Mobile phone : whats a good one to get 7 the deal with it

I have been with out a mobile phone for 4 years & its been bliss .But I need to be contacted by people & I think its time to get one .I would like to know if any one has just purchased a new phone & what deal they got with the net work .

I can recall the brick I first got years ago .

cheers seagull

[ Edited on 7-8-06 by seagull ]

I just have a simple $70 Nokia. No 'contract' no girly camera, no blue lights that flash when it rings, no other shit, no hinges to break. It's tradesman tough

i've got a (relatively...read a few years) old nokia 6610.

it's pretty tought. i got it for $55 from cash converters (well..my mum did while i was living in england in 2004). the phone as lasted travelling all round the world. it's been submersed in water, and bashed/dropped/thrown and caught.

could pick one up 2nd hand..not sure if you can still get them new. but they're pretty reliable phones. (then just get prepaid)

ive got a fancy new sony ericson 550i walkman fone.

im on 40 dollar a month with 30 dollars of free calls included for 24 months.

after owning the fone for a while though i think i would have gotten the one up from this fone with the expandable memory etc.

before this fone i had a 3315 nokia which is old but it was indestructable.

it had been in water hazards at golf courses, in the rain, dropped from hieght etc and still soldiered on. it was just too old and didnt have enough memory.

Is the nokia 2600 any good , telstra have a deal on the web

seagull

ebay is your friend

Virgin pay as you go is the current best plan ( source: an occupational therapy student who just did a thesis on the logistics of ph use/spending for the impoverished)

kkk

u after prepaid or plan?

If prepaid, when it comes to choosing a network, (hopefully QLD is the same as u), note the following:

- VODAFONE is the only network on a phone that will let u unlock that phone for free. Expect to pay to unlock a prepaid phone if u choose to go with another network. (For example, was like a $70 to $80 recharge with virgin before u get to unlock)
- OPTUS is the only network provider that will let ur credit last 6 months. From what i sell at work, the rest only last for ONE month
- OPTUS and TELSTRA have your best coverage when it comes to reception. BUT!!! beware of TELSTRA, bad customer service/help and they can be a rip off with there phones.

DO alot of research for your best options. sometimes it is cheaper to buy a phone via vodafone, unlocking and going with say optus or telstra (buy purchasing a new sim card, usually $30 with $30 free credit on it), then say buying a pre paid already with telstra/optus.

At work, this is a real life example, a motorola V3 with virgin for $375, and telstra having the same phone with their network for $499 [This is a very rough memory recall from the price]. But from what i tell the people i am selling it to, if they wanted that phone, and wanted to go with telstra, they are better off buying the virgin $375 phone, unlocking for $80 from the virgin network, and paying another $30 for a telstra sim, cause its cheaper. In total, the longer but cheaper option would cost $385, slight saving, but in some cases, CAN save u heaps.

Just look around alot. choose a network, then choose a few particular model phones, compare prices, unlocking rates and prices for sims for networks if u were to purchase one for another network, then sit it all out on a table, and point at whats the cheapest. By all means, u can impulse buy, but to get ur best deal, plenty of research IS the go.

By the way, anyone wanting recharge for vodafone, TANDY and DICKSMITH have a contract with vodafone where we sell their credit cheaper than what the actual Vodafone stores do. IE: $49 cap for $44

if you're mainly going to be recieving calls, then prepaid is the way to go. I change by prepaid provider about every 6 months to whoever has the best deal at the time (no cost and you can keep your number as you). at the mo im with dodo, $50 credit=$125 worth of calls.
r,
James

Go for a network too where ur gonna get ur most discounts. IE: if ur gonna make alot of mobile calls, which network would the person be that would be recieving the call?

U only really get ur benefits if u ring a person on the same network. IE: free 100 mins optus to optus prepaid when ur recharge $30 credit, or virgin to virgin value bundles. Its really where u get ur benefits, otherwise, what james has suggested is good. Doesn't the $49 virgin cap give like $250 worth of calls? (might be virgin to virgin though)

I have a Samsung D500 slide phone with wicked camera, video calls, MP3 player and true tones meaning I can download all the cool ring tones from the net!

I am with Optus (highly recommend as there coverage and service is excellent). I am on a $49 cap. I get $240 worth of TXT and calls for $49. I am a moderate to high volume user (have RSI from all the TXTing) so this works well for me.

If you choose to join the "3" network, all I can say is read your contract VERY VERY carefully

Ok some one tell me what to do here ( I am easy )

I have every one calling me , the number of times I would call out with the phone would be 10% , so I need some thing simple & strong & cheap .a plan may be the best for me

so what do I get

cheers seagull

Plans are good if you realise that you will be under a contract for 2 years. (I personally like that option as it means that you will always be able to make a phone call. I have friends who find that they run out of credit at the most inconvienent times ie: 2am with a broken down car). Go to your local mobile phone shop and buy yourself a phone that has a plan that will give you free calls. Blutopless has a plan where he pays $35 a month but gets $35 worth of calls for free, essentially meaning that he pays nothing for rental. In my opinion and experience, the better phones are the Samsungs, Nokias and Motorolas and the best service providers are Optus, Vodaphone and Telstra (in that order).