UTStarComm Slice

First off, I'm glad that I have good relations with the guys in the local Wal-Mart connection center, where I got this phone for $48.74 plus tax...I had intended to return the phone after I reviewed it...and now I definately am going to return it.

You see, it is 0.3 inches thick. Yes, that's right, three tenths of an inch in thickness; I think PhoneScoop has their thickness measurement wrong because my handyman dad used a fine-grained ruler...and got around 5\16 of an inch as the thickness. It's a thin phone by any stretch of the imagination, and I think I'll probably carry it around for the next few days just to see how many people say "ooh and aah" at it. That's the pro to it. And that's basically the only pro to it. I still can't get over how thin the phone is...but at the same time I'm disgusted enough with it to take the phone back anyway. You might say that this phone is the poor man's SLVR, but I think you have to be dirt-eating poor to sacrifice as much as you do when you get the Slice. The phone is light too, but I think it feels cheap. But maybe I'm biased.

True, the phone is thin and black and has a keypad backlit to, at first glance, look like the fabled chemical-etched, metallic Razr keypad...but as soon as you touch the phone you know it ain't so. The keypad is decidedly plastic, and is pretty darn hard to press. Furthermore, the keys are close enough together that you might actually press two when you're supposed to be pressing just one. Why couldn't they use the real estate below the screen to give some more space for the keypad? No, wait, the Virgin Mobile logo is there...never mind.

The phone doesn't flex or anything like that under pressure, but yet it still has that cheap feel about it, despite UTStarComm's best intentions. The whole phone, matte or glossy, is a fingerprint magnet, except for the wierd keypad mentioned before. Yes, the phone has the right proportions for talking into, but for some reason I still don't like its whole aspect.

Maybe it's because of the relatively small screen. Then again, I shouldn't expect much for $50, but the screen just seems a bit smaller when it's bounded on all sides by shiny black plastic, and Audiovox doesn't, in my opinion, make good use of screen real estate. It has that generic feel to it, though with a Virgin Mobile twist...that characteristic teeny-bopper feel that limits you to four installed, loud-as-possible wallpapers and four preinstalled ringtones, three of them obnoxious voice ringtones. Ech. There's also a red\electro-blue LED on the front of the phone that is conspicuous when off and flashes when a call or text comes in. I'm left scratching my head why they put it there.

Speaking of ringtones, the phone does have a reasonably good speaker and speakerphone. And reception os OK, but doesn't stand out from the pack at all...though it does connect calls a wee bit faster than my LG 225. So if you're wanting a phone just for voice, this may do the job, but you'll have a heck of a time putting in numbers with the over-stiff keypad. The phone also packs vibrate alert into its small case, and the vibe alert is strong enough, but it isn't synched to the music or any such fun.

The phone has text messaging, and even has a progress display for when you're sending the message. But the user interface seems dreadful to me...not enough soopthing gradients or something...or maybe I'm just spoiled. Also, there's web. But I know people that could grow beards waiting for the pages to load in the Openwave browser. I was going to test how fast the 1xRTT data was on the phone by visiting such sites as GMail, but then decided against it...things went way too slowly for me to do that.

I don't know about battery life yet, as I just got the phone tonight, but I do know that the charger is pretty darn huge, compared with the models that ship with the likes of LG and Motorola phones. Maybe I'm picky, but this sideways wall-wart is a bit on the obese side, just as the Slice is emaciatedly thin.

Maybe I'm overreacting to the phone's keypad and stark user interface, but I come off with a felling that, even though this phone is paper-cut-inducing thin and cheap to boot, I'd rather go with something a bit thicker in exchange for better features and such.

My final verdict is that this phone, if you want a fashion icon on the cheap, may be fine for calling and maybe a text or two...and maybe, must maybe, for web in a pinch. But the keypad is a pain in the neck, and when you can get the Kyocera K10 with nearly the same features, bu for the size, for 30% of the price this phone seems like a pretty bad ripoff. Heck, you can get a flip phone, the Kyocera Oyster, for 40% of this phone's price, shipped to your door...and it's a flip phone!

