Cheapest iPhone discussion

Toe-Jam

JonM wrote: »

Question: I have a 3Gs. I am in the US and therefore use the exclusive iPhone carrier, AT&T Wireless, and they require the unlimited data (inside the US) plan for all iPhone accounts - $40/month, on top of call and text plan cost. When I visit the UK, I do all the normal things to make sure I don't get dinged by the data roaming monster, but I don't seem to get reliable text or voicemail notifications, and of course the GPS and location services-related stuff doesn't work at all. Also, I plan to move back to the UK this summer. I have two questions:

1. Are there PAYG SIMs I can get on an iPhone carrier network that will give me a local UK number and that will make my 3Gs fully functional, including data, location services, visual voicemail, etc., and if so, are they in any way sensible in terms of cost? Note: I also carry a little Nokia 1100 with a UK T-Mobile SIM that I use when there and that's fine for voice and text, but not even on the same planet as the 3Gs in terms of overall function.

2. When I move back to the UK, are there service plans for existing iPhone owners, i.e., plans where the subsidy against the initial cost of an iPhone usually provided by the carrier (O2, etc.) ISN'T built into the monthly cost of the plan? This might be moot anyway since I've been away so long (23 years) that I doubt I have any credit records at all anymore, so may not even be able to get a monthly plan, which wouldn't be so good, and I'd need to revert to PAYG anyway for a while.

Appreciate any insights you may have.

There are no PAYG sims that offer Visual Voice Mail.

There is a monthly sim only plan on o2 specifically for the Iphone , which will offer you full service inc visual voice and data and wifi its £20 per month, provided you can pass the credit check, which is not as hard as a normal one because its sim only.

ashtonluke

Just got a free reconditioned 16GB 3GS on O2. They still don't have them in stock when you phone for an upgrade but I went through the online upgrade procedure and they were offering it for free on the £35 per month, 24 month iphone tariff. Try this if you are tired of haggling with them! I have only been an O2 customer for 18 months so I guess most people will be able to get it.

gghh

ashtonluke wrote: »

Just got a free reconditioned 16GB 3GS on O2. They still don't have them in stock when you phone for an upgrade but I went through the online upgrade procedure and they were offering it for free on the £35 per month, 24 month iphone tariff. Try this if you are tired of haggling with them! I have only been an O2 customer for 18 months so I guess most people will be able to get it.

Thank you, I've just done the same!!
Although, I had to get the £40 per month contract, the £35 one came up with a charge

hungryheart

I want to move onto an iPhone black 16gb. I want it to use as an ipod music player /phone/ top quality internet browser. I do not use a lot of calls or texts, but browse quite a lot.

I am nearly out of my Vodafone contract ( two months left). Will I be able to squeeze a good deal out of Vodafone for an 16gb iPhone, or just quit ?

Simple question where is the best deal for me to get the iPhone ?

Is buying one outright from Tesco Direct the best option, and getting a years Tesco Mobile Sim only deal the cheapest calls option ?

Is the phone mine to unlock after a year ?


Any simple straight forward advice or tips would be most welcomed as my Vodafone contract and SE C905 are both at the end of their shelf life .

Thanks in advance.

d123

JonM wrote: »

Question: I have a 3Gs. I am in the US and therefore use the exclusive iPhone carrier, AT&T Wireless, and they require the unlimited data (inside the US) plan for all iPhone accounts - $40/month, on top of call and text plan cost. When I visit the UK, I do all the normal things to make sure I don't get dinged by the data roaming monster, but I don't seem to get reliable text or voicemail notifications, and of course the GPS and location services-related stuff doesn't work at all. Also, I plan to move back to the UK this summer. I have two questions:

1.
2.

Appreciate any insights you may have.

If I read your post correctly, you have an AT&T 3GS, so there is one even more important question:

Are you going to be able to persuade AT&T to unlock your 3GS?

As far as I know AT&T currently dont offer unlocking, and without that, no UK sim will work in your iPhone.

carisso

My son-in-law is coming to London from the States. Could he buy an unlocked iPhone for me there? They are much cheaper in the US and I'd like to take advantage of that!

Jon_01

carisso wrote: »

My son-in-law is coming to London from the States. Could he buy an unlocked iPhone for me there? They are much cheaper in the US and I'd like to take advantage of that!

The price in the US is the contract price, you have to sign up to 12/18 months as well as paying the price quoted.

Fire_Fox

hungryheart wrote: »

I want to move onto an iPhone black 16gb. I want it to use as an ipod music player /phone/ top quality internet browser. I do not use a lot of calls or texts, but browse quite a lot.

I am nearly out of my Vodafone contract ( two months left). Will I be able to squeeze a good deal out of Vodafone for an 16gb iPhone, or just quit ?

Simple question where is the best deal for me to get the iPhone ?

Is buying one outright from Tesco Direct the best option, and getting a years Tesco Mobile Sim only deal the cheapest calls option ?

Is the phone mine to unlock after a year ?

Any simple straight forward advice or tips would be most welcomed as my Vodafone contract and SE C905 are both at the end of their shelf life .

Thanks in advance.

If you read the last few pages on this thread there are no deals to be had on iPhone with any network, Apple set the tariffs. You never get the best upgrade deal when still in contract anyway, best to wait the two months. If you read the Cheapest iPhone article on the main board (the article this thread is here to discuss), that tells you which is the best value contract - currently Tesco but contract not PAYG. If you wait out the two months of your Voda contract the new OS 4.0 will be out and probably the new 3G HD handset. That means the 3GS should be cheaper, maybe as much as £100.

Sam7

Sorry if this has been covered before.

I am nearly out of contract on Orange and want to upgrade to a 32gb iPhone 3GS.

Has anyone had any luck in getting a better than advertised deal with retentions for something like this ?

I'm looking at the £35 pm contract over 18 months.

I'd like to pay less per month if poss and a little less for the phone than the advertised (EVERYWHERE !) price of £279.

Thanks.

Jon_01

Sam7 wrote: »

Sorry if this has been covered before.

I am nearly out of contract on Orange and want to upgrade to a 32gb iPhone 3GS.

Has anyone had any luck in getting a better than advertised deal with retentions for something like this ?

I'm looking at the £35 pm contract over 18 months.

I'd like to pay less per month if poss and a little less for the phone than the advertised (EVERYWHERE !) price of £279.

Thanks.

Read the post above yours.