Mark Lloyd wrote:
On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:05:10 -0700, SMS
wrote:

tom wrote:

Stormin Mormon wrote:
My parents are still able to drive, go shopping, eat out, and so on.
But, there have been a couple moments when the car broke down. Or,
one was out, and the other didn't know why it was taking so long. I
suggested they get a cell phone. The reply was that we don't have
the money to support another monthly bill.

I've heard of phones where you buy the minutes in advance. Has anyone
used such a phone, and which brand, where bought, etc? If it was
twenty bucks or so, I'd buy the phone outright, and give it to them
as a gift.
We have phones with Virgin that run $5 a month each at $.18 a minute or
about 27 minutes a month. Any un-used minutes carry over to the next
month. We gave them a CC #'s and they "top up" the account for $15 every
90 days or before if you run out of minutes. We paid for our phones but
received credit for the purchase price in minutes on the 1st month. The
phones and service have been flawless for the last 2 years. Haven't
checked lately so I'm not sure if this plan is still available.

https://www.virginmobileusa.com/myvirginmobile/home.do
Avoid Virgin Mobile at all costs. The problem is that you can only use
Sprint's network. There is no roaming at all, even at extra cost.
Sprint's network is very limited, especially outside urban areas.

See "http://prepaiduswireless.com" for details on the best prepaid services.

Is there anything wrong with Virgin Mobile, other than limited
coverage area?

1. High per minute cost (recently increased)
2. High texting rates (they used to have the lowest texting rates)
3. Comparatively high monthly minimum (not really suitable for a glove
compartment phone).


I'm wanting to get a phone that works in Brownwood Texas. It's 49
miles off the interstate highway, and neither AT&T or Verizon provide
coverage there. According to their map, it looks like Virgin does.

Yeah, there are a very few areas where Sprint is the only major carrier,
and it looks like you found one!