Advice on buying a Pay As You Go mobile

Sun_Beam · 10-11-2006, 17:52

I have decided I need a mobile (well, I dont need one to live, but I'd like one!

), a pay as you go mobile, but haven't got a clue as to what is the best brand to buy. I have a budget, and dont want to spend more than £50, if I could get a good one for under that, then even better. It's not going to be for everyday use, just for emergencies, for work to get in contact with me, and for private calls that I dont want to make at home in front of the parents! I'm not bothered about a cheap phone not having this, that and the other, as long as it's a good brand and quite nice looking, then I'm happy. Ideally, I'd like a flip phone, but it all depends on the brand and the price!

I've been told that a T Mobile is the one I should be going for, but have since been told by a family member that they are crap because you cant get a signal in many places. She told me that she likes Vodaphone, and that her hubby likes Orange.

I'm off into town tomorrow and will pop into a mobile phone shop to get a bit of advice, but am not looking forward to it because some of these salespersons are really pushy and ignore your questions and try to change your mind to buying something you dont want. I'm not easily intimidated, but as someone who's never had a mobile, I'm not 100% up on everything mobile, therefore salespeople will probably spot this and try to flog me a phone with 1001 things I'm not going to use!

Also, I was told that, seeing as I'm not going to be using it a lot, it's not wise to put £10 or £20 on my phone because after a particular time period, the sim card expires (or someting along those lines) and that I would lose my money. I will stick to putting on a fiver and use that up, just to be on the safe side!

I'll be grateful for all basic advice given on buying a phone and about putting money on it. Apologies for being so bloody clueless on mobiles, I've not taken much of an interest in them before, and that's why I'm asking your advice in here right now as not to look like a complete and utter buffoon when I go to buy one for Christmas/New Year!

Thanks in advance!

Mr Cable · 10-11-2006, 21:04

Hello! My favourites for your requirements would be;

On o2; The Motorola W220. No camera, but one of the few sub-£50 handset on this network.
The Sony Ericsson Z530i is is beautiful budget handset, but it's £69.99

On Vodafone; The Sharp GX29 is good but £59.99

On Orange; The so-so Sagem My501c Pink is the cheapest flip at £59.99

On T-Mobile; The LG KG225 is alright at £59.99

On 3; The fairly underpowered ZTE F866 is £19.99. While this does include £10, this 'Welcome credit' runs out after 60 days. Any future top-ups don't have this expiry though.

On Tesco Mobile; The Motorola V220 is £50 including £10 credit.

Have a look, let us know what you get!

Sun_Beam · 10-11-2006, 21:16

Quote:

Originally posted by Mr Cable
Hello! My favourites for your requirements would be;

On o2; The Motorola W220. No camera, but one of the few sub-£50 handset on this network.
The Sony Ericsson Z530i is is beautiful budget handset, but it's £69.99

On Vodafone; The Sharp GX29 is good but £59.99

On Orange; The so-so Sagem My501c Pink is the cheapest flip at £59.99

On T-Mobile; The LG KG225 is alright at £59.99

On 3; The fairly underpowered ZTE F866 is £19.99. While this does include £10, this 'Welcome credit' runs out after 60 days. Any future top-ups don't have this expiry though.

On Tesco Mobile; The Motorola V220 is £50 including £10 credit.

Have a look, let us know what you get!

Thank you very much for taking the time out to reply and post the various links, it's much appreciated!

You know what? When asking certain people about the best PAYG mobile, they are quite taken aback to discover that I've not had a mobile, like everybody needs one to live.... a bit silly, isn't it?

I will take a look at those links and take it from there. I'm hoping to get one for Christmas, failing that, sometime in early January. And yes, I will post to let you know what one I had.

One question I forgot to ask: Can I go into any newsagent/Spar, etc. and get top up for any brand of phone? And when I ask for top-up, do I need to say what phone it's for? Sorry if I sound a bit daft, but I'm not very switched on as far as mobiles are concerned!

Thank you!

Bluenile · 10-11-2006, 21:19

I would recommend this for £27 (includes £15 of airtime)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nokia-1100-V...&s=electronics

I've got one and they're a great basic phone with superb battery life and a handy built in torch.

