Virgin Mobile agreement/new phones

Yeah they need new phones. Tracfone does too. Whats the deal witht he date resuce *mtv or whatever?

 

I was hoping that the $40 break from the initial prices ($99 and $129) that they ran before Christmas would become permanent. This made the phones $59 and $89 and there were some $20 store bonuses (either a TopUp card or a store gift card) thrown in as well.

In January prices seemed to go back up, but not back to the initial prices. The Party Animal seems to have gotten cut by $20 permanently and the Super Model got a $30 cut. So there does seem to be a permanent price decrease on the current models, but not to the levels that were used for Christmas. And instead of any $20 bonus throw-in, the current promotion seems to be a one-time $20 usage credit if you refer a friend who signs up.

It will be interesting to see if these two models will be around for a long time or whether there are plans to change or add models. I hope there is some change, but somehow I doubt it will be soon.

the HumpMan

 

I just got my girlfriend a virgin mobile. She didnt want a contract and I didnt want to put her on my 2year Sprintpcs deal either I told her about VirginMobile same coverage I should say It is the same coverage they have aggremenets with Sprintpcs I told her the only thing different is roaming there in none with yours. But after telling her that she still likes. Better than her Tracfone she says. ANd cheaper too. a Friend refered she she got $20 today so now she has $35 in her account boy $35 can she go along way when the forst 10 minutes are .25 anfter that are only .10. cant beat that deal, but I like my SPrintpcs plan $45 500 minutes and unlimted night and weekends, plus $10 for 50 minutes of roaming and free PCS to PCS calling and all the other things that come with it free FreeCallerID voicemail, and it goes on. I thought I would put my two cents in there. Yea, I would of like to get her a nice prepaid phone something like what SprintPCS sells but oh well what am going to do about it. I cant tell them to get new phones. I would of love to see a sanyo 4900 with Virgin Mobile. That what I use and I tell its got one of the best signals on it. No lie either. So Like we all say Hope and Pray.

 

well i heard that, too (the contract wuz gonna end), but i emailed a Virgin Mobile USA employee and no, the contract will not end. they said "..we are very happy with the performance of the kyocera phones" and that yes, they will come out with a new kyocera phone (i hope a flip phone one) but they dont know which make or model it will be. too bad, cuz i wanted them to come out w/ Nokia phones....but w/e i really like my phone and i wouldnt trade it for the world. VMU has the best pre-paid service/features of any company i know of.

 

I like Virgin Mobile too, I bought it for my dad (59.99-20bestbuy gift certificate) for xmas. I use FREEUP which I feel is better for me with the better coverage (in DE) and free weekends. Virgin is still a good deal, and I hope they come out with some new phones too. Something not Kyocera, their newer phones are ugly (only one that looks good IMO is the 2255).

 

trust me, you don't want to continue using virgin mobile. i got it as a gift, and the person who gave it to me is paying for my service. i've had to fight w/them 4 times over billing me for minutes i never used. when i made 2 calls to a number that lasted less than 10 sec each, i was billed for almost $6 worth of minutes! this time they've overbilled me by 2 min or so...i dunno, my phone's call logs are messed up, but i know that i only made 6 min of calls that day, not 8 lke they said. also, the VM phones seem to be on sprint's 2g network, and where i live they have very spotty coverage. even cingular and tmobile have better coverage, and cingular doesn't even have gsm yet! o well...

 

Well that stinks, I have found VM's cs pretty good but I havent had the nightmare you did. Like I said, I bought it for my dad. He needs a nationwide service plan (bye bye Cingular) and Boost isn't here in DE yet. Sprint has good service in Delaware, and 20$ every 3 months is a good deal for him. If you live in a Verizon area, go with FREEUP, it's the best prepay IMO, it's what I have.

 

I haven't had any billing issues with VM. Rounding up to the next minute bites, but not much and it's known upfront. I try using the the little beep 10 seconds before the minute, but I usually wind up running a second or two over.

But that's not the reason for this message. I just checked the Virgin Mobile Website and they seem to have announced a new phone will be available! It's a flip phone and is not a Kyocera (so this should really be in a different place). The new flip phone is the Audiovox "Vox" 8500. Price looks to be $129.

the HumpMan

 

Thanks for that new info. Thank god they have a new phone but im kindda disapointed in VM. Only one new phone come on. At least they can get more than 1 new phone. Im been with sprint since AUg 2002 and Its not a day I go by and check phonescoop and see lots of new phones on its way I really excited about the TE. I got a VM 2119b for my girlfriend and she really likes alot. She didnt want a contract. SO I got her that. Same network as I run but you cant roam like I can just in case I need coverage. In spots Sprint doesnt coverage, yea Roaming does stink. it sure doesnt sound the same its sounds bad. I have the $10 raoming package I get 50 raoming minutes a month and saves me, so when I need to amke a call I pull up my antenna which I dont do when Im on sprint and make a cracking noise call, or recieve call. Is that Audiovox dualband. Or isnt VM going to mess with raoming. Say a person already has a VM phone can that person whwich the phone to the new phone if they want to. Or are you stuck with the phone you have. Thanks for the information again.

 

Yes, the Audiovox 8500 is triband, which is good for some 911 emergency out of the SPCS area. I think thats a great price on a pretty good looking phone. I have seen this phone on Metro PCS (website), and I always wondered why Verizon never picked it up for a decent priced flip phone.

