I’ve spent a fair amount of my “blogging” time writing reviews of the newest TracFone, Net10, and Straight Talk phone models, and those articles seem to be what prepaid phone users are most interested in. So, it finally occurred to me that I should have a page devoted to linking to all the reviews I’ve done. Here it is:
Samsung R451c (Net10 and Straight Talk)
LG 290c (TracFone, Net10, and Straight Talk)
LG 220c (TracFone, Net10, and Straight Talk)
LG 100c (TracFone, Net10, and Straight Talk)
Samsung T301G Review (TracFone)
Motorola w376g review (Tracfone; also same as Net10 w377g)
LG 600g review (Tracfone and Net10)
Compare Motorola w376g and LG 600g
Both my wife and I are using the Motrola w376g and have had several problems sending MMS messages with photos in them.
At first (for the reciever) nothing happened, no ring, no vibrate, nothing…except the sender got charged minutes for sending the MMS.
After calling tracfone they had me do a MASTER RESET and after 24 hours the problem was resolved.
Now one month later when sending an MMS the sender gets deducted minutes, however on the recievers phone the message ” the message you are trying to recieve will not adapt to your terminal” is desplayed????
Anyone else had this or this kind of problems?
Im wondering if its the Phone? or the cell carrier?
Bob –
I haven’t dealt with this personally, but others have and they’ve commented about it on other pages on this blog. Specifically, in the comments related to my w376g review, starting here:
http://pbush14.wordpress.com/2008/07/08/motorola-w376g-tracfone-review-part-1/
In regards to a guestion about multiple numbers per contact. The Em326g does allow multiple numbers per contact. After creating and saving the contact entry, click on Options, which will bring up a menu that has Edit as a menu item, Highlight amd select Edit, This will open the contact entry. Press Options again,another menu will appear, scroll to New, press Select, this will open a new menu that allows you to Add Number, Add Text and Add Picture. Hope this helps.
I stand corrected. Thanks so much for pointing that out. I’ll have to do an update on that. Funny it’s not more obvious in the menu, though.
Hey Pbush (sorry if you use another name, I don’t know it.)
My son and I have been looking at tracfones for a while now. Earlier on this year, I found your page comparing the w376g to the LG 600g. It was a GREAT help. So now when I need to know about tracfones, I come here.
The phone is gonna be my son’s. He’s starting college soon and so he’s staying with a friend in Bangor and his friend doesn’t have a phone… and the apartment is in the “shadow” of the Verizon building, so they can’t get wireless either. He only gets home to visit about once every other week, so I worry about him a lot. Only time we get to talk is when he’s got a few minutes when he’s at work and we IM on AIM. Plus, I have myriad health issues and I want to be able to contact him if necessary about that. He is a super tech geek, so he loves lots of features. Me, I just want to be able to get in touch with him. (though my MajicJack *snarl* poses its own problems. wish so much I could afford a cell phone for myself.)
ANYway, I love to ramble as you’ve noticed. Sorry. I just finished reading the full review on the T301G, which, bleh… but you mentioned, near the end of the summary, 2 newer phones that would be coming out… so I checked your blog for reviews of them. I read the summary of your review on the em326g. Sounds like an amazing phone. I tried finding info on the other.. the LG 401g but I don’t see any… though my searches on the net say it’s out in stores, and only $19.99? Did maybe I get the model # wrong? Also, it seemed weird that a successor in the LG line would be a lower number than the previous LG 600g. But I don’t know much at all about cell phones.
Oh, is the em326g only a net10 phone? I couldn’t find it on the Tracfone site. And I was hoping it would come with one of those double minutes deals. And mostly I just wanted to know if the em326g is currently the latest and greatest in pay as you go.
Hi Holly
The 410g is available in stores. I have one and have had a review half-written for most of the summer, but keep finding other “shiny new objects” to chase and write about. The quick overview is that it’s a solid little basic phone for $19.99 – excellent signal reception and battery life, adequate audio quality. No camera, no bluetooth, NO DMFL. that last part is the biggy for me. I actually like it very well, and it is a good choice for anyone that doesn’t need DMFL. But DMFL is such a big part of the TRacFone “bargain,” it’s hard to give it a recommendation when adding DMFL will cost another $25. Add the purchase cost and DMFL add-on, and now you’re talking $45. Both the LG 600g and Moto w376g come with BT, Camera, AND DMFL, for less than that price.
As for the EM326g, it’s a very FUN phone, if you want to be able to play games and music, make your own ringtones, and take nice pictures. Audio quality is good, signal reception isn’t as good as the w376/377. It is currently available only for Net10, and I don’t know if it will ever make the TracFone lineup. I can’t believe that TracFone would go the entire Holiday season with giving us something new in their phone lineup, and the 326g seems like it would be a popular choice, but I haven’t heard anything official yet.
I need info on storing contacts Motorola W376G
Should I store as phone or sim? why?
If I get another phone can I copy contacts? How?
I understand about the sim card reader I am looking for the proper way to store contacts so that they can be copied if needed
many thanks
Bernie –
I believe that if you want to use picture ID’s for incoming calls, you’ll need to save the contacts to your phone. HOwever, if you save them to a SIM it will make it easier to copy the contact list to future phones using a SIM card reader (an inexpensive device that allows a computer to read your SIM).
