Sam Nugent Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 (edited) I'm looking for a new phone at the moment and have decided I probably want to go on contract.I have looked through many different contract deals and T-Mobile is the cheapest so far, but I have heard from many people that it is not good and has bad coverage.Also:What contracts are you lot on?How much do you pay per month?What phone do you have?What the coverage is like?How many free mins/texts do you get per month?I text a lot and need about 300-400 texts per month but I don't really call that much, is there anyone in the same boat as me, if so what's the best contract.The actual phone must have bluetooth, decent camera, mp3 etc.. and preferably a memory card slot(Something fairly new really) also it but have NO JOYSTICK thingy as on my k700i which I have at the moment, it is dying. I think that's all for now. I would really like the new Nokia N91 but it costs too much. And I don't mind what type of phone it is - flip, slide etc..Cheers,Sam Edited May 23, 2006 by tomturd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Kearney Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 I'm on a vodafone contract which is 18 a month and includes 400 ish texts and 200 off peak minutes. It is an 18 month contract. I went with vodafone beause they supposedly have the best coverage in britain and i am yet to go anywhere where i can't get a signal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Nugent Posted May 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 I'm on a vodafone contract which is 18 a month and includes 400 ish texts and 200 off peak minutes. It is an 18 month contract. I went with vodafone beause they supposedly have the best coverage in britain and i am yet to go anywhere where i can't get a signal.How much do you pay per month for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prawny Baby Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 having been on orange for the last 6 years, i recently took the plunge and moved over to O2, and so far, im not seeing any downsides at all....the coverage on O2 is DEFINATELY better than on orange, or vodaphone in the areas i frequent, so im happy on that front. the tarrif prices are DEFINATELY cheaper on O2 and 3 networks, but i dont like any 3 phones, and the coverage on T-mobile really is shocking...... ive got a few mates on it, and wherever we go they end up with no signal :@ its a b*****d....... im the other way round myself and hardly ever text, a phone call is just so much easier......i get 750 cross net minutes a month, and 150 texts.im 3 weeks into my first month, and things seem to be going well. i dont think ill be running out of minutes or texts by the end of this month, which is great for me, but clearly no use for you....have a look into some of the student tarrifs, as they seem to all be centred around millions of free texts....or perhaps a very low O2 tarrif, with £15s worth of text bolt ons.....as for phones, take a look at the new SE W810i, ive just got one, after 6 years on nothing but nokias, and im really loving it!similar to the W800i, but generally better.2mp camera with auto focus and flash, awesome mp3 player that can take up to a 2gb card (£35 on ebay) comes with REALLY nice inner ear headphones, looks really stylish, good battery life, and everything else you wanted, AND unlike other SE phones, it doesnt have the fecking silly joystick, which is awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan6061 Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 I got some of those free o2 Sim cards. So i'm using one of them. Well good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Nugent Posted May 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 having been on orange for the last 6 years, i recently took the plunge and moved over to O2, and so far, im not seeing any downsides at all....the coverage on O2 is DEFINATELY better than on orange, or vodaphone in the areas i frequent, so im happy on that front. the tarrif prices are DEFINATELY cheaper on O2 and 3 networks, but i dont like any 3 phones, and the coverage on T-mobile really is shocking...... ive got a few mates on it, and wherever we go they end up with no signal :@ its a b*****d....... im the other way round myself and hardly ever text, a phone call is just so much easier......i get 750 cross net minutes a month, and 150 texts.im 3 weeks into my first month, and things seem to be going well. i dont think ill be running out of minutes or texts by the end of this month, which is great for me, but clearly no use for you....have a look into some of the student tarrifs, as they seem to all be centred around millions of free texts....or perhaps a very low O2 tarrif, with £15s worth of text bolt ons.....as for phones, take a look at the new SE W810i, ive just got one, after 6 years on nothing but nokias, and im really loving it!similar to the W800i, but generally better.2mp camera with auto focus and flash, awesome mp3 player that can take up to a 2gb card (£35 on ebay) comes with REALLY nice inner