Starting with a cell phone, PAYG

[bkbkbk]

Hey.. so I'm biting the bullet and looking into cell phone plans (i've avoided them til now..)

I'm looking for the cheapest possible way to get a new phone (don't care how dated/uncool a model it is) and a pay as you go provider that's good for maybe 50-100 mins a month .. I would also love to find a service where the minutes don't expire every month

Any good suggestions out there? I've heard 7-11 is actually pretty strong, only problem is that they no longer have any stores in Ottawa.

[avp77]

Rogers Pay-As-You-Go has a $100 top-up card that lasts for 365 days, and the time rolls over if you buy one next year and activate it before your old one expires. That was the best value for me.

[bylo]

Any good suggestions out there? I've heard 7-11 is actually pretty strong, only problem is that they no longer have any stores in Ottawa.
There are two alternatives, Petro-Canada Mobility (http://mobility.petro-canada.ca) and Good-to-Go (http://www.goodtogowireless.com/) that are similar to 7-11 SpeakOut. All three are operated by the same MVNO and all run on the Rogers network. IMO 7-11 SO is the best of the three but if you can't buy airtime in Ottawa, that may be a deal breaker. OTOH it's rumoured that 7-11 SO will soon offer online airtime top-ups, something that PCM already offers.

So if you're the gambling type you could wait until 16Nov09 when SO will have a "buy $100 airtime and get a free phone" promo and then hope you'll be able to buy more airtime online before your $100 gets used up.

For more info see http://www.speakoutwireless.ca/ and especially the forum there.

[bkbkbk]

Thanks for the tips.. gonna look into these options!