If you've got a debit or credit card you should be able to register it with the phone company and then top up automatically by calling a free number whenever you like.

Sun_Beam · 10-11-2006, 21:23

Quote:

Originally posted by Bluenile
I would recommend this for £27 (includes £15 of airtime)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nokia-1100-...8&s=electronics

If you've got a debit or credit card you should be able to register it with the phone company and then top up automatically by calling a free number whenever you like.

Thanks very much for the link - the price sounds very reasonable considering it includes £15 airtime!

I must bookmark this thread so that I can take a look at all the provided links!

chris20 · 10-11-2006, 21:26

you can get the motarola c975 £19.99 free msn 3000 free text plus £10 credit that last till its used up thats on 3 very good phone http://threestore.three.co.uk/PAYG/default.aspx or you have the zte 3866 with the same offer and price and thats a flip phone

Scott_14 · 11-11-2006, 00:41

Quote:

One question I forgot to ask: Can I go into any newsagent/Spar, etc. and get top up for any brand of phone? And when I ask for top-up, do I need to say what phone it's for? Sorry if I sound a bit daft, but I'm not very switched on as far as mobiles are concerned!

Thank you!

When you buy a phone, you should receive an E-Topup card for the network with your SIM pack. This may need to be activated before it can be used - it will give instructions of how to do this with the card.

When you want to top-up, you take the E-Topup card into a shop that does E-Topups. Give the card in and say to the person how much you would like to top-up. They will take your card and swipe it, and the credit should be applied to your account soon afterwards. It doesn't matter about the brand of your phone as they don't need this information - once your E-Topup card has been activated, your mobile number will be registered with that card.

I think most networks allow a minimum top-up of £5 (Orange, Vodafone & T-Mobile appear to) however the minimum top-up amount on O2 is £10 I think.

There are various other ways to top-up too, such as online or over the phone.

As somebody has mentioned a phone that is on Virgin Mobile, I just thought I would let you know that Virgin Mobile 'runs off' the T-Mobile network, which means their signal will be the same. If you don't have a good T-Mobile signal, you won't have a good Virgin Mobile signal either.

Hope this helps. Good Luck choosing a phone!

Scott.

Sun_Beam · 12-11-2006, 23:27

Quote:

Originally posted by Scott_14

When you buy a phone, you should receive an E-Topup card for the network with your SIM pack. This may need to be activated before it can be used - it will give instructions of how to do this with the card.

When you want to top-up, you take the E-Topup card into a shop that does E-Topups. Give the card in and say to the person how much you would like to top-up. They will take
your card and swipe it, and the credit should be applied to your account soon afterwards. It doesn't matter about the brand of your phone as they don't need this information - once your E-Topup card has been activated, your mobile number will be registered with that card.

I think most networks allow a minimum top-up of £5 (Orange, Vodafone & T-Mobile appear to) however the minimum top-up amount on O2 is £10 I think.

There are various other ways to top-up too, such as online or over the phone.

As somebody has mentioned a phone that is on Virgin Mobile, I just thought I would let you know that Virgin Mobile 'runs off' the T-Mobile network, which means their signal will be the same. If you don't have a good T-Mobile signal, you won't have a good Virgin Mobile signal either.

Hope this helps. Good Luck choosing a phone!

Scott.

Thanks for the detailed reply, it's much appreciated.

I was told my a family member that she can hardly get a reception with T-Mobile, so that, along with Virgin Mobile is out of the question seeing as Virgin Mobiles run off T- Mobile. Seeing as I wont be using it a great deal, I'd like to put only £5 top-up, therefore I will be looking more into Orange and Vodafone phones.

There's so much choice, it's really hard to know where to start, but I feel a lot clearer thank's to everyone's replies! I've narrowed my searches down to a few selected ones, including one I've seen on the Tesco website and a really nice pale pink Motorola Sagem flip phone for £49.99 I saw in Woolworths over thew weekend, but am being swayed more to Vodafone after your advice, and because I've heard and read good things about them, and visited the website earlier which I found gave a lot of technical help. As long as I can get a nice flip phone within my price range, then I think I will proceed to checking out their various Pay As You Go mobiles!

