Cheapest iPhone discussion

FraggleRocks_3

Help! I am so confused! I work for myself. Should I go for the 18 month, 32 GB contract through Quidco or a O2 business tarriff? Any advice would be gratefully received. Thanks.

Sazbo

Cloudane wrote: »

A light user like myself who always had more minutes and texts than he knew what to do with, would be better off going Pay-as-you-go. There's no minimum monthly topup, and with the iPhone you get 12 months 'unlimited' internet bolt-on (which is what I use the iPhone for 90% of the time) for free, with no top-up obligation. Yes, that means in theory you can put £10 on and have it last all year.

Thanks for a really interesting post Cloudane. I did the same as you - went the pay and go route - with the second generation iPhone at the end of last year. I have a vague recollection though that you are need to top-up at least once every three months to keep the free internet going, but I could well be wrong about that! ETA - but even allowing for that, as you say, for someone not needing loads of free calls and texts, it's still works out a good deal.

Saz

jamphi24

Hi Guys
I am keen on the 3gS 32Gb but I hate contracts longer than 12 months.
I have noticed you can get the payg for £530 and includes 12 months free internet/wifi. If I then got the simplicity package at £20 a month could I get this free internet mentioned above added to the simplicity package so I can use my free bolt on for something else?

Helix

bgarnish wrote: »

Thanks Helix,

My 02 simplicity sim card already has the web and wifi bolt on, so i should be good to go with registering the number i already use. Is this correct?

B

Yes if you already have the bolt on with your simplicity contract then it will all work fine.

The only features that won't work are Visual Voicemail and Call Merging but these wouldn't work with the PAYG sim that comes with the phone either.

pipkin77

Hi I can't find the iphone 16gb free anywhere on the 18 month £44 contract... am i missing something?

Thanks

mcmanlyn

Carphone have the original 3G free on that contract pipkin77.

The 3GS is £87 on that tariff, but free on the 24 month one.

Cloudane

Sazbo wrote: »

I have a vague recollection though that you are need to top-up at least once every three months to keep the free internet going

Not from the way they worded it on their site BUT, you could well be right. O2 are very vague about these things, and not shy about putting hidden clauses in here and there.
When I get it (around next week), I'll try to remember to study the small print and report back.

As it stands at the moment, I get the impression that even O2 themselves don't really know the absolute specifics. I've heard a lot of different answers to a bunch of questions.

cooki2222

As far as i know o2 wont be supporting HSDPA so i would put a note in that main site article

rcoxson

Looking at a lot of the blogs on the cost of the new iPhone 3G S elsewhere, it seems the major complaint about the pricing strategy is the upgrade costs for current iPhone 3G users. O2's (and other carriers) justification is that they can't recoup the cost of handset subsidy if they provide preferential upgrade rates to existing customers.

Mindful of the fact that the iPhone upgrade cycle has historically been a 12-month cycle, and that die-hard iPhone fanatics (myself included) would potentially like to avoid a lock-in contract with 18 or 24 months to run, I've been investigating workarounds. It turns out there is an option which complies with O2's T's and C's - went into a store and the sales representative confirmed there is no problem with this approach. The drawback is upfront cost, but if you can stomach the handset cost, then this will give you a more flexibile option.

The solution is:

• Purchase the iPhone handset on a Pay and Go tariff. Prices are £342.50 for 3G 8GB, £440.40 for 3G S 16GB, £538.30 3G 32GB

• At the same time, purchase an O2 'Simplicity' SIM-only contract, and replace the SIM provided with the handset for the Simplicity SIM. These are 1-month or 12-month rolling contracts, so less onerous than the 18-month or 24-month contracts usually bundled with the iPhone.

• The Simplicity contract priced at £19.54 gives 600 texts a month, plus 600 mins, and can be bought with an inclusive bolt-on of Unlimited Wifi. Alternatively, bought from the O2 website, text allowance is doubled to 1200!

• Those of you already familiar with the iPhone Pay Monthly contracts will note that this gives more generious text allowances than the current contract priced at £34.26 a month!

• Best of all, if you are looking to continue on a 12-month upgrade cycle, you'll be able to do so with no penalties from O2!

• You can then sell on the handset when upgrading at a future date to offset some of the handset costs. Mazuma Mobile provide some pretty hefty cashback rebates on iPhone models: at the time of writing a iPhone 3G 16GB would attract a £200.00 cashback rebate

A couple of drawbacks with this approach to be aware of:

(1) Overall cost of ownership if the handset is kept for 24 months is equivalent to the 'off-the-shelf' Pay Monthly £35 a month contract offerings. You'll only realise cost savings if you're likely to continue early upgrading on a 12-month cycle

(2) O2 do not provide the 'tethering' service for non-contract iPhones. This is new in the latest version of the iPhone software and allows you to use the iPhone as a 3G modem for a laptop. If you need access to this capability, then you should go for a contract phone (it's worth bearing in mind that this is a premium service attracting a surcharge of £10 per month, though)

(3) You may not be able to use the 'Visual Voicemail' feature on the iPhone as this is not available to non-contract users. There is still access to conventional 'sequential' voicemail as usual.

stu1892

I contacted my home insurance (Privelege) company and they say they'll cover my mobile phone for accidental damage, loss, theft etc on the personal posessions policy.

Now i need to decide whether to get it from O2, Carphonewarehouse or Mobiles.co.uk. Using Quidco for the latter two.

Is mobiles.co.uk any good?

Any tips?