ear headphones, looks really stylish, good battery life, and everything else you wanted, AND unlike other SE phones, it doesnt have the fecking silly joystick, which is awesome!Woow how long did that take you to type? Do you know where I can buy/look at these student tariffs?And yeah I have heard many great things about these SE W810i's so I may go for one of those.Thanks a lot,Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tank_rider Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 I'd say check out the O2 online deals, i just moved to them from T-mobile. If you go for the 18 month contract you can choose whether you want lots of mins or texts. I'm currently paying £30 a month for 400 anytime any network mins and 150 texts, for comparison i paid the same amount with t-mobile but only got 200 mins!!I paid £50 for the phone i got with my O2 contract, but thats not suprising as its a samsung SGH-i300 smartphone with a 3GB hard drive in it, perfect for running my life with outlook while at uni and will defo be invaluable once i start work to keep track of the hundreds of meetings i always end up with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 O2 suck. Mainly just because the customer service is terrible. So I switched the other way to prawn, to Orange. I'm paying £19 for 500 texts and 50 anytime/network minutes, it's a student deal (you need an NUS number). The only time I've noticed any difference in signal, the Orange is slightly better, but not by a significant amount around here, everything is fine coverage in Manchester so it's not an issue. No complaints so far, apart from the stupid software that Orange load onto the phone that makes it look a bit crap. I would get it debranded but I'm not really that fussed. And Orange customer services is 10 times what O2 is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 O2 suck. Mainly just because the customer service is terrible. It might not be so bad if any of their customer service call-centre staff weren't full-on thick as shit. I phoned up to check my bill once, and it ended up taking 45 minutes, during which time the same f**ktard transferred me over incorrectly to other departments 'cos he wouldn't actually listen for long enough to what I was saying. That and the fact that I had to explain 3 times that I knew that the phone was in my Mum's name but I paid for it... *sigh*Oh, and they wouldn't let me pay with a direct debit card, so I have to send off a cheque once a month I'm probably going to stick with them but sort out a new contract for myself for when I go to uni. With all this talk of student deals though, I may scope it out fully before committing to them again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomturd Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 Also:What contracts are you lot on?How much do you pay per month?What phone do you have?What the coverage is like?How many free mins/texts do you get per month?I text a lot and need about 300-400 texts per month but I don't really call that much, is there anyone in the same boat as me, if so what's the best contract.I'm on PAYG.. As long as you top up £10 per month you get 300 free texts per month. Every 3 months you get back 10% of whatever you have topped up in the previous 3 months (gets added to your credit). Theres also other bits and pieces like free 1mb WAP transfer (handy for downloading games) - but you can choose. Theres so many options I lose track.If you dont chat that much, as you say, and mainly text.. why not just buy a decent phone off ebay and put in a free o2 sim? Got my mate to do that in the end, now he tops up about £15 a month for calls, uses the free texts, whereas his contract used to be £30 a month and he was tied into it for a year at a time.Can't really see the benefit of having a contract unless you use your mobile loads, apart from having the free flashy phone. Cheaper IMO though to splash out £100 on a decent phone and go on PAYG.By the way I have a nokia 6030, which was £30, also from o2.Coverage is good, customer service is appauling, but if you go on PAYG I doubt you'll ever need to phone them unless you get your phone stolen or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterOfGussets Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 On O2 but they're far from good. Customer service is massively sh*te. Had to phone up three times once before they correctly set up a direct debit. Found out they'd done it wrong when my phone got disconnected.I'm looking for a new phone at the moment and have decided I probably want to go on contract.I have looked through many different contract deals and T-Mobile is the cheapest so far, but I have heard from many people that it is not good and has bad coverage.Also:What contracts are you lot on?How much do you pay per month?What phone do you have?What the coverage is like?How many free mins/texts do you get per month?I text a lot and need about 300-400 texts per month but I don't really call that much, is there anyone in the same boat as me, if so what's the best contract.The actual phone