SWIMBO wants an iphone

[pcatterall]

We are not very switched onto modern technology so somewhat in the dark.
SWIMBO wants to catch up a bit and is considering an iphone.
I quite like the iphone idea simply because our daughter has one and can train us up and help with apps etc.!!

Are we better just to go for something like the TESCO offer ..... cheap phone with cost of phone and calls built into first 12/18 month contract or look for a new older model iphone and get a low cost contract ?

I had wanted to pursue the idea of an iphone with a contract that would enable tethering so that I could use it in conjunction with my laptop?

Really this is something I wanted to conside rand research over time but SWIMBO is now in the driving seat and quick decisions are required!!

I would really appreciate comments on my 2 questions ( rather than open up another lengthy thread!!)

The familly training I mention is quite important as we are starting from scratch with these devices!!
Many thanks

 

[Jabamusic]

Check out the analysis/comparison item at:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/cheap-iphone

I'm sure that will help you decide.

 

[vyv_cox]

SWIMBO? She Who (Irritatingly, Insistently, Idiotically?) Must Be Obeyed?

 

[gjgm]

I-phone is just a brand remember. Its a bit like saying you want a Hoover.
Apple has got the phone to work quite seemlessly, and you might like the design, and you might really want to download 250,000 apps that you will never ever find a use for.
The real advantage is if you have other Apple products. The real disadvantage is that if you want more memory, spend £500 on another phone, as opposed to Android where you add a £15 SD card.
HTC and Samsung make some very very good smart phones. Just be sure you want to enter the Apple stable, as it is a bit of a mess ever getting out again.
Smart phones tend to have poor battery life (a day?) especially if you leave alot running in the background. They tend to be hopeless to read in even mildly bright sunlight, and you can use alot of data, sometimes inadvertently, so you need to make sure you have adequate allowance included in your phone package.
So, they are great if you want to play music, use internet, take photos,send texts. Ironically, if you want to make phone calls, that is probably their weak point .
We have maybe 80pct I-phone 20pct Android at work. Most of the problems with the I-phone is the phone part of it.And the repair costs.

 

[dedwards]

As a rule, buying a phone yourself and then getting a sim only contract is normally cheaper than getting a bundle but it shouldnt be difficult for you to do the apple-specific sums to work out if this holds true in your case.

Of course you need to take a close look at whats included in the contracts and remember that for smart phones, the amount of data included is quite important. Also beware if/when you take the phone abroad. Foreign data charges can be eyewatering.

 

[Emjaytoo]

Of course you need to take a close look at whats included in the contracts and remember that for smart phones, the amount of data included is quite important. Also beware if/when you take the phone abroad. Foreign data charges can be eyewatering.

Just got back from Croatia, where the data download charge on international roaming was £8 a Meg, that's over £8,000 a Gig

 

[chewi]

We are not very switched onto modern technology so somewhat in the dark.
SWIMBO wants to catch up a bit and is considering an iphone.

Save money, get her an i-ron instead.
You can get one of the very latest Steam ones for a lot let than an i-phone.

 

[King Penguin]

Just a few mins ago, I called O2 to change my wife's iPhone 1 contract, and amazingly they offered me a new 3Gs iPhone free, with 100mins, 250 texts and 100mb internet (not much but she doesn't use that feature much) for £18.50 per month! I thought that was a good deal.

I use a iPhone 4 which is brill but the 3Gs is still a very good phone and not that different in use.

I find my phone invaluable on board, weather, emails, etc are worth it alone and I also use the Navionics app which I find quite good.

It has the same maps as my Raymarine C70 chart plotter but quite frankly it is easier to use!

If the iPad had been available when I fitted all my Raymarine stuff I would have seriously considered having that instead....mind you I do have an inside steering position.

 

[davidpbo]

I got an Iphone 4 , maybe wish I had got a Samsung SII as I don't like the lack of control over the Iphone and the inability to use it like a hard drive.

Got mine last September from O2, a refurbished phone, 2 year contract, 200 mins UK, Unlimited Texts, 500mb UK data. Phone £80, monthly fee £21.50. INc VAT

O2 are not showing any refurbs other than the 4s at £299 at present I don't think.

Just been working abroad. Paid £10.21 for one month My Europe Extra which gave me cheaper outgoing calls and free incoming in Europe. Also use Web Daily Europe 15Mb for a max of £1.50 per day (seems to be however little data used) If you keep your data switched off all day (00.00 to 24.00 UK time then you don't get charged. If you go over repeatedly you are automatically and irrevocably put on a £5 fpr 50Mb per day tariff however little data used but again no charge if no data used.

