Hi

Can anyone help me here ?

I just looking for a pay as u go mobile for under £70

The best deal I have seen so far is online at carphone Warehouse.A Siemens A50 on Orange for only £50 and delivery is free.

Is there any better offers than that ?

Is the Virgin Network any good by the way.All there phones are a bit cheaper so I thought there must be something wrong with Virgin.


Gav

Before purchasing a mobile find out which network most of your friends and family are on. The buy a PAYG on the most common network that way cost of calls are kept down. You can get 02 for £50.

Virgin use the same network as T-Mobile (used to be One 2 One). Coverage is the poorest of the networks but saying that it shouldn't really give you problems unless you live in a remote area ie the Highlands. Have a look here at the coverage map Virgin Coverage Map

My only advice would be avoid T-Mobile as they are very expensive these days.

thanks

What O2 phone can I get for £50 jim4bb ?



Gav

Tell me how you got to that, because i can show you how they are cheaper....

If you are on a contract yes! But since the question was about pay as you go the answer is still avoid T-Mobile.

I think it was a Nokia 3310, it was with a £20 trade in but any old phone will do for that. That was in an O2 shop.

OK Lets say you make on average 5 mins of calls a day, which is very light usage for somebody who actually "uses" there phone as appose to a "emergancy only" user.....

So we have lets say a 2 min call to another network, and 3 mins to same network / land line as most plans charge the same for that.. (but not all, but to stop things from getting TOO complex!, there is a word limit you know... )

so lets pop our £10 credit on

Day 1

T-Mobile = 3x30p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.90
T-Mobile = 2x30p (2 mins to another network) £0.60

Orange = 3x25p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.75
Orange = 2x40p (2 mins to another network) £0.80

Vodafone = 3x25p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.75
Vodafone = 2x40p (2 mins to another network) £0.80

O2 = 3x25p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.75
O2 = 2x40p (2 mins to another network) £0.80

End of day credit

T-Mobile = £8.50
Orange = £8.45
Vodafone = £8.45
O2 = £8.45

Day 2

T-Mobile = 3x30p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.90
T-Mobile = 2x30p (2 mins to another network) £0.60

Orange = 3x25p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.75
Orange = 2x40p (2 mins to another network) £0.80

Vodafone = 3x25p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.75
Vodafone = 2x40p (2 mins to another network) £0.80

O2 = 3x25p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.75
O2 = 2x40p (2 mins to another network) £0.80

End of day credit

T-Mobile = £7.00
Orange = £6.90
Vodafone = £6.90
O2 = £6.90

Day 3

You get the jist... so i will just give the details....

T-Mobile = £5.50
Orange = £5.35
Vodafone = £5.35
O2 = £5.35

Day 4

T-Mobile = £4.00
Orange = £3.80
Vodafone = £3.80
O2 = £3.80

Day 5

T-Mobile = £2.50
Orange = £2.25
Vodafone = £2.25
O2 = £2.25

Day 6

T-Mobile = £1.00
Orange = £0.70
Vodafone = £0.70
O2 = £0.70

Day 7

STOP... New Top up card required..... £10

T-Mobile = £11.00
Orange = £10.70
Vodafone = £10.70
O2 = £10.70


T-Mobile = 3x20p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.60
T-Mobile = 2x20p (2 mins to another network) £0.40

Orange = 3x25p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.75
Orange = 2x40p (2 mins to another network) £0.80

Vodafone = 3x25p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.75
Vodafone = 2x40p (2 mins to another network) £0.80

O2 = 3x25p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.75
O2 = 2x40p (2 mins to another network) £0.80

T-Mobile = £10.00
Orange = £9.15
Vodafone = £9.15
O2 = £9.15

Day 8

T-Mobile = £9.00
Orange = £7.60
Vodafone = £7.60
O2 = £7.60

T-Mobile = £8.00
Orange = £6.05
Vodafone = £6.05
O2 = £6.05

Day 9

T-Mobile = £7.00
Orange = £4.50
Vodafone = £4.50
O2 = £4.50

Day 10

T-Mobile = £6.00
Orange = £2.95
Vodafone = £2.95
O2 = £2.95

Day 11

T-Mobile = £5.00
Orange = £1.40
Vodafone = £1.40
O2 = £1.40


STOP! , Another top up card is required if you are not on t-mobile at this point , but lets add £10 on to all them anyway...

