My great big phone problem

**Raglan** · November 01, 2012, 01:18 PM

Right guys. I could rather do with some help. Now, lets get me started. I'm a brit (so saying this and this about American providers or whatever won't be very helpful

) and i have since i can remember had a pay as you go phone with orange. (we are talking 15+ years) Recently a few things have bugged me. Not major, but enough. And then last week i got one of those 'we are making changes to the terms and conditions' messages that you get sent, and then they force you onto the internet to see the actual changes.

Now, this is a link to the changes to my terms and conditions. http://orangeworld.co.uk/p/helpandco...w_terms_sept12

Isn't that a lovely little update. I especially like this part.

a minimum charge of 65p per day no matter how little data you use

yeah, thats not going to eat my credit is it? Loving that. Right, well screw you then orange. I will take my money else where.

Now. I am considering a contract phone. I have never had a contract phone before. And am a little unsure about them. I've heard some bad stories of people using too much and ending up with huge bills. (background data often) and as someone on a pretty tight budget i don't want that risk. I also quite like the idea of being able to use my phones internet as and when i like. I figure i have netflix, so why not watch it on my lunch break. I like youtube, so lets watch it while i am waiting for the bus. And so forth. So i want a high data allowance for my own reassurance, as well as to be able to enjoy.

So, i begin looking at the market. I can afford maybe £50 upfront and ideally no more than £25 a month. I want as high a data limit as possible and a decent amount of texts. I just about never use my phone to call people - and in fact most people i do i can Skype anyway.

I'm not a big fan of apple, and cannot bring myself to suffer an iphone. And the blackberry just doesn't really do it for me. I can't stick with my current phone, as its an orange san fransico (ie orange exclusive) and i figure i might as well upgrade anyway. So i have looked around. And found myself admiring the Sony phones.

I perticularly like the xperia T (their most recent phone) but realistically its out of my price range. And have more or less settled on a Xperia Arc S. It has some pretty cool reviews and i just kinda like it.

So, onto the bit i need help with. Firstly, having never had any contract phone before i'm a little unsure about data usages. 3 will give me unlimited data usage for £25 a month, but are sold out. And have a poor signal coverage (i think, don't really understand their coverage map. You can more or less draw a circle of about three streets around my house where it says 'outdoor coverage only. High speed internet not availiable') Now if i get a 3 phone will i be able to use it or not? I get its not going to be the best, but is it going to be reasonable? 2G comparable? completely unexistant? etc etc.

I've also been looking at the phones 4 U website (since orange are out, and vodafone and O2 don't list the arc on their site) where it gives me a list of their contracts. http://www.phones4u.co.uk/shop/shop_...#offer_details

Now i'm particuarly eyeing up the one on O2. No upfront cost, unlimited texts and minutes. And 1 GB data. all for £26. Seems pretty reasonable to me. So, how do i know if 1 GB is enough? I am completely unsure. And if its not enough, how much will it cost me to go over?

I think its my nervousness with contracts. Especially as i haven't had one before. But i really want to know the answers to these sorts of things before i commit.

So just answers and advice would be wonderful. Oh, and one last question. Does 3 restock their shop reguarly. The arc is out of stock online.

Thanks. Raglan.

**Bolkonsky** · November 01, 2012, 05:56 PM

I'm going to throw this right out without reading your whole message. (on my phone, sorry.) check out Virgin Mobile. They're flat out bad but in the states they have unlimited plans that are actually unlimited. For cheap to boot. You don't get the best phone or best support, but there aren't any surprises. On my side of the pond. Now I'm assuming that the fact that it's a British company, and all those crazy fair corporate laws and what not that you guys have over there, that it'll be a similar experience. However its much easier for you to look into it since you actually live there.

Sent from my SGH-T679

**the_mango55** · November 01, 2012, 06:32 PM

The nexus 4 is gonna be an awesome phone and its only gonna be 300 usd unlocked! Of course that's mostly an advantage if you want to continue with pay as you go plans. In the us those are a much better deal than contracts but I don't know about the UK.

**Raglan** · November 02, 2012, 04:15 PM

yeah, pay as you go tends to work out better. But of course you have to shell out for the phone. Which i can't afford.

Been looking at giffgaff. Seems too good to be true.

**Ybbon** · November 04, 2012, 11:00 AM

We use VirginMob in the UK. My wife has an iPhone (no idea why, she never uses it), and I have a crappy old Nokia with no internet as I have a company HTC on Vodafone I can use.

TBH, the best thing to do with any contracts (and I've had them for 15 odd years) is get the minimum you need, it's easier to add add-ons, than take them off as they will probably be on a contract (i.e. you add more web and you then get 12/18 month contract on that extra web). Take a look at the comparison sites for best deals, also, depends how you feel about it, but you could get a newer phone cheaper by getting used from ebay or something. Also, the extra features are going to probably end up with longer contracts.

We haven't had any problems with Virgin, even the iphone works fine although it wasn't supposed to be on their network at the time but google helped. Coverage is good but we do live in the West Midlands but not had any problems travelling around.

**mrmouth** · November 04, 2012, 11:55 AM

Pay as you go, or no contract, is offering the best deals by far, but they still have a stigma for some reason.

T mobile in the US has a great $30/month deal for unlimited data and texting, but only 100 minutes a month. You can get around that by using email calling like that in gmail. So you just get a sim card and toss it in your old phone. Or you get one on ebay and do the same. That is what I am doing when my contract runs out. I will likely buy something like the galaxy exhibit 2 for $80-100 used on ebay. That phone will doe 95% of what the more expensive phones do.

Coming up with the money is a problem for some, but the savings are huge.