SF - total cost of ownership per year?

[Guest seg]

Hi all,

I am in the market for a new phone (current contract expires in Dec) and like most of you I have been quite excited about the San Francisco as a 'budget' entry level Android phone. I was doing some maths on the total cost of ownership over 2 years, and I found that there are 'better' deals (on paper) out there - for example:

SF £89.99 (assumes £20 discount)

Tesco £10 pcm x 24 months = £240 (that's the cheapest data tariff I have found)

so £330 over 2 years or £165 per year over 2 years

Compare this with the deal from mobiles.com (the carphone warehouse on-line outlet) for an LG Optimus: 14 months free (by rebate) on the Orange dolphin 25, and a free phone - works out £125 per year over 2 years.

Is the SF such a better phone to justify the higher cost? The specs of the 2 phones seem comparable (with the exception of the screen resolution where the SF is better)

Your views would be greatly appreciated,

seg

Edited November 4, 2010 by seg

[Guest Gibbo501]

Surely it all depends on your usage. I for instance put on a tenner with Orange every two months.

Not only that but I don't want to be tied into a 2 year contract just for a phone.

[Guest oldmanhouse]

Redemption deals will usually be cheaper but it depends on if you jump through all their hoops and they actually pay out your cashback.

The obvious difference is that when you take a phone+SIM contract, they're always 18 or 24 months. Do you really want the same phone for all that time? If you buy a SF and get bored of it after a few months, you can just sell it and buy a new phone - no waiting around.

[Guest Azurren]

Buy the SF: £89.99 (assumes £20 discount)

Unlock: Under £2

Buy a T-Mobile 3g sim: £1 or free

Buy a "6 months internet": £20 x 2 = £40 (3gb per month)

(1 Year Oh and don't but it all at once :))

+A topup every now and then.. £30? (I don't text I gTalk.. I don't phone much either I Voip)

First year: £161.99

Every year thereafter: £70

Edited November 4, 2010 by Azurren

[Guest seg]

Surely it all depends on your usage. I for instance put on a tenner with Orange every two months.

Not only that but I don't want to be tied into a 2 year contract just for a phone.

Hi Gibbo501,

I have made the assumption (based on what I read in discussions here) that with an Android phone you will *probably* need an allowance of 500MB of data per month (for browsing, e-mails, A-GPS & Navigation etc). This is why I picked the 2 tariffs in my example above.

How much data allowance do you get on Orange for a tenner every 2 months? I couldn't see anything in their web site.

seg

[Guest Afrodude]

Why don't you just get the Samsung Tocco with 23 months free? Sell it to CEX, get some TopCashback, keep the SF.

You can make a profit overall this way - simples.

[Guest seg]

Buy the SF: £89.99 (assumes £20 discount)

Unlock: Under £2

Buy a T-Mobile 3g sim: £1 or free

Buy a "6 months internet": £20 x 4 = £80 (3gb per month)

(2 Years Oh and don't but it all at once :))

+A topup every now and then.. £30? (I don't text I gTalk.. I don't phone much either I Voip)

Now that's a crafty plan... :-)

Thanks for that - I must look into this T-Mobile sim; How does it work - do you buy the "internet" part separately from the normal top-up then? (sorry if that's a trivial question - perhaps I should just go and look it up at the t-mobile site)

Thanks,

seg

[Guest Azurren]

Now that's a crafty plan... :-)

Thanks for that - I must look into this T-Mobile sim; How does it work - do you buy the "internet" part separately from the normal top-up then? (sorry if that's a trivial question - perhaps I should just go and look it up at the t-mobile site)

Thanks,

seg

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/services/payg/boosters/

I've edited my post.. I fail at maths :)

But this way you don't have to jump through hoops to get your cash back and get a good provider :)

And with the network merge you can use Orange 2g towers too

Edited November 4, 2010 by Azurren

[Guest ri4z]

my 2 pennies worth...

