Portable Telephone Advice

[RossJarvis]

Well then, my £9.99 portable phone from Tesco, which turns itself off if I put it in a pocket (not really a problem for me, just everyone else). Has really got to go. As I try not to use such devices, I wasn't much worried, but trying to get a doctors appointment yesterday cost me 5 quid and the b****y credit ran out before I could talk to anyone.

I think it may be worth buying a "smartphone" wot gets my emails and can look things up on Google, but I really haven't a clue. Is it possible to buy a phone outright for less than 100 quid, have a pay as you go tariff which doesn't cost £1 per nanosecond, and tie in with my iCloud email and will help me surf the interweb?

Having a camera attached would be nice too, I prefer Fujifilm over Kodak, but collodion plates may suffice!

Nice replies please for a complete ignoramus in words of one syllable or less.

PS. Apparently the network needs to be "3", what-ever that is, as no-one else's radio waves are big enough to get to where I work.

As an aside, my ex wife spent a lot of time complaining about me refusing to own such a device. Her main argument was "how on earth can I talk to you when you're out?", she wasn't too chuffed with my reply of "well what's the point of going out then?'.

 

[mseries]

yes it's possible. Not sure about the *3* aspect of your requirement but certainly one can get a smart phone for less than £100. My Hauwei G300 was £100 on Vodaphone, I had it rooted and unlocked so I use it on Giffgaff which isn't very expensive on PAYG. My wifes Samsung Galaxy Y cost us £50 on O2 - it's aimed at young people as a first smart phone but it does calls, texts emails adequately.

 

[RossJarvis]

Ta mseries

 

[Jonzjob]

When I needed to change I eventually finished up with a Motorola MotoG. More than £100, but worth it for me, I think? I too am a complete numpty when it comes to mobile phones and got a very funny look when I tried to get a phone without a camera. I explained that I had a good camera that took good photos but was a waste of time when I tried to call anyone on it. So I wanted a phone that you could actually make calls on.

The French don't seem to share my sense of humour at times :? :?

I don't know if there's an equivalent in the U.K., but I have a Free sim card, they're not free by the way, that's the company name if you get my drift? It costs me 2€ a month and gives me 2 hours of French calls and all the texts I want. After the 2 hours it's a pay as you go type thingy, but as I rarely get past 2 minutes or so I don't know what the calls would cost?

If there's something like that for you it would be well worth it..

 

[petermillard]

Motorola Moto E, £50 from Tesco or about £70 unlocked from Amazon. Be aware this is for last-year's 3G model - there's a newer one available for about £100 if you need & can access the 4G networks.

I have one as a family back up phone, and have bought a couple as gifts - simple enough for my 90-year old father to use

HTH Pete

 

[artie]

I just bought a new Samsung S3 mini for under £80. It has more features than I will ever use, and it was unlocked, so I can use it on any network.

I then put my three PAYG sim in it. I have the "321" deal which charges me 3p per minute for calls, 2p per text and 1p per mb download.

http://www.three.co.uk/Store/Pay_As_You ... s&aidset=1

If anyone has a better deal than this I would like to know about it.

 

[RobinBHM]

Moto G is a great budget smartphone, I have one and find it has excellent reception, it holds onto a signal even when quite weak.

My wife has the Samsung Galaxy S3 mini, and is very pleased with it.

I think the 3 network has now bought O2, although I believe 3 has always been a virtual network actually using O2 masts.

 

[artie]

I think the 3 network has now bought O2, although I believe 3 has always been a virtual network actually using O2 masts.

It's a bit of a con, the phone networks, like many other services, give the illusion of choice.

When I first found out about the 123 plan on three everyone I asked said 3 had poor coverage.

At the time I was on Orange and had been for years. So I bought a 3 sim for 99p and put it in a different phone.

For a while I carried both phones and checked the signal in various places I visited. I couldn't see much difference anywhere I went, so decided to move to three. 3p per minute v 65p on Orange.

A few weeks later while reading something online I discovered that 3 and orange have a mast sharing agreement, so their coverage is identical.

 

[doctor Bob]

It's a fad, those portable telephone thingys will never catch on, mark my words.................

 

[artie]

It's a fad, those portable telephone thingys will never catch on, mark my words.................

Late 80s, early 90s an older friend explained to me that they were of no practical use, just an executive toy.

