[BudapestByBlimp]

Hi all,

I've had an HTC Desire S for the last 2 years on contract which I've been pretty happy with (it's my first phone) but would like to upgrade to something a little faster with a bigger screen that should last me 5 years or so. I've looked at many reviews and compared prices and the deal which suits me best is for the Samsung S4:

http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk/...m_campaign=phg

I'm a bit of a mobile phone newbie so is there anything I need to watch out for with this deal? Any hidden costs that I need to be aware of?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[qasdfdsaq]

All that link shows me is "There are no items in your basket".

[rjb101]

Well I bought a GS4 from these people a couple of months ago.

Good. It turned up next day. Price at £29.00 with the one plan. You can get £40.00 back from quidco

Bad. You get a 30 day trial with gadgethelpline.com . If you don't cancel in 30days they will take 3 months subs. To cancel you have reply to an email. This email will be in your spam folder so you won't see it to reply to it.. Just be aware I would say.

There not that keen on paying out on quidco, it can take up to 14 months Still as this is money for nothing it's not the end of the world.

Don't know what deal was on offer as your link doesn't show to much but I'm happy enough.

[BudapestByBlimp]

Ah, yes. Sorry about that

It's a Samsung S4 from mobilephonesdirect.co.uk, up front cost of £ 139.99 with a monthly plan of £ 13.99 for 500 mins, unlimited texts and 500mb of data on a 4G contract with EE.

Thanks for the heads-up rjb101 regarding the gadgethelpline tie-in. Is there anything else I need to be aware of, or is everything up front and honest in the mobile phone world? Forgive me if I'm being over-cautious but I've just arranged my car insurance and that was a nightmare!

[grumpyoldbat]

500 MB of data is a pretty low amount these days. If you're going to get 4G speeds, you won't really be able to take advantage of streaming movies or TV with the faster speeds if you only have a small amount of data per month.

Just worth a thought.

[Thine Wonk]

Yeah that's only 16MB a day, which background data could easily use these days just updating apps and widgets.

It might be worth looking at your current usage OP to see how much data you need.

[BudapestByBlimp]

Thanks for the above suggestions. I'll mostly be using it over wifi but there will be occasions when me or my son will use it to stream 30 min YouTube videos. I'm currently using < 250mb per month on a Talkmobile contract but my network speeds are very poor and it's useless for streaming (struggle to get a 3G signal). Most of my network data is used for browsing a forum once or twice a day.

I'll bear those suggestions in mind.

[grumpyoldbat]

Yes, whereas you'd expect to get great speeds on 4G, which would make it easier to stream videos, so you'd probably use it more. I think if that scenario proves true, you'll eat through 500 MB in a few days.

[fmradiotuner1]

I got my S4 from ebay at around £220 then three sim only plan at £12.90 a month get around 200 mins unlimited text and data to.

[Mark in Essex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fmradiotuner1

I got my S4 from ebay at around £220 then three sim only plan at £12.90 a month get around 200 mins unlimited text and data to.

This sounds the best option or if you don't need more than 16gb of memory and a battery you can swap get the Nexus 5 (have seen it for £270 new recently, but has been as cheap as £240).

[Matt35]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fmradiotuner1

I got my S4 from ebay at around £220 then three sim only plan at £12.90 a month get around 200 mins unlimited text and data to.

Is that s4 mini. Looking to get s4 myself not mini. Seen this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Samsung-Ga...item1c38150371 main concern is its from hong kong.

[fmradiotuner1]

I advise not to buy one from hong kong it might not be LTE enabled try look for used ones but make sure seller has good feed back at least 90%.
Actually after seeing the one in the link it does say LTE it might take about a few weeks to get to you.

[Matt35]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fmradiotuner1

I advise not to buy one from hong kong it might not be LTE enabled try look for used ones but make sure seller has good feed back at least 90%.
Actually after seeing the one in the link it does say LTE it might take about a few weeks to get to you.

Im reluctant to by used ones because i never what the actual condition of the phone is like. There was one for £200. Problem was it said new but further down he said its 9 month old but hasn't got a mark on it. I suggest he looks up definition of new. I don't mind waiting its just I don't know what the company that is selling is like.

[swordman]

Pointless in my opinion getting a 4g contract with so little data far better looking for an unlimited 3g data contract, won't take many youtube videos to eat that data allowance up then your into paying extra.

You could also pick up a grade A from here for £220 and get a sim contract with much better content for between £10 and £15.
http://www.smartfonestore.com/filter-mfr-Samsung.aspx
phones from here are very very good even the grade B's.

[Matt35]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swordman

Pointless in my opinion getting a 4g contract with so little data far better looking for an unlimited 3g data contract, won't take many youtube videos to eat that data allowance up then your into paying extra.

You could also pick up a grade A from here for £220 and get a sim contract with much better content for between £10 and £15.
http://www.smartfonestore.com/filter-mfr-Samsung.aspx
phones from here are very very good even the grade B's.

Did you get your phone from that website or know anyone who did? Like that they're graded so if you get grade a phone then it should be as described. I definitely want to buy the phone first then choose which network to go with. Its a lot cheaper in the long run.

[swordman]

I have/know lots of phones purchased from that site their criteria is always spot on and grade A are always perfect, even grade B's are excellent. Never seen C's but have heard they can be ok too but I would avoid myself.

[Matt35]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swordman

I have/know lots of phones purchased from that site their criteria is always spot on and grade A are always perfect, even grade B's are excellent. Never seen C's but have heard they can be ok too but I would avoid myself.

They don't have any s4's in stock but have asked to be notified when any comes in. Going for unlocked ones for 229 which still isn't bad.

[swordman]

They are allows in and out of stock, word of advice as soon as they email you buy it as often they are gone as soon as they come in.

Also to note they come with just a usb cable no other accessories.

[Matt35]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swordman

They are allows in and out of stock, word of advice as soon as they email you buy it as often they are gone as soon as they come in.

Also to note they come with just a usb cable no other accessories.

So charger has to be bought separate? Would the one that I use for current phone work? How long does delivery take and what kind of packaging does it come in.

[swordman]

depends what you have, do you have a micro usb charger then yes. You get a cable to charge from a usb source at a pinch just in case.

Comes in their own packaging special delivery, usually takes 2 days. Delivery is a few quid but if you are with Quidco you can get £5 cashback through them.

[Matt35]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swordman

depends what you have, do you have a micro usb charger then yes. You get a cable to charge from a usb source at a pinch just in case.

Comes in their own packaging special delivery, usually takes 2 days. Delivery is a few quid but if you are with Quidco you can get £5 cashback through them.

I assume its not gonna fit through letterbox and will need signing for. Work makes it hard when it comes to deliveries unless I time it right like ordering it on a Thursday to come Saturday.

[swordman]

I think it is signed for anyway, all valuable items nowadays are signed for.

[Matt35]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swordman

I think it is signed for anyway, all valuable items nowadays are signed for.

Is it royal mail?

[swordman]

yeah it is

[Matt35]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swordman

yeah it is

Thats good. Means if im not in then I can go down to depot a few miles away to pick it up.