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I need a new PAYG mobile - any advice welcome


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Old 06-01-2007, 22:31
stevenoon
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Hi All,

I need to buy a new Pay-As-You-Go mobile but need some advice, please. My budget is £80 or less.

At the moment I have a Nokia 6100 which I loved until it crashed and a Nokia 6230 which has been a little bit temperamental recently. I think I need to get both phones "flashed". Any advice on how to get this done, please?
The 6230 is definitely unlocked - not sure about the 6100.

I have been a customer Orange, T-Mobile, Virgin and more recently O2. I don't know why but I have struggled to get used to O2 after being a Virgin customer for about 3 years - only tried O2 for cheaper calls to/from my brother.

My main question - which network offers the best Pay-As-You-Go tariff for calls to other mobile networks as my family are all on different networks and to be honest the most mobile calls are between ourselves.

My second question - will I be able to get any new phone unlocked by the network so that I can use my existing SIM cards if necessary? I know that when I unlocked on Virgin they said the only condition was that I had topped up with £30 or more, which I had, so no problem. Does anyone know the terms of the other networks?

My final question - I would like to get my new phone insured against theft and breakdown - what are my options?

I think I will probably try and get another Nokia 6230/6230i or a very similar model as I am really happy with this phone - I just need to decide which network as all except Orange seem to have a good offer on right now due to it being an old model.

So, I just need to know about cheapest calls to other networks, unlocking and insurance.

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

Kindest Regards,

Steve.
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Old 07-01-2007, 10:34
RYPW
 
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In answer to your 2nd question most phones can be unlocked at market stalls for about £10

Alsofor xnet calls tesco value is probably the cheapest network.

Last edited by RYPW : 07-01-2007 at 10:36.
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Old 07-01-2007, 13:47
Pencil
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Vodafone - expensive call costs, free WAP
o2 - average call costs, loads of calling options and offers
Orange - average call costs, expensive hidden extras, good quality service
T-Mobile - cheap call costs BUT - £1 daily charge
Tesco - cheap call costs, good quality, lots of services.
Virgin - cheap call costs, expensive other costs

If you're a bit of a mobile geek and you like to play with your phone, Vodafone would probably give you the maximum pleasure. o2 are great if you love all kinds of random price discounts, benefits and bolt-ons crap. Orange appear to have average call costs but hide so many expensive extras, like the 10p minimum call charge and some rather expensive cross-network call charges. Orange used to be cheap, so many people still have Orange phones. For same-network Orange calls, you will get a discount. T-Mobile have copied the traits of their evil brothers - One2One. They look incredibly good BUT deliberately deceive you with hidden extras and seem to love being the unpopular network.

Tesco Mobile are brilliant. They will genuinely provide you with all the services you could want at a cheap price. It's exactly like being with o2, but without the extra call costs.

Last edited by Pencil : 07-01-2007 at 14:11.
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Old 07-01-2007, 13:51
Jac Naylor
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Originally Posted by Pencil
Vodafone - expensive call costs, free WAP
o2 - average call costs, loads of calling options and offers
Orange - average call costs, expensive hidden extras, good service
T-Mobile - cheap call costs BUT - £1 daily charge
Tesco - cheap call costs, good quality, lots of services.
What are you on about? Vodafone's 'free' WAP is just their vodafone live services. And what's this T-Mobile £1 per day charge? Stop making up lies!
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Old 07-01-2007, 14:06
Pencil
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Well, I'm always browsing the mobile internet with Vodafone PAYG for free. Vodafone Live! is the entire service, like Orange World.

The T Mobile small print

Compatible handset required. £1 maximum daily charge applies to U-Fix, Mates Rates, Everyone and Text Appeal customers. Charges of 0.73p per KB applies until £1 per day (midnight to midnight) is spent. If you have already spent £1 and you browse for a continuous period from before midnight to after midnight, all of that period will be charged at the new day's rate of 0.73p per KB. Not applicable to connection via circuit switch data (CSD). Subject to coverage.

Last edited by Pencil : 07-01-2007 at 14:09.
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Old 07-01-2007, 14:12
Jac Naylor
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Originally Posted by Pencil
Well, I'm always browsing the mobile internet with Vodafone PAYG for free. Vodafone Live! is the entire service, like Orange World.

The T Mobile small print

Compatible handset required. £1 maximum daily charge applies to U-Fix, Mates Rates, Everyone and Text Appeal customers. Charges of 0.73p per KB applies until £1 per day (midnight to midnight) is spent. If you have already spent £1 and you browse for a continuous period from before midnight to after midnight, all of that period will be charged at the new day's rate of 0.73p per KB. Not applicable to connection via circuit switch data (CSD). Subject to coverage.
£1 MAXIMUM daily charge applies
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Old 07-01-2007, 14:19
faza20
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Regarding calls to other mobiles, Vodafone has Stop The Clue, where off peak you can stay on the phone for up to an hour, and only pay for 3 minutes, they also have free weekends, where if you spend £5 of more Mon - Fri, you get unlimited calls/ texts to a UK mobile or landline.

Current handsets are available here

http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/index.cfm...outalk.viewall

Regarding unlocking, CS will be able to do that if you give them a call with your IMEI
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Old 07-01-2007, 14:39
Pencil
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Originally Posted by Jac Naylor
£1 MAXIMUM daily charge applies
If it's £1 maximum a day, I will be joining T-Mobile... by the time I end... this sentence.
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Old 07-01-2007, 14:42
Pencil
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Originally Posted by faza20
Regarding calls to other mobiles, Vodafone has Stop The Clue, where off peak you can stay on the phone for up to an hour, and only pay for 3 minutes, they also have free weekends, where if you spend £5 of more Mon - Fri, you get unlimited calls/ texts to a UK mobile or landline.

Current handsets are available here

http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/index.cfm...outalk.viewall
Okay Mr Vodafone, how much are they are paying you? 30p a minute with weekends off?
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Old 07-01-2007, 14:57
blinginbunni
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Originally Posted by Pencil
Well, I'm always browsing the mobile internet with Vodafone PAYG for free. Vodafone Live! is the entire service, like Orange World.

The T Mobile small print

Compatible handset required. £1 maximum daily charge applies to U-Fix, Mates Rates, Everyone and Text Appeal customers. Charges of 0.73p per KB applies until £1 per day (midnight to midnight) is spent. If you have already spent £1 and you browse for a continuous period from before midnight to after midnight, all of that period will be charged at the new day's rate of 0.73p per KB. Not applicable to connection via circuit switch data (CSD). Subject to coverage.
Does that mean i have to spend atleast £1 a day on my phone? Or is that only if i use wap? I'm confused!! lol
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Old 07-01-2007, 15:41
RYPW
 
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Originally Posted by blinginbunni
Does that mean i have to spend atleast £1 a day on my phone? Or is that only if i use wap? I'm confused!! lol
Its only if you use wap. I have T-Mobile pay as you go with unlimited evening and weekend texts to all networks and I also buy unlimited calls and texts to other T-Mobile phones for 5 days for £5. I never use wap.
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