EDIT: I was misten when talking about the mobile I'd seen in Woolworths. Here's a link to it:

http://www.woolworths.co.uk/ww_p2/pr...l?pid=50780727

And here's a link to the one I saw on the Tesco website:

http://www.tescophones.com/pay-as-yo...v220/tescopp/#

Does anyone happen to know anything about the mobiles?

Thanks in advance!

Last edited by Sun_Beam : 12-11-2006 at 23:34.

Mr Cable · 13-11-2006, 02:50

While not usually a fan of Sagems, this seems to be a bit more modern that the Motorola and has a better display screen. It's up to you now!

iDan · 13-11-2006, 10:06

I had the older (blue!) version of the Sagem about 2yrs ago, and it was a great, easy to use phone, i'd recommend it!

Falling Stars · 13-11-2006, 18:27

To be honest, I'd recommend a Nokia as a first mobile phone. They are generally (I have found) much more easy to use than any other maker of phone.

Maybe this Nokia 2652? http://www.phones4u.co.uk/shop/shop_...itemkey=154872

I have the 2650 which is pretty much the same and it's easy to use and looks good, to me anyway. The phone above is on Orange too - so you've got £5.00 top-ups aswell

blinginbunni · 15-11-2006, 12:19

Here are a few phones under £50

Nokia 6100: http://www.phones4u.co.uk/shop/shop_...itemkey=155163

Motorola L6 (Has a camera aswell!!) http://www.phones4u.co.uk/shop/shop_...itemkey=158287

Samsung C120: http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/com...EPAYTAB&slot=3

Sony Ericsson J230i:
http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/com...EPAYTAB&slot=7

Nokia 2310:
http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/com...EPAYTAB&slot=6

Siemens CL75:
http://www.phones4u.co.uk/shop/shop_...ey=150776&st=1

10-11-2006, 17:52	#1
Sun_Beam Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: South Wales Posts: 11,361	Advice on buying a Pay As You Go mobile I have decided I need a mobile (well, I dont need one to live, but I'd like one! ), a pay as you go mobile, but haven't got a clue as to what is the best brand to buy. I have a budget, and dont want to spend more than £50, if I could get a good one for under that, then even better. It's not going to be for everyday use, just for emergencies, for work to get in contact with me, and for private calls that I dont want to make at home in front of the parents! I'm not bothered about a cheap phone not having this, that and the other, as long as it's a good brand and quite nice looking, then I'm happy. Ideally, I'd like a flip phone, but it all depends on the brand and the price! I've been told that a T Mobile is the one I should be going for, but have since been told by a family member that they are crap because you cant get a signal in many places. She told me that she likes Vodaphone, and that her hubby likes Orange. I'm off into town tomorrow and will pop into a mobile phone shop to get a bit of advice, but am not looking forward to it because some of these salespersons are really pushy and ignore your questions and try to change your mind to buying something you dont want. I'm not easily intimidated, but as someone who's never had a mobile, I'm not 100% up on everything mobile, therefore salespeople will probably spot this and try to flog me a phone with 1001 things I'm not going to use! Also, I was told that, seeing as I'm not going to be using it a lot, it's not wise to put £10 or £20 on my phone because after a particular time period, the sim card expires (or someting along those lines) and that I would lose my money. I will stick to putting on a fiver and use that up, just to be on the safe side! I'll be grateful for all basic advice given on buying a phone and about putting money on it. Apologies for being so bloody clueless on mobiles, I've not taken much of an interest in them before, and that's why I'm asking your advice in here right now as not to look like a complete and utter buffoon when I go to buy one for Christmas/New Year! Thanks in advance!

10-11-2006, 21:04	#2
Mr Cable Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 2,868	Hello! My favourites for your requirements would be; On o2; The Motorola W220. No camera, but one of the few sub-£50 handset on this network. The Sony Ericsson Z530i is is beautiful budget handset, but it's £69.99 On Vodafone; The Sharp GX29 is good but £59.99 On Orange; The so-so Sagem My501c Pink is the cheapest flip at £59.99 On T-Mobile; The LG KG225 is alright at £59.99 On 3; The fairly underpowered ZTE F866 is £19.99. While this does include £10, this 'Welcome credit' runs out after 60 days. Any future top-ups don't have this expiry though. On Tesco Mobile; The Motorola V220 is £50 including £10 credit. Have a look, let us know what you get! Last edited by Mr Cable : 10-11-2006 at 21:05.

