Best pay-as-you-go phone service?

[Flaxbee]

There seem to be many more options outside of Tracphone these days. I'm sick of being stuck with Verizon and my 2 year contract has ended; I've spent a fair amount of time in Europe and Russia in the last few years and it is so convenient to just be able to pay as you go... refill the phone at a kiosk in the grocery store, subway, wherever.

So - Verizon? Virgin? GO, whatever that is? Anyone have any opinions, pro or con?

[emilyg]

1. kick

[Flaxbee]

2. thanks, emilyg... I've seen this question asked here before, but

now there are quite a few new options.

[Angry Dragon]

3. I use Net10

10 cents/minute
you can buy airtime at small gas stations
also can sometimes get discounts on website

It works for me ........

[Flaxbee]

5. thanks... they've been around a while, haven't they?

:hi:

[Angry Dragon]

7. I have had them for about 4 years I think

For me nothing fancy just a regular phone

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. Before I got an iPhone, I used TMobiles pay-as-you-go option

You start with a $10 minimum and just replenish when you run out. I rarely talk on the phone and never text, so it was perfect for me. You can add up to $100 at a time.

The per-minute charges are high, but if one doesn't talk on the phone much anyway, no problem.

[Flaxbee]

6. if you don't talk or text much, why did you get an iPhone?

the access?

Seems like T-Mobile now has a $50/month plan with unlimited text and talk ...

I have two phones on Verizon - mine and my husband's - but we rarely use them both; I need one voice/text/data plan, and one in-case-of-emergency phone that I don't get dinged $2 every time I turn it on (as some Verizon pay as you go plans do). And I need to keep one of my numbers - the non-data phone, preferably.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. What? You can talk and text on an iPhone?

I got it as a small, very portable entertainment and communications center for traveling: e-mail (wi-fi if possible), Internet, camera, music, handy apps (weather, bank balances, etc.) and eBooks.

If I'm stuck in a waiting room or alone at a restaurant, I just pull out the iPhone and start reading.

[Flaxbee]

10. yeah, I can see that as its best feature -- the all-in-one device

My sisters and nieces live on the other side of the country, and they all text one another; I'm currently the only one left out. So while I don't see texting as a big thing in my future, I do want to be able to send/receive short messages.

For reading - do you find the screen to be too small? And I go to the library a lot - I don't buy many books anymore. Are there e-libraries?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. There are lots of free eBooks available from various sources,

mostly classics that are in the public domain. It's a good way to catch up on things you didn't read in college. :-)

The screen isn't too small, because the text is sized to look good on the iPhone screen. An eBook on the iPhone typically has two or three times as many little "pages" as a comparable print book and you see only one page at a time. The same eBook on an iPad is much more like a normal book, with facing pages and everything.

[Angry Dragon]

8. Net10 - 10 cents a minute

less if you buy from website for deals

[HopeHoops]

12. I've been pretty happy with Net 10.

[lillypaddle]

13. MagicJack?

I've seen ads for this - it's like $20 a year. Does anyone know anything about it?

[Rhythm]

14. Net-10 has a $50/month unlimited talk/text/web option... have used it for a year

There are a lot of phones to choose from, tho the phone i got has a slide-out keypad and camera. It's been dropped more than a few times without incident.
I tend to use over 5000 minutes per month, so this was the best option for my usage level.
The call quality is terrific.
The browser is pretty good, though i occasionally run into memory probs when loading particularly data/link-heavy webpages, although DU loads very well (but will D3?)

[Flaxbee]

15. my only concern with Net10 is coverage....

I'll have to look at their online maps. If they piggyback on Sprint, then it won't work very well for me.

[Rhythm]

16. coverage map...