any virgin mobile users?

[ahoier]

I currently am using Virgin Mobile, satisfied with the service, been using them for 3+ years now, and no problems. Been through 3 phones.....first one was the Kyocera Marbl lol, second and third were the "LG Flare" - second died, and VM replaced it free of charge, since it was "under warranty" - even though I did not buy the phone FROM them to begin with! lol, not bad of a guarantee, so they had me a new phone within a couple days, and an RMA (box, postage paid....) to return my old phone in, no questions asked....the buttons just stopped working And well, 1 year or so later - I'm in that situation again, but obviously, no coverage so no "free replacement"

Sooooo I need an upgrade. Anyone have any experience with the Virgin Mobile phones....? Really looking at the "smart phone" categories.....leaning towards Android, but really, my primarily features are:

3G and/or WiFi - preferably BOTH - since I've heard 3G is "flaky" in some locations, if so? Wifi is everywhere here as an alternate.

expansion card(micro-SD?) - to hold music, apps, etc...?

YouTube/Pandora/Last.FM etc functionality......which afaik requires "Flash" and "JavaScript"


GPS/Maps is a bonus, but not a "necessity" since I do have a GPS of my own....

 

[Bill in Utah]

Wife has the Motorola Triumph Android and both my older Daughter and I have the Samsung Intercept.

Excellent service, good support and the phones are great. Any Android phone with VMobile will have both 3g and WiFi. I've got 16 gig cards in all of phones for MP3 and Photos. I use my phone for Mp3 music a few hours a day and TuneIn radio for a few hours with excellent results. Does Youtube very well both on Wi-Fi or 3g.

GPS works great. Maps with voice directions are EXCELLENT! (use this alot)

The Intercepts do have a slide out keyboard that is easier for text-ting IMO. The Daughter does that a lot with the wife and friends. The only downside to any Android phone is battery life when compared to "normal" phones. You will charge them more often.

I really like the phones and service. I like the wife's and mine better because all it cost is $25 total per month.

The Daughter's is $35 for the same service since she signed up later. Still a excellent deal for $35.

Take care, bill

 

[eljefino]

I like mine; I'm grandfathered in at $5/ month whittled away at 18 cents a minute. Don't talk much.

Lately the phone has sometimes not been ringing with incoming calls. I replaced it and still no ring.

 

[renegade_987]

I have an LG Rumor Touch wiith Virgin. (which I am using to reply to this post lol). The internet works great on it and calling and texting is fine, too, if you can live with out Android.

 

[JustinH]

I have the blackberry with virgin, my fiance has the intercept with android on virgin.

We both like the service, but it does not work in Canada. I carry a 5 dollar ATT prepaid phone in case in need it in Canada.

Honestly I like the android OS much more than the blackberry.

 

[45ACP]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
I have the blackberry with virgin, my fiance has the intercept with android on virgin.

We both like the service, but it does not work in Canada. I carry a 5 dollar ATT prepaid phone in case in need it in Canada.

Honestly I like the android OS much more than the blackberry.


Thats wy i made my first smartphone an LG Optimus V.

At $25 Unlimited data/text/web and 300 talk minutes, i will never change plans.

I am very satisfied with Virgin Mobile.

I may even have their Virgin Mobile MiFi 2200 hotspot with two spare batteries and all untouched original accessories for sale for $80, half its purchase price. PM me if interested. Purchased two months ago, new, for more than $150. Has 2year replacement plan if it ever fails. I used it two months, now i may not need to. Its a great mobile hotspot, has never failed me. $80 seems fair, for a perfectly functioning, very good condition used one eith extra stuff. Their phone service is excellent too.

 

[ahoier]

Yea, I love the plans, love the service (very rarely see any outages...) and well, been loyal for 3+ years now. Was looking at MetroPOS and well, lots of "local" friends have them, and are not happy with the service.

Friend of mine was telling me just to go with a 2 yr contract with Spring - but WHY? When I can go month to month with basically the same service, as VM uses Sprint's service/towers....as my understanding.

I was just curious how the VM phones hold up since I've heard of some of them being "weaker" models of the regular phones the contact comapnies offer....

Kind of digging the whole "Android" phones, since they are open-source to an extent....but even the Samsung restore (m757 I believe is the model) doesn't look too bad either.....not Android, but does have 3G....but I've heard 3G is "hit or miss" in some areas so that's why I was looking into wifi, since wifi can be found near anywhere now.

 

[JustinH]

I have been buying virgin mobile refill pin codes from http://www.callingmart.com/

This way you pay zero tax, and if you look on retailmenot you can find a coupon code for a little bit off, plus they give bonus points so you save a little more.

It comes out to be about 4-5 bucks per month cheaper on a 45 dollar plan, and I pay with paypal, they display the code instantly, and i call an automated 800 number to refill the phone.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: ahoier

Friend of mine was telling me just to go with a 2 yr contract with Spring - but WHY? When I can go month to month with basically the same service, as VM uses Sprint's service/towers....as my understanding.


If you have Sprint you can get a femtocell that will work in your house if you get spotty coverage. If you have Virgin, no go. If your neighbor has a Sprint femtocell that can also block you from your previously mediocre Sprint/Virgin service.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
I have been buying virgin mobile refill pin codes from http://www.callingmart.com/

This way you pay zero tax, and if you look on retailmenot you can find a coupon code for a little bit off, plus they give bonus points so you save a little more.

It comes out to be about 4-5 bucks per month cheaper on a 45 dollar plan, and I pay with paypal, they display the code instantly, and i call an automated 800 number to refill the phone.


They don't charge sales tax here on calling cards so that is a non issue. (but there looks to be some FED TAXES coming on line if they have their way...

)

I buy my VM cards at Target when they have them on sale (normally 7-10% off) Target seems to have the "sale" once every 6-8 weeks.

Bill

 

[opus1]

I have an old phone on the $20/quarter plan, and recently bought the Optimus V Smartphone (no Optimus Prime model, I checked, nyuk, nyuk) and am toying with that. Kind of kicking myself because I didn't get in on the $25/month plan. Missed it by 2 weeks.

But even $35/month is a steal.

If you get the Optimus, get a better memory card. I noticed my phone started to randomly reboot and when it came back, the apps I had on the card were "gone" until I dismounted and remounted the card. Went online and the forums say that the stock card is *excrement* and to get a better/bigger card and the reboot problem will go away.


I've been a Virgin Mobile customer for 6 years now and the only place I ever had a problem with coverage was in western South Dakota.

 

[dwcopple]

good to know all of this as I am switching to VM on 11/28/11. I've got my eye on the Optimus V using a coupon code direct from Virgin it will be $104 shipped too.

 

[ahoier]

Not bad on the Optimus V....that was my other choice, but while on vacation in CA - I scored the HTC WildFire "S" from RadioShack, originally $199 - for $99 - plus they had to upsell me the insurance and Otterbox (good idea BTW....since it is a fairly pricey phone compared to my old $20 flip phone LOL!).....seems to be working "OK" so far....first thing I did was did the factory reset to remove some of the pre-loaded apps.....

Reminds me of the days of HP and Dell computers They pre load them with so much useless garbage.....Virgin Mobile Downloads apps, Virgin Mobile "Live" (music, ringtones, etc....that cost money...)....

If I get adventurous, I may consider rooting it down the road to totally remove the HTC/Virgin Mobile apps......BUT, with the 16GB memory card upgrade I bought for Xmas.....it's not too bad of a phone.....I just was running into all kinds of errors with the slim 2 GB card it came with.....always getting low storage errors, etc....alls well now

Love the service.