Ok, I'm considering getting a cell phone, but I dont need a bill since I'm only 16, I plan on getting those cards with an amount of minutes on them. The only reason I'm getting this phone is so when i get my car i'll have it for whatever i need.

Heres my questions:

1. Do the cards work for any phone? Are there certain cards for different brands of phones?

2. Whats a good phone to get that has a color display?

3. Any of you that have used this card crap, any advice or comments about it?

(Oh yeah, no Verizon stuff please, they have really sorry service where i live.)

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"Ahhhh!! I'm Burnin'! I'm Burnin!!!" - Cleaner from Max Payne 2

AoEJedi, dont listen to him. Personally I wouldnt get prepaid. My friend had prepaid and he hated it....when he needed to make a call or anything and he had gone over, he couldnt call ANYONE. If he got stranded and needed to call his parents, he couldnt. I would definently get a plan.

Rod-Nog has no idea what he is talking about. You can't go driving around withouth any way of communicating with people if its an emergency.


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In Tribute to Adam Sliger. Rest in Peace

10/7/85 - 12/9/03

Well thats pretty much the point, I want prepaid so i CANT go over, and I dont have a steady means of cash flow yet so basically this would fuction as an emergency phone, even tho i want a nice one so when i do have a steady part-time job or something i can get a plan without wanting a new phone.

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"Ahhhh!! I'm Burnin'! I'm Burnin!!!" - Cleaner from Max Payne 2

What you want is a Trac-Phone, not a cell phone. I have no experience with them, as cell phones are superior and are almost impossible to go over your time on as long as you get the appropriate plan.

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Baby Mama's Drama

I like prepaid alot more because you dont have to worry about plans and such, I use my phone probally about an hour a month, so, I pay for about an hour

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Happy "Diseased" dud: You said I'd be like this guy. Boycotting everything..
Happy "Diseased" dud: ted kazcnisky. That's who it was.
Happy "Diseased" dud: Wait, That's the unibomer.
Happy "Diseased" dud: Wrong guy.

I dont need a mobile phone per say, but there are times I'm damn glad I have one. They're just handy to have around.

I can only comment on the Australian system, but I imagine it would be very similar to what you have over there.



Any card should work with any phone. Thankfully the industry is nicely regulated, so practically anything works with anything. Pre-paid packages generally come with a phone and a sim card included, so chosing one that matches the other isnt really an issue. Once you have a sim card (in a phone) registered with a provider, you can then buy recharge cards to credit your account with.



Chosing a provider that suits you is more important than chosing a phone. The phone is just a practicality, and most of them do exactly the same things just in slightly different ways. Once you've selected a provider, take a look at what pre-paid packages (including phone, sim card, and network access) that they have available. Unless you can find an exceptionally good price on a handset, you will do better with a package deal than buying the components individually.

As for phones, well I've always been partial to Nokias.



Most importantly, read the fine print.

Dont get voicemail. Pre-paid plans especially, phone companies really slog when it comes to voicemail. You pay a fee for call diversion to the voicemail, a fee to retrieve the message, then most likely a fee to call that person back. Just say you dont want voicemail, and leave your phone on whenever practical. If it really is important, they will call you back.

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The Massassi-Map
There is no spoon.

Red-Nog.. you ever been to Texas? There are PLENTY of MILES without people, just highway as long as you can see. I dont want to end up there!

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"Ahhhh!! I'm Burnin'! I'm Burnin!!!" - Cleaner from Max Payne 2

I had a Trac-Phone for less than a year and it wasn't that great. You have to buy cards of a certain value every two months or so in order to keep your current number and if you miss buying one, there is no way you'd get your old number back (but the online card purchasing system was very easy). The good thing is that if you don't use up all your minutes, they roll over (though they may eventually expire), but if you only use it for emergencies, they will build up rather quickly (I ended up with ~120 min when I stopped buying cards to renew it). The phone itself is a very stripped down Nokia (they might have had nicer models, but its been a while) that has a system for entering your card number and tells you how much credit was left and when you needed to renew by, and I don't believe its possible to transfer it over to another carrier. On the plus side, if your call is less than 15 seconds, they don't charge you for it. There is no grace period, if you run out of time the only thing you can do is call 911, but only if you do it a special way. There are fairly cheap plans out there and a lot of those share with your family plans you could also try, but anyway, I would recommend getting a real plan.

thanks spork, that helps some. I like Nokias too, but I also like Samsung.

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"Ahhhh!! I'm Burnin'! I'm Burnin!!!" - Cleaner from Max Payne 2

what are you? 12? I live in texas so its a little hard to not be here. Just because a cell phone doesnt suit you, doesnt mean everyone shouldnt have one... you go ahead and scream for help, not many people will help you on the roadside these days.

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"Ahhhh!! I'm Burnin'! I'm Burnin!!!" - Cleaner from Max Payne 2

You're welcome
My friend has a Motorola, very swanky little phone. And I also saw one of those new Ericsson Z600 the other day, looked pretty darn impressive. I dont think you can really go wrong with phone selection these days.

