How's their service in the US (specifically CA)? My contract with T-Mobile is up in April and I'm paying $70 for 300minutes + 5 unlimited contacts + unlimited web and 400 incl. text messages.
Virgin Mobile USA uses Sprint PCS Network.
No Contract: $149 Android phone, $25 unlimited data and 300 min
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Re: No Contract: $149 Android phone, $25 unlimited data and 300 min
#12Speaking of, does HN know of a cheap android phone available internationally?
A friend recently bought a ZTE Blade. I haven't tried it personally but he's very exited with it, and looking at the specs it seems to be a good, cheap android phone.
It's available in a few countries other than the US like the UK, France and Switzerland. Depending on where you buy it, an unlocked phone will cost about $150 to $250.
Re: No Contract: $149 Android phone, $25 unlimited data and 300 min
#13They deduct minutes to every call to voice mail. Google Voice and Skype seem to take out from the 300 too. You really can't talk with this plan. This is for data-centric use.
Like every other operator. Att here evens deduct s my minutes for received g voice calls.
But Android has sip clients. who needs voice?
Also there are plenty of skype apk patched to behave the same in wifi and 3g, meaning it will go via data no matter what
Re: No Contract: $149 Android phone, $25 unlimited data and 300 min
#14Does anyone know of a website or means with which I can reliably determine whether there's good coverage from a service (in this case Virgin) in my area? I'd love to switch, these AT&T rates are killing me.
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Re: No Contract: $149 Android phone, $25 unlimited data and 300 min
#15This has got to be the best deal for a prepaid Android phone ever. The $25 month unlimited data and 300 minutes is the best voice/data plan out there as well.
When something seems too good to be true, it usually is.
Re: No Contract: $149 Android phone, $25 unlimited data and 300 min
#16Does anyone know of a website or means with which I can reliably determine whether there's good coverage from a service (in this case Virgin) in my area? I'd love to switch, these AT&T rates are killing me.
VM USA is owned by Sprint, so you get the same coverage as a Sprint customer minus the ability to roam off Sprint's network.
Re: No Contract: $149 Android phone, $25 unlimited data and 300 min
#17If you buy this phone, can you use it as a wifi only and never actually activate it with VM? Or can you pay for a month, cancel and still use it on wifi? Might be a good tester device option.
Yes, you can use WiFi only without ever activating it or paying VM. I did it myself:
http://blog.gerundinganimal.com/2011/01/cheap-wifi-only-andr...
Re: No Contract: $149 Android phone, $25 unlimited data and 300 min
#18If you buy this phone, can you use it as a wifi only and never actually activate it with VM? Or can you pay for a month, cancel and still use it on wifi? Might be a good tester device option.
If there's no contract, there's nothing to cancel. What you can't do with this is put it on a different cellular network (as you could do with an unlocked GSM phone), but wifi should be fine...
Re: No Contract: $149 Android phone, $25 unlimited data and 300 min
#19Speaking of, does HN know of a cheap android phone available internationally?
A friend recently bought a ZTE Blade. I haven't tried it personally but he's very exited with it, and looking at the specs it seems to be a good, cheap android phone. It's available in a few countries other than the US like the UK, France and Switzerland. Depending on where you buy it, an unlocked phone will cost about $150 to $250.
In the UK Orange sell a rebranded version of the Blade on Pay As You Go, called the Orange San Francisco. Several people in my office have bought one, since they're only £100 here and can be trivially unlocked to run on any network. It's a little slower than high-end Android phones, but appears to be very usable.
Re: No Contract: $149 Android phone, $25 unlimited data and 300 min
#20If you buy this phone, can you use it as a wifi only and never actually activate it with VM? Or can you pay for a month, cancel and still use it on wifi? Might be a good tester device option.
Yes, you can use WiFi only without ever activating it or paying VM. I did it myself: http://blog.gerundinganimal.com/2011/01/cheap-wifi-only-andr...
Thanks! I am on Sprint with the SERO plan now - its $30 a month - but i have a very old windows mobile phone - I could upgrade my device but then i also get $20 extra tacked on a month on the SERO plan. Maybe this is a better option.