But then again, to be fair, some people think that thin is in beyond all reason and for them this is a cheap way to go thin. Also, I need to test out battery life; if the phone turns out to last a long time I may change my opinions. But right now I'm mildly disgusted with this new entry onto the Virgin Mobile scene...if only because of the keypad and the fact that the calculator is only seven digits and goes down to only two decimal places (yes, I'm a math nerd)! But anyway, don't buy this phone from online...buy it from a place where you can return it if you want to buy it at all. And I'll have the rest of the review up fairly soon, meaning battery life and conclusions with battery life in mind! I've yet to put the $50 phone through its full paces, and so you'll see more info on it soon.

Virgin Mobile - Phone Deals

Not that I'm a fan of Virgin Mobile's pretty high rates, or their limited Sprint service (pretty much every prepaid now has better coverage than Sprint prepaids)...but some people just might want their $10-for-1000 texts deal or whatever...which leads me into what phone deals Virgin Mobile has right now online...

*For $25 you can either get a Nokia Shorty or a Kyocera Slider...with $25 in airtime on it! The Slider is out of stock...but I'd rather have the Shorty...plus the Slider is refurbished
*For $80 you can get the Audiovox Snapper. Not that you'd want it, but then again some people just have to have cameraphones and this is the only camera flip for Virgin Mobile in a normal form factor available online...and it is okay in price.
*The Kyocera Oyster is now a mere $20. Not bad for a flip phone! Except that it doesn't have a caller ID display...but then again neither does the LG 3280 and the two phones are quite similar in target...and the 3280 is $30 more expensive. But then again, you get a lot more coverage for the 3280.
*The Kyocera K10 Royale is...gasp...$15...including shipping! Sheesh...they must want to really get rid of this phone! But hey, it is a pretty old bar phone so I can see their rationale. Heck, if you want a color phone of any sort to delve into prepaid with this would be it...at least in my opinion...if you were on a shoestring budget that is. It's also my opinion that the Nokia 2126 deal currently available with Tracfone is a heckuva lot better than anything Virgin Mobile has to offer, beating up the Nokia Shorty, at about the same price.
*The Hunch_Back...er...Switch_Back is still $130...not that anybody'd want to buy such a hunka junk anyway...sorry but the phone looks butt ugly!
*The Kyocera Slider Sonic is now $100...with $20 in airtime included! If you want a fast-looking phone, viva la Sonic! Not that I'd personally sell my soul back to Sprint service...let alone 18-cent-a-minute Sprint service, but then again this is a reasonably nice phone\mp3 player combo that is reasonably cheap. I mean, I don't see any other prepaid selling mp3 phones for $80 effectively.

More For Sale!

Just to let everyone know, I now have Motorola c155s, unlocked and unbranded, for sale, at $25 shipped apiece! Which is pretty darn cheap, considering that the phone is color and has web access and other such fun. Also, the T-Mobile SIM has a lot more airtime on it...for an even better price! Take a look!

Super Duper TMo Deal

In short, you get a $50 card for $35. Which is 30% off! And if you call T-Mobile Customer Service you can "stack" two of these refills to make a $100 refill. Which gets you 1000 minutes and a year of service for $70! Needless to say, that's really, really good. Have fun! I think I'll get two of these as well.

Clarifications for Tracfone

1. Just because you don't have a local number on your Tracfone doesn't mean you have to pay long distance to call from your Tracfone to other phones that are local...long distance on all Tracfones is free!

2. Just because you're roaming doesn't mean you're getting charged extra for a call; all GSM phones, plus the LG 3280, are "SingleRate" which means both home and roaming calls cost one unit per minute.

3. If you want to get T-Mobile's selection of phones rather than Cingular's in a GSM area on Treacfone, substitute GSM5 for GSM4 in the URL of the Tracfone orders website.

Local Number? Roaming?

To answer a question just posted here, you won't get a local number is Tracfone, in its coverage map area, does not list phones of your technology (GSM or CDMA). If, for example, you have a GSM phone (like I did) in an area that Tracfone doesn't have down as being GSM (only CDMA phones show up on the coverage map view), you will not be able to activate phones using that zip and, unless another, GSM-enabled zip near you has numbers local to your zip, you won't get a local number.

