chairman of 4info, yet another SMS service a la Google and Yahoo. The shortcode this time is...what else...4INFO, and it has a few things, like sports scores and random drink (alcoholic) "recipies", that other SMS gateways don't have but personally I find 4info unattractive when compared with, say, Google SMS.
2. With go.blogger.com you can make your very own "Moblog" (Mobile Blog) in as little as one step: send whatever you want to go@blogger.com. Believe it or not, this works on SMS as well, though your entries are short.
3. The alternative to this is Matil-to-Blogger, which lets you send text to a predetermined email address (yourblogname.something@blogger.com) and it show up on the blog. If you can stand lack of confirmation and a few less characters on your message this is good for people who, like me, have annoying cell plans that cost to receive text messages.
1. I was emailed by the marketing chairman of 4info, yet another SMS service a la Google and Yahoo. The shortcode this time is...what else...4INFO, and it has a few things, like sports scores and random drink (alcoholic) "recipies", that other SMS gateways don't have but personally I find 4info unattractive when compared with, say, Google SMS.
2. With go.blogger.com you can make your very own "Moblog" (Mobile Blog) in as little as one step: send whatever you want to go@blogger.com. Believe it or not, this works on SMS as well, though your entries are short.
3. The alternative to this is Matil-to-Blogger, which lets you send text to a predetermined email address (yourblogname.something@blogger.com) and it show up on the blog. If you can stand lack of confirmation and a few less characters on your message this is good for people who, like me, have annoying cell plans that cost to receive text messages.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
STi Phone Fun , Part the Second
First off, STi has finally put another rebate on their site for the LG 5225 phone. It's for the same amount, but you'll have to keep your phone active for 90 days before STi will start processing the rebate, up from 60 before this and 30 from the LG 1200 they used to have. So yeah you sort of have a 3-month contract to get your phone for free but all you need to do is make a call the day you get the phone and then about 30 days later, and then just for kicks a week later and you have, about 60 days later, your 90 required days for activation, and you eventually get your rebate. You don't even need to get another card if you don't want to.
Second: I may have confused the Samsung a660 with the Samsung a560 on what phones STi is going to release soon. The main difference is that the 560 doesn't have web access. I'm pretty sure that I didn't though, and that STi is going to come out with the a660.
Third, and last, is that I am now hearing that STi is going to introduce the well-reviewed, interestingly-built Samsung a600. No, it's not a downgrade from the a660; it's a full-featured cameraphone with a screen that can actually swivel around so the phone can be closed and yet the big screen can still be showing. Yay STi!
Second: I may have confused the Samsung a660 with the Samsung a560 on what phones STi is going to release soon. The main difference is that the 560 doesn't have web access. I'm pretty sure that I didn't though, and that STi is going to come out with the a660.
Third, and last, is that I am now hearing that STi is going to introduce the well-reviewed, interestingly-built Samsung a600. No, it's not a downgrade from the a660; it's a full-featured cameraphone with a screen that can actually swivel around so the phone can be closed and yet the big screen can still be showing. Yay STi!
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Virgin Mobile IM
With the two new phones (tne Kyocera Slider Sonic, which is incidentally not the Slider Remix, and the Audiovox Snapper, or 8915) Virgin Mobile has introduced they gave owners of these phones the gift of chat. More specifically, for $4 a month you get 150 messages on AIM, each subsequent 50-message chunk costing $1 (okay, $3.99 and 99 cents but hey). The AIM client is free. Cheaper than text? Probably. Cheap? Not really. Though you do get the first month's base 150 messages free.
Also, they have this thingamabob called Chat Park, which seems to be some sort of online community type of thing. 60 minutes of time or one week of service, again whichever comes first, is $3. OK...I'll pass on that one too.
To see for yourself go to www.virginmobileusa.com and click on Ringtones and More.
Also, they have this thingamabob called Chat Park, which seems to be some sort of online community type of thing. 60 minutes of time or one week of service, again whichever comes first, is $3. OK...I'll pass on that one too.
To see for yourself go to www.virginmobileusa.com and click on Ringtones and More.
T-Mobile To Go Unlimited Text!
You read the above title right. To get unlimited text on your T-Mobile-To-Go compatible phone (unlocked 1900-band-capable or T-Mobile) follow the below steps. Note that you'll also get minutes at a flat rate of 15 cents. Unfortunately you'll lose T-Zones access (news and such) but you can still check your balance by dialing *999 and hitting SEND (I'm pretty sure that's the number :) ).
1. Get a T-Mobile To Go sim card from a place like boardwalkcommunications.com for about $14.
2. Run it down to below $10. This may or may not be necessary as one person did this at $10.80 so you can try step 3 before this but don't count on the transition working unless the balance is low enough. You can do this by...surprise...texting!
3. call T-Mobile Customer Care and have them convert your sim to the Sidekick To Go plan.
You can now send as many SMSes as you like and not be charged anything. Plus you have voice at a fixed 15 cents per minute. The reason this works is that the Sidekick To Go plan has this as well, except it charges $1 a day. What you get for that $1 is unlimited MMS and web access on your Sidekick, which is also pretty expensive. Anyway the reason you get text for free and no MMS or web is they won't\can't bill you for the Sidekick $1 a day part of the plan if the sim card is not in your Sidekick. The flip side of this, the side that doesn't allow web access, is that the Sidekick uses a different way of sending and receiving data than normal that, for web and MMS, aren't compatible with normal phones.
So you can't use this on your Sidekick if you have one. But you can use it on such text-friendly phones\devices as the ones below:
Motorola v100 (old but good for text, but don't do voice on this one, about $25 shipped)
http://snipurl.com/jjem
Nokia 3300 (it's a music phone too with a color screen, about $55 shipped)
http://snipurl.com/jjep
Have fun with this, especially for AIM over SMS (which works with T-Mobile To Go, or at least this type) and 411sms (I think that Google SMS doesn't work but no huge deal there as 411sms is about as good, just with a 10-digit number)
1. Get a T-Mobile To Go sim card from a place like boardwalkcommunications.com for about $14.
2. Run it down to below $10. This may or may not be necessary as one person did this at $10.80 so you can try step 3 before this but don't count on the transition working unless the balance is low enough. You can do this by...surprise...texting!
3. call T-Mobile Customer Care and have them convert your sim to the Sidekick To Go plan.
You can now send as many SMSes as you like and not be charged anything. Plus you have voice at a fixed 15 cents per minute. The reason this works is that the Sidekick To Go plan has this as well, except it charges $1 a day. What you get for that $1 is unlimited MMS and web access on your Sidekick, which is also pretty expensive. Anyway the reason you get text for free and no MMS or web is they won't\can't bill you for the Sidekick $1 a day part of the plan if the sim card is not in your Sidekick. The flip side of this, the side that doesn't allow web access, is that the Sidekick uses a different way of sending and receiving data than normal that, for web and MMS, aren't compatible with normal phones.
So you can't use this on your Sidekick if you have one. But you can use it on such text-friendly phones\devices as the ones below:
Motorola v100 (old but good for text, but don't do voice on this one, about $25 shipped)
http://snipurl.com/jjem
Nokia 3300 (it's a music phone too with a color screen, about $55 shipped)
http://snipurl.com/jjep
Have fun with this, especially for AIM over SMS (which works with T-Mobile To Go, or at least this type) and 411sms (I think that Google SMS doesn't work but no huge deal there as 411sms is about as good, just with a 10-digit number)
PagePlus Activation & Phone for Less
One eBay seller now has a PagePlus activation kit for just $10 with the same 100 minutes and 120 days (actually 30 above normal) for any Verizon phone. That's 10 cents a minute, a nice deal if you ask me :). Here is the link (that's the hotlink in the title as well):
http://tinyurl.com/8xl93
He also sells a Kyocara 2325 with 71 minutes of airtime ($10 worth really) for $30. Here is the link to that:
http://tinyurl.com/beneb
http://tinyurl.com/8xl93
He also sells a Kyocara 2325 with 71 minutes of airtime ($10 worth really) for $30. Here is the link to that:
http://tinyurl.com/beneb
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Boost Mobile Phone Pricing
Boost Mobile has lowered the prices for some of their phones, making them more available for public consumption without sticker shock. The i835, one of the smallest Nextel\Boost phones available (unfortunately that isn't saying too much compared to other technologies' phones), is now $150, as is the larger i730.
But the best deals are the i450, which is now $80, and the i415, which is $60, making it the cheapest Boost phone ever I think, which again isn't saying much in this era of $30 Nokia 2126s from Tracfone but is great if you want the features Boost Mobile affords. If you look around, you may even be able to find a copy of the "Europe-only" Opera Mini browser, which allows any phone with Java and internet access to view normal webages, albeit downloading everything that PCs would download (don't use this on GoPhone or any other carrier that doesn't have unlimited data).
But the best deals are the i450, which is now $80, and the i415, which is $60, making it the cheapest Boost phone ever I think, which again isn't saying much in this era of $30 Nokia 2126s from Tracfone but is great if you want the features Boost Mobile affords. If you look around, you may even be able to find a copy of the "Europe-only" Opera Mini browser, which allows any phone with Java and internet access to view normal webages, albeit downloading everything that PCs would download (don't use this on GoPhone or any other carrier that doesn't have unlimited data).
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Another Wierd and Wonderful Hybrid Service: Bravo Cellular
I'm checking into this, but it is similar to INPulse in that for 99 cents a day you get unlimited night and weekend calling. Well, on INPulse you get unlimited night and IN calling but the concept is similar. Bravo uses the Sprint network like STi Mobile does and actually has some of the same phones STi does (LG 5350 and Samsung a460).
Howver, right now they have a promo that gives you unlimited calling for the 99 cents a day fee (I guess until November 1st). Text, as with STi, is 5 cents to send and receive. Bravo touts its international rates but you can find better deals on that elsewhere.
One last thing is that this is a very new service, hence the promo, and also for every daytime minute once they aren't unlimited (12.5 cents) and for the 99 cent daily fee (like INPulse it's whether you use it or not) there's an extra 13% tacked on. OK, if it gives you unlimited calling I'm fine with it...
Howver, right now they have a promo that gives you unlimited calling for the 99 cents a day fee (I guess until November 1st). Text, as with STi, is 5 cents to send and receive. Bravo touts its international rates but you can find better deals on that elsewhere.
One last thing is that this is a very new service, hence the promo, and also for every daytime minute once they aren't unlimited (12.5 cents) and for the 99 cent daily fee (like INPulse it's whether you use it or not) there's an extra 13% tacked on. OK, if it gives you unlimited calling I'm fine with it...
Buy an INPulse phone and use it on PagePlus
Is there a BustBuy near you? If so, take a look to see if they have the Verizon INPulse Nokia 6015i in stock for $50. If they do, that phone is a prime candidate for PagePlus Cellular, a prepaid provider that runs off of Verizon's home network. Airtime veries from 10 to 14 cents a minute, depending on what denomination of card you buy (you can get them at cheapphonecards.com, see the link to the right), and roaming is 99 cents a minute. Cards last for 120 days, and of course minutes roll over Check on eBay to get an activation with 90 days of service and 100 minutes for $15. There is a 50 cent per month fee (25 cents on the 1st, 25 on the 15th) but still this is a cheap way to get a modern phone that works off of the Verizon network. Or you can get a phone like the Nokia 3589i that has internet and use the internet for free, because of a loophole in the PagePlus service. No tetherting though :)
Beyond Wireless Fun
If you live in an area serviced by AT&T or Cingular's TDMA networks and don't mind getting a long-distance number, Beyond Wireless is still a viable option. Granted, you'll be getting older phones, but older also means cheaper. Right now, there are two promotions going on that will give you "free" (plus $7 or so for shipping) phones when you get a $10 Beyond Wireless card. You can probably activate the phones, then add the $10 card, for a total of 115 minutes for about $17, not a bad deal since it includes a phone in the mix, with no rebates involved. Your choice of phones is either the old-though-still-viable Nokia 5165, which does everything Beyond is good for anyway (voice calling and text messaging) or you can get the older Nokia 5160, if you don't want text messaging at all or the supply of 5165s runs out.
Tracfone Nokia 2126 Update
Sorry folks but the Tracfone Nokia 2126 is not a SingleRate phone. There is the 2x roaming fee and the 1\2 unit to send and receive text messages. It is a nice phone though.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
The STi Experience
Firest of all I have to say that a lot of things didn't happen today that I thought would happen. First, no new phones were introduced, and the LG 225 cameraphone did not go live. Second, though text messaging started to be charged, no new services came out. Web, according to the reps, should be out at the end of this week, along with picture messaging.
