Samsung T101G available for TracFone; review coming soon

After a few months of anticipation, TracFone has begun to release their new phone models. It looks like they’re starting with the lower-priced models, though, as the only new phone currently available is the Samsung T101G. This is the most basic of the new models and is currently offered at a price of $14.99 from TracFone’s site.

Samsung T101G

I’ve ordered one for myself, and as soon as I can get my hands on it I’ll review it for you here. I have some big ideas of how to make this round of new phone reviews more informative than those that I posted last year, so stay tuned for that. For now though, all I have to share with you are the phone specs from TracFone’s site:

• Features text messaging, voice mail, free caller ID, free call waiting*
• Features Downloadable Ringtones, Graphics, News, Weather, Sports and more using Airtime Minutes
• Color screen display
• Handsfree Speaker
• External Caller ID
• Auto Redial
• Vibration Alert
• Phone Book with up to 100 Entries
• 15 pre-loaded ringtones
• Alarm Clock with converter
• Key Pad Lock
• Lightweight – 2.47 ounces
• Battery life with up to 4 hours of talk time and up to 19 days of standby time
• TracFone Airtime Balance Display shows you how much airtime you’ve used and how much is left, so you control your costs
• Includes up to 20 minutes of starter airtime upon activation**

A couple of things jump out at me here – this very basic phone appears to support web browsing; the phone is the lightest model available for TracFone; and the battery life, if it lives up to the stated length, will be great. Of course I’ll try out all of these features and report back about them, but for now if you are interested you can click here to find the phone on TracFone’s site.

Also, I have even more new phone rumors to share with you. I’ve previously mentioned the Motorola EM326G, which looks to have many appealing features like mp3 player and bluetooth, as being available for Net10. That phone, as well as the more basic 234g, is beginning to show up on some pages of TracFone’s site (though not yet for sale), so it looks like both phones will be future options for TracFone users. And new this week is news of the LG 410g for TracFone. I don’t have any info about this phone yet, but based on the 4## model number, it looks like it will be a mid-level phone. Here are some images of that phone:

LG 410G External

LG 410G flipped open

Google Voice (Formerly GrandCentral)

Google is about to provide yet another great service, and this one might offer more flexibility for prepaid phone users.

They are re-introducing a service formally known as GrandCentral, henceforth to be known as Google Voice, and adding on some additional features along the way.

Nearly two years ago, Google purchased a startup called GrandCentral. It was a service that allowed users to get a free incoming telephone number, which they could then manage via a web page, to forward to one or many other numbers. For example, I signed up and then set up the account to ring through to my landline and two different TracFones at the same time.

Now, whenever someone calls my GrandCentral number, the call is connected to whichever of the three handsets I answer first. If I don’t answer at all, the call goes to GrandCentral’s voice mail system. (The forwarding settings can be changed at a moments notice via the webiste, too).

This can be helpful in a variety of ways – you can give out the number to people that you don’t want having your “real” phone number, or you can use it to make sure that important calls always find you, whichever phone you maybe close to, among many other applications.

There are also a lot of other features that can make it even more useful. For example, one option allows you to answer an incoming call, but immediately send it to voice mail, then listen in as the caller leaves a message. If you determine it’s appropriate to do so, you can “pick up” in the middle of the message. You can also listen to your messages on the web, and those message will stay in your account until you delete them.

Another option allows Google Voice users to place a link on a website or in an email that allows a site visitor to “call”you without knowing your number, by clicking on the link and then entering their own number. Google has also added the option of having voice messages transcribed to text by a computer. The text can then be sent to you either via SMS text message or email. The other features are too numerous to list here , but I will wrap it up by saying that I really enjoy this service, and highly recommend it. (And if you’re interested you can read this article which more fully explains the service).

And that’s why I’m posting this now – once Google acquired GrandCentral, they stopped taking new users. Now it looks as though they’ll be opening it up again. You’ll have to sign up with your name and email address and wait for registration to open up. I recommend doing so if you’re even remotely interested in the service. Here is the link to sign up for a new account.

And, if you’ve already used Grand Central/Google Voice, I’d love to hear your comments on how you make use of it. Please share in the comments section – to get things started, I’ll share a prank that I dreamed up…

LG 225 Review

I’ve had a fair number of people ask me for my opinion about this phone, but for the longest time it was the only recent phone in the TracFone lineup that I had yet to try. Well, few months back I finally jumped on the one-year card deal that came with the free LG 225, and replaced my primary phone with this one. Over the last several months I’ve put it through the rigors of daily use and found it to be a reliable, durable, yet unspectacular phone.

