# Any suggestions for a basic cell phone?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-suggestions-for-a-basic-cell-phone/575677
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 23, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-suggestions-for-a-basic-cell-phone/575677 "2011-03-23T02:12:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-suggestions-for-a-basic-cell-phone/575677/1 "2011-03-23T02:12:22Z")
So I’ll have to get a cell phone for a job. I don’t intend to use it much, it’s more about being on call for my employer. Also, I may change it in 6 to 12 months when my phone needs change. I want something I won’t be likely to break and small enough to be in a suit pocket without bulging much. Also, since I’ll carry it in court, I want to be able to rely the vibrating functions only. An integrated answering machine would be nice if such a thing exists for cell phones. Any ideas?
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### Author:  [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-suggestions-for-a-basic-cell-phone/575677/2 "2011-03-23T02:56:12Z")
Really, any cheapy, pay as you go cell phone would do what you want. They’re all pretty small and thin at this point, unless you get a smartphone. The “integrated answering machine” you mentioned is voicemail, which is also available for most any phone, although you may have to pay extra for this feature if you have a pay as you go phone.
I don’t know, however, what you mean by your cell phone needing “change” as I’ve never heard of this.
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### Author:  [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-suggestions-for-a-basic-cell-phone/575677/3 "2011-03-23T02:58:21Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#):
>
> Really, any cheapy, pay as you go cell phone would do what you want. They’re all pretty small and thin at this point, unless you get a smartphone. The “integrated answering machine” you mentioned is voicemail, which is also available for most any phone, although you may have to pay extra for this feature if you have a pay as you go phone.
>
> I don’t know, however, what you mean by your cell phone needing “change” as I’ve never heard of this.
I mean get another one because I will need more than basic voice communication. Like checking email, web etc.
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### Author:  [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-suggestions-for-a-basic-cell-phone/575677/4 "2011-03-23T03:07:51Z")
If you’ve never had a cell phone, and don’t want to tie yourself into a long-term plan at this point, you can get a basic phone with a pay as you go plan from a company like Boost Mobile.
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### Author:  [@Dano83860](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dano83860)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-suggestions-for-a-basic-cell-phone/575677/5 "2011-03-23T04:19:54Z")
Go down to Walmart and get a Tracphone. Twenty bucks gets you a basic phone with voice mail. It’s pay as you go so you add time as you need it with no contract to tie you down.😃
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### Author:  [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-suggestions-for-a-basic-cell-phone/575677/6 "2011-03-23T04:27:13Z")
Perhaps I should mention that I’m in Canada.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-suggestions-for-a-basic-cell-phone/575677/7 "2011-03-23T13:58:49Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#):
>
> Perhaps I should mention that I’m in Canada.
Well, then here’s a [quick list](http://www.prepaidreviews.ca/bestrated.html) of the supposed best prepaid phones in Canada. Most if not all of them of them seem to have voice mail.
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### Author:  [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-suggestions-for-a-basic-cell-phone/575677/8 "2011-03-23T17:52:22Z")
> [@Dano83860](#):
>
> Go down to Walmart and get a Tracphone. Twenty bucks gets you a basic phone with voice mail. It’s pay as you go so you add time as you need it with no contract to tie you down.😃
My spouse uses TracFone. She needs one for her job but much of the job is in meeting where she cannot answer immediately so she lets all calls go to voice mail and then retrieves the messages between meetings. She has been doing this for about four years. She goes to a lot of remote areas in the Southwest and the only problem she has had is it would not work in a an area Northwest of San Antonio, Texas.