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[MSE Lawrence]

What's the deal?

Virgin Mobile's just launched an £8.50/month, 18 month contract which comes with a choice of mobiles and more inclusive allowance than the previous cheapest, Three mobile's £9 contract. What's more, you can get £30 cashback on top, bringing the effective cost down to under £7/month.

What's included?

For £8.50/month, you get 100 included minutes and 100 texts, and a choice of the well-specced handsets below. Virgin piggybacks on the T-mobile network, so for reception info use the latter's coverage checker.

The Samsung and LG handsets both feature full 5 megapixel cameras, while the 3G Nokia comes with speedy mobile web abilities (Virgin charges 30p/day for unlimited data access - subject to fair usage).

How to get it.

The easiest way to sign up is via the Virgin Mobile website - look for the handsets above, and ensure that you select the 'Virgin £8.50' tariff. Unfortunately, unlike most mobile providers, Virgin charges for postage - £4.88. So in the first month's you'll pay £13.38, and £8.50/mth thereafter.

At the time of writing, both the Nokia and LG handsets were out of stock, but Virgin assures us more will arrive in the next few days.

Comparison: Three vs Virgin.

The £9/month Three mobile deal offers 100 minutes or texts (or any combination thereof - ie 50 + 50), so by offering 100 of each outright, the Virgin offer's effectively twice as good in terms of included cross network allowance. However, the Three deal also offers 300 3-to-3 minutes, while the Virgin deal doesn't bundle any for same network calls.

The picture's also muddied by Virgin's standard call charges, which overall are a fair bit higher than Three's...

So it's worth bearing in mind that based on standard charges, the Virgin deal will become the most expensive if you consistently use more than the included cross network minutes. However, since you get twice as much included allowance, and the deal's aimed at low users, this is a relatively small gripe.

On data charges, Virgin wins hands down with its reasonable 30p/day policy, and what's more, it also scores far higher on customer service than Three.

Get cashback on top.

It's possible to get £30 cashback with this package by buying via a special cashback website. This brings the effective monthly cost down to just £6.83, so it's worth a go. Here's how to get it.

• Step one. Get a cashback account
  
  Lots of sites offer the £30 cashback, but TopCashback does so with no other fees. To get it, you first need to create an account.

• Step two. Sign up for the mobile contract
  
  Next, sign up clicking through the cashback site for the £8.50 contract.

• Step three. Check the transaction has tracked, then wait
  
  Once you're all signed up, leave it a couple of days, and then log in and check that the cashback has 'tracked' - that is, that the transaction appears on the cashback site.

WARNING! Cashback sites' payouts aren't 100% guaranteed

As cashback sites rely on the retailers paying them, it's never a sure thing until it's in your bank account.Yet as this is the cheapest contract deal anyway, the downside risk is small.

If you're a first time cashback site user, please do read the full Best Cashback Sites article for a full explanation of the pros and cons. Plus to see how the different sites' payouts compare use the Cashback Sites Maximiser.

Is it for you?

Mobile MoneySaving's all about getting a package that suits your needs. After all, if you're likely to use 500 mins per month, you'll do better to pay higher line rental and get more included minutes. Read the full Cheap Mobiles guide to see if this deal's for you.

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[grimlea]

thnx for this, these are good deals for the lower end of the market.

I think virgin are going to try to restablish themselves at this end of the market in the next few months

[sestina]

This looks perfect for me, depending on which network Virgin use. Does anyone know?

Thanks

[tehone]

Virgin uses TMobile

[grimlea]

yeah t mobile, check coverage here

http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/ukCov...k.howdoi.sm235

[Phil]

My wife is very interested in the Virgin contract and is unlikely to go outside of the included minutes. She's more concerned about battery life and how long the battery will last before it becomes useless like on her current Nokia (which she's had for two years and the battery can't last a day on standby!).

Any ideas which of these would be best for her? I'm inclined towards the Nokia personally but are the Samsungs or LG any good?

[grimlea]

i have the lg battery is good, but the camera is'nt as good as i would like - its flash is poor

wife has samsung & it is much better all round

[John_G66]

I have found the TMobile coverage to be garbage at best, take no notice of that post code coverage checker, get a free TMobile PAYG sim and see what you think, or try a friends first.

[Thefunkygibbons]

Still more expensive than free

I live without a mobile, without any problem

In fact, in the house are 2 adults and 5 teenagers and the wife is the only one with a mobile and even that is a granny in the glove box

[grimlea]

Originally Posted by ArsenalFC

Postage is £4.88 from Virgin, not free as posted.

in the post it does state virgin charges £4.88 for delivery

[ArsenalFC]

The post was edited. Originally say free postage.

[itm2]

With Virgin's data tariff do you only pay the 30p for the days that you use it? e.g. if I use it 3 days in the month will I be charged 90p for the month? Anyone know if there's international data coverage?
Also, are international texts charged at the same rate as UK texts?
Finally, can you get a SIM only deal with this?

[alared]

http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/payMonthlyPhones.do

There is a FAQ on their site

[itm2]

Couldn't find the FAQ or the answers to my questions on the Virgin site - that's why I asked here. I've emailed them but don't know how good they are at responding (6 hours now with no reply)

[alared]

Seems like a great deal for a low user.

Any opinions which is the best one?

[grimlea]

With Virgin's data tariff do you only pay the 30p for the days that you use it?

yes

if I use it 3 days in the month will I be charged 90p for the month?

yes

Also, are international texts charged at the same rate as UK texts?

if you are texting to a phone in another country it would be 20p
for costs whilst abroad look at link below to select the country you are going to
http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/callC...nthly&x=20&y=5

Finally, can you get a SIM only deal with this?

the current sim only deals can be seen below
http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/simCardOnly.do

[anniemf2508]

Ordered this on Saturday, said that it'd be delivered today....which i thought was a bit too good to be true. Well its 5.30pm and nothing shown up so i presume that i'm not getting it today.

[grimlea]

Originally Posted by anniemf2508

Ordered this on Saturday, said that it'd be delivered today....which i thought was a bit too good to be true. Well its 5.30pm and nothing shown up so i presume that i'm not getting it today.

Orders made on sat can easily be delivered on monday (even orders made on sunday can be delivered on Monday), if it hasn't arrived by now i would call virgin on 0845 6000 789 to check status.

[alared]

Ordered mine yesterday at 10am,arrived today 9am via UPS

Excellent service.

[Be234]

can you get a SIM only deal with this?

they do a liberty sim at virgin £10 for 200mins & 200 text with no tie in, which is only £2.50 more a month. So if your phone is still good then this deal is better.

T Mobile is fine where I live & surrounding areas. We have been on a number of networks in the past & found this alot better than orange (although that was a few years ago)