Mobile Phone's And Plans

[saff_cossie]

Hi all

Thought we could do with a new thread and hopefully assist me in the progress.

I am having my phone number released from my work contract but have no idea what contract to go to or with which provider. I am currently with Telstra through work which they pay for but I have never had a phone contract in my life and subsequently don't have a huge understanding of them. It also explains why up until a couple of weeks ago I was using the same phone from 6 years ago until it finally died and work gave me another!

So, I have used Optus on a Pay as you go for a few months here and wasnt impressed with their coverage and have tried Orange, One2One, BT, Genie and Vodafone in the UK and the national carrier (BT) had the bets coverage also. This is making me more inclined to go the Telstra route.

Phone wise, I would like something like the N91 I think it is that has email on but not a full blown PDA.

Usage, I don't use it a great deal and it would be more for receiving calls than sending. My g/f pays about $60 a month all up but that is with Optus.

If people are happy to divulge contract costs and/or phone models it would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[Bec]

I have no idea what phones are good or bad Saff - as far as Im concerned phones are for making/receiving calls.

As for plans - I HIGHLY recommend going on a capped plan. I pay $50/month ad can use up to $220 worth of calls/SMS. Call rates are normal, so you dont get stung by that. I got my plan through B (which uses Optus for coverage).

[ziad]

i am with optus. their cap plans are good. except the new ones dont let u call overseas (i think the old ones are still in sunset period and give 50min calls a month, at their exorbitant rates.) anyway. $49 gives you $300 worth of calls and you can call other optus ppl after 8pm for free for 20mins. I got a nokia N73 and its quite a good phone. and i like the symbian OS its slow but got quite a few good apps like sat nav and games. and the phone takes mini sd cards which are quite cheap as compared to some other. and a decent camera too. but i would still rather use a standalone camera.

apart from the N80 is cool but over my budget, as its got wifi and you can browse the web, with quite bigger screen. and i hear that next model (N83 i think) will have wifi and well as gps as well as 5mp camera.

[Kaz200]

used to be with vodafone but their caps went to shite and I think they started charging for voicemail from memory.

So now with Virgin as of last year. Unfortunately they have gotten rid of their Virgin2virgin rates though.

nokia 6230i = $12 a month, contract for 6 months then you can pay out the phone if you like, I imagine their phones are different now tho.

$30 = $100 cap or $45 = $230 or $65 = $350

invoiced monthly but they also have prepaid.

as far as I understand you can upgrade phones at any time also.. not sure how it works though.

Free text, pics, only special calls are charged eg directory assistance/connect which is a bit of a ripoff (much like vodafone was tho).

virginmobile.com.au

Cheers

PS they also have free courier delivery for all phones.

[ctjet]

telstra staff plan FTW

try and stick with telstra, best coverage and their call centre/help desk isnt in india

[Betz]

I have a w950i on an optus $49 cap plan, nice phone, was a replacement for my stolen O2 mini which was heaps better by the way

[saff_cossie]

Thanks everyone for the responses, most helpful. I will have a look at some of those models but a cap certainly seems the way to go.

[ferni]

Just be careful with the caps. They usually have higher call rates so it seems like you are getting a good deal when you aren't. Some of them are good some aren't Pay attention. Compare the call rates to normal non-capped plans.

[miniwog]

telstra staff plan FTW

try and stick with telstra, best coverage and their call centre/help desk isnt in india

Pfft, all the staff plan phones suck!

Altho I'm with Optus myself and have never had a problem with their support or coverage. Always good with getting credits and discounts at end of contract retention time also.

Just be careful with the caps. They usually have higher call rates so it seems like you are getting a good deal when you aren't. Some of them are good some aren't Pay attention. Compare the call rates to normal non-capped plans.

Exactly! They usually have higher flagfall and per 30sec rates than non cap plans so they give a false sense of economy. The Telco's love them because when you go over the cap, you're paying these higher rates and they end up winning big time!