OK. Now for really why I posted. I sent six text messages and received three today, thinking that they were free, as I didn't immediately get charged for them. As it turned out, there was actually a bug in the system, so the 45 cents was deducted later in the day. I can live with that.
At the time I was sending the text messages I also tried to call my mom's cell phone. As usual it was off, and, as luck would have it, Cellular One decided to give me a busy beep (for which I was charged) instead of the free-for-me "The customer you have called cannot be reached at this time" message. Twelve cents gone. I can live with that too.
Then, somehow, I might've or might've not pressed the 1 key and hit send. I don't think that I did it but there is a chance that I might have. That "One second call" cost me 22 cents. After about 45 minutes on the phone with a pretty helpful STi rep, most of which spent on hold waiting for STi's system to get everything straightened out, the 22 cents was refunded. Heym I didn't have to pay anything for the call (from my cell phone) and spent the hold time working on homework :).
I'm satisfied now. I just hope that they get the kinks worked out of text messaging and out of their accounting system. STi, if you're listening out there, or rather looking, we prepaid people would like an online account viewer like Cingular GoPhone has. Can you get it for us? :)
I maintain (and hope I spelled it correctly) that STi is a fine company to deal with on prepaid service. It is still my favorite. But keep in mind that if you get a text message saying that on X day X service will be charged X amount per X usage, you'd better believe it, though you might think you aren't charged for it at first on X date. Now about phone releases on websites I can't make that written-in-stone generalization, but still...
Discuss at the STi Forum
OK. Now for really why I posted. I sent six text messages and received three today, thinking that they were free, as I didn't immediately get charged for them. As it turned out, there was actually a bug in the system, so the 45 cents was deducted later in the day. I can live with that.
At the time I was sending the text messages I also tried to call my mom's cell phone. As usual it was off, and, as luck would have it, Cellular One decided to give me a busy beep (for which I was charged) instead of the free-for-me "The customer you have called cannot be reached at this time" message. Twelve cents gone. I can live with that too.
Then, somehow, I might've or might've not pressed the 1 key and hit send. I don't think that I did it but there is a chance that I might have. That "One second call" cost me 22 cents. After about 45 minutes on the phone with a pretty helpful STi rep, most of which spent on hold waiting for STi's system to get everything straightened out, the 22 cents was refunded. Heym I didn't have to pay anything for the call (from my cell phone) and spent the hold time working on homework :).
I'm satisfied now. I just hope that they get the kinks worked out of text messaging and out of their accounting system. STi, if you're listening out there, or rather looking, we prepaid people would like an online account viewer like Cingular GoPhone has. Can you get it for us? :)
I maintain (and hope I spelled it correctly) that STi is a fine company to deal with on prepaid service. It is still my favorite. But keep in mind that if you get a text message saying that on X day X service will be charged X amount per X usage, you'd better believe it, though you might think you aren't charged for it at first on X date. Now about phone releases on websites I can't make that written-in-stone generalization, but still...
Discuss at the STi Forum
Monday, October 31, 2005
STi Services...Finally!
With less than two hours to go before their opening, I'm finally detailing what I've learned about what new services STi will release tomorrow. Sorry to say that the details are a bit sketchy on a lot of things here, but it was the best I could do with twenty-odd minutes on the phone with different STi reps over the past week :)
Text Messaging
Here is the one thing I know for a solid fact: they will start charging for this service tomorrow (November 1st) at 5 cents a message, both sent and received. I would have liked free receiving messages, even if it meant an increase in the cost of a sent message (10 cents to send even) but I guess I'll just scale back on my usage, which was until Saturday about 1\4 Yahoo alerts and 3\4 AIM over SMS. Tonight is the last night I will use the latter; I disabled the former Saturday. It would be nice if STi came out with a daily-billed or even monthly-billed unlimited text option but I don't think that will happen.
Picture Messaging
This is only available for the two camera phones due out soon to very soon, the LG 225 and the Audiovox 8912. I have heard conflicting reports about this but am sure that it will be relesed tomorrow, and I'm almost 100% sure that it will be, as text messaging has been, free for enogh time for STi to figure out how to bill it. I have heard that it would be either charged monthly as a package with web access and that it would be charged seperately, but both reports leaned toward a monthly billing system, which I wouldn't mind over much as I would probably be liberated to use it a lot when I get the LG 225 (when my 5225 rebate comes in and the 225 rebate becomes available).
Web Browsing
I have heard conflicting stories about this also, one saying that unlimited access would be for $1 (probably per day) or that it would be charged by the month. The former was from HowardForums, the latter directly from an STi rep. It too should be free for the first few days. I'll report on the speed and such of it tomorrow, as the LG 5225 is web-capable.
Ready Link
I'm very unsure about this, but one of the phones STi is going to release, the Sanyo 2300, has it so logically Ready Link service is in the pipeline. I don't know when, and I don't know how or for how much it will be billed, but it I'm pretty sure it is coming. If it is cheap when it comes, and if the Sanyo 2300 is cheap when it comes, I may jump for this and get my family and friends to get this phone also so we could all talk a little cheaper. :)
Calling Features
Right now STi only has Caller ID, but that should change soon. I do not think that Call Forwarding is in the works, but I know that Call Waiting and 3-Way Calling should both be out sometime soon. I'm pretty sure that they will be billed just like everybody else bills them. ;)
So there you have it, what is in store for tomorrow and maybe the day after. Discuss this and the upcoming phones in the STi Forum
Text Messaging
Here is the one thing I know for a solid fact: they will start charging for this service tomorrow (November 1st) at 5 cents a message, both sent and received. I would have liked free receiving messages, even if it meant an increase in the cost of a sent message (10 cents to send even) but I guess I'll just scale back on my usage, which was until Saturday about 1\4 Yahoo alerts and 3\4 AIM over SMS. Tonight is the last night I will use the latter; I disabled the former Saturday. It would be nice if STi came out with a daily-billed or even monthly-billed unlimited text option but I don't think that will happen.
Picture Messaging
This is only available for the two camera phones due out soon to very soon, the LG 225 and the Audiovox 8912. I have heard conflicting reports about this but am sure that it will be relesed tomorrow, and I'm almost 100% sure that it will be, as text messaging has been, free for enogh time for STi to figure out how to bill it. I have heard that it would be either charged monthly as a package with web access and that it would be charged seperately, but both reports leaned toward a monthly billing system, which I wouldn't mind over much as I would probably be liberated to use it a lot when I get the LG 225 (when my 5225 rebate comes in and the 225 rebate becomes available).
Web Browsing
I have heard conflicting stories about this also, one saying that unlimited access would be for $1 (probably per day) or that it would be charged by the month. The former was from HowardForums, the latter directly from an STi rep. It too should be free for the first few days. I'll report on the speed and such of it tomorrow, as the LG 5225 is web-capable.
Ready Link
I'm very unsure about this, but one of the phones STi is going to release, the Sanyo 2300, has it so logically Ready Link service is in the pipeline. I don't know when, and I don't know how or for how much it will be billed, but it I'm pretty sure it is coming. If it is cheap when it comes, and if the Sanyo 2300 is cheap when it comes, I may jump for this and get my family and friends to get this phone also so we could all talk a little cheaper. :)
Calling Features
Right now STi only has Caller ID, but that should change soon. I do not think that Call Forwarding is in the works, but I know that Call Waiting and 3-Way Calling should both be out sometime soon. I'm pretty sure that they will be billed just like everybody else bills them. ;)
So there you have it, what is in store for tomorrow and maybe the day after. Discuss this and the upcoming phones in the STi Forum
Testimonial!
Here's a sort of testimonial from a person who emailed me about possibly getting a Tracfone. That person may end up getting an STi phone...if Sprint covers the area that person lives in...but anyway here's a snippet of the message:
Thanks!
This person wanted to know the best way to get a Tracfone for a low-usage situation, thinking that he (gender-nonspecific ;) ) would get a Motorola v170 from OfficeMax and, after getting a referral (from me) add a 1-year card with a promotional code that would add around two hundred minutes to the 150-minute card.
I notified the person that for what the Motorola v170 was I didn't think it was worth the extra $30 over the Nokia 2600, a satisfactory bar-style Tracfone. Also, I wasn't sure that the promo code (mentioned here on my blog) was valid any more, so I advised the person to steer away from the 1-year card (which can be had for $80 at http://www.dunringil.com/ until some good promotional codes again became available. I also advised the person about the order in which to activate the phone and get the referral (you have to activate the phone through the link in the refer-a-friend email, then get the referral minutes).
The person emailed me back with the message of which I posted the above snippet, among other things mentioning that if the coverage was good he (generic again ;) ) would go with STi Mobile and possibly Simple Freedom. I responded with a quick thank you, then game my small bit of advice a little later: if you're covered with a cheap plan, use it. If not, do not.
Thanks for the quick response...
Your site is awesome it is the only site i have found for the cautious shopper that provides answers to questions that no else one answers you can quote me on this or if you want me to write some testimonial for your site i would gladly do that too!
Thanks!
This person wanted to know the best way to get a Tracfone for a low-usage situation, thinking that he (gender-nonspecific ;) ) would get a Motorola v170 from OfficeMax and, after getting a referral (from me) add a 1-year card with a promotional code that would add around two hundred minutes to the 150-minute card.
I notified the person that for what the Motorola v170 was I didn't think it was worth the extra $30 over the Nokia 2600, a satisfactory bar-style Tracfone. Also, I wasn't sure that the promo code (mentioned here on my blog) was valid any more, so I advised the person to steer away from the 1-year card (which can be had for $80 at http://www.dunringil.com/ until some good promotional codes again became available. I also advised the person about the order in which to activate the phone and get the referral (you have to activate the phone through the link in the refer-a-friend email, then get the referral minutes).
The person emailed me back with the message of which I posted the above snippet, among other things mentioning that if the coverage was good he (generic again ;) ) would go with STi Mobile and possibly Simple Freedom. I responded with a quick thank you, then game my small bit of advice a little later: if you're covered with a cheap plan, use it. If not, do not.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
STi Phone Fun
Since I can never seem to be able to write that big STi post that I want to do, I have decided to split my info gleaned from STi Customer Service reps into two portions, one about phones and one about services that will be released on or about November 1st. I have already told about the Sanyo 200 and Samsung n400 (the latter of which is only sold in stores) so I won't re-discuss them here. I'll also put in a word or two about two phones that aren't exactly new to STi but have not been discussed here or have changed a little since the previous discussion.
Audiovox 8912
Yes, this is the famed-of-Virgin-Mobile Flasher camera phone. I don't know what the pricing will be but it will support web access and picture messaging, as well as text messaging of course. All without that obnoxiously high Virgin Mobile rate structure and obnoxiously wierd teeny-bopper theme. Granted, in my opinion Audiovoxes aren't the greatest phones in the world but I'm glad to see another camera phone coming to STi.
Sanyo 2300
Yes, STi is getting a Ready Link phone. Now to see whether they will offer Ready Link any time soon, and for a reasonable price. For that matter, will they offer the phone at a reasonable price? I don't know, but this phone would be the third most advanced STi phone on the market, next to the camera phones of course. If you want walkie-talkie service though this might be the phone that brings it to prepaid other than Boost Mobile. We'll see...
Samsung a660
This would be a good basic phone if so many people didn't say it wasn't. Of course your experience may pleasantly differ and STi will probably offer this as a free phone anyway so there isn't too much risk in trying it. It has web access and such stuff, though there's no external display (I will not upgrade to this phone) but it looks OK.
OK. Now to other phones that STi sells that I haven't covered or have changed since I've covered them...
LG 225
The only thing here is that, according to one rep, it won't come out, at least not immediately, with a mail-in rebate, putting it in line with other prepaid camera phones as far as price goes (Virgin Mobile Snapper, T-Mobile To Go Nokia 6101). I think they will get the rebate back online though, and once they do the phone will be cheaper to buy than it would be direct from Sprint on a 2-year contract! :)
LG 5350
I can't figure out whether this is a basic or advanced phone, but whatever it is, it looks like a good one. Granted, it doesn't have 850 digital capability, so if you roam you'll be on analog, but then again STi doesn't really allow roaming anyway so there's no big inconvenience there, especially since because of this you can credit-card-roam off of virtually anybody. This phone supposedly doesn't have text messaging, but then again it might have text and web and all sorts of fun stuff like that.
So there you have it, the new phones that will come out on STi Mobile in probably their entirety for the next month or so! :) Discuss this in the STi forum.