I reckon £40 extra a year is worth the removal of cashback/redemption pain. I've had so much hassle in the past with getting the cashback on such deals and wouldn't want to risk going through that again.

Also, if an even better sim only deal comes along over the next two years you could move from tesco, you obviously can't do that if you're on a two year contract.

[Guest monkeyfeatures]

You also have to consider calculating the monthly top-up as part of a total cost of ownership isn't really accurate - because you aren't obliged to top up.

The SF is yours right there and then. If a shiny new phone comes out in a few months you are free to buy that without penalty and keep the SF as a spare/toy without any further monthly charges.

With a contract you have to keep that handset for the 2 years, even when it's getting old and boring and keep paying even when the phone breaks. If you want to quit early you have to give the phone back and/or pay a hefty penalty. If a new plan comes out where you can pay £20 a year for unlimited data you can't jump over to it because you've signed a contract with the other guys.

Not to mention the SF seems to be scoring better in benchmarks than a lot of phones 3 times the price :)

[Guest seekr]

I got mine for £99.99, unlocked it (£4) and I am on a £10 goodiebag from Giff Gaff: no contract, unlimited data, 150min, unlimited texts, unlimited giffgaff calls. If I don't topup or get a goodie bag everymonth I still get cheap (8p & 4p) calls and text to whoever and free internet. Although I think the free internet on non-goodiebags will go away at some point.

[Guest seg]

Lots of very good points in all the replies - thanks a lot guys (and gals?) - there were a few options there I had not thought of.

Many thanks,

seg

[Guest Stuart_f]

I'm just lazy but I have mine on £15 T-Mobile sim with 350mins, 350 texts and a flexible booster. I only have to give a month's notice to leave and I've managed to keep the only web'n'walk plus (3GB) so I can put the booster on unlimited landline calls.

There are probably cheaper ways to do this but the convienence of a contract that I don't have to remember to top-up wins for me.

[Guest tdodd]

I paid £83 for mine, plus £1.85 to unlock. I'm on GiffGaff, currently topping up at the rate of around £10 every six months while the free data offer lasts. Once that's over I'll pay £10 a month for a Goody Bag with unlimited data. I'd end up paying at least that regardless of which phone I have, and to pay just £85 to upgrade from my five year old Windows Mobile phone, with no further commitments, seemed like an excellent deal to me. No aggro, no hoops. Just great value.

I've used redemption deals in the past, many years ago, but these days the multiple redemption points just seem farcical. I'll stick with a straight, honest, simple, foolproof deal with no strings.

The other deals I was looking at when I bought the San Fran were at least £25 per month (HTC Desire), with no redemption, although perhaps with a little cash back, but probably totalling at least £560 over two years and with a 1GB data limit. My San Fran deal should work out at no more than £305 over the first two years of ownership, given my first two months are essentially free, just using up old credit from the £10 opening top up when I first joined GiffGaff back in May.

[Guest UncleFista]

Tesco mobile are doing a SIM on a rolling 1 month contract, for £10 pm which includes;

500 mins

3000 texts

500Mb data

Coupled with a £90 phone, you can't get much cheaper :)

[Guest jimmy2x2x]

Tesco mobile are doing a SIM on a rolling 1 month contract, for £10 pm which includes;

500 mins

3000 texts

500Mb data

Coupled with a £90 phone, you can't get much cheaper :)

I was on a rolling contract with Virgin, told them I was considering changing to the above from Tesco

they offered me this to stay with them:

800 mins cross network

3000 Texts

1gb Data

Unlimited virgin to virgin calls

30 day rolling contract

£10 pcm (Seems like a great deal, so I stayed with them)

+

£111 (phone + unlocking)

=

£231 for the year with a very generous amount of everything per month

30 days notice to cancel the contract

can sell/replace the phone any time I like.

For me, it was an easy decision as I was already on a rolling 30 day contract and I was looking for a decent cheapish handset.

I have been locked into contracts before and I wouldn't do it again.

For the price I paid, I am amazed by the OSF.