 

[mseries]

If iCloud is Apple then maybe an iPhone will be easiest. Don't think you'll get one of those for less than £100. Does iCloud email work with normal IMAP/SMTP ? Just something to look out for

 

[RogerS]

Here's my take (from an ex-techie-luddite-assembler-programmer-technophobe).

Camera's useful. If you're 'into' photos then you may be disappointed with the results of cheaper cameras. But if all you want to do is take a few convenience photos then they all work just fine.

Using the tiny screen for web browsing is useless IMO unless you have a site specifically designed for mobiles. But even then the type font on the screen with my aged eyes makes reading something to be avoided. There are Apps such as Tapatalk that let you browse forums like UKW in a way that is reformatted to suit mobile screens and they are pretty good.

Emails are useful....but same thing applied re font size. Zooming into the screen and then swiping the screen from side to side to read the email is right PITA.

There are many many Apps (many free) out there which are absolutely brilliant to use. For example, First Great Western have an App that lets you track any specific train's journey. So when I am waiting in the pub having a pint prior to collecting SWMBO off the Paddington train, if it is held up anywhere I can easily see it and so decide if I have time for another pint!

EDIT: You mention iCloud. To sync with that you will need to use an iPhone. But...A big BUT...you will find that some of the older iPhones (secondhand) may not support the version of iOS that is needed to sync to iCloud. You'd need to check. iPhones are expensive and not in your £100 budget.

It also sounds as if you are on PAYG and not monthly contract. Using data and all things gizmo will cost you a fortune using PAYG, I would suggest. You need to ask yourself just how important is it to be able to join the cast of thousands for whom the rest of the world does not exist as they march down the centre of the pavement with their eyes glued to the tiny screen oblivious to the world around them and expecting people to get out of their way (I don't).

 

[mseries]

even PAYG phones with high data cost are likely to work and be free when on wifi. Useful for checking email at home

 

[RogerS]

even PAYG phones with high data cost are likely to work and be free when on wifi. Useful for checking email at home

Surely if you are at home then using a decent size screen is better for checking emails? Or are smartphones for couch potatoes !!

 

[mseries]

even PAYG phones with high data cost are likely to work and be free when on wifi. Useful for checking email at home

Surely if you are at home then using a decent size screen is better for checking emails? Or are smartphones for couch potatoes !!

It's faster for me to use my phone, saves getting the laptop out, powering it up etc. and if there are no new messages, then that's it. My point was really about smart phones being useful (on wifi) even if you don't want to pay data charges. Another example is photos+flickr. The WIP photos I posted were taken with my smart phone, then I uploaded to flickr using the flickr app and my wifi - in my garage. Or email them to the wife using wifi so she can download them to her PC. Saves messing around with wires, bluetooth pairing, directories.

 

[JohnPW]

I just bought a new Samsung S3 mini for under £80. It has more features than I will ever use, and it was unlocked, so I can use it on any network.

I then put my three PAYG sim in it. I have the "321" deal which charges me 3p per minute for calls, 2p per text and 1p per mb download.

http://www.three.co.uk/Store/Pay_As_You ... s&aidset=1

If anyone has a better deal than this I would like to know about it.

If you've already got a phone and you're a low to medium (amounts of minutes and data) user, then Three payg is absolutly the best deal!

I was on Vodafone payg before changing to Three, calls were 25p per min! God knows what the data prices were, I never dared to use it.

 

[petermillard]

You mention iCloud. To sync with that you will need to use an iPhone...

No, you can set up iCloud email on an Android device manually - had mine synching with the Moto E and a Galaxy Note, no problems with either device. If the OP doesn't already have one they'll need a Gmail address for an Android phone, of course...

Pete

 

[RogerS]

Ah thanks for that Peter. Have to confess that as I typed it I did think that that might be the case but too lazy to check!

 

[RogerS]

Does it depend on what version of Android?

 

[petermillard]

Does it depend on what version of Android?

Don't think so - I was using 4.1 and 4.4 I think - but iCloud is standard IMAP and SMTP email so setting it up was just a question of tracking down the server names/addresses and mucking about with port Nos. - like we used to do in the old days, lol!

I don't disagree with the overall sentiment though - if you're an iCloud & Mac user then an iPhone would be the easy option, just not the cheapest; you pays your money & all that...

Cheers, Pete