Simple question from a newbie re: buying and unlocking a cheap mobile phone

Kislaya

Hello all,

This is my first post so I hope you will forgive me for any incorrect formatting issues etc. I am sure that I will get better with time. I think it is wonderful that people on this forum are so willing to help others out so quickly. Kind of restores my faith in human nature, when certain TV programmes seem to be showing the very worst of it...

I know very little about mobile phones, seemingly less than the 5 year olds of this country, as will become apparent shortly...

Now for my very simple question, which I hope is not too dumb to ask.

I wish to buy a very simple mobile phone for my father, such as the Nokia 1600 that costs around 30 pounds on websites such as amazon uk. It is essential that the phone is very basic (but not necessarily as basic as the Nokia 1100) as it is extremely important that the phone does not attract the attention of the worst rogue elements in society.

My father already has a contract with One Tel (but will change soon as they are useless) and also wishes to use his mobile in India (by buying new SIM cards there). My question is, and I already told you this is probably dumb, is if I buy a 'Vodafone' or 'Virgin' Nokia 1600, for example, can I simply 'unlock' the phone (if indeed such a phone is considered 'locked' in the first place) and then place different SIM cards (from UK or India) into the phone and be able to use it? (such as the SIM from his current One Tel contract and any SIMs he buys in India?).

On a previous visit to India in summer 2005, it was no problem to place different SIMs into a couple of mobile phones we had at the time, and I do not even remember unlocking those phones at any stage. (Have I answered my own question?)

In other words, is it essential to buy a mobile designated as 'SIM-free' already, which I notice are generally more expensive?
i.e. Which should I get if I am faced with the following choices:
1. Vodafone/Virgin (or other network) Nokia 1600 at around 30 pounds; or
2. SIM-free Nokia 1600 at around 40-45 pounds?
3. Are there any better options for cheap basic mobile phones that can be used interchangeably with different SIMs? (I like cheap Nokias as I have heard that they are robust.)

Oh yes, I just remembered that one of the phones sold on amazon uk comes with some free airtime (Virgin pay as you go?). Is it still okay if I get this phone as all I really want is the 'outer shell' of the phone to use as I please (whether or not I use the airtime first)?

I apologise if the above questions are silly, but I really know very little about mobile phones. I would be more than willing to share my expertise in other areas however. (I am a qualified solicitor and also have a wide knowledge of many things apart from mobiles!) I hope to make many contributions to the various forums in time.

Thank you in anticipation of any responses whatsoever.

P.S. While I am here, I may as well ask another question if that is okay:

I wish to buy a pretty good mobile phone (but not too expensive) for my sister on a cashback contract basis. I have spent many days reading very many posts on these forums and have come to the following conclusions:
- The best cashback deals (e.g. 12 months contract, free rental via cashback) seem to be rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Indeed it seems as if things have changed from as recently as the end of December.
- Regardless of company, it seems as if most companies make it extremely difficult for the customer to claim cashback (onerous terms and conditions, numerous forms, short time windows to claim, difficulties in proving receipt, poor customer service etc).
- It seems best to go with a large company such as CarPhoneWarehouse for my first contract, even though their deals seem not to be as good as most others.
Are the above conclusions correct in your opinion?
Are there any other large mobile phone retailers who have an excellent record of reliability, esp re cashback?
Are there any good contract deals around at the moment (esp for Nokia phones, but decent ones), as I am almost totally clueless about mobiles?!

Thanks again to all. I will repay your kindness in the near future.

gk172

First the payg from what ive heard most of the basic nokias can be unlocked free from kind members on this site it might be worth a look here or here to see what phones can be unlocked free. Also ive bought a couple of motorola v3s a few months ago from carphone warehouse and because they sell the model on various networks the phone has been unlocked so it might be worth a look to see what phones they sell on multiple networks or go into store as thats where they gave me this information they might be able to let you know what stock is unlocked. The contract phone - there are still 12 months free deal out there mostly the motorola l6 and v3 this site is really handy - onecompare and you can have a look to see what deal suits you. I have used carphonewarehouse and onestopphoneshop in the past and every contract phone has been unlocked it really mostly if you get a phone direct from the network will it be locked.

Kislaya

Thank you very much for replying to my question. I appreciate it.

PNEfan

Regarding the cashback phone. Carphone warehouse may price match another deal you've found. There's a way of checking online from the Carephone website. If you've found a better deal, but would be happier with them, it's worth trying. My understanding is that they won't match every deal. (I only know this from reading it somewhere on this forum)

Kislaya

Thank you for replying. I have also read the thread about CarPhoneWarehouse's price matching offer, but I had understood both from this forum and from CPW's website that I have to buy a phone from CPW FIRST and only AFTER doing this, within 7 days, I could point out to CPW a better deal available elsewhere. Not only this, it seems from the wording on CPW's website that they have some general discretion whether to price match at all, and further, that any refund of the difference would be paid in instalments! Probably worth a try though, if someone was planning to buy from a relatively trusted retailer like CPW anyway, as I am considering doing. Thanks again.

gk172

Just incase you dint know carphonewarehouse and e2save and also onestopphone shop are all connected and to be honest its hit and miss re cashback, this site is full of negatives about all 3 but there are positives there too, my sister just recieved cashback on a e2save deal and i am about to claim cashback on a onestop deal and the negatives havent put me off, on the e2save site i think there is a calculator which tells you what bill to send and when.

Kislaya

Thanks again. Actually I knew that e2save and onestopphone shop were sorts of 'subsidiary' companies of CPW, but from what I have gathered on this forum, CPW, as the largest of the 3, seems to be the most reliable despite not having the best deals.