Audiovox 8912
Yes, this is the famed-of-Virgin-Mobile Flasher camera phone. I don't know what the pricing will be but it will support web access and picture messaging, as well as text messaging of course. All without that obnoxiously high Virgin Mobile rate structure and obnoxiously wierd teeny-bopper theme. Granted, in my opinion Audiovoxes aren't the greatest phones in the world but I'm glad to see another camera phone coming to STi.
Sanyo 2300
Yes, STi is getting a Ready Link phone. Now to see whether they will offer Ready Link any time soon, and for a reasonable price. For that matter, will they offer the phone at a reasonable price? I don't know, but this phone would be the third most advanced STi phone on the market, next to the camera phones of course. If you want walkie-talkie service though this might be the phone that brings it to prepaid other than Boost Mobile. We'll see...
Samsung a660
This would be a good basic phone if so many people didn't say it wasn't. Of course your experience may pleasantly differ and STi will probably offer this as a free phone anyway so there isn't too much risk in trying it. It has web access and such stuff, though there's no external display (I will not upgrade to this phone) but it looks OK.
OK. Now to other phones that STi sells that I haven't covered or have changed since I've covered them...
LG 225
The only thing here is that, according to one rep, it won't come out, at least not immediately, with a mail-in rebate, putting it in line with other prepaid camera phones as far as price goes (Virgin Mobile Snapper, T-Mobile To Go Nokia 6101). I think they will get the rebate back online though, and once they do the phone will be cheaper to buy than it would be direct from Sprint on a 2-year contract! :)
LG 5350
I can't figure out whether this is a basic or advanced phone, but whatever it is, it looks like a good one. Granted, it doesn't have 850 digital capability, so if you roam you'll be on analog, but then again STi doesn't really allow roaming anyway so there's no big inconvenience there, especially since because of this you can credit-card-roam off of virtually anybody. This phone supposedly doesn't have text messaging, but then again it might have text and web and all sorts of fun stuff like that.
So there you have it, the new phones that will come out on STi Mobile in probably their entirety for the next month or so! :) Discuss this in the STi forum.
Tracfone Nokia 2126 is Out!
OK, post about this already but Tracfone now officially sells the Nokia 2126 "Color Shorty", similar to Verizon's $29.99 Nokia 2128i, and (!) selling for the same price on Tracfone.com! Granted, it's sans tax and shipping (another $7 or so) but still it's a nice basic phone, and perfect for Tracfone (they seem to have made it a habit to start getting phones that fit their service well). You can also get it on Amazon for $34.99, tax and shipping included, though you'll have to wait a little longer I think to get the phone.
The really interesting thing about this phone is that, though it runs off of the Verizon CDMA network, it mentions being a SingleRate phone (roaming is free). I haven't confirmed this but if roaming is free then Tracfone just became the premiere super-coverage prepaid carrier (a spot previously held in my opinion by Simple Freedom, with their combined Verizon\Alltel0tower home network and fairly inexpensive roaming).
Discuss
The really interesting thing about this phone is that, though it runs off of the Verizon CDMA network, it mentions being a SingleRate phone (roaming is free). I haven't confirmed this but if roaming is free then Tracfone just became the premiere super-coverage prepaid carrier (a spot previously held in my opinion by Simple Freedom, with their combined Verizon\Alltel0tower home network and fairly inexpensive roaming).
Discuss
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Go4Prepaid Forums Now Online!
There is not a companion forum to this blog, so feel free to discuss anything I post here and beyond. I will be turning off comments to blog entries, as the forums will serve that purpose and also to knock out comment spam.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
NET10 Deal!
NET10
While this lasts (a $30 card for $20) this is an outrageous deal (as Dell would say), since you can get 300 minutes for $20 a month (maybe even $10 if the rumor that is floating around about $30 cards lasting 60 days is true)...which is 6.66 cents a minute. I'll take that :). Now to convince someone the worth of it so I can test it out...
While this lasts (a $30 card for $20) this is an outrageous deal (as Dell would say), since you can get 300 minutes for $20 a month (maybe even $10 if the rumor that is floating around about $30 cards lasting 60 days is true)...which is 6.66 cents a minute. I'll take that :). Now to convince someone the worth of it so I can test it out...
RAZR on prepaid!
Yes, you read the subject line right. T-Mobile To Go now has the silver Motorola Razr as a prepaid package. It's $250, which isn't too bad considering that there's no contract involved and you can unlock it fairly easily (refill with $10 or more on day 60, request a code on day 90). It's the same quad-band superphone that T-Mobile psotpaid and Cingular have, except that it comes with $15 in airtime on a T-Mobile To Go sim and the appropriate box and such stuff. With this powerful a phone on prepaid I think T-Mobile has something up their sleeve on services, and it[s looking good.
As a side note, T-Mobile now has two designer models (aka Limited Edition) of their Sidekick II device, and they too are on prepaid. The only problem is that they're $400...about $110 more expensive than the normal Sidekick II.
One last note, the nice little Nokia 6101 flip is $150 on T-Mobile To Go. Did I read it wrong or is that the same price as the phone with a 1-year contract? :)
As a side note, T-Mobile now has two designer models (aka Limited Edition) of their Sidekick II device, and they too are on prepaid. The only problem is that they're $400...about $110 more expensive than the normal Sidekick II.
One last note, the nice little Nokia 6101 flip is $150 on T-Mobile To Go. Did I read it wrong or is that the same price as the phone with a 1-year contract? :)
SMS Q&A Continued
It turned out that Jaena (see the second post down from this one) is using a Nokia 1100 phone is a zipcode where Cingular had service. Thus the phone was on Cingular (Tracfone doesn't like to use T-Mobile but will if it absolutely has to) and the email address for sms would be 10digitnumber@mycingular.com as far as I know.
Sprint Phones
I've got a few things to say about Sprint phones in here. A few apply to STi Mobile as well I think.
1. So you know about PCS Vision (1xRTT, faster-than-dialup internet access from Sprint). Now you'll need to know about Power Vision, which uses Sprint's growing EV-DO network to give people super-high-speed (think a fast DSL connection; 400-700 kbps) net access, music access, TV access, etc., in the big-city areas where the network is deployed. Are there any phones for it? Yes; they're just not shown on Sprint's website yet, not from the phones page at least. One, the Samsung A940, has tons of neat features and is going to sell for $250 (I guess with a contract). It doesn't look like a Sprint Razr any more but still, it's pretty neat to see the juicy feature list on this phone.
2. OK people, let's make the nice new Nokia 3155i a dud so STi can get it. The color, B&W-external-screen flip is Nokia's first Sprint flip and looks like a neat treat, especially since it's free. That makes for two Nokia phones that Sprint has, as opposed to zero for Verizon now (is the 6015i still around for INPulse?)...go Sprint! It's pretty neat too to see what used to be on our insternal displays go to the external ones, namely the beautifully readable network name, signal bars and battery bars (generalizing with this and the T-Mobile Nokia 6101; I'll talk about it later), except there's no Menu Navi key label ;). Overall I think STi won't get this one; it will be too popular of a phone. I'd like to be proven wrong though, especially if they can keep the price (after a rebate of course).
3. This is a little less earth-shattering but (I guess to make room for the Nokia) Sprint's Sanyo 200 phone is now $20 (okay, $19.99 but I'll give you a penny) with a contract. Let's hope that STi lets us have it for a little cheaper (free with rebate anyone?) when they come out with it. Or do they want people passing it up for the $20-more-expensive LG 225 cameraphone?
1. So you know about PCS Vision (1xRTT, faster-than-dialup internet access from Sprint). Now you'll need to know about Power Vision, which uses Sprint's growing EV-DO network to give people super-high-speed (think a fast DSL connection; 400-700 kbps) net access, music access, TV access, etc., in the big-city areas where the network is deployed. Are there any phones for it? Yes; they're just not shown on Sprint's website yet, not from the phones page at least. One, the Samsung A940, has tons of neat features and is going to sell for $250 (I guess with a contract). It doesn't look like a Sprint Razr any more but still, it's pretty neat to see the juicy feature list on this phone.
2. OK people, let's make the nice new Nokia 3155i a dud so STi can get it. The color, B&W-external-screen flip is Nokia's first Sprint flip and looks like a neat treat, especially since it's free. That makes for two Nokia phones that Sprint has, as opposed to zero for Verizon now (is the 6015i still around for INPulse?)...go Sprint! It's pretty neat too to see what used to be on our insternal displays go to the external ones, namely the beautifully readable network name, signal bars and battery bars (generalizing with this and the T-Mobile Nokia 6101; I'll talk about it later), except there's no Menu Navi key label ;). Overall I think STi won't get this one; it will be too popular of a phone. I'd like to be proven wrong though, especially if they can keep the price (after a rebate of course).
3. This is a little less earth-shattering but (I guess to make room for the Nokia) Sprint's Sanyo 200 phone is now $20 (okay, $19.99 but I'll give you a penny) with a contract. Let's hope that STi lets us have it for a little cheaper (free with rebate anyone?) when they come out with it. Or do they want people passing it up for the $20-more-expensive LG 225 cameraphone?
Q&A: Tracfone SMS-to-EMail
Sometimes I'll put on here a question someone emailed me about prepaid phones and of course my answer...here is one of those times, ever-so-slightly edited...
Jaena wrote
I came across your topic abou SMS and you had some domain names for some of the services. Do you happen to have tracfone's?
thnx
I wrote
It depends on what your service is on Tracfone. You see, Tracfone doesn't actually own any towers; they just rent airtime from the carrier they deem to have the best coverage in whatever area and give customers phones that will work with that provider. If you can give me what zipcode your tracfone was activated in, and what type of phone it is, I can help you, as they use everything from US Cellular to Cingular to Alltel and Verizon.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
STi New Features, Phones
After a nearly 16-minute call with a STi rep (my phone timer said 15:58 or 15:59, don't remember quite how long but it was just a tad under it), I found out several things...
1. They are rolling out text messaging as a test in certain markets. Right now it is free. The call before this a rep had actually turned on SMS for my account so...whopeeee! :) My AIM screen name, which I have now linked to my phone pretty much is...never mind...I don't like spim (spam IMs) ;)
2.Text messaging, along with web, call waiting and 3-way calling, should be out in 30, or at most 45 days. For the first, that means everybody will start having to pay for it :( but the guy said the rates should be the best in the industry, and with what I've seen so far from STi I'm inclined to believe him.
Web will I'm guessing cost something too, but I don't know how they'll charge (by minute, by kilobyte or by time period, as in day or month, or a VirginMobile-like hybrid of the latter). Call waiting and 3-way calling are probably going to cost just the same as everybody else's (airtime for both calls and suchlike) so no biggie there. Now, if they'll only get call forwarding... ;)
3. New phones will be coming out about the time the LG (PM) 225 cameraphone will ship (the 21st he said). I'm thinking this last comment is why I\anyone hasn't seen the 225 on CheapPhoneCards, or anywhere except for on CheapPhoneCards, yet. Probably when the 225 gets shipped, at the very lest these other two phones will come online with CheapPhoneCards, with the good possibiloty that the cameraphone will too.
One is the Samsung SPH-N400, a unique flip-up (not quite flip, not quite bar either) phone. The phone has OK reviews and seems to have a pretty good feature set, but the phone's software looks a little on the shaky side. But for an interesting way to get a "flip" phone with a color "external" display this phone is just plain perfect. I expect to see it like the A460 is now, a rebadged, refurbed, second-tier phone available for a relatively low price ($50 maybe) with the purchase of a $25 card and with no rebate.
Samsung N200 (as STi calls it) on PhoneScoop
The other phone that they're going to introduce is the Sanyo SCP-200, aka Sanyo 200 on STi's website when they pit it on there or Sanyo Voice Phone 200 on Sprint's site. It looks like the type of phone to eventually replace the LG 5225 as the carrier's Free-After-Rebate phone. The big thing about this phone is that it's a Voice Phone, as in it can't access the internet through PCS Vision at all. But it can still do text messaging and works terriffically as a phone or so the PhoneScoop reviews seem to say. Of course Sanyos are the phone of choice for Sprint PCS because they are the carrier's reception kings as far as phones go. The Sanyo also has a nice big speakerphone grill on the outside of the flip (no display though :( ) which means that yes, you get a first-rate handsfree phone in the package. I still don't like the absence of an outer display, the fact that the inside display isn't the huge screen that the Sanyos in my opinion are famous for (it looks to be the size of my 3560's) and that it doesn't have web. But for those who need a phone, this is it :).
Sanyo 200 on PhoneScoop
Oh, one more thing. Sprint has lowred the LG PM-225's price to $40 after specials. STi lost one bragging right but is still pretty darn cheap with their phones.
