Friday, October 06, 2006

SingleRate?!?

I jsut looked, and it appears as though all the refurb Tracfones, even CDMA, are SIngleRate! !?! I'm not quite sure what this means, but it sounds good. The SingleRate moniker is promoted more with the old Nokia 2285 and 5180 than with the new 2126s, but that's just another reason for me to get some 2126s to try 'em out!

Tracfone Deals...They's Grrrreat!

Just letting everyone know that, though Tracfone is probably doing a nasty overhaul to its refer-a-friend program, they have some absolutely sweet deals on airtime\phones right now! Furthermore, they have deals wregarding CDMA phones!

On the GSM side, there are two "hot deals". One of them is on fire, the other is not. But anyway, with either you get a "free" Nokia 1100. Refurbished, of course. With one, you buy a 1-year card. With the other...you guessed it...you buy a 60-minute card and get another one free! I'm going to start selling 60-minute cards soon off of this nice little bundle. Yes, they'll be $12.50, but eBay sellers usually charge $15+. I'll get in the first six cards Monday. I'm taking preorders...email me!

On CDMA, the real fun begins. Tracfone has had an all-too-long track record of having one, just one, CDMA phone available: the Nokia 2126. This is a nice phone, yes, but there's no variety; with GSM you have your choice between six (!) phones, spanning the range between $19.99 and $79.99. Anyway, you now have a choice!

But first, the hottest deal of 'em all, at least in my opinion...the Nokia 2126 is being offered free, a la Nokia 1100 on GSM, with two 60-minute cards, for $20! Everyone should know\does know that this phone is simply fabulous for reception etc. as far as CDMA\analog service goes. Okay, it's not the Nokia 6015, but it works quite well. Even refurbed, I daresay it alone is worth the price of the bundle. Once I sell off the coming bunch of airtime cards, I'm in for a bunch of these, if they're still around.

Next on the website is a one-year deal, this time for the Motorola c343. Not the the c343 is a great phone or anything, but if you're a Motorola fan\freak, here's your chance, though it's a rather expensive one.

Then there's the normal Nokia 2126, new, unobtrusively sitting there for $29.99, plus tax and shipping (everything, in fact, has tax and $4.95 shipping and tax on that shipping added to it). Great phone. But it's eclipsed by the refurb deal.

Now, on to the older phones. Yes, we're talking old now. Exhibit A is the Nokia 2285, which comes free with a 120-minute card. Yep, it appears as though Tracfone is trying its utmost to clear out stock on old phones. And the 2285 isn't too bad. Though, again, it'll only sell after the Nokia 2126 deal goes out. I'm betting it will eventually be given out in a similar deal. The perk of this phone is that it has a pretty big screen with a blue backlight...and an extendable antenna!

And last, and maybe least, is the Nokia 5180. Yes, that Nokia 5180. The one you used, what, five years ago? Well, it comes free with a 60-minute card. But it will have to come free with two, and be the only one to do so, before I get it. Sorry, but that's one old phone. But hey, if you need analog this phone will outlast all the others, by virtue of its ginormous battery. Plus, it's CDMA, with an extendable antenna if I remember rightly. Nice way to soup up your geek factor.

In closing, Tracfone now has some pretty nice "let's clear these puppies out" deals on right now, likely to get ready for the LG 3280 and the Nokia 1112. Go on and take advantage of them. And remember: I'll have 60-minute cards in Monday. And if you pre-order today (Friday), I'll take the price from $12.50 to $11.75! If you preorder Saturdy or Sunday it'll be $12. Email me!

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Motorola c155 Review...Finally!

Sorry. I have, for literally over a month, been wanting to write this review. And now I'm going to do it:

The Motorola c155 is But one side note is that the c155 doesn't randomly go to 0 minutes rightly a few model numbers higher than its newer brother the Motorola c139; it has a feew features the $20 new phone doesn't. Like polyphonic ringtones. And a screen that doesn't totally black out when the backlight turns off.

Okay, those are the only two advantages over the newer phone, which also gets better battery life and looks better (the c155 looks, frankly, like a bigheaded alien, a true grandpappy phone...sorry people but it doesn't have the least touch of style). But then again, the c155 doesn't have the problem of suddenly losing all its minutes and setting the expiration back to 01\01\2001!

