15 replies to this topic

[froggyoggy]

hi everyone,

First of all i'd like to say that thanks for a superb forum as i've found a lot of info and advice to be useful. This is my first post, so please accept my apologies if i make a mistake or don't make sense.

I've been on two 12 month contracts and they both are coming to an end. Both are currently on orange and have the following:-

CONTRACT 1 - 750MIN ORANGE TO ORANGE + LANDLINE ONLY AFTER 7PM (Nokia 3220) - ?19...this has now been changed to a PAYASGO because all my friends are on ORANGE and can call me free.

CONTRACT 2 - 60MIN ANYTIME ANY NETWORK (Nokia 6230i) - ?20

The following is what I need:-
1. NEED A TOTAL OF 900 to 1000MINS OR MORE (I use 800 FOR MAKING EVENING CALLS TO ORANGE & LANDLINES + 120-200 mins)

2. EVEN THOUGH BOTH MY LINES COST APPROX ?39, I STILL SPEND OVER ?50 ON AVERAGE, SO WOULD LIKE TO BRING COSTS DOWN A LITTLE.

3. I WOULD LIKE A BETTER PHONE FROM NOKIA OR SONY OR SAMSUNG THAN WHAT'S BEING OFFERED (See below)

4. I DON'T MIND AN 18MTH CONTRACT

Here is what orange have offered me:-

ORANGE DOLPHIN 550 mins + 2000 mins ANYTIME/ANY NETWORK for ?35. The only catch is that I am on an 18mth contract and these are the phones being offered:

samsung d600
z400
x820
x700
e900
e370
d830

nokia 7370
7360
6233
6230i
n70 - ?9.99
n80 - ?139.99

sony w300i
k750i
k610i
k510i
w810i - ?9.99
k800i - ?59.99


I'm happy with the amount of minutes they have given me, but not the phone. What do you guys think? Can I improve on this? What is your advice?


If you need further info, then please let me know.

Thanks for your help

Froggyoggy

[richard_d]

As an upgrade I don't think that's too bad a deal. The only way to get a better phone and around 900 mins would be to change provider and take out a new contract - T-Mobile Flext 35 would give you 900 xnet anytime mins and a good choice of phones for ?30 a month, but if you use all 900 mins you won't get any texts... Vodaphone  online offers customised price plans with extras (inc 50% extra minutes or stop the clock) and I'm sure 02 or 3 might do something.  You might find when you ask for your PAC code from Orange they'll offer you something better to keep you, but on a low spend plan so far I wouldn't bank on it.

Richard

[froggyoggy]

richard_d, on Sep 15 2006, 11:40, said:

As an upgrade I don't think that's too bad a deal. The only way to get a better phone and around 900 mins would be to change provider and take out a new contract - T-Mobile Flext 35 would give you 900 xnet anytime mins and a good choice of phones for ?30 a month, but if you use all 900 mins you won't get any texts... Vodaphone  online offers customised price plans with extras (inc 50% extra minutes or stop the clock) and I'm sure 02 or 3 might do something.  You might find when you ask for your PAC code from Orange they'll offer you something better to keep you, but on a low spend plan so far I wouldn't bank on it.

Richard

thanks for that mate

[richard_d]

froggyoggy, on Sep 15 2006, 12:03, said:

thanks for that mate

Just had a look at 02 online they're doing the K800i with 1000 mins +150 texts for ?35 a month on 18 mnth which isn't bad, although you only get 1mb of data with that and O2 are horrendously overpriced on data usage if you're a mobile internet fan.

Richard

[Honest John]

Can I just say that I use a Vario 2 for work purposes and a Nokia 6233 for private (on Orange).

I have used SE T610, K750i, Orange C500 etc etc,  and the 6233 is actually a smashing little phone.

Not gimmicky, but it works well and is a very nice bit of kit.  Check it out before dismissing it.

Good luck, whatever you choose.

[froggyoggy]

many thanks for your help guys...unfortunately, I've made my choice now and have got an m3100 for ?9.99 on a ?40pm contract (18mths).