1. They are rolling out text messaging as a test in certain markets. Right now it is free. The call before this a rep had actually turned on SMS for my account so...whopeeee! :) My AIM screen name, which I have now linked to my phone pretty much is...never mind...I don't like spim (spam IMs) ;)
2.Text messaging, along with web, call waiting and 3-way calling, should be out in 30, or at most 45 days. For the first, that means everybody will start having to pay for it :( but the guy said the rates should be the best in the industry, and with what I've seen so far from STi I'm inclined to believe him.
Web will I'm guessing cost something too, but I don't know how they'll charge (by minute, by kilobyte or by time period, as in day or month, or a VirginMobile-like hybrid of the latter). Call waiting and 3-way calling are probably going to cost just the same as everybody else's (airtime for both calls and suchlike) so no biggie there. Now, if they'll only get call forwarding... ;)
3. New phones will be coming out about the time the LG (PM) 225 cameraphone will ship (the 21st he said). I'm thinking this last comment is why I\anyone hasn't seen the 225 on CheapPhoneCards, or anywhere except for on CheapPhoneCards, yet. Probably when the 225 gets shipped, at the very lest these other two phones will come online with CheapPhoneCards, with the good possibiloty that the cameraphone will too.
One is the Samsung SPH-N400, a unique flip-up (not quite flip, not quite bar either) phone. The phone has OK reviews and seems to have a pretty good feature set, but the phone's software looks a little on the shaky side. But for an interesting way to get a "flip" phone with a color "external" display this phone is just plain perfect. I expect to see it like the A460 is now, a rebadged, refurbed, second-tier phone available for a relatively low price ($50 maybe) with the purchase of a $25 card and with no rebate.
Samsung N200 (as STi calls it) on PhoneScoop
The other phone that they're going to introduce is the Sanyo SCP-200, aka Sanyo 200 on STi's website when they pit it on there or Sanyo Voice Phone 200 on Sprint's site. It looks like the type of phone to eventually replace the LG 5225 as the carrier's Free-After-Rebate phone. The big thing about this phone is that it's a Voice Phone, as in it can't access the internet through PCS Vision at all. But it can still do text messaging and works terriffically as a phone or so the PhoneScoop reviews seem to say. Of course Sanyos are the phone of choice for Sprint PCS because they are the carrier's reception kings as far as phones go. The Sanyo also has a nice big speakerphone grill on the outside of the flip (no display though :( ) which means that yes, you get a first-rate handsfree phone in the package. I still don't like the absence of an outer display, the fact that the inside display isn't the huge screen that the Sanyos in my opinion are famous for (it looks to be the size of my 3560's) and that it doesn't have web. But for those who need a phone, this is it :).
Sanyo 200 on PhoneScoop
Oh, one more thing. Sprint has lowred the LG PM-225's price to $40 after specials. STi lost one bragging right but is still pretty darn cheap with their phones.
PinExpo...They've Got Deals
As a preamble, if you don't mind look in the adbar on the right to see if there's a PinExpo link there and click on that one to get to the site. Doing so gets me AdSense money and helps support this site...since it's free for me right now figure that one out ;)
OK. So why is something besides CheapPhoneCards being advertised on my blog? Because, in some cases, PinExpo is cheaper than CheapPhoneCards, and in some cases PinExpo has cards that CheapPhoneCards doesn't. Interestingly, though PinExpo is owned by Locus Telecommunications, CheapPhoneCards offers what Locus-type cards they do have (Locus Mobile, CallPlus, Oxygen) at more deeply-discounted prices.
For example, Oxygen Wireless is discounted anywhere from 1 to 11%. With the "cheap" coupon code you can get nearly 20% off of Oxygen at cheapphonecards. Other Locus-family cards are discounted 10 to 15% on PixExpo, while you can get $20 and $40 Locus cards on CheapPhoneCards at nearly 35% off and $20 CallPlus cards (and maybe other denominations) for nearly 30% offf (!).
That's not to say that CheapPhoneCards has the momopoly on even those cards. Yes, the "cheap" coupon code takes 5% off of any airtime purchase but I'll have to wait and see whether PinExpo has coupon codes too. If they do have coupon codes that get prices low enough I just might go with them for whatever airtime purchases I have to make.
The one thing that CheapPhoneCards carries and PinExpo doesn't are cell phones and cell accessories, all of which can either be discounted by "payme25" (20%) or on the Oxygen Wireless phone "oxygen25" (25%). Also, CheapPhoneCards has a rewards program aht has allowed me to get about $15 worth of airtime and accessories (a headset) free plus they sent me lots of accessories for my STi phone, see the relevant post. So then again I may not totally turn away from them...
OK. Now to the hard figures of where PinExpo has major-brand stuff (namely Boost Mobile) that CheapPhoneCards doesn't, and where PinExpo beats CheapPhoneCards' price on stuff (not counting reward points on CheapPhoneCards' side, which give you roughly 2.75 cents reward money for every dollar purchased, which is rounded down for rewards points purposes, and gives you about $3 worth of points for every person you refer to their site)...
One last thing: some of these are "sales" which may (or may not) go away. If they go away I don't reccommend PinExpo any more, except for Boost refills ;)
Boost Mobile-They have it (3-7% off), CheapPhoneCards doesn't
Liberty Wireless-They have it (1-7% off), CheapPhoneCards doesn't (not too big a deal)
Cingular-12% off on cards above $15 (CheapPhoneCards is 9.75% I think)
Omni Prepaid (on Verizon)-7-15% off (CheapPhoneCards doesn't have, 15% off is for $10)
PagePlus (on Verizon)-6-12% off (CheapPhoneCards is either a flat 7.9 or a flat 9.75 percent, this is only a good deal for the $50 card)
As you can see CheapPhoneCards still has some good deals but PinExpo has some better ones at the moment.
OK. So why is something besides CheapPhoneCards being advertised on my blog? Because, in some cases, PinExpo is cheaper than CheapPhoneCards, and in some cases PinExpo has cards that CheapPhoneCards doesn't. Interestingly, though PinExpo is owned by Locus Telecommunications, CheapPhoneCards offers what Locus-type cards they do have (Locus Mobile, CallPlus, Oxygen) at more deeply-discounted prices.
For example, Oxygen Wireless is discounted anywhere from 1 to 11%. With the "cheap" coupon code you can get nearly 20% off of Oxygen at cheapphonecards. Other Locus-family cards are discounted 10 to 15% on PixExpo, while you can get $20 and $40 Locus cards on CheapPhoneCards at nearly 35% off and $20 CallPlus cards (and maybe other denominations) for nearly 30% offf (!).
That's not to say that CheapPhoneCards has the momopoly on even those cards. Yes, the "cheap" coupon code takes 5% off of any airtime purchase but I'll have to wait and see whether PinExpo has coupon codes too. If they do have coupon codes that get prices low enough I just might go with them for whatever airtime purchases I have to make.
The one thing that CheapPhoneCards carries and PinExpo doesn't are cell phones and cell accessories, all of which can either be discounted by "payme25" (20%) or on the Oxygen Wireless phone "oxygen25" (25%). Also, CheapPhoneCards has a rewards program aht has allowed me to get about $15 worth of airtime and accessories (a headset) free plus they sent me lots of accessories for my STi phone, see the relevant post. So then again I may not totally turn away from them...
OK. Now to the hard figures of where PinExpo has major-brand stuff (namely Boost Mobile) that CheapPhoneCards doesn't, and where PinExpo beats CheapPhoneCards' price on stuff (not counting reward points on CheapPhoneCards' side, which give you roughly 2.75 cents reward money for every dollar purchased, which is rounded down for rewards points purposes, and gives you about $3 worth of points for every person you refer to their site)...
One last thing: some of these are "sales" which may (or may not) go away. If they go away I don't reccommend PinExpo any more, except for Boost refills ;)
Boost Mobile-They have it (3-7% off), CheapPhoneCards doesn't
Liberty Wireless-They have it (1-7% off), CheapPhoneCards doesn't (not too big a deal)
Cingular-12% off on cards above $15 (CheapPhoneCards is 9.75% I think)
Omni Prepaid (on Verizon)-7-15% off (CheapPhoneCards doesn't have, 15% off is for $10)
PagePlus (on Verizon)-6-12% off (CheapPhoneCards is either a flat 7.9 or a flat 9.75 percent, this is only a good deal for the $50 card)
As you can see CheapPhoneCards still has some good deals but PinExpo has some better ones at the moment.
Free...Everything!
So why is this (yet another non-cell-phone thingy) here? For the plain and simple reason that you can get, for next to nothing, next to everything! What this site is is a collection of sites where you can, by completing offers and referring friends, get anything from an iPod Shuffle to a laptop to $1050! The big thing about this site is that, not only does it have all these offers, but if you click the referral link on a certain offer (the site explains it, and the reason you click is to give someone else a referral which does no harm to you) then you're eligable to have your referral link on there until you have all the referrals you need etc. So take a look over there, as you can really get far towards getting your free [whatever] with this site.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Interesting Sprint plan
Here's an interesting, though Hybrid-type, plan that runs off of Sprint. ReadyLink, web and unlimited text are options, with PCS-PCS and 6pm nights\weekends included. Click the title to go to the eBay page for it.
For what you get the plan is pretty nice. I just found out that it has full roaming, just like the Fair&Flexible America contract plans. For $50 plus taxes ($5.99 so about $56 total) you get 300 minutes (Worth maybe $35) with unlimited nights\weekends starting at 6 ($10 addon in SPCS) and free PCS-to-PCS calling ($5 extra with Sprint). So You get $50 plus taxes worth of service for...surprise since we're talking no contract service here...$50 plus taxes!
Plus you can get ReadyLink, web and text messaging as addons. You'll probably need to bring your own phone though.
Notes to remember are that 411 and international direct dialing are prohibited (can cause account suspensions) and text and web are all-or-nothing (either you pay for unlimited or you get none). The plans also have taxes outside of the normal charges. I wasn't able to get the tax amounts on the extra features or the more expensive plans. If the guy who does the plans sees this maybe he can comment and add that info.
And yes, I did move this post up, since I had to renew the link anyway.
For what you get the plan is pretty nice. I just found out that it has full roaming, just like the Fair&Flexible America contract plans. For $50 plus taxes ($5.99 so about $56 total) you get 300 minutes (Worth maybe $35) with unlimited nights\weekends starting at 6 ($10 addon in SPCS) and free PCS-to-PCS calling ($5 extra with Sprint). So You get $50 plus taxes worth of service for...surprise since we're talking no contract service here...$50 plus taxes!
Plus you can get ReadyLink, web and text messaging as addons. You'll probably need to bring your own phone though.
Notes to remember are that 411 and international direct dialing are prohibited (can cause account suspensions) and text and web are all-or-nothing (either you pay for unlimited or you get none). The plans also have taxes outside of the normal charges. I wasn't able to get the tax amounts on the extra features or the more expensive plans. If the guy who does the plans sees this maybe he can comment and add that info.
And yes, I did move this post up, since I had to renew the link anyway.
Boost Phones for $15+ Less Than Retail!
OK. So you're in Wal-Mart and see a nice shiny new Boost phone. You notice the model number, which says i415. You notice the price and it's about $78.66. You forget that there's tax and buy it only to realize there's another seven dollars in taxes! You return the phone a day later and get back your $85.
That's where this guy comes in. He has five (only five so hurry!) Boost i415s and five Boost i450s for sale. The great things about them are:
1. They are new-in-box models (they even include the usually-stripped-out simcard!)
2. They ship free to the lower 48
3. They're $15 less expensive than the SRP (Suggested Retail Price) and there's no tax to boot!
He has the Boost i415 for $65 here
amd the i450 flip phone for $85 here
I would get one of these in a heartbeat but for the fact that I don't have $65 to spend on any cell phone right now. Both, as said before, are $15 below retail, and there's no tax so if you have an 8.25% sales tax you're saving $21.60 off of street if you get the i415 and $23.25 if you get the i450! So if you want to go Boost now is just about the right time.
P.S. You can, with Nextel Connection Manager and the appropriate cable, connect either of these phones to your computer and as long as you have an active, web-enabled (20 cents a day) account you can surf the 'net with them, albeit at speeds of around 21.6 kbps as far as I've heard, which is a lot better than the 14.4 or even 9.6 kbps that I had heard earlier. I'm not giving links to either the cables or the Connection Manager because I'm afraid, along with others, that if this feature gets abused Nextel may find out and shut it off, so if you really want to find the cable and software you can through a quick Google search, but use it with a bit of caution. I don't want to be blamed for this suddenly going away :).
