Need Advice on Cell Phones

[Werewolf]

$29.99/mo gets you 200 minutes with nights after 9pm and all weekend free.

My wife and all three grown daughters are on T-Mobile. They get exactly the features with 300 minutes for $29.99. But I don't need 300 minutes. When my wife goes to CA a couple times a year to see her parents I get the phone. ZERO minutes.

I could add a phone on my wife's plan for $10 or so but that extends the contract and we don't really want to do that. Once it runs out we're going to go month to month if T-Mobile allows it or tell 'em to pack sand and find a cell company with better coverage if they don't.

I'm looking into the tracphone thing where minutes carry over as long as you buy more every 90 days or so. Works out to aobut $7/month from what I can tell. I'm cheap - why should I give that $3 extra a month to T-Mobile a company I'm not a huge fan of anyway.

As for Spint... I've heard horror stories about them both from friends and on the various online News sites.

[Sawdust]

My wife and I have used Tracfones for the last four years.

For us, since we don't use cell phones that much, it is much cheaper than "regular" cell phone plans.

We do the one year card thing; that way it is the cheapest, and we don't have to keep paying attention to when the phone will expire.

Now, possibly stupid question:

I have a couple of old, expired Tracfones that I have stashed in strategic places around the house to use as "911" phones - how can I tell if they are analog or digital (so I can determine if they will actually work to call 911 - short of calling 911 to test, which I obviously do not want to do)?

Sawdust

[HankB]

What a timely thread . . . I'm planning on getting a cell (dinosaur that I am, I don't have one yet  ) and Tracfone looks like it will meet my needs for the least amount of money . . . and if things really turn out lousy with it, I figure I wouldn't be stuck with a pricey contract, I'd only be out my initial investment.

I have a couple of old, expired Tracfones that I have stashed in strategic places around the house to use as "911" phones - how can I tell if they are analog or digital (so I can determine if they will actually work to call 911 - short of calling 911 to test, which I obviously do not want to do)?

If there's a model number, check out the manufacturer's (Motorola?) website.

I remember reading somewhere that if you call just once to verify that you can get through, the 911 operators won't get upset. But since I don't remember where I read it, and different jurisdictions may have different laws, I'd suggest calling your local police department's non-emergency business number during regular hours to verify local policy.

[doc2rn]

Virgin Mobile only costs $20 every 3 mo.s, and is the cheapest route. I have this one because I use less than 7 mins a month. It allows me the availability of the sitter to call me at school incase of an emergency, and my parents can call to invite me over. The best part is you dont lose any of the money you put on the phone. When you get to a certain level it lasts for a yr like on mine I pay $80 in Jan and just wait till the next yr to add more.

[WeedWhacker]

Those are some sucky pre-paid plans.

Cingular (now AT&T) has a 10-cent per minute plan whose prepaid time expires one YEAR from the initial purchase, but that date is renewed for another YEAR every time any amount is added to the prepaid total. The downside is they charge you a buck every day you use your phone.

T-Mobile, on the other hand, also has the same basic 10-cent, 1-year expiration although it renews the balance for a year upon adding to the balance, but DOES NOT charge any stupid extra fees.

Guess who I have prepaid service with...