Another okay thing about the c155 is design, quite distinct from good looks. The buttons are easy enough to press but not too easy. Which is definately nice. Battery life seems to be okay, though battery life for refurbished phones seems to be a good bit less than life for new phones. But anyhow the phone has a standby time of several days. Which is fine. Also, the phone has an interesting chat over SMS function, which can be found on other phones but is generally rare. Coupled with the ease of button presses and free incoming (and cheap outgoing) SMS you'd think that this would be the ideal texting phone. Then you remember that the phone has a teeny screen and Motorola's wierd-as-it-gets iTAP text input systemk, and you'll think again.

Worst of all, the phone has the worst shortcoming a phone of this calibre could have: bad reception. Granted, I was on a fringe area, but it was downright horrifying the amount of garbled words and even outright, dead, staticy silence I experienced...with two bars of signal if I remember correctly! I'm 99% sure any of my other phones would've fared much better in this arena. But then again I have to give Cingular some of the credit...er...discredit for the abysmal network quality I experienced.

So, in a nutsell, the Motorola c155 is an okay phone for everything except calling. This may seem surprising, but I'd much rather have the monophonic, black-and-white, older, cheaper Nokia 1100 than thi phone. Especially with the wierdo styling of the c155. But anyway, that's the end of my review\rant. If anyone has anything to add, comment here! I like feedback!

Monday, October 02, 2006

Tracfone Promo!

Tracfone is putting some more good phone deals online again. Namely the Nokia 1100 refurb phone with two 60 minute cards for $19.99 per bundle. Not as great now since refer-a-friend ain't up and free shipping expired as of yesterday, but it's still okay. The 60-minute cards that I'm going to get with the three 1100 bundles I just ordered are all spoken for, but I'll sell any cards anyone else gets through this promo, for the benefit of all. Email me if you want to do that...

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Tracfone Motorola v176...Interesting

I just looked on eBay idly, wondering whether there were any good deals on Tracfones with minutes. Well, there were some okay deals, but I'm not planning on getting any just yet...

However, I did notice on one auction, where a guy was talking about a Motorola v176 with 2000 minutes preloaded, that the v176 has web access, and that it, like the Motorola c261, decrements web access at 0.5 units per minute. Sweet.

Tracfone Refer-a-Friend...GONE!?!

From Tracfone's website:

Thank you for your interest in TRACFONE Refer-A-Friend! At this time, we are making improvements to the program, and new enrollments and referrals are not being accepted. However, if you recently visited this page and then referred someone to TRACFONE through this program, and he or she becomes a new TRACFONE subscriber by following the steps in the program and no later than October 15, 2006, you will each still receive the benefits. Please refer below to the terms and conditions if you have questions about the TRACFONE Refer-A-Friend program.

We are working to build a new and improved Refer-A-Friend program, with better tools to service you and your friends.

Thanks again for your support of TRACFONE - customers like you are so important to helping us grow, and we're committed to providing a great Refer-A-Friend program to reward you for sharing the TRACFONE story with your friends and contacts.

TRACFONE Wireless, Inc.


Need I say any more?

Monday, September 25, 2006

PrepaidWireless.com - Buy Anything Get $10 Free In Airtime

I was just contacted by one of the buys over at PrepaidWireless.com. They have a promo running (till the end of the year maybe?) where, after your first order, they give you $10 in reward points for your next order. Yes, that's right. Even if you buy some cheapie card you get $10 to buy another cheapie card. Sound pretty good to me. Especially considering their selection, which includes both phones (MovilListo and Mojo Mobile come to mind) and prepaid wireless cards. Another interesting thing they sell is TelCel (a Mexican communications giant) airtime.

Just letting everyone know...

Virgin Mobile Stuff

Well, Virgin Mobile, with their lackluster rates, does have one thing going for them besides what JD Power called great customer service (I think it was JD Power...didn't really pay attention to it that much...) Cheap Phones.

