I am a mobile phone virgin. I do not have a mobile phone. I hate
mobile phones. But now that I am selling the house and still want to
be reachable, I am resigned to getting one, albeit only for a
temporary period. The minute I am in my new house and it's all done
and dusted and the sparkling wine has been opened, I shall take great
pleasure in removing the mobile phone to a suitable flat surface,
whereupon I will take a number 2 sledgehammer to it.

I digress.

This group, I know, is not the right group to be asking this, but I
had a glimpse at the hardcore talk in uk.telecom.mobile and they just
frightened me away. So I'm asking the good, faithful uk.diy crowd what
is the absolute cheapest phone/package I can buy/rent which (a) allows
me to receive incoming calls from landline phones or mobile phones and
(b) can make call to BT landline phones?

Thanks.

Not so much of a virgin now, eh! But I'm not enjoying it.

MM

Mike Mitchell wrote:
I am a mobile phone virgin. I do not have a mobile phone. I hate
mobile phones. But now that I am selling the house and still want to
be reachable, I am resigned to getting one, albeit only for a
temporary period. The minute I am in my new house and it's all done
and dusted and the sparkling wine has been opened, I shall take great
pleasure in removing the mobile phone to a suitable flat surface,
whereupon I will take a number 2 sledgehammer to it.

I digress.

This group, I know, is not the right group to be asking this, but I
had a glimpse at the hardcore talk in uk.telecom.mobile and they just
frightened me away. So I'm asking the good, faithful uk.diy crowd what
is the absolute cheapest phone/package I can buy/rent which (a) allows
me to receive incoming calls from landline phones or mobile phones and
(b) can make call to BT landline phones?

Thanks.

Not so much of a virgin now, eh! But I'm not enjoying it.

MM

In that case you probably want a cheap pay as you go phone (you buy top up
cards to credit the phone), argos have a Siemens A55 on orange for £39.95 at
the moment, have a look at orange web site for call costs, but from
recollection their are a choice of PAYG tariffs, but the one which might be
suitable would either be 20ppm at all times or 25ppm for 1st 3 mins of each
day reducing down to 5ppm after that.

Once you've moved you can probably get 20-25 quid on ebay for it
Jon

"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message

what
is the absolute cheapest phone/package I can buy/rent which (a) allows
me to receive incoming calls from landline phones or mobile phones and
(b) can make call to BT landline phones?

http://tinyurl.com/2j49s

£29.99 for a pay-as-you-go Trium Eclipse on Virgin Mobile from Carphone
Warehouse. You'll will need to buy top-up cards to make calls. Standard UK
calls cost 15p/min for the first 5 minutes each day then 5p/min thereafter.

http://www.fwdcellular.com/en-gb/dept_27.html

(Nett) £29.99 for a Nokia 3510i on a T-Mobile contract. You pay £29.99 +
£163 up front. You get £163 cashback within 28 days. You get 750 free
off-peak minutes per month for 12 months. Peak time calls are 40p/min. After
12 months, you cancel the contract (otherwise, it continues at £15/month)
and keep the phone.

2nd hand, the Nokia is worth about £70 on ebay - more lucrative than the
sledgehammer route....


HTH.

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 11:05:27 -0000, "Grant Mason"
wrote:

"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message

what
is the absolute cheapest phone/package I can buy/rent which (a) allows
me to receive incoming calls from landline phones or mobile phones and
(b) can make call to BT landline phones?

http://tinyurl.com/2j49s

£29.99 for a pay-as-you-go Trium Eclipse on Virgin Mobile from Carphone
Warehouse. You'll will need to buy top-up cards to make calls. Standard UK
calls cost 15p/min for the first 5 minutes each day then 5p/min thereafter.

Extortionate!


http://www.fwdcellular.com/en-gb/dept_27.html

(Nett) £29.99 for a Nokia 3510i on a T-Mobile contract. You pay £29.99 +
£163 up front. You get £163 cashback within 28 days. You get 750 free
off-peak minutes per month for 12 months. Peak time calls are 40p/min. After
12 months, you cancel the contract (otherwise, it continues at £15/month)
and keep the phone.

Super double-plus high gloss extortionate!!


2nd hand, the Nokia is worth about £70 on ebay - more lucrative than the
sledgehammer route....

But far less satisfying. I think I shall buy me a gold-plated
sledgehammer, too.

But thanks!

MM

Mike Mitchell wrote:
On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 11:05:27 -0000, "Grant Mason"
wrote:

"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message

what
is the absolute cheapest phone/package I can buy/rent which (a)
allows
me to receive incoming calls from landline phones or mobile phones
and (b) can make call to BT landline phones?

http://tinyurl.com/2j49s

£29.99 for a pay-as-you-go Trium Eclipse on Virgin Mobile from
Carphone Warehouse. You'll will need to buy top-up cards to make
calls. Standard UK calls cost 15p/min for the first 5 minutes each
day then 5p/min thereafter.

