iPhone 3GS UK Discussion thread

[bob2131]

isimon = thankyou so much for that reply.
150 mins per month = would expire at the month end? or do i have whenever to use them? eg i can make them last 6 weeks?
If i have the text anytime tarriff.....cant i buy minutes?

Tethering sounds good....but i would not want to pay extra for it....i dont even wanna pay £30 per month. I currently pay £25 and i have lots of excess allowance left on my current phone.
Tethering would be hacked soon enough i would have thought, no?

What is visual voicemail?

So the monthly saving on PAY GO would cancell itself out when you look at the handset cost.....

I plan to PAC over my old number from 3.
Would this be ok? If i did the simplictiy trick?
I dont know how definate this simplicity trick would work.
Wouldlnt you need a simplicity to get the tarriff?
How can a simplictiy sim work in iphone?
£20 per month sounds awsome.
So i WOULD get unlimited data usage?
Wi-fi....could i pickup wif fi at my home with my router???
Wi fi is not too important.... on the streets i would use 3G for internet.... as i wont be near hot spots most of the time anyway......

thanks.

 

[CD3660]

iSimon, you asked for it!

 

[Satori]

Thanks to everyone in this thread for providing such good information. I've put it all together and think I've come up with a plan that suits me. Anyone care to validate it for me?

1. Buy 32Gb iPhone as PAYG for £538.30 from Apple.
2. Do not activate it but do note down phone number on sim
3. Sign up for a new sim on the O2 Simplicity tariff (600 mins / 1200 txts / unlimited data / no contract) for £20 per month.
4. Activate free wifi using BT/Cloud using phone number on original sim

So you get lots of free minutes and texts, unlimited data and wifi and no contract. Assuming another iPhone upgrade next summer, the total cost over 12 months is £778.30. Not too bad.

Or have I missed something crucial?

This will work very well if you are not already tied into a contract - and of course will alow you to upgrade whenever a new model comes out without penalty.

 

[wazza12345]

Thanks to everyone in this thread for providing such good information. I've put it all together and think I've come up with a plan that suits me. Anyone care to validate it for me?

1. Buy 32Gb iPhone as PAYG for £538.30 from Apple.
2. Do not activate it but do note down phone number on sim
3. Sign up for a new sim on the O2 Simplicity tariff (600 mins / 1200 txts / unlimited data / no contract) for £20 per month.
4. Activate free wifi using BT/Cloud using phone number on original sim

So you get lots of free minutes and texts, unlimited data and wifi and no contract. Assuming another iPhone upgrade next summer, the total cost over 12 months is £778.30. Not too bad.

Or have I missed something crucial?

That's exactly what I'll be doing I've researched it a fair bit and cant find
any holes other than what you've mentioned above.

My only concern is O2 insurance, I've just gotta call them and make sure they are ok with the Simplicity SIM in a PAYG phone. Can't see why it would be a problem though.

 

[CD3660]

I would have considered the PayG 32gb but i dont have that amount to spare, i have to pay off my contract as it is & pay almost 100 to get the 32gb on the 2 year contract. At least this way i can get the phone when i want. I dont mind paying a little bit more to get it right now.

Next year i intend to be more organised financially wise & will buy the 2010 iphone if i fancy it & put my contract sim in it & give the Pay & go to my husband to use in 2009 iphone!!

I'm not sure whether you have an iPhone at the moment, and if so which model it is, but if you had a 3G 16GB you could get the 32GB 3GS in the following way:

1.Sell your 3G 16GB to MobilePhoneExchange for £206, see:

http://www.mobilephonexchange.co.uk/search.aspx?m=2846&s=Apple iPhone 3G 16GB

2. Add that to the 6 x £35 I'm assuming you would save by not buying out your contract, i.e. £206 + £210 = £416.

3. Add £416 to what would have been the cost of the iPhone on a new 2 year contract (approx. £100), and you have a total of £516.

For another £22 or so you can buy the 32GB PAYG and use your contract sim in it, then be in a position to upgrade this time next year without penalties!

When your contract ends you can continue it on a month to month basis, or save yourself even more money by switching to Simplicity 20:

http://shop.o2.co.uk/sim-only-simplicity

Good alternative to locking yourself into a 2 year contract, no?

