Cell phone users (question)

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amber

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I do not use cells phone, but my sister gave me her old one, minus the syms card. My question is could I purchase a syms card from any cell company? I am only using this as a temporary phone. I plan on buying a prepaid phone card if that would work after purchasing the syms card? :ermm: This is temporary until and/ or if our phone service is interrupted when we move.

Thanks for any help you all can offer;)
 
No, you cannot buy just a sims card. Generally the sims card is the heart and soul of a phone. My suggestion, go get a Virgin mobile phone for $30 and a minutes card. Use it up as you need it. They are one of the few carriers that are cheap and don't penalize you for not using the phone each month.
 
depends if her old phone is locked or not, if the phone is locked you can only get a sim from the provider she was with, otherwise choose the provider that gives u the best value for what u need. eg free minutes, discounted calls to certain numbers etc. all depends on what u want
 
99% of carriers will not let you bring a phone from another carrier to their service. I say 99% because I haven't tried all carriers but I've researched a boatload. I've never found one that lets you bring a cellphone with you. That's usually the kicker is they make you buy a phone.
 
We paid $10 each for Motorola TracFones at Dollar General (on sale, reg. $15 or $20) and then got our activation cards at Wal-Mart. You can buy as few or as many minutes as you want. We can't chat all day on them, since we would lose our minutes too fast that way, but if this is just a temporary measure, I would suggest going with a TracFone.

:)Barbara
 
Buck and I have had a TracPhone for 3 years and can't say enough good about it. We are not "phone" people and don't have a phone attached to our ears 24/7. We use it when we are traveling apart from each other. It's been helpful when my car crapped out on me about 3 weeks ago.

It's quite inexpensive and we are paid up, minutes-wise, until February 2008. We're just not "phone" people and, as I said, for emergency use only.
 
Buck and I have had a TracPhone for 3 years and can't say enough good about it. We are not "phone" people and don't have a phone attached to our ears 24/7. We use it when we are traveling apart from each other. It's been helpful when my car crapped out on me about 3 weeks ago.

It's quite inexpensive and we are paid up, minutes-wise, until February 2008. We're just not "phone" people and, as I said, for emergency use only.
That's why we have ours too Katie. I love not having a monthly fee. We pre-pay for the card and that's it. TracFone even gave James free minutes (I think 50) for his birthday!

:)Barbara
 
I do the prepay for our home phones through Verizon. By the grace of the gods I needed to call last night only to find out that our plan retired at midnight last night. I got us in ontime and all is good.

Fact is we've been with ATT, Virgin Mobile, Tracphone. Boost, and Verizon. The Verizon plan is the best for us. I have a teen and I have to be in touch with her all the time. It all depends on your needs. There's a lot out there.
 
Katie E said:
Cool. We really like the convenience of it. I'm not sure there is any other plan/service that would change our minds. Glad you like it.
That is all we have used for about 6 years. One thing that a lot of people don't know is, even if you run out of minutes your phone is still good in emergencies. Even without a service or card, any (as far as I know) cell phone can be used to call 911 as long as the batteries are charged. We never knew that until a few months ago.

:)Barbara
 
That is all we have used for about 6 years. One thing that a lot of people don't know is, even if you run out of minutes your phone is still good in emergencies. Even without a service or card, any (as far as I know) cell phone can be used to call 911 as long as the batteries are charged. We never knew that until a few months ago.

:)Barbara
That's true Barbara. It's why there is always a push for people to donate their old but still operational phones and chargers to Battered Women's Shelters and Homeless Shelters. Even when there is no service activated for a phone, it can always call 911. It's also a good idea to keep your old phones that have car chargers in your car. That way, if you forget your phone and have an emergency, you can still dial 911.
 
That's true Barbara. It's why there is always a push for people to donate their old but still operational phones and chargers to Battered Women's Shelters and Homeless Shelters. Even when there is no service activated for a phone, it can always call 911. It's also a good idea to keep your old phones that have car chargers in your car. That way, if you forget your phone and have an emergency, you can still dial 911.

I just changed phones this week and my old phone does not call 911. :(

Neither will the one in my kitchen junk drawer. But you have reminded me that I should donate them.

To the original poster. If you are planning to utilize a prepaid phone soon, it would probably not be a good idea to go to a carrier and get a Sim card. You will have to sign up for service from them and there will likely be a charge for cancelling it before a year has gone by.
 
I just changed phones this week and my old phone does not call 911. :(

Neither will the one in my kitchen junk drawer. But you have reminded me that I should donate them.
Mine can't either. I donate my phones to the collections for the service men and women. The carrier will activate the phones so they can be used by the soldiers.
 
Thanks so much for everyone's replies. Barb L, I had forgotten about TracPhone . I've seen them at Walmart and can also buy the minutes card there as well. I don't want to be sucked into a service plan , so I guess that is the route I will go. Thanks so much for your help everyone. I will donate the cell phone, great idea!
 
Thanks so much for everyone's replies. Barb L, I had forgotten about TracPhone . I've seen them at Walmart and can also buy the minutes card there as well. I don't want to be sucked into a service plan , so I guess that is the route I will go. Thanks so much for your help everyone. I will donate the cell phone, great idea!
I've had several prepaid phones including the trac phone. Just check experation dates of minutes. Can you put money and leave it for a while or does it expire? The plan Barb has may not be available now. Do a lot of research online. Wal-Mart has a lot of the prepaids available.
 
Thanks Callisto, I will be sure to check if there if an expiration date on the minutes. Good tip! Also I will not give out the number on my trac phone to others because as I understand it, if someone were to call me that chews up my minutes. So this phone will only be used by me for urgent calls.
 
Yeah, Amber, with prepaid phones most of the time you do get charged for all calls, incoming and outgoing. I switched to Verizon before they changed their plans and it's great because I can make and receive calls to Verizon customers even if I'm completely out of minutes.
 
I've got a Boost Phone, and I've had Tracphones in the past. I spend, on average, $10/month for my phone's airtime. That's one $20 card every other month. No contract, no service plan. The only part that sucks is that the battery is starting to go, and I'll either have to replace it, or get a different phone.
 
You may be able to get the battery you need off eBay. My battery was going and the provider told me they were no longer available - I'd have to get a new phone. Dh found one on eBay and I used it for a year and a half, before having to get a new phone for a different reason. The cost of the battery was $5.00 plus 2.50 shipping.
 
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