Virgin Mobile iPhone 4 & 4S at Radioshack - $349 & $449 prepaid NO CONTRACT + $80 in coupons .. $30/mo iPhone!

iPhone 4/4S at RadioShack - the price just dropped today. Not sure if it's a sale or how long the price will last. In comparison, Target will have the Virgin Mobile iPhones for $399 and $499 but with a $100 gift card. So.. The deals are comparable but Target is better if you shop there more.

iPhone 4 8GB white and black: $349
iPhone 4S 16GB white and black: $449

Virgin Mobile runs off of Sprint's 3G network, and there is NO CONTRACT.

Plans are:
$35/mo = 300 min
$45/mo = 1200 min
$55/mo = unlimited min
*ALL include unlimited data (2.5GB soft cap) and unlimited messages

There's a $5 discount per month if you use auto-pay so it becomes $30/40/50 a month instead. I chose the $30/mo plan.

I know people are going to ask if this can be unlocked.. The iPhone 4 does NOT have a SIM card slot, while the 4S does. It's locked to Virgin Mobile so you'll have to figure out how to unlock it but it can be done. Virgin Mobile will not provide the unlock code. Buying this phone requires in-store activation but you don't need to add airtime when you buy it.

They're also running a promo for a $10 off coupon for every $50 you spend, so you should get $80-90 in $10 off coupons. I think you have to use them one at a time but the guy I bought my iPhone from said he'll try and stack them and see if the register will take it.

Thanks to "the7thwitness" on Howard Forums for finding the price drop!

Fabulous deal for those who want an iPhone on a budget.

I thought iPhone4 does have a sim card slot. Am I missing something? My AT&T iPhone4 unlock is coming up (2 year over) - could I take it to VirginMobile for the above mentioend rate?

Can anybody give comments on this deal in comparison with other carriers in contract? Thanks.

An unlocked GSM iPhone is $73 more if you use Shop Discover and buy it from Apple online. $450-6%=$27 CashBack.

Net $516 for the 4S.

Arguably easier to sell with more network/MVNO choices.

The problem with Virgin Mobile is it isn't authentic 3g.

If you have good Sprint coverage where you will need to use the phone VM can't be beat. If you aren't sure if their service is going to work for you, I would suggest trying another device (you can pick up a Virgin Blackbery or Android on CL pretty cheap) first, and if it works, go with the expensive Iphone.

flyingtwopigs said:   beachfitrob said:   An unlocked GSM iPhone is $73 more if you use Shop Discover and buy it from Apple online. $450-6%=$27 CashBack.

Net $516 for the 4S.

Arguably easier to sell with more network/MVNO choices.

So if I buy this phone from Apple Store, can I use if for VM $30 plan?

Thanks!

iPhone 4S - Unlocked (GSM) - 16GB Black Unlocked

$549.00

I think Discover card also has 5% Cash Back for shopping online through December.

No.

scoutconnor said:   flyingtwopigs said:   beachfitrob said:   An unlocked GSM iPhone is $73 more if you use Shop Discover and buy it from Apple online. $450-6%=$27 CashBack.

Net $516 for the 4S.

Arguably easier to sell with more network/MVNO choices.

So if I buy this phone from Apple Store, can I use if for VM $30 plan?

Thanks!

iPhone 4S - Unlocked (GSM) - 16GB Black Unlocked

$549.00

I think Discover card also has 5% Cash Back for shopping online through December.

No.

VM is CDMA only (no GSM)

I just picked up a slightly used Verizon Iphone 4 (16GB) on eBay for $200. I plan on pairing it with pageplus's $29 plan for the wife. So the 250MB monthly data limit is not a problem for me since I am always using wifi 90% of the day. And 250MB is more than enough to browse facebook, news and weather. Plus Verizon has excellent coverage, and the 3g quite fast.

My past experience on Virgin Mobile was not very pleasant, the coverage was very off and on, and to call the data slugish would be a understatement. Glad I jumped ship to pageplus. FYI, I live in the NY metro area.

thsze said:   neal126 said:   I just picked up a slightly used Verizon Iphone 4 (16GB) on eBay for $200. I plan on pairing it with pageplus's $29 plan for the wife.

For a long time, PagePlus does not allow using iPhone (and Blackberry). Have they relaxed the restriction? Please let me know if you successfully get your iPhone to work on PagePlus. I'm on their $80/2000 min/year plan and don't use data. The tiny screen on my Palm Pixi Plus is challenging to use.

Thanks.

