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Should I Go With VM (LG Elite) Or.....?

N

Nat77

Lurker
Hi everyone,

My name is Tasha. I have a hand me down HTC Inspire 4G that was used for AT&T service. Well, my AT&T has been shut off, so now I just use the phone for taking pics. and videos of my Kids, listening to music, playing Angry Birds (Ha!) and for internet (if I'm in a Free Wi-Fi area). However, I need an activated phone so I can keep in touch with people and have constant Data as I use my Cell for Data mainly (my living situation does not allow for internet at the moment). When with AT&T, I used loads of Data; maybe 5+gb a month. But I know I'll have to minimize that as the pre-paid carriers only offer 2.5gb. Anyhow, I am thinking of doing one of two things..... 1) buying an LG Optimus Elite with Virgin Mobile ($35/month plan) or 2) getting my HTC Inspire unlocked and going through pre-paid T-Mobile. I think Walmart offers a T-mobile plan with 100 mins. talk, unlimited text and 5gb data. So, my questions are: what do you all think would be my better option? If it's Virgin Mobile, what are your thoughts on the LG Elite? I honestly didn't use half the stuff on my HTC Inspire, so a downgrade in phone is not a big deal for me. I don't want to spend more then $40/month and I'd like good reception and speed. I live in the South Bay Area (SF California).

Thank you all in advance for your input.

Regards,
Tasha

PS- Pre-paid is my only option as I am a struggling Mom/Wife making very little money. No more contracts!
 
you could go with vm since its has one of the cheapest plans and I have been with them for 6-7 yes and I have not been dissatisfied with their service or plans the LG elite is a very good solid phone it might not have the newest version of android but the elite got 4.5/5 stars nd I think they cellphone prices are reasonable my friend had T-Mobile and honestly he hated it so much because he had no coverage most of the time
 
Thank you for that! I see more and more people using VM with no complaints. I am just trying to see if that would be a better deal for me or if I should get the HTC Inspire unlocked and go with the Walmart T-mobile plan for $30/month. It would give me more Data, but less minutes. That's OK though as the Data is what I need. I just don't know if an Unlocked AT&T phone will still get 4G speed and good coverage going to T-Mobile. If it won't, then maybe I'm better off getting a new phone and a different service. I am so conflicted! =/
 
Hi Tasha,

In my opinion you should definitely just get your HTC Inspire 4G unlocked (free right? by calling ATT and getting the unlock code) and use the $30 TMobile plan since you'll get the first 5GB at 4G speeds and data after that at 3G speeds.

Much better than buying a new "not as good" phone for $130+tax (from RadioShack).
You'll get 200 extra minutes from the $35 Virgin Mobile plan but only 2.5GB of data at 3G speeds and then be super slow after that.

Try out TMobile for now and see how it goes...god forbid you drop/break/lose your Inspire.....THEN you can go out and buy a new phone. ;)

Best wishes to you. :)



....edit again... The Inspire on Tmobile will only work with 2G/Edge speeds....that kinda sucks.
 
Hi. Thank you! I am leaning in that direction. But a) AT&T will only give the code out if you're an existing or paid up in full customer, from what I read. I was under my Mom and Uncle's acct. and they had to close it as the bill was waaaaay too high. They owe AT&T now. =/ And b) Walmart's site says that you have to buy a new T-Mobile phone from them in order for the plan to work. But I could of sworn I've read online where people were still able to get the deal with their unlocked phone. I need to look in to that more. Do you know if I even will get 4G speed if I'm using an Unlocked AT&T phone with a T-Mobile SIM? I heard about issues with that as well. Another option would be for me to sell the Phone online and use the money towards the LF Elite with VM.
 
Yeah, after some Googling...

You could try calling ATT and see if they give you the code...or there are Ebay sellers who will give you your code for $22 I guess. But then you'll only get 2G speeds from TMobile with the Inspire since the antennas bands are different.

If you can sell the Inspire that's cool.