This is what else I've been given as part of the contract:-

1. 2660mins anytime/any network and landlines
2. Unlimited Orange2Orange off-peak & weekend calls
3. Unlimited Anytime calls to one magic number (Must be an orange no.)
4. Three months of free photo messaging
5. 400 texts (hardly use them)

My previous bill came in at ?46, so I'd like to know what do you guys think??? Is it good or bad?

thanks for your opinions!

[richard_d]

froggyoggy, on Sep 15 2006, 15:28, said:

many thanks for your help guys...unfortunately, I've made my choice now and have got an m3100 for ?9.99 on a ?40pm contract (18mths).

This is what else I've been given as part of the contract:-

1. 2660mins anytime/any network and landlines
2. Unlimited Orange2Orange off-peak & weekend calls
3. Unlimited Anytime calls to one magic number (Must be an orange no.)
4. Three months of free photo messaging
5. 400 texts (hardly use them)

My previous bill came in at ?46, so I'd like to know what do you guys think??? Is it good or bad?

thanks for your opinions!

If you use that much talk time it doesn't sound bad - my only concern would be the lack of a data plan - without internet access IMO the device is a little hand-cuffed.

Richard

[froggyoggy]

richard_d, on Sep 15 2006, 15:48, said:

If you use that much talk time it doesn't sound bad - my only concern would be the lack of a data plan - without internet access IMO the device is a little hand-cuffed.

Richard

so wot would your advice be? tell orange to change to an unlimited data tariff or something???  How much would this cost??

[richard_d]

if orange will let you have it 1g is 8.00 but getting it isn't easy.

[froggyoggy]

richard_d, on Sep 16 2006, 09:05, said:

if orange will let you have it 1g is 8.00 but getting it isn't easy.

is that a one-off payment or per month?

[richard_d]

per month

[froggyoggy]

richard_d, on Sep 16 2006, 13:29, said:

per month

bloody hell...its a lot of money, considering that i'm already gonna be paying ?40pm

[Confucious]

froggyoggy, on Sep 16 2006, 18:52, said:

bloody hell...its a lot of money, considering that i'm already gonna be paying ?40pm

?8 / month is a lot of money for unlimited data? You're paying ?40pm for your mins and texts - if you want data as well (a must on the M3100) ?8pm is a bloody good deal!

[richard_d]

confucious, on Sep 18 2006, 05:51, said:

?8 / month is a lot of money for unlimited data? You're paying ?40pm for your mins and texts - if you want data as well (a must on the M3100) ?8pm is a bloody good deal!

Considering O2 would charge you ?75 per month to get that much, ?8 for 1gb it's not a bad deal in my eyes, not quite as good as T-Mobiles 2gb for ?7.50, but not to be sneezed at. If you're only a light data user I think Orange do smaller data add ons.

Richard

[Confucious]

richard_d, on Sep 18 2006, 09:47, said:

Considering O2 would charge you ?75 per month to get that much, ?8 for 1gb it's not a bad deal in my eyes, not quite as good as T-Mobiles 2gb for ?7.50, but not to be sneezed at. If you're only a light data user I think Orange do smaller data add ons.

Richard

T-Mobile don't do 2Gb for ?7.50 - they do UNLIMITED for ?7.50 the ?2Gb limit is on the ?10 plan. I believe the O ?8 is unlimited as well (even thoiugh it shows as 1Gb

I've never used mo=re than 500Mb on my phone anyway.

[richard_d]

confucious, on Sep 19 2006, 12:44, said:

T-Mobile don't do 2Gb for ?7.50 - they do UNLIMITED for ?7.50 the ?2Gb limit is on the ?10 plan. I believe the O ?8 is unlimited as well (even thoiugh it shows as 1Gb

I've never used mo=re than 500Mb on my phone anyway.

The non-pro T-Mobile package is as far as I'm aware still under the 2Gb fair use policy - must admit the web site isn't exactly clear it just says 'subject to fair use', I'm not sure about the Orange offer. As you say using even 1Gb is unlikely!

Richard