Patrick and LG600g “Gang”
Just wanted to share a short note to Elston:
Hello Elston
You are some good guy.
Received new SIM card you sent me. Have installed, and with 5 minutes help from one of the girls in customer support this phone is on the air, and the voice mail all set up.
It has been a difficult case, however, you have stayed with me and I hope TracFone knows how capable you are, and what great service you give to fix the problems.
Mil gracias, y vaya con Dios’
Gentle Ben
TracFones numbers:
510 , and
504
Translation:
for 49 days, I have been fighting TracFone, to get rid of T-Mobile and port and replace with ATT.
Elston got it done.
Thanks again, Patrick, for the directions and the referral
Gentle Ben
Gentle Ben –
I’m so happy things worked out for you! I hope that I saved you at least some frustration by pointing you in the right direction to get things worked out.
I just found this site and think it’s very informative. I hope someone here can help me out. I need to get a new phone but not sure what to get and would like some opinions. I will use it for emergencies and for some texting. I don’t care if it has a camera or not and bluetooth doesn’t matter either. I found Motorola 260 on Walmart.com-is that a good phone or would a different one be better. Thanks for any help
twinsmomje –
The moto 260 is a good phone for voice calls, but I don’t like the keypad that much for texting. Also, it has something called iTap predictive text, which is a method of making text messaging faster by reducing the number of key presses necessary to spell words. Other phones, such as the LG and Samsung models from TRacFone, have a better predictive text method called T9.
I would suggest the LG 600g for a good all-around phone with good texting. The Samsung t301g is also a good choice. Both are currently $40. A cheaper alternative would be the LG 410g, which you can sometimes find at Walmart with DMFL for $20.
Thanks for answering and for the suggestions. It sounds like the LG 600 might be the best one for me even if it does have camera,etc. It seems to have better texting on it. If you had to make the choice which one would you pick-the 410 or the 600? Thanks
Oops forgot something.
How would the moto 376 be? Could I turn off the predictive text if I want on any of these? Thanks again
Twinsmomje – if you are ordering online, I would suggest the LG 600g since it has DMFL. If you happen to be out and about, check Walmart for a DMFL version of the 410g, which should be $20 or $25. Not all Walmarts have them, though.
The w376g is also a decent choice – superior to the LGs, in sound quality and possibly signal reception, but poorer predictive text and more limited external display (doesn’t show time, signal strength, etc.). Also, the 600g can connect to a computer or another phone to send pictures and ringtones by bluetooth; w376g cannot.
The w376g is actually available on Trac’s site for free with a 60-minute card, as long as you don’t mind a refurbished model. Check out this recent post:
http://pbush14.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/tracfonepromotionalcodesfordiscounts/
Oh yeah, forgot – yes, you can turn off predictive text on any of these phones. Then, for example, the word “yes” would require you to press the ‘9′ key 3 times, followed by the ‘3′ key twice, then the ‘7′ key 4 times. With predictive text, you’d have to press each key just once and it would predict what you are trying to spell.
Hey Love your site,
I was wondering if you ever did a review on the Mot. V 176 ?
Guess it does not matter as I just ordered one. Used your advice and it should come with a ATT Sim card. I am looking forward to getting a W 376g when they start selling them reconditioned & with a 300 minute time card for 29.99 with an att sim card and free shipping and the 8 dollars in discounts (promo codes).Not much to ask for! If you know of a zip code that has that let me know. As you can tell I am a net 10 guy. Kind of wondering if that was the right choice as our minutes pile up!
In an area that Net 10 only sell’s version phone’s has att coverage would you have any problem activation & using att sim phone in that area? My parents live in zip code 83252 ( Malad, Idaho) I think att sim card would work fine? any comments
Thanks again for all you do,
George
George
I never did review the v176, and it’s been a while since I used one. From what I remember, however, it was a pretty good phone for signal reception and audio quality, though a little on the heavy/bulky side.
If you’re looking for a Net10 upgrade, consider the w377g, which is the same as the w376g, just in the Net10 version. It’s currently $39.99 at Net10’s site. After the $8 discount, you’ll pay $32 plus tax. And you’ll get free shipping, a free accessory kit, and of course the free 300 minutes with all new activations. So basically, if you count the cost of the minutes as $30, you’re paying just a few bucks for a phone upgrade. One tip, though – if you’re transferring the free minutes from your v176, make sure to wait at least a month after activating that v176, and use up a fair chunk of hte minutes before transferring. Lately Net10 has been looking unfaborably upon people who activate one phone after the other just to get the free 300 minutes. Here’s a link to my page about the NEt10 discounts:
http://pbush14.wordpress.com/deals/net10-promotional-discount-codes/
And regarding your parent’s location, it looks like there is AT&T coverage there:
http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/
So I THINK you should be able to activate the phone using that ZIP, though I don’t know for sure. Even if you have to get a number that’s not local to Madal City, you should be able to use it in there. Farther out to the west it looks like coverage gets a little dicey, though.