iPhone as a christmas present

Lisaberry

Hi


My mum really wants an iPhone so I am trying to find her a reasonable priced one for Christmas. Her contract isn't up for a while and she doesn't want to spend more than £15 a month anyway so waiting until then won't help much as you don't get much of a discount on a phone when the monthly cost is that low.


I am really wary of buying a 2nd hand phone off ebay/gumtree in case they report it stolen and it gets blocked.


How much would a 3gs not do compared to say a 4s? I could pick up a decent looking 3gs for £50 (surely less likely to get shafted??) but would Mum constantly encounter errors downloading apps? Not that Mum uses apps but she would no doubt like a few games like candy crush. I know face time wont work due to the lack of a camera but that doesn't matter


If I do stump up the £349 to buy a 4s from Apple, do you think it is actually worth it? I really can't stretch the extra £100 for the 5c but this phone will need to last a couple of years so don't really want Apple to stop supporting it when the 6 comes out.


Is there a better option that I am not thinking of? (Android isn't theanswer, she has a Samsung Galaxy Ace and it's put her off Android for life)


Any advice would be really appreciated!


Thanks

Browntoa

I have a 3gs , no problem with apps no working

bit slower than the new ones

Lisaberry

Thanks! What version of ios do you have?

Browntoa

6.01 I think but only because its "jailbroken" (will network lock it again if I update)

you will want an officially network unlocked one to be safe

Lisaberry

Great, thanks. I really wish I could afford the 5c but I'm not sure she's use it fully enough to appreciate it even if I could. I can't even cope using her current phone for 2 minutes
Think I might go down the 3GS route then

Nile

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Earthworm

If you go second hand I would say get an iPhone 4 8GB... The prices have plumetted recently and it works with the new version of iOS. The 3GS is now something like 4 years old and the hardware is pants compared to the Android phones you wouldn't be willing to try.

MillicentBystander

Lisaberry wrote: »

Hi


My mum really wants an iPhone so I am trying to find her a reasonable priced one for Christmas. Her contract isn't up for a while and she doesn't want to spend more than £15 a month anyway so waiting until then won't help much as you don't get much of a discount on a phone when the monthly cost is that low.


I am really wary of buying a 2nd hand phone off ebay/gumtree in case they report it stolen and it gets blocked.


How much would a 3gs not do compared to say a 4s? I could pick up a decent looking 3gs for £50 (surely less likely to get shafted??) but would Mum constantly encounter errors downloading apps? Not that Mum uses apps but she would no doubt like a few games like candy crush. I know face time wont work due to the lack of a camera but that doesn't matter


If I do stump up the £349 to buy a 4s from Apple, do you think it is actually worth it? I really can't stretch the extra £100 for the 5c but this phone will need to last a couple of years so don't really want Apple to stop supporting it when the 6 comes out.


Is there a better option that I am not thinking of? (Android isn't theanswer, she has a Samsung Galaxy Ace and it's put her off Android for life)


Any advice would be really appreciated!


Thanks

That's because it was and is a truly awful phone and will be running a very old version of Android! The Moto G Android phone can be had for as little as £89 from Tesco and is basically very very similar to the £549 iPhone 5C specs-wise (in fact, the screen is bigger but with the same PPI!). And as for comparing the Moto G to the 4S and 3GS, it wipes the floor with both of them at much less cost. We are talking literally hundreds of pounds here, by the way. The Moto G just puts into very sharp focus how much Apple are ripping off their customers with their pricing. Sorry, had to be said.

Moto G is everything iPhone 5c should have been

By taking control of the hardware side of things, Google can finally produce the kind of devices it wants without having to rely on external parties, such as Asus, LG and Samsung. In short, it will finally be an equal to Apple, not just creating software but also the hardware, too.

this respect, the Moto G could have more of an impact than you might imagine. In my eyes, it's one of the most significant hardware releases since Android began. If Apple did indeed have any aspirations about wrestling control of the mid-to-budget sectors of the smartphone market away from Android, they must surely have evaporated completely by now.

http://www.knowyourmobile.com/google/moto-g/21496/moto-g-everything-iphone-5c-should-have-been

baby_frogmella

OP, Forget the likes of ebay or CEX head over to AVForums iPhone Classifieds and have a browse. Its a UK only forum (completely free to sell/buy) and you're unlikely to get scammed provided you buy from a member with 100% feedback. Forget the 3GS (its too old), go for an iphone 4, still a very good phone and runs Apple's latest operating system iOS7 fine. You can pick one up for £100-£150 in good/excellent condition.
http://www.avforums.com/threads/iphone-4-white-8gb.1835668/
http://www.avforums.com/threads/iphone-4-16gb-black.1834949/

Alternatively you could post a 'wanted' ad on there

Neil49

The Galaxy Ace was an absolute dog of a phone. Two friends of mine bought it and both sold them on within a matter on months because they were next to useless.

Go for a Moto G and forget about an old iPhone. You will get a great phone (which will be brand new) and save a shed load of money.

Lisaberry

Thanks! I'll have a look at the Moto G. The only thing that I'd need to get around is my son has an iPod touch which can't use what's app. He loves sending us all iMessages but the only app I found that both he and my mum could use was Tango - which is awful! Does anyone know of anything better?

I will def look into the AV Forum too

Thanks!