Extortionate!

In that case, try a tin can with a piece of string attached. Seriously, for
your purposes, you're not going to get much cheaper than that if you want a
new phone. If you're not going to make any calls the call charges aren't
going to bother you are they? This way you've got no contract or ongoing
charges.

If you don't mind a second-hand phone have a look at

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...tegory=42 428

(a nokia 5110 currently standing at £5.50) and then get yourself a free O2
sim card from

http://shop.o2.co.uk/cgi-bin/o2uk/js...er:O2:TALKALOT

(25p a minute for the first 3 minutes, then 5p a minute. This is calculated
on you *day's* useage, not individual call: i.e. when you've made more than
3 minutes of calls *per day* in total, your tariff drops to 5p per minute
for the rest of the day.)

Although you'll see it say you need £10/month top ups, that's only needed to
maintain your free texts and wap allocation.

Tim
--
Remove the obvious to reply by email.
Please support rheumatoid arthritis research!
Visit http://www.justgiving.com/pfp/speyside or
http://www.justgiving.com/speyside if you're a UK tax payer.

Tim Downie wrote:
Mike Mitchell wrote:

£29.99 for a pay-as-you-go Trium Eclipse on Virgin Mobile from
Carphone Warehouse. You'll will need to buy top-up cards to make
calls. Standard UK calls cost 15p/min for the first 5 minutes each
day then 5p/min thereafter.

Extortionate!

In that case, try a tin can with a piece of string attached. Seriously, for
your purposes, you're not going to get much cheaper than that if you want a
new phone. If you're not going to make any calls the call charges aren't
going to bother you are they? This way you've got no contract or ongoing
charges.

I got a refurbished phone from Virgin (a Sendo) which was only £20, I
think they sometimes have even cheaper ones.

Zero cost from then on if you make no calls.

--
Chris Green

On 26 Mar 2004 13:29:01 GMT, wrote:

Tim Downie wrote:
Mike Mitchell wrote:

£29.99 for a pay-as-you-go Trium Eclipse on Virgin Mobile from
Carphone Warehouse. You'll will need to buy top-up cards to make
calls. Standard UK calls cost 15p/min for the first 5 minutes each
day then 5p/min thereafter.

Extortionate!

In that case, try a tin can with a piece of string attached. Seriously, for
your purposes, you're not going to get much cheaper than that if you want a
new phone. If you're not going to make any calls the call charges aren't
going to bother you are they? This way you've got no contract or ongoing
charges.

I got a refurbished phone from Virgin (a Sendo) which was only £20, I
think they sometimes have even cheaper ones.

Ah, this Sendo thingy sounds like the business! (See below where I
have provided an update.)


Zero cost from then on if you make no calls.

That's the kind of cost I like!

MM

Grant Mason wrote:

?29.99 for a pay-as-you-go Trium Eclipse on Virgin Mobile from Carphone
Warehouse. You'll will need to buy top-up cards to make calls. Standard UK
calls cost 15p/min for the first 5 minutes each day then 5p/min thereafter.

Last time I checked Virgin were the only ones that would let you have a
PAYG phone on direct debit - hence no need to buy top ups.

(Both SWMBO and I have phones on Virgin Mobile at the moment - we are
unlikely to make more than 20 mins outgoing calls a month on them -
typical monthly bill for both is between 2.50 and 4 quid - not gone over
a fiver yet!) - BT costs me more than that in line rental.

Have a look at the virgin mobile web site - they often have
reconditioned phones available in the 30 to 50 quid range.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 14:29:18 +0000, in uk.d-i-y John Rumm
strung together this:

Grant Mason wrote:

?29.99 for a pay-as-you-go Trium Eclipse on Virgin Mobile from Carphone
Warehouse. You'll will need to buy top-up cards to make calls. Standard UK
calls cost 15p/min for the first 5 minutes each day then 5p/min thereafter.

Last time I checked Virgin were the only ones that would let you have a
PAYG phone on direct debit - hence no need to buy top ups.

I've got one of my mobiles on a PAYG contract sort of thing, paid by
direct debit. It's on Orange but they do a pricematch tarriff for most
competitors popular tarriffs and this one is the same as Virgins, but
on Orange. If I don't use the phone it costs nothing, if I do it does.
Not sure how much off the top of my head though.
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:17:14 +0000, Mike Mitchell wrote:

I am a mobile phone virgin. I do not have a mobile phone. I hate
mobile phones. But now that I am selling the house and still want to
be reachable, I am resigned to getting one, albeit only for a
temporary period. The minute I am in my new house and it's all done
and dusted and the sparkling wine has been opened, I shall take great
pleasure in removing the mobile phone to a suitable flat surface,
whereupon I will take a number 2 sledgehammer to it.

