prepaid phones

Get a prepaid iPhone 4 (8GB) for $349.99

It's hard to reconcile my "cheapskate" title with my iPhone ownership. I do write about the latter for a living, so it's a legitimate expense, but, man, do I hate being locked into a two-year contract at around $80 per month.

I'm stuck with that for now, but you've got options if you want an iPhone on the cheap(ish). For a limited time, and only in stores, RadioShack has the prepaid, no-contract Virgin Mobile iPhone 4S (8GB) for $349.99, or the 16GB iPhone 4S for $449.99. Sales tax applies in both … Read more

Larger carriers losing prepaid phone sales to smaller players

Top carriers such as Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile are losing sales of prepaid smartphones to the likes of Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, and MetroPCS, according to an NPD report out today.

Third-quarter prepaid smartphone sales for the smaller carriers rose 23 percent over the prior quarter. But sales among the tier-one carriers dropped by 12 percent over the same period. Why? The smaller players won over customers by offering lower prices and a larger selection of prepaid phones, NPD said.

In the third quarter, 70 percent of smartphone buyers who bought their phones through a prepaid carrier had … Read more

Get a prepaid AT&T GoPhone for $9.99

Not everyone needs, wants, or can afford a super-fancy smartphone. And a two-year contract costing upwards of $100 per month? Ouch!

If you're looking for mobile communication on a shoestring, AT&T has the Samsung SGH-a107 GoPhone for $9.99 shipped. No activation fee, no contract, just 10 bucks out the door for a simple cell phone.

Simple, and prepaid. Although you can spend $60 or $70 per month for unlimited talk/data plans, AT&T also lets you pay as you go: $2 per day for unlimited talk and texting, or just 10 cents per minute … Read more

T-Mobile holiday gift: Aggressive unlimited prepaid plans

T-Mobile on Friday rolled out a new unlimited prepaid program called T-Mobile Complete. It's actually a pretty sweet deal: unlimited minutes and unlimited texting for as little as $50 a month. It also gets you a Samsung T239 flip phone at $59.99 or the T229 slider at $79.99, which isn't bad.

But then it gets a little more complex. At $149 you can have the Samsung Gravity, a full-QWERTY slider. But your plan would be $60, presumably because you'd be texting a lot more with the full keyboard than you would with a T9 phone. … Read more