Should I Stay Or Should I Go ?

[yomuppet]

Personally, I need at least 250 minutes per month, so T-Mobile's plan wouldn't work for me at all. However, T-Mo's data is better from what I've been told, so if 100 minutes is enough then you should make a move.

You can use minutes beyond 100 for 10 cents each - so 250 minutes total would cost you $45/mo on Tmo

[Jay Won]

i'm staying because whole purpose of me using VM is because i got a crappy job. as much as i want to upgrade from optimus v to newer phone, i gotta suck it up and stay with $25 plan.

[davoice]

I'm in the process of making this same decision myself. I've come down to 3 options. Thankfully I carry 2 cell phones and my VM line was really never my main line. I originally only got the VM $25 plan to use as a backup data plan when I travel to places where WiFi isn't available. Haven't used it more than 4 times in the past year - so it's not like that's a huge need but it has been convenient to have in my bag. VM's SLOW data speeds on 3G don't really make it compelling anyway. I always preference wireline driven WiFi when I can find it.

I use Google Voice to glue my 2 phones together thus I have the luxury of changing services w/o having to deal with porting a number. (The only thing I lose in that "glue" is MMS from people on providers other than Sprint - no real loss for me since all my friends use email, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook for pics anyway.)

Here's my current thinking in order of preference at the moment...


1) Stick it out w/ the Optimus V until late summer/early fall and switch to Republic Wireless when possible. I'm in Beta Wave C w/ Republic Wireless. Beta Wave B will have just the Optimus S/V equivalent but supposedly they'll have a mid-range phone (reportedly similar to the Galaxy Nexus and based on their survey form price points it's entirely possible it will be the Galaxy Nexus) for Wave C. Since RW is running on the Sprint network when it's off WiFi, I expect it will perform similarly to VM. This route actually decreases my monthly expense by $5/mo.

2) Switch to T-Mobile on the $30/mo plan with the Exhibit II. 100 minutes is enough for me since I can lean on my other cell plan (currently Page Plus "The 12" - i.e. 250 min/250 text/10mb data for $12/mo) and up it if needed. Only downside is I was hoping for my next phone to run ICS out of the box. This phone seems to still be a WIP in the dev community for ICS and Samsung is mum on official updates for it. Other downside is that I lose coverage in my hometown where I grew up - i.e. no coverage when I go home to visit parents/family. Not a total loss since I carry 2 phones and the PagePlus one runs on Verizon w/ full coverage at home. This route raises my monthly expense $5/mo.

3) Suck it up and buy the Galaxy Nexus from Google for $399 and put a StraightTalk SIM in it for AT&T for $45/mo. This does raise my effective cash outlay $20/mo but it nets me 5-10mbps x 1-2mbps data speeds on the phone and gives me AT&T native coverage - which is pretty darn good here in my home states of NC and SC.

For the moment, I'm in a holding pattern to see how quickly Republic Wireless rolls out Beta Wave B. My inner geek wants to plunk down the money for the Galaxy Nexus but my inner tightwad is winning the argument. If my Optimus V starts to have problems before RW's Beta Wave C gets here, and I have the cash, option 3 will likely win out.

[mfrerkes]

i'm staying because whole purpose of me using VM is because i got a crappy job. as much as i want to upgrade from optimus v to newer phone, i gotta suck it up and stay with $25 plan.

As one crappy job worker to another, I feel your pain. The place I was working in 2010 suddenly went out of business on New Year's Eve...two weeks after I became the company's most tenured employee. Back when I had that job, I was getting the newest phone every five or six months and didn't care how much I was spending for service. In fact, I had both the Blackberry Bold and Intercept active on two seperate plans at the same time.

Once I lost that job and was forced on unemployment, I had to sell the Blackberry and drop that second line. I've been clinging to my grandfathered $25 plan ever since. My current employer only gives me 27 hours per week at $8/hour...and I beat out 75 other applicants for that particular job. That shows you just how crappy the job market still is after all this time.

Anyway, I simply can't justify spending $45/month for an ST plan that gives me more minutes than I need and could drop me for streaming some Pandora in the car. T-Mobile doesn't have service where I live, and even if it was available, I'd end up going over the 100-minute limit 12 days into the cycle. I'll just have to grin and bear another several months of the $25/Triumph configuration. It really isn't all that bad, except for the VM data issues.