Probably for the best if we all just ignore Egg Nog there...

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The Massassi-Map
There is no spoon.

Pfft. what are you talking about..I haven't even said anything at all....*shifty eyes*

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Retsam of Rod-Nog (This IS[/b] SAJN_Master)

[This message has been edited by Rod-Nog (edited December 23, 2003).]

if you only need it for EMERGENCIES, you can use any old cell phone to dial 911. all cell phones in the US are made that way. if that's all you need, i'll send you one of my old Nokia's. otherwise, you might also want to look into AT&T's Go phone. i dont know much about the plan, but it's prepaid at least.

as someone else said, i'd really worry less about the phone youre getting and more about the provider. if you want a phone for emergencies only, it wont need a fancy color display. plus you pay more for it than it's worth anyway. wait to get the color display when you get a plan, then many phones are free or discounted. prepaid phones are not.

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Truth is in the eye of the beholder.
Forum Rules

I have a samung from Cingular.

www.howardforums.com <-- One of the biggest cell phone fourm community on the internet. They have fourms for all the different providers, and actual reps from those stores who are board members who answer questions and give inside scoop. I read that forum for about 3 monshts before I finally picked my provider and purchased a phone.

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In Tribute to Adam Sliger. Rest in Peace

10/7/85 - 12/9/03

You can't use prepaid cards on mobile phones. Whether your calling local, long distance, or toll-free numbers, it all counts against your minutes. So if you were to use a prepaid card, you'd be losing minutes from your plan and from the card at the same time. I have a T-Mobile Samsung E105. The plans are pretty good. I have something like "Basic Plus" which is 300 minutes a month, and unlimited nights (9pm+) and weekends. No long distance or roaming fees. The phone doesn't have a camera or anything, but a nice high-resolution color screen which you can put your own wallpapers on. You can download various wallpapers and ringtones over WAP. T-Mobile tries to sucker you in to buying them for .99 each, but you can find them free if you look hard enough. Text Messaging, AIM, and a bunch of other stuff is optional for an additional $5 - $10 a month. Overall I paid $199.99 to get the phone, but it came with a $99.99 mail-in rebate. So altogether I paid $100 for the phone, and $30 a month for the plan I'm using. Not a bad deal, after comparing it to most other providers.

[This message has been edited by JASRCC_Uber0010 (edited December 23, 2003).]

If you need a phone JUST for emergencys or even just for calling friends, why the hell do you need pictures and ringtones and games? Buy the cheapest phone you can find.

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Retsam of Rod-Nog (This IS[/b] SAJN_Master)

Heheh I want to E105 sooooo bad. But T-Mobile has horrible coverage where I am. And if T-Mobile operated on the the same GSM Freq as Cingular down south, I would buy one used and activate it.


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In Tribute to Adam Sliger. Rest in Peace

10/7/85 - 12/9/03

I think maybe you just can't afford, or your parents wont get you one, and your jealous.


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In Tribute to Adam Sliger. Rest in Peace

10/7/85 - 12/9/03

I really don't want one...I have no need for one... My mom has one and so does my brother (JASRCC_Uber0010)..If I go to a friends I'll use there phone...if I go to the movies I usually find out when it's over ahead of time.. I don't drive yet...so..I don't need one..and If I did get one, it would be cheap as hell... because I don't care how it sounds when it rings, or how colorful it is.

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Retsam of Rod-Nog (This IS[/b] SAJN_Master)

Actually Ubuu, I agree with him. When/If I get a cell phone, it's going to do several things.
Be able to recieve calls.
Be able to make calls.
Ring with the classical phone ring.

And that's about it.. I don't need a phone that can order pizza for you through the internet, while telling all your friends to meet you at A at time B, take a picture, and launch nuclear missles at Russia, all with a touch of the same button.

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MadQuack on Military school: Pro's: I get to shoot a gun. Con's: Everything else.
"I'm going to beat you until the laws of physics are violated!!" ! Maeve's Warcry

RIP -MaDaVentor-. You will be missed.

....But he didnt say that in his orignal post. He said he doesnt need one period. Big difference.

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In Tribute to Adam Sliger. Rest in Peace

10/7/85 - 12/9/03

happydud, I used to be like you! But honestly, you do not realise how damn useful a phone can be until you get one and start using it.

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The Massassi-Map
There is no spoon.

I know i dont need a nice phone for what im getting now, but soon enough i may want to switch to a plan with some nice features and some real minutes... so if im gonna get a phone i might as well get a nice one.

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"Ahhhh!! I'm Burnin'! I'm Burnin!!!" - Cleaner from Max Payne 2

If I ever get a cell phone, it's going to collect dust in my non-existant car.

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Do you have stairs in your house?

No no, cell phones are useful. For their purpose. As a phone. Not as a way to surf the internet. Or as a camera. A nuclear remote launching device. Or as an email inbox.

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MadQuack on Military school: Pro's: I get to shoot a gun. Con's: Everything else.
"I'm going to beat you until the laws of physics are violated!!" ! Maeve's Warcry

RIP -MaDaVentor-. You will be missed.

