Borat_Drives_A_Scooby

I did a thread looking for the best mobile phone deals around, ive managed to find a very good SIM card deal so now i need to get the Mrs a phone.

Whats the best mobile phone i could pick up for around the £100 mark ?

Ive gone for this SIm only deal, for £15 a month you get 600 anytime minutes and unlimited texts.

http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/sim-.../all-sim-plans

boxst

That is with a year contract. T-Mobile has better deals and includes free internet: Pay Monthly Sim Cards - Mobile Phone SIM Cards - T Mobile

(sorry, not answering your question)

Steve

Borat_Drives_A_Scooby

Lets have your suggestions I have a contract SIM card, i just need a phone to go with it now for around the £100 mark.

My Nan The Bavarian

I recently did the same thing as you after realising that every year I was taking out a new contract to get the very latest all-singing all dancing mobile, then playing with it for 2 weeks and then just using it to call, text people and take the occasional snapshot. All while paying £35 / month for the privilege

This year I let my contract run out and got a cracking sim only deal and bought a Sony Ericsson C510 from Tesco Mobile as they were really cheap at the time. I paid Tesco £25 for the unlock code and flashed the phone to restore the original Sony Ericsson software

I've been really pleased with the phone. Does everything I want it to and slips nicely in the pocket.

Play.com are offering them on Vodafone PAYG at the moment pretty cheap

http://www.play.com/Mobiles/Mobile/4...64|cat:Mobile+

Borat_Drives_A_Scooby

Can you unlock that phone from Pay As You Go to take a contract SIM card ? If so how easy is it to unlock and whats the cost ?

Ive heard others recommend the Sony Ericsson C510 so it must be a decent phone.

room 512

You don't need to unlock a phone from PAYG. Its just that some networks lock their phones so that they can only be used on their network. Eg. T-Mobile phones are locked so that you can only put T-Mobile sims in them.

If you buy a Vodafone phone then any Vodafone sim will work in it.

hth

My Nan The Bavarian

It's not difficult at all. It just takes a little while. After getting the phone you'll need to contact people who the phone is locked to on PAYG and ask them for the unlock code. They'll charge you £25 for that and will send it to you after a few weeks. Alternatively you could take it to one of those phone shops on the high street that do unlocking and see if they can do it. I'm guessing they'd charge you about the same

If you get the unlock code from network provider they'll tell you exactly what to type etc. It's very easy. Once that's done you can put any SIM card in at all.

The only problem is that your phone will still have Vodafone's / Orange's proprietary software on the phone which will probably include their branding. I didn't want this on so I use this site to get the software to debrand the phone

Online de-branding and software upgrade service SonyEricsson (SE) mobile phones | WotanServer.com

It costs a couple of Euro for the credits to get software. If you're reasonably competent with a computer the process is fairly simple. It gets a bit alarming when your phone's flashing and weird stuff's popping up on the screen but once it's finished it's all as it should be

My Nan The Bavarian

Or as room 512 says, if you just buy a PAYG phone that's the same network as your SIM only contract then the SIM will just slot in and work straight away

Borat_Drives_A_Scooby

Thanks so far

Which would you say is the better out of these 2 ? Is the Nokia 5800 worth the extra ?

Sony Ericsson - Products - Mobile phones - Overview - C510

or

Nokia UK - Buy Nokia 5800 Touch Screen Phone from Nokia UK

Borat_Drives_A_Scooby

Anyone for the above 2 phones as to which is best, i`ll be buying one or the other for the Mrs tomorow.

Boro

iTrader: (1)

Nokia 5800 gets my vote.

Where did you get your sim only deal from in the end?

Borat_Drives_A_Scooby

Its the 2nd deal down on the link

SIM Cards: SIM-only contracts and mobile SIM cards - Vodafone

Its £15 per month, 600 anytime minutes and unlimited texts. I think thats a good deal based on what ive seen on a lot of searches.

Borat_Drives_A_Scooby

Any other opinions, i want to buy one before the end of today ?