About roaming, CDMA Tracfones are programmed with specific "system IDs" (SIDs for short) in which the phone will register as in home service. Everywhere else, whether your phone is still on the network it was activated on (usually Verizon) the phone will say it's roaming and charge as such (this is the big advantage of the LG 3280: roaming costs nothing extra!). I'm a little bit more fuzzy about GSM roaming, but I'm pretty sure that the phone will only say it's roaming if it's actually on a different provider's towers than the one it was activated with. Not that it matters anyway though; while roaming features and rates are the exact same for SingleRate GSM phones.

Tracfone Refer-A-Friend - What Cometh Of It?

Sorry, but I don't know the answer to this question. However, general belief is that, in a month or so, maybe a month in a half, but in time for December\Christmas, Tracfone will put out some new form of refer-a-friend. It will likely have more restrictions than the previous one, but such is life. At least they'll likely make rates better. BUt that's basically all I know.

Clearing Up Confusion...LG 3280 Roaming

Just to let everyone know, from personal experience (I have this phone) and from peering into the phone's prepaid parameters, the LG 3280 is definately a SingleRate phone, except with a CDMA twist. It's SingleRate in that, even if you're roaming, you're still charged at one unit per minute of airtime used. And yes, I've tested this. And text is 0.3 units, like with the newer GSM SingleRate phones (Motorola c139, v176, c261).

The CDMA twist is that, if your outgoing call isn't longer than 15 seconds, you won't be deducted airtime for it. Incoming calls, though, cost from second one. But anyway, just clearing things up. If I've helped anyone, click an ad or two for me. :)

At the Risk of Getting Sued...You've Got Questions, I've Got Answers

Someone in a comment asked whetehr you could unlock the Nokia 6030 from T-Mobile and put it onto Cingular. So far, all reports I've heard give a resounding "Yes". You should just be able to unlock it with a normal unlock code generator, but I would do a Google search just to make sure.

And yes, you can use a postpaid Cingular SIM in any prepaid Cingular phone, or t'other way around, with no modification of any sort.

Hope this helps anyone having questions!

Target Deals

Only at stores, rumore has it that they're giving away Nokia 6030s if you buy a $100 card on T-Mobile To Go. If Target was in my area, I would already have bought this deal, but alas they aren't. If anyone does have Target in their area, this is a great deal!

My 3280 is Activated!

Just to let you guys know, my LG 3280 is now activated! I will put a review up after I have fully drained the battery, which will be a hard thing to do on a flip with no external display, mostly in standby :).

GoPhone Pricing

I just checked Cingular's GoPhone website and their offerings are slimming down to subpar (in my opinion) or rancorously expensive handsets for their Pay As You Go offering. For example, you can't get the Nokia 6030 refurbishe ($35 now) on Pay As You Go; it's either $70 new or with Pick Your Plan. The Motorola c139 is $30, with Pay As You Go...and that's too much in my opinion. Other than these few things, the lineup remains the same...except that I'm pretty sure both Pantech handsets, the flip and the bar phone, have been hiked by $10 inb price. And the c300 flip looks like it's only available now to Pick Your Plan! Sheesh...

Tracfone...The Deals Just Got Better!

I just checked Tracfone's website and their deals for phones are still there (which is really, really good) with two new deals...one of which is out of stock right now but simply rocks.

This deal is that you can get a Motorola c261 and a double-minute card for just the price of the double-minute card...plus taxc and shipping and tax on shipping but hey...you have a $80 phone there! Counting the phone at face value ($80) and factoring in shipping and tax, it's like you're getting the double-minute card for $60 or so. Which is 10 cents a minute! Why ten cents? Because the promo code 50809, valid until the end of November, applies not only to 1-year cards (giving them 450 minutes) but also to double-minute cards! Which makes this a pretty good deal, albeit an expensive one up front. But you do get a nice, thin camera phone with it. I'm strongly tempted to take advantage of this deal, but then again I just got the LG 3280...