[mfrerkes]

You can use minutes beyond 100 for 10 cents each - so 250 minutes total would cost you $45/mo on Tmo

Like I said in an earlier post, T-Mobile doesn't service the market where I live. I was just speaking hypothetically if it were available. Given my current financial situation, I'm probably best served by clinging to my $25/month grandfathered plan.

Boost and Straight Talk might have better data, but I'd be wasting $20-$30 every month to get it. Plus, I've heard Boost has their own speed problems and ST drops people without warning. Meanwhile...US Cellular, AT&T, and Verizon are absolutely rip jobs for pre-paid service. You're almost better off to get locked into a crappy contract through those carriers.

[eggsalad]

I've thought about t-mo... The 100-minute plan is a decent deal, and would generally work for me, but the annualized costs for the phones is ridiculous - and you have to factor in the cost of the phone itself into your overall costs.

[mfrerkes]

I've thought about t-mo... The 100-minute plan is a decent deal, and would generally work for me, but the annualized costs for the phones is ridiculous - and you have to factor in the cost of the phone itself into your overall costs.

That is another reason why I have stayed with VM. Spending big bucks for an unlocked GSM phone to use for a year or so on pre-paid doesn't really save you much money in the long run. It might have better specs and run on a better data network, but suddenly I'm spending like it's a post-paid contract.

I'm with Virgin Mobile to lower my cost of having a cell phone. Period. The Triumph is a happy medium between an ultra-high end phone and the Intercept in terms of both annualized cost and functionality. The current $25 plan I'm on allows me to maximize the low overhead.

[kinzue]

I heard with Walmart's Tmobile prepaid plan, you can only use phones purchased at Walmart.
Anyone else hear this ?

[billm261]

I heard with Walmart's Tmobile prepaid plan, you can only use phones purchased at Walmart.
Anyone else hear this ?

Any T-Mobile phone you want.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using HowardForums

[Willow16]

I heard with Walmart's Tmobile prepaid plan, you can only use phones purchased at Walmart.
Anyone else hear this ?

Nope. I bought a Sidekick 4G and activated it on the $30 T-Mobile plan with no problem. You can also buy a phone on t-mobile.com in the monthly plan section.

[cookedgoose]

I've thought about t-mo... The 100-minute plan is a decent deal, and would generally work for me, but the annualized costs for the phones is ridiculous - and you have to factor in the cost of the phone itself into your overall costs.

That is another reason why I have stayed with VM. Spending big bucks for an unlocked GSM phone to use for a year or so on pre-paid doesn't really save you much money in the long run. It might have better specs and run on a better data network, but suddenly I'm spending like it's a post-paid contract.

I'm with Virgin Mobile to lower my cost of having a cell phone. Period. The Triumph is a happy medium between an ultra-high end phone and the Intercept in terms of both annualized cost and functionality. The current $25 plan I'm on allows me to maximize the low overhead.

Wat?! Where are you people getting this idea that you have to buy a new phone every year on T-Mobile?! Or that TMO phones are pricier?!

Your costs depends on what phone you bring to the T-Mobile network and how often you buy a new phone. If you spend $400 on a Nexus or Galaxy S2, of COURSE the upfront cost is going to be high. But it's still cheaper than the postpaid route. No one's forcing you to buy the most expensive phone. There are plenty of T-Mobile smartphones out there whose costs are comparable to Virgin Mobile smartphones. You guys seem to somehow believe Virgin Mobile phones are somehow cheaper. If anything they are--but only because they're extremely outdated and you're comparing outdated phones to newer phones!

In the same vein, impulsively buying a new phone every few months will also raise your costs. There's nothing in the world forcing you to buy a new phone every year. Your costs remain low so long as you limit your new phone purchases. I think that rule apples to just about anything.


The only real differences you should be concerned with is the $5 price increase and the fewer minutes. If you need a cheaper phone priced at $100-200, there are plenty of options out there. No one's forcing you to buy a new phone every year.

I'm on T-Mobile's network with an LG G2x which I have no plans to replace for a long while. I don't expect my smartphone-related needs to change anytime soon.

