Wal-Mart no contract cell phones? Good, bad, or ugly?

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Sid Post

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I'm looking for feedback on the Wal-Mart no contract cell phones and plans. Straight Talk, Go, Boost, ... is all greek/geek to me. :o

I'm wondering what users experiences are like. Do the no contract phones work well? Are they really cost effective? Do you get a lot of hidden fees?

I'm up on my 2 year contract and have a bad cell phone. I'm considering buying a Wal-Mart no contract phone of some sort and getting one of their no contract plans. However, the "sales guy" really couldn't tell me anything to differentiate any of the plans. He was good at upselling an Apple phone, data plans, and other stuff but couldn't really tell me anything about the Boost, ATT/Go, Straight Talk, etc.

Should I just go cheap with a $40 phone and a $30 plan and see what happens? Any general words of wisdom before I spend my money? THANKS!
 
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I've been pleased with my NET10 no contract service and LG900g phone for about 6 months now. I get a $25 750 min/month plan. The NET10 service supposedly works on the Tmobile and AT&T networks so my coverage is fine. I used to have Tmobile, but when I moved to a small town in TN the Tmobile didn't work there and AT&T did. I didn't stay in TN permanently so I didn't want to commit to a contract which is why I went with the prepaid phone. The only thing that has bugged me is the speaker quality of my phone when listening to account balances sometimes. It can be hard to hear exactly what is being said on my automated calls for my bank account, because the speaker isn't the greatest on this $30 phone. It's not as nice as my Blackberry I had before, but for the money I can't really complain. You don't have to give out your credit card info where they will automatically deduct money each month and add new minutes. I just buy a new $25 airtime card from walmart's website each month.
 
My best friend decided to try the Wal Mart straight talk a couple months ago. He hates it. The phone has terrible reception. He has to go outside of his house most of the time just to get reception.
It may have just been his phone, but he went back to Verizon, even though it was a little more money a month.
 
OffTheGrid said:
I've been pleased with my NET10 no contract service and LG900g phone for about 6 months now. I get a $25 750 min/month plan. The NET10 service supposedly works on the Tmobile and AT&T networks so my coverage is fine. I used to have Tmobile, but when I moved to a small town in TN the Tmobile didn't work there and AT&T did. I didn't stay in TN permanently so I didn't want to commit to a contract which is why I went with the prepaid phone. The only thing that has bugged me is the speaker quality of my phone when listening to account balances sometimes. It can be hard to hear exactly what is being said on my automated calls for my bank account, because the speaker isn't the greatest on this $30 phone. It's not as nice as my Blackberry I had before, but for the money I can't really complain. You don't have to give out your credit card info where they will automatically deduct money each month and add new minutes. I just buy a new $25 airtime card from walmart's website each month.
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boost is sprinte by a different name. I live in florida and a hell of lot of people have them down here. where do you live??
 
I have Straighttalk, Bought the LG Slider phone in Virginia and set it up with a Virginia phone number, I have used it from Virginia to Mount Washington in New Hampshire and it works fine, Reception is excellent but like any cell phone, A little static on occasion, I use the $30 plan which is 1000 minutes, 1000 texts and unlimited info I believe, If you get the $45 plan, It's unlimited minutes etc... You do have to buy a new card each month to refill your minutes and keep your phone number active so it costs you either $30 or $45 per month but that's it. No other charges.
They don't all use the same cell service provider though, The Walmart rep told me the phone I bought at the Zion Crossroads location was serviced by Verizon but if I had bought it in Charlottesville it would have been AT&T. If you go with the Straighttalk, Try to get it at a Walmart that is serviced by Verizon.
 
I have a Tracphone and have had one for years, i think the phone cost me $15 bucks and i probably use one of the $20 cards every other month, maybe even every 3 months.

Plus as an added benefit it has better reception in my area than pretty much every other carrier.
 
i have had exceptional resuts with virgin mobile. whats great is they can set you up with a regular plan and if you dont pay instead of just charging you they shut you off. good phone selections with wome being 300 droid phones and some being simple flip phones that are 20 bucks tops.
you could probably get one at walmart but id go to best buy.
good luck.
 
razorsdescent said:
i have had exceptional resuts with virgin mobile. whats great is they can set you up with a regular plan and if you dont pay instead of just charging you they shut you off. good phone selections with wome being 300 droid phones and some being simple flip phones that are 20 bucks tops.
you could probably get one at walmart but id go to best buy.
good luck.
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Virgin Mobile is my current phone company. I use a BlackBerry 8530 with VM's $55.00 a month unlimited plan. Had them for three years, no problem yet. You can find their phones and top up cards at Target or Best Buy.
 