That's where this guy comes in. He has five (only five so hurry!) Boost i415s and five Boost i450s for sale. The great things about them are:
1. They are new-in-box models (they even include the usually-stripped-out simcard!)
2. They ship free to the lower 48
3. They're $15 less expensive than the SRP (Suggested Retail Price) and there's no tax to boot!
He has the Boost i415 for $65 here
amd the i450 flip phone for $85 here
I would get one of these in a heartbeat but for the fact that I don't have $65 to spend on any cell phone right now. Both, as said before, are $15 below retail, and there's no tax so if you have an 8.25% sales tax you're saving $21.60 off of street if you get the i415 and $23.25 if you get the i450! So if you want to go Boost now is just about the right time.
P.S. You can, with Nextel Connection Manager and the appropriate cable, connect either of these phones to your computer and as long as you have an active, web-enabled (20 cents a day) account you can surf the 'net with them, albeit at speeds of around 21.6 kbps as far as I've heard, which is a lot better than the 14.4 or even 9.6 kbps that I had heard earlier. I'm not giving links to either the cables or the Connection Manager because I'm afraid, along with others, that if this feature gets abused Nextel may find out and shut it off, so if you really want to find the cable and software you can through a quick Google search, but use it with a bit of caution. I don't want to be blamed for this suddenly going away :).
Saturday, October 15, 2005
The Shorty, Now In Color, Coming Soon To A Tracfone Near You
Click the link above for the info page about the phone (start looking for links in my post titles; they'll be there a lot of the time). Yes, it looks like the king of old phones has released (well, almost released; it will probably be here next Friday) something that Virgin Mobile should've gotten: the Nokia 2126, basically the Virgin Mobile Shorty with a color screen and Tracfone software. This is Tracfone's second color CDMA phone, fifth color phone total (the other four are, in order of release, Nokia 2600, Moto c155, Moto v170, Moto c353, the last being the only CDMA model). And yes, this looks to be a Tracfone-only deal, like the Nokia 2600 has been for the past...year or two? Sweet...
ATF: Against the Flow
This is my youth group's website (click the title to go to it). No, it's not about cell phones but check it out nonetheless!
Sunday, October 09, 2005
More STi Fun!
STi Mobile just this past week (maybe yesterday, maybe a few days ago, but not any more than that) renovated their website. And guess what they've added? A camera phone!
The LG 5225 is still on there and free w\rebate and going strong (go to cheapphonecards though as you get a better deal there) but now they have actually two new phones. The LG 225 is a VGA (640x480) camera phone with analog capability. It's $149 plus the cost of a $50 card, but you get a $100 rebate so the cost of the phone is...yes, $20.99 less than the Sprint...$49 plus the cost of the $50 card.
As of right now you can't send pictures with STi and that phone but they will be able to get that functionality sometime in the near future; the functionality may come as soon as this week if it works off of PCS Vision, but if it doesn't it may be a bit longer until picture messaging is rolled out.
This phone looks neat but the initial layout is pretty high (you have to buy a $50 card with the phone so the price before rebates is $199) but it is a camera phone and they will eventually get MMS and probably get it cheap so you'll end up with a $50 camera phone on prepaid, a super achievement. Below is a link to the phone on stimobile.com;
http://www.stimobile.com/lg225-detail.aspx
The other new phone that STi has is the Samsung A460. As far as I know it can do analog, and it has an external display. It's the first official (CheapPhoneCards has a few Nokia 3589i's left) non-LG phone STi has had since they started with the Nokia 518x. The caveat about this phone is that it's not a color phone (an advantage, however, if you're in full sunlight a lot) and it's refurbished, though the latter is no big deal since refurb phones tend to be almost as good as new anyway. You can get this phone at CheapPhoneCards, and with the trusty payme25 coupon code and shipping included the phone, plus a $10 card, is only $44.95, making the phone $34.95 including shipping versus $39 on STi's website.
I learned from STi customer support that the LG 225 phone (apparently just a non-Sprint-branded PM-225 that they call by a slightly diferent name) doesn't come with a USB cable to transfer photos off of it onto a PC but that they should have it online sometime. Just a thought...I'll be looking for such a cable as I just might get this highly-rated phone for myself...just maybe...click on some ads and it'll turn into a probably and then most likely and then Done| ;) And I can say the last thing since Sprint and Nextel are now one conglomerate.
The LG 5225 is still on there and free w\rebate and going strong (go to cheapphonecards though as you get a better deal there) but now they have actually two new phones. The LG 225 is a VGA (640x480) camera phone with analog capability. It's $149 plus the cost of a $50 card, but you get a $100 rebate so the cost of the phone is...yes, $20.99 less than the Sprint...$49 plus the cost of the $50 card.
As of right now you can't send pictures with STi and that phone but they will be able to get that functionality sometime in the near future; the functionality may come as soon as this week if it works off of PCS Vision, but if it doesn't it may be a bit longer until picture messaging is rolled out.
This phone looks neat but the initial layout is pretty high (you have to buy a $50 card with the phone so the price before rebates is $199) but it is a camera phone and they will eventually get MMS and probably get it cheap so you'll end up with a $50 camera phone on prepaid, a super achievement. Below is a link to the phone on stimobile.com;
http://www.stimobile.com/lg225-detail.aspx
The other new phone that STi has is the Samsung A460. As far as I know it can do analog, and it has an external display. It's the first official (CheapPhoneCards has a few Nokia 3589i's left) non-LG phone STi has had since they started with the Nokia 518x. The caveat about this phone is that it's not a color phone (an advantage, however, if you're in full sunlight a lot) and it's refurbished, though the latter is no big deal since refurb phones tend to be almost as good as new anyway. You can get this phone at CheapPhoneCards, and with the trusty payme25 coupon code and shipping included the phone, plus a $10 card, is only $44.95, making the phone $34.95 including shipping versus $39 on STi's website.
I learned from STi customer support that the LG 225 phone (apparently just a non-Sprint-branded PM-225 that they call by a slightly diferent name) doesn't come with a USB cable to transfer photos off of it onto a PC but that they should have it online sometime. Just a thought...I'll be looking for such a cable as I just might get this highly-rated phone for myself...just maybe...click on some ads and it'll turn into a probably and then most likely and then Done| ;) And I can say the last thing since Sprint and Nextel are now one conglomerate.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Beyond Wireless and Simple Freedom Updates
I just checked Beyond Wireless (www.gobeyondwireless.com) and on their front page they have a "free" Nokia 5165 with the purchase of a $10 card. As it turns out, what you get is $10 worth of airtime and the phone for $10 + $6.95 shipping or so = $16.95. So $7 for the phone, $10 for 80 minutes of service, which is pretty good.
For anyone who needs an emergency phone this is great, as it will work practically anywhere (though roaming areas are getting slowly larger) and you only have to make a call every 60 days to keep it active. If Cingular or AT&T's TDMA networks are in your area then you have a very inexpensive prepaid phone.
I'd get one of these but for the fact that I already have two phones on Beyond Wireless (a Nokia 3560 and a Nokia 5165 which has become inactive I think due to it having no minutes on it and not having any calls placed since late June) and that they don't servicre my area, besides STi being fine (and so far free) for my purposes. But for those who are on Cingular or AT&T\Cingular's TDMA network this is a good deal.
One problem though is TDMA is not an actively pursued technology. That's one reason why they're pretty much giving away the phone (shipping is actually around the cost they quote) but it also means that, as Cingular devotes more tower bendwidth to GSM, the phone will encounter more and more busy signals, though it shouldn't get too bad too quickly. The phone should last into early 2008 (when some analog, and possible AT&T\Cingular TDMA will be turned off) if you want an emmergency phone or even a phone for light use.
Now for my little bit about Simple Freedom, the prepaid company that has home coverage in more places than any other prepaid carrier I think :). Besides their now having a 1-year, $100, 400-minute refill card now I have seen both the Nokia 6015i and Kyocera SoHo phones at my local Wal-Mart Supercenter. For some odd reason they don't sell well and the former was replaced by the latter, while the Nokia 3587i stayed stocked. The Nokia 6015i, while it was there, sold at the same nearly-$40 price as the 3587i, which is great considering that the phone has superb reception and comes with $10 of airtime.
The Kyocera SoHo sets a new low for the price of a color flip phone with an external display: roughly $70. It, as with all Simple Freedom phones, comes with $10 in airtime. Unlike the others, however, it comes in a green packaging and, obviously, is a non-Nokia flip. The rates are high for a prepaid service with no promotionals but that's from my 12-cents-a-minute perspective. Tracfone's 1-year card, for example, is $90 for (with the 100-minute promo code from the booklet) 250 minutes, a shockingly high 36 cents a minute even when not roaming.
Also, Simple Freedom has both Verizon and Alltel networks (and I'm assuming the newly acquired Western Wirelss network) as home territory, with practically everything else as 50 cent roaming, which isn't very expensive considering that Verizon-based prepaid roaming is 69-99 cents a minute.
One bad thing about Simple Freedom is text messaging doesn't work reliably if you activate on the Verizon part of the network (which includes where I live), you apparently can only get Alltel phone numbers (Verizon-area people may not get a local number) and you can't port phone numbers in. But the coverage and solid phones are undeniably a pro to this service, especially now that the SoHo has shown that Alltel is serious about giving prepaid users some phone to be moderately proud of.
For anyone who needs an emergency phone this is great, as it will work practically anywhere (though roaming areas are getting slowly larger) and you only have to make a call every 60 days to keep it active. If Cingular or AT&T's TDMA networks are in your area then you have a very inexpensive prepaid phone.
I'd get one of these but for the fact that I already have two phones on Beyond Wireless (a Nokia 3560 and a Nokia 5165 which has become inactive I think due to it having no minutes on it and not having any calls placed since late June) and that they don't servicre my area, besides STi being fine (and so far free) for my purposes. But for those who are on Cingular or AT&T\Cingular's TDMA network this is a good deal.
One problem though is TDMA is not an actively pursued technology. That's one reason why they're pretty much giving away the phone (shipping is actually around the cost they quote) but it also means that, as Cingular devotes more tower bendwidth to GSM, the phone will encounter more and more busy signals, though it shouldn't get too bad too quickly. The phone should last into early 2008 (when some analog, and possible AT&T\Cingular TDMA will be turned off) if you want an emmergency phone or even a phone for light use.
Now for my little bit about Simple Freedom, the prepaid company that has home coverage in more places than any other prepaid carrier I think :). Besides their now having a 1-year, $100, 400-minute refill card now I have seen both the Nokia 6015i and Kyocera SoHo phones at my local Wal-Mart Supercenter. For some odd reason they don't sell well and the former was replaced by the latter, while the Nokia 3587i stayed stocked. The Nokia 6015i, while it was there, sold at the same nearly-$40 price as the 3587i, which is great considering that the phone has superb reception and comes with $10 of airtime.
The Kyocera SoHo sets a new low for the price of a color flip phone with an external display: roughly $70. It, as with all Simple Freedom phones, comes with $10 in airtime. Unlike the others, however, it comes in a green packaging and, obviously, is a non-Nokia flip. The rates are high for a prepaid service with no promotionals but that's from my 12-cents-a-minute perspective. Tracfone's 1-year card, for example, is $90 for (with the 100-minute promo code from the booklet) 250 minutes, a shockingly high 36 cents a minute even when not roaming.
Also, Simple Freedom has both Verizon and Alltel networks (and I'm assuming the newly acquired Western Wirelss network) as home territory, with practically everything else as 50 cent roaming, which isn't very expensive considering that Verizon-based prepaid roaming is 69-99 cents a minute.
One bad thing about Simple Freedom is text messaging doesn't work reliably if you activate on the Verizon part of the network (which includes where I live), you apparently can only get Alltel phone numbers (Verizon-area people may not get a local number) and you can't port phone numbers in. But the coverage and solid phones are undeniably a pro to this service, especially now that the SoHo has shown that Alltel is serious about giving prepaid users some phone to be moderately proud of.
More Unlimited Calling Madness
As far as the unlimited calling thing goes, similar can be done on any postpaid (or prepaid) with unlimited M2M AFAIK, albeit incoming calls that are weekday non-M2M will deduct minutes or cost. For examply, the $50 VZW EasyPay package plus the eBay card gets you unlimited outgoing on Verizon's own towers for $80...and no contract. The $40 plan on Verizon Wireless will get you similar, except across the whole network and with a contract. Cingular's GoPhone Pay As You Go $1 plan costs $60 a month plus incoming non-M2M calls (10 cents), unless you get the airtime cheaper than face value. Just thoughts...
