Trying to find a cell phone plan

[SouthsideDon48]

Hey everyone, I'm hoping I can find some help here, because I'm at my wit's end.

 

Basically this is my problem: my current cell phone contract with T-mobile will be expiring soon, and they're telling me they won't let me renew it because it's no longer offered (the contract was originally signed in 2004) and because they think they're giving too much for what they're charging me.

 

My current plan (my current phone is the Sidekick3), which is perfect for me has unlimited text messages, unlimited internet, unlimited aim/yim, and unlimited email. I also have 60 minutes a month on my plan. I don't make many phone calls each month, I very rarely make phone calls and when I do they're brief calls to work or relatives and friends. I never have long drawn-out conversations on the phone, I just use text/aim for that.

 

Basically my plan is a plan that was offered to people that are deaf or hearing impaired like me. But what T-mobile did was restructure the plan for new customers a few years ago by leaving all the free texts/internet/instant messaging/email intact, but taking away the 60 free calling minutes a month. Basically they changed it from a "data plan plus 60 calling minutes" to just a "data plan" and the phone won't be able to send or receive calls besides to 911. This isn't acceptable for me, because I like to have at least 60 minutes on my phone for emergencies. There were times when my car broke down that having minutes on my phone was handy.

 

Now if I want to get a new phone with T-mobile, I have to get a plan that will cost me $79 a month with 300 calling minutes, which I don't even need because I'll never exceed more than 60 minutes a month on the phone anyway. I currently pay $50 a month under my current plan, and it pisses me off that if I stay with T-mobile that Ill have to pay an extra $30 a month for phone minutes that I won't use up.

 

Anyone have any ideas for any other cell phone companies where I can find more reasonable rates?

 

Tmobile will be deactivating all Sidekick phones on May 31st, so ill have to get a new phone anyway. I'm hoping I can find a phone (doesn't matter what phone company) that would have the following features:

*Android (so I can have the ability to multitask on the phone like the Sidekick)

*qwerty keyboard (such as Evo Shift or Tmobile G4 or the new upcoming Sidekick 4G)

*unlimited texts

*unlimited internet with ability to watch youtube videos

*unlimited instant messaging

*unlimited email

*60 calling minutes or so. (lowest minutes I can find is 250 with Virgin, but they're pre-paid phones and it sounds like it'll be more of a hassle if they're pre-paid)

*4G network, but not as important as everything else above.

 

I looked around and even went to some cell phone stores, but I always felt like they were trying to upsell me for the more expensive plans and that they weren't trying to fit my needs. Isn't there any cell phone plans out there that are more customizable? I don't want to pay more than $50 a month. I'll be willing to pay as much as $60, but that's pushing it because I think it would be ridiculous to pay any more than that.

 

Any ideas, guys?

[nitetrain8601]

Sprint's Unlimited plan for $69.99 would be good for you. If you do electronic billing, you get a $5.00 credit and for most companies, they have a discount. I get 27%. If you're a student, you can probably search student discount, Sprint on the web and find something. Either way, you'll get Unlimited Data and a whole lot of minutes.

[JorgeFabregas]

How much travelling do you do? If not much and you live near an urban center, I would recommend Virgin. They have two Android phones (the better of the two is the LG Optimus, but the Samsung Intercept is one with a keyboard). Plans with unlimited data/email, texting, and 300 minutes start at $25/month. It uses Sprint's native 3G network (not 4G). Target and Best Buy have the Optimus on sale this week. I would recommend trying it out and seeing if it works for you, then returning it if not. The coverage is a little spotty and they don't allow roaming (check out their coverage area maps).

 

The Intercept will be getting v. 2.2 of Android on March 22nd.

 

The prepayment isn't much of a hassle and you can schedule automatic payments.

 

There are rumors about Virgin getting a new Android device later this year. I don't know if it will have a qwerty keyboard, but if you got the Virgin route you might want to upgrade later because it will likely have a faster radio/antenna than the Intercept.

Edited March 5, 2011 by JorgeFabregas

[SouthsideDon48]

Sprint's Unlimited plan for $69.99 would be good for you. If you do electronic billing, you get a $5.00 credit and for most companies, they have a discount. I get 27%. If you're a student, you can probably search student discount, Sprint on the web and find something. Either way, you'll get Unlimited Data and a whole lot of minutes.

Thanks for the reply, Nite.

 

I was actually thinking of that plan from Sprint, but it's currently my plan B because I really don't want to pay that much per month. $69.99 is pushing it for me, unless the discounts ends up lowering the monthly payment to a more comfortable rate such as around $50 a month or so.