I used Straight Talk for 6 months and it was the worst mistake I made. If you have any problems you can forget about customer service. And if you miss paying your monthly service, they will replace your cell number with a new one! Go with Verizon prepayed, you wont regret the choice.
 
richard thurman said:
where do you live??
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I'm in North Alabama at the moment and travel to East Texas and Central Oklahoma a lot.

My friend has an ATT phone that doesn't work very well in East Texas. T-Mobile in on I-65 in TN doesn't work well. I'd like something that at least works on the Interstates while I travel.
 
americanbulldog1 said:
I used Straight Talk for 6 months and it was the worst mistake I made. If you have any problems you can forget about customer service. And if you miss paying your monthly service, they will replace your cell number with a new one! Go with Verizon prepayed, you wont regret the choice.
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You can sign up on there website so that it automatically renews your plan every month so you don't have to deal with the cards and losing your number.
 
I've used Tracfone for a while now. I just don't talk too much on the phone anyway. It has it's pro's and con's of course.
Pro's.
Some phones come with "double minutes" for the life of the phone. Buy 60 mins you get 120.
Texts cost .5 minutes
An unanswered call costs 1 minute.
You can buy minutes over the phone with a credit/debit card.
I get great reception, never drops a call.
Con's
Purchased minutes only last 90 days, once applied to the phone.
They don't have the newest technology on these phones.
They're disposable, loose it, buy another for $10.
 
I had a Tracfone for about a year but I started making and receiving more calls and it got expensive so I went to a Straight Talk phone with the $30 cards and it works great,plenty of minutes,text and internet are included but the internet is really basic.I haven't had anywhere that it doesn't work and the LG phones have been really durable and work good.
 
My Mom had a tracfone for a year or so and it worked good. I think she just didn't like having a cell phone. Her reception was as good as any around here. Her only problem with it was that the minutes expired after a while and since she never used it she kept forgetting to add time.
 
Rural central Pa.-Tracfone works fine here. Minutes do carry over when you refill phone.

They don't have any "cool" phones though... very basic.

Rich
 
Hi,

I've had my first ever cell phone for 2 months now, hey I'm a Luddite and old fuddy-duddy. It's an At&t GoPhone. I use the $50/month unlimited calling, texting, and data. Which is oddly cheaper than any plan I could get.

I live in a very rural area. For me it works very well, reliable in all the places I go. And that's what is important for me. The phone must work every time I need it or it's junk. I suspect that you should really ask some users on which providers have the best service in the area you line in. As it seems to vary wildly from area to area.

dalee
 
I've had my StraightTalk phone for about 2 or 3 years now. I forget. The phone isn't the best, but it's what they had at the time. Now they have some nicer ones, but I'm not one to upgrade every year. The service is fine. I get the same reception as I would with my verizon and at&t phones. I get the 45 plan which is unlimited text, calls and web access. I am happy with it. I can refill my service over the phone even after service has ended. I can also stop in WM and pick up a card and hold on to it and just call it in later (in case I don't have room/$$ on my credit/debit/bank account at the time. The minutes don't die, they don't roll over, they don't do anything. There are no other charges ever. Just get the 45 plan and go on the way. If you want to play online and such then research the better media phones. If you just want to make calls and or send texts just get one of the "FREE" phone packages. 45 for service and it comes with a free phone. I'm happy with it. I hate the contract crap. Good luck with whatever you pick. Just do research on the actual phone before you buy. Battery life, and such as that.

DM
 
I like staying away from those ripoff contracts too!! My wife and I have had a Tracphone for a few years now and you cant beat the value. Buy the phone (15-30 bucks) and get their most expensive prepaid card. I think its $100. Plenty of minutes and it ends up breaking down to like $10 a month. Cant beat it!! Good reception too.
 
The T-Mobile prepaid plans are pretty good. If all you do is talk, I recommend either the pay-as-you go buying $100 worth of minutes(1000 minutes and 1 year of activation) at a time, or the 1500 minutes per month for $30 monthly prepaid plan if you talk a lot.

I think there's a Walmart exclusive basic phone that's pretty cheap too, $30 or so.

T-Mobile has pretty good voice and text coverage out in the boonies where I live, but I can't speak for anywhere but northwest PA personally.
 
dalee100 said:
Hi,

...you should really ask some users on which providers have the best service in the area you line in. As it seems to vary wildly from area to area.

dalee
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this is a KEY factor...a friend in dallas has virgin mobile and it works great; in SoCal it is so-so...verizon seems to be good everywhere, and their no contract, unlimited everything prepaid $50 plan i have been told is pretty good...ask around...
 
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