Sprint and Nextel Deals
I know this isn't a postpaid blog but it's interesting to know that Sprint and Nextel actually have some cheap plans! On both you can get the new Fair & Flexible for $30 with 200 minutes. $35 now buys 400. On Nextel, for the first time as far as I know, local walkie-talkie is pay-as-you-go, at 15 cents a minute. It is billed by the second so even if you use it you won't pay too much. Nationwide Walkie-Talkie is included in this cost I think, also a first that I know of, so it's cheaper than you might expect in this respect as well.
The bad thing about the new F&F plans is that $5 only gets you 50 minutes now, so even if you stop at 50 minutes you're only getting 10 cents a minute on overages, rather than the former excellent 5 cents a minute. I suppose though that the additional 100 minutes on the $35 plan makes up for this somewhat, raising the voice minutes for $40 to the national average (VZW, Cingular, and smaller carriers) of 450 minutes. Plus I'm pretty sure the Sprint plans have free roaaming (for up to 1\2 of your minutes).
One other intersting thing I've figures out is how to get unlmited voice calling on Sprint.
1. Get a Free Incoming 300 plan for $50 with Sprint
2. Get the Mobile-To-Mobile Package ($5 I think)
3. Get one of those unlimited calling cards off of eBay ($30 for one month I think) that has a Sprint M2M number
4. On weekdays use the unlimited calling card's Sprint mobile to mobile number to make all of your calls with
5. Get a 12% discount with Sprint (email me for the guy's email that can hook you up with it and 1\2 price for the first two months)
6. Enjoy unlimited calling (albeit on weekdays through a calling card) for maybe $90 a month...anywhere on the Sprint network. Qwest Wireless charges well over $100 (maybe even over $200) for unlimited Sprint-network calling. Don't you feel like a bandit ;)
The bad thing about the new F&F plans is that $5 only gets you 50 minutes now, so even if you stop at 50 minutes you're only getting 10 cents a minute on overages, rather than the former excellent 5 cents a minute. I suppose though that the additional 100 minutes on the $35 plan makes up for this somewhat, raising the voice minutes for $40 to the national average (VZW, Cingular, and smaller carriers) of 450 minutes. Plus I'm pretty sure the Sprint plans have free roaaming (for up to 1\2 of your minutes).
One other intersting thing I've figures out is how to get unlmited voice calling on Sprint.
1. Get a Free Incoming 300 plan for $50 with Sprint
2. Get the Mobile-To-Mobile Package ($5 I think)
3. Get one of those unlimited calling cards off of eBay ($30 for one month I think) that has a Sprint M2M number
4. On weekdays use the unlimited calling card's Sprint mobile to mobile number to make all of your calls with
5. Get a 12% discount with Sprint (email me for the guy's email that can hook you up with it and 1\2 price for the first two months)
6. Enjoy unlimited calling (albeit on weekdays through a calling card) for maybe $90 a month...anywhere on the Sprint network. Qwest Wireless charges well over $100 (maybe even over $200) for unlimited Sprint-network calling. Don't you feel like a bandit ;)
SIte Changes, Virgin Mobile Slider Sonic
As you can see, I've changed by blog template to a, much nicer in my optinion, layout. I have also put Google ads on the righthand side of the blog, which I thought was OK since there was nothing there before anyway. SO with this in mind, click on an ad or two and see where they lead...
Also, I've learned that the sensational phone from Virgin Mobile, the Slider Sonic, is actually not the same as Kyocera's super-featured Slider Remix on other carriers. THe camera on the Slider Sonic is only 640x480, versus the Remix's 1.3 megapixels, and the screen isn't as good on the Sonic as on the Remix. Granted, it is a slider camera phone that can play MP3s, but I'd rather just get a camera flip phone (the AUdiovox Flasher and Motorola v330 come to mind; one is $100 and the other is $109 after a rebate) and put the other $140-$150 that I've saved toward an Apple iPod Shuffle 1GB and maybe an accessory of some sort. That's right...the Slider Sonic isn't worth $250...or even $150 in my opinion.
Also, I've learned that the sensational phone from Virgin Mobile, the Slider Sonic, is actually not the same as Kyocera's super-featured Slider Remix on other carriers. THe camera on the Slider Sonic is only 640x480, versus the Remix's 1.3 megapixels, and the screen isn't as good on the Sonic as on the Remix. Granted, it is a slider camera phone that can play MP3s, but I'd rather just get a camera flip phone (the AUdiovox Flasher and Motorola v330 come to mind; one is $100 and the other is $109 after a rebate) and put the other $140-$150 that I've saved toward an Apple iPod Shuffle 1GB and maybe an accessory of some sort. That's right...the Slider Sonic isn't worth $250...or even $150 in my opinion.
Monday, September 26, 2005
CheapPhoneCards and STi LG 1200
If you can't afford the $84.95 that the LG 5225 costs, CheapPhoneCards does have the older (black and white) LG 1200 phone for $59. Payme25 takes $11.80 off and $5.75 shipping takes the price to $52.95. The price includes a wall charger and a $10 card. Personally I'd save up for the LG 5225 which you can get for free but if you don't want a color screen and just can't part with $85 at a time for a phone then here is an option.
CheapPhoneCards Code
I've learned that the refill5 coupon code for 5% off cell phone refill cards has now expired. The new code, for the same discount, is "cheap" (no quotes).
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Tracfone Promo Code
For those of you buying a Tracfone 1-year card within the next couple of days, I have two pieces of advice for you.
1. Look on eBay and you may be able to find one for $75. If you don't want to look, go to stefnsteve.com and get one for $80.
2. Instead of using the widely seen 150-minute bonus code for the 1-year card, use the 200-minute code, 59647, instead.
The code expires the 30th so you don't have much time...
1. Look on eBay and you may be able to find one for $75. If you don't want to look, go to stefnsteve.com and get one for $80.
2. Instead of using the widely seen 150-minute bonus code for the 1-year card, use the 200-minute code, 59647, instead.
The code expires the 30th so you don't have much time...
Saturday, September 24, 2005
More eBay Deals
I kept on surfing eBay and here are some other deals I found:
Tracfone 200 Minute Card, $42.50 (normally $50, 15% off)
The big deal here is that this is the PIN from a real card, not a limited-use bunch of ESN minutes. You can get the ESN minutes for less, but you can't double them or add promotions to them.
eBay Link
Tracfone 100 Minute Card , $24.50 (normally $30, 18% off)
Same thing special as the 200 minute card.
eBay Link
Net10 3000 minute card, $210 (normally $300, 30% off)
The guy also offers (not right now) the card buy-it-now for $240, a 1800 minute card buy-it-now for $150, and a 3000 minute card and the Motorola v171 phone with the bids at $305 right now and free shipping. The cards are thus 8 cents a minute, and if you get the 3000-minute you're paying $20 a month for 250 minutes a month. Not bad at all.
eBay Link
Virgin Mobile $50 card, $45 (10% off)
This is a little bit better than the deal at CheapPhoneCards with refill5
eBay Link
Tracfone 200 Minute Card, $42.50 (normally $50, 15% off)
The big deal here is that this is the PIN from a real card, not a limited-use bunch of ESN minutes. You can get the ESN minutes for less, but you can't double them or add promotions to them.
eBay Link
Tracfone 100 Minute Card , $24.50 (normally $30, 18% off)
Same thing special as the 200 minute card.
eBay Link
Net10 3000 minute card, $210 (normally $300, 30% off)
The guy also offers (not right now) the card buy-it-now for $240, a 1800 minute card buy-it-now for $150, and a 3000 minute card and the Motorola v171 phone with the bids at $305 right now and free shipping. The cards are thus 8 cents a minute, and if you get the 3000-minute you're paying $20 a month for 250 minutes a month. Not bad at all.
eBay Link
Virgin Mobile $50 card, $45 (10% off)
This is a little bit better than the deal at CheapPhoneCards with refill5
eBay Link
$50 T-Mobile Card for $41
I was just surfing eBay and came upon this: a guy offering a $50 T-Mobile To Go refill card, or rather PIN, for $41. That's 18% off the normal price!
CheapPhoneCards is a good place to find cards for below retail all the time, but they would charge $45.13 for this card (witht he refill5 coupon code). Yes, you get about $1.29 worth or reward points with it but that's still $43.84 net. So you're saving a pretty significant amount by buying from this guy.
eBay Link
I just asked the seller and he accepts PayPal so if anyone has a T-Mobile To Go phone this is a pretty good deal.
CheapPhoneCards is a good place to find cards for below retail all the time, but they would charge $45.13 for this card (witht he refill5 coupon code). Yes, you get about $1.29 worth or reward points with it but that's still $43.84 net. So you're saving a pretty significant amount by buying from this guy.
eBay Link
I just asked the seller and he accepts PayPal so if anyone has a T-Mobile To Go phone this is a pretty good deal.
New Cingular GoPhone Deals
I ran across this yesterday when surfing the 'net. Cingular has updated their GoPhone special list (which, I think, includes shipping costs and a $10 card for each phone) to two refurbished phones and one new phone.
The great old standby, the Nokia 6010, is sold refurbished for $30 ($29.99 but who cares about a penny?). This phone has great reception, a fine list of features and is also easy to unlock, so for $30 you effectively have a cell phone for any GSM carrier (T-Mobile, Cingular, regional carriers) that you want (except for Tracfone\Net10).
The second phone (leftmost on the page) that they offfer for $29.99 is a refurbished LG C1300. This phone is nice and small but doesn't have too many features. Personally, I find the int
The great old standby, the Nokia 6010, is sold refurbished for $30 ($29.99 but who cares about a penny?). This phone has great reception, a fine list of features and is also easy to unlock, so for $30 you effectively have a cell phone for any GSM carrier (T-Mobile, Cingular, regional carriers) that you want (except for Tracfone\Net10).
The second phone (leftmost on the page) that they offfer for $29.99 is a refurbished LG C1300. This phone is nice and small but doesn't have too many features. Personally, I find the int
Info about How Cell Phones Work
I ujust saw (and read) this article at phonescoop.com. As an introduction to how cell systems work (and then some) it's a great resource.
PhoneScoop Article
PhoneScoop Article
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
LG 5225 & STi Mobile
Note: This is an old review. Things have changed at STi Mobile...
OK. After about a week and a half of testing, and a lot of work in between, here's my hands-on review of STi Mobile, one of the cheapest prepaid carriers out there.
Let me start by saying how much it's going to cost me: -$4.05. Yes, that's a negative sign. You see, I got the phone for $84.95 using the coupon code payme25 (20% off) at CheapPhoneCards (go to it from the sidebar on the right). The package also included a $10 card. One major thing payme25 also does is gives you an invoice that looks like you've paid the whole amount, so my up-to-$89 rebate will give me the full $89 amount.
But wait, it gets better! I got 15 CheapPhoneCards "reward points" for signing up with CheapPhonecards, 84 for this purchase, 100 for correcting a T-Mobile description, and 100 apiece for referring two other people to buy from the site (full disclaimer: the link on this site is a referral link, but it works just the same as any other link). With those 399 points I got a another $10 card...for free...with 94 points to spare!
But still wait...it gets EVEN BETTER! They offered me (at no extra cost) a car charger, a leather case for the phone, and a "universal" (2.5mm) headset. I had to remind them to send the stuff, but it should be here tomorrow.
OK. So enough with raving about the super deal I got. The phone is the LG vl5225 that Sprint gave for free (plus activation fee) with a 2-year contract up until they redid their website because of the Sprint-Nextel merger. As said before, I'm really and truly getting it for better than free (other people have had good experiences with the rebates). It's a color flip phone with the biggest screen on any phone I've owned (second prize goes to my Nokia 3560 running on Beyond Wireless; if I didn't cover them I'll cover them sometime later). It also has an external screen, which is nice, large and black-and-white. The external screen normally shows the time, date, signal strength, battery bars and other such status information, or the number of someone calling (STi has Caller ID), or how long the call you just ended was.
Interestingly, LG cut a few wierd corners to get a color flip with an external screen this cheap, albeit OK corners to cut. The backlight is shared by both the internal and external screens, which I guess affects battery life somewhat, but I can live with that since you can use the phone, closed or open, as a stopgap flashlight if needed. Also, there is one speaker for the ringer and the earpice, the happy byproduct of which being a one-way speakerphone (don't talk, just listen) and a nice, loud earpiece. The only thing bad about it is when you set the speakerphone on High (or rather turn speakerphone on when the earpiece volume is set to High) or when you set the ringer on High, clipping occurs. Not a hugely bad deal though.