No, you don't understand... I have nobody I would ever want to talk to.
(except in emergencies, hence it will sit in the floorboard of my car and collect dust)

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Do you have stairs in your house?

I didn't get the phone I did because I wanted a color screen or game support. I simply wanted something that had a regular numeric pad oppose to some phones with all sorts of weird shapes and setups for the numbers, Caller ID, and I wanted something that flipped out, as I found most phones a bit too small for me. The E105 had all this, and the color screen was just kinda a nice extra that I didn't really mind. I figured as long as I had it, I might as well take advantage of it, so I've put a few pictures on there, as well as downloading some ringtones (the ones that come with the phone are REALLY annoying).

Ok, I actually sell cell phones so I have a little bit of experience in this kind of thing. The only problem is the only prepaid phones I really know about are the Virgin mobile phones and the AT&T GoPhones. I know you can buy prepaid phones from Cingular and I think T-Mobile used to offer some sort of prepaid service, the only thing is that T-mobile prepaid sucks.

The best prepaid phone with color screen and all the cool little features is the Virgin V5 Slider phone, I think made by Kyocera, but I might be wrong. You can download ring-tones and wallpapers and some of them are the MTV specialty phones where you can get music news and other stuff like that from them.

The only downside is that Virgin mobile cards can be more expensive than actually having a contract with a real provider, but if you dont have any credit you really dont have a choice. You buy a virgin card, which is good for 90 days once you activate it, no roll-over, and for the first 10 minutes of each day you use it they charge 25 cents per minute then 10 cents per minute after the first 10 minutes EACH day. So when you buy cards you're not buying actual minutes but dollar amounts. The good thing is you can set it up to automatically deduct from your bank account when you need more minutes and stuff.

AT&T GoPhones are more like a plan on a real provider, but without a binding contract. You buy the phone, pick out a plan with the number of minutes per 30 days you want and you're set. You can cancel at anytime and if you go over the number of minutes in 30 days, your account is billed and the 30 days starts over again. So if you use up all your minutes on day 1, your account is billed and on day 2 you get another set of minutes and 30 days again. This would be a good emergency phone because I think 50 minutes costs somewhere around $10, but dont quote me on that.

Like someone else said though, some other prepaid GSM phones, each phone card you buy comes with a sim card and you just replace the sim card each time you buy more minutes. This would be the best, but usually the phones are more expensive than the Virgin or AT&T phones. Basically you're being screwed either way and you're better off if one of your parents already has a cell phone provider because usually adding another line that shares the minutes with the original plan is MUCH cheaper than going prepaid.

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<< start the revolution >>

If you are going to be using it as an emergency type phone, then pre-paid should suit you well. You don't really need a color display. That'lll just jack the price of the phone up $50-$100 bucks.

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I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.

Anyone know anyone with or have experience with the new Samsung E700? It looks pretty good to me, but I need a second opinion...

My mobile phone is also my alarm clock, personal organiser, phone book, and mobile instant messanger (SMS).

If AoEJedi wants and can afford a snazzy phone, then he might as well get it

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The Massassi-Map
There is no spoon.

The thing is almost any recent phone you buy will come with all or most of the features Spork listed. You aren't able to find a phone anymore that is just made for... making phone calls.

I don't think any of the features Spork just listed are really thought of as "extravagant", with perhaps the exception of the alarm clock (which has no real business being on a phone).

I have a Nokia 3310, and it's a few years old, and I see no reason to upgrade. It has a nice, large keypad, so I don't mash all the numbers at once (and this from a who regularly gets told he has girly hands, so it's not like I have monster fists or anything), SMS, a phone book, and a whole lot of useless crap.

Honestly, I don't understand what the point of a colour screen, adjustable backgrounds, those fancy ring tones that sound high quality, being able to play Quake 3, calculate pi or any of the other "features" is.

no alarm clock is good. When i went on a road trip to see my fav. band this summer we slept in my brother's house like before there was any furniture and he was still in the apartment and the phone came in useful.

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<< start the revolution >>

yeah, my phone is my daily alarm clock. my phone also has the organizer and crap on it too, but i dont use it. those phones are made more for the travelling business person who likes to travel light. it really does come in handy sometimes.

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Truth is in the eye of the beholder.
Forum Rules

I currently have a Nokia 6100. It's small, light, and has all the useful and useless features I (don't) need. I ditched all traditional methods of organizing life when I got my first cell phone with a calendar some years ago. Actually, in Finland where everyone has a cell phone, the phone's calendar is pretty much the traditional method now. And I couldn't live without it anymore. I don't call much and I don't get called much, but the actual calling feature is still often useful.

By the way, service provider and phone bundles are illegal in Finland. Yet I've never changed my provider (I use Radiolinja, which is, well, Finnish, what with me living in Finland and stuff).

Before I got my first cell phone, I managed quite well without one. Now that I've had a cell phone for a long time, I don't think I'll ever go phoneless again.

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