What Is The Best Phone For Virgin Mobile?: Why Prepaid Phones Are Now Cool

Virgin Mobile is one of the many popular prepaid cell phone providers in the US. For many people, a cell phone is a necessity but during uncertain times, sometimes it may not be a good idea signing onto a 2 year contract with the popular cell phone providers such as T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. This is where prepaid cell phones come in. Prepaid cell phone were a way for consumers like yourself to stay connected to your family and friends but not be committed to a high monthly fee. If you don't want the hassle of a high monthly bill or feel uncomfortable signing a 2 year contract, then join the millions of people around the world who own prepaid cell phone. 

Prepaid cell phone companies like Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile appeal to you by giving you the great choice of "pay as you go". These 4 words are responsible for selling millions of hand held units. "Pay as you go" may mean different things to different prepaid cell phone companies. Most prepaid phone companies offer the option to pay per minute you use and others give you the option to pay for each month you use your phone. The exact definition varies from company to company but the idea is still the same. You pay for the time you use it without no contract. 

Having owned many prepaid cell phones in the past, I've experienced the goods and the tads. One of the great thing about owning a prepaid cell phone is not having to pay taxes and surcharges. When you sign a 2 year cell phone contract with a major wireless phone company, your easy to understand plan of $59.99 soon becomes a complicated $74.26. This is because of taxes and surcharges. There are lots of people that do the math before they go prepaid to see if it is worth it and at the end, they conclude that it is cheaper to go on contract. This is often done without considering the taxes and surcharges that comes with a monthly plan. Any prepaid cell phone company worth considering includes all taxes and surcharge into the minutes they sell. This is excellent for those that don't want the muss and fuss that comes with taxes.  
 

Another great thing about owning a prepaid cell phone is not having to worry about expensive termination fees and bad credit marks. When you own a prepaid cell phone, one of the catch to having no contract is paying full price for the phone. Most phone companies have a standard termination fee that you must pay if you break your contract. This can have a big impact on your wallet not to mention your credit score if you run into hard financial times. This is one of the "catch" to owning a prepaid cell phone. If you don't or can't pay, the prepaid cell phone companies don't lose any money since you purchased the phone at full price. 

As a result of the market and paying for phones at full price, most prepaid cell phone companies only offer a small selection of low quality phone. They usually buy these phones from the manufacturer in bulk and pass the cost onto you. As the market changes, so does the demand. Right now, everyone who's anyone owns a smart phone. It isn't enough to own a "dumb phone" anymore. For our daily lives, we have to stay connected beyond the phone call nowadays. We have to be able to check our Facebook and update our status. We have to be able to use Twitter from anywhere. And most importantly, we have to have access to our emails on the go. This is where Virgin Mobile comes in. 

Not too long ago, Boost Mobile released the "Boost Berry" which was street slang for the prepaid BlackBerry Curve 8330. This was the first prepaid "smart phone" to come onto the market. The Curve sports email, 3G data speeds, alps, games, gps, and all the other good stuff that you would expect on a smart phone.

Boost offered the BlackBerry with unlimited everything for $60 a month. Suddenly the crappy prepaid market is starting to look pretty good.  

Virgin Mobile followed suit with their launch of the BlackBerry Curve 8530 last May 6th, 2010. Basically Virgin Mobile decided to raise the bar on this emerging niche market. For as little as $35 a month, you get unlimited text, data, and web along with 300 anytime minutes. On the Virgin Mobile website it says $25 but you have to add the $10 BlackBerry BIS service. You need this in order to even call this a BlackBerry. This is an amazing deal all things considered. This offer has even enticed me to go prepaid but the only thing stopping me is the breech of contract fee.  

For any of you who are still undecided if you want a smart phone, consider this analogy. Smart phones are to dumb phone what beepers were to cell phones. It's an accurate comparison considering we are living in the information age. 

Prepaid cell phone are not without flaws. Usually in order to keep costs down, customer service goes out the window. I also remembered the hassle of counting my minutes and being cheap about my conversation lengths. I believe these new monthly, no contract plans are the way to go. For those who want to stay even more connected but are still hesitant about smart phones, Virgin Mobiles new BlackBerry Curve looks just right for you. You get all the luxuries of a BlackBerry while paying half the monthly fees. If you can get over paying retail for the phone, then this purchase is a no brainier. The Curve 8530 is a wonderful device. In fact, I am typing this article on my BlackBerry as we speak! Thank you for reading. I hoped you enjoyed it.