I digress.

This group, I know, is not the right group to be asking this, but I
had a glimpse at the hardcore talk in uk.telecom.mobile and they just
frightened me away. So I'm asking the good, faithful uk.diy crowd what
is the absolute cheapest phone/package I can buy/rent which (a) allows
me to receive incoming calls from landline phones or mobile phones and
(b) can make call to BT landline phones?

Thanks.

Not so much of a virgin now, eh! But I'm not enjoying it.

MM

I think that the Virgin Tariffs are good value for money for low usage.

They can DD you for usage, but no monthly rental.

I got a Nokia 3410 from Curry's for £50 on T-Mobile. It worked fine with
the Virgin Sim (£10) even without unlocking. T-Mobile coverage is not
fantastic, but generally tolerable.

Virgin also have reasonable international rates for when you go abroad.

I am not trying to argue that this is the only option, so much depends on
how much you want to use the phone, and when (time of day).

Michael Chare

Michael Chare wrote:

Not so much of a virgin now, eh! But I'm not enjoying it.

MM

I think that the Virgin Tariffs are good value for money for low usage.

They can DD you for usage, but no monthly rental.

That's what we do for our two phones, both on Virgin DD so we can
'roam' and things like that but if we don't use the phones at all
(quite normal in my case) it costs absolutely nothing.

--
Chris Green

On 26 Mar 2004 11:31:52 GMT, wrote:

Michael Chare wrote:

Not so much of a virgin now, eh! But I'm not enjoying it.

MM

I think that the Virgin Tariffs are good value for money for low usage.

They can DD you for usage, but no monthly rental.

That's what we do for our two phones, both on Virgin DD so we can
'roam' and things like that but if we don't use the phones at all
(quite normal in my case) it costs absolutely nothing.

So does one buy the phone from Virgin?

MM

Mike Mitchell wrote:
On 26 Mar 2004 11:31:52 GMT, wrote:

Michael Chare wrote:

Not so much of a virgin now, eh! But I'm not enjoying it.

MM

I think that the Virgin Tariffs are good value for money for low usage.

They can DD you for usage, but no monthly rental.

That's what we do for our two phones, both on Virgin DD so we can
'roam' and things like that but if we don't use the phones at all
(quite normal in my case) it costs absolutely nothing.

So does one buy the phone from Virgin?

If you want (they also have refurbished ones) but you can use one you
have already if it's suitable.

--
Chris Green

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 11:09:44 +0000 (UTC), Michael Chare
wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:17:14 +0000, Mike Mitchell wrote:

I am a mobile phone virgin. I do not have a mobile phone. I hate
mobile phones. But now that I am selling the house and still want to
be reachable, I am resigned to getting one, albeit only for a
temporary period. The minute I am in my new house and it's all done
and dusted and the sparkling wine has been opened, I shall take great
pleasure in removing the mobile phone to a suitable flat surface,
whereupon I will take a number 2 sledgehammer to it.

I digress.

This group, I know, is not the right group to be asking this, but I
had a glimpse at the hardcore talk in uk.telecom.mobile and they just
frightened me away. So I'm asking the good, faithful uk.diy crowd what
is the absolute cheapest phone/package I can buy/rent which (a) allows
me to receive incoming calls from landline phones or mobile phones and
(b) can make call to BT landline phones?

Thanks.

Not so much of a virgin now, eh! But I'm not enjoying it.

MM

I think that the Virgin Tariffs are good value for money for low usage.

They can DD you for usage, but no monthly rental.

I got a Nokia 3410 from Curry's for £50 on T-Mobile. It worked fine with
the Virgin Sim (£10) even without unlocking. T-Mobile coverage is not
fantastic, but generally tolerable.

Virgin also have reasonable international rates for when you go abroad.

I am not trying to argue that this is the only option, so much depends on
how much you want to use the phone, and when (time of day).

I just want to be contactable locally for when I am out shopping or on
the internet (no broadband here, so when I'm connected via dialup, no
one can call) in case the estate agent gets a sudden prospect who
shows interest. I don't even want to make outgoing calls from the
thing, but mainly receive calls. No calls from abroad, no text
messages, no grooming of underage spaniels, just the absolute minimum
than can enable my agent to talk to me briefly and send me back home,
pronto.

