Tracfone Charger Compatibilities

[TromboneAl]

I could get a double minutes for life card for my tracfone for $19.95, or for the same price, get a new tracfone cell phone that has double minutes for life.

The catch is that it doesn't come with a charger.

But if the charger is compatible with either of the two phone we have now, I wouldn't need a charger.

I haven't found any charts or other ways of finding out about the compatibility.

Suggestions?

 

[easysurfer]

Have a tracfone, but not sure about charger compatibilities. I haven't used the charger that came with my phone for a couple of months. Been using a portable USB charger instead. (Of course, I have to charge the portable USB charger, but it still feels more convenient to me. And there is the cost of the device).

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/portable-usb-charger-50481.html



As a suggestion, maybe look for a cheap charger in a place like Wally World that is compatible with your future double minutes phone.

 

[FUEGO]

No specific advice. I've always received a charger with my frequent new tracfone phone purchases. The last type I bought is a Motorola w376g I think. Silver or chrome. Double mins for life. I got about 8 of em, because each came with a 60 min card for free, and they have a discount code for $3 off new phones.

The w376g has a mini-usb connector that plugs into the charger (included with the phone). Most nokias I have bought from tracfone have different, non-usb chargers.

I imagine you would need to make sure the physical charger connection is compatible and that whatever voltage/current the charger outputs is compatible.

 

[RonBoyd]

YouTube - HOW TO GUIDE: Universal Cell Phone Battery Charger

or

Amazon.com: Universal USB Mobile Cell Phone Charger 10 Adapter Kit: Electronics

or

Let me Google that for you:

"cell phone charger" +universal - Google Search

 

[easysurfer]

YouTube - HOW TO GUIDE: Universal Cell Phone Battery Charger

or

Amazon.com: Universal USB Mobile Cell Phone Charger 10 Adapter Kit: Electronics

or

Let me Google that for you:

"cell phone charger" +universal - Google Search

I had one of those Universal Battery Chargers. Not the same brand as the one on the post, but from Vivitar (I picked it up at Staples). The charger worked a few times but then it started smoking so I got rid of it.

 

[TromboneAl]

OK, after significant research that involved differential equations and astrological predictions, I found a pretty good solution.

Based on a PM tip from Tomcat98, I got a LG 220 phone from Net10, which includes 300 minutes and 60 days of service. With 3 different promo codes, I got $8 off and a free charger.



This was cheaper than getting the double-minute LG 220 + 60 minutes through tracfone. But now that I have the charger, I can take advantage of the tracfone offer for Lena's phone, which is also about to run out of minutes.

I can use Google Voice to have a single phone number that is routed to the different phones until I decide which one to go with.

The amount of complexity is despicable; tracfone looks like it is better in general for us, since we use so few minutes, but we have a trip coming up, and we always use more in that situation.

Even more despicable is the charger incompatibility, but it looks like that may stabilize since most new phones have a micro-USB connector (although there are several different varieties of those).

 

[TromboneAl]

This site has a good comparison of Tracfone and Net10:

Which is Better Tracfone or Net10? | SaveonPrepaidPhones.com

 

[easysurfer]

My understanding is that Net10 is actually a subsidiary of Tracfone. The good thing about Net10 is that the price is always 10 cents a minute, whereas Tracfone varies with there different renewal cards and if you go double or not.

 

[easysurfer]

Funny, the last time I bought a new Tracfone, I went the opposite route. I could have got a phone with double minutes, but instead bought a cheaper (very simple phone - Motorola W260g) and got a double minutes for life card. For me, I actually paid for the simplicity of less features. I'm still happy with it.

The only drawback was it didn't charge by usb on the computer, but I got pass that with the portable USB chargers.

 

[TromboneAl]

Net10 also doesn't charge more for roaming, so it's better for a trip (tracfone charges double for roaming).

 

[RonBoyd]

The amount of complexity is despicable;

Amen!

 

[FUEGO]

Net10 also doesn't charge more for roaming, so it's better for a trip (tracfone charges double for roaming).

Maybe this is specific to your area or to an older phone that you had, but all the recent tracfones I have seen have "nationwide anywhere" minutes or something like that. The last tracfone that I owned that had roaming minutes was from 2003 or so.

 

[TromboneAl]

Yes, it seems to depend on the phone type:

AIRTIME RATESTRACFONE Wireless Airtime is issued in unit increments. Units are deducted from the TRACFONE in the following manner: for GSM phone models (GSM technology), all calls are charged at a rate of one (1) unit per minute. For all other phone models, calls are charged at a rate of one (1) unit per minute, unless the call is a roaming call. Roaming calls (refer to the Roaming Section of the Terms and Conditions of Services) are charged at the rate of two (2) units per minute.

It was funny: I found that near the top of Mount Rainier, the phone could apparently see the local cell towers, and I didn't have the 2x roaming charges.

 

[WM]

Maybe this is specific to your area or to an older phone that you had, but all the recent tracfones I have seen have "nationwide anywhere" minutes or something like that. The last tracfone that I owned that had roaming minutes was from 2003 or so.

+1 I think maybe it depends on your area. We've had a tracfone since 2006 (in CA and CO) and it's the same price anywhere.

 

[TromboneAl]

An FYI on this: The cell phone does come with a charger. Perhaps it's obvious that they wouldn't sell a phone without a charger, but in the detailed web page description of what you get, it doesn't say "charger" anywhere.

The car charger in the accessory kit that came with it did not have the proper adapter for that particular phone, so I'm sending it all back for a refund, and I'll just go with tracfone.

Best tracfone strategy for low minute users like us: Buy a 60 minute card for $20, then on the next page in the ordering process, supersize it with 365 more days of service for $50. Bottom line: $4.66/month.

 

[ERD50]

Best tracfone strategy for low minute users like us: Buy a 60 minute card for $20, then on the next page in the ordering process, supersize it with 365 more days of service for $50. Bottom line: $4.66/month.

For low minute users, isn't the T-Mobile pre-pay better (I learned about it on this forum). It is also GSM based.

I got a simple Samsung Flip phone for $32, (with wall charger and a $25 card included). Once you add $100 ( 1000 minutes and 1 year service), you can go as low as $10 to extend/rollover for another year. So the first year is $132 ($11/month) including phone, or $100 ($8.33/month) for minutes only. But following years will be just $0.83/month (that's 83 cents) for as long as your minutes hold out.

It's rare for me to use even 10 minutes a month. So I expect the $10/35 minutes added on top of the rollover remainder of those 1000 minutes will last me many years. You can add in $25 and $50 increments also, with more minutes/$.

I don't think C Zeta-Jones is with T-Mobile anymore, so that is no longer clouding my judgment.

Oh, I was disappointed that what looked like a micro-USB connector on this is apparently some hybrid thing that includes the headset connections. So, you need their headset, and their charger cable. Although it looks like I can get a 3rd party cable and charge from USB, but I haven't tried yet.

-ERD50