Upgrading contract, choosing a new phone, vs switching networks

[Guest orangephone]

*actually I'm posting this on behalf of someone but we have the same contract

I have been with orange for nearly 2 years now, on a £15 a month contract (or just under).

At the time it was the best contract because previously I was on Orage pay as you go. I was a frequent user of magic numbers and although other networks like o2 had unlimited calls to the same network as an option on some of their tariffs, they had a limit to 3000 minutes per month as I knew someone who would use that and would get texts from 02 saying we have a fair usage policy. I never experienced this with Orange, and since pay as you go was working out expensive, I switched to pay monthly and never had a problem (needed the magic number).

Anyway so contract ends in February although upgrade time has now arrived.

I have really wanted a phone like a HTC Desire for months now, and although I recently purchased the Orange San Francisco, I really would like a phone like the HTC or a Samsung or a Windows Phone.

At £15 per month I can get something like 100 minutes and unlimited texts (I don't really use the minutes) or 50 minutes, unlimited texts and 250mb internet. I think 250mb s a good enough amount. I need texts and magic number, and internet would be a good option because of moving onto a different type of phone.

At the same time giffgaff seems good because you get unlimited texts, internet, and calls to giffgaff. It's great. But won't get a phone. I would go for the £10 a month goody bag option.

Okay now moving on, I can either get an android or a windows phone or not go with the contract at all and try and get a phone separately and go with giffgaff. I don't know how to work out what's cheaper though. I can upgrade, then in a couple of months time give the contract sim to a friend, then switch to giffgaff myself, whilst keeping the upgrade phone, as in a few months time I won't need to use magic numbers/unlimited calls to same network anymore.

So with my orange upgrade I can get a £15 a month contract and the following phones at the price stated next to it:

HTC 7 Mozart £1 1 9 . 9 9

Samsung Omnia 7 £1 6 9 . 9 9

HTC Desire HD £1 6 9 . 9 9

There are other phones like Blackberry but not really interested in them. I guess I could sell my Orange san Francsco too as it's brand new and I've been using my relative's one.

[Guest orangephone]

Any ideas? :P

[Guest oliphillips]

Any ideas? :P

2 really good sim only deals that may be useful to you, no contract:

Tesco: £10/month, 500mins, 3000 Texts, 500mb Internet

giffgaff: £10/month, 250mins, Unlimited Texts, Unlimited Internet

Then you could sell your San Fran for about £100 on ebay (If you unlock it) and then buy an unlocked Desire for around £250

Edited November 29, 2010 by oliphillips

[Guest orangephone]

2 really good sim only deals that may be useful to you, no contract:

Tesco: £10/month, 500mins, 3000 Texts, 500mb Internet

giffgaff: £10/month, 250mins, Unlimited Texts, Unlimited Internet

Then you could sell your San Fran for about £100 on ebay (If you unlock it) and then buy an unlocked Desire for around £250

Thank you for your reply.

I prefer the gffgaff deal.

I have read that the Desire has rebooting issues which is very common and that it is a long process to get it fixed (having to contact HTC etc.)

Would I be able to get something like the Desire Z for the same price?

[Guest oliphillips]

No, it is usually about £70 - £100 more.

Check ebay for unlocked phones, but try to find Buy It Now options selling brand new ones, and look for good feedback / powerseller.

It is really worth it though doing it this way. Just spending a little more, but this way not tieing you into 24 months contract. I mean I don't know why everyone gets these expensive contracts, it is basically just getting a loan out. The phone companies call it an "upgrade", but it's just taking another loan out with them!

Also the 30 day deal is great because for example, I just recently signed up to the tesco deal. I thought it was unbeatable, then a few weeks later I see the giffgaff deal. So next month gonna change over to that. A new, better, offer comes out all the time, so it's great to have the freedom to be able to change whenever.