MM

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 12:12:26 +0000, Mike Mitchell
wrote:


I just want to be contactable locally for when I am out shopping or on
the internet (no broadband here, so when I'm connected via dialup, no
one can call) in case the estate agent gets a sudden prospect who
shows interest. I don't even want to make outgoing calls from the
thing, but mainly receive calls. No calls from abroad, no text
messages, no grooming of underage spaniels, just the absolute minimum
than can enable my agent to talk to me briefly and send me back home,
pronto.

MM

Then really all you need is the cheapest Pay-as-you-go and one top-up
voucher to activate it. Some deals even give you the first voucher
for free simply for activating the phone.

Normally you don't pay anything to receive calls, but you do to
retrieve text messages or voicemails - simply don't activate voicemail
if you are bothered.

You may also be able to find a second hand phone on Ebay etc. and you
can just buy a SIM (small chipcard to activate) only. However, this
is likely to be almost the same cost and more titting around as just
buying one in the store.

In the context of the various costs of the property sale it is not a
lot......





..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 12:31:59 +0000, Andy Hall
wrote:

In the context of the various costs of the property sale it is not a
lot......

Absolutely. While I detest moble phones, it would be daft not to be
contactable when that magic buyer with a suitcash full of cash turns
up at the estate agent's door and I am out buying T-shirts at ASDA or
something.

MM

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 15:32:18 +0000, Mike Mitchell
wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 12:31:59 +0000, Andy Hall
wrote:

In the context of the various costs of the property sale it is not a
lot......

Absolutely. While I detest moble phones, it would be daft not to be
contactable when that magic buyer with a suitcash full of cash turns
up at the estate agent's door and I am out buying T-shirts at ASDA or
something.

MM

That's not as far fetched as it sounds.

In the 70s when I was selling my first house for about £30k, a young
couple came along to view and liked the property.

They came back later with her father, who had just arrived from a
middle eastern country, clutching a large briefcase. This was duly
opened, and contained the asking price in £50 notes.

It was difficult to explain to them that this wasn't how houses were
bought and sold here and that there various legal processes that had
to happen and would take a little time. I had a hard job convincing
the father that I wasn't being stand-offish - he was thinking that the
offer wasn't enough and I was offended.

Fortunately, the prospective son-in-law had been here for a while and
knew a bit about what happens and explained the situation to the
father, who was quite happy after that.

Our solicitor was amused by all of this but the sale went through
without a hitch.


..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"Mike Mitchell" wrote
| I just want to be contactable locally for when I am out shopping
| or on the internet (no broadband here, so when I'm connected via
| dialup, no one can call) in case the estate agent gets a sudden
| prospect who shows interest.

If you want calls to your home number to divert to your mobile when you're
on line, you'll have to budget money for BT's Call Diversion service, and
watch out for the cost of calling the mobile (you pay for the diverted part
of the call).

Owain

"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
...

frightened me away. So I'm asking the good, faithful uk.diy crowd what
is the absolute cheapest phone/package I can buy/rent which (a) allows
me to receive incoming calls from landline phones or mobile phones and
(b) can make call to BT landline phones?

You need to find who really has good coverage at both
houses and anywhere you might be during the day.

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:17:14 +0000, Mike Mitchell
wrote:

I am a mobile phone virgin. I do not have a mobile phone. I hate
mobile phones. But now that I am selling the house and still want to
be reachable, I am resigned to getting one, albeit only for a
temporary period. The minute I am in my new house and it's all done
and dusted and the sparkling wine has been opened, I shall take great
pleasure in removing the mobile phone to a suitable flat surface,
whereupon I will take a number 2 sledgehammer to it.

Check out:

http://skybuy.sky.com. They have a rather nice Siemens phone on PAYG
for less than £40.

sPoNiX

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 11:23:22 GMT, (sPoNiX) wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:17:14 +0000, Mike Mitchell
wrote:

I am a mobile phone virgin. I do not have a mobile phone. I hate
mobile phones. But now that I am selling the house and still want to
be reachable, I am resigned to getting one, albeit only for a
temporary period. The minute I am in my new house and it's all done
and dusted and the sparkling wine has been opened, I shall take great
pleasure in removing the mobile phone to a suitable flat surface,
whereupon I will take a number 2 sledgehammer to it.

Check out:

http://skybuy.sky.com. They have a rather nice Siemens phone on PAYG
for less than £40.

Even that doesn't sound cheap to me. What would the phone charges be,
roughly? Does one pay someone else for the usage? It's all so bloody
complicated!

If I wanted to take instant photos with a throwaway camera, it's dead
simple. I can buy such a camera almost anywhere. So why hasn't anybody
done the same for mobile phones. The whole business is a total
nightmare! And I just know what's going to happen when I approach The
Link or Carphone Whorehouse. The little oiks at these emporiums all
look like they only learned yesterday how to wash behind their ears.

But thanks anyway!

