Electronics

[ritasNo1Fan]

I have a Tracfone LG Premiere and renew my service .every 90 days with a $22 renewal card from Walgreens.  Yesterday Tracfone emailed me that this phone will be obsolete in 2020.  I wonder if I can stick to this with an updated phone? (4g).  But then, if I buy it from HSN I would get 1500 minutes and would not have to renew for 1 year!  hmmmm.

[debfau]

You might want to check out Consumer Cellular - this is the one that AARP recommends, there are low monthly plans and you can still get the old flip type phone (you don't have to be an AARP membe to use this service).

[Nuttmeg]

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@ritasNo1Fan wrote:

I have a Tracfone LG Premiere and renew my service .every 90 days with a $22 renewal card from Walgreens.  Yesterday Tracfone emailed me that this phone will be obsolete in 2020.  I wonder if I can stick to this with an updated phone? (4g).  But then, if I buy it from HSN I would get 1500 minutes and would not have to renew for 1 year!  hmmmm.

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Tracfone (Verizon) is shutting down some older 4G networks to make way for 5G service. Your current phone will not run on 4G LTE.

I would buy a phone from HSN. 

[mima]

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@CherryHugs wrote:

That is a good suggestion but I was hoping for a cell phone that I wouldnt have to pay for  minutes or anything, other than buying the phone. Dont  know if it is possible though.

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No company is going to sell you a phone without being able to collect for a service. 

[gardenman]

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@mima wrote:

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@CherryHugs wrote:

That is a good suggestion but I was hoping for a cell phone that I wouldnt have to pay for  minutes or anything, other than buying the phone. Dont  know if it is possible though.

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No company is going to sell you a phone without being able to collect for a service. 

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Actually, Amazon and many other retailers sell unlocked phones with no service contract of any kind. You can use those phones for most things, just not calling or texting unless you find a wifi based service that lets you make calls through it when you're in range of a wifi signal. I've known a few people who've bought unlocked smart phones and never connected them to a service provider but use them as digital cameras, voice recorders, GPS units, and to play games on them. You can buy a decent Android unlocked  smartphone for such use for around $50 and up. That's less than you can buy a decent digital camera, GPS unit, or portable gaming system. The phones are small enough to always carry with you and have lots of versatility.