Yes, they've nicked the pricing of their older phones once again. Want a "free" phone in the contract sense of the word? You've got it, buddy. Take your pick...

For $20 you get the Kyocera K10 Royale (which does have web access but is...um...a Kyocera) with $20 in airtime. Note that this isn't an airtime card but if you want to go Virgin Mobile this is a good way to do so without getting ripped off.

But a better way is by buying the Kyocera Slider for $25, including $25 in airtime. It's, yes, an oooooold phone, but hey, it slides. Right, I know, nothing special here either. On to exhibit number three...

...a free Nokia Shorty! Well, $25 with $25 in airtime anyway. Nice to see the little phone again, though it, like the K10 and the SLider, are pretty darn likely clearance items that Virgin is selling cheap because they want to get rid of the phones...

...because they're going to introduce some new ones! DrPrepaid mentions two phones, a Kyocera flip with some sort of voice messaging function (Squawker I think is what it's called; didn't bother to re-check as it seems like a lotta hype with a name like that) with a camera and, more interesting, a SLVR-lookalike on the lower end, the Audiovox...er...UTSTarcom Slice. Which looks quite nice, thank you very much. Especially when compared to the abominable Hunch_Back...er...Switch_Back. These two phones, due out before the end of this year, will augment the Kyocera Oyster in the phone lineup. Yay. Viva la non-outdatedness.

Tracfone...

First off, the LG 3280 is a bit more interesting than I first thought. It's actually a derivitave, says PhoneScoop, of the LG vx3300, which is only a few months old, rather than the grey-haired vx3200. Which is nice. Especially when, from Googleing it, it appears to have 0.3 unit text messaging both ways. Hey, I can stand cheaper text on CDMA...of course, Tracfone probably did this to unify more their product lines but it's good anyway.

Second, I have for sale right now my last bunch of ESN minutes and last two bunches of code minutes for awhile, as Tracfone doesn't have any promos to speak of online currently. So I'd see if they're still available right now, or you may be out of luck until...who knows... Tracfone may revamp their lineup with some good deals Friday, but then again they may not and it will take me a week to get more phones\ESN minutes\code minutes in. Just saying...and by the way as an added bonus if you want some code minutes I have one batch available right now, as in I can get it within 24 hours of request. Which is nice...for 10 cents a minute especially...

Third, and last, is that I noticed a week or two ago that Wal-Mart is now selling the Nokia 2126 for around $30 ($29.98 I think) rather than $19.98 plus tax. Dang. Still a good phone though and I'll wager worth every penny of that $29.98, maybe more, but don't tell Tracfone that or they'll raise the price again :). Of course, they probably already know that everyone knows the 2126 is a quite solid phone.

And that's all the Tracfone news I have right now...until I get a shiny new LG 3280 of course...but then again there may be some news before that, like when it actually comes out!

But wait...one more thing...refer-a-friend is still there, on Tracfone's homepage. It's just a lot smaller, a text link, rather than a big banner. That's OK with me...

Tracfone Minutes

Just to let everyone know, I not have no more ESN minutes to sell for the time being. All I have left is one bunch of code minutes right now aqnd one bunch of code minutes that will be in stock maybe four days from now. And they'll probably go fast. So pick one up now! As an added bonus, I'll take 50 cents off if you pay via PayPal, or you can get both bunches for $26 ($2 off) via either PayPal or Google Checkout!

PrepaidWireless.com - Buy Anything Get $10 Free In Airtime

I was just contacted by one of the buys over at PrepaidWireless.com. They have a promo running (till the end of the year maybe?) where, after your first order, they give you $10 in reward points for your next order. Yes, that's right. Even if you buy some cheapie card you get $10 to buy another cheapie card. Sound pretty good to me. Especially considering their selection, which includes both phones (MovilListo and Mojo Mobile come to mind) and prepaid wireless cards. Another interesting thing they sell is TelCel (a Mexican communications giant) airtime.

Just letting everyone know...

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Oh Please...

Sorry everyone. I've been on a Boy Scout campout until this morning. I will update my minutes page and everything starting right now...no false advertising, just absence...