must have bluetooth, decent camera, mp3 etc.. and preferably a memory card slot(Something fairly new really) also it but have NO JOYSTICK thingy as on my k700i which I have at the moment, it is dying. I think that's all for now. I would really like the new Nokia N91 but it costs too much. And I don't mind what type of phone it is - flip, slide etc..Cheers,SamO2 contract, £25p/m line rental. Using some old Nokia that flips into a Qwerty keyboard and it's crap. Coverage is about the only good thing about O2. I don't obsess over the free minute/texts thing so I don't know.My sister had a T-Mobile contract. She was pleased with it. Decent coverage, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hardman Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 Been with O2 for near on 4 years now I couldn't refuse there lastest offer - Free W800i on a £20 a month contract with £5 off each month and the best bit £100 credit so I havent had to pay for my contract for 7 mopnths now.I wonder what I can get out of them this September when its upgrade time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Nugent Posted May 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 (edited) I'm on PAYG.. As long as you top up £10 per month you get 300 free texts per month. Every 3 months you get back 10% of whatever you have topped up in the previous 3 months (gets added to your credit). Theres also other bits and pieces like free 1mb WAP transfer (handy for downloading games) - but you can choose. Theres so many options I lose track.If you dont chat that much, as you say, and mainly text.. why not just buy a decent phone off ebay and put in a free o2 sim? Got my mate to do that in the end, now he tops up about £15 a month for calls, uses the free texts, whereas his contract used to be £30 a month and he was tied into it for a year at a time.Can't really see the benefit of having a contract unless you use your mobile loads, apart from having the free flashy phone. Cheaper IMO though to splash out £100 on a decent phone and go on PAYG.By the way I have a nokia 6030, which was £30, also from o2.Coverage is good, customer service is appauling, but if you go on PAYG I doubt you'll ever need to phone them unless you get your phone stolen or something.That's what I am on now and I just want a change really. Seeing as I need a new mp3 player and a phone, I am looking at something with a good memory so that I could just use it for both.I do use my phone loads so thats also another reason why I would like to go on a contract.Been with O2 for near on 4 years now I couldn't refuse there lastest offer - Free W800i on a £20 a month contract with £5 off each month and the best bit £100 credit so I havent had to pay for my contract for 7 mopnths now.I wonder what I can get out of them this September when its upgrade time.I think I may try that as it sounds good, I will look into it more.Does anyone know where I can get on of these student tariffs from? Edited May 23, 2006 by Sam Nugent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 Can't really see the benefit of having a contract unless you use your mobile loads, apart from having the free flashy phone. Cheaper IMO though to splash out £100 on a decent phone and go on PAYG.I got a free phone a while back + half price line rental (£12.50/month = £150/year). I put the phone on eBay and got £200 for it, so essentially I got free line rental for the year + £50. If you're disciplined enough to only use the free minutes, that sort of thing would be great.Does anyone know where I can get on of these student tariffs from?They all do something for students, take a look at their individual websites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Nugent Posted May 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 (edited) Is anyone on virgin mobile? (Shit, forgot to add it into the poll :$ , o wel)I found one earlier which I think may be good. Has anyone got that phone and is it good?Thanks for the comments so far, keep 'em coming,SamEDIT: http://www.onestopphoneshop.co.uk/index.php?&B on that site, go to SE phones, then SE W550l silver and then down to the 'virgin 30' tariff. There is also the SE W810i black on orange which looks like quite a good deal.EDIT2: Does that phone have the little joystick thingy? I can't tell from that picture... Edited May 23, 2006 by Sam Nugent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrayvon Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 (edited) I'm on O2 contract. Its an 18 month online contract and i get 750 off peak mins(any network) and 750 texts(again any network). At only £25 a month! I still do however manage to go over on texts sometimes But not much! wrayEDIT: Here is O2's student section: http://shop.o2.co.uk/student Edited May 23, 2006 by Merlin man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 EDIT2: Does that phone have the little joystick thingy? I can't tell from that picture...Dunno about the 550 but the 810 doesn't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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