PAYG mobile for under a tenner; can you grab one?

peterbaker

I bought an unlocked new Nokia 1110i at Ryman, Ilford about 10 days ago for £19.99 including £5 Virgin SIM credit. This is a simple phone ideal for older people perhaps.

jatos

One thing to weary of, getting a too much your money.

Some of the phones that have a lot features for less then might expect have a nasty tendancy to go wrong with 1/2 years, occassionally even earlier.

For example, I bought a Nokia 3510i a while back, for £70. Which when I was fairly cheap for what I got. Within 24 hours of buying it, I had to make a warranty because some of the keypad buttons stopped working correctly.

The replacement, I have had for I would guess 2/3 years, still works, however I have the same problem with the keypad.

In short, if its very cheap, they costs will have to been cut somewhere. It would be wise to try and find out before you buy it.

Personally, the way I save money with electronics, is by buying from reputable second sources. Got to be a bit careful here, but if you are, you can save a lot of money!

beertricks

Hi. How do you ‘buy’ the phone and go to the checkout without having to buy the £10 time? it wont let me buy just the phone

alanclose

beertricks wrote: »

Hi. How do you ‘buy’ the phone and go to the checkout without having to buy the £10 time? it wont let me buy just the phone

You can't anymore, every once in a while Orange will drop the £10 topup requirement. Unfortunately you've missed it.

Argos are doing one for £9.99 but you don't get the quidco cash back

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5474174.htm

beertricks

thank you anyway

janaltus

I love my antique (and robust) Nokia phone with its T-Mobile PAYG connection. Over the years I've spent no more than £10 per annum, just so people can call me when I'm out and so I can use it for emergencies and text messages (although at home I do that for free via the internet). The one drawback is that it is only dual-band and therefore doesn't work in the US (which I visit regularly). I can't seem to find a cheap tri-band PAYG mobile phone anywhere. Unfortunately, neither OneCompare nor MoneySupermarket currently allow you to make comparisons for PAYG phones.

So please - has anyone got any ideas or suggestions or experience to share on cheap tri-band PAYG phones?

manch235ter

Odd_Fellow wrote: »

I'm interested in the cheapie Alcatel on Orange. Martin's post says we'd need to top it up every six months to keep it operable.

My intent is to use it as a replacement contract phone with an Orange SIM.

Does anyone know if this will work - permenantly?


Odd

as long as you pay your contract each month as normal , then the orange contract sim will work in an orange PAYG or unlocked mobile... your contract isnt tied to the phone it came with , just to the sim card.

elcoline

Sorry for being ignorant but would someone explain to me "unlocking"? last year I cancelled my old contract with Tmob and purchased a PAYG sim card from Tesco as I rearely use my phone to make calls. The new SIM card worked perfectly.

Am I right in thinking however that if I buy a new phone that has say for example an Orange SIM Card included in the deal that I would then have to get that phone "unlocked" before I could use my tesco SIM card in it?

If so, how is that my Tmob phone works?

Just wondering as I am fed up carrying the "brick" around and thought I might upgrade if I can get a cheap deal.

Any help in understanding appreciated....

Quentin

You may get an unlocked phone when you buy your new one as some do come unlocked. (That's probably why your current one didn't need unlocking)

To find out put your tesco sim in to your new phone. If the phone accepts the SIM and works then it is unlocked. Doing this test won't hurt the sim or the phone.

If it's locked check with the unlocking thread for help to unlock it.

Beanboy

Tesco direct online:-
1) Buy any Tesco mobile phone UNDER £50 and get £10 Tesco airtime free + free delivery.
2) Buy any Tesco mobile phone OVER £50 and get £20 Tesco airtime free + free delivery.
*triple clubcard points on direct - Promotion ends: Monday 28 May 2007