mobile phone 'virgin'

chaucer

I am a total beginner and don't know where to begin in my quest to get a mobile phone for my partner and I.
Don't know which company has best UK coverage...
Don't know which handsets are good, better, best...
Don't know if pay as you go beats contract...
Don't know what sim-free is...
Do know that we only want phones for text and some voice calls...
As the song has it..."Where do I begin...?"
???

Steve_xx

I am a total beginner and don't know where to begin in my quest to get a mobile phone for my partner and I.
Don't know which company has best UK coverage...
Don't know which handsets are good, better, best...
Don't know if pay as you go beats contract...
Don't know what sim-free is...
Do know that we only want phones for text and some voice calls...
As the song has it..."Where do I begin...?"

1. All operators have good coverage of the main conurbations in the UK.
2. Nothing much to choose between handsets. Depends on what you want, ie do you want a phone with a camera on it? Most of them do much the same.
3. PAYG is ok if you don't make many calls. Contract is best if you do.
4. SIM free means that you can put any of the networks SIM cards into the handset and it will work. Some networks give you the phone free if you take a contract with them. But they lock the phone on to their own network which means you cant put another networks SIM card in it. But you can get it unlocked, usually for around £10 or so, then you can use other networks SIM cards in it.
5. There are a myriad of tariffs available on both PAYG and contract deals.

I would suggest that the best deal on the market is from Carphone Warehouse online only. The deal is: Free Nokia 7600 handset, connected to the 3 network, £4.99 per month line rental inclusive of 500 minutes worth of calls to any network at anytime, plus 100 texts per month. Here is the link:
http://carphonewarehouse.com/commerce/servlet/gben-specialoffers-Main?NODE_ID=2541

chaucer

thx steve
looks a good deal...
looks a weird handset!

Steve_xx

Yes, you're right, it is rather weird looking. I have it and don't like it much. But at £4.99 per month for 500 any network minutes, I can put up with it!

DonnyDave

Loads of information on MobileShop.org.

chaucer

7600 out of stock
am looking at another possibility of getting a cheap pay as you go on virgin mobile
they do reconditioned phones at good looking prices
anyone have experience of this?
good or bad
thx