Buying a cheap but smart phone for my wife's birthday!

Wh05apk

I may be missing something here, but would you not be paying £15pm with O2 + buying the phone, whereas, £10pm with t-mobile albeit for 24mths gives you the same minutes etc? is it not cheaper to get a contract?

Beatlefan

Wh05apk wrote: »

I may be missing something here, but would you not be paying £15pm with O2 + buying the phone, whereas, £10pm with t-mobile albeit for 24mths gives you the same minutes etc? is it not cheaper to get a contract?

Hi, Wh05apk, it's probably me, I'm totally new to all this!

I thought I could buy the phone and then just top it up once a month and then get the internet, calls and texts included in the top-up. That's why I was looking at 02, so we wouldn't be tied into a contract. But it looks as if you have to pay a tarriff anyway, although I'm not sure why.....:o

At the moment we've got bog standard top-up phones, with no extras, just phone and text, so not sure what I'm doing here.

Sadly T Mobile are out of stock of the HTC phone, but it says their deal is "from £20 a month", so quite expensive, although from what you said that might be the money saving best choice.

I was thinking we could buy it out right from 02 and then just top it up with £10 or whatever each month and get the internet, texts and calls included with that. But the 02 website has confused me cos it looks like you need to pay a tarriff as well. Is that right?

Sorry to ask so many basic questions, but we've never gone down this route before. Thanks. :T:A

Oscar_The_Grouch wrote: »

Before you buy the phone and pick your contract, you need to make sure you have mobile internet available in your area. Each provider has different strengths of signal in different post codes, so its best to check. Here's a list of the links to the different internet sites to check each of the major providers:

O2
T-Mobile
Orange
Vodafone
Three

Three don't have a dedicated page to their mobile broadband checker; the postcode section is on the right hand side of the page I've linked to.

Finally, make sure you check the post codes of home and office (as well as town centres where your wife shops) to make sure you go with the network that has the best coverage. I've not checked to see if the phone you want is available from all these providers and they all have different plans/terms for internet use.

Thanks, I hadn't checked that before, so many thanks for all the links, Oscar.

Am I checking "mobile phone" or "mobile broadband"? Some of the links make the distinction, some don't.

O2's "mobile broadband cover checker" said don't recommend for our village, although the local town was fine.

T-Mobile's "mobile broadband cover checker" said coverage may be "limited" where we live, although the local town was excellent.

Vodafone's UK coverage map, said "3G and mobile broadband - limited" ; "standard - excellent". Again our nearest town was fine.

Orange's "mobile coverage" checker said "2G calls/texts and e-mail & browsing" were good where we live. It said "3G browsing and downloading and hi-speed browsing" were bad. Again our nearest town was okay.

Finally 3 said for mobile phones: "you can use your mobile to make calls, send texts and use the internet in most instances. When indoors, signal strength may be better in different rooms". For "Mobile broadband" it said: "You can use your dongle to connect to our mobile broadband network in most instances. When indoors, signal strength may be better in different rooms."

fuzzybear01

My husband has a Tmobile pulse which looks very much like an iPhone in shape, this was £149.99 on PAYG at Christmas time

flyingscotno1

Beatlefan wrote: »

Sadly T Mobile are out of stock of the HTC phone, but it says their deal is "from £20 a month", so quite expensive, although from what you said that might be the money saving best choice.

T Mobile is £10 a month and no wonder it is out of stock- brilliant deal. http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-tariffs/pay-monthly-10-24m/htc-wildfire/?WT.mc_id=ON_QM_A_BuyAT

Beatlefan

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

T Mobile is £10 a month and no wonder it is out of stock- brilliant deal. http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-tariffs/pay-monthly-10-24m/htc-wildfire/?WT.mc_id=ON_QM_A_BuyAT

Thanks, I could only find the £20 Tariff with the phone for free when I searched on T Mobile. Thanks for the direct link. :T

I'm still confused why you have to be tied into a tarriff with these companies? Before, we've just topped up when we've needed to in order to get the texts and calls we need - i.e. when we're running low on call credit. We've not been locked into a contract to top up by £10 or whatever per month.

But it looks like the £10 is definitely the best deal - and as Wh05apk says, you get cashback that way too. Thanks again everyone. :A

Wh05apk

Beatlefan, just checked and I think quidco have reduced the cashback to £20 on the £10 deal, but still a good deal.

Presumably when you are at home, you will use Wifi? if so mobile broadband signal strength at home is irrelevant.

bubblesmoney

looking at the coverage details you have stated, it looks like three network is your only chance of decent data speeds.

O2's "mobile broadband cover checker" said don't recommend for our village, although the local town was fine.

T-Mobile's "mobile broadband cover checker" said coverage may be "limited" where we live, although the local town was excellent.

Vodafone's UK coverage map, said "3G and mobile broadband - limited" ; "standard - excellent". Again our nearest town was fine.

Orange's "mobile coverage" checker said "2G calls/texts and e-mail & browsing" were good where we live. It said "3G browsing and downloading and hi-speed browsing" were bad. Again our nearest town was okay.

Finally 3 said for mobile phones: "you can use your mobile to make calls, send texts and use the internet in most instances. When indoors, signal strength may be better in different rooms". For "Mobile broadband" it said: "You can use your dongle to connect to our mobile broadband network in most instances. When indoors, signal strength may be better in different rooms."

if you want easy internet speeds then 3 seems your only option. if you just need phone and text then choose any network

chelly78

Beatlefan wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your really helpful posts. :T The HTC Wildfire as a PAYG it is!

I can get it £9 cheaper at 02 for £90, but not much cashback - £3.50 - as it's not a contract.

I'm interested in this phone as well but where have you seen it for £90 on O2 - I didn't realise they were stocking it.

Thanks:)

Wh05apk

All I can see at O2 is an HTC "smart black" which is not the wildfire.

parallax_20

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

T Mobile is £10 a month and no wonder it is out of stock- brilliant deal. http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-tariffs/pay-monthly-10-24m/htc-wildfire/?WT.mc_id=ON_QM_A_BuyAT

The reason why its out of stock on the £10 tariff is probably because that offer has ended. much in the same way as the Desire for £10 was shortly pulled after getting much attention. I wouldn't want to speculate if it would come back in stock at this price range.