Hobby phones

[curiousal]

After reading various posts, ive decided to get myself a hobby phone. I have one provider texting me at odd hours and making me feel uncomfortable about when she will eventually start calling in the middle if the night.

I found this deal online that i thought id pass along.

Right now, straight talk www.straighttalk.com has some reconditioned phones for free. But there is an online coupon code for $15 off $49.00 (MINT15) and $30 off $99 (MINT30) that you can use on the prepaid cards. Right now there's free shipping on phones, but you have to buy one, cant use the free phones.

Also, it looks like you can just buy monthly plans with the discount, in case you already have a phone.

Seems like a pretty good deal, saving you some money for hobbying!

[ilickit]

I go to the local pharmacy 2-3 times a year and buy a new T-mobile phone for $18. I figure I can afford $54 annually to stay as anonymous as I can.

[Roly-Poly]

I had T-Mobile prepaid at $15/month unlimited text and per-minute voice charges, but I can't find that option now. If the hobby phone spends most days off, there are pay-by-the-day plans that probably make more sense. I don't have anybody reviewing my card or bank statements, so I pay online, but you can also buy prepaid cards cash in-store and apply them online leaving no SO-audit trail.

[Guest032714]

Walmart has tracfones for $10 and 60 minute cards (which really are 120 because the phones come with double minutes) for $20. No name or address needed for registration btw.

[Guest032516]

How do make a top of the line phone anonymous.

I'm thinking about getting the new BlackBerry when it comes out in Q1 of 2013.

Is it possible to buy a pre-paid, no name SIM card that I can just put into the phone and pay charges by the minute?

Perhaps I can use two SIM cards that I swap in an out?

One SIM card is a legit one with a major carrier that I use for business, including e-mail and browsing.

The other SIM card is the pre-paid, no name one I use for the hobby.

Can the phone be traced independently from the SIM cards?

[pyramider]

Where do you stash the other SIM card, where you do not lose/damage it?

[Guest032516]

Originally Posted by pyramider

Where do you stash the other SIM card, where you do not lose/damage it?

Wallet. Protective case.

[Dandito]

I tossed the pre paid phone and went to Google voice on an Android phone. Totally anonymous and the GV phone number can be tied to a hobby Gmail account. You can change your # when ever u want, and your txt messages stay separate from the other texts on your phone. I've got everything password protected and best of all, GV is free. My SO could go trough my phone and would find NOTHING!

[curiousal]

Originally Posted by Dan4424

I tossed the pre paid phone and went to Google voice on an Android phone. Totally anonymous and the GV phone number can be tied to a hobby Gmail account. You can change your # when ever u want, and your txt messages stay separate from the other texts on your phone. I've got everything password protected and best of all, GV is free. My SO could go trough my phone and would find NOTHING!

Awesome. Theres a googlevoice app for iphone. Gonna try to get that working.

Thanks!

[BobbyMann]

Please let us know how it works, curiousal.

and ExNYer, you really shouldn't even be thinking about getting a new RIM Blackberry in 2013. The brands almost certain to disappear and be unsupported. E.g. http://finance.yahoo.com/topics/fina...-29296511.html

[mansfield]

Originally Posted by adistantsecond

Walmart has tracfones for $10 and 60 minute cards (which really are 120 because the phones come with double minutes) for $20. No name or address needed for registration btw.

How does Tracphone bill text messaging? Half a minute per text or something like that?

I use GV now but I would rather have a throwaway phone so I don't have to carry my regular phone with me. I'd rather it be left in a desk somewhere safe.

[Luke Skywalker]

Originally Posted by Dan4424

I tossed the pre paid phone and went to Google voice on an Android phone. Totally anonymous and the GV phone number can be tied to a hobby Gmail account. You can change your # when ever u want, and your txt messages stay separate from the other texts on your phone. I've got everything password protected and best of all, GV is free. My SO could go trough my phone and would find NOTHING!

Except if you have a google voice app installed and the SO knows where to look, she will find out you actually use the GV app. She might ask you why - you better have a good story lined up. May be have a legit google voice account that you link to a legit gmail account for legits purposes (example - I don't want to give my phone to everybody, such as sales people, marketing people, polssters, etc, so I need a GV number for those such calls honey.... )

Also, if you go on settings / accounts / google - it will list both your legit AND your hobby gmail account . Just saying... if your SO is curious....

Bottom line, if you're using your legit phone for hobby world, even with google voice there will be bread crums left in your legit phone that will out you.

I carry a separate hobby phone because of this.

[Roly-Poly]

I thought the idea was to use GV and a throwaway phone. Yeah, GV calls are still logged on the target phone.

[Guest032714]

another downside of GV is that it might "slip" your real phone number when you return text messages if you don't have it configured right. I had this happened once with a provider without her even knowing it. I told her of course and offered to help her set it up.

[Dandito]

There's enough security apps on the Android market to keep it locked down. I've got encryption, plus a few other lockdowns. For example, if SO tries to run the GV app, it pops up with an error message and an ok button. Press ok and it goes back to home screen. But, a long press on the ok button, and you can enter a pin# and get into the app. Account settings, provider contacts and session photos are also locked down in a similar manner.
If she was technically inclined, I might worry a little, but she's the opposite. Took her two days to figure out how to get her iPhone off of silent. (Little switch on the side)

On Android, GV texts are in their own app, and you can set it to not integrate into any of the phone logs or stock txt message apps. If you don't choose GV when making a phone call, you could call using your normal phone #. Just have to be careful with that.