 

While it's nice that there's a lot of minutes, it's more than I really need because I rarely make phone calls. I was hoping there was a phone plan out there somewhere where I can give up calling minutes for a lower rate while still having unlimited data for texts and internet. I just wish there were more customizable plans out there where I can get just 100 minutes and pay $20 less a month or so.

 

99% of the time I'm always using the internet, texts, and aim on my phone.

[SouthsideDon48]

How much travelling do you do? If not much and you live near an urban center, I would recommend Virgin. They have two Android phones (the better of the two is the LG Optimus, but the Samsung Intercept is one with a keyboard). Plans with unlimited data/email, texting, and 300 minutes start at $25/month. It uses Sprint's native 3G network (not 4G). Target and Best Buy have the Optimus on sale this week. I would recommend trying it out and seeing if it works for you, then returning it if not. The coverage is a little spotty and they don't allow roaming (check out their coverage area maps).

 

The Intercept will be getting v. 2.2 of Android on March 22nd.

 

The prepayment isn't much of a hassle and you can schedule automatic payments.

 

There are rumors about Virgin getting a new Android device later this year. I don't know if it will have a qwerty keyboard, but if you got the Virgin route you might want to upgrade later because it will likely have a faster radio/antenna than the Intercept.

Hey Jorge, thanks for replying.

I really don't do that much travelling, and when I do it's usually to other cities such as Vegas.

 

I'm seriously considering the Samsung Intercept, and the 25/month prepay plan.

 

Do you have any experience with the prepay plans from Virgin? Is this something where, if I have to make a phone call, that I'll have to punch in codes from a pre-pay phone card?

 

Or is it simplified by just pre-paying once a month and you can just make phone calls without having to punch in codes from a prepay phone card?

 

And do you have to "update" your phone everyday with the prepay information?

 

An android phone for 25 a month sounds awesome. I'm gonna have to look at the coverage map. I live in the south suburbs (Orland/Tinley area) hopefully there won't be a lot of dead zones or anything. Have you had Virgin phones before? In what way was the signal spotty?

[flippedoutpunk]

69.99 sounds fantastic for unlimited. I pay 105 a month for my god forsaken iphone unlimited plan

[JorgeFabregas]

Hey Jorge, thanks for replying.

I really don't do that much travelling, and when I do it's usually to other cities such as Vegas.

 

I'm seriously considering the Samsung Intercept, and the 25/month prepay plan.

 

Do you have any experience with the prepay plans from Virgin? Is this something where, if I have to make a phone call, that I'll have to punch in codes from a pre-pay phone card?

 

Or is it simplified by just pre-paying once a month and you can just make phone calls without having to punch in codes from a prepay phone card?

 

And do you have to "update" your phone everyday with the prepay information?

 

An android phone for 25 a month sounds awesome. I'm gonna have to look at the coverage map. I live in the south suburbs (Orland/Tinley area) hopefully there won't be a lot of dead zones or anything. Have you had Virgin phones before? In what way was the signal spotty?

I have a dumb phone from Virgin. It worked fine in the western suburbs when I lived there--I didn't spend much time in the south suburbs. Their data and SMS can be a little dodgy. Definitely check out the map.

 

No, the prepayment doesn't work like that at all. I have it set up so that paypal sends my monthly fee to them each month. If you are going for the Intercept, then I would wait until they roll out Android 2.2. I don't know when they'll be done rolling it out, but as I mentioned they are starting later this month.

 

 

[hogan873]

I think Cricket has a decent plan for about $60 a month with unlimited texts and web. I'm not sure about call minutes.

[nitetrain8601]

Thanks for the reply, Nite.

 

I was actually thinking of that plan from Sprint, but it's currently my plan B because I really don't want to pay that much per month. $69.99 is pushing it for me, unless the discounts ends up lowering the monthly payment to a more comfortable rate such as around $50 a month or so.

 

While it's nice that there's a lot of minutes, it's more than I really need because I rarely make phone calls. I was hoping there was a phone plan out there somewhere where I can give up calling minutes for a lower rate while still having unlimited data for texts and internet. I just wish there were more customizable plans out there where I can get just 100 minutes and pay $20 less a month or so.

 

99% of the time I'm always using the internet, texts, and aim on my phone.

 

I'd probably say, your best bet would be pre-paid or getting a device that depends on Wi-Fi or get a tablet and use that. Get Google Voice and you can make your phone calls using that.

 

[bigruss]

69.99 sounds fantastic for unlimited. I pay 105 a month for my god forsaken iphone unlimited plan

Add $10 a month for 4g phones.

[Y2HH]

69.99 sounds fantastic for unlimited. I pay 105 a month for my god forsaken iphone unlimited plan

 

Sounds like you are overpaying for a phone that holds rollover minutes...how much do you actually talk on the phone that you need unlimited everything?

