Cheap cell phones and plans

OK back to the phones . . .

It is a balance between the phones that will work with each plan/vendor and the plans offered.

Here is my suggestion.  Start with your feature MUST HAVE list.  Such as Operating system ((2.2, 2.3, 4.0 etc) min of 2.3), GPS capable, Camera (what pixel?), internal memory size, screen size, talk time/standby time, glass (gorilla or not), overall size, WEIGHT (varies greatly), 3G vs. 4G phones (these days it needs at least 3G speed), warranty, screen resolution.

Expect that the very basic phone apps and OS will consume around 115 mb for v2.3/3.0 and about 145 mb for v4.0. of the internal memory. Part of the internal memory is used as random access memory, or RAM, and the rest is used as storage, standard flash memory. Browsing requires RAM, to hold the web pages, the OS, the browser, etc. The internal memory is also used by the pre-loaded apps since many are not movable to the external SD card. The more available, the faster the browsing will be and less stalls or crashes. 

Its hard to determine the minimum size you will need.  My android phone has 512mb. My old phone had 168mb and was limited in apps, but did run smooth (fast processor). Using 512mb, I still must keep an eye on things and not go crazy on apps. Go HERE and enter the name of the phone in the search bar in the upper right hand area, this will get most specs on phones for you to review.

There are a lot of phones in the $99-$150 range. Check ebay also.  The NET10 - ZTE phone has limited INTERNAL memory, this being seemingly the biggest complaints.  There is no way to increase a phones built-in internal memory. External memory on the other hand CAN be increased as in buying a large capicity SD card (2,4,8,16 Gb). The lowest price I have seen this phone for was $99 at Family Dollar.

Walmart has there $45 plan which my son uses.  My other son uses MetroPCS at $50.  All are unlimited  Some unlimited plans offer family plans also, or discounts for multiple phones. If your girls are a big cell phone movie watcher or downloaders, watch out for plans that throttle back there speed, this may or may not be a concern, for me its has not been so far.