<p>As students across the nation begin "dorm shopping" I find myself wondering one thing? Prepaid or plan? </p>
<p>I had a verizon plan for two years and I had every bad experience known to man happen when trying to call someone.. aka... lots of dropped calls. I want to switch to T-mobile and I am wondering whether I should go with the plan or with a pre-paid phone. Money is sort of an issue. I figure that I dont talk more than 500 minutes a month so at the most the plan would go to 600 minutes if there is not a 500 minure plan for t-mobile. I am going from TX to MA. I don't really text and I don't see that really changing.</p>
<p>I would hate to have a pre-paid phone... I would never want to touch it unless it was an emergency. Especially because a lot of carriers charge you a dollar or so extra for the first call you make per day as an "activation" charge. Rip off. If you talk 500 minutes a month definitely get a plan, not a pre-paid. Just get the cheapest one possible.</p>
<p>By the way, AT&T is my carrier and I think I've only had one or two dropped calls ever. So I'd recommend them if they have a plan that interests you.</p>
<p>One thing I felt I should mention is that you should look into your prospective phone company's coverage in both your hometown and the place you are moving to. I know that T-Mobile gets beautiful coverage here, but less than an hour away at my college, the coverage is awful.</p>
<p>Heh, I use a prepaid plan that runs for 5.7c per minute with only a monthly maintainence fee of 25c. Since I pay for 1400min at a time, I use it as-if I had no limits. It's pagepluscellular.com. It works out nicely for my 300min/mo usage. Would heavily recommend it, except you're avoiding Verizon and it's a Verizon reseller.</p>
<p>Coverage varies between areas. Maybe Verizon won't be so bad near your dorms, so ask around. I had the opposite experience, with T-Mobile being bad and Verizon being good in north Orange County, CA.</p>
<p>My practice is - calculate your usage and compare prepaid and postpaid monthly costs together. Pick the one that costs the least based on your usage patterns.</p>
<p>there's seriously a pre-paid that's cheaper than a plan? I thought the only way a pre-paid could ever come out cheaper is if you were constantly going over your plan.</p>
<p>it rarely comes out cheaper per minute. dont forget plans come with unlimited nights and weekends, which is when most of your usage probably is.</p>