Another option is most Optimus Elite owners previously owned the Optimus V, myself included and there should be a bunch around you for $50 on Craigslist. I sold mine to a friend for $20. That was a VERY good phone- the most widely used and popular phone on Virgin Mobile. So check that one out too!!

I previously said that RadioShack is the cheapest right now- selling the Elite for $130+tax...
Something else to consider is that until July 18th Google Wallet will give you $25 for activating the Google Wallet application on your Elite and deposit $10 onto your account...and then another $15 three weeks later. Then you can wave your phone at the card readers at McDonald's or BP gas station to use it.
 
You can use more than 2.5gigs of 3g data on Virgin, it just slows after that. All carriers exceot Sprint have at least some form of limit or are planning to very soon. usually around 1 or 2gigs.

You may want to see if you have Wimax coverage and look into the Evo V since you want lots of data. Considering you are in the Bay Area, odds are you do. 4G will give you unlimited high speed data from Virgin (3g will slow after 2,.5gigs, but 4g remains full speed). Of course, the phone costs more.

As for buying either phone, Virgin has the Elite on sale as does Radio Shack. Radio Shack will give you another $20 off using SAVE20 promo code ($109 total!), but you have to mail order. I don't recommend buying from Virgin direct due to return policies (they stink).

Either phone will serve you well.
The Elite is a fantastic, inexpensive little phone, the Evo V is a monster that costs a bit more, but will give you greater speeds.
 
Thank you all so much! I really wish the Inspire would work on 4g Unlocked, but maybe I should just sell it and give VM a try. If I do, then yes, the Optimus Elite is what I would aim for or maybe even the Optimus V which I've read great reviews on and which 'download' mentioned on here. My main needs are a good camera (flash preferable), access to Twitter and Facebook (to keep in touch with Family), and decent video quality for some Youtube viewing. Other than that, I will just check my email or search Craigslist. I barely talk on the phone (besides my job), so mins. aren't a big deal. But I do text a lot. I will research a bit more and 'hopefully' get a new phone/service in the next week or 2. Thank you all so much. Any more opinions, please keep on posting them. =)
 
Don't get the Optimus V.
The OV is a great phone, but you will be much happier with the Elite. The Elite is actually the Optimus V's replacement.
 
There is also AT&T's prepaid plan. You shouldn't need an unlock or anything. I had an iphone on it for a few months. Their plans have gotten a little better since then.

They have an unlimited everything for $50.

You can also purchase data by itself or to add to another plan:

$25 for 1 GB
$15 for 200 MB
$5 for 50 MB

You will need a gophone SIM, you can go in to an AT&T store and tell them you have an old gophone and need a SIM for it.

http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/prepaidplans.html
 
Tethering a bunch on AT&T will get you nabbed. They watch their data like hawks. Granted some of it depends on what you do with it, but I have heard of quite a few getting the boot for it.

New Go Phone sims are locked to the phone it comes with for 6 months, so you need to make sure you get just a card. They may fight you on it because so many were putting Iphones on that way.

Personally, I'm not impressed by them or their plans. I have had some serious issues with their customer service that cost me a lot of time and a customer of mine a TON of money. I wouldn't even try what the OP wants to do with AT&T, it won't last long, not with what she wants to do.


T-Mobile and Sprint are the best deals she will get considering the data requirements.
 
Hi everyone. I hope you had a good weekend. After a few days of thinking on this subject, I really, really think the T-Mobile $30 plan (100 mins. Talk, Unlimited Text, 5gb Data) will suit my needs best. But because my HTC Inspire won't get the same speeds if I get it unlocked (from AT&t to toT-Mobile), I would have to buy a new phone still. The best option T-Mobile has on that pre-paid plan is a Samsung Exhibit II 4G. I's have to get it at Walmart for $189. I don't feel (based on reviews) that it's as good a phone as the LG Optimus Elite through Virgin Mobile, however. And it's $40 more. That's a couple drawbacks I'm not happy about. =/ But since I mainly use a cell for Twitter, FB, Email, some Youtube and just general internet reading, it should be fine. I can mve this post to a T-Mobile/Samsung Exhibit II 4G thread now, if need be. But if anyone has any more opinions on me making this choice over the $35 Virgin Mobile/LG Elite, please advise. Thanks so much! =)
 