10-11-2006, 21:19	#4
Bluenile Inactive Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Wigan, Lancashire. Posts: 11,428	I would recommend this for £27 (includes £15 of airtime) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nokia-1100-V...&s=electronics I've got one and they're a great basic phone with superb battery life and a handy built in torch. If you've got a debit or credit card you should be able to register it with the phone company and then top up automatically by calling a free number whenever you like. Last edited by Bluenile : 10-11-2006 at 21:29.

10-11-2006, 21:26	#6
chris20 Guest Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 3,556	you can get the motarola c975 £19.99 free msn 3000 free text plus £10 credit that last till its used up thats on 3 very good phone http://threestore.three.co.uk/PAYG/default.aspx or you have the zte 3866 with the same offer and price and thats a flip phone Last edited by chris20 : 10-11-2006 at 21:55.

10-11-2006, 21:16	#3
Sun_Beam Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: South Wales Posts: 11,361	Quote: Originally posted by Mr Cable Hello! My favourites for your requirements would be; On o2; The Motorola W220. No camera, but one of the few sub-£50 handset on this network. The Sony Ericsson Z530i is is beautiful budget handset, but it's £69.99 On Vodafone; The Sharp GX29 is good but £59.99 On Orange; The so-so Sagem My501c Pink is the cheapest flip at £59.99 On T-Mobile; The LG KG225 is alright at £59.99 On 3; The fairly underpowered ZTE F866 is £19.99. While this does include £10, this 'Welcome credit' runs out after 60 days. Any future top-ups don't have this expiry though. On Tesco Mobile; The Motorola V220 is £50 including £10 credit. Have a look, let us know what you get! Thank you very much for taking the time out to reply and post the various links, it's much appreciated! You know what? When asking certain people about the best PAYG mobile, they are quite taken aback to discover that I've not had a mobile, like everybody needs one to live.... a bit silly, isn't it? I will take a look at those links and take it from there. I'm hoping to get one for Christmas, failing that, sometime in early January. And yes, I will post to let you know what one I had. One question I forgot to ask: Can I go into any newsagent/Spar, etc. and get top up for any brand of phone? And when I ask for top-up, do I need to say what phone it's for? Sorry if I sound a bit daft, but I'm not very switched on as far as mobiles are concerned! Thank you!

10-11-2006, 21:23	#5
Sun_Beam Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: South Wales Posts: 11,361	Quote: Originally posted by Bluenile I would recommend this for £27 (includes £15 of airtime) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nokia-1100-...8&s=electronics If you've got a debit or credit card you should be able to register it with the phone company and then top up automatically by calling a free number whenever you like. Thanks very much for the link - the price sounds very reasonable considering it includes £15 airtime! I must bookmark this thread so that I can take a look at all the provided links!

11-11-2006, 00:41	#7
Scott_14 Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Liverpool Posts: 288	Quote: One question I forgot to ask: Can I go into any newsagent/Spar, etc. and get top up for any brand of phone? And when I ask for top-up, do I need to say what phone it's for? Sorry if I sound a bit daft, but I'm not very switched on as far as mobiles are concerned! Thank you! When you buy a phone, you should receive an E-Topup card for the network with your SIM pack. This may need to be activated before it can be used - it will give instructions of how to do this with the card. When you want to top-up, you take the E-Topup card into a shop that does E-Topups. Give the card in and say to the person how much you would like to top-up. They will take your card and swipe it, and the credit should be applied to your account soon afterwards. It doesn't matter about the brand of your phone as they don't need this information - once your E-Topup card has been activated, your mobile number will be registered with that card. I think most networks allow a minimum top-up of £5 (Orange, Vodafone & T-Mobile appear to) however the minimum top-up amount on O2 is £10 I think. There are various other ways to top-up too, such as online or over the phone. As somebody has mentioned a phone that is on Virgin Mobile, I just thought I would let you know that Virgin Mobile 'runs off' the T-Mobile network, which means their signal will be the same. If you don't have a good T-Mobile signal, you won't have a good Virgin Mobile signal either. Hope this helps. Good Luck choosing a phone! Scott.

