Are 24 month contracts really that bad?

ukbill69

OneADay wrote: »

Yeah but warranties for phones are usually 12 months, ok nokia do 2 years worth I think now. But personally I get bored with a phone after a few months let alone 12 or 24 months. So have never ever had a contract for more than 12 months.

If its an expensive phone, it might be worth (no option sometimes) taking 24 months deal but I would only do it if the cost for 24 months did not mean that I get ripped off.

For now I am happy with 12 months :-)

In fact all products brought in Europe have a 2 year warranty as standard under eu directive. see http://ec.europa.eu/publications/booklets/move/64/en.pdf

ukbill69

d.m wrote: »

Whats the best thing baout the N900? It's multimedia capabilities right?? Or is it as strong as a business phone? I use my phone mainly for emails and calls, and the odd browse of the net to find thngs out but not leisurely.. im a business student and im pretty involved in the whole business thing, no time to game etc..

on that basis, what d'you think?

Search google "N900 review" read what everyone say. This is the future of phones.

ukbill69

5limJim wrote: »

am intrigued by the n900 now, just wish it were available on networks apart from Vodafone

You can buy them direct for £500 or less. That sounds a lot, but think if network added £15 to your bill per month for same thing and done that over 24 months and had to pay something for the phone, isnt that bad.

elfen

I've got a 2 year contract, but I got the 5800 when it came out, unlimited texts and 600 mins a month. I'm usually bored of phones in months but this hasn't got ANYWHERE close, mainly due to its music capabilities, iPlayer, can subscribe to podcasts and get free games out and apps from the Ovi Store, touchscreen, good camera for what I need it for and wifi. It meets my need bigtime, and I'll probably only update at the end of the term for the latest Blackberry, as I'll be at the end of my course and needing to save contacts and start working again (fingers crossed!)

Radsteral

i ve had e71 for 1 year - the strongest phone i ever had-- fell of in concrete floor many many times and the corner of the phone are as rough as a brick;)
i dont know if e72 is any better but they look all the same.
the only thing i hated about e71 was the navigator... too slow to stroll.

the rest- what can i say, it looks built to last and it is, easy as a sunday morning to use..and it took me just 30 mins to get used to it.
got bb bold 9700 before christmas- still not used to it, and keyboard is inferior to nokia.. i can easy misspell + if you have to put a dot at the end of sentence you need to use both hands... if you have to ad a number on the stentence you need to use both hands..

email- bb looks great and thats why i went for it- but its not blazing fast for internet as it advertised, same speed as e71... i m sure my next phone would be nokia again, unless, i get used to this bb. Havent even been able to send contacts from sim card to phone !!!!!!! went to careponewarehouse and they followed the same way as me.... transfer from sim to phone.. ok.. ok then boXXox apear on phone list .

Radsteral

wow n900 reviews! well i just wrote my next phone will be nokia again ... thing with nokias is, instead of browing the manual, it just doe it itself.

I insert my garmin navigation sim card to nokia and it kicks in on screen
i do the same to blackberry and it says'' your sd card info is saved on media file!!! i rush to media file and then everywhere but no sign of garmin aplication.. went to local phone shop and the guy was hating himself for not being able to... so it made me feel better about myself..wasnt my fault

ukbill69

Radsteral wrote: »

wow n900 reviews! well i just wrote my next phone will be nokia again ... thing with nokias is, instead of browing the manual, it just doe it itself.

I insert my garmin navigation sim card to nokia and it kicks in on screen
i do the same to blackberry and it says'' your sd card info is saved on media file!!! i rush to media file and then everywhere but no sign of garmin aplication.. went to local phone shop and the guy was hating himself for not being able to... so it made me feel better about myself..wasnt my fault

My next phone (tomorrow) is the N900!, cant wait.

d.m_3

ACDeag wrote: »

The more who take up 24 month contracts the more likely they will try to move us all to 3 year contracts, then where will it end (lifetime contracts)!

I was thinking of this the other day. How cool would it be to be the first person to offer longer term contracts at a v cheap rate. If you could get the infrastructure in place without the big 4 knowing, then bust out with £5/month for 1000 miins, and have people subscribe for say, 5 years, or 10 years, and call them half-life or lifetiem contracts, i think the business would make a killing because people would flock your way. £600 per person over 10 years, if you got 10% of the UK market, lets say that could be 5 million people, assuming theres 50million handsets in use in the UK.. you'd make a baseline of £3bn over 10 years, or £300m per year. Not sure bout initial costs but im sure it could work..

Jakg

ukbill69 wrote: »

In fact all products brought in Europe have a 2 year warranty as standard under eu directive. see http://ec.europa.eu/publications/booklets/move/64/en.pdf

No, they dont. Lets not open this chesnut again.

ZootHornRollo

i have just purchased an N900 - it's currently sitting in the post office as i wasn't in when they attempted delivery.

Reading the OP's needs for an email/call centred phone i would not recommend the N900 to them. It is a very immature device and has too many bugs just now - including Mail for Exchange. These may or may not be fixed with the rumoured firmware update.

A blackberry would probably be the best solution in this case.

The N900's strengths lie in the browser and (potential) applications which the OP has shown no desire to have.

As far as 24 month contracts go i think they are a good idea if you want a high end device and don't have the cash to lay out up front to pay for it. I would prefer 12 month contracts again but the deals just aren't there now. I went for an 18 month contract and paid a little upfront for the phone.

The deal i took was based on the cost over the length of contract which i will hopefully be able to reduce further by going to a lower contract after 9 months - anyone know if Vodafone still let you do this?