Can I use