12-11-2006, 23:27	#8
Sun_Beam Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: South Wales Posts: 11,361	Quote: Originally posted by Scott_14 When you buy a phone, you should receive an E-Topup card for the network with your SIM pack. This may need to be activated before it can be used - it will give instructions of how to do this with the card. When you want to top-up, you take the E-Topup card into a shop that does E-Topups. Give the card in and say to the person how much you would like to top-up. They will take your card and swipe it, and the credit should be applied to your account soon afterwards. It doesn't matter about the brand of your phone as they don't need this information - once your E-Topup card has been activated, your mobile number will be registered with that card. I think most networks allow a minimum top-up of £5 (Orange, Vodafone & T-Mobile appear to) however the minimum top-up amount on O2 is £10 I think. There are various other ways to top-up too, such as online or over the phone. As somebody has mentioned a phone that is on Virgin Mobile, I just thought I would let you know that Virgin Mobile 'runs off' the T-Mobile network, which means their signal will be the same. If you don't have a good T-Mobile signal, you won't have a good Virgin Mobile signal either. Hope this helps. Good Luck choosing a phone! Scott. Thanks for the detailed reply, it's much appreciated. I was told my a family member that she can hardly get a reception with T-Mobile, so that, along with Virgin Mobile is out of the question seeing as Virgin Mobiles run off T- Mobile. Seeing as I wont be using it a great deal, I'd like to put only £5 top-up, therefore I will be looking more into Orange and Vodafone phones. There's so much choice, it's really hard to know where to start, but I feel a lot clearer thank's to everyone's replies! I've narrowed my searches down to a few selected ones, including one I've seen on the Tesco website and a really nice pale pink Motorola Sagem flip phone for £49.99 I saw in Woolworths over thew weekend, but am being swayed more to Vodafone after your advice, and because I've heard and read good things about them, and visited the website earlier which I found gave a lot of technical help. As long as I can get a nice flip phone within my price range, then I think I will proceed to checking out their various Pay As You Go mobiles! EDIT: I was misten when talking about the mobile I'd seen in Woolworths. Here's a link to it: http://www.woolworths.co.uk/ww_p2/pr...l?pid=50780727 And here's a link to the one I saw on the Tesco website: http://www.tescophones.com/pay-as-yo...v220/tescopp/# Does anyone happen to know anything about the mobiles? Thanks in advance! Last edited by Sun_Beam : 12-11-2006 at 23:34.

13-11-2006, 02:50	#9
Mr Cable Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 2,868	While not usually a fan of Sagems, this seems to be a bit more modern that the Motorola and has a better display screen. It's up to you now!

13-11-2006, 10:06	#10
iDan Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,812	I had the older (blue!) version of the Sagem about 2yrs ago, and it was a great, easy to use phone, i'd recommend it!

13-11-2006, 18:27	#11
Falling Stars Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 786	To be honest, I'd recommend a Nokia as a first mobile phone. They are generally (I have found) much more easy to use than any other maker of phone. Maybe this Nokia 2652? http://www.phones4u.co.uk/shop/shop_...itemkey=154872 I have the 2650 which is pretty much the same and it's easy to use and looks good, to me anyway. The phone above is on Orange too - so you've got £5.00 top-ups aswell

15-11-2006, 12:19	#12
blinginbunni Banned User Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Lala Land ^_^ Posts: 656	Here are a few phones under £50 Nokia 6100: http://www.phones4u.co.uk/shop/shop_...itemkey=155163 Motorola L6 (Has a camera aswell!!) http://www.phones4u.co.uk/shop/shop_...itemkey=158287 Samsung C120: http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/com...EPAYTAB&slot=3 Sony Ericsson J230i: http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/com...EPAYTAB&slot=7 Nokia 2310: http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/com...EPAYTAB&slot=6 Siemens CL75: http://www.phones4u.co.uk/shop/shop_...ey=150776&st=1

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Advice on buying a Pay As You Go mobile