3 is the cheapest, but is it best

jetters_2

Yeah the constant 3G does eat the battery like nobody's business.

Fortunately I have enough chargers/car chargers to sink a ship, and when I see the internet speeds I get, I don't mind so much :rotfl:

primrose111

my Matrollacreate a network problem with wifi connection...
Motorola Ex226.....

htconefan

Three have awful customer service, not recomended

bigbulldog

Great service,good value for money would highly recommend same connection speeds as EE for half the cost.:j:j:j

samadams_2

Worst network ever, great for mobile broadband best in the country with a 97% off coverage. Rubbish for mobile networks even with the current best advert.

sam

Viberduo

Ok, I saw the £17 deal but seems to be problems with the 2GB internet, some say its unlimited, some say its unlimited to September, some say its a store only deal, etc.

What is the best? I want to get it online so I get cashback.

ZhugeEX

Viberduo wrote: »

Ok, I saw the £17 deal but seems to be problems with the 2GB internet, some say its unlimited, some say its unlimited to September, some say its a store only deal, etc.

What is the best? I want to get it online so I get cashback.

At the end of the day it says 2GB. And it says no tethering in the small print.

So it's up to you really.

SuziMoby

Hi :j

My friend has the nokia lumia! Im not a big fan of the Nokia but shes really happy with it. She has got the 610 which was about £19 a month from 3. Everyone raves about EE but its all going to be the same soon and their prices I believe will sky-rocket. They have the really new one.

Thanks

MattLFC

Been using Lumia's for over a year now, Windows Mobile and then the subsequent Windows Phone OS for about 7 years.

Windows Phone is amazing, there is still a handful of popular apps unavailable for it (Instagram is the most notable, although Nokia are onto it), but most are now available, and more are becoming available each month, last month they got Autotrader app [not surprising as Autotrader have now issued all their staff with Lumia's], the Natwest and RBS apps, Speedtest.net, and the BBC iPlayer was announced to be launching in the next few months.

For apps that arn't "officially" available, there is usually 3rd part apps that do the same job, or in some cases, Nokia apps, both of which, are usually better than stock official apps due to the developers catering for the needs of the user, rather than the requests of out-of-touch shareholders and managers (the same situation exists on all platforms).

But if you can forgive the current few missing apps (SkyGo, Dropbox and Instagram spring to mind), then it's the OS that is a dream to use, never slows down, never crashes, beautifully designed, as user-friendly as iOS (iPhones) but without the cost etc that makes the phones such a dream to use.

Personally, I've previously had a 7Pro, then a Lumia 710, with a Lumia 610 and just moved to a Lumia 620. Three wouldn't cut me a decent deal on it (they wanted £32 a month for it, or £25 to go on "The One Plan" on SIM-only, so I went through buymobilephones.net - picked up a white Lumia 620 with "The One Plan" (2000 xnet minutes, 5000 3-3 minutes, 5000 text, unlimited data and tethering) for £25.00 per month, plus £60 cashback which brings it down to £22.50 per month, plus another £35 cashback through Quidco, which brings it down to £21.04 per month. I then got the Green/Yellow dual-shot xpress-on cover for £20 off ebay, thus ending up with the green 620 I've wanted since they announced the handset lol.

So I'm getting the phone and tariff I wanted, for less than the cost of the tariff on a SIM-only deal!! Three wouldn't budge at all to compete with the price, despite going through both upgrades and customer-retention.

One thing I will say for anyone choosing a Lumia right now, make sure you go with a Lumia WP8 device, pretty simple to distinguish them fortunately, anything ending in 20 (or later as rumors of the 930 are being floated around) is a WP8 device. So a 520, 620, 720, 820 or 920 is the device to go for. On the HTC side of things, an 8S or an 8X is currently the WP8 lineup.

With regards Samsung, only the ATIV S is available in the UK at present in their WP8 lineup, but there is one on US shores known as the ATIV Odyssey which may end up over here, but generally, avoid Samsung Windows Phone devices, because as good as the ATIV is, Samsung don't care for Windows Phone in the same way that HTC and Nokia do, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were to leave the WP fold in the next 12 months (if Microsoft don't push them out sooner).

Anything older (not listed above as of today) is Windows Phone 7, and even with the release of 7.8, which brings OS lineup up to date and more akin to Windows Phone 8, is basically obsolete now; I know they're still selling them, but in reality, the cost difference between WP7 and WP8 handsets is negligible, so there is little to no benefit in choosing one.

That said, I wouldn't be rushing out to replace an existing 7.x device as they are so close to 8.0, but if you're due an upgrade and want a new phone, avoid WP7 devices as per common sense and future-proofing yourself.

It'd be a different scenario if like the Android devices, the budget and mid-range phones were all shipping with older versions/generations of software, and mainly the top-end devices were the newest versions, but it's not the case with Windows Phone (I regularly see the older generation 610, 800 and 900's being priced higher than the new generation 620, 820 and 920 respectively, on both contract deals and paygo/SIM-free).

securespark

Win2012 wrote: »

I want to upgrade to Galaxy note 2.

So do I!

I want to buy a Note 2 that is 4G ready, so I need the N7105, normally marketed as the LTE model.

3 market theirs as the Ultrafast. Don't be talked into buying a standard Note 2 (N7100) if you want the 4G ready version.

I am still undecided as to whether to go with 3 or not. But they are just about the only place (apart from EE) where I can buy an N7105. EE will sell one and they will unlock it too (for around £20), but you have to have the phone for 3 months before they will unlock it.

3 will do this straight away for you, so if you want an unlocked 4G ready handset NOW, 3 is the place to go, unless you're adept at dabbling with unlock codes.

Having read this entire thread (!!), what I plan to do is buy a handset from 3, have it unlocked, then buy a 1 month SIM only from them. I shall keep my old SIM with my usual number active in my old handset. I shall use the new phone and SIM for a month or two and see how I get on with it, then if it all ends in tears, I have not committed to a 24 month deal I can't back out of.

3 currently sell the Note 2 4G PAYG for £510. Unlocking is £15.

Then I would get a SIM only deal for around the £12 mark.

Their 24 month deal (the £34 a month one) has 600 minutes a month for a total over that period of £885, once the handset cost is added in. 600 is more than I need, so I'm happy to trade fewer minutes for the ability to have an unlocked handset and the freedom to change carrier if I'm unhappy with the service.

I can buy an unlocked Note 2 N7105, 24 months of SIM only deals. AND I've got £50 in my hand, compared to buying the cheaper Note 2 24 month contract deal on 3's website!

grownupgirly wrote: »

They then sent me today a Samsung Galaxy Ace for £13 per month!

I got my son a Galaxy Ace with Talk Mobile for 7.50 a month. 175 mins/ 5000 texts/ 250 MB. Talk Mobile use Vodafone so good service. And I've spoken to their call centre (in the UK!!) and their service is good.

You could almost get 2 of those for one of 3's!!