I need a new cell phone = frustration! I hate cell phones!

[noiseredux]

Ziggy, their customer service is the worst. I agree with that statement.

The delayed text thing is a snag with their satellites. I've had my phone about a year now. It's happened to me twice where maybe the texts didn't work for 4 hrs or something and then all the sudden you get all of them at once when the hiccup corrects itself.

BTW the internet is 3G (I'm pretty sure? I'm not up on that shit) It's not super fast, so if you plan to download shit the forget it. But for checking email, basektball scores, wikipedia, google images, etc -- really no problem.

I'm not saying the phone or service is perfect, as I have experienced the dropped-text or data thing. But only briefly. I've had very bad experience contacting customer support. I've had no issues with billing (knock on wood).

However, for me the plan is better than I need. I've never had a problem with reception on calls. It's cheap and has more features than I'll use. I assume no plan is perfect, so this one is cheap enough for me to overlook the occassional problem.

[Inazuma]

You ever see the Treo 600?

0_0!

Wow, this looks like a phone I would love. External antennae and an actual keyboard for text messaging. It's by Palm eh? I might look into this soon. Hopefully this is not a smart phone, and I can get it without a data plan. Thanks!

[noiseredux]

Hopefully this is not a smart phone,

well it was made my someone other than yourself, so wouldn't that make it an Idiot Phone?

[Inazuma]

Hopefully this is not a smart phone,

well it was made my someone other than yourself, so wouldn't that make it an Idiot Phone?

Lol, good one.

[Ziggy]

Wow, this looks like a phone I would love. External antennae and an actual keyboard for text messaging. It's by Palm eh? I might look into this soon. Hopefully this is not a smart phone, and I can get it without a data plan. Thanks!

Well you'd have to buy one used, this is a rather old phone. They got rid of the antenna in the 800 series, I think. I have no idea what the current Palm Treo phones look like, but I don't think it's anything like the one I got. I have this phone now with out a data plan. Only reason I have it is because I got it for free and it's apparently unlocked since my T-Mobile SIM card works in it. I can talk and text with it, but all the web stuff doesn't work. And I was never able to send pics with it for some reason. Also, the screen resolution is HORRIBLE and when people send me pics they look like complete shit. There are lots of free apps for it though. I got Mine Hunter (Minesweeper) which brought me endless hours of occupation when I needed it.

This phone has been a beast. I've dropped it so many times, on hard cement floors too. Never had a problem. I would actually demonstrate dropping it because I was that confident in the phone. However, this phone finally broke down and now has a list of problems which is why I'm in the market for a new one.

well it was made my someone other than yourself, so wouldn't that make it an Idiot Phone?

lol

The delayed text thing is a snag with their satellites. I've had my phone about a year now. It's happened to me twice where maybe the texts didn't work for 4 hrs or something and then all the sudden you get all of them at once when the hiccup corrects itself.

Some reviewers say it happens all the time, others don't report any problems. Honestly, if this happen maybe once a month or something like that, I probably wouldn't notice. However, I primarily text so if it decides to happen while I'm trying to communicate with people this would be a huge inconvenience.

BTW the internet is 3G (I'm pretty sure? I'm not up on that shit) It's not super fast, so if you plan to download shit the forget it. But for checking email, basektball scores, wikipedia, google images, etc -- really no problem.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind. The data is unlimited in the plan so I WOULD use it, but I'm not a fanatic about having to post my status on Twitter every two seconds so I think I could make do with it.

I'm not saying the phone or service is perfect, as I have experienced the dropped-text or data thing. But only briefly. I've had very bad experience contacting customer support. I've had no issues with billing (knock on wood).

However, for me the plan is better than I need. I've never had a problem with reception on calls. It's cheap and has more features than I'll use. I assume no plan is perfect, so this one is cheap enough for me to overlook the occassional problem.

So would you recommend this Virgin Mobile to me?