 

[CD3660]

lol

Sorry bob, didn't mean to be rude but I've never come across anyone who can fire off questions quite the way you can!

I hope that you're managing to get the info you want.

 

[iSimon]

isimon = thankyou so much for that reply.
150 mins per month = would expire at the month end? or do i have whenever to use them? eg i can make them last 6 weeks?
If i have the text anytime tarriff.....cant i buy minutes?

With the text anytime tariff on PAYG you get free texts included when you top up the balance. You don't "buy minutes", you just top up your balance. Then when you make calls your PAYG balance just goes down at the appropriate rate (25p/minute for first three minutes of the day, 5p/minute thereafter - my usage for example would average out at approx 20p/minute which is where I got £30 lasting 150 minutes from). When you text the texts will first come out of the bundled texts you were given for topping up with the Text Anytime tariff, and if and when they run out they would then come off the overall PAYG balance (at 10p/message). Not sure if the PAYG balance lasts indefinately but I'm sure it would at least last 6 weeks so it would certainly be ok for you.

Tethering sounds good....but i would not want to pay extra for it....i dont even wanna pay £30 per month. I currently pay £25 and i have lots of excess allowance left on my current phone.
Tethering would be hacked soon enough i would have thought, no?

Possibly - but you'll likely run the risk of O2 cutting you off if they discover you are using the service against their terms & conditions (which bypassing their tethering options would be).

What is visual voicemail?

See here (watch demo if you can), but basically: "Listen to your fourth voicemail message without listening to the three before it. Visual Voicemail shows you a list of all your messages — and who they’re from — so you can play them in any order you please." It's a nice-to-have, but not exactly essential - without it the iPhone just uses voicemail the same way as any other phone.

So the monthly saving on PAY GO would cancell itself out when you look at the handset cost.....

For your usage, yes probably.

I plan to PAC over my old number from 3.
Would this be ok? If i did the simplictiy trick?
I dont know how definate this simplicity trick would work.
Wouldlnt you need a simplicity to get the tarriff?
How can a simplictiy sim work in iphone?
£20 per month sounds awsome.
So i WOULD get unlimited data usage?

Yes you can PAC from 3 onto a Simplicity SIM - just fill in the form on o2's website. Simplicity isn't really a trick - it's simply a tariff that O2 give for those already with a phone - when you sign up for it you are sent an O2 SIM that you put in your phone. There is no reason why you can't put that O2 Simplicity SIM in a PAYG iPhone.

Wi-fi....could i pickup wif fi at my home with my router???

Yes - I believe this has been pointed out numerous times in this thread! It's your internet connection and up to you what wifi devices connect to it. Wifi only costs when you are using someone else's service and they charge for it (i.e. the cloud/bt openzone).

Wi fi is not too important.... on the streets i would use 3G for internet.... as i wont be near hot spots most of the time anyway......

thanks.

Indeed!

I believe the cheapest option for you personally would be to go the Simplicity route. You may find it easier to just sign up for one of the iPhone contracts or simply sticking with PAYG, but really Simplicity isn't that much more difficult. If you signed up online today for Simplicity then you would hopefully have the SIM in time for Friday - then it would simply be a case of putting the Simplicity SIM in the iPhone and away you go. It's best to do it online as you get double the text message allowance - just remember to select the Unlimited Web as the inclusive bolt on as that will be the most important thing for the iPhone!

Any other questions you have should be answered by having a look at the O2 and Apple websites - there's a wealth of information on there.

 

[wazza12345]

Anyone know if you have to purchase an additional £10 compulsory Top up when you purchase an iPhone PAYG?

Ie £440 cost of phone + £10 top up?

 

[jontucker]

Anyone know if you have to purchase an additional £10 compulsory Top up when you purchase an iPhone PAYG?

Ie £440 cost of phone + £10 top up?

According to the woman I spoke to when I called O2, it's £20 top-up in store but none if you buy online. Not sure about CPW.

 

[psbabbphat]

why doesnt anyone think of putting an O2 Unlimited sim in their phone? its 15 pounds and free texts and calls to all O2.. well, this is better for me cuz all my friends us O2.. but... nobody else thinks its good for any other reason? its only 15 pounds...