Friday, September 22, 2006

No More 60 minute cards

I aoplogize, but I'm out of 60-minute cards and I'm not getting any more in any time soon, as it appears. Sorry for any inconvenience. I will update the minutes page to reflect this.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Treacfone New Stuff...Phone and Activation Step

Well, Tracfone has just updated their phone lineup for GSM, as far as promos, and now they're taking more drastic measures...

In the activation process you can now port your number from an old Tracfone. Sweet. One less call to customer service for people who want a newer phone but not a new number. Of course, this will result in any referral program stuff being void, but hey, is your old number worth $12? If so, this is great.

And now for even bigger news since...wel...the introduction of the motorola c261. Maybe even bigger...

You see, Tracfone just put the LG 3280 on their website as coming soon. So what?It's LG, that's what! Tracfone, for the past four or so years, maybe more, has only carried nokia and Motorola phones. And now CDMA users have a fairly capable flip phone, which is a pretty big deal since the last CDMA flip was the Motorola v60, which has been out of stock for...um...somewhere around a year.

Not to say that the LG 3280 is anything extraordinarily new or advanced. It's just a no-caller-ID-screen, color, grey flip phone with a speakerphone. Basically the same as the LG 3200 that Verizon has had for about two years now. But hey, it's a color flip phone and will likely be cheap on Tracfone so I'm not complaining.

I'll likely get this phone sometime soon, as I want to get a CDMA Tracfone for myself. When I do get it I'll review it.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Tracfone Specials Change

After a month or so of having some (Nokia 2600) or other (Moto c155) refurb phone available for $20 with an unbelievable two 60-minute cards included, Tracfone has finally sold out of all its extra stock of these phones (apparently) and is just selling off the refurb Moto v170s with 1-year cards. Not such a great deal. But hey, I have four unactivated phones of different sorts (3 Motos, one Nokia) and a few 60-minute cards so don't worry; you can still buy minutes from me though Tracfone's prices have gone up comparatively.

Also, Refer-A-Friend isn't shown on the homepage of Tracfone anymore, but it still works. See my post about it to get the link to it.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

TuYo!

I just today called TuYo Mobile (1-877-GET-TUYO) to claim not one but two totally free SIM cards (each has $10 worth of credit on it) for their service...nice...

Especially since

1) TuYo runs on T-Mobile's network, including roaming (I caught my Nokia 3120 on Cellular One here!)
2) TuYo's plans are nice and inexpensive for voice, with long expirations (10 cents a minute plus 10 cents to connect for low-volume users; cards as low as $10 expire in 90 days)
3) Text messages are 5 cents to send and 2 cents to receive (so you can receive twice as many texts as you send and it'll still equal out to less than 10 cents per message to send\free to receive, which is getting rarer anyway); MMS is 25 cents to send and a mere 5 cents to receive
4) The customer service rep I talked to said that normal, priced-per-day-or-per-meg internet is in the works! (This is a biggie for me because I now have a Palm TX which I can use in conjunction with my Bluetooth-enabled Siemens s56 to access internet anywhere, provided I have service that'll let me do it)

So I'd say get one or two of these SIMs while you can! It's a pretty nice deal.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Google Checkout Now Functional!

Just letting everyone know that Google Checkout is now functional, which means that I can now take credit card orders on my Tracfone airtime. Enjoy! And yes, the page has moved to my own webhost, instead of Google's. But anyway, hope this helps everyone who prefers to pay via credit card than via bank account. As an added bonus, there will be no extra credit card processing fee! Again, enjoy!

Friday, September 08, 2006

New CheapPhoneCards Coupon

Well, it looks like the new 5% off coupon is....save8. Just letting everyone know...

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Tracfone...Where's The Refer-a-Friend?!?

I was just looking on Tracfone's wensote tonight to activate yet another phone, and I discovered to my horror that the refer-a-friend link was no longer there! Wierd.

No matter though. Probably just a site redesign. You can get at a refer-a-friend page here:

tracfone.com/sell_a_friend.jsp

Just as a teaser for the upcoming Motorola c155 review, this phone would be great if it weren't for two big flaws: styling and, more importantly, reception. More on that when I can write about it...as it is it's past my bedtime already :)