I use an iPhone 4s on PP's "The 12" plan. Works great. No problems to report.
http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Plans/12%20Plan.aspx

YMMV - I am about to ditch my 4S on Virgin due to horrible coverage in Southern California and horrible customer service. I live near Pasadena and work in San Bernardino. I have okay coverage at home and work but in between I have very limited coverage. I switched from Verizon in July based on all the hype about the $35/month plan offsetting the cost of the phone. In 4 short months I have been double-charged twice. Calling CS results in hour-long waits to speak with a call center overseas that will happily give you a credit but can't issue refunds. Problem is they don't use the credit unless you specifically pre-pay. Then when you pre-pay they charge for the month anyways and you're back to CS for your "credit."

Well my friends, sometimes you get what you pay for.

does VM have unlimited night & weekend? Thanks!

Biggest problem with VM? Their 3G network is slow! I am using VM with my Motorola Triumph, and their 3G speed is actually slower than TMo in Los Angeles.

I'm in Southern California area too. I live and work in the Inland Empire (Corona - Chino area). I have the original Optimus V and the 3G speeds suck. I'm reluctant to buy the VM iPhone 4S because I'm not sure if the 4G speed will be any better. I'm almost ready to jump over to Pageplus, if it didn't cost $15/month more for me.

fyi: iPhone 4S is not a 4G phone

sflv said:   Does anyone know if you can setup auto-pay but load your account with top-up cards or have a high enough balance that the card never gets charged and still get the $30 per month plan?

Yes, I registered a credit card and just bought the $30 refill cards. Just make sure you do it a few days before your month ends so you don't get whacked on your credit card.

salwana said:   After reading through all the comments so far... you get what you pay for. If you haven't experienced Virgin Mobile, I suggest trying Straight Talk instead. I'm seeing more positive reviews for Straight Talk.

I love ST. I switched from VM about 6 months ago and don't regret it at all. I had the LG Optimus V with VM, and data speeds were SLOW! And I had to buy additional $10 airtime card every other month for my $25 plan (at that time) since 300 minutes weren't enough. Plus the phone was cheap and underpowered. So I bought a 4S off Newegg and switched to ST
and find the $45 plan perfect (and its nice not to have limits on minutes)

The only thing I've had problems with, and is non-issue most of time, is that the Uber app doesn't work with ST. It works on wifi, but not on cellular network. Uber said its something to do with getting secure certificate working with ST.

Self-answer:
The Virgin Mobile 10% off is via "email delivery" per Radio Shack. There is no coupon.
Note 3% Cash Back via Fatwallet is also possible.

4s 16gb Iphone is currently $449.
Target has it for the same price, I didn't see the gift card...
Edit: Here's the ad: http://blackfriday.bradsdeals.com/ads/2012/target-black-friday-a...
Apparently it's a black friday thing. If I have to go into the store, that's a major issue!

glocks said:   very nice deal for those who want a "new" iphone (like my wife). i'm very happy. who says gifts can't save $$? (after prepaid top up cards for 25% off and their $30 plan, plus a $15 hotspot option to cover mobile wireless for ipads, touches, kindle fires in the family-- should be looking at $50/mo savings).

Be careful here. I thought the same thing - I'll just buy a Iphone 4s for the wife via TopUp cards, after all, Virgin Mobile's website says that you can do this.
Two problems:
1) You can only load $150/day in TopUp cards.
2) You cannot have an account balance of over $400. This isn't enough to buy the Iphone4s and there is no option for using a combination of credit card and account balance.

Essentially you cannot buy an Iphone 4s with Top Up cards, despite documentation to the contrary.

There are two ways around - but they are very YMMV:
1) Get VM to drop the cost of the phone to $400.
2) Get VM to give you a $49 account credit. This is the only way your account balance can go over $400.

Apparently VM CSRs cannot work around the $400 limit.

Leo said:   $350 for the 4 and $450 for the 4s. How do you buy with top up cards? That doesnt seem to be a payment option. Wife has a motorola triumph. Was thinking of switching to the 8gb iphone 4. too bad no iphone on tmobile's monthly4g. I have a samsung focus flash on that and I'm pretty happy with the speed. Just no apps for microsoft

For the topup, in order to get the extra $5 discount, you have to do it in VirginMobileUSA.com site where you can setup credit card for auto payment for the $30 ($35 - $5 discount) Plan.

If you want to pay the $35 monthly, you can get them at WalMart, bestbuy, RadioShack, target or online such as callingmart, etc..