 

[wazza12345]

According to the woman I spoke to when I called O2, it's £20 top-up in store but none if you buy online. Not sure about CPW.

Cheers Jon. Looks like online with O2 is the way forward then.
I can't bring myself to go through CPW, even though they may offer more back through Quidco. They've treated me like such pricks in the past before it would be so wrong for me to give them another £ of my hard earned money.

 

[wazza12345]

why doesnt anyone think of putting an O2 Unlimited sim in their phone? its 15 pounds and free texts and calls to all O2.. well, this is better for me cuz all my friends us O2.. but... nobody else thinks its good for any other reason? its only 15 pounds...

Obviously would only suit people who's friends & family are all on O2. For me this isn't the case, so no advantage.

 

[Jazzatola]

This will work very well if you are not already tied into a contract - and of course will alow you to upgrade whenever a new model comes out without penalty.

Yep, exactly. Somehow I've managed this long without an iPhone. Really looking forward to the 3GS.

 

[CD3660]

Really looking forward to the 3GS.

You'll love it and wonder how you managed without it!

 

[Loopy65]

Envirofone.com give most for 16GB 3G iPhone ? ...

Hi
I have decided to get the 32GB PAYG phone ... pop my 3G sim in then in January (when my contract is done) I'll use the sim that came with the 3GS and get the 12 months free data plan ..
I'm selling the old 16GB 3G phone to envirofone.com for £220 .. it's in argos vouchers but as a parent with 2 kids we spend LOTS in argos so that won't be a problem long term! ..
I think £220 is the best I've seen ... no ebay fees, no paypal fees, no hassle of listing .. i keep the cables and headphones .. they literally just want the phone
*phew* .. I think I have it all sorted! lol

Loopy

 

[NStocks]

Do you think we should have a Poll:

O2 Customers, are you buying iPhone 3GS on pay as you go or contract ?

I'm totally undecided which to get as are many other and rather than reading through pages, a poll would give a clear indication of which would be better...

 

[wazza12345]

Do you think we should have a Poll:

O2 Customers, are you buying iPhone 3GS on pay as you go or contract ?

I'm totally undecided which to get as are many other and rather than reading through pages, a poll would give a clear indication of which would be better...

No a poll would give a clear indication what others have decided fits their situation and requirements best. They may or may not be the same as yours..

 

[steve-p]

Not sure a poll will tell you which is better. Look at the governments we elect

 

[NStocks]

Not sure a poll will tell you which is better. Look at the governments we elect

haha so true !

Can anyone confirm that after 12 months, using the same PAYG sim that came with the iPhone, will give you the exact speeds as the contract iPhone, when you pay £10 a montly for 'unlimited' we and wi-fi.

 

[wazza12345]

haha so true !

Can anyone confirm that after 12 months, using the same PAYG sim that came with the iPhone, will give you the exact speeds as the contract iPhone, when you pay £10 a montly for 'unlimited' we and wi-fi.

Yes it will, there is no reason why a different SIM will give you different data speeds.

 

[bob2131]

cd3660 = no its ok... most people in my life get annoyed with my questions...its just my natural way of being, i cant help it. But i find it strange when OTHER people do NOT ask the simple and thorough q's like me.

Yes this board is great.

isimon KNOWS = ive just been to car phone warehouse, the guy didnt explain too well either about PAG go with 02. I give up trying to understand pay go with 02.
The guy said simplicity trick would work on iphone, but some apps and feature on iphone would not work.

Text anytime tarrif = texts......but theres no mention of minutes.... how can you buy minutes if you are on a text plan??
sorry, ill re-read youre posts....

voicemail...you can save more thaan one ? thats good....on my current 3 phone...i have to delete one to listen to the new one....and when i "save" its gone...as i dont think there is a way to retrieve saved voicemails...
SO CAN YOU SAVE VOICE MAILS ON IPHONE?
some of my voicemails are essential, i would like to save some.


So if you get simplicity sim.....that comes with a new mobile phone number?........ if it does, can i use this new number for say 6 months...and THEN pac code over my old number from 3??

wi-fi....but dude on other post said no wi-fi on simplicity....but i guess wi fi is just a feature built into handset....so it will work yeah....