MM

"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
...
Even that doesn't sound cheap to me. What would the phone charges be,
roughly? Does one pay someone else for the usage? It's all so bloody
complicated!

You really are a mobile phone virgin aren't you?? £40 IS a bargain. Just
to give you an example, my Nokia 6610 cost £29.99 on a £28 per month
contract. The phone itself probably costs around £200 to buy, but basically
what mobile phone companies do is virtually give you the phone on the
expectation that you will love it, use it loads and they get there money
back from the calls you make. Now if you are disciplined and only really
use it for incoming calls, you basically have a very cheap mobile phone.
You wont find much cheaper than £29.99 for a PAYG

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 12:38:32 -0000, "AK" wrote:


"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
.. .
Even that doesn't sound cheap to me. What would the phone charges be,
roughly? Does one pay someone else for the usage? It's all so bloody
complicated!

You really are a mobile phone virgin aren't you??

I said I was!

£40 IS a bargain. Just
to give you an example, my Nokia 6610 cost £29.99 on a £28 per month
contract. The phone itself probably costs around £200 to buy, but basically
what mobile phone companies do is virtually give you the phone on the
expectation that you will love it, use it loads and they get there money
back from the calls you make. Now if you are disciplined and only really
use it for incoming calls, you basically have a very cheap mobile phone.
You wont find much cheaper than £29.99 for a PAYG

How about the Sendo for £40, no monthly contract, and a top-up card
for a fiver or a tenner? That sounds cheaper.

MM

In message , Mike Mitchell
writes
On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 11:23:22 GMT, (sPoNiX) wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:17:14 +0000, Mike Mitchell
wrote:

I am a mobile phone virgin. I do not have a mobile phone. I hate
mobile phones. But now that I am selling the house and still want to
be reachable, I am resigned to getting one, albeit only for a
temporary period. The minute I am in my new house and it's all done
and dusted and the sparkling wine has been opened, I shall take great
pleasure in removing the mobile phone to a suitable flat surface,
whereupon I will take a number 2 sledgehammer to it.

Check out:

http://skybuy.sky.com. They have a rather nice Siemens phone on PAYG
for less than £40.

Even that doesn't sound cheap to me.

It is cheap !

What would the phone charges be,
roughly? Does one pay someone else for the usage?

On a Pay as you go phone, you have no ongoing costs if you don't make a
call, the person calling pays for the call of course.

You buy the phone, you purchase a bit of 'airtime' if necessary with a
voucher or whatever, though many come with GBP 5 or 10 anyway. This
'airtime' is what you use if you need to make a call - the cost is
debited from the airtime balance, once you have used it up you can't
make any more outgoing calls

Tariff's vary, on our virgin phones it is 15 p for the first 3 minutes
a day then 5p per min after that, on other tariffs, the per minute cost
may start at about 25p. If you expect to make limited calls then the
major cost will be the phone, so it may make sense to get the cheapest
you can, and not worry to much about the tariffs

Don't forget you can flog the phone on ebay afterwards and get a fair
bit back.

If I wanted to take instant photos with a throwaway camera, it's dead
simple. I can buy such a camera almost anywhere. So why hasn't anybody
done the same for mobile phones

They have/are coming, but the technology in mobile phones is rather more
complex :-)
--
Chris French, Leeds

Mike Mitchell wrote:

Even that doesn't sound cheap to me. What would the phone charges be,
roughly? Does one pay someone else for the usage? It's all so bloody
complicated!

OK this ought to be simple enough:

http://www.virginmobile.com/mobile/phones/SIE-STD-A50-1

40 quid will get you a phone and 10 quids worth of out going calls.
Since you wont be making many (any?) outgoing calls that will last you
many months!

Receiving calls or text messages is free.

Receiving voicemail is free.

It comes in a box, with a SIM card, a battery, and a charger. Take the
SIM card and insert it in the phone, clip on the battery, plug in the
charger and charge it up. Job Done.

If you want to be able to receive incoming calls then leave the thing
turned on. If not then turn it off (voicemail will take messages if you
want). It will run for a week on a charge if you don't use it much (the
more time you spend talking on it the sooner it will want recharging).

Compared to 75 quid to have a BT line installed, and 12 quid a month
that does not sound too expensive does it?


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 14:42:01 +0000, John Rumm
wrote:

Mike Mitchell wrote:

Even that doesn't sound cheap to me. What would the phone charges be,
roughly? Does one pay someone else for the usage? It's all so bloody
complicated!

OK this ought to be simple enough:

http://www.virginmobile.com/mobile/phones/SIE-STD-A50-1

40 quid will get you a phone and 10 quids worth of out going calls.
Since you wont be making many (any?) outgoing calls that will last you
many months!

