When do I ask for a new phone?

jenniewb

The past few times I've asked I have not been able to get a mobile phone contract and the last time I asked was in January of this year.

I have a bad credit rating. I was in huge debt after graduating and basicly found out the hard way that you cannot pay off huge debts with a shift-work-overtime-minimum wage job (I did try hard for years) and ended up with a debt relief order in 2009.

Its not a huge deal but it would be useful to have a phone only issue is it needs to be on the 02 network due to signal issues in my area (so 02, Talkmobile and GiffGaff are my only options?).

Does anyone know when would be good to ask for a new contract? (With smartphone handset rather then just sim)

grumbler

You don't need a contract to get a smartphone. Very decent ones are available on PAYG for just about £100. If you cannot afford this, then an expensive contact is likely to pave a way to fresh bad marks it your credit history.

Re the credit history, all records stay in the files for 6 years.

BTW, Talkmobile use Vodafone network, not O2, but Tesco Mobile do use O2.

jenniewb

Ah thanks- perhaps I'll wait a bit longer. I've seen the £100 options and maybe I'm just being too fussy but I don't really like them! £100 is a large amount of money for me so its important that I like what I purchase as I'm likely to be stuck with it for quite a while!

I liked the HTC range but found the Wildfire too small as I'd be using this for the internet the screen size does matter to me. I used to have an LG smartphone (it was stolen in a burglary a few months back) but I just couldn't get on with the screen size anyway, (which was 3 inches) it was too small for me.

I_luv_cats

jenniewb wrote: »

Ah thanks- perhaps I'll wait a bit longer. I've seen the £100 options and maybe I'm just being too fussy but I don't really like them! £100 is a large amount of money for me so its important that I like what I purchase as I'm likely to be stuck with it for quite a while!

I liked the HTC range but found the Wildfire too small as I'd be using this for the internet the screen size does matter to me. I used to have an LG smartphone (it was stolen in a burglary a few months back) but I just couldn't get on with the screen size anyway, (which was 3 inches) it was too small for me.

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-phones/huawei-ascend-g300-review-50007180/
http://www.t3.com/reviews/huawei-ascend-g300-review
http://www.reghardware.com/2012/06/25/review_huawei_ascend_g300_android_smartphone/

You can get some good budget Smartphones for £100 or less. The Huawei Ascend G300 (£100) has some good reviews.