I would like to hear simplicity users on iphone and their experience of it in few weeks....

cheers.

 

[dayloon]

I'm getting quite annoyed by the lack of information regarding the 3Gs and PAYG. I've spoken to so many places (various apple/o2 stores) and all say something different as to when PAYG 3gs's will be available. Some say they're 100% sure it's Friday, others say no chance, others say "no idea - we haven't had confirmation from apple yet and won't until Thursday". Crying out loud.

 

[bob2131]

Thanks to everyone in this thread for providing such good information. I've put it all together and think I've come up with a plan that suits me. Anyone care to validate it for me?

1. Buy 32Gb iPhone as PAYG for £538.30 from Apple.
2. Do not activate it but do note down phone number on sim
3. Sign up for a new sim on the O2 Simplicity tariff (600 mins / 1200 txts / unlimited data / no contract) for £20 per month.
4. Activate free wifi using BT/Cloud using phone number on original sim

So you get lots of free minutes and texts, unlimited data and wifi and no contract. Assuming another iPhone upgrade next summer, the total cost over 12 months is £778.30. Not too bad.

Or have I missed something crucial?

this is a phat idea, if it works out with no or little issues.

If you did NOT activate the unlimited wi-fi...... could you still pick up wi fi internet in say youre home on a wireless router?
As if you dont get unlimited wi-fi on simplicity....it doesnt disable wi fi does it.??
But wi fi is free anyway.... why do you have to attach this detail to the plan? when you go into city centre or starbucks....its free anyway....

 

[CD3660]

The guy said simplicity trick would work on iphone, but some apps and feature on iphone would not work.

With Simplicity 20 (Just under £20 per month on a month to month rolling contract) you get 600 minutes talk time and 1200 texts, and you also get to choose a free Bolt-On. If you choose unlimited web as your Bolt-On then this is the perfect match for the iPhone but much cheaper than the official iPhone contract. Take a look here:

http://shop.o2.co.uk/sim-only-simplicity

There are only three differences between Simplicity 20 with the unlimited web Bolt-On and the iPhone contract that I am aware of, and I say that with the experience of having used a Simplicity 20 sim in a first generation iPhone:

1. You will not get Visual Voicemail (which is no big deal as you will have ordinary voicemail instead).

2. You will not get Call Merging where you can have a conference call involving more than one other caller (again no big deal unless you are a Richard Branson type character).

3. You do not get unlimited wi-fi through BT Openzone and the Cloud hotspots as part of the Simplicity deal. Having said that I believe that you can have this by utilising the PAYG card that you will get with the PAYG iPhone. All you do is go to a known BT or Cloud hotspot and the iPhone will prompt you to enter your mobile number. Whatever card you have in the iPhone at the time, just enter the PAYG number that you got with the iPhone. The system registers the MAC address of your iPhone and thereafter that phone will have automatic free access to such hotspots for 12 months (whether you are using the PAYG card or the Simplicity card.

So, in this way the only two features that you will lose by getting a Simplicity 20 Sim Card are Visual Voicemail and Call Merging.

SO CAN YOU SAVE VOICE MAILS ON IPHONE?
some of my voicemails are essential, i would like to save some.

Yes, you can save your voicemail.

So if you get simplicity sim.....that comes with a new mobile phone number?........ if it does, can i use this new number for say 6 months...and THEN pac code over my old number from 3??

Simplicity comes with a brand new telephone number but you can replace that number with your old number very easily by getting a PAC code from your present Network and passing it on to O2.

Be careful though, you need to get a PAC code BEFORE your old contract expires and remember that it only lasts for 30 days before expiring. Do not let your contract end and then ask for a PAC code otherwise you will lose your number.

 

[English Glory]

Pre-ordering question

Hey everyone, i've pre-ordered the Iphone 3G S on the cpw website on thursday, when i do that track your item thing on the website to see how your order is going it just says "Your order has been received, we will be processing your transaction as soon as possible." is anyone elses the same that ordered the same day or has it gone on to processing?

I don't even know yet if my credit check has been successfull (which it should be never had any bad credit issues before) so does anyone know how i can/will find out?

Cheers English