Yes, I said I just got the LG 3280! My local Wal-Mart had them for $49.98 plus tax, and now the Tracfone website has them for $49.99 plus tax and shipping too (that's the other deal Tracfone's online store has now). I actually got the phone yesterday, but haven't activated it yet...I'll do that Monday; hopefully they'll have some semblance of a refer-a-friend program up by then.

And don't worry; I'll be reviewing the first single-rate CDMA Tracfone, the first color CDMA Tracfone flip, the first LG Tracfone, the first Tracfone with hundredths of units on the display, the first non-Nokia, non-Motorola Tracfone in maybe five years (all the same phone), the LG 3280, in the near future. Stay tunes, and maybe click a few ads so I can get back the cost of this phone. Or maybe buy some of my other phones...

But anyway, the things above don't even tell all the info about this phone...so please stay tunes! Because, in my opinion, this is one pretty sweet piece of polyphonic plastic. Though not a cameraphone or anything, it's still really neat. Again, come back soon for my full review on why I'm so very infatuated with it!

STi and T-Mobile

Just a little bit of househeeping:

Effective now, or rather about a week ago, STi activations get new, slightly better plans. They're still annoying to me, but they are better. The 10 cent per day plan is now 10 cents flat per minute, instead of 10\12. And the 7.9 cent per minute plan is now 25, instead of 39, center per day. Also, the "you have $xx.xx and xx minutes" reminder at the beginning of each call is gone (yay). You can listen to it by dialing *555 from your STi phone.


Also, PosaTec.com has $50 T-Mobile refills for $44.99. Nice as it is, especially when you remember that, by calling T-Mobile To Go customer service, you can "stack" two $50 refills into one $100 refill. Which gets you a $100 refill for $89.98...a cool 10%\$10 off. Granted, CheapPhoneCards has the same card, without the whole stacking bit, for $92.22 or so, and you get $2.63 or so in reward points for the purchase, but if you want your airtime for less outright you can use PosaTec.

Hmmm...interesting how I'm selling both an STi Mobile phone and a T-Mobile To Go SIM card right now... :)

Lllllliquidation!

OK. I'm getting the LG 3280 and that will become my primary line of service. And since the phone costs an extravagent $50 plus tax (and I need money for a senior trip in a few months...and I have too many phones) I'm selling most of my cell phones. Take a look at them on the "For Sale" page (see the righthand link bar). They're priced cheaper, to my knowledge, than anything on eBay, my object being not having to sell them there. So please, if you think you could turn a profit on them by eBaying them, be my guest. And if you just want the phones, which are in good if not near-perfect condition, to use for yourself, that's great too. Anyway, take a look at the phones for sale.

One promise: if I sell all the phones there by the end of the month, I'll buy the Motorola c261 and review it, for the enjoyment of all.

LG 3280...Available!

Yes. It's here, with pictures coutresy Eric...thanks Eric...that show that this puppy is indeed the first CDMA SingleRate Tracfone (click here for the other picture, showing the front of the phone; Blogger idn' working correctly)! Granted, text messages cost to receive, but hey, things rock when roaming is all free. If my Wal-Mart has this phone, which is $50 or so retail, it's mine! I will post a review of it soon, as soon as I can get my grubby paws on it. Even with the dissolution of the old refer-a-friend program, this will likely be a nice, cheap phone for me. And it's on Verizon in my area (though Verizon is PCS-band here) with a local number!

Rest assured, if I get this, I will provide a thorough review on it to everyone here. Stay tuned!

By the way, the 60-minute cards are likely backordered further than I thought. But I'll honor anybody's purchases if they're made before I get the cards. And if anyone wants to sell their 60-minute cards that they got with the recent Tracfone deals, I'll help them! Email me!

Sold Out and Standing Offer

Just to let everyone know, I just sold out of 60-minute cards. One eBay buyer bought all six of them, at $14 apiece! However, I just ordered another bunch of phones (Nokia 2126s). So I should have another batch of 60-minute cards in about this time next week. But don't wait...preorder the card(s) today so that they won't get bought up again before anyone can get some!

