Contract or pay as you go

sixtiesgal_2

I have a contract with Three, when its up I don't know whether to get another contract or pay as you go. I used to have pay as you go when £10 lasted about two days so I gave up and went on a contract but I now I hear they have more deals on pay as you go. However, it means buying the phone and with a contract you get the phone thrown in, yet contracts are tying. Which do you think is best? I would like a smart phone next time like a Samsung, I've got a Blackberry Pearl at the moment.

grumbler

sixtiesgal wrote: »

I have a contract with Three, when its up I don't know whether to get another contract or pay as you go. I used to have pay as you go when £10 lasted about two days so I gave up and went on a contract

How many minutes/texts/megabytes do you need?

but I now I hear they have more deals on pay as you go. However, it means buying the phone and with a contract you get the phone thrown in

Contracts with phones are more expensive than sim-only contracts. It's a delusion that the phones are free; you have to do your maths.

, yet contracts are tying. Which do you think is best? I would like a smart phone next time like a Samsung,

Samsung Galaxy Y is just £50+£10 on PAYG at CPW.

sixtiesgal_2

Hi, thanks for your reply. I have about 500 minutes now but could have less if I stay with Three and get Three to Three free minutes with my boyfriend. I text a lot and use the Internet a fair bit. I fancy the Galaxy Ace if I do get a Samsung.

grumbler

'Fair bit' is too vague.
For 24x£15 you can get a 'free' Ace on '3' with 300 minutes, but the data allowance is 250Mb.

mum2one

i fancy an ace and was quoted £99.99 at CPW (that was as upgrade on pay + go), i'm currently with o2, - i'm about to downgrade my pay and go deal to £10 pm, and then add bolt on £3 per month to cover the data allowance.

Its something you need to look at over a period of say 18mths spend

eg - my way £100 phone + £234 in pay + go. = £324
v contract
you know what your paying and getting at mo!

I would say you would need 500mb of data allowance xx

Kite2010

Get a Sim Only deal, some are on a rolling month contract, some are for 12 months.

I notice 3 do a sim-only deal for 200 minutes,5000 texts & 500MB data for £6.90 a month (12 month contract) - take a look: http://store.three.co.uk/view/searchTariff?deviceType=SIM_ONLY&priceplan=PAY_MONTHLY

As for a cheap smartphone, consider the Huawei G300 Ascend.

MillicentBystander

Get the Huawei G300 for £67 and add the Talkmobile Simple SIM Only 6 month tariff for £8/mth with an exclusive £35 cashback through TCB. Net cost of just over £2/mth for 300 mins/1,000 texts/500mb internet. Just a 6 month lock in then you are free to get the next great deal after that (can still keep your number no matter where you go).

PS Always check out the coverage in your area when changing networks!

Buzby

PAYG, always. Even with a contract with a 30 day notice period, you still have issues with inadvertent roaming, loss, theft etc. if a PAYG, when the money runs out, end of. No worry about your credit file, inaccurate direct debits, or a multitude of issues that can haunt a contract user (many detailed here).