which mobile phone?

[janglebells2013]

my blackberry o2 contract is up this month. i have an excellent deal - 500 anytime any network minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited internet and downloads, for £25 a month.

but i can't afford to keep this up, i want around £10 a month. i only use about 250 mins, and i can even reduce this to 200 if needed. i don't send loads of texts, and i do use the internet, i have seen phones with 500mb and 250mb....does anyone know how many hours of internet a month a day this would actually provide? i guess i would like about half an hour to an hour a day. i don't need to download stuff.

anyway - i was looking in tesco and the guy told me i could get a galaxy mini for £12.50 a month. with roughly everything i need. so im thinking of this, or of just getting a new sim for my blackberry, but im getting fed up with the phone to be honest, its so slow. i really don't mind though cos im not in the place to choose... just need low cost.

so does anyone know what the cheapest deals are? on a side note, i mostly ring 02, but i do need anytime any network and landline minutes, as i don't use my house phone.

[RedHelenB]

Carphone warehouse were doing deals for 7 pound 50 a month,have a look on their website.

[Fluffycloudland77]

The internet useage is a how long is a piece of string question, eg if you want to watch youtube or download music or video files while you are out then you may have trouble, but if you just want to MN or check email then 250 should be ok.

Most phones have an online management facility so you can check how much you have used each day.

If you register with topcashback.co.uk you can get cashback on the package. Quidco do some good deals too but charge £5 a year out of the cashback you earn but if they are offereing £20 say more than topcashback then you're still £15 better off iyswim.

I got a sony smartphone for £7.50 a month, I forget how much calls etc but I only go over if I ring a 0845 number which I try to avoid. One month it was £9.50 due to a 0845 number but that was all my own fault.

I had £60 cashback with it.

It took me a couple of weeks to get used to it but I can mumsnet and use all the apps I had on the iphone

[Fluffycloudland77]

EG this phone would probably give you everything you need and you'd get £50.50 cashback from topcashback.

The top deal is the best value one, I'm with talkmobile, they piggyback on Vodafones network so on DH's phone it comes up as Vodafone but says Talkmobile on mine.

[janglebells2013]

that looks a brill deal, thanks very much for the info. i wonder why o2 is so much more expensive, do you think its to do with the area? i am worried if i get it it won't work in my area. they said there is no 4g in my area.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Well, 4G isnt working out as they planned according to something I watched the other night, so slow even email isn't coming through.

Because Talkmobile piggybacks on vodafone they have lower overheads, if you can get vodafone then you can get talkmobile. Vodafone are meant to have the best coveridge in the UK.

Plus they are doing lower priced deals to get market share. You would have to order the phone online and then pick it up but I did that and it was there ready and waiting for me. Course I waited until a Sunday so I got free parking too . You have to take the debit card you use online to set the direct debit up with to the store for security reasons.

DH wouldnt do the cashback thing as he wanted to buy his phone from a face, we have the same phone, but he was when my cashback came through.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Cannot spell coveridge, coverage?

[janglebells2013]

ok... that sounds really good. i do use quidco but i think you can get a free handset with the deals i want anyway... i am not fussed about a really good fun to pay more for so i don't think i could get cashback.

its really between this and tesco. tesco actually use 02 network so i know for sure i have coverage. im in northern ireland. probably vodafone would be fine too, but im not certain and i don;t want the hassle of ordering a free sim card to check. maybe i should just take the risk. these deals are better than tesco! but the other thing is at least with tesco i have a walk in store that can help me if i need customer service. i have noone to help me with this kind of thing and am pretty rubbish with phones...!

ill have a wee think about it all ....

[janglebells2013]

thanks :)

[AntoinetteCosway]

I'm planning to switch to GiffGaff once my contract's up. It's a monthly rolling contract so you're not tied in, cheap as chips and apparently has good customer service. Sim is free and you need your own phone.

[Droop]

Try here link you can get 300 minutes and unlimited text messages for £7.50 with an optional £2.50 extra for 250GB of data.

It's just a one-month rolling contract.

[RedHelenB]

Giff Gaff annoy me with all their emails!!!