LG John

I change my phone deal approximately once in a blue moon. I don't pay any attention to the current phones or deals being released and as such I am a mobile phone fish.

I currently have the original silver Moto Razor and a now uncompetitive deal with T-Mobile which is out of contract. I am a Virgin Media customer with their full broadband, landline and TV package so I'm likely eligible for customer only deals through them. I don't want to spend a penny more than £20 a month and preferably less than £15. I don't use the phone that often so anything over 250 mins/250 texts would be fine although the more the merrier. I lean more towards minutes than texts as I probably only send a few texts a day at max.

If there was some emptier sim-only deal for hardly any cash then I could live with my Razor for another 12 months. Failing that, my requirements from a phone are:

* Must be slim and compact.
* Must be fairly sturdy.
* Ideally has a camera/video.
* Makes calls, sends text...what more do I want.

I'm not bothered about MP3's or all the gubins but my mate did jump onto a wireless airport network at the weekend for free and browse the net. It would be cool if I had a phone with that capability but there is no way I want internet on my phone enough to pay for any such connectivity or on a minute-by-minute basis.

So....what can you recommend

NotoriousREV

Mobile Phones | latest handsets, deals and prices compared – MoneySupermarket UK

LG John

Jesus!!!! The amount of times I write 'what x' as opposed to 'which x'. It tilts me so fecking bad!!!!!!!

Snazy

GSMArena.com - GSM reviews, opinions, votes, manuals, ringtones and more...

Make sure you read the reviews on the chosen handset

Nokia 6500 Classic is a good all rounder.

kin quick

iTrader: (2)

Sony K850i is great................if you like phones that lock up and turn themselves off all the time during texting and calls Loads of reviews say the same so stay well away!!!

N95 is still a pretty good bit of kit!

LG John

Thanks for heads up on K850i. I should have put reliable as a requirement as well as I can't be hooped with a phone going pete tong all the time.

NotoriousREV

I have a K810i which is really good and has never gone wrong for me and unlike every other phone I've ever owned, still looks brand new despite a year of sitting in my pocket with my keys/coins/fluff

LG John

Sorry to raise the thread again but I have been looking at deal after deal on the internet and there are quite a few apparently good looking online deals to be had.

I have decided on the Samsung G600 and I'm looking at a minimum of 200 mins and 200 texts. If you look here you can see that I can get 200/200 on O2 for effectively £13.75 a month by means of a cash back system. In fact, I can get 400/500 for £15.83 effectively over 18 months.

Seems great, and I'm hovering over 'buy now' but it's this cashback/redemption business I'm sceptical about. Has anyone had experience of these deals? It seems to me like they will find away out of the deal some way or another or the company will go 'bust' before they are due the first redemption leaving me lumbered with an 18 month 02 contract at £30 a month. Am I right to be sceptical or should I just give it a whirl?

Snazy

I prefer real deals rather than cash back schemes. Dont trust them for some reason.

You definatly decided on O2 then ?

GC8

Kenny, I get 400/400 for £15 from Virgin. I added to the original offer of 200/200 for £10 a month: SIM only.

Simon

LG John

Laura is on O2 and I think O2 to free calls to other 02 phones so it probably makes sense.

Simon, that's a good no-nonsense deal but I really need a new phone this time as my old school V3 is pretty long in the tooth.

Snazy

Aaaah fair play then
Just get a phone and tariff that suits YOU, and dont be tempted by bigger deals, for "a little bit more" especially on cash back schemes.

Im about to change one of my phones too, still undecided what to get, but thinking Nokia 6500 at this rate.

LG John

I think I'm going to end up gambling on one of these cashback deals. I'm pretty methodical when it comes to reading fine print and ensuring that I do things in the right order and on time. Basically, if I somehow fail to successfully redeem the money then the system is a scam pure and simple.

I do find myself wondering what sort of world we are living in. Seriously, 95% of phones are now advertised with 'free' PSP's, playstation 3's, 20" monitors and even laptops!!!! Who are the gullible idiots out there that believe they are getting these items for free. It just makes it sooo much harder for the rest of us.