Also, if anyone can\knows who can reflash Nokia 1100s and\or Nokia 2600s, I'll gladly pay $5 plus whatever I pay for shipping per phone to get that done. Same with Motorola c155s.

60 minute cards in!

Just got the Tracfone Nokia 1100s I ordered. If anyone wants the 60-minute airtime cards that came with them, they're for sale in my airtime store now for $12.50 apiece. Which is $1.50 cheaper than I'm selling them for on eBay ($14). So get 'em while you can!

QuickBlip: Rapid Refill

Just to let everyone know (including the person who commented on this), all new Tracfones, from the Motorola v120 (which is oooold) on through to all the phones that Tracfone currently sells except the mystery Nokia 5180, have the ability to do Tracfone Rapid Refill (where you put in your PIN and promo code on the phone and they text you the minutes; no more dealing with the website to add airtime), with the exaeption of TDMA phones, which aren't sold anymore anyway. And most are enabled to do it. Which means that the LG 3280 will naturally be able to do it too.

Tracfone Internatinal Long Distance - Free!

Tracfone now has calling-card style international long distance...for free! As in it doesn't cost any more to use it from your Tracfone than normal. Which, I have to say, is great for the few of us (not me) that use that sort of thing. Here are the steps to do a Tracfone ILD call:

1. Call 1.800.706.3839 from your Tracfone (making it an address book or speed dial entry are two good things to do).

2. Press 1 for English or 2 for Spanish. You will hear dialing instructions, which you can skip over by proceeding on to...

3. Dial 011 + country code + city code + phone number. FOr Canada, just dial 1 + city code + number.

That's it. You now have international long distance that doesn't cost anything above your normal Tracfone minutes! Though they're still a bit expensive...unless you want a 60-minute card from me or get one of the current Tracfone deals (see the previous posts). By the way, until tomorrow, when I get them, they're $12 instead of $12.50 (since they're preorders).

Here are the countries you can call to with this service (the table is copied directly from a Tracfone email forwarded to me; the second columns of each table are the country codes):

Andorra 376 Argentina 54 Australia 61 Austria 43 Bangladesh - Chittagong 880 Bangladesh - Dhaka 880 Bangladesh - Sylhet 880 Belgium 32 Brazil - Belo Horizonte 55 Brazil - Brasilia 55 Brazil - Fortaleza 55 Brazil - Recife 55 Brazil - Rio de Janeiro 55 Brazil - Salvador 55 Brazil - Sao Paulo 55 Bulgaria 359 Canada 1 Canada - Cellular 1 Chile 56 China 86 China - Cellular 86 Colombia - Armenia 57 Colombia - Barranquilla 57 Colombia - Bogota 57 Colombia - Bucaramanga 57 Colombia - Cali 57 Colombia - Cartagena 57 Colombia - Medellin 57 Colombia - Pereira 57 Cyprus 357 Czech Republic 420 Denmark 45 Estonia 372 Finland 358 France 33 Germany 49 Gibraltar 350 Greece 30 Hong Kong 852

DESTINATION COUNTRY CODE Hong Kong - Cellular 852 Hungary 36 Indonesia - Surabaya 62 Ireland 353 Israel 972 Italy 39 Japan 81 Malaysia 60 Malaysia - Cellular 60 Mexico 52 Mexico - Cellular 52 Monaco 377 Netherlands 31 New Zealand 64 Norway 47 Peru 51 Poland 48 Portugal 351 Russia - Moscow 7 Russia - St. Petersburg 7 San Marino 378 San Marino - Cellular 378 Singapore 65 Singapore - Cellular 65 South Korea 82 Spain 34 Sweden 46 Switzerland 41 Taiwan 886 Taiwan - Cellular 886 Thailand 66 Turkey - Istanbul 90 United Kingdom 44 Venezuela

Note that most countries bill incoming calls on cell phones as free, and outgoing calls to cell phones as more expensive than usual. Hence, you may or may not see "cellular" on the list of countries for whatever country. If you don't, you can't call cell phones in that country with Tracfone's ILD scheme.

And that's about it. Enjoy!