phones

[erilyn]

I'm thinking of finally getting a real phone plan (I've only ever used prepaid) and a decent phone. I'm not looking at spending big amounts per month, so am checking out some of the cheaper caps.

Does anyone have network and/or plan recs (or anti-recs), or tips on things I should be on the lookout for? Ditto for phones, my current one is an el cheapo since I bought it upfront :)

Comments

[alasen.livejournal.com]

iPHONE!!!!!!

Prior to iphone I have had sony ericssons, so has my brother and my mum. I find that a lot of people are all "nokia nokia nokia" but i find their menus extremely confusing, and the erricsons work better with mac anyway. I was with telstra for nearly 10 years, switched to optus for a better iphone plan (which now that telstra has better plans i might not have done again). I didn't have 3g with telstra before so i wasn't using it all that much, but there's quite a few optus blackspots on the train and in underground stations.

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

The iphone will probably be out of the price range I'm considering, alas :)

My current phone is an Ericcson, and I quite like the menus (but it's an el cheapo, so I try not to assume the issues I have it with it would mean I wouldn't like other ones *g*).

[fadedsouls.livejournal.com]

I don't know about plans, but I totally recommend any recent Samsung or LG phone. :)

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)

[fadedsouls.livejournal.com]

No problem. I´m currently drooling over a Samsung myself. The SGH-U900 Soul. Ahhhh. I really want that one, but right now it´s a bit too expencive for me.

[musicdiamond.livejournal.com]

I would say you should decide what sort of features you actually care about in plans--that is, what do you want in a phone. Is style and aesthetics important to you? If yes, you might want to hit up some of the local Sprint/Cingular/etc stores in your area and take a look in person at the various phone models they have.

Then there's functionality of the phone: do you want all the bells and whistles, or is all you care about that it makes calls in and out. Do you care if you can access the internet or not? Email sync? Do you want GPS? Google maps? Windows Mobile? Do you want it to be a full service PDA and calendar for you? Do you want a touch screen? Do you want a QWERTY keypad or is the old fashioned set of keys okay for you? Related to that--do you want unlimited texting, or do you not text message at all? Do you want a lot of minutes or do you only use your phone in emergencies? Do you want free nights/weekends, or do you not care?

It's a lot of questions to ask yourself but I think once you have the answers and an idea of exactly what you're looking for, you'll have a much better time of finding a plan that meets your expectations. There are literally a million plans out there that come with a million phone models and features, and you want to make sure that the money you're paying goes towards benefits you actually care about. Or, hey, maybe you don't have much use for a fancy schmancy phone, and if you could buy a plastic foam cup that let you communicate through a string to your friends, that's what you would get.

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) I know there are a lot of things to consider, I've been doing some research into plans, and it's because of the huge amount of choices that I was asking people if they had any advice like "3 is a crap network" or "steer clear of Nokia model xyz phones".

Pssst - I know it's still generally applicable whatever the stores, but "Sprint/Cingular" mention made me lol because so not relevant in Australia.

[musicdiamond.livejournal.com]

Ah, well, as far as specific advice goes--I have the Motorola Q and while I like the features, the battery life is about 3 hours and change. Which is a huge problem for me.

As far as the stores go--I knew there would be a risk with my international friends that neither Sprint nor Cingular would be applicable in a particular country, and I was trying to wrack my brain for more international brands but couldn't up with any. But, y'know, US-centric brands notwithstanding, I think the advice still works ;)

[indybrat.livejournal.com]

Telstra did have one of the Samsungs free on a $20 plan recently. Not sure if it's still on. It's pretty much the same phone as I have except it doesn't have video calling. IIRC you had to sign up on a $20 p/m plan for 2 years but you got the handset free. Prior to my samsung I always had Nokie, but I would recomend the samsung as I haven't had any problems with it.

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

That's always useful to hear, thank you! :)

some suggestions

[kittykatz.livejournal.com]

I think it depends on what sort of calls you want to make, like are you wanting to text lots or make calls to people on specific networks. Optus has this thing where you can nominate 5 people with optus numbers and you can call them for free for 5 mins per call. the other bonus they had that was good was you could make free calls between 8-12 for 20 mins free. the only negative I've found is you usually have to pay a fee for the phone each month on the lower plans. I am currently with them on a $49 cap and that really works for me.

I would also recommend the 3 network because they are doing quite good deals with $0 handsets. bonus from what I've found is you get certain amount of calls to 3 network users for free.

I saw further down the comment list that someone recommended you the telstra $20 phone plan. You only get $15 calls included per month and the call rates are one of the highest. I wouldn't recommend it unless you only want it for people to call you. which then means you should stick to prepaid. while I was working there, I saw quite a fair amount of people who would get the lowest plan and keep going over month after month. definitely not the most worthwhile.

Re: some suggestions

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the info! I'm still checking things out, leaning towards a $30 cap, but trying to pick between a couple of the companies cause they're quite similar. Need to go look at some phones in person and decide which one I like :)

Re: some suggestions

[kittykatz.livejournal.com]

No probs, I think a cap is definitely a sensible way to go.

TOTALLY Random

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you've seen it yet or not, but the newest Don Strachey movie has come out and I uploaded it to my Mediafire account. You can find the links, etc in my post here,

*skips away*

Re: TOTALLY Random

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I have got it, but I haven't watched it, or the third one yet, I kinda suck :(

Re: TOTALLY Random

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

*gasp* wait, isn't Ice Blues the third one? Or is this the fourth and I missed the third?

Now I'm confused. lol

ETA:
Crap! this IS #4!! So does this mean you have On the other Hand, Death ???

Re: TOTALLY Random

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

Check your lj email ;)

Re: TOTALLY Random

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

I got it. Thank you!