I'm sure you guys have been quick to assess the best deals available for the pending release of the 4S.

I have been a long term customer of Vodafone and they have text me to offer the 4S plus £59 cashback on my next bill.

However, even for a 1GB data allowance how quick is this going to be consumed with the introduction of iCloud?

Are there other more competitive deals out there??

Don't be fooled by Vodafone's £59 "discount"/"cashback" for pre-ordering. If you compare Vodafone's tariffs and upfront costs with the other networks', you'll find that Vodafone's upfront costs are higher than everyone else's... The limited offer "discount" merely brings the upfront cost of the 4S back down to a similar level as everyone else.


Have a look in this thread for discussion of UK prices and links to the networks:

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showt...php?p=53380438


My post gives some examples: http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...8&postcount=11

Thanks Matt, I will check out those threads

If you don't mind a 24 month contract (and don't mind Three ), I think Three's deals are the best. More minutes than the others, and truly unlimited "All You Can Eat" data on "The One Plan".

The others are fairly similar to each other, except for Vodafone and its "charge them more upfront then give some back as a credit" thing it's done.


http://www.o2.co.uk/iphone/iphonetariffs/
http://shop.orange.co.uk/newiphone
https://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/pay-...mobile-phones/
https://www.vodafone.co.uk/brands/ip...hone/index.htm
http://www.three.co.uk/Phones/Preorder

Cheers Matt, appreciate that.

Most important for me is signal availability as I travel all over the country.

I will also need international access. Vodafone charge me £10 per month for upto 100mins.

Think I read somewhere that 3 have no 2G access so if there is no 3G then you have no web access. Have to check that out.

Doesn't three use the Orange/T-Mobile 2G network when 3G isn't available?

I ordered this:

12 month White iPhone 4S

You Pay the following *in bold*

16GB - £139
32GB - £219
64GB - £299

£50pm gets you

1200 Mins
Unlim Texta
750 Data
2GB Wifi Data on BT Openzone
25MB a day in selected European countries

total cost over the year is £739.00

Quite a nice spreadsheet from the guardian on prices http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...?newsfeed=true

Although they forget to mention giffgaff £10 / month which works out the cheapest deal (also it will suit most people)

Not very good actually.

I get:-

Free Galaxy S2
All you can eat data
5000 texts
2000 Any network minutes
5000 3 to 3 mins

£35 a month.

Total cost over the year £420.

Granted mine is an 18 month contract but still works out cheaper.

I'm coming into a good chunk of money next june, which is also, coincidentally, when my Orange deal is up for renewal so i'm definitely looking at this handset.

As it stands, i'll ideally look to buy one outright i guess but then I guess there's plenty of time for the prices and tariffs to change between now and then.

By then the iphone 5 may be out.

Fair point

Just randomly looking at some prices and despite what it says in the guardian link, it'll probably work out cheaper for me personally if i do buy the handset outright and go sim-only with orange - especially if i can haggle their £30pm sim-only deal down to £20 or thereabouts.

As I understand it 3 cancelled their agreement with Orange.

This is only what I read on another forum so I can't be certain of this.

Never heard of GiffGaff before until I looked on this forum.

Their deals look remarkably good which prompts the question "What's the catch"!

Which network does their calls and data route through?

Giff Gaff uses the O2 network. The "catch" is that it is a network run by its members. There is no formal customer service option you can call if you come into difficulty - instead you have to rely on the advice of other Giff Gaff members to point you in the right direction.

I can discount that one then!!

Still available in certain areas. Was travelling through Cottingham on the bus last week and noticed I was roaming onto Orange. Data seems to be a complete no go while roaming though.

I didn't think Three did 18 month contracts? Did they used to, and you got it before they stopped?

Aside from that, though, that is a good deal

Three does seem to do the best deals, even the Guardian article said it had the best for the 4S.

A 24 month £35pcm contract for the 4S will give the same allowances you have, although the 4S is £99 upfront rather than free like your GS2. More data and minutes than the other networks, and a lower upfront cost than Vodafone

I suppose the closest comparison to giffgaff that's backed by a "big company" is talkmobile, which is from the Carphone Warehouse.

http://www.talkmobile.co.uk/simple.html

£18 a month with a 6 month commitment gets you 1,200 minutes, 1gb of data and 3000 texts as an example.

You can get pretty close to GiffGaff with Tesco Mobile, but the sticking point is always the data...The ones that don't include data on there can have it added for £5/mo for 500mb, or £7.50/mo for 1GB.

So for 250 mins, 5000 texts and 1GB internet it is £15/mo with a 12 month commitment.

Not sure why anybody wanting to pay up front and get a sim-only plan wouldn't just go with GiifGaff though, unless they want good 3G coverage in which case Three has some good sim-only deals.

In terms of getting an iPhone 4S on contract, I expect Tesco Mobile to be up there with Three in terms of value like they were with the iPhone 4. And they will probably offer it on some 12 month deals. They don't have any prices up yet but if anybody is interested you can register your interest here: http://goo.gl/7mBTz

Yeah, Tesco offered some good deals last year, and some very good 12 month contracts.

Yeah but this is a iPhone thread not Galaxy? am sure i could find a brilliant deal if i looked for a Galaxy 2?

all that pish about 3 using 02 is that, pish. with a friend on 3, and myself worked for 02 for 3 years. there signal is terrible

While i'm not entirely up on the reliability of Talkmobile, their 6 month sim-only is easily comparable to giffgaff.

It gets you 1,200 minutes, 3000 texts and 1gb of data for £18 quid a month.

The closest you can get to that on giffgaff is £25 quid a month for 1,500 minutes and unlimited everything else.

Yeah that is a pretty good deal. Personally wouldn't touch anything from CPW with a barge pole but that's just me.

i know CPW is a very marmite company. i never had a moment's hassle with them when i had their landline and broadband package, but i know other people have had massive problems with them.