T-Mobile = £14.00
Orange = £11.40
Vodafone = 11.40
O2 = £11.40

Day 12

T-Mobile = 3x10p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.30
T-Mobile = 2x10p (2 mins to another network) £0.20

Orange = 3x25p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.75
Orange = 2x40p (2 mins to another network) £0.80

Vodafone = 3x25p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.75
Vodafone = 2x40p (2 mins to another network) £0.80

O2 = 3x25p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.75
O2 = 2x40p (2 mins to another network) £0.80


T-Mobile = £13.50
Orange = £9.85
Vodafone = 9.85
O2 = £9.85

Day 13

T-Mobile = £13.00
Orange = £8.30
Vodafone = £8.30
O2 = £8.30

Day 14

T-Mobile = £12.50
Orange = £6.75
Vodafone = £6.75
O2 = £6.75

Day 15

T-Mobile = £12.00
Orange = £5.20
Vodafone = £5.20
O2 = £5.20


See how much cheaper T-Mobile is now? £1.05 a day cheaper! OK thats in this scenario only, but even varying it slightly could still bring T-Mobile out cheaper.. and if you know you are going to spend £30, pop it on at the begining for the most benifit. There may be occasions when its cheaper to use the other network.. depends on your usage... say from a school kids point of view, they are going to have mates on all networks more than likely, so this would be cheaper for them, and i am sure i am not the only one who phones cross network a bit........

There are lies, dam lies, and statistics. Here is my twist on it.

You assume all calls are peak in your analysis. But I will go with it anyway to prove a point. Now lets take your 15 day scenario and compare it with T-Mobile.

Orange Pay as You Go – Fixed Rates Plan
15p per min at all times 35p per min to other networks at all times.

Orange = 3x15p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.45
Orange = 2x35p (2 mins to another network) £0.70

Total daily cost for Orange is £1.15

Total cost is £1.15 x 15 days = £17.25

T-Mobile

First 6 days cost you
T-Mobile = 3x30p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.90
T-Mobile = 2x30p (2 mins to another network) £0.60
Total cost £1.50 per day x 6 days = £9

Next 5 days cost you
T-Mobile = 3x20p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.60
T-Mobile = 2x20p (2 mins to another network) £0.40
Total cost £1 per day x 5 days = £5

Final 4 days cost you
T-Mobile = 3x10p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.30
T-Mobile = 2x10p (2 mins to another network) £0.20
Total cost £0.50 per day x 4 days = £2

Total Cost is £9+£5+£2 = £16

Orange Just Talk Standard

Orange = 3x25p (3 mins to same network, landline) £0.75
Orange = 2x40p (2 mins to another network) £0.80

Total daily cost £1.55

Total cost is £1.55 x 15 days = £23.25

The winner by £1.25 is T-Mobile (just). Hardly the £7.25 more than it would have been under your original scenario.

For more info on Orange Fixed Rates look here http://www.orange.co.uk/talkplans/fixedrates/

Thankyou

But another scenario could make T-Mobile more expencive... my point is that T-Mobile are not really any more expencive in general than others...

I'm with T-Mobile on the standard plan. Hasn't got any cheaper, hasn't got any dearer. No complaints (that said, I can put £10 on a phone and not have to top-up for well over a month - tight b*****d ).

As jim said, first step, ask the people you are going to be ringing what network they are on - That will save an amount of open-wallet surgery on both your and their parts.

Also, do what I do and consider how much cheaper it is to use a payphone before you use the mobile.

What if you make more than 2 or 3 mins of calls per day?

Certain networks offer Pay As You Go tarrifs that charge 25/30p per min then any calls after that are only about 5p per min any time of the day. (no peak hours)

This doesn't include calls to other networks, but making comparisons over perhaps 5-10 mins of calls would be more realistic.

Also, SMS, WAP and VOICE MAIL vary via network and P.A.Y.G tarrif. If you plan to use these then take this into account.

I know O2 offer a PAYG tariff that gives 300 free SMS and 300 mins WAP free per month.

Vince