What happens when I have used the £10 worth of calls? Okay, I know I
said I won't use it, but inevitably the agent or buyer will want
calling back sometimes. Can I top up the phone from anywhere or only
from Virgin?


Receiving calls or text messages is free.

Receiving voicemail is free.

It comes in a box, with a SIM card, a battery, and a charger. Take the
SIM card and insert it in the phone, clip on the battery, plug in the
charger and charge it up. Job Done.

If you want to be able to receive incoming calls then leave the thing
turned on. If not then turn it off (voicemail will take messages if you
want). It will run for a week on a charge if you don't use it much (the
more time you spend talking on it the sooner it will want recharging).

Compared to 75 quid to have a BT line installed, and 12 quid a month
that does not sound too expensive does it?

Fair enough. It's not as bad as I thought. Thanks a lot for this very
straightforward elucidation.

MM

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 15:42:25 +0000, in uk.d-i-y you wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 14:42:01 +0000, John Rumm
wrote:

Mike Mitchell wrote:

Even that doesn't sound cheap to me. What would the phone charges be,
roughly? Does one pay someone else for the usage? It's all so bloody
complicated!

OK this ought to be simple enough:

http://www.virginmobile.com/mobile/phones/SIE-STD-A50-1

40 quid will get you a phone and 10 quids worth of out going calls.
Since you wont be making many (any?) outgoing calls that will last you
many months!

What happens when I have used the £10 worth of calls? Okay, I know I
said I won't use it, but inevitably the agent or buyer will want
calling back sometimes. Can I top up the phone from anywhere or only
from Virgin?

IMHO the best arrangement is just to let Virgin DD you. You get a monthly
itemised bill.

Michael Chare

In message , Mike Mitchell
writes
On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 14:42:01 +0000, John Rumm
wrote:

40 quid will get you a phone and 10 quids worth of out going calls.
Since you wont be making many (any?) outgoing calls that will last you
many months!

What happens when I have used the £10 worth of calls? Okay, I know I
said I won't use it, but inevitably the agent or buyer will want
calling back sometimes. Can I top up the phone from anywhere or only
from Virgin?

Various options:

You can top up with a credit or debit card by ringing up virgin on the
phone (free)

You can buy a voucher in a shop (all over the place) and use that.

You can use the 'e-topup' card, which is a swipe card you use in
various shops etc. (the card just tells the system which account to
credit)

With virgin as others have said, you can setup a direct debit with there
PAYG phones.
--
Chris French, Leeds

And I just know what's going to happen when I approach The
Link or Carphone Whorehouse. The little oiks at these emporiums all
look like they only learned yesterday how to wash behind their ears.

In all fairness, i`ve bought 3 phones from the Carphone Warehouse over
the years, and have found them very approachable, professional, and happy
to help.

They *will* be getting more trade off me.

As for The Link, AVOID. I once had a "new" mobile from the outlet in the
Trafford Centre which had been cloned. Its a *little* harder to clone a
GSM phone compared analogue, but perfectly possible.

--
Please add "[newsgroup]" in the subject of any personal replies via email
* old email address "btiruseless" abandoned due to worm-generated spam *
--- My new email address has "ngspamtrap" & @btinternet.com in it ;-) ---

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 22:01:34 -0000, Colin Wilson
wrote:

And I just know what's going to happen when I approach The
Link or Carphone Whorehouse. The little oiks at these emporiums all
look like they only learned yesterday how to wash behind their ears.

In all fairness, i`ve bought 3 phones from the Carphone Warehouse over
the years, and have found them very approachable, professional, and happy
to help.

I was kidding. I do expect they do a reasonable job. Not the Dixons
mob, though.

They *will* be getting more trade off me.

As for The Link, AVOID.

All part of the Dixons mob!

I once had a "new" mobile from the outlet in the
Trafford Centre which had been cloned. Its a *little* harder to clone a
GSM phone compared analogue, but perfectly possible.

Actually, the lady in the Vodaphone shop was quite helpful, although
everyone assumes one already knows the lingo, e.g. what the rubber
duck's a SIM for and do I need one?

MM

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 22:26:53 +0000, Mike Mitchell
wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 22:01:34 -0000, Colin Wilson
wrote:

And I just know what's going to happen when I approach The
Link or Carphone Whorehouse. The little oiks at these emporiums all
look like they only learned yesterday how to wash behind their ears.

In all fairness, i`ve bought 3 phones from the Carphone Warehouse over
the years, and have found them very approachable, professional, and happy
to help.

I was kidding. I do expect they do a reasonable job. Not the Dixons
mob, though.

They *will* be getting more trade off me.

As for The Link, AVOID.

All part of the Dixons mob!

