My cell phone contract is up in 2 months. I’m still using an old dumbphone, and I’d like to upgrade to a smartphone. But I can’t afford an expensive plan. $50 a month is my absolute upper limit (I’m currently paying $35/month for 300 minutes and 500 texts). I ruled out all the major carriers–even Tmobile, the cheapest one, is above my maximum price-point.
So I was eyeballing Virgin’s unlimited data/text plan + 300-minutes for $35/month. I checked the coverage map, and they have full 3g in my area (at home, at work, all the routes I regularly drive, and my mom’s house). The only limitation I can see is that I’d have to pay up-front for a phone from Virgin’s specific list–which I’m okay with, since there’s no contract. It all looks too good to be true for those prices, though. So, I’m looking to the Dope for opinions and experiences with them. I’d also appreciate any information on the phones themselves. Any duds to avoid? I’m hoping to get a $100 phone, leaning toward the Venture (which appears to be quite new).
I’m quite happy with my VM plan and phone. I don’t always get very good reception at home, but didn’t when I had TMobile, either. I have an LG Optimus V, and it works great. My daughter has an Intercept, and it sucks. It’s been replaced with a new Intercept, and it still sucks, just a bad phone. I have no complaints other than that. I wouldn’t get the Venture as it only has a 2mp camera and not much screen area. The Optimus Slider was on sale a couple weeks ago at Best Buy for $159 with a $20 card, so $139. The regular Optimus is often around $100 at Best Buy. And they’re often on sale at the VM website. But I’d get a phone at a brick and mortar place so if you decide you don’t like it within the 30 days return period it’s easy to return.
I’ve had 3 phones replaced by VM within the year warranty period, and each time they sent out a new phone right away, no hassle whatsoever.
One nice thing with prepaid is that when it says $35/month, it really is, unlike monthly contracts where $35/mo really equals $50/mo. You’ll recoup the cost of your phone soon enough.
I have an LG Optimus V also. I’m not a big phone user so not much help here. But my phone works when I want it to, so no complaints. What I like about VM is that I don’t have to link it to a credit/debit card. I just leave enough cash balance with top-up cards, and my monthly bill is paid from there.
I’ve been using Virgin Mobile for about eight years, and have been happy with it. I, too, have the LG Optimus V. You can usually find it on sale for $100 or less. It’s a solid, reliable phone. Virgin Mobile uses the Sprint network. I think it’s a good deal.
I’ve had my Virgin plan for many years. I can’t remember any times when I’ve had serious problems with it. I may not get the coverage that other people do, but I’m not that worried about it. I wouldn’t switch now as the cost is too good to.
I’ve had the same freakin’ phone for seven years and it still hasn’t konked out on me. I’m happy with Virgin Mobile’s pay as you go plan, too, even though my plan is around 25 cents a minute and 10 cents a text, since I make so few calls it’s still less than $20 a month.
Thanks for the recs on the Optimus V! I see it has Swype keyboard capability. How does Swype compare to a slide-out keyboard?
Fortunately, it’s actually under $100 on Amazon right now, so I think I’ll get that one when the time comes. I can start doing some Mechanical Turking now to help make it even cheaper. =)
You don’t need to use the Swype, you can just press the virtual keys. I don’t have large fingers, but I have a lot of trouble hitting the right keys as they’re about half the size of my fingertip. I had no better luck Swyping for the same reason. Another reason you might want to buy from a brick and mortar is you might find the Optimus with the slide-out keyboard more to your liking and not want to have to deal with mailing your phone back in. With the slide-out keyboard, you can still use the virtual keys if you like them. It’s not much thicker than the regular Optimus. I am fine with my virtual keyboard, but my daughters hate them. If you can try them out first at the store, you’ll have a better idea of what you like.
Be aware that the battery life is very short on these smartphones, in case you’re used to the long battery life of a dumbphone. They all seem to be that way. I can usually get through a whole day if I don’t do too much playing around on it, but I found it prudent to get a couple separate batteries and stand-alone charger and keep a spare battery on me.
I had Virgin Mobile for about a year, using an Optimus V. The service was fine, the price was great, and the phone was acceptable. I ultimately ditched it because I decided I was willing to pay extra to have an iPhone, but I still think VM is an amazingly good deal and I was happy with the service.
Isn’t the Optimus with the slide-out keyboard quite a bit more expensive? I don’t think I’ll be able to afford that kind of outlay. Optimally I’d prefer that, of course. I’m not big on touchscreen keyboards (I have a Kindle Fire and it’s pretty obnoxious). I’m hoping Swype will make it sufficiently bearable. Either way, it’s still better than texting with the 0-9 keypaid I’m currently using
Thanks for the tip on the battery life. I’m probably going to pick up a car charger and just get used to plugging it in at the times I’m not using it.
