Okay I think I want a phone....

[Liesje]

I've never had a cell phone, or land line either really. I have a work phone (cell given to me by my employer). Now it seems like my entire relation thinks I should be answering their calls at all times, they don't seem to get that it's a WORK phone and I share a single plan with my colleagues and the minutes do get reviewed. Up until now, I've only given out the work number to very close friends and my parents, and asked anyone else to call Phil's phone (which is sort of like "our" phone, he put both our names on the voicemail greeting), but now people are constantly calling my work phone and getting pissed that I don't answer (and yet they never e-mail me or call our other cell like I ask). For actual work calls, we all two-way so it doesn't even use minutes.

So, I know nothing about phones and to be honest I don't really care. The phone I have through work is an i880 and it does music, pictures, color screen and all that but I don't even know how to use any of that. I don't want texting either, don't know how to use it.

Should I just get one of those pay-by-the-minute deals? I'm really not interested in spending more than $15-$20/mo if possible, b/c then I might as well just break down and get an old landline instead.

Any recommendations?

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i would definitely suggest using a prepaid plan. i love tmobile and since i already suggested their prepaid plans in another thread, i might as well do so here too.

they have two options if you don't want to sign a contract. you can pay per day or per minute. if you tend to use it more on your days off or something and not at all during the week, then the former might be a good option for you. then the latter is your typical type plan where you buy credit and use it that way.

for their phones, i believe all their phones do come with cameras (i think my dad used to have the last non-camera phone they sold ) and basic features but of course you don't have to use them. they've got three nokias that are $20, and they come with $30 of credit already on them. so really you make $10 on the deal.

you can look at their phones here: Unsupported Browser
and their rates and plans here: Unsupported Browser

 

[Liesje]

Thanks I'll take a look. This is maybe a dumb Q but to pre-pay type plans come with voicemail?

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i know t-mobile's do at least, in addition to caller id, etc.

 

[achtung_girl]

I got the Nokia 3310 classic a few weeks ago. A very simple cell phone. I had one of those high tech phones before (I got it for free in my contract) but after 2 years it was just annoying! . So, now I have a phone that can basically text/call and that's it. haaha! But I'm not sure if it's available in the US, but I can recommend Nokia phones in general.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/02/12/nokia.6110.3110.phones/

 

[Justin24]

T-Mobile has good pay as you go plan/phones. I have been with them over a year now and would never switch carriers.

 

[anitram]

I honestly don't know anything about phones without data since I wouldn't consider getting one at this point (yes, I'm one of those losers with an iPhone and a BB). But in the past, I always really liked Motorolas, they are built pretty sturdy I think.

 

[Liesje]

I'm more interested in plan pros/cons than the actual phone. The current phone does everything I use/need for work and more, I just need something for family to keep in touch and if I run out of minutes or make long calls I use Phil's plan.

 

[anitram]

Can you track your minutes from the last couple of months? That might be a good indicator of how much you'll be using them.

Also, some of the monthly plans can sometimes come ahead of pay-as-you-go because you get things like "free weekends and evenings after 6". So for example, for me, I never use my cell phone during the day since I have my office phone, and therefore can get away with a very cheap monthly plan with few daytime minutes.

Most of my friends text or BBM which actually saves a ton of $ on minutes, so I have unlimited texting on my phones too.

 

[Liesje]

Texting won't be an issue, I think the only person that calls me from another cell phone is Phil and I don't think he texts (everyone else is calling me from landlines - my mom, dad, aunts, grandpa...don't even have cell phones).

I'll try to keep track for the next month. I could ask my boss but that might look bad "hey boss can I see the list of all my non-work related calls on my work phone this past month?" lol. I am guessing I can get by with 30-50 minutes per month. Sometimes I am chatty with my mom or Phil but only b/c I can be and haven't been busted yet, otherwise if I know a call gets long I call back on Phil's phone. Honestly I'd guess most of my calls were actually to my voicemail, since I make a point of not having a phone with me unless I'm expecting a call, since I answer calls all day at work I have to draw the line or I'll go insane. So I call into my voicemail box a lot, and then call back if it's urgent (never is) or call on Phil's cell if someone wants to chat. So VM is way more important to me than texting, but I don't even know if calling VM counts towards minutes or not...

I will look at the call history on the phone itself but it's dead at the moment, lol. I'm still technically on vacation!

I'm not totally against a regular plan but I'm not finding one for cheaper than $40/mo and I'm not sure I'm open to signing a contract. The other contract option was seeing if my mom and my sister want to do some sort of family plan since my mom doesn't have a phone and my sister hates hers....

 

[VintagePunk]

The pre-paid plan that Khan linked to above looks amazing. 1000 minutes at $100 averages you 83 minutes per month at $8.30 per month over the year, with vm, call display, etc included. That's ridiculously cheap. I'm a fairly light cell user, so if we had plans that affordable in Canada, I'd jump at it.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

Honestly I'd guess most of my calls were actually to my voicemail, since I make a point of not having a phone with me unless I'm expecting a call, since I answer calls all day at work I have to draw the line or I'll go insane. So I call into my voicemail box a lot, and then call back if it's urgent (never is) or call on Phil's cell if someone wants to chat. So VM is way more important to me than texting, but I don't even know if calling VM counts towards minutes or not...

yeah, vm calls don't count towards your minutes. any call to your provider (customer service, etc.) are free.

given how little minutes you use per month and especially since you don't want/need to text or anything, i'd definitely suggest sticking with prepaid options. the cheapest individual plans are usually around $40 and will be way more minutes than you'd need. t-mobile's lowest family plan is 400 minutes at $70/month, if you decided to go that route.