The phone is generically programmed, leaving you with 12 or so seconds of the LG logo on both screens at startup, plus the rollerblader startup animation, and only one logo physically on the phone. The good thing about this is the phone isn't crippled by Sprint's firmware (which doesn't like people hooking cables to their phones) and doesn't have the Sprint logos plastered all over it (I don't care for either Sprint logo, the old or the new). The bad thing is you have a huge front area of shiny black plastic on the phone that, in addition to looking smashingly good when clean, attracts fingerprints\finger oil\other such stuff like a magnet.
The phone isn't small, but it isn't as big as even a Nextel i836 either, or a Moto v60 for that matter. As a consequence of its fair size though all of your buttons are nice and large. You get, besides your number keys and 5-way D-pad, two selection keys, a back key and talk end end\power keys, plus a volume control rocker on the side of the phone, which will also scroll through menu choices or turn the backlight on when the phone is closed.
The phone supports text messaging and web browsing, as well as J2ME apps (they take awhile to load though but run smoothly once there). The problem is that all the java stuff either need Net access or are trial versions, but I'll talk about why this is a problem later. The phone also includes, built in with the OS, a tip calculator, a regular calculator and a world clock.
OK. Here's where I gripe about the OS. The thing takes 18 seconds from the time you start pressing the power button to the time the phone is ready to use, although in this time the phone also searches for and 99% of the time finds a home signal so no extra waiting involved there. It also takes 6.5 seconds to turn off. All of my Nokia phones that I've had (3595, 3560, 1221, 5165) turn of instantly.
Also, I all too often press the left selection key in a menu, thinking it's the OK key, when in fact it just brings up an option as to whether I want a list view or the poor-frame-rate scrolling icon view. The OK function is assigned to the OK button, not wheree I'm used to having it...or is it just Nokia me? Then there's the right selection button, which no longer functions as the Back button. Hooray for me (NOT!), that button has its own specific place. Ah well.
A few more (admittedly minor) gripes. The backlight appears on the outside to have a shift toward pink, and it partially washes out the external display, but I can live with that. You also have to be reasonably careful with the charger cord, because bumping it in battery charge mode will make the phone turn off, then turn back on, possibly in regular mode. And the speakerphone is one-way, so no talking back when you're in that mode.
Overall, this phone is pretty solid, physically and feature-wise, but I wouldn't be willing to buy it if it had no rebate.
Now to the service. As stated on the website there are two plans. I opted for Plan 2 because I don't make international calls. Right now all they have is voice and Caller ID but both things work well and cheaply. Oh, and they have Sprint voicemail. More on that in a second.
As advertised I paid 12 cents a minute weekdays, 10 cents nights and weekends (starting at 9). Actially I'm paying a lot less because of the aforementioned deals and the fact that, with the discount CheapPhoneCards gives on STi cards (3%) and the refill5 coupon I can get a $10 card for $9.22...thus more like 11 cents a minute weekdays and 9.2 cents nights and weekends.
As with all modern plans, you're only charged if someone (or someone's voicemail) picks up on the other end. Busy signals and no-answers are free. So is calling the refill line (*555), Sprint customer service (*2), STi Mobile Support (611) and, of course, 911. Your balance (in money and in hours and minutes) is announced at the beginning of each outgoing call, with any answer before the announcement is done interrupting the announcement (which, IMO, is fine).
OK. Now about voicemail: retriving it from your phone costs 10 cents a minute PLUS airtime. So 20-22 cents a minute. It's cheaper than normal minutes for lots of prepaid carriers but still more expensive than it should be. The solution: check your voicemail from another phone and don't pay anything. The one problem with this is you can only set up your voicemail from the phone itself, which takes about 6 minutes, but I can live with that. Another neat thing about voicemail is that numeric paging works on STi Mobile and pages show up on your phone as nicely formatted "call me back" text messages that arrive a few minutes after the page is left.
The other cost that you'll encounter is a $4.95 fee on activation, changing of rate plans, changing numbers, or changing phones. All but the first are highly unlikely, so I can live with this charge too, especially since STi gave me an extra $1 at the start of my service.
STi Mobile will have Call Waiting, Text Messaging, Web Browsing and 3-Way Calling, but yes that means that none of it is here yet. I can wait though. I'm betting that, along with their release of new phones before mid-November (when the LG's rebate is no longer active), they will implement these new features. By new phones a rep I talked to before buying my phone suggested Sanyos, Nokias and Kyoceras (and maybe others).
as you might have guessed, STi Mobile works off the Sprint network. Roaming doesn't work (you can't make or take calls while roaming; you just get whoever's error message) but at least around here Sprint coverage is strong and the phone keeps a signal well. Voice quality is for the most part excellent, even on one or sometimes no signal bars, probably due to Sprint (and because of this STi) being on the lower-interference 1900MHz PCS band. One wierd thing about STi is you can't activate on a Sprint affiliate's network (US Unwired, Ubiquitel, etc., which are coverage-wise Sprint home area but are in fact different companies) but this is getting to be less of a big deal as Sprint is buying out these companies.
To sum it all up, for right now, STi is not for people that want to do texting or other stuff, but for voice users who have Sprint in their area STi is by far the cheapest out there, considering that with refill5 minutes are at most 11.06 cents and your phone ends up being free.
If you have any questions about STi, I may be able to answer them; just email me.
OK. After about a week and a half of testing, and a lot of work in between, here's my hands-on review of STi Mobile, one of the cheapest prepaid carriers out there.
Let me start by saying how much it's going to cost me: -$4.05. Yes, that's a negative sign. You see, I got the phone for $84.95 using the coupon code payme25 (20% off) at CheapPhoneCards (go to it from the sidebar on the right). The package also included a $10 card. One major thing payme25 also does is gives you an invoice that looks like you've paid the whole amount, so my up-to-$89 rebate will give me the full $89 amount.
But wait, it gets better! I got 15 CheapPhoneCards "reward points" for signing up with CheapPhonecards, 84 for this purchase, 100 for correcting a T-Mobile description, and 100 apiece for referring two other people to buy from the site (full disclaimer: the link on this site is a referral link, but it works just the same as any other link). With those 399 points I got a another $10 card...for free...with 94 points to spare!
But still wait...it gets EVEN BETTER! They offered me (at no extra cost) a car charger, a leather case for the phone, and a "universal" (2.5mm) headset. I had to remind them to send the stuff, but it should be here tomorrow.
OK. So enough with raving about the super deal I got. The phone is the LG vl5225 that Sprint gave for free (plus activation fee) with a 2-year contract up until they redid their website because of the Sprint-Nextel merger. As said before, I'm really and truly getting it for better than free (other people have had good experiences with the rebates). It's a color flip phone with the biggest screen on any phone I've owned (second prize goes to my Nokia 3560 running on Beyond Wireless; if I didn't cover them I'll cover them sometime later). It also has an external screen, which is nice, large and black-and-white. The external screen normally shows the time, date, signal strength, battery bars and other such status information, or the number of someone calling (STi has Caller ID), or how long the call you just ended was.
Interestingly, LG cut a few wierd corners to get a color flip with an external screen this cheap, albeit OK corners to cut. The backlight is shared by both the internal and external screens, which I guess affects battery life somewhat, but I can live with that since you can use the phone, closed or open, as a stopgap flashlight if needed. Also, there is one speaker for the ringer and the earpice, the happy byproduct of which being a one-way speakerphone (don't talk, just listen) and a nice, loud earpiece. The only thing bad about it is when you set the speakerphone on High (or rather turn speakerphone on when the earpiece volume is set to High) or when you set the ringer on High, clipping occurs. Not a hugely bad deal though.
The phone is generically programmed, leaving you with 12 or so seconds of the LG logo on both screens at startup, plus the rollerblader startup animation, and only one logo physically on the phone. The good thing about this is the phone isn't crippled by Sprint's firmware (which doesn't like people hooking cables to their phones) and doesn't have the Sprint logos plastered all over it (I don't care for either Sprint logo, the old or the new). The bad thing is you have a huge front area of shiny black plastic on the phone that, in addition to looking smashingly good when clean, attracts fingerprints\finger oil\other such stuff like a magnet.
The phone isn't small, but it isn't as big as even a Nextel i836 either, or a Moto v60 for that matter. As a consequence of its fair size though all of your buttons are nice and large. You get, besides your number keys and 5-way D-pad, two selection keys, a back key and talk end end\power keys, plus a volume control rocker on the side of the phone, which will also scroll through menu choices or turn the backlight on when the phone is closed.
The phone supports text messaging and web browsing, as well as J2ME apps (they take awhile to load though but run smoothly once there). The problem is that all the java stuff either need Net access or are trial versions, but I'll talk about why this is a problem later. The phone also includes, built in with the OS, a tip calculator, a regular calculator and a world clock.
OK. Here's where I gripe about the OS. The thing takes 18 seconds from the time you start pressing the power button to the time the phone is ready to use, although in this time the phone also searches for and 99% of the time finds a home signal so no extra waiting involved there. It also takes 6.5 seconds to turn off. All of my Nokia phones that I've had (3595, 3560, 1221, 5165) turn of instantly.
Also, I all too often press the left selection key in a menu, thinking it's the OK key, when in fact it just brings up an option as to whether I want a list view or the poor-frame-rate scrolling icon view. The OK function is assigned to the OK button, not wheree I'm used to having it...or is it just Nokia me? Then there's the right selection button, which no longer functions as the Back button. Hooray for me (NOT!), that button has its own specific place. Ah well.
A few more (admittedly minor) gripes. The backlight appears on the outside to have a shift toward pink, and it partially washes out the external display, but I can live with that. You also have to be reasonably careful with the charger cord, because bumping it in battery charge mode will make the phone turn off, then turn back on, possibly in regular mode. And the speakerphone is one-way, so no talking back when you're in that mode.
Overall, this phone is pretty solid, physically and feature-wise, but I wouldn't be willing to buy it if it had no rebate.
Now to the service. As stated on the website there are two plans. I opted for Plan 2 because I don't make international calls. Right now all they have is voice and Caller ID but both things work well and cheaply. Oh, and they have Sprint voicemail. More on that in a second.
As advertised I paid 12 cents a minute weekdays, 10 cents nights and weekends (starting at 9). Actially I'm paying a lot less because of the aforementioned deals and the fact that, with the discount CheapPhoneCards gives on STi cards (3%) and the refill5 coupon I can get a $10 card for $9.22...thus more like 11 cents a minute weekdays and 9.2 cents nights and weekends.
As with all modern plans, you're only charged if someone (or someone's voicemail) picks up on the other end. Busy signals and no-answers are free. So is calling the refill line (*555), Sprint customer service (*2), STi Mobile Support (611) and, of course, 911. Your balance (in money and in hours and minutes) is announced at the beginning of each outgoing call, with any answer before the announcement is done interrupting the announcement (which, IMO, is fine).
OK. Now about voicemail: retriving it from your phone costs 10 cents a minute PLUS airtime. So 20-22 cents a minute. It's cheaper than normal minutes for lots of prepaid carriers but still more expensive than it should be. The solution: check your voicemail from another phone and don't pay anything. The one problem with this is you can only set up your voicemail from the phone itself, which takes about 6 minutes, but I can live with that. Another neat thing about voicemail is that numeric paging works on STi Mobile and pages show up on your phone as nicely formatted "call me back" text messages that arrive a few minutes after the page is left.
The other cost that you'll encounter is a $4.95 fee on activation, changing of rate plans, changing numbers, or changing phones. All but the first are highly unlikely, so I can live with this charge too, especially since STi gave me an extra $1 at the start of my service.
STi Mobile will have Call Waiting, Text Messaging, Web Browsing and 3-Way Calling, but yes that means that none of it is here yet. I can wait though. I'm betting that, along with their release of new phones before mid-November (when the LG's rebate is no longer active), they will implement these new features. By new phones a rep I talked to before buying my phone suggested Sanyos, Nokias and Kyoceras (and maybe others).
as you might have guessed, STi Mobile works off the Sprint network. Roaming doesn't work (you can't make or take calls while roaming; you just get whoever's error message) but at least around here Sprint coverage is strong and the phone keeps a signal well. Voice quality is for the most part excellent, even on one or sometimes no signal bars, probably due to Sprint (and because of this STi) being on the lower-interference 1900MHz PCS band. One wierd thing about STi is you can't activate on a Sprint affiliate's network (US Unwired, Ubiquitel, etc., which are coverage-wise Sprint home area but are in fact different companies) but this is getting to be less of a big deal as Sprint is buying out these companies.
To sum it all up, for right now, STi is not for people that want to do texting or other stuff, but for voice users who have Sprint in their area STi is by far the cheapest out there, considering that with refill5 minutes are at most 11.06 cents and your phone ends up being free.
