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by bokonist 5422 days ago
$120 a month???

I pay $25 a month from Virgin Mobile for unlimited text, unlimited data, and 300 minutes of call time, with a pretty good android smartphone. (It would be $32 a month if you amortize the price of the smart phone, which I had to buy up front). I use easytether to hook up my laptop, no problem.
2 comments
pacemkr 5422 days ago
300 minutes wouldn't be enough for me, but:

  $60 for 900 min
  $30 for unl. data (lucky me)
  $10 for 500 texts
  $17 in taxes (NYC)
Verizon. Pretty much the same plan was slightly more expensive on AT&T.

Tether might still work, for now: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/08/verizon-blocking...

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georgemcbay 5422 days ago
300 minutes is the voice call limit. The data portion is "unlimited", so if you have Google Voice or are willing to move over to it, you can skip over a lot of would-be voice minutes by using GrooveIP (or some other SIP gateway solution) and serve most of your talky needs via voip without burning talk minutes.

Granted for most people it is probably easier just to bump up to one of the higher level Virgin plans which are also pretty cheap relative to industry averages.

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bokonist 5422 days ago
Yeah, for 1200 minutes + unlimited data + unlimited texts, Virgin Mobile is now $45 http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/beyond-talk-...
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cooperadymas 5422 days ago
I look at it a different way. I'm saving $35 per month over Sprint with my Virgin Mobile plan. The phone cost me about $140, so I essentially pay it off in 4 months savings on this plan. I could upgrade my phone every 4-6 months if I wanted to, at no extra cost from where I was with Sprint. Compare that to the 1-2 year upgrade cycle on a contract, assuming you're able to get a free phone with the contract renewal. If I did upgrade every 6 months, the old phone would still be new enough to fetch $50 on Craigslist, making it even more economical.

Just a different perspective. I'm not actually one to be particular about having the latest and greatest phone, and at most I will upgrade once every 18 months. Switching to Virgin Mobile was one of the steps I took while unemployed to cut down on bills. It's actually been the easiest and most effective way to reduce my monthly living expenses without much sacrifice.

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dsr_ 5422 days ago
The VM compatible Motorola Triumph is a pretty nice Android phone, too. Noticeably quicker than my original Droid.
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