Having spent a few days looking at it I feel like phoning up and saying in my best Steve Martin voice:

Good days sir, everything ok today?

"No I'm not ok!"
"I want a fvcking phone. A fvcking 6500 slide, a fvcking G600, a fvcking N95, 10 digits a microphone and a fvcking speaker."
"I don't want fvcking free insurance, I don't want a fvcking free bluetooth headset, a fvcking PSP, fvcking cashback or a fvcking playstation"
"I want 400 fvcking minutes, 400 fvcking texts and I don't want you fvck me if I go 5 fvcking minutes over that allowance.
"..and most of all, I don't want to have to fvcking phone up and redeem money every other month and listen to your patronizing fvcking voice for another fvcking minute.

"I want.....a g600 with a fvcking charger, 400 fvcking minutes and 400 fvcking texts....right.....FVCKING NOW!!!!!!!!!!!"

GC8

Hold on!

GC8

My girlfriend has just renegotioated after being on a brilliant £5 a month SIM only deal with O2. Theyve offered her (and she has) a Samsung G600 (with 512MB card) with 400 minutes and unlimited texts for £15 dead a month, over 18 months. slightly better...

LG John

That's strange cause I phoned 02 direct and they were completely uninterested in trying to get me a good deal. I was blankly told 400/500, 18mths for £30pcm which can be bettered by other internet deals. In fairness it was 16:50 and I wondered if the guy knocked off at 17:00 or something.

The deal you describe above is exactly what I'm after. Direct with the company and no nonsense! Does your girlfriend have a history of being a phone cannon though? By that I mean does she regularly go over her minutes and have massive bills. I phoned my existing company (t-mobile) and they were pretty uncompetitive as well. I figured it's because they know from the last two years that I'm not a good customer for them since I stick to my price plan.

GC8

Its the £30 deal discounted for a good customer. Its not unlimited texts either, its 400 minutes and 1000 texts. This was offered by the disconnection/retention department though, no one else was interested.

GC8

I obviously havent read everything properly because Id presumed that you were on O2.....

(good due to length of association, but shes seldom over, if ever)

LG John

Laura got quite a good deal with 02 today herself. It seems they try quite hard to retain your business but weren't very aggressive at all in acquiring new business. Maybe their network is near capacity in terms of subscribed users <shrug>

simpsons !

I'm with o2 as well and looking for a deal been with them for 6 years. Was looking at the Nokia N95 8 gb as an upgrade and moving up to the Online 35 account, 600 mins 1000 texts and unlimited internet, I was tried to be fobbed off with the fact phone is not that good because of the battery life four hours max i was told, (Excuse me i work with two guys that have the phone and swear by it) Then told out of stock please ring back after 7pm when the computers have updated when stock will arrive, Rang back at 7.30pm told to ring back in a week, and was very apologetic about it all. What should i do wait for the N96?

Simpsons !

EXSCOOBY

id wait for the new phone
the n96 wipes the floor with any other phone available
simple as that
i have the n95 and will upgrade to the n96 in august
i pay 35 pounds per month and get free insurance, 700 mins 100 texts (im with orange)

Account deleted by request

Get an upgrade to a blackberry 8310 on t-mobile and sell it to me for £100

Keep your razor for 12 months and that will have paid for 5/6 months for you.

PM me if your interested.

chop

TopBanana

You mean the number of times?

LG John

lol, well spotted that man. I hate me!!!!!!

dpb

I wen with eSave ( carphone warehouse on line) from last july for 12 months on a cashback deal - have to say i was more than sceptical ,but despite one months cashback coming to me bit late ( recued by sending in bill recorded delivery) So far its worked out fine - only one more to go.
This was with O2 K810i ( which i dont particularly adore but as said above is very durable - been dunked once! ) 800 minutes 500 texts for about £22 a month -after cashback.

Cant see that theyre offering such a deal now - but maybe theyll be more desperate this time next month