A TruConnect hotspot would cost $20 for 500mb, plus $5 connection fee (a monthly fee if you use it - if you do NOT use it for the month, you won't be charged).
$40 for 1gb. It's about 4 cents per mb.
You could keep the hotspot in your purse and the phone in your hands. Phone needs wifi but no plan or number (I think...). You could use GrooveIP to make calls - could get around the need for having an actual phone number from a carrier.
Just a thought that I'm throwing out there - I'm not 100% convinced that this would work.
I wouldn't spend $189 on a brand new samsung. See what you can find on craigslist or ebay first.
 
Thanks for that. I didn't think about just buying/using a Hot Spot. the thing is, however, I use at least 3gb-5gb/month. $40 for 1gb would be waaaaay too much. But it does give me something else to think about. =)
 
The biggest question for me would be, do you already get fast data with Virgin where you live.

VM is unlimited, but they will throttle you to 256k over 2.5GB. Where I live, I'm lucky to get 256k data speeds at all, so I don't care about the throttling (not like I use anywhere close to the 2.5GB limit anyway...)

IMHO, the Elite is definitely the best bang for your buck phone out there right now (20% off on Virgin's site), and VM's unlimited data/text for $35 is the best deal going. My only complaint is I sometimes bump up against the 300 minutes talk limit.

YMMV and GL.
 
Glad you took anything regarding "you must get an Elite- or - you must get Virgin Mobile" with a grain of salt, obviously people on this section are very biased and can't put themselves in your shoes.


Best wishes to you. :)
 
i guess its a little late for my opinion, but to me VM service has gone down hill here lately. I just bought the optimus elite , up from a fried optimus v, and have never been more dissatisfied with a phone in my life. its junk IMHO and wished i could eturn it.

T-mobile , i had them they suck all the way around, period .they suck
VM may be the best bng for the buck but their phones are all junk. i have had VM service for about a year and have been through 4 phones. you dont get what you pay for thats for sure.

the fact that they lock up these phones where you have to jump through hoops and 80 miles of red tape just to get a decent program to work is stupid and makes my blood boil. but i think thats with all carriers. just my 2 cents of complaints
 
anotheruser1 said:
i guess its a little late for my opinion, but to me VM service has gone down hill here lately. I just bought the optimus elite , up from a fried optimus v, and have never been more dissatisfied with a phone in my life. its junk IMHO and wished i could eturn it.

T-mobile , i had them they suck all the way around, period .they suck
VM may be the best bng for the buck but their phones are all junk. i have had VM service for about a year and have been through 4 phones. you dont get what you pay for thats for sure.

the fact that they lock up these phones where you have to jump through hoops and 80 miles of red tape just to get a decent program to work is stupid and makes my blood boil. but i think thats with all carriers. just my 2 cents of complaints
Click to expand...

The Optimus Elite is a decent phone as a self-contained unit; the menus are smooth and it runs apps well and everything.

It's not a phone for surfing the internet. The combo of the specs and slow VM net is pretty miserable. But it does what it does for the price of the phone and the affordable service. It really is a "you get what you pay for" deal.

If something needs to be looked up on the internet, it's there. It's not a snappy surfing experience like with the bigger carriers and higher-end phones.
 
Zx5 said:
The Optimus Elite is a decent phone as a self-contained unit; the menus are smooth and it runs apps well and everything.

It's not a phone for surfing the internet. The combo of the specs and slow VM net is pretty miserable. But it does what it does for the price of the phone and the affordable service. It really is a "you get what you pay for" deal.

If something needs to be looked up on the internet, it's there. It's not a snappy surfing experience like with the bigger carriers and higher-end phones.
Click to expand...

You are much better with words than me, that's kinda what I was getting at. Good info, thanks.
 
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