Looking for a pay as you go phone for roughly £200

Soldato
Joined
24 Jul 2004
Posts
5,565
Hi,

I just need a bit of help finding the right phone for me, there's so much to choose from and so many different and contradictive reviews it's quite hard to decide on what to get.

I have had a look at a few samsung phones, but as i was looking i soon discovered i had no idea if that phone was good or not.

I know the best way is to go into a phone shop and have a look like that, but for now (as i havn't got time to look at phones now) i'm just looking for a bit of help finding a phone best for me, these are the types of things i'm looking out for in it:

1) Can't be too big, needs to fit comfortably in jean pocket

2) Pretty robust, my phone get's bumped and dropped, knocked out the floor and so on, so i'll need a phone that can take 1 or 2 knocks.

3) Media orientated - i'll be using this phone for entertainment as well, so i'll need something that can play music, take videos, play videos, play real tunes, games etc etc and connect to my PC easily and be easy to upgrade the memory to something like 2 gigs.

4) Reliable - i don't want a phone that will give up on me, EG me having to hard reboot it, i know a lot of hardware that has this problem including many PDAs. And it needs to have good sound and a decent signal.

5) Looks - i'd like the phone to look smart, not tacky and not cheap and plasticy. (Preferably flip phone or slide??? (is it called slide? heh) But not too bothered)

My budget is £200 i think i'll make it, no more though.

As i said i'll be going into a phone shop soon, but i'd like to know what i should look out for before i actually go and shop.

Thanks.
 
I'd had my Nokia 6233 for a few days now and I have to say it's one of the best phones they've released recently. Just a pity it's currently £15 over your budget :( It's very well build (with a tough/solid stainless steel frame), is reasonably sized, has a 2mp camera which can take video at 640x480 15fps, nice 320x240 screen, has expandably memory so can do all those things such as play video, MP3s etc. It has stereo speakers so your music/videos will sound good even without headphones. And, it doesn't look tacky and feels very nice in the hand.

6233.jpg

62332.jpg
 
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Hmm thanks guys, had a look around but can't find the w800i as pay as you go?

The d600 looks good but it's out of stock, any decent online places i can loook at for pay as you go phones?
 
You probably already know but, you can get a contract for around £19 a month and then pretty much any phone you want for free. Works out cheaper than PAYG in the long run...if you want to commit to a contract that is...

I only transfered to a contract a few years ago as I never knew where I was going to be living- Europe or UK- so the freedom of PAYG was great.
 
Youstolemyname said:
You probably already know but, you can get a contract for around £19 a month and then pretty much any phone you want for free. Works out cheaper than PAYG in the long run...if you want to commit to a contract that is...

I only transfered to a contract a few years ago as I never knew where I was going to be living- Europe or UK- so the freedom of PAYG was great.


Being a student with no real continuous income i think i should stick to pay as you go for now, but i see exactly where your coming from as there are a lot of amazing deals out there on a contract.


bump
 
Including some completely free (over the minimum term) deals on a contract - look on places like E2Save. Potentially risky because of claiming cashback, but worth it if you manage to get a phone and 12 months line rental for free.
 
Im in the same situation i know nothing about phones and this will be my first one and i think its about time i get one.
I want pay as you go and this what i have found:
nokia 6280

So what do your think is it good :confused: :)

Also what network should i go for im being told to go with vodafone or orange whats the difference.
 
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mrochester said:
I'd had my Nokia 6233 for a few days now and I have to say it's one of the best phones they've released recently. Just a pity it's currently £15 over your budget :( It's very well build (with a tough/solid stainless steel frame), is reasonably sized, has a 2mp camera which can take video at 640x480 15fps, nice 320x240 screen, has expandably memory so can do all those things such as play video, MP3s etc. It has stereo speakers so your music/videos will sound good even without headphones. And, it doesn't look tacky and feels very nice in the hand.

6233.jpg

62332.jpg


Its cureently £199.99 on O2 PAYG from the o2 shop :)
 
If you dont mind buying from auction sites then you could quite possibly get a Sony Ericsson K800i for around £200 ..

I got mine for £220 last month
 
bakes0310 said:
Im in the same situation i know nothing about phones and this will be my first one and i think its about time i get one.
I want pay as you go and this what i have found:
nokia 6280

So what do your think is it good :confused: :)

Also what network should i go for im being told to go with vodafone or orange whats the difference.

hmm well if at all possible then try and get a few friends with different network operators to come round and check what kind of coverage they get around your house

No point having a phone + network with really poor coverage in your house rendering it unusable.

I had great Vodafone + O2 coverage up in Aberdeen.
When I was in Coventry I had very patchy O2 coverage but great Vodafone coverage
When I'm in Winchester I have poor Vodafone coverage (In quite a few places round Winchester) but great O2 coverage
 
I think i dont have that problem really so it doesnt matter but i think the best one is orange or vodaphone, but ill figure that out later.
But in the meantime is that phone i mentioned any good :)
 
Thinking about a Nokia 6233 (Black) SIM free myself.

Retail is now ~ £190.00. Ebay is nearer £160.00. Plus delivery.
 
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