If you have any questions about STi, I may be able to answer them; just email me.
Short Note on PagePlus Cellular
I may have said this before, but there is a company called PagePlus Cellular that offers service off of Verizon's home network for a fairly reasonable price, varying from 10 to 14 cents a minute, with 10 cents being had on an $80 card and 14 cents on a $10 card. Cards expire in 4 months. One small problem is roaming off Verizon's towers is $1.99 a minute. The other nit to pick is 50 cents a month is deducted from your balance. The third nit is text messages are fairlyexpensive, at 8 cents per message to send and receive..
The one special thing about PagePlus is that you can, with a web-enabled phone, access the mobile internet at zero cost as long as your phone is active and on the Verizon-towers network (comparable in size to Sprint's or T-Mobile's home network). It's fairly fast too, since everywhere Verizon has towers it has 1xRTT access, so expect speeds of 50-70 kbps.
The one special thing about PagePlus is that you can, with a web-enabled phone, access the mobile internet at zero cost as long as your phone is active and on the Verizon-towers network (comparable in size to Sprint's or T-Mobile's home network). It's fairly fast too, since everywhere Verizon has towers it has 1xRTT access, so expect speeds of 50-70 kbps.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Great place to buy prepaid phone cards!
If you want to buy an STi Mobile phone, or refills for one, or refills for just about every long distance and cellular calling card out there, CheapPhoneCards has what you need. Plus you get points for buying stuff and referring others to buy stuff so you can free phone cards and even phones.
CheapPhoneCards
P.S. You can now get an Oxygen prepaid (Cingular network) phone from CheapPhoneCards. If Cingular is much better than Sprint in your area and you can stand the phone or get another GSM phone this is an OK option, now that they have $10\30-day cards that are marked down 15% by CheapPhoneCards.
CheapPhoneCards
P.S. You can now get an Oxygen prepaid (Cingular network) phone from CheapPhoneCards. If Cingular is much better than Sprint in your area and you can stand the phone or get another GSM phone this is an OK option, now that they have $10\30-day cards that are marked down 15% by CheapPhoneCards.
Friday, August 12, 2005
Virgin Mobile Promo
Here's another promotion, this time only on Amazon.com.
With any of the phones they sell on their site (Nokia Shorty, Audiovox Vox and Audiovox V7, Kyocera K10) you not only get free shipping and no tax, but also you get a free $20 topup card if you add it to your cart and remember to put in the promo code. Below is an example (I used the Audiovox Vox because it's kind of hard to get to via their site, not because it's a great phone or anything):
http://snipurl.com/vmdeal
In addition to this topup promotional, the phones sell for the same or less than on VirginMobileUSA.com.
Kyocera K10 Royale - $49 vs. $50 on VMUSA
Nokia Shorty - $40 at both places
Audiovox V7 Flasher - $100 at both places (cheap prepaid camera phone)
Audiovox Vox - $70 vs. $90 at VMUSA (you save $20!)
Plus you get the $20 top-up card. So if you got the Vox you'd be saving $40 over purchases elsewhere. With the other phones it's $20, which is still nothing to sneeze at.
With any of the phones they sell on their site (Nokia Shorty, Audiovox Vox and Audiovox V7, Kyocera K10) you not only get free shipping and no tax, but also you get a free $20 topup card if you add it to your cart and remember to put in the promo code. Below is an example (I used the Audiovox Vox because it's kind of hard to get to via their site, not because it's a great phone or anything):
http://snipurl.com/vmdeal
In addition to this topup promotional, the phones sell for the same or less than on VirginMobileUSA.com.
Kyocera K10 Royale - $49 vs. $50 on VMUSA
Nokia Shorty - $40 at both places
Audiovox V7 Flasher - $100 at both places (cheap prepaid camera phone)
Audiovox Vox - $70 vs. $90 at VMUSA (you save $20!)
Plus you get the $20 top-up card. So if you got the Vox you'd be saving $40 over purchases elsewhere. With the other phones it's $20, which is still nothing to sneeze at.
TMo Promo
T-Mobile has a promotional going on right now where you get a $25 card with any of their prepaid phones...for free!
If you're wanting to buy the Sidekick II or Motorola v330 there's a better option though. Amazon.com is selling the Sidekick for $300 out the door (free shipping, no tax) and with a $50 rebate from T-Mobile you end up paying $250 for it, $30 less than you'd pay for the device on TMo's website so you have $5 extra even if you turn around and buy a $25 card with the money you saved.
An even better deal is with the Motorola v330, which sells on there for $160. With a rebate it's $110, $40 less than the price on their site, $15 less even if you turn around and buy the $125 card.
If you're wanting to buy the Sidekick II or Motorola v330 there's a better option though. Amazon.com is selling the Sidekick for $300 out the door (free shipping, no tax) and with a $50 rebate from T-Mobile you end up paying $250 for it, $30 less than you'd pay for the device on TMo's website so you have $5 extra even if you turn around and buy a $25 card with the money you saved.
An even better deal is with the Motorola v330, which sells on there for $160. With a rebate it's $110, $40 less than the price on their site, $15 less even if you turn around and buy the $125 card.
Friday, August 05, 2005
New Trac Promo
Here's what I missed yesterday. Tracfone has a promo code now (50775) that wuill give you an extra 150 minutes on a 1-year card.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
STI Mobile, Tracfone Promo and Cingular GoPhone
OK. I lied in the title. STi Mobile will be last on my list of things I'll discuss and Cingular GoPhone will be first.
The big news with GoPhone is that you can get a refurbished (aka good as new though usually white-boxed) Nokia 3120 for $30 and I'm pretty sure free shipping. This phone is small and solid (I've finally found out exactly which phone model was, or rather were since there two of them, sitting on a table at a Cub Scout summer camp) and has quite a few good features. It's a Nokia GSM phone so you can unlock them for free at certain places that someone else will have to comment and tell because I don't remember. So for $30 you have a capable phone that runs on Cingular's network if you want it to, or (with a $10 sim card) T-Mobile's network if you don't.
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The second item is that of a new Tracfone promotional code. I was going to post a code that would give you 100 extra minutes (aka double minutes) on a 150-minute, 10year card, but Tracfone's website hid the code from me when I went back to see what it was. Here's a better code though: 100 extra minutes on a 100-minute card: 55249. If you have a double-minute card, the 100-minute card would get you 300 minutes, so 10 cents a minute on $30 or however much discounted from a however much discounted store online (if you don't count the cost of teh card). I've covered double-minute promos before for 200, 400 and 40-minute cards. As with the 100 card, you can triple these minutes by either buying the double-minute card or paying $15 for one month of the double-minute prepay plan. So...
$65 + $15 = $80 for 400 x 3 = 1200 minutes; 6.66 cents a minute on a 400-minute card
$30 + $15 = $45 for 100 x 3 = 300 minutes; 15 cents a minute on a 100 minute card
$30 for 100 x 2 = 200 minutes; 15 cents a minute on a 100 minute card
$38 + $15 = $53 for 200 x 3 = 600 minutes; 8.83 cents a minute on a 200 minute card
$13 + $15 = $28 for 40 x 3 = 120 minutes; 23.33 cents a minute on a 40 minute card
$13 for 40 x 2 = 80 minutes; 16.25 cents a minute on a 40 minute card
As you can see, whether double minutes is owrth it depends on the value of the card. Without the double minutes, the 400 minute card with the promo is 8.125 cents a minute. The 200 minute card is 9.5 cents a minute without the double-minute plan. It all depends on what you want to pay for what you get...
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And the last hot topic: STi Mobile. These guys run off of Sprint's home network (no roaming), similar to Virgin Mobile. Their rates are 12 cents weekday, 10 cents nights and weekends or 18 cents all the time with free long distance to bunches of countries. This already-good plan gets better because minutes never expire, and even better because you can get either a black-and-white flip phone or a color flip phone forfree after a rebate...as long as you buy a $50 card along with it. At least that's what the site says.
Actually, if you go to cheapphonecards.com, you can get the phone for free with the rebate with only a $10 card! $4.95 of this card goes to activation. The rest goes to between 42 and 50 minutes (depending on when you use them). The best part of this is that there is a 12% coupon on the phone that will make it (card included) a little less than $4 after the $89 rebate...including shipping! STi doesn't have text messaging yet, but they're working on it and it should be available this month.
So for $4 you get a color flip phone with an external display and $5.05 in airtime that never expires as long as you make one call every 60 days. Per-minute rates are very low, and text messaging is coming soon...very soon. And you get 92 or 93 cheapphonecards.com rewards points (plus 15 for registering on their site), which gets you about $3 in the rewards account. When you get enough points (you get 1 point for every dollar spent on cheapphonecards.com) you can buy your whole order with just reward points! (35 points per dollar) Nifty, since you can rack up those points by buying STi refills from cheapphonecards when you need them (you just need to buy the $10 refill; the price is the same across the board) and eventually get a free 83-100 minutes of airtime. Sweet, huh? So if you're counting the rewards money in you're getting the phone for less than $1...whoa...
The big news with GoPhone is that you can get a refurbished (aka good as new though usually white-boxed) Nokia 3120 for $30 and I'm pretty sure free shipping. This phone is small and solid (I've finally found out exactly which phone model was, or rather were since there two of them, sitting on a table at a Cub Scout summer camp) and has quite a few good features. It's a Nokia GSM phone so you can unlock them for free at certain places that someone else will have to comment and tell because I don't remember. So for $30 you have a capable phone that runs on Cingular's network if you want it to, or (with a $10 sim card) T-Mobile's network if you don't.
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The second item is that of a new Tracfone promotional code. I was going to post a code that would give you 100 extra minutes (aka double minutes) on a 150-minute, 10year card, but Tracfone's website hid the code from me when I went back to see what it was. Here's a better code though: 100 extra minutes on a 100-minute card: 55249. If you have a double-minute card, the 100-minute card would get you 300 minutes, so 10 cents a minute on $30 or however much discounted from a however much discounted store online (if you don't count the cost of teh card). I've covered double-minute promos before for 200, 400 and 40-minute cards. As with the 100 card, you can triple these minutes by either buying the double-minute card or paying $15 for one month of the double-minute prepay plan. So...
$65 + $15 = $80 for 400 x 3 = 1200 minutes; 6.66 cents a minute on a 400-minute card
$30 + $15 = $45 for 100 x 3 = 300 minutes; 15 cents a minute on a 100 minute card
$30 for 100 x 2 = 200 minutes; 15 cents a minute on a 100 minute card
$38 + $15 = $53 for 200 x 3 = 600 minutes; 8.83 cents a minute on a 200 minute card
$13 + $15 = $28 for 40 x 3 = 120 minutes; 23.33 cents a minute on a 40 minute card
$13 for 40 x 2 = 80 minutes; 16.25 cents a minute on a 40 minute card
As you can see, whether double minutes is owrth it depends on the value of the card. Without the double minutes, the 400 minute card with the promo is 8.125 cents a minute. The 200 minute card is 9.5 cents a minute without the double-minute plan. It all depends on what you want to pay for what you get...
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And the last hot topic: STi Mobile. These guys run off of Sprint's home network (no roaming), similar to Virgin Mobile. Their rates are 12 cents weekday, 10 cents nights and weekends or 18 cents all the time with free long distance to bunches of countries. This already-good plan gets better because minutes never expire, and even better because you can get either a black-and-white flip phone or a color flip phone forfree after a rebate...as long as you buy a $50 card along with it. At least that's what the site says.
Actually, if you go to cheapphonecards.com, you can get the phone for free with the rebate with only a $10 card! $4.95 of this card goes to activation. The rest goes to between 42 and 50 minutes (depending on when you use them). The best part of this is that there is a 12% coupon on the phone that will make it (card included) a little less than $4 after the $89 rebate...including shipping! STi doesn't have text messaging yet, but they're working on it and it should be available this month.
So for $4 you get a color flip phone with an external display and $5.05 in airtime that never expires as long as you make one call every 60 days. Per-minute rates are very low, and text messaging is coming soon...very soon. And you get 92 or 93 cheapphonecards.com rewards points (plus 15 for registering on their site), which gets you about $3 in the rewards account. When you get enough points (you get 1 point for every dollar spent on cheapphonecards.com) you can buy your whole order with just reward points! (35 points per dollar) Nifty, since you can rack up those points by buying STi refills from cheapphonecards when you need them (you just need to buy the $10 refill; the price is the same across the board) and eventually get a free 83-100 minutes of airtime. Sweet, huh? So if you're counting the rewards money in you're getting the phone for less than $1...whoa...
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