If you’re considering picking up the phone (for free) in the one-year card bundle (click here for more info on the one-year deal), I think it’s a good bargain. Also, as pointed out by “Pepper” in a comment on a different page of this site, the design and simplicity of the LG 225 might make it a good choice for someone new to cell phones in general.

Finally, I’ve posted the complete review to a site separate from this one. I’ve been playing around with setting up a site from scratch, and decided to experiment with posting the complete review on a different site and providing a summary here. So, here are the links to more complete details on this phone:

LG 225 Review

Get the LG 225 free with one-year card

Cheap Bluetooth Dongle

This might be my shortest post ever, but I wanted to give a quick notice about a bluetooth dongle deal I just saw. Dealextreme is a Hong Kong-based company, so it may take a week or more to get it, but I’ve purchased from them a few times in the past and always found them to be reliable. Right now they have a tiny little bluetooth adapter for just $2.63, and that includes shipping. I’m going to order one of these because it’s much shorter than my old adapter and, therefore, less likely to be bumped or broken off when it’s attached to my laptop. If you currently have an LG 600g, you can use it to transfer pics, ringtones, and other data between your phone and computer. I’m also holding out hope that future bluetooth phone offerings from TracFone and Net10 will also be able to take advantage of bluetooth data transfer, so if you plan to purchase the Samsung T301g or the Motorola 326g when they finally are released, you might want to pick up one of these adapters just to be ready.

Here’s the link to the product page:

http://dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11866~r.13745505~r.96035782

What do you want to know about the newest TracFone and Net10 models?

I just realized I’ve been making a big mistake with some of my previous reviews. In the past, I’ve always simply used the phone and written about it on my own, then responded to further reader questions after the review is all done. But I think I was getting it a little backwards with that format.

Since I’m writing the reviews for you, the reader, why not ask what you want to know, and answer those questions right away?! With the many new phones rumored to be coming from TracFone and Net10 soon, I’d like your input on the questions you want answer most. I’ll then sort out the questions you submit, and answer them as quickly as I can once I’m able to purchase the phone(s) and give them a short test-drive.

So if you have a question about the Samsung T301G, T201G, or T101G; or the Motorola EM326G (or w234G, which I just recently heard a rumor about), please post it in the comments sections of this post. Alternatively, if you receive updates via email, you can also reply to this message with your questions, and I’ll post them to the comments section to keep everything organized.

Of course, I’ll still follow up with my regular, in-depth reviews, but this exercise will help me make sure I cover all the bases, and quickly get you the info you want most. Thanks for your help!

TracFone Promotional Codes updated

I’ve  once again combed through my sources to find which bonus codes have worked recently, and put that info into my table. To find the current TracFone Promotional Code database, click here. Also, below is a summary of the newest codes I’ve found, which have also been incorporated into the database:

• 57108 for 20 bonus minutes on a 60-minute card
• 52726 for 30 bonus minutes on a 120-minute card
• 53994 for 30 bonus minutes on a 120-minute card
• 58627 for 20 bonus minutes on a 120-minute card
• 56500 for 50 bonus minutes on a 200-minute card
• 53786 for 40 bonus minutes on a 200-minute card
• 90091 for 20 bonus minutes on a 200-minute card
• 51450 for 50 bonus minutes on a Double Minute for Life card (might also work on a 450-minute card)
• 16142 for 250 bonus minutes on a 400-minute, one-year card
• 84023 for 250 bonus minutes on a 400-minute, one-year card
• 50704 for 300 200 bonus minutes on a 800-minute, one-year, DMFL card
• 57122 for 200 bonus minutes on a 800-minute, one-year, DMFL card

As usual, the codes generally apply to the card for which they are listed, as well as any larger (more expensive) airtime cards. When you review the database, you’ll see that I’ve also bolded the newest codes.

Once again, many thanks to the visitors to this site who have taken the time to share, via the comments, section which codes have worked lately. If you happen to use any of these or any other codes, I’d greatly appreciate it if you could post the results of your code usage in the comments section of the code list page. Thanks!

[EDIT 3/4/09 - As per reader comments, it seems that the 50704 awards 200 bonus minutes, not 300 as I had originally stated. I have updated the list above as well as the code database to show this lower number. I apoligize for this mistake.]