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Phones For Festive Family Philanthropy

Monday, December 10 at 09:04 PM	\|	Posted by: Russell, Wal-Mart
Category: Gadgets

I know the title is a stretch, but I have gone five posts without heavy alliteration so provide me with this one allowance. However, as time ticks away, I cannot be the only one that feels like buying gifts for family and friends must become a labor of love to complete. If mobile phones are on the list and you are buying as a gift you may want to consider a pre-paid, or pay-as-you-go, phone as they do not require credit checks, no contract to sign, and no unexpected charges. To that end please find a few telecommunication recommendations below.

Tracfone -- America's largest pre-paid carrier, and also one of the most straight-forward. With this service you purchase a precise number of minutes. If you want to give a gift that keeps on giving, consider the Motorola C139 w/ Double Minutes for Life ($49.88 value) for only $14.88. This makes every subsequent purchase of airtime double (i.e. $20 gets you 120 minutes instead of 60 minutes). This package is only available at Wal-Mart for a limited time.

Net10 -- Some phone plans can be difficult to understand, but not for this carrier. Only 10 cents a minute whenever you call, and only 5 cents for text messages. Just awarded the "Best Bang for the Buck" by Frost & Sullivan. Now you can purchase a phone for as low as $19.98 at Wal-Mart which also includes $30 of airtime.

Verizon INpulse -- Yes, "The Network" comes in a pay-as-you-go package as well. The key factor is they offer the coolest phone on all the pre-paid services: the LG Chocolate. This is a full-feature music phone and is only available at Wal-Mart.

Certainly there are other great offers that I don't have room to mention from AT&T GoPhone, Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, as well as others. But, while there are many carriers to choose from...choosing where to buy it has just gotten easier. On top of the exclusive bonus packages, just this week Wal-Mart has taken discounts on several of the best selling phones to make giving more affordable.

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4 Comments


	As Russell said, there are many different plans to choose from. No single offering is "the best" - you'll want to pick the one that suits you (or the person you're gifting to) the best. Also, cell phone providers can differ by area (AT&T may provide pre-paid service in one area, but not another) so if you're looking to give the gift of talk to someone long distance this year, make sure to talk to the sales clerk so you can get hooked up with the right equiptment to give - no one wants to open a dud gift on Christmas morning. With that said, that's a crazy good deal on the pre-paid Verizon Wireless Chocolate phone. it comes with a memory card and the data cable to hook it to your computer, so you can easily use it as a phone and an MP3 player. Two gifts in one! J. Richard Cook on 12/11/2007 at 9:40 AM


	I love the pay-as-you-go phones because you can never go over your limit. Saves us parents from those huge phone bills our kids could ring up. I recently got to review one that I'll be buying more minutes on for my older child. I'm going to head over now to check out your deals on them. Oh and I just recently switched to Verizon Wireless and it works like a charm. :) Eliza on 12/11/2007 at 1:07 PM


	Richard, Thanks for the great comment. It is very important to know the coverage area for the person that will ultimately be using the phone. All you will need is the Zip Code to find out if the service is available in that area; which you can find in-store or prior to that on each company's website. -Russell Russell on 12/12/2007 at 10:23 PM


	Eliza, Which phone/service did you review recently that you were so pleased with for your older child? I would love to hear why you were happy with it and which features stood out! Also glad to hear you are enjoying Verizon. -Russell Russell on 12/12/2007 at 10:31 PM