contract mobile phones

[sam]

I was thinking of getting a contract phone but not to sure what the best one is to go for, not looking for anything fancy just a plain phone thats not to expensive.
can anyone give me any suggestions :confused

[henry20]

stick to pay as you go :lol:

It depends on how disciplined you can be - some people end up running up unaffordable bills because they don't realise quite how many texts they send. At least with pay as you go, you know exactly where you stand.

It also depends how you use your mobile:
ie mainly texting
mainly phoning landline or same network
mainly daytime
mainly night
or mainly a mixture of networks etc.

You really need to work out your usage and then shop to suit it.

[emb123]

Although I've been delighted with Orange, I felt that Vodafone would give me the best coverage in Sutherland/Caithness plus more people would be on Vodafone.

As I already have a phone I am very happy with, I paid Orange for an unlock code and contacted Vodafone direct (freefone number on the vodafone web site) who made me a great offer:

I specifically wanted not to have to muck about with top up vouchers so they said they were doing some new SIM only deals where basically all they supply is a SIM card on a 30 days contract. I.E Not 18 months or 12 months, you're only tied for 30 days (although you can keep it going if you like).

As a low user who never sends texts he suggested two deals:

£10/month would give me 75 minutes of any time any network calls after which it was a reasonable price per minute (can't remember what though), plus it was either 50 or 100 texts.

I went for £15/month which gives me 150 minutes of calls any time any network plus 100 texts. There is no rollover so the minutes are on a use it or lose it basis, but the beauty is that you can stop whenever you like but don't have to muck about with top up vouchers.

I thought that wasn't too bad.

It would be subject to a credit check as is every contract.

Those deals aren't published on the website but worth inquiring about what kind of deals they do. Better still if you can say that you're not already a Vodafone customer because they want to attract new business.

[EDDIE]

I was thinking of getting a contract phone but not to sure what the best one is to go for, not looking for anything fancy just a plain phone thats not to expensive.
can anyone give me any suggestions :confused

Well i use pay as you go nice and simple way to control the phone bill and your not tied into any contract.I think people forget the mobile phone is just convenience gadget if you really need to phone or be contacted its not for chatting 24/7 well thats my view if i put £10 in my pay as u go phone it lasts me ages

[sam]

i have a pay as you go at the moment, just wondered about the contract one's
I use mine mostly for texting and the odd phone call.

[emb123]

i have a pay as you go at the moment, just wondered about the contract one's
I use mine mostly for texting and the odd phone call.
In that case you're probably best to pick whichever network gives the best combination of
1 - the one most of your friends and family are on
2 - cheapest pay as you go tariff to suit the way you use it (Virgin are probably the cheapest but I expect Virgin network coverage is poor in Caithness)

I agree with the others, you're probably best to stay with pay as you go. You can buy extra texts bundles if you send a lot of them on most of the networks.

The only real advantage to contract phones is when you know for a fact that you will use at a minimum those included monthly minutes or texts (i.e. for your business) that you pay for every month... then you can get a free/cheap top of the range handset and pay less for your calls plus you don't have to worry about getting top-ups.

If you don't use it much for outgoing voice calls then you're better off sticking with PAYG, and if you fancy a nice handset, buying it outright (e.g. off eBay).

Where unused minutes gets rolled over on contracts, they usually only get rolled over for one month. After that, you lose them. If that were to happen you'd be wasting your money, as you would I suppose if you made calls simply to use up your minutes.

[gofor]

i have pay as you go o2 for £15 a month i get free evening and weekend minutes and 250 free texts. also have a contract mobile with bt fusion no monthly charge free calls as long as i am near or within 50metres of house and free texts to all o2 mobiles anytime most my bill has ever been is £5.49 a month

[emb123]

i have pay as you go o2 for £15 a month i get free evening and weekend minutes and 250 free texts. also have a contract mobile with bt fusion no monthly charge free calls as long as i am near or within 50metres of house and free texts to all o2 mobiles anytime most my bill has ever been is £5.49 a month
That BT Fusion sounds like a good deal - is that tied in with your landline phone bill ? (I'm on NTL cable phone here at the moment - been years since I was with BT so a bit rusty on what the latest deals are that BT offer).

Personally would need the daytime minutes but the o2 off-peak deal sounds good too. Mind you you'll probably find other networks offer comparable deals.

I think it's a good idea as long as the deal is ok to try and stay on the same mobile network as most of the people you'll be calling as going across networks can get really pricey.

[sam]

I probably will stay on the pay as you go as its a pretty good one i'm on, my other half thought i would be better to get a contract moblie but i'm not really convinced, thanks anyway to everyone who replied :D

[young_fishin_neep]

hey,

i am on contract phone which i have to say gladly i dont pay for. i used to go through £60-£80 a month on pay as you go on o2. i am now using vodafone and they have brilliant coverage over caithness/sutherland. my contract gives me 1000 txts, 500 free minutes and when i call somebody after 7pm it only take 3 minutes out of my 500 if my call is under an hour. all of this only costs £40 a month an after so mony months my dad recives a check for £60 back

i find i have only gone over this once and this was the first month of my contract when all my txts ect didnt come through untill the middle of the month which i didnt know.

everything depends on how much you use your phone. if you like me ( a teenager that MUST have their phone at all times then i advise it. but if you dont use your phone often then i would advise you to look hard for the contract that suits you or just stay on pay as you go.

kaz xxxx

[bobsgirl]

I am on a vodafone contract and thinking of swapping to pay as you go when this contract finishes. I pay £25 a month for 125 minutes anytime and 500 texts, also have the stop the clock after 7 (call someone for an hour and pay for only 3 minutes). Not once have I went over the call time I have went over the texts by 1 on one occasion. Every month my bill comes in I have time rolled over from the previous month and every month it says 250 mins anytime.
My hubby went to cancel his contract and he got a better deal than me but only 75 minutes anytime, 100 texts and only costing him £10 a month. Shows what they will do to keep you business.
I do know that O2 has a deal where you top up your phone £10 once a month and they give you so many text messages for free. Not exactly sure about this but am going to look into it. O2 doesnt have that great a reception in my house but they do have great offers!

Depends what you need to use your phone for I suppose!

[emb123]

Bobsgirl, the deal your husband is on sound like the deal they offered me as they were keen to get me to switch to them and I wasn't too sure I was going to.

I don't remember the exact details of the tariff, not least how much the calls cost per minute after you go over you fixed number of minutes. I'd be grateful if you'd kindly ask him and please let me know - thanks! (I'd rather not ask Vodafone in case they realise that I don't know and put it up!).