 

It's just my opinion, but I don't think Virgin Mobile will add roaming. I would think that it complicates their billing immensely and probably costs them a lot to try and provide this.

As for switching phones, I'm pretty sure you can do it. You probably have to call VM directly and give them the VKey of your old phone to get funds transferred. But would you be allowed to keep your old number? That I don't know. Certainly should seem more feasible than trying to keep a number from a different provider (which they don't accomodate) but if they don't allow VM phone number transfers this could be a factor keeping people from upgrading phones.

the HumpMan

 

I don't think they will add roaming either, just allow 911 access (or other 1900 911 acess) for the triband models. That's not really roaming, it is law. I am sure one can move from one phone to another, Verizon's FREEUP can at least.

 

Looks like the Virgin Mobile "Vox" (Audiovox 8500) is hitting the store shelves. Just saw it at Circuit City.

Now that I think of it, I don't remember if I saw the Party Animal there. I did see the Super Model. Could it be that Virgin Mobile is going to phase out the Party Animal with the introduction of the Vox?

the HumpMan

 

After reading this thread, I thought maybe I'd throw out a little information regarding some of this.

The contract is still intact, the company is just looking around as far as getting new phones from different manufacturers. That's where this Vox comes from. They're still using Kyocera, and the party animal is not being phased out. Somebody probably just ran out of it.

Prices . . . The first two are standing at 79 and 99, and looks like they'll be there for awhile. The drop to 59 and 79 was a month-long special they did that ended at the end of whatever month that was. I don't remember. The new phone was *supposed* to start selling today, but some places (like Target, the bane of my existance) started selling them early. They're supposed to have anywhere between 2 and 4 new phones out by the end of the year. They haven't told me any more than that.

Throw your VM questions my way, I guess.

 

Hey, Can you give me a mini review of the 8500 if you have ever tried it? I realy like the phone!

 

In retrospect, that does make sense to me. It's smart for Virgin Mobile to have a phone in that price range ($60-80). I have the Party Animal and think it's a fine phone, but then, I'm pretty new to cell phones so I'm pretty easy to please.

Wow, 2 to 4 new phones out by year end? That's interesting. Maybe they will eventually try and take advantage of Sprint PCS's Vision? Don't know how they'd price it, but there must be some price point that would get more Virgin Mobile users. And certainly there's a price point where Sprint and Virgin Mobile would offer the service. Now if these two price points are close... that's the BIG question!

Glad to have you around, Sigma!

the HumpMan

 

VM is trying to keep itself independent pretty well, so I don't know about the Vision thing happening anytime soon. I know some VM phones have *accidentally* gotten the PCS web services instead of the VXtras, but that's not really supposed to happen.

Who knows, though.

 

Actually, my Party Animal got what looked like the full Sprint PCS Wireless Web for the first few hours after I activated it. By the next morning, however, it had become the VirginXtras menus.

Even though I probably wouldn't spring for it, I have to believe that VM thinks that the PCS Vision stuff of sending pictures and video would be a big hit with their target audience and would be a big revenue source. Whether the economics of providing this to VM users is viable, that is the big question. But if you are right and there are 2 to 4 new phones coming, either some of the current phones will be retired, or we would likely see new services offered. At least that is what makes sense to me.

the HumpMan

 

Man, I couldn't agree more. With VM's target audience being 18-25, that is exactly what they need.

My other main concern with the company (what they really need to work on), is their games. While not terribly important to me, they need to get their games going much better than the crap they have on the phones now. The new Vox doesn't even have any games on it. With all the color screens and downloadable games, I think that would be a major push for VM if they did it right.

 

Good to see we are in agreement! As much as I love the new technology, I can't see myself using it enough to justify the expense since I'm not in the target audience (18-25). The problem is that I happen to be in the "18+25" audience, that is above 43... LOL

I actually found the two games on the Party Animal pretty fun and challenging enough to keep me entertained for a while. I wouldn't mind seeing some new ones.

If I had a wish for enhancements to the VM phones and service, I would want it to be in the area of text messaging. I don't have any specific suggestions right now, but I have to believe that there are things that could be done to improve on that. Since I've had the phone I noticed that VM added some 10 cent movie reviews on the VirginXtras menu. I hope that they have plans to continue to add VirginXtra services as eventually they should add something that I'd find really useful.

the HumpMan

 

As a matter of fact, one of the new phones VM has on the way is going to be built by MTV and VM, as a collaberation. Kind of like a phone nobody else will be able to have. Custom built for VM and the VXtras. I don't know much more than that.

 

Not as of yet. The closer they are to being releases, the more information will be available. Right now I don't think anybody knows.

 

why dont they have any nokias? the party animal is cheap, but the ringtones are nothing special- i keep mine on vibe most of the time b/c the rings are so embarassing/annoying...hope they get a new cheap phone...doesn't matter, i'm ditching them in 2 weeks for sprint, w/the sanyo scp-4900- can't wait!

 

Can you activate any unlocked cdma phone with VM like you can do with other companies?

 

The only phones that VM will activate are the models they use (Kyocera 2119b, 2255, and Audiovox 8500), and no other models will work, CDMA or not. Sorry, dude.

 

Ok, Im sooooo confused about the Top-Up cards.If you pay $30 how many minutes will you get? How muchdo they charge per minute?

 

25 cents a minute for the first 10 min you talk in a day and 10 cents a min after that