[Sass]

im on a telstra phone plan, which i am contracted to for 24 months (1 year to go), paying $40 a month, i am on a sh|t call rate but excellent sms's, so when i make some calls my monthly bill sky rockets!

i have enquired about going on a telstra cap (the $49), you pay a bit higher call rate and normal sms rate but get $200 odd worth of calls and people on them, swear by them (Bec!!).

i looked at switching to a cap, but becuase i have a phone plan, i am paying off the phone on the contract, so i would be paying about $70 a month rather than my $40, worth it if my monthly bills these days are around $70 but as they have been ranging up to like $68 (not including last months of $97!!!) - its not worth it!

[saff_cossie]

Dave - So from what you saying, the cap can be exceeded? I thought a cap was exactly that?

Ferni, Sarah - thanks. I am not too bothered about higher calls as I dont really make many.

Have looked at phones again and like the Blackberry 8707g or the N80. I am leaning towards the blackberry as I know them and they are a lot cheaper than the N80.

[ziad]

caps are good but yeah they can be a pain. but i still recon they are better value for money. like the new optus cap. u get $300 for $49, lets say $50. so its like 300/50= ratio of 6. so the call fees are about 0.4 per 30 sec ie 0.4/6= 6 cents per 30sec block, even my partner's $150/month telstra gives 11 or 18 cents per 30 sec. but after the $300 are over you do pay more. u could always upgrade to 79 cap or higher.... u dont get as good phones though.

[miniwog]

Dave - So from what you saying, the cap can be exceeded? I thought a cap was exactly that?

Ah but that is just a play on words! Eg the $49 optus cap give you $230 "value" of calls/sms/mms/data at the rates specified for the cap. Once you exceed the $230 value they start billing you at those rates mentioned.

So if you can stick under the capped amount you are fine, the moment you go over, you're paying higher rates than a non cap plan and the bill racks up very quickly.

Depending on what you're like with phones, also look at 12mth contracts, since most don't last a 24mth period given the warranty is half that.

Al, have a look at http://www.phonechoice.com.au for an overall comparison of the plans, don't take it as gospel as I'm not sure how often they update it. But should be a good start anyways

[KamikazeR33]

Alan the best way is to check out each companies coverage maps and/or try them urself using their pre paid systems. once uve found the company with the coverage u most desire u can then look into their plans

if u want i can get u on a plan that will give u 100% coverage even at a few hundred km out 2 sea (not telstra Iridium either cos they suck)

btw my mum is a vodafone dealer

[KamikazeR33]

also check out gsmarena.com if u wanna look at fones and buyers opinions

[abcent]

Im on a Vodafone $49 post paid cap plan, I live in Geelong, I travel all around the coast etc etc, everywhere my previous Telstra mobile got service vodafone seems to. So coverage is good. I get up to $280 of included call costs an TXT an MMS etc..(voice mail isnt an extra cost, but any numbers with 19 at the front ane web surfing/downloading are). I mainly TXT on my phone with average actual call usage, closest ive come to the $280 limit is $210 (still paying $49).

so yeah, I'm happy with it.

I think Vodafone also have a $79 cap which from memory allows a $520 limit?

hope this is of some help

[KamikazeR33]

yeah ur spot on, im on a 99 cap n i think its $750 worth a month. got a free k800i (this was back in nov)

[Rekin]

i have optus turbocharge

[Gazee]

I think Vodafone also have a $79 cap which from memory allows a $520 limit?

Yea get that cap... contracts suck balls! f**king exit fees...

[Mean_R34]

Recently got a Sony Ericsson W810i. No plan, just outright purchase.

Shit hot phone with cpacity for up to 4GB mem card, mp3/video capability. Loved it to bits for 1 month, then went fishing & it fell outta my pocket and into the surf. Flushed and revied it but it corroded to all get out and it's now stuffed.

Thinking about getting an iMate now or maybe a DOPOD.