What would you do?

[Bexlee]

Hi

I'm really out of touch with what is on the market- so which network / phone combinations would you recommend?

I'm just about out of contract, the Mrs has lost her pay-as-you-go phone, so now would be an ideal time for a change. I am on T-Mobile at the moment.

What would you recommend? I like a phone with a decent camera, reasonably small, decent memory & decent battery charge time- anything else just isn't important. I use only about 150 anytime mins + up to 50 texts per month.

The Mrs abuses her phone- will probably lose it & uses it very occasionally & mostly for talking to me, which isn't that often! Would be handy if it worked in the USA though. She has always been on pay-as-you-go.

Suggestions please! Its been so long since I have looked at the market.

Bexlee

[sharger]

Nightmare senario Sooooo much choice.... try http://www.comparemymobile.co.uk/

Good place to start if you've no idea.... but be warned after a couple of hours surfing no idea will have turned into tooooo much choice

[siany]

Why don't you try visiting one of the phone shops near where you live? Nothing beats actually seeing the phones themselves and being shown a live demo, which you won't be able to get from the internet.

If you don't like the deals you're offered in-store, you can always look online for better deals knowing for certain which phone you'd like. Would narrow down the choices as well

Something like Samsun Z400 might appeal - small, 2MP camera, has expandable memory card slot so you can increase the memory if you so wish, standby time of up to 400 hours (although take this with a pinch of salt)

[rude-dog]

my advice would be, no matter what!!!

1: dont buy from a non network tied store! eg: phones4u car phone etc. the customer service down the line is terrible


2: bare in mind that online retailers have different customer service centres than if you buy direct from a network related store. eg: o2 retail and 02 online are completely different call centres, the retail one being good, the online one being terrible to deal with, and its a premium rate or email to contact them

3: buying from a store gives you the peice of mind that if you don't like the phone you can simply walk it back through the door rather than the hastle of sending it back


just my two cents... good luck

[siany]

Originally Posted by rude-dog

my advice would be, no matter what!!!

1: dont buy from a non network tied store! eg: phones4u car phone etc. the customer service down the line is terrible

Problem with that is if you walk into, say, an O2 shop, they will be biased. I mean they're not exactly going to send you to Orange even if the deal best suited to your requirements can only be bought there.

You're' better off going to an independent retailer like Carphone and to a lesser extent, Phones4U, or even some other phone shops dotted on the high street. In most cases these retailers are not biased towards any particular network, so you will be able to get a more neutral opinion.

As for customer service it greatly depends on the store and person you speak to. If you get one bad experience, it doesn't mean the other sales consultants will treat you the same :/

[lieutenant L]

Hi

Me and my brother both updated our phones by going pay monthly last december
We both went for a £25 contract - he talks to his friends alot and i am moving later this year so the mobile will be my main phone possibly

He rushed the decision and went straight to the Orange shop
He has a sony w810i ( i think it is ) - a sony walkman phone in black - small 2 mp camera
This phone
Since having it he keeps finding little naggles with it - camera quality not so sharp etc. but i think he is getting more happy with it
I dont remember off hand his exact monthly allowance other than it isnt as good as mine ( ) - it could be 100 minutes and 100 texts
Also when getting the phone they required some stupid forms of ID that had no real relevance - it took 2 visits to the shop over 2 days until they were satisified

I waited till after christmas and got a sony w850i ( white version which is exclusive to vodafone ) from the vodafone shop
The guys in-store were excellent - they setup my phone and showed me how it works ( one of the sales persons had the same phone )
At the time on a £25 deal the phone should have cost £100 - off the records they gave it to me for free
This phone


My contract I like alot - Vodafone have this package where I can pick and choose my deal
I have a basic of 150 minutes and 150 texts
I then am allowed 2 picks from the choices options - at the moment I have stop the clock going ( call for 60 minutes - pay for 3 ) and 100 free texts

The beauty of it is I can go in store and change my picks on the options box - my phone supports Three TV - my first month was free and I can have 3 more months free for a choice in the options box ( note there are packages on the TV available - using options you can have 2 packages - sport and entertainment i think - so I could have both free using both of my deal options on it )

Also have 3 months free insurance.

Over all I am happy with my phone and deal I got - I would recommend Vodafone and going in the shop - they seem to be genuine and personally friendly

Hope that is of some help, Good luck

thanks,
Luke

[djmetsandy]

I recommend staying to the Sony Ericsson line. A very good phones with great camara's!

I used to use a W810i (which I loved to bits) but went on a 3 contract and got a LG U400, To be honest it was felt like I was downgrading. SE make there phones so well, that is hardware and software. yes the LG looks nice but the Software is crap!

Have a look at theses phones:-

W810i
W850i
K800i
K750i
Z610i