Go To Latest Video ReviewsPAYG iPhone Launch Date Announced
| Author | Gordon Kelly |
| Published | 1st Sep 2008 |
Comments for PAYG iPhone Launch Date Announced
ChaosDefinesOrder said on 1st September 2008
Gordon said on 1st September 2008
@ChaosDefinesOrder - quite obviously as opposed to an iPhone which has even taken the time to have PAYG settings put into it!
Greg said on 2nd September 2008
Complete ripoff like all PAYG. And you can't even unlock it...
Stelph said on 2nd September 2008
Correct me if im wrong but in theory you could buy this for £349 and then take out the online 30 simplicity contract and itd work with this phone even if unlocked. Simplicity online 30 is currently £20 a month (down from £25 a month) with 500mins and 1000texts and one bolt on (i.e. unlimited web) and you're not tied into an 18month contract...
A much better option in my opinion, especially if you are going to go over the 500txts a month that comes with the iPhone contracts....
Greg said on 2nd September 2008
Ssshh - don't look too closely for solutions like this that might get in the way of iPhone worship...
Oliver Levett said on 2nd September 2008
So, £399, with out a contract, for a limited, media centric device, which has a SIM lock...
An HTC Diamond, without SIM lock, and without a contract can be got for less than that! And, within two days of SIM locked HTC Diamonds being released, there was a (free to nice people) SIM unlocker for it courtesy of Olipro and Cmonex at XDA-Developers - the same pair that have made it possible to flash custom ROMs to the devices to make them even more powerful!
A Raphael can be got for not much more than that, and that's including the price of a 16GB micro SD card!
Now can you see why people say it's a rip off?
Oliver Levett said on 2nd September 2008
And, how many WM devices are there that sell for more than £400?
I can think of:
HTC Shift - that's more of a laptop anyway
HTC Raphael - the best device out there, so it's worth the cost.
HTC Kaiser - I've found two or three places selling it for more than £400, which is a rip off...
HTC Advantage (X7510, and the X7501 isn't selling for much less).
Sony Experia X1 - pre release prices, so may be less, but it's an over priced hand set considering panels does very little to mask WM, and the keyboard is less than amazing.
Samsung Omnia - Expensive, but awesome.
HTC Sedna - Very rugged and great at what it does...
some iMate ultimate devices - good, although no attempt to hide WM...
Now, compare that to the huge list of WM devices available for less than £400.
Virtually everything MWg make
Most HTC handsets
Some iMate devices
Asus devices
HP iPaqs
E-Ten
Toshiba devices
And a lot more devices/companies that I can't be asked to list...
The iPhone is a rip off with a contract. How is taking the operator subsidy away going to make that any better?!?
lifethroughalens said on 2nd September 2008
Most high end mobile phones / mini computers are a complete rip-off, WM or Apple based. £400 buys an awful lot of other gadgets! Of course you could just stick with the nokia 6310i (with enormous battery life and complete indestructibility) and buy a laptop (with mobile broadband dongle) & proper GPS device instead.
ChaosDefinesOrder said on 2nd September 2008
@Oliver Levett
"A Raphael can be got for not much more than that, and that's including the price of a 16GB micro SD card!"
What shop is that offer from?
Gordon said on 3rd September 2008
@ALL (!) - I think factoring in 12 months of free WiFi hotspot access (The Cloud & BT Openzone) and 12 months free data makes this handset considerably better than value it appears on the surface. Here's how:
O2 charges £7.50 per month for each of these features as "Bolt Ons" so that's £180 worth of free tariff right there.
Next, pick up a standard Simplicity contract (a rolling 30 day contact) and choose, say, 600 minutes per month which is £20pm (and comes with another free bolt on of your choice: unlimited texts, unlimited O2 to O2 calls, etc) and you're also clawing back £15 per month on the equivalent iPhone tariff. This is another £180 saving over the cost of 12 months meaning by the end of a year the phone has effectively paid for itself and there was never the pressure of a lock in contract.
Come this time eBay the handset unlocked (a solution will surely be around by then), make a tidy profit and see what the market has for us come this time next year... iPhone 3.0, Android v2.0, even a Windows Mobile 7 based handset, etc etc.
Good old maths.
Jay said on 3rd September 2008
its actually only £10 for both wifi and data together ;P
Gordon said on 3rd September 2008
Fair enough - I didn't know there was a combo package available.
But if you knock £60 off those numbers, they still play out well.
Jay said on 3rd September 2008
@ gordon, they do indeed and ive always loved the ipod touch and always wished it had a phone function so now i might take a dive at the PAYG iphone as i will save loads not having to pay monthly as i never use up all the minutes to make it worth it
lifethroughalens said on 3rd September 2008
@Gordon - is 12 months 'free' (i'm sure you actually pay for this in the price!) WiFi really a good replacement for access anywhere 3.5G, on the move? It would be next to useless to me, unless you spend your life in coffee bars and airports I don't really get it. Besides, you only end up looking for a Starbucks and spending £5 on a coffee! :o)
Jay said on 3rd September 2008
@ lifethroughalens, the 12 months free is wifi and 3.5G data
Gordon said on 3rd September 2008
@lifethroughalens - think you don't understand.
1. There is free WiFi access to The Cloud and BT OpenZone hotspots (yes, airports, coffee bars, etc).
2. There is free data access over either a 3G, EDGE or GPRS signal (depending on signal availability) meaning free web surfing, emailing, YouTube watching, etc etc.
3. Given the £500+ Samsung Omnia and £450 (pre tax) Nokia N96 if these services are built into the cost does it really make any difference?!
lifethroughalens said on 3rd September 2008
Ah-ha, I didn't get that bit. My fault. Well in that case it might be worth a punt!
Gordon said on 3rd September 2008
Yep, it does make a difference.
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"confirming they are simply standard iPhone 3Gs just without a contract"
As opposed to what else? 399 is not actually that bad for a PAYG phone of this type...