I once had a "new" mobile from the outlet in the
Trafford Centre which had been cloned. Its a *little* harder to clone a
GSM phone compared analogue, but perfectly possible.

Actually, the lady in the Vodaphone shop was quite helpful, although
everyone assumes one already knows the lingo, e.g. what the rubber
duck's a SIM for and do I need one?

MM


Subscriber Identity Module.


It's a little chipcard about the size of a thumbnail which fits inside
the phone.

When you sign a contract or buy a pay-as-you-go pack it comes inside,
normally in a plastic card like a credit card. You pop it out and
into the back of the phone.

The SIM has various other encrypted numbers which are used to identify
the phone to the service provider and network. In some cases, phones
are locked electronically to only accept the SIMs of a given service
provider - since they are subsidising phone purchase, you can see why
- they don't want you to switch to other providers too easily.
Locking isn;t always done, though.

If you buy everything together it's OK, but take care if you buy a
phone separately - it needs to be unlocked. You can of course buy
SIMs separately if you like- service providers are only too pleased to
sell those if it means that they gain a customer from another network
without having to subsidise a phone.

The SIM is also used as a data store on some phones to store phone
numbers etc.


..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Colin Wilson wrote in
t:


In all fairness, i`ve bought 3 phones from the Carphone Warehouse over
the years, and have found them very approachable, professional, and
happy to help.

They *will* be getting more trade off me.

As for The Link, AVOID.

Absolutely - they screwed me senseless for my first one, a Philips Fisio
that could not be turned off or keypad locked, both functions overridden by
a bit of general pressure through my clothing, and it also rang out and
used nearly a fiver talking to my answerphone while I was biking home!!

Nice Carphone warehouse gave me a tenner for it, which saved it being
chucked under a bus - (incidentally, when it comes to mobile phones
insurance covers NOTHING) also Link had sold me an insurance policy without
even asking, the b****s; which cost nearly as much as the phone.

They also took more off if I signed up to Talk Talk, and I've never
regretted that, either

mike r

(sPoNiX) wrote in message ...
On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:17:14 +0000, Mike Mitchell
wrote:

I am a mobile phone virgin. I do not have a mobile phone. I hate
mobile phones. But now that I am selling the house and still want to
be reachable, I am resigned to getting one, albeit only for a
temporary period. The minute I am in my new house and it's all done
and dusted and the sparkling wine has been opened, I shall take great
pleasure in removing the mobile phone to a suitable flat surface,
whereupon I will take a number 2 sledgehammer to it.

Check out:

http://skybuy.sky.com. They have a rather nice Siemens phone on PAYG
for less than £40.

sPoNiX

Can't you just buy a second hand mobile from ebay and pop into a shop
and buy PayAsYouGo cards ?

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:17:14 +0000, Mike Mitchell
wrote:

I am a mobile phone virgin. I do not have a mobile phone. I hate
mobile phones. But now that I am selling the house and still want to
be reachable, I am resigned to getting one, albeit only for a
temporary period. The minute I am in my new house and it's all done
and dusted and the sparkling wine has been opened, I shall take great
pleasure in removing the mobile phone to a suitable flat surface,
whereupon I will take a number 2 sledgehammer to it.

I digress.

This group, I know, is not the right group to be asking this, but I
had a glimpse at the hardcore talk in uk.telecom.mobile and they just
frightened me away. So I'm asking the good, faithful uk.diy crowd what
is the absolute cheapest phone/package I can buy/rent which (a) allows
me to receive incoming calls from landline phones or mobile phones and
(b) can make call to BT landline phones?

Thanks.

Not so much of a virgin now, eh! But I'm not enjoying it.

Update:

I just popped into the local Vodaphone shop. They have a Sendo for
£40, plus I get a swipe card I can charge up for amounts of £5 through
£20. I just need to make at least one outgoing call every three months
to keep the number active. Sounds the cheapest of all. Haven't bought
it yet, though. What would I get for the Sendo once I no longer need
it? It's a neat little thing, I have to say. (OH NO! I AM ALREADY
BEING SEDUCED!)

MM

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 14:52:44 +0000, Mike Mitchell
wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:17:14 +0000, Mike Mitchell
wrote:

I am a mobile phone virgin. I do not have a mobile phone. I hate
mobile phones. But now that I am selling the house and still want to
be reachable, I am resigned to getting one, albeit only for a
temporary period. The minute I am in my new house and it's all done
and dusted and the sparkling wine has been opened, I shall take great
pleasure in removing the mobile phone to a suitable flat surface,
whereupon I will take a number 2 sledgehammer to it.

How about a Pay Upfront (aka Line Advance) deal?

You pay a sum up front. For this you get a phone, 12 months free line
rental (Usually) and a certain number of minutes free per month.