I was putting some thought into it, and can't come up with a good plan. As far as I'm concerned, switching over will be a gamble any way I look at it. I was thinking, I could just get a cheap phone and try the service out for a month or two, while keeping my current cell active. Just in case I don't like it, I can just cancel it. Downside to doing this is you have to buy the phone, money I would lose, and the cheapest phone they have is like $70. If it turns out I wanna keep the plan, I would probably want to upgrade to a better phone, and still lose the money for the cheap phone (unless I can sell it used to some one). But this seems like the safest plan.

They can transfer my number over, but I've read horrible reviews about doing that. Apparently they take an unknown amount of time to get your number on your new cell. Every one said the same thing, after calling up their old phone was shut off in under and hour but took forever to get the new phone working. Some said days, some said weeks, some said it never happened and they had to get a new number anyway. During this time, you don't have a phone! So if I'm trying to keep my number, there's a risk that I'll end up losing it. So this kinda puts a damper on my idea to port my current number over to Virgin Mobile, and if I don't like the service then get my number back on T-Mobile. Might not work out that way.

So I'm really not sure what I'm gonna do.

[noiseredux]

I WOULD recommend it to you Zig, although perhaps that text-glitch has to do with location. (Do the people who say it happens all the time live in a certain region?) Like I said, it's only happened to me twice. And I text all the time. I hate talking on the phone, so I text as much as I can -- and since it's unlimited text, I do it a lot.

Based on my OWN personal experience I would recommend it.

If yr really concerned about the text-glitch, maybe research if it is regional.

[gtmtnbiker]

They can transfer my number over, but I've read horrible reviews about doing that. Apparently they take an unknown amount of time to get your number on your new cell. Every one said the same thing, after calling up their old phone was shut off in under and hour but took forever to get the new phone working. Some said days, some said weeks, some said it never happened and they had to get a new number anyway. During this time, you don't have a phone! So if I'm trying to keep my number, there's a risk that I'll end up losing it. So this kinda puts a damper on my idea to port my current number over to Virgin Mobile, and if I don't like the service then get my number back on T-Mobile. Might not work out that way.

So I'm really not sure what I'm gonna do.

Keep in mind that you'll find a lot more complaints online than positive stuff. I mean, people are not going to take the time to post "Hey, the number porting went smoothly. I love Virgin Mobile".

[Ziggy]

I WOULD recommend it to you Zig, although perhaps that text-glitch has to do with location. (Do the people who say it happens all the time live in a certain region?) Like I said, it's only happened to me twice. And I text all the time. I hate talking on the phone, so I text as much as I can -- and since it's unlimited text, I do it a lot.

Based on my OWN personal experience I would recommend it.

If yr really concerned about the text-glitch, maybe research if it is regional.

Hmm, well I'm thinking about getting the $70 phone with the $25/month plan and seeing how it goes for a month or two. If I like it and it's great, I can try and port my current number over to a new account and when it finally goes through cancel my original VM account. Then I could keep the $70 phone as a spare if I ever need one (came in handy having spare phones before) or try and sell it. Or hell, maybe I'll be satisfied with the $70 and just keep it. edit: And I just realized, if Virgin Mobile works out I could give the phone to my Dad. He HATES paying his cell phone bill and would love $25/month (or even maybe one of their cheaper plans).

Keep in mind that you'll find a lot more complaints online than positive stuff. I mean, people are not going to take the time to post "Hey, the number porting went smoothly. I love Virgin Mobile".

Yeah, I know how it works. There ARE plenty of good reviews too, but just a shit ton of bad ones as well. Let's say bad experiences with VM only account for 5% of the users, I definitely don't wanna be one of them! lol

[Ziggy]

Just realized I can buy a used phone from eBay. I'm watching a few auctions for the Kyocera Loft, I can probably get it for half price ($40) which makes it a lot less of a gamble if I end up hating Virgin Mobile.

[Hobie-wan]

Just realized I can buy a used phone from eBay. I'm watching a few auctions for the Kyocera Loft, I can probably get it for half price ($40) which makes it a lot less of a gamble if I end up hating Virgin Mobile.

*cough*