Anyone using Virgin Mobile in the San Diego area?

**kemetblk** · 02-08-2013, 09:27 PM

My contract w/ Sprint is over and I'm looking to save money. Virgin's $35/month plan looks nice and with the EVO V being just $150 I'm thinking of making the switch. I only have about $350-$400 to spend on phones,and need to replace my original EVO and the wife's Epic, so unfortunately Nexus 4's are not in the cards.

My only concern is that i have no experience w/ VM and don't want to be stuck w/ worse svc than I already have. I know they use Sprint's towers so having the same level of service i currently have is something i can live with for HALF THE PRICE I'm currently paying. Can anyone tell me if the two are truly comparable, or if VM is worse in my area? thanks!

**droidmyme** · 02-08-2013, 09:39 PM

Originally Posted by kemetblk

My contract w/ Sprint is over and I'm looking to save money. Virgin's $35/month plan looks nice and with the EVO V being just $150 I'm thinking of making the switch. I only have about $350-$400 to spend on phones,and need to replace my original EVO and the wife's Epic, so unfortunately Nexus 4's are not in the cards.

My only concern is that i have no experience w/ VM and don't want to be stuck w/ worse svc than I already have. I know they use Sprint's towers so having the same level of service i currently have is something i can live with for HALF THE PRICE I'm currently paying. Can anyone tell me if the two are truly comparable, or if VM is worse in my area? thanks!

Like you said, Virgin Mobile is on the Sprint Network, so coverage will be the same. The only difference is the radio in the phone will be different, but Virgin Mobile phones are pretty good and you can get 3G speeds, enough for low resolution video on YouTube.

I used to be on Virgin's $35 plan. I like the data, the phone selection, and the freedom. The only drawback was that at $35 you are only given 300 minutes of talk, and some months that just wasn't enough for me.

Now I'm using Ting Mobile and I'm very happy so far. Ting is also a MVNO on Sprint. You can bring your Sprint phones to Ting and activate them.

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**kemetblk** · 02-09-2013, 02:41 PM

Thanks for the response. I guess I'll pull the trigger as I can't find anything else as cost effective.

**PWC Realtor** · 02-09-2013, 03:34 PM

Originally Posted by kemetblk

Thanks for the response. I guess I'll pull the trigger as I can't find anything else as cost effective.

Ting could be a great alternative as long as the lines on your account aren't heavy data or voice users. You might want to pull up your sprint bill look at your usage then go out to Ting and see what a plan of that level would cost.

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**kemetblk** · 02-09-2013, 03:59 PM

I use a lot of text and data, almost no voice. I see t-mobile offers a $30 plan that seems to fit me but their website would not let me order it (or anything for that matter). The Optimus L9 seems to be a good phone if I could use it with T-Mo's $30 plan, or Straight Talk's $45 plan.

**droidmyme** · 02-09-2013, 04:06 PM

Originally Posted by kemetblk

I use a lot of text and data, almost no voice. I see t-mobile offers a $30 plan that seems to fit me but their website would not let me order it (or anything for that matter). The Optimus L9 seems to be a good phone if I could use it with T-Mo's $30 plan, or Straight Talk's $45 plan.

For a person with those parameters, I would recommend either Virgin Mobile or T-Mobile. If you really use no voice, say you have a landline, then T-Mobile is the better choice, in terms of data speed, network coverage, and price. If you don't have an alternative line, Virgin Mobile would be better, as you have 300 talk minutes.

For someone who uses a lot of data, and in a Sprint coverage area, I wouldn't recommend Straight Talk, simply based on the fact that they will cap your data or cancel your service even, if you go over 2GB. Straight Talk is a good alternative for light data users looking for a cheaper alternative to Verizon or AT&T.

My 2¢

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**runtmms** · 02-09-2013, 04:15 PM

Originally Posted by kemetblk

I use a lot of text and data, almost no voice. I see t-mobile offers a $30 plan that seems to fit me but their website would not let me order it (or anything for that matter). The Optimus L9 seems to be a good phone if I could use it with T-Mo's $30 plan, or Straight Talk's $45 plan.

I don't have any experience with T-Mobile directly, but I do know some people in the Nexus 4 forum who had problems ordering had success getting them resolved by calling customer service.

That $30 plan is a great value if you can make the 100 minutes work. (I couldn't.) If you need the data you might consider Solavei (T-Mobile MVNO) over Straight Talk. There are so many threads about ST customer service problems and random throttling I decided to stay away.

Solavei is $49 for unlimited talk / text / data. The data isn't throttled until 4GB. I like having a clearly defined data plan. They also have a referral system that can effectively lower this rate if you're interested in such things.

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