Len has a cell phone for emergency use only. I bought him one 4 or 5 years ago, and we went with a Nokia that was tied up with Virgin Mobile. You had to activate it with a Virgin phone card, or do it online with a credit card.
This phone did him fine as he only used it to call home, if he was running late. Recently he started to have little problems with it, so we checked the Virgin website, and saw that they had a Kyocera Jax phone, that Len could purchase, to replace the old Nokia.
He contacted Virgin, and although the phone was only $9.99, you had to pay S & H, plus wait for the phone to arrive. They told us that he could get one immediately at Best Buy.
The price at Best Buy was $14.99 plus sales tax, and still a cheap phone. He asked the sales assistant about changing over the phones, and he told us, that you have to phone Virgin, as there is no Sim card. Virgin make you buy their phones, because they will only transfer your balance, to one of their own phones. Len has over $200, as he has to buy minutes every 3 months, or loses his number. This is still cheaper than one with a monthly contract.
The phone is what they class as a ‘candy bar’ size. It is 4 inches x 1 1/2 inches x 1/2 inch. The only color in the store was black, but I noticed that on the web, there were other colors.
When we came home, Len phone Virgin and gave them the serial number, etc., and they transfered his money over to the new phone. Of course he kept the same number.
The phone came with a lithium-ion battery, charger, and a 62 page user guide.
We charged up the phone overnight. As with all phones to switch it on press the red key. When it comes on you see HELLO, and a loud noise that says Virgin Mobile. On the bottom of the screen are the date and time. Underneath the soft keys are menu and contacts.
Len only has 2 contact numbers in the phone, which are my cell, and home. I have since put some more in for him, but we use my phone as I have so many minutes, that I can’t use them all each month. Len’s minutes cost 25 cents each for the first 10 minutes, and then 10 cents a minute, for the rest of the call.
This phone has everything the average person would need in a phone. From the menu screen you can access, my stuff, my account, settings, Virgin XL, messaging, tools, recent calls, and surf the web.
When making and receiving calls, the clarity of the signal is great, and there has never been a dropped call. If you want to redial a number, just press the send button twice. The volume control is located on the left side of the phone. When up high this phone is loud.
It has speaker phone, speed dialing, call emergency services, text entry modes, as does all phones.
You can change your ring tone, download ring tones, go into my graphics, and download a graphic. There are games and themes.
You can check our account balance from the phone or from the website, and top it up.
The phone can be locked from the security mode, be unlocked, or you can change the lock code.
There are additional cost to go into Virgin XL, and this can be found on the website. This is something we will not be using.
Even with this cheap phone you can record voice memos, use the calendar, and create an event. It has an alarm clock, a calculator, world clock, a stopwatch, and memo pad. You can also activate a contact or make a call by voice commands.
As mentioned earlier for an additional cost you can also surf the web.
Display Size: 128 x 160
Screen Type: 65K Colors (CSTN)
Talk Time: 3.3 Hours
I prefer my razor phone, as I am used to it now. The keys are much smaller on the Jax phone, and even with my long, thin fingers, I still have trouble not touching 2 at a time. I personally wouldn’t want this phone, because I used it quite a bit, to set it up for him. I think anyone text messaging would have a major problem.
If you only use a phone occasionally then this phone might be right for you. We only put $20 on every 3 months, as that is the minimum, to keep the number.
