The Gamer's Quarter

[aderack]

Normally I've no need for a cell phone. Sometimes I do, though! Rarely, but occasionally enough. I've been looking around a little, and my head's sort of buzzing. Is there a decent cell phone / carrier out there from which I can just buy a bunch of minutes and they'll stay there and not evaporate until I use them? Even if I don't use the phone for six months? And that has no ongoing charges that I have to worry about?

The things I'm looking at that claim to be prepaid calling plans tend to have monthly charges on top of the charge for the time, and the time goes away if you don't use it quickly enough. That is suckledy, and totally not even slightly useful to me.

What I need to be able to do is just buy the thing, put, say, an hour of calls on it, then leave it on the shelf. And maybe in three years, buy a refill.

Oh, and preferably, ideally, no charge for incoming calls.

Is there anything made for me?
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[Redeye]

Tracphone

Family Dollar,Target, Wal-Mart, etc. sell them. Pay as you go. More expensive and annoying than having a plan, but more disposable.

Perhaps less complicated.

reviews

More info, especially commercial listing in the right side frame
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I felt sheer anarchic joy when I ran over my first pedestrian.

[Shapermc]

I think that most pre-paid cellphone minutes last about 12 months before they expire. My parents got my grandfather one of these phones and about 500 minutes. He only used about 50 in 12 months then went to use it again and they expired.

Oh well!

Anyways, if you find yourself using at least 100 minutes a month you'd probably be better off (and spending less) with getting a "real" cell phone.
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-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[aderack]

No, I'd be more likely to use 100 minutes a year. If that.

I mean, seriously. I might use this thing once every couple months, for two minutes per call. Like, it would help to have one for GDC.

And then... maybe GDC next year?

And maybe a few random situations in the middle where I need to meet someone somewhere.
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[aderack]

TracFone -- I keep seeing grousing in the comments. Looks like these are nice and cheap, though. Fifteen bucks for a perfectly decent-looking thing, plus twenty bucks for an hour of calls? Perfect! Thing is. What's this business with having to buy more minutes to extend the service end date? I don't imagine using sixty minutes over three months.

Is there something that doesn't have a time limit? And doesn't have any ongoing charges?
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[Harveyjames]

Eric-Jon, you're painting yourself as a tragic and lonely figure!

Meanwhile this guy is having the time of his life, coffee shops and art galleries, jetsetting around the world, flying to Israel to meet his girlfriend.

[aderack]

I just don't understand what people could do with cell phones that they'd need all this service.

Looks like TracFone has a special plan thing where you can have them charge you five bucks a month when your having-bought-minutes grace period is over, and you can hang onto the time you've still got. That's not so bad, I guess. Though it's a little irritating. That's potentially sixty bucks a year.

Do these minutes refer to use of the phone at all, or just outgoing calls?
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[extrabastardformula]

All use, incoming and outgoing
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[aderack]

Bluhhhh.
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