iphone needed for a present. Some help needed for a technophob please

blue_monkey_2

Usually I'd ask my husband but this is a surprise gift for him so obviously cannot ask him.

I see there is 3G or 3GS? What does this mean? The website does not explain a great deal.

Also, what is the 16G or 32G please? Is it the capacity on the phone for storing photo's apps and videos? Just how much would the phone hold? And would I need to get more storage.

I wanted to get him an orange PAYG one and I saw the 3GS 16G - would this be suitable as a gift? This way he could put his sim in it from his work phone (which I think is on orange but I will check) but wondered what capacity is best please. It is just going to be an expensive toy for him really.

I really have no idea and went to carphone warehouse and they were as useful as a chocolate teapot on a sunny day and really did not want to spend any time explaining anything to me and just acted like I was wasting their time and I really need to be sure I am getting the right one.

Thanks for any help.

vikramrkin

Here is the answer for some of your questions:

1. 3G and 3GS - "S" probably stands for the speed and is the most recent iPhone model. It is slightly faster than 3G, has a compass and voice control. Here is the link from Apple: http://www.apple.com/iphone/compare-iphones/

2. 16/32G is the storege available on the device. More the better and you can store more songs/videos/photos etc. An average mp3 song will be 5 MB, so you can calculate how much 16 or 32 GB would hold.

3. Buying a PAYG iPhone and using an existing SIM - you need to be careful with this. Firstly, only 3G sim work on iPhone. So if your husband's existing SIM is not 3G, it will not work. The way to check this is usually by looking at the serial no on the sim. It will have "3G" somewhere in the end. Secondly, iPhone is designed for data (or internet). So if his existing rate plan does not give a decent amoount of data allowance, he is likely to get huge bills for the usage.

Hope that helps.

blue_monkey_2

Thanks for the info, that is useful.

He got a call form a workmate who was 'setting up his new iphone' so I assumed that he would be able to transfer the sim so that is useful to know, thank you. The Orange one comes with 12 months free internet and 750g per month data allowance - does this make a difference if he puts his work sim in? I think it'll be a normal sim to be honest, on contact.

Thank you for letting me know all I asked, I think I'll go for the 16G one - £120 more for the 32G, but it is really not worth getting one on contract, he only wants it for aps, he get's free calls and texts now through work and he never calls anyone. Ever. So it would be a waste of money each month. But as he has a 'big' birthday coming up everyone is chipping in for one (hopefully) and I am making up the difference.

While I am asking. What happens when the 12 months free internet has been used, what do you do then? I've not seen any internet PAYG for sale at all.

It is all way too confusing for me.

gjchester

blue_monkey wrote: »

He got a call form a workmate who was 'setting up his new iphone' so I assumed that he would be able to transfer the sim so that is useful to know, thank you. The Orange one comes with 12 months free internet and 750g per month data allowance - does this make a difference if he puts his work sim in? I think it'll be a normal sim to be honest, on contact.

The 12 month free internet is on the SIM not the phone as such. Swap it for the work SIM and you may have to pay for the Data transfer. Data can be cheap ish if in a bundle say a fiver a month, or really expensive if you dont have a bundle ansd use it as is when it can be up to £1.50 a day.

His work contract may include a data allowance but don't assume it does.

ACDeag

A new model is expected within three months, it maybe worth waiting.

blue_monkey_2

Thanks for the advice, I'll get a PAYG top up too then.

Thanks also for the advice about the new model but it is for next weekend so I've got to get it now.