# Is switching to Prepaid cell phones a good idea?



## axeman61 (Mar 19, 2003)

Me, my mother, and my aunt have been on the same AT&T family cellphone plan for years. However, since the last bill, my mom's been talking of just switching to Prepaid phones . Neither of us on the plan use many minutes. We always have a ton of rollover. Plus, we don't use our Cell Phones for anything other than phoning people.

The thing is I don't know anything about Prepaid Phones. I don't know what their reception is like, or the general quality of the phones. I'm fine with AT&T's reception, but the phone I have right now is one I got outside of their plan and it sucks. I don't want to get into prepaid phones if they're going to break a lot and buying a new one is always a hassle.

So I wanted you guys' opinion. What are your experiences with Prepaid phones/Trac Phones/whatever they call them? Are they generally good if you just want to call folks? What are the pros/cons to them? 

BTW, is there a good site/forum you guys go to for general Cell Phone talk/information? I suck with just about every aspect of cell phones aside from using them. I've been walking around with my crappy Motorola Razr V3 for years. It can't hold a charge for anything (I've tried new batteries). I probably could have gotten a new phone for all the total money I've blown on this piece of garbage. However, I don't know of a trustworthy place to buy cell phones online (it feels like online is the only solution, because it's cheap and I paid mondo bucks in a store for this crappy Razr when I got it.), or how to shop for one.


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## DoubleHelix (Dec 10, 2004)

If you were all on the same family plan, then you probably weren't using any minutes to call each other since you were all on the same plan and on the same network. That goes out the window with pre-paid. You'll pay for every minute you're on the phone. There are dozens of companies and plans that vary in coverage, cost, features, and phones. You'll have to do some research to see what's available in your area.

The phones are lower quality than premium offerings from the big carriers, but since they cost so little (as low as $10), if one breaks, replace it.

http://www.prepaidreviews.com/compare/


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## itsjusme (Aug 19, 2006)

> Is switching to Prepaid cell phones a good idea?
> Me, my mother, and my aunt have been on the same AT&T family cellphone plan for years. However, since the last bill, my mom's been talking of just switching to Prepaid phones . Neither of us on the plan use many minutes. We always have a ton of rollover. Plus, we don't use our Cell Phones for anything other than phoning people.


How much does your family plan cost you now?
Prepaid may be cheaper for you if you dont use that many minutes. There are a myriad of options as you can see from the link above. I have been using NET10 for the last 3 or 4 years, and i am happy with the service and coverage. They have several plan options, many phones to choose from, and the basic plan i have actually costs about 15$ a month. (Thats 30$ for 300 minutes and 60 days of service and minutes roll over.) They have a fairly new plan for 25$ you get 750 minutes and 30 days of service. Fairly cheap minutes but they dont roll over. 
You can check them out here:
http://www.net10.com/


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## axeman61 (Mar 19, 2003)

The family plan costs around $90/month total.


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## itsjusme (Aug 19, 2006)

Thats actually fairly reasonable for 3 people, if you`re sharing the cost, or 30$ a month each no matter how you look at it. I have friends that are paying more for just 2 people, different service though.


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## K7M (Feb 27, 2000)

If you have AT&T now you can go with the GO Phone and you will have the same service you have now, as it is the came carrier.


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## axeman61 (Mar 19, 2003)

My mom is dumping AT&T because of the cost of the plan in general, not because of the phone type (though the inability to readily replace a crappy phone is something I've complained about in front of her a lot).

What's the difference between a GO phone and a regular phone anyway? It's just cheaper?


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## K7M (Feb 27, 2000)

There is a selection of GO phones, depending what you want to pay. I have broken my AT&T phone and was not eligible for an upgrade so I just bought a GO phone and put my sims card in it and used for the rest of my contract. The GO phone is an AT&T phone with no contract, and you buy your minutes. It is a prepay.


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## DoubleHelix (Dec 10, 2004)

Unless all of you talk very little, you're not going to do better than $30 a month. Pre-paid minutes expire if you don't use them so there will still be a monthly fee to keep the account active. Do your research.


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## jillian2 (Sep 11, 2004)

http://www.howardforums.com/forum.php

This is a good forum for Cell Phones


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