Cheapest iPhone discussion

Lieutenant_Thrift

I've been looking out for a more affordable iphone deal for some time now. With the launch of iPhone4 I don't think what the networks are offering is particularly good value. It leads me to wonder what the best iPhone substitute is?

My situation is that I've been with 3 since August 2008, paying £27 a month for 1100 mix n match minutes. My partner has been with o2 since December 2007, paying £20 a month for 600 minutes, supposedly sim only. It was originally £25 but they gave a £5 discount at some point. The nokia phones we got when we signed up to these contracts are totally knackered now and I would quite like an iPhone.

We spend most of our time on our mobiles talking to each other and there would surely be a saving if we were on the same network. We've tried phoning both 3 and o2 'retentions' to try and threaten them with leaving them to join the other network but its got us completely no where. No offer of a discount on our existing tariff, no new handsets and we may as well have not been paying them for all this time when it came to iPhone tariffs. They treated us no differently from completely new customers.

On the iPhone, I am tempted to possibly go for the £30 a month for 500 mins on 3. I see there is £100 cashback for them on topcashback just now. However, my partner would like to stay with o2 as she gets unlimited o2 to o2 and a number of her friends are in o2 and she spends quite a bit of time talking to them for free. The options before us are:

1. I join o2, although probably not with an iPhone as their non-discounted tariffs represent poor value.
2. I stay with 3, getting 500 mins on an iPhone but my partner will have to carry her o2 phone and another with a 3 sim card for taking calls from me to use up the 5000 3 to 3 minutes.
3. I research iphone alternatives. I see Samsung has launched an iPad competitor today, there must surely be an article about cheaper iPhone substitutes.

Any advice is much appreciated. We need to get new phones soon.

LT

adamnsu

Lieutenant_Thrift wrote: »

I've been looking out for a more affordable iphone deal for some time now. With the launch of iPhone4 I don't think what the networks are offering is particularly good value. It leads me to wonder what the best iPhone substitute is?

My situation is that I've been with 3 since August 2008, paying £27 a month for 1100 mix n match minutes. My partner has been with o2 since December 2007, paying £20 a month for 600 minutes, supposedly sim only. It was originally £25 but they gave a £5 discount at some point. The nokia phones we got when we signed up to these contracts are totally knackered now and I would quite like an iPhone.

We spend most of our time on our mobiles talking to each other and there would surely be a saving if we were on the same network. We've tried phoning both 3 and o2 'retentions' to try and threaten them with leaving them to join the other network but its got us completely no where. No offer of a discount on our existing tariff, no new handsets and we may as well have not been paying them for all this time when it came to iPhone tariffs. They treated us no differently from completely new customers.

On the iPhone, I am tempted to possibly go for the £30 a month for 500 mins on 3. I see there is £100 cashback for them on topcashback just now. However, my partner would like to stay with o2 as she gets unlimited o2 to o2 and a number of her friends are in o2 and she spends quite a bit of time talking to them for free. The options before us are:

1. I join o2, although probably not with an iPhone as their non-discounted tariffs represent poor value.
2. I stay with 3, getting 500 mins on an iPhone but my partner will have to carry her o2 phone and another with a 3 sim card for taking calls from me to use up the 5000 3 to 3 minutes.
3. I research iphone alternatives. I see Samsung has launched an iPad competitor today, there must surely be an article about cheaper iPhone substitutes.

Any advice is much appreciated. We need to get new phones soon.

LT

Hi,

You need to keep in mind of something though when choosing the phone:
If you are not into brands, then the HTC Desire is a good substitute for the iphone 4g. My wife and her Dad has them and they are quite satisfied.
However if you like spending money on apps. then the iphone seems to be the better choice as their app market currently outsizes the android one.

In terms of contracts:

3 gives alot of 3-3 minutes, 5000 for the 3gs tariffs. So sticking with 3 might seem better for both of you in terms of keeping in touch.

It would be good to check how many minutes your wife uses to chat with her friends. Ask her to go through the last 2-3 months bills so an estimate can be made whether it would be worthwhile for her to actually stick with O2.

Hope this helps.

aone

I was just wondering if anyone had ever got a mobile from tesco before and what the signal was like ? I am considering getting a 12 month contract as 1) no other network is doing iphone 3gs 16gb and 2) its working out a lot cheaper.

Oscar_The_Grouch

aone wrote: »

I was just wondering if anyone had ever got a mobile from tesco before and what the signal was like ? I am considering getting a 12 month contract as 1) no other network is doing iphone 3gs 16gb and 2) its working out a lot cheaper.

Tesco use the O2 network. I believe that on the iPhone it even says you are connected to O2 rather than Tesco so if you get a good signal from O2, you should be fine.

Huey75

I finally managed to order the Iphone 4 from tesco yesterday. After weeks of trying at local stores I telephoned tesco mobile on 0800 433 4990. They said they didn't have any in stock but took my details down and said they would call back when they received some more. Within 2 days I had a call back to say they had limited stock and ordered the phone. Delivery within 2-5 days.

ELS1312

Huey75 wrote: »

I finally managed to order the Iphone 4 from tesco yesterday. After weeks of trying at local stores I telephoned tesco mobile on 0800 433 4990. They said they didn't have any in stock but took my details down and said they would call back when they received some more. Within 2 days I had a call back to say they had limited stock and ordered the phone. Delivery within 2-5 days.

Huey,

This so works! I called the number, they took my details and called back within 10 mins, my iPhone4 is now ordered and on it's way!!!

I'd been calling my local store and checking the website daily so thank you!

The guy on the phone was great, he did say they have thousands of people waiting for callbacks but loads once they get the callback say "uhhh, i don't have the money" so they do have quite a few ready to send out to those ready to pay.

ELS

emrawkgrrl

ELS1312 wrote: »

Huey,

This so works! I called the number, they took my details and called back within 10 mins, my iPhone4 is now ordered and on it's way!!!

I'd been calling my local store and checking the website daily so thank you!

The guy on the phone was great, he did say they have thousands of people waiting for callbacks but loads once they get the callback say "uhhh, i don't have the money" so they do have quite a few ready to send out to those ready to pay.

ELS

I left my number a few days ago, but haven't had a call back yet.

I thought I would call them again today to see what the situation is but the person I spoke to reckons they won't have any for 2-3 weeks

ColdAsIce

Hi guys,

I sold my Apple iPhone 3GS in the end, and i am going to buy the iPhone 4 sim free.

Do you advise i get it from 02 or Apple direct, noting that it is unlocked but is a 3 week wait from Apple i am not too much in a rush, but if this batch isn't faulty.

I have friends who have the iPhone 4 and they haven't really had the Antenna and Proximety Sensor issues, could it just be a minor faulty batch.

Look forward to your responses!

style_evo

ELS1312 wrote: »

Huey,

This so works! I called the number, they took my details and called back within 10 mins, my iPhone4 is now ordered and on it's way!!!

I'd been calling my local store and checking the website daily so thank you!

The guy on the phone was great, he did say they have thousands of people waiting for callbacks but loads once they get the callback say "uhhh, i don't have the money" so they do have quite a few ready to send out to those ready to pay.

ELS

Out of interest what time did you call them?

I called today at about 8:20 and, similar to emrawkgrrl, was told that they don't expect any more stock for a couple of weeks

ELS1312

style_evo wrote: »

Out of interest what time did you call them?

I called today at about 8:20 and, similar to emrawkgrrl, was told that they don't expect any more stock for a couple of weeks

9.11, call back was at 9.19.

ELS