[eggsalad]

There's nothing in the world forcing you to buy a new phone every year.

Except for the fact that I've *never* had a cell phone last more than a year. Well, not since the mid 90s, when Motorola made tanks.

My OV cost $50 on Black Friday. I haven't seen a new, non-refutb Android on T-Mo for under $150. BIG difference.

[cookedgoose]

Except for the fact that I've *never* had a cell phone last more than a year. Well, not since the mid 90s, when Motorola made tanks.

My OV cost $50 on Black Friday. I haven't seen a new, non-refutb Android on T-Mo for under $150. BIG difference.

Dude, you're extrapolating purely from personal experience.


And Black Friday pricing? That's kind of a once a year thingie, yeah?.


T-Mobile Dart+$50 prepaid card for $100

But there's one example.


I will say that T-Mobile doesn't really cater heavily to sub-$100 smartphones. That's because postpaid customers are the ones it caters to the most. That means phones priced at $300+ new tend to get the most attention. But that doesn't mean people like me can't score sweet deals on "like new" smartphones on Craigslist and eBay.

But you just pay $50 give or take a few and you get a full-fledged smartphone that runs on a pretty reliable network. It's either that, or hopelessly wait for VM to refresh a dated lineup, which they amazingly have plans to do this time around for all the lack of rumors for the longest time! I paid $210 for a like new G2x on eBay. Rooted and flashed it, and it's running sweet. If I wished, I could resell my phone at loss later on down the road and get a discounted like new Lumia 900. It'll probably be 42mbps capable by the time it comes to TM. Probably won't as my G2x has proven to be reliable for everything I do with it. You certainly won't get the same variety of options with VM.

You must be really mistreating your phone if it can't last more than a year. Back when I was with VZW, I used to keep phones for up to 2 years all the time. The latest is my VM Samsung Intercept since December of 2010. I must've dropped it at least 10 times because it's really scratched up but still running fine. You might actually benefit from Virgin Mobile's $5/month insurance plan in that case.

I, for one, couldn't stand VM's slow 3G speeds. I need to be able to use my internet on the fly. I suppose I could pay $5 more a month and go with a Wimax plan in SF. The coverage is there, but I'm a bit wary of the high frequency and stuff I've heard about wimax usage being wonky indoors. The coverage map certainly wasn't uniform from what I could see.

[mfrerkes]

The only real differences you should be concerned with is the $5 price increase and the fewer minutes. If you need a cheaper phone priced at $100-200, there are plenty of options out there. No one's forcing you to buy a new phone every year.

I'm concerned about all aspects of the service: minutes, data speed, monthly cost, investment in another phone, etc.

Apart from the fact I can't even get T-Mobile where I live, I'd have a difficult time staying within 100 minutes for two weeks let alone an entire month. By the time you add up the additional minutes I'd be over each month and the cost of buying a decent unlocked GSM-capable device, suddenly VM's crappy data for $25/month doesn't seem like such a bad deal compared against the larger picture.

I'm glad you're happy with T-Mobile. They're not an option for me, and even if they were, my yearly cell phone expenditures would effectively double for a roughly comparable level of service.

[mch]

I'm concerned about all aspects of the service: minutes, data speed, monthly cost, investment in another phone, etc.

Apart from the fact I can't even get T-Mobile where I live, I'd have a difficult time staying within 100 minutes for two weeks let alone an entire month. By the time you add up the additional minutes I'd be over each month and the cost of buying a decent unlocked GSM-capable device, suddenly VM's crappy data for $25/month doesn't seem like such a bad deal compared against the larger picture.

I'm glad you're happy with T-Mobile. They're not an option for me, and even if they were, my yearly cell phone expenditures would effectively double for a roughly comparable level of service.

To state the obvious, given that you can tolerate the slow data, it certainly sounds like you are better off sticking with VM. The equation is clearly different for different people.

This is one thing most prepaid carriers count on. Even though there is no ETF, the cost of moving to another carrier is substantial because you're looking at $200+ for a new phone. Even unlocked GSM phones don't give you a lot of freedom in the US, because few of them support all of the carrier frequencies on 3G/4G.