Newb question: Mot.V170 (Tracfone) & V190 (I-wireless)

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pay@tention.com - 22 Oct 2007 18:01 GMT

Currently have a Motorola V190, using Cincinnati Bell's I-Wireless service.
They've (essentially) doubled their price for me; their $10 prepaid card
was good for 60 days, now it's only 30 days.
(I don't use ten bucks of minutes in 3 months time!)

Tracfone is offering a Motorola V170, and they have a "keep alive" plan that

keeps rolling over unused minutes, for $5 per month.

Can I switch sim cards (or whatever) between the V170 & V190 and
use the old Cin.Bell phone on the Tracfone network?

That would keep all of the phone numbers, ringtones, etc that are currently
stored in the V190, wouldn't it??

Can anybody offer a better solution to my problem?
Thx&Rgds...pay

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Mike S. - 23 Oct 2007 02:13 GMT

>Currently have a Motorola V190, using Cincinnati Bell's I-Wireless service.
>They've (essentially) doubled their price for me; their $10 prepaid card
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>Can I switch sim cards (or whatever) between the V170 & V190 and
>use the old Cin.Bell phone on the Tracfone network?

Probably not. Tracfone handsets are not designed for standardization.
All of the Tracfone-provded handsets that I've seen use custom firmware
that allows the phone perform its own accounting of airtime. People have
perform SIM subsidy unlocks on Tracfone handsets, intending them to use
them on other carriers, only to find that they just don't work.

>That would keep all of the phone numbers, ringtones, etc that are currently
>stored in the V190, wouldn't it??

Only phone numbers could be transferred via a SIM swap, and only if you
have set up your address book such that they are actually stored on the
SIM card, as opposed to the phone's internal memory (which is usually the
default).

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pay@tention.com - 23 Oct 2007 16:30 GMT

Not the answer I was hoping for,
but the answer I kind of expected.

Thanks for the reply... :-(
Thx&Rgds...pay

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Gordon Huff - 23 Oct 2007 17:47 GMT

> They've (essentially) doubled their price for me; their $10 prepaid card
> was good for 60 days, now it's only 30 days.
> (I don't use ten bucks of minutes in 3 months time!)

I see two strategies here. One,buy your airtime in bigger chunks - ie
PagePlus $20 for 120 days. Two, use a cheaper carrier, ie STI Mobility
for $0.10 a day (minutes never expire.)

I use T-Mobile. A $10 card is good for 90 days (except I'm "Gold" and
all my refill cards are good for a year.)

> Tracfone is offering a Motorola V170, and they have a "keep alive" plan that
> keeps rolling over unused minutes, for $5 per month.

That's a very special customer who'll pay $5 a month for nothing!

> Can I switch sim cards (or whatever) between the V170 & V190 and
> use the old Cin.Bell phone on the Tracfone network?

Someone else has explained that this is a non-starter.

> That would keep all of the phone numbers, ringtones, etc that are currently
> stored in the V190, wouldn't it??

If you or a friend don't have "DataPilot," move all your stuff to the
SIM and then move it to an unlocked phone (borrow one) and then to the
SIM of the new carrier and then to your new phone. If you do all this at
once, a wireless repair shop ... maybe $40 to unlock your V190, $10 for
the T-Mobile start up kit and $10 to shuffle all this data around.

Personally, I'd get a new prepaid T-Mobile phone for that money.
Regards, Gordon

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pay@tention.com - 23 Oct 2007 21:50 GMT

Thanks, Gordon...
I'll definitely look into your T-Mobil suggestion.
Ten bucks for 90 days is *excellent*!

...buying bigger chunks might be an option,
but it kind of irks me to see all of those minutes
stacking up. I'll 'fess up, here... it's not really my
phone, it's my girlfriends. In 8 months time
I've bought 3X $10 cards for her... there's still
$26.50 left!! Sometimes I wonder if
she knows how to dial a cellphone. ;-)

And thanks for the tip on "DataPilot"...
Maybe I'll use *her* cell to call my friends
and see who has it.

Thx&Rgds...pay

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