 

Another scam are these tiered data plans -- MOST people spend 90-95% of their time on WiFi, using no OTA data...yet spend 30$ a month for an unlimited plan they will never use.

 

I dropped my data plan to 2gigs, and I'm further considering dropping to to 200 megs...my average monthly data use is about 150mb, considering I'm almost always on WiFi no matter where I go.

 

I have 2 iPhones and 1 regular phone on my AT&T plan, unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited txt, 2 gigs of data on each iPhone -- 550 anytime minutes, nights/weekends free, and I have about 2500 rollover minutes as of now. I pay 150$ for all 3.

[hogan873]

Sounds like you are overpaying for a phone that holds rollover minutes...how much do you actually talk on the phone that you need unlimited everything?

 

Another scam are these tiered data plans -- MOST people spend 90-95% of their time on WiFi, using no OTA data...yet spend 30$ a month for an unlimited plan they will never use.

 

I dropped my data plan to 2gigs, and I'm further considering dropping to to 200 megs...my average monthly data use is about 150mb, considering I'm almost always on WiFi no matter where I go.

 

I have 2 iPhones and 1 regular phone on my AT&T plan, unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited txt, 2 gigs of data on each iPhone -- 550 anytime minutes, nights/weekends free, and I have about 2500 rollover minutes as of now. I pay 150$ for all 3.

 

I have almost the exact same plan. I don't use the phone for calls very often, but I use the web a lot and text a fair amount. I sometimes cringe when paying the bill, but looking at the other plans out there (considering two smart phones and a regular phone), I think it's a decent deal.

[flippedoutpunk]

Sounds like you are overpaying for a phone that holds rollover minutes...how much do you actually talk on the phone that you need unlimited everything?

 

Another scam are these tiered data plans -- MOST people spend 90-95% of their time on WiFi, using no OTA data...yet spend 30$ a month for an unlimited plan they will never use.

 

I dropped my data plan to 2gigs, and I'm further considering dropping to to 200 megs...my average monthly data use is about 150mb, considering I'm almost always on WiFi no matter where I go.

 

I have 2 iPhones and 1 regular phone on my AT&T plan, unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited txt, 2 gigs of data on each iPhone -- 550 anytime minutes, nights/weekends free, and I have about 2500 rollover minutes as of now. I pay 150$ for all 3.

 

i have the minimum minute plan which is like 450 minutes a month, then unlimited data and unlimited text.. i could probably get rid of unlimited text and save about 10 dollars. im keeping the unlimited data plan because its not being offered anymore so if i lose it ill never get it back.

[Y2HH]

i have the minimum minute plan which is like 450 minutes a month, then unlimited data and unlimited text.. i could probably get rid of unlimited text and save about 10 dollars. im keeping the unlimited data plan because its not being offered anymore so if i lose it ill never get it back.

 

You will eventually lose it anyway.

[SouthsideDon48]

The more I'm thinking about it, the more I'm thinking of going to Virgin Mobile and getting the LG Optimus V phone with a $25 unlimited data (unlimited internet/texts/instant messages/email) and 300 calling minutes plan.

 

So far this seems like the perfect plan for me. It has the lowest amount of calling minutes and gives me the unlimited data I need.

 

Does anyone have any experience with Virgin Mobile?

Edited March 12, 2011 by SouthsideDon48

[kjshoe04]

I used virgin mobile 7-8 years ago in central Illinois and don't remember having any major problems.

[flippedoutpunk]

You will eventually lose it anyway.

 

well until that time comes then.. i use my iphone as a hotspot alll the darn time instead of using my college's uber slow wifi in the library. im sure if i didnt have unlimited data that i would be way over the data limit. a lot of nefarious downloading goes on when im on the internets

[JorgeFabregas]

The more I'm thinking about it, the more I'm thinking of going to Virgin Mobile and getting the LG Optimus V phone with a $25 unlimited data (unlimited internet/texts/instant messages/email) and 300 calling minutes plan.

 

So far this seems like the perfect plan for me. It has the lowest amount of calling minutes and gives me the unlimited data I need.

 

Does anyone have any experience with Virgin Mobile?

Don, the LG Optimus for Virgin Mobile is currently available on Best Buy's site for $20 off the normal price.

[SouthsideDon48]

Don, the LG Optimus for Virgin Mobile is currently available on Best Buy's site for $20 off the normal price.

Hey Jorge,

 

Thank you very much!

 

I went to Best Buy, but the were out and they said all the other Best Buys were out as well. But what I did was I grabbed the Best Buy salespaper and went to Target and they price-matched the Best Buy price. Now I got my Optimus phone at the same price as Best Buy!

 

Thanks a bunch, dude.