I’ve had the LG Optimus Slider for about 6 months. I’ve been happy with the service, although I’ve come to realize that you can’t get a top-notch smartphone with Virgin Mobile. I chose the Optimus Slider because it had the most recent version of Android of all the Virgin Mobile phones (at least it did when I bought it). Still, there are some apps that I can’t get because the phone’s OS is too old. My 8-year-old was devastated when Temple Run came out for Android and it turned out that I couldn’t get it for my phone.
My battery life improved a lot (still a lot shorter than for a dumbphone) when I turned off the wifi and GPS. It’s easy to turn them back on if I need to. I do use the sliding keyboard quite a lot, but it’s not a dealbreaker.
All in all, I think Virgin Mobile is a great value. This is my first smartphone, so I’m just happy that I have access to the web and basic apps.
Thanks, Wednesday! I already have a Kindle Fire so I can play games and stuff on that. I mostly want a smartphone for 3g internet access (the Fire is strictly wifi) and mapping capability. GPS wouldn’t hurt, but it’s not a requirement.
I had a $20 ‘burner’ phone and used VM pay as you go. No drama. (When referring to a phone company, that says a lot.) Even ported the number to my Android phone.
I have swype on this phone, but I never really tried to use it. I use a free 3rd party keyboard called Thickbuttons. It’s got great auto-predict for words and the keys change size as you type, based on probability.
I’m on BoostMobile. You should get the same coverage as Virgin Mobile, because they are both owned by Sprint and use the same network. One of the reasons I chose BM is because I was happy with the coverage and just wanted a cheaper and simpler plan.
The Monthly Unlimited with Shrinkage. It started out $50, but it has shrunk to $40 and is going to drop to $35 in another month. Add another $5 per month for an Android phone plan. I just set it to automatically take the money from my credit card every monthm so I never have to worry about missing payments.
If you want an Android phone, then the Samsung Prevail looks like a pretty good bang for the buck.
Don’t count on coverage maps. I found a site where you can find the actual towers and their specs. A cell phone plan is never a bargain if you can’t make and receive phone calls when you need to. I don’t have a home phone, so reliable service is doubly important. I have a nice tall Sprint tower a mile from my house, so I can make calls from interior rooms. Picking a phone with good reception is the first item on my feature list also. If a Smartphone doesn’t work well as a phone, I don’t care what else it does.
I’ve been checking out BoostMobile, as it looks like a good deal for unlimited everything. But I had to help a friend with an issue she was having, and had to speak with a customer service rep, and was not able to get past the recordings. Ever. I’ve been able to google ways to reach a human, but that’s nuts to have to resort to. At least with VM, you can easily reach a living person. I’ve had many issues, all of which were quickly resolved with the help of live humans.
Except for the small screen size which makes web viewing a trial. The Optimus is about the same price.
What is this site? My house is in such a dead zone that I get no reception in my bedroom or my basement. I’d love to see this site.
The trick with Boost is to email your problem and have them call you. The bottom line is if you are the kind of person that needs handholding, then expect to pay more.
You are comparing a $200 phone to a $150 phone. For $200 I would go with the ZTE Warp.
There are tricks to using this web site. First search for antenna, not towers. The phone companies often lease space on a tower. The next trick is to figure out which Antennas belong to your phone company. Also pay attention to the height of the tower and the broadcast power on the antenna. Frankly asking for decent reception in your basement is a stretch. You might need a signal booster.
I had some friends with a beach house and after I mapped it out the best reception was with AT&T, which had a big tower with line of sight of their house. For some people, they may be better off to install Skype on their phone and make calls using wifi.
Sorry, but the correct answer is still email. I don’t know why you want to hang on a phone and talk to an actual human. That isn’t to say that their web site couldn’t stand major improvements. They really need to automate more of the account information, where I don’t need to send an email to get answers.
My ideal business relationship would be something like Netflix, where I’ve had a membership for 6 years and never had to talk to a human being. Companies that require you to actually talk to a human to perform simple transactions are companies that are wasting my time and money.
Not with Virgin, but I have had the experience of endless back-and-forths over email with people who, no doubt following their training, scan the email for keywords and then cut and paste a response for the manual. Had the individual really read the short one-paragraph email, they would have understood their responses to be off-topic.
Over the phone, you can force someone to answer your question by politely saying, “I’m sorry, I don’t believe I’ve expressed myself clearly. That’s not the issue.” Eventually, they are forced to think about it. With email, they never have to.