Edited November 5, 2010 by jimmy2x2x

[Guest seg]

£10 pcm (Seems like a great deal, so I stayed with them)

+

£111 (phone + unlocking)

=

£231 for the year with a very generous amount of everything per month

30 days notice to cancel the contract

can sell/replace the phone any time I like.

...but then in your first year you have paid *almost* as much as the whole 2 year contract for the LG Optimus (which is £250 for 2 years). Add the £120 for the second year, your cost is £351.

So unless the SF is *sooo* much better, does the one year rolling contract advantage alone justify the extra £101??

This is the question I raised in my original (first) post.

And of course, I know it's a matter of preference or opinion, but it's an interesting discussion..:-)

seg

[Guest jimmy2x2x]

For me, Its all down to commitment, I like the flexibility of the owning the handset and having a 30 day cancellation period.

[Guest socialworker]

So unless the SF is *sooo* much better, does the one year rolling contract advantage alone justify the extra £101??

The SF is *sooo* much better.

320x480 resistive LCD vs 800x480 capacitive OLED makes all the difference.

Edited November 5, 2010 by socialworker

[Guest misterLjay]

SF's a great bargain.

Edited November 5, 2010 by misterLjay

[Guest RottenFoxBreath]

The SF is *sooo* much better.

320x480 resistive LCD vs 800x480 capacitive OLED makes all the difference.

Agreed, the GT540 is rubbish compared to the SF.

I used to own a GT540, and couldn't wait to get rid of it.

Not only does it have a resistive screen, and far less internal memory than the SF, but it's screen cannot be seen outdoors virtually, and the edges of the screen are unresponsive, IMO.

its small, granted, for those that want a small phone, but when you compare the 2 side by side, the SF is the better phone.

Not only that, but I bet the GT540 will be unceremoniously dumped by LG when they release a new phone, going by their past track record.

[Guest legolamb]

I got mine as a interim phone before I committed myself to a contract, but now I've got it I love the phone, managed to get a 12month contract sim with T-Mobile 600 mins 500 txt and 3G internet for £7.50 a month, I'll see what's about at the end of My 12 months.

[Guest Azurren]

About data:

100mb/m: A con, used to make you pay extra per mb (No sync, weather or news for you)

500mb/m same as above, way to low!

1gb/m: The bare minimum (If you don't watch videos you can get away with this)

3gb/m: T-Mobile If you go over you don't have to pay extra! (Number one for android phones)

You should take that into consideration. Remember that a single youtube / iPlayer video can be over 100mb!

[Guest Andy Maclean]

Personally I'd steer clear of redemption deals. You have to post your bill off to mobiles.co.uk 5 times over the 24 months and there are lots of ways to lose your cash back. For example, if you change your tariff before month 18, disconnect your contract because your phone was stolen, accidentally send the wrong bill. http://www.mobiles.co.uk/cashback.html

I'm on a 12 month sim only deal from Vodafone.

600 minutes

Unlimited Texts

1GB Data

1GB Wifi with BT OpenZone

For £20 a month and if you use quidco you can get £100 cash back. I did have to wait around 90 days to get the cash from quidco, but at least I didn't have to do anything to get it.

Phone:

£109

-£5 voucher

-£12 quidco

+£1.50 unlock

= £93.50

Tariff:

£20 x 12 - £100 = £140 (£11.66 per month)

First year total: £233.50

Second year total: £140 (If you chose to go with the same contract)

£186.75 per year

Admittedly this is more then both the deals you pointed out in your original post but...

I paid more for the handset.

You get twice as many minutes and data.

You get a wifi hotspot data package (not amazingly useful)

You are on a better network.

You don't have to jump through hoops to get your money back.

You get an ace phone!

Cheers,

Andy

[Guest bigjonnyauk]

well i already have a cheapy phone with a 3g o2 sim in which i have to pay 15 per month anyway as i have o2 family

this gives unlimted calss to members of group and also unlim texts and 500 meg data a month

so for me its buy phone and unlock 2 quid then put sim in job done :)