I have used the Tracfone service for about three years. I went prepaid because I did not use the monthly minutes of my previous cell phone plan. I was wasting my money every month. I use the phone to call and check in with my children and other short phone calls probably less than 20 min a month. I would not recommend prepaid to those who use their phone to makes lots of calls, the price per minute is too costly, but for those who use wireless ocassionally, prepaid is the way to go. From the comparisons that I've made it appears Tracfone has the cheapest per minute rates.I have had no problems with the Nokia 5180i and find it a pretty simple phone to use. The reception has been good and the coverage is acceptable as well.I use the website for renewing my minutes and it is pretty straightforward. There are long wait times if you do need to speak with customer service but they have always worked out my problem after the long wait.