anybody any experience with pure talk usa? $10/month for 101 minutes that roll over

[biny]

$10/month for 101 minutes that roll over, includes phone.
They are using GSM network, and a credit card or debit card is required to purchase your Pure TalkUSA service.

http://www.puretalkusa.com/simplybetter.php

Here is their coverage map, I am not sure it's T-mobile or At&T
http://www.puretalkusa.com/CoverageMap.php.

[fonezfonz]

Pure Talk is the gsm branch of Telrite , telecom company based in Georgia. They used to run the similar but now defunct brand, Pure Mobile which had 10 cents a minute rate too. They also have a Verizon cdma based mvno called Pure Mobile.

Pure Talk is basic talk/text with no web options. They coverage is limited to the native Att Gophone network with no roaming whatsover.

They have a decent range of older phones which are being put on holiday discounts now. They include a Razr, Krzr, Rizr, Nokia 6010 and other classic gsm phones.

They have a sim only plan which is $10, but they are giving away their entry level Simemens A56 phone for free right now, so if you want to try that plan, that is the way to go.

Their text rates are 5 cents a text. They do have some disadvantages. I'd say having credit card only with autotopup is their only option (but logical considering they are too obscure to have hard cards out).

I don't know if they really know their stuff because they're claiming that Pure Talk sims can be used in any Att locked or unlocked gsm phone. The unlocked list includes Tracfone and Net10. Any Hofo worth his or her salt will tell you that's not right. Tracfones/Net phones are near impossible to fully unlock.

I called them up a while back but had a bad experience with their customer service which completely turned me off. Bad customer service is bad customer service whether outsourced or based in Georgia/USA.

Their Verizon mvno has only two garden variety phones and DON'T allow Byod like most Vz mvnos do. Their plans are all very similar to Mingo Wireless and are basically prepaid versions of Verizon national type plans. They do have full Postpaid coverage from what the map looks like.

But they have an ETF fee of $175! So much for everyone being approved.

The Att /gsm Pure Talk has some potential, though I could recommend Air Voice or even O2 just as easily. Plus O2 has a roaming option.

The Verizon/cdma based Pure Mobile I can't recommend at all. Mingo wireless has very similar plans , costs less (especially data), has better CS, no ETF and allows any Verizon device.

Pure Mobile is a joke and Pure Talk is only run of the mill. They do have cheap phones though. $39 for a Razr V3 is actually reasonable coming from an mvno though I don't now if it is refurb or new.

Straight Talk charges $100 for theirs, though it is a cdma version.

Nothing really too compelling about either one really unless you want a free or cheap gsm phone from Pure Talk /gsm side. Another thing that stands out is their claim that "rollover minutes never expire". I want to check that out. Only STI , a Sprint mvno does that and they deduct a maintenance fee per month. If minutes never expire, can one keep an account going for $10 a year? We'll see.

[savagemike]

What does minutes never expiring have to do with keeping an account open for $10/year?
The only plan they seem to offer is $10/month so I am assuming the minute roll over is predicated on you maintaining that plan... as it is with every cell phone company anywhere that I know of.

[fonezfonz]

What does minutes never expiring have to do with keeping an account open for $10/year?
The only plan they seem to offer is $10/month so I am assuming the minute roll over is predicated on you maintaining that plan... as it is with every cell phone company anywhere that I know of.

Which is the whole point of the "we'll see " comment at the bottom.
And some plans roll, others don't. Paygo does, monthly doesn't generally with some exceptions like Att Pick your plan. But I'm sure you already knew that.

[HF305]

As long as you keep adding $10 every month the minutes (or rather unused part of last month's $10.00 payment) will not expire. They use calendar months not 30 day intervals. There are no other fees. Minutes are $0.099 and texts $0.05 so you can spend the $10.00 balance divided between either. If you buy extra minutes during the month (in increments of $10) you get a lower rate on the extra minutes-- I guess similar to Page Plus's first in first out policy.

They have a free SIM-only, pay the first $10.00 for minutes and get a SIM. Or it would seem you could also order the free phone, pull the SIM out and put it in your phone. One thing about that free phone, it's so ugly that nobody is going to steal it.