Depending upon your calling patterns you can save a lot of money:

http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~cjmcom...ns/advance.htm

http://www.phones3000.shopmobiles.co...cked&SW=12 55

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:17:14 +0000, Mike Mitchell
wrote:

I hate mobile phones.

You are not alone. I bought one 4 years ago (Siemens S25). The day
after I bought it Virgin Recordstores reduced the price by £60. I
complained, they added £60 to my call credits.

I am *still* on that original £60, having used less than £40 worth of
calls in 4 years. I am aware many people get thru £40 worth and up
each month.

I hate mobile phones with a vengeance, makes me wonder how we ever
used to do anything when we didn't even have a landline phone in the
street!

The only "good" use I have for a mobile phone is for emergency use. I
keep it switched off in the car most of the time.

Might sound odd given that I'm in a business where contacting me might
be appropriate - but I firmly believe that when I'm on a job on a
customer site then that customer gets 100% of my attention - I'm not
going to waste time talking to other would-be customers. I have a
voicemail system on my landline which I can access remotely and will
always call back as required.

PoP

---
If you need to contact me please submit your comments
via the web form at http://www.anyoldtripe.co.uk. I'll
probably still ignore you but at least I'll get the
message.....

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 16:35:26 +0000, PoP wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:17:14 +0000, Mike Mitchell
wrote:

I hate mobile phones.

You are not alone. I bought one 4 years ago (Siemens S25). The day
after I bought it Virgin Recordstores reduced the price by £60. I
complained, they added £60 to my call credits.

I am *still* on that original £60, having used less than £40 worth of
calls in 4 years. I am aware many people get thru £40 worth and up
each month.

I hate mobile phones with a vengeance, makes me wonder how we ever
used to do anything when we didn't even have a landline phone in the
street!

The only "good" use I have for a mobile phone is for emergency use. I
keep it switched off in the car most of the time.

Might sound odd given that I'm in a business where contacting me might
be appropriate - but I firmly believe that when I'm on a job on a
customer site then that customer gets 100% of my attention - I'm not
going to waste time talking to other would-be customers. I have a
voicemail system on my landline which I can access remotely and will
always call back as required.

PoP

---
If you need to contact me please submit your comments
via the web form at http://www.anyoldtripe.co.uk. I'll
probably still ignore you but at least I'll get the
message.....

Excellent! We should form a club!

MM

PoP wrote:

I hate mobile phones.


You are not alone. I bought one 4 years ago (Siemens S25). The day
after I bought it Virgin Recordstores reduced the price by £60. I
complained, they added £60 to my call credits.

I am *still* on that original £60, having used less than £40 worth of
calls in 4 years. I am aware many people get thru £40 worth and up
each month.

I always have to smile when people say "can I have your mobile number?"
and I tell them they can, but it won't help them much because the phone
is usually switched off. I then get the lecture about "what is the point
of having a mobile if it is always switched off....". They seem to find
it hard to understand I carry it for my benefit - not theirs!


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 20:13:12 +0000, John Rumm
wrote:

I always have to smile when people say "can I have your mobile number?"
and I tell them they can, but it won't help them much because the phone
is usually switched off. I then get the lecture about "what is the point
of having a mobile if it is always switched off....". They seem to find
it hard to understand I carry it for my benefit - not theirs!

I just tell people I haven't got a mobile. Saves getting into a
conflab about how they can't reach me due to it being almost
permanently switched off!

And I mean almost permanently. About the only time it is sucking
airwaves is when I might be expecting my son or daughter to call when
we are out and about. They of course have a mobile each which
according to the usual definition would require life-saving surgery if
it ever got switched off.....

PoP

---
If you need to contact me please submit your comments
via the web form at http://www.anyoldtripe.co.uk. I'll
probably still ignore you but at least I'll get the
message.....

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 20:13:12 +0000, John Rumm
wrote:

PoP wrote:

I hate mobile phones.


You are not alone. I bought one 4 years ago (Siemens S25). The day
after I bought it Virgin Recordstores reduced the price by £60. I
complained, they added £60 to my call credits.

I am *still* on that original £60, having used less than £40 worth of
calls in 4 years. I am aware many people get thru £40 worth and up
each month.

I always have to smile when people say "can I have your mobile number?"
and I tell them they can, but it won't help them much because the phone
is usually switched off. I then get the lecture about "what is the point
of having a mobile if it is always switched off....". They seem to find
it hard to understand I carry it for my benefit - not theirs!

Oh, people get really funny when I tell 'em I haven't got one! They
kind of take it as a personal slight that I should feel able to live
my life without being at the behest of a mobile phone 24/7, like they
have convinced themselves so to be. It's an addiction. How many
*genuinely* necessary calls are made each day from the millions made?

MM