say buddy can you spare

[technoir]

So I had a good weekend overall. Got to spend time with friends and that is always nice. I did have some coordination issues. My inability to call people on the fly and inability to be contacted on the fly had hurt my ability to meet up with friends. This is not the first time this sort of issue has come up. This has led me to reconsider my policy of not owning a cell phone. I don’t generally like the thought of cell phones. They seem to be one more separation from genuine interaction. They seem to be an anchor to the communication levels this world seems to demand now. I occasionally like to be alone and not bothered. That being said I have reevaluated my policy on this. Sometimes I need the capability. More and more it seems the case.

The first thing most people bring up is the prepay phones. I have owned a total of three of these over the years. They were either a perk from a job or an emergency contact thing where I picked up one when a family member was in the hospital. The first two were Virgin mobile phones and they never worked. The Go phone I picked up as an emergency thing worked for what it was worth but I let the time run out on it and had no way to call anyone. At that point I through up my hands said bah who needs them.

Now I am looking at maybe getting a cell phone. I am interested in what peoples experiences were and what you might recommend. I would love to be able to afford the iPhone but that’s not happening. Anyone got any feelings one way or another?

Comments

[hoshiadam.livejournal.com]

Despite Virgin Mobile sucking (for you), I recommend a pay-as-you-go option of some kind for you. Initial buy in cost will be higher, but you'll spend much less over time I would think. Especially if you are using it for emergencies and rare occasions.

[technoir.livejournal.com]

keeping intial buy in low would be a happy thing for me as well, but duely noted.

[koepkeb.livejournal.com]

We have the virgin mobile prepay phone, works fine by us. I only use it in places like conventions and such tho. Essentially, any place where a long-range walkie-talkie would be used.

[tomdpimp.livejournal.com]

Jen and I have Sprint. They are actually very reliable but you would have to sign a contract. However most of their online deals gives you the phone for free. I got a replacement phone after mine became defective and out of warranty; free.

[technoir.livejournal.com]

my experience was that i could get no signal on either of the phones I owned. Both were the cheap phones though. I might have used them more if they actually worked.

[technoir.livejournal.com]

was there a deposite requied? how much is your monthly fees? how long of a contract is required?

[technoir.livejournal.com]

how much did you pay for your phones?

[tomdpimp.livejournal.com]

Deposit fee varies. We signed up 6 years ago. Contract is usually 1-2 years

[technoir.livejournal.com]

well what do you pay a month.

[hoshiadam.livejournal.com]

I think it was around $120, including the initial air time.

[tomdpimp.livejournal.com]

our plan is about $75 per month, but we have a lot of options with our two phones. I would just go to Sprint.com and look at the different options.

[hapersmion.livejournal.com]

I couldn't stand cell phones, and we didn't have any until hoshiadam took 7 hours to get home from UT (10 minutes away for non-Knoxvillians) during a snowstorm. After that we decided that they have their uses. :) Just owning a cell phone doesn't mean you have to talk on it all the time, though. Just when you need to.

[gingererer.livejournal.com]

Marie and I long ago decided that our land-line was a waste of money since we were seldom home. The cost to get a cell was comparable to the land-line and far more convenient.

We use Cingular and have been quite happy. See website for prices.

[nienna42.livejournal.com]

I've been using Cingular--which has apparently been taken over by AT&T recently. I got a refurbed phone for $35, and I've had no problems with it whatsoever. I use the pay-as-you-go plan. It's a flat 25 cents a minute, which is a little steep, but then, I use my cell phone very little. I keep it for quick, out-of-the-house calls only. If I actually want to call someone to gab for awhile, I use my home phone. Unless AT&T is going to change any of the policies Cingular had in place, you can purchase as little as $25 worth of minutes every three months to keep your account from expiring.

It's cheap, and you can get in touch with people when you're out of the house, and they can get in touch with you.

[mkillingworth.livejournal.com]

We have a perfecly good Motorola Tracfone that we got at WalMart for $50.00. It's pay as you go, and had no problem picking up a signal in the middle of the airport in Newark last time we were over. We don't use cell phones much, so pay as you go was the sensible thing for us on both sides of the Atlantic. You want what we call a 'clamshell' type phone - one that closes so that you can't accidentally press the keys and dial someone without realising it.

[sruna.livejournal.com]

On phones themselves:

H8!!! the Motorola!

<3 the Nokia. Also happy with my Samsung.

Motorola's are evil. Just so NOT intuitive and *stupid* features that make you hang up when you don't want to and things.

/rant off

Good luck! ;)