Straight Talk Prepaid Review$30 All You Need Plan
The Straight Talk CoverageStraight Talk prepaid coverage is provided by Verizon, so it’s good as well. Is it as good as what you find with other prepaid and no-contract phones? Verizon’s own prepaid plan boasts good coverage but not as good as what they provide to their long-term contract customers.However the rumors are that Straight Talk customers will enjoy the better coverage that Verizon provides to its regular customers. Either way, it shouldn’t be a problem. All You Need Plan$30 a MonthThe Straight Talk All You Need plan gives you 1000 minutes, 1000 messages and 30 MB of “Web” for $30 a month. That’s good! The messages can be text or even pictures messages, as long as you have to have some MB left in your web balance.How it Works.Simple. You buy a Straight Talk prepaid phone package which includes the first 30 days of service. Then you refill your account either using a refill card you purchase in store or online or sign up for auto-refill. Refill are each good for 30 days.LimitationsThere are no carryover minutes or messages, and you cannot extend your service period beyond 30 days. So after fifteen days, if you activate another 30 day card, you end up with 30 days of service rather than extending it to 45 days.Auto-Refill to SaveThat’s why auto-refill is your best choice. You automatically renew so you don’t lose service, and you renew on the last possible day, so you get the most days out of your card. Otherwise, you would have to remember to always refill on the 30th day of service.Cost Per Minute, Per Message, etc.Just CallsIf you only make phone calls and use your full Straight Talk prepaid allotment of 1000 minutes for $30. That’s 3.3 cents per minute. 1000 minutes per month translates to about 33 minutes per day. Good enough for one or two good conversations and a couple of short calls.Calls and MessagesIf you also use your full allotment of messages? Then let’s say half your cost ($15) is for your calls and half your the messages. Then, that’s about 1.7 cents per minute for your calls and 1.7 cent per message. 1000 messages translates to about 33 messages a day. Assuming you’re awake for about 16 hours, that’s two messages per waking hour per day. Assuming you get more during peak times and less at other times, this may be enough for you!Calls, Messages and Web30 MB of Web traffic is equivalent to about 300 web pages. If you also use all of that, then dividing $30 by 3 gives you about 1.1 cent per minute, 1.1 cent per message and about 3.3 cents per web page.The important number, however is $30 for 30 days or about $360 a year. What Web Sites Can You Access?While the web access sounded great. So I began looking for the phones. The Straight Talk prepaid phone tutorials indicated that web access was limited to just a few sports and weather news services. So I called up . . .Straight Talk Customer ServiceI called Straight Talk customer service at 1-877-430-2355.I was told, you can access only the web sites Straight Talk allows. Yahoo, Gmail, and Hotmail Included!Luckily, you can access the big three email services: Yahoo mail, Hotmail, and Gmail. For many people that’s enough because you can usually set up Yahoo and Gmail, for example, to check your other email accounts.Still, this is a limitation, and if you need access to all web site, you might want to try the prepaid plans from GoPhone or T-Mobile. There are a few other limitations which are minor but a little puzzling. No International Outbound CallingYou can receive international calls but not make them. This is a limitation compared to Tracfone and Net10 which do allow them. I suspect, this was because it was impossible to keep international calling at this per-minute price without ruining the simplicity of the plan. You also cannot make calls with your phone when you're outside the continental USA.Will You Save MoneyIf you have a standard long-term cell phone contract and and use a significant number of minutes a month, then you would probably save quite a bit with a Straight Talk prepaid phone without feeling that you have to restrict your calls.One estimate from the Straight Talk blog is that you can pay up to $78 per month for 1000 minutes with a standard cell phone plan. At $30 a month, you would save more than $48 er month. That comes to about $500 per year even after you add in the cost of the new phone. Straight Talk prepaid is a really good deal, but you have to look at your own cell phone bills to see if is worth it for you. If you find that you need even more minutes, you can check out their Unlimited Plan. Straight Talk PhonesUpdate Samsung R810CStraight Talk has introduced a touch screen phone, the Samsung Finesse R810C.You’ve got a good choice of Straight Talk prepaid phones. Here's a quick description. Before we go on, let me mention that there's . . . Free ShippingShipping is free when you order from the Straight Talk website. If you order from Walmart, you can choose Site to Store for free shipping, but you have to go into a Walmart to pick it up.Back to the phones. The top three are the Razr, the Samsung R451C and the Samsung Finesse. Samsung R451C $99.99(plus $30 for the first 30 days of service)Qwerty Keyboard, MP3 Player, 1.3 MP CameraThis relatively new mobile phone has a qwerty keyboard, 1.3 megapixel camera, mp3 music player and Bluetooth compatibility. The keyboard and the large horizontal screen make this the Straight Talk prepaid phone to get if you send and receive a lot of texts.Check to see if the Samsung R451C for $99.99 Razr V3A $99.99(plus $30 for 30 days service)Old ReliableThis reliable Razr V3A has a video-capable camera and Bluetooth. If you are a heavy phone user and already comfortable with the Razr, get this. Check if the Motorola RAZR 3ACP for $99.99Motorola W385 $79.99(plus $30 for 30 days service)Razr Lite has HAC M4, T4 ratingIf you want something similar to the Razr but newer and slimmer, you can try the Motorola W385. This looks similar to the W376g and W377g available from Tracfone and Net10 respectively. It is the only one with the higher M4/T4 hearing-aid compatibility rating. Get the Motorola W385 for $79.99LG 290C $79.99(plus $30 for 30 days service)This new slider phone is notable for its 1.3 megapixel cameraThe LG290C for $79.99LG 220C $39.99(plus $30 for 30 days service)The LG220C for $39.99LG 200CM $29.99(plus $30 for 30 days service)The LG200CM is another option if your mainly interested in talking. The LG200CM for $29.99LG 100C $29.99(plus $30 for 30 days service)The only open-face, non-slider phone available for Straight Talk. The LG100C for $29.99Good TutorialsYou can also access some good tutorials from the Straight Talk website. These give step-by-step instructions for the most common things you need to do with your phone. Check out the Straight Talk prepaid phone tutorials here.MoreHere's a little more about Straight TalkVoicemailHere's how to setup and check your voicemail.Unlimited PlanYou can find out more about their unlimited plan here.Compare to Tracfone and Net10You can compare the Straight Talk prepaid plans with the Tracfone and Net10 plans to see what makes sense for you.Best Business Cell Phone?I give a quick rundown of some reasons why Straight Talk could be the best business cell phone for small business.
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