15 mb was enough to download emails and do some light browsing. I installed DataMan which is an App that monitors data and sounds an alarm when certain thresholds which the user can set are exceeded, daily, weekly and monthly. So when I am abroad I set my daily allowance to 14mb, it warns me when I have used say 50%, 80%, 90% 100%.

Wish I had paid attention when travelling in the UK and my phone without any input from me decided to use my 500mb allowance in one day as I went from Cheshire to Essex, wondered what the beeps were.

 

[auditdata]

Its dead simple.
Look at the photos and choose the nearest match to find the phone for you

 

[aquaholic]

If like my wife she is a technofobe then the iphone will be great, The 3 Network have all you can eat data which can be tehthered and will possibly go with them when my o2 contract expires. We have had iphones for the last 2 years and love them, I know its not everyones cup of tea, mainly due to the cost and different operating system but if you are not a tech head you couldnt get something easier to use, whats good is simply you pick it up and it works, no awkward menus to navigate nice and simple

 

[Richard10002]

If like my wife she is a technofobe then the iphone will be great, The 3 Network have all you can eat data which can be tehthered and will possibly go with them when my o2 contract expires. We have had iphones for the last 2 years and love them, I know its not everyones cup of tea, mainly due to the cost and different operating system but if you are not a tech head you couldnt get something easier to use, whats good is simply you pick it up and it works, no awkward menus to navigate nice and simple

Be careful...

3's All You Can Eat plan doesn't allow tethering. Their One Plan is unlimited and allows tethering. On PAYG All You Can Eat is £15 per month... The cheapest One Plan is £25 sim only - not sure if you can do it on PAYG

 

[lufc71]

SWIMBO? She Who (Irritatingly, Insistently, Idiotically?) Must Be Obeyed?

She Without I-phone Must Be Obeyed

 

[onesea]

I must admit I am an iphobe, I swear by my Gallexy s2.

Mum had Iphone she never really liked it she has just switched to a Nokia Lumar 710 (she has had several smart phones). This one was not a phone for me but at the price (£145) unlocked its quite a good phone.

Not many apps games etc but if your new to the smart phone market its not a bad starting point. For what mum wanted I would say it is a good phone...

Although if SWIMBO she wants the full on smart phone buy a high spec Android. Unless you have all the other I stuff its a better phone. If you already have gone down the Iplayer I pad etc line it would have to be an I phone..

Well thats my thoughts..

 

[Tomahawk]

Three network

Do be careful about coverage on Three... We have an HTC on Three. It is always searching for a signal and as a result draining the battery. Outside built up areas the network coverage appears to be very patchy.

 

[pcatterall]

Thanks for the many ideas and suggestions.
She Has not Been Obeyed !! In the end we settled for a simple android on a cheap TESCO contract. The idea being to get a bit of experience without cost. Hopefully we will learn just what features we require and our data requirements before venturing into buying a more expensive 'phone' and contract.
We went for android rather than the iphone simply because thought that the iphone would send us down a more restrictive technological route.
Again, many thanks.

 

[lustyd]

Post deleted - life is too short to argue about phones.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

Thanks for the many ideas and suggestions.
She Has not Been Obeyed !! In the end we settled for a simple android on a cheap TESCO contract. The idea being to get a bit of experience without cost. Hopefully we will learn just what features we require and our data requirements before venturing into buying a more expensive 'phone' and contract.
We went for android rather than the iphone simply because thought that the iphone would send us down a more restrictive technological route.
Again, many thanks.

Traitor.

Yes, it is going to restrict you from using a whole lot of stuff that is no use to you whatsoever.

Yes, its going to restrict you from being involved with a myriad of suppliers all trying to impose their vision on the standard to the detriment of the users.

Yes, you are now restricted from using the most widely used phone in the world.

I would be really worried.

 

[grumpy_o_g]

Beware, the Android will use more data out of the box as its much more "chatty" on the network. You'll need to turn off a lot of things to reduce the data to iPhone equivalent. I only know this because I took them both on hols and was made aware of the costs

That's the second time you've posted a load of rubbish about Android in about as many days. The usage at default setting from both phones is almost identical. I have run both an iPhone and Android phones side by side for a few years now and the only difference is the that the iPhone contract costs more 'cos it's got the word iPhone in it. Both out of the box and with similar apps installed and used in a similar pattern the data traffic acroos the network is, unsurprisingly, almost identical. It's unsurprising becuase both phones have almost identical settings and both are doing exactly the same thing - the OS has nothing to do with the network traffic.

My last two Android devices have arrived with syncing and roaming disabled and the browser user agent string at "mobile". What are these "lot of things" we'll need to turn off?

 

[lustyd]

Post deleted - life is too short to argue about phones.