[savagemike]

It seems very like tracfone $10/month plan doesn't it?
That is from memory as I haven't looked lately but I seem to recall that with a double minute phone you got 100 minutes/month there as well.
Though... trac might have cheaper texting... I think it only takes 1/3 unit to text ???
Still... this does not look so bad depending on usage.
If a decent android phone with dual sims shows up then it might be something to consider with a data plan from at&t on the 2nd sim.

@fonezfonz
I realize my previous message might sound a little snippy and I didn't mean it to be. You put out a lot of good info in this thread and others and I appreciate it.

[HF305]

You can indeed still do that at Tracfone. Put the $9.99 value plan on a double minute phone, would be 100 minutes per month. It's still 10 cents per minute when adding additional minutes to a month though.

[biny]

For me it looks more like a open Net10 phone. I tried to use net10 sim on a unlocked phone and it did not work.

[Big Blue 023]

Net10 is a part of Tracfone/America Movil. They really lock down both their sims and phones. You can't use a Net10 or Tracfone sim in anything but the one phone it is originally activated on. Including other Net10 or Tracfone phones.

The PureTalk sims should be usable in any Att or unlocked gsm phone.

[HF305]

Net10 has a somewhat higher minimum monthly cost (about $15 IIRC), and no discount on minutes.

Yes the ability to bring your own phone is a big plus. The only reservation I have about Pure Talk USA is they insist on automatic recurring charges every month, which may be hard to cancel especially if the company is a little shady. Rather than use your real credit or debit card number, use a gift card or get a one-time number from your bank.

[HF305]

So I ordered the A56, it arrived in 3 days by US mail. The phone is used, I'm guessing all their phones are used. It did come with a house charger (cheesy knock-off), car charger (genuine Siemens), and a generic belt pouch. The battery (likely new) and SIM were already installed in the phone.

The A56 will not win any points for style, it looks like a cheap plastic toy though suprisingly very small. Overall it is only slightly larger than a closed Samsung Smooth flip phone. This unit would not be a good choice for seniors with poor vision or clumsy fingers. It is difficult to work the tiny keyboard one-handed.

Activation requires calling their customer service, I had a 5 minute hold time and no problem with the agent, though all that he needed to do was take the SIM number and activate it. Got a new local number, though they apparently also do port-ins.

[LightingRat]

Looks to me that Pure Prepaid also uses the AT&T network just like PureTalk does, NOT Verizon. Can someone do a review of Pure? I too have an AT&T phone and need to make a decision on what MVNO to use. Don't like the feature of having an automatic monthly charge to my card that PureTalk has (FlexPlan), however, some text on the PureTalk site indicates that they might actually have a plan that isn't FlexPlan, but there is no link to the offer.

[HF305]

The Pure Talk "FlexPlan" just means that you can configure your account to automatically buy more than $10 worth at the start of every month because you expect to use more than 100 minutes. You have to auto-charge the base $10 in any case. FlexPlan or not, should you run out before the end of the month you can always go to your account online and manually buy extra minutes. It's the same price either way.

[LightingRat]

I was making two comments in my post. 1. That I see that Pure Prepaid is NOT verizon (http://www.pureprepaid.com). and 2. There are two different divisions of Telrite. Pure Prepaid & PureTalk. I don't think that Pure Prepaid charges your credit card every month like PureTalk does. PureTalk charges your card each month regardless if you are using FlexPlan or not. I agree it is the same price with or without Flex. You obviously can by refill minutes from a reseller for Pure Prepaid (http://preview.tinyurl.com/yj4e9j9).

I was looking for someone that has experience using both services. In the meantime, I am trying PureTalk with the FlexPlan. I ordered the Siemens junk phone that is free, hoping to put the SIM card in my Samsung Propel. I'll post how things work out, but still interested in the Pure Prepaid.

My real desire is to have an unlimited call, text, web plan from an MVNO that uses the AT&T network at a decent price like PagePlus does on the Verizon network.

[EdGrey]

Pure Prepaid and Pure Talk use unlocked GSM phones, and Verizon usess CDMA phones locked/programmed to work on Verizon.