Mobile Phone ONLY not connected to any monthly top-ups

Confuzzled

hello all,

i'm hoping some lovely people here can help me out. i'm a very very light mobile phone user but i really do need to have one on me at all times (and they make wonderful alarm clocks )

my 5 year old Sony Erricson T610 has done me great service in its 5 years but unfortunately yesterday i accidentally knocked it off the arm of my sofa and into a large mug of tea and it's now ceased to function at all

i would be hard pressed to top up by more than 5 quid a month, in fact i can go months without making a call on it, mostly i keep it for emergencies and so others can call me so as you can imagine i don't want to buy a phone that requires me take up a contract unless i can find one that will only cost 5 quid a month!

i don't need a fancy camera (mine long since ceased to work well enough to bother with on this old phone) and i don't need internet connection or it to be a radio etc but what i do need is something solid.

in the past the cheap phones all seem to be exactly that, very cheap plastic things that will break the first time you drop them. this old thing has been dropped at least a dozen times and still works (i guess liquid was just pushing it too far )

i did some looking around today but there are soooo many to choose from and i am uncertain of some of the terms (if the phone says it's 49 quid plus a 20 quid top up is that just a one time top up or is that monthly etc) it's been 5 years since i've bought a phone so please excuse my ignorance, i just don't use them like most people do so i'm not on top of these things

anyway i'm wanting to spend hopefully no more than 50 quid for the phone, i will pay extra for a one time top up if necessary though i've recently started using an asda sim so if i didn't have to buy a top up from some one that would be even better. i want a hardbody phone , def no clamshells (my friends have had problems with them breaking too easily) and i don't care if the phone is a bit larger than todays teensy things so an 'older' model is just fine by me

i think what i really need is some suggestions for both phone models AND advice on how to wade through the offers without being tied to a contract

any help offered is very much appreciated!

Nile

Hello Confuzzled

I'll move your thread to the 'Mobile Phones' board.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Regards

Nile

rash.m2k

Try some of the low end Nokias, Nokia 2630 is a very good one. Not only does it look more expensive than it's actually worth, its also mostly metal. And costs around £25.

Old_Gold

If you go to Carphone Warehouse their phones should be unlocked. Just check. You may have to top up to one of the networks for £10 but when you have used that you can choose what you like. Asda or Tesco payg are worth looking at. A very good deal at the CPW is the Nokia 1661 which costs just under a tenner plus the top up of another tenner which cant be bad. Basic phone but has good reports. If you want to do it online go Quidco with e2sve you get another £7.50 back.

Jakg

When it says "+ £20 topup" this means you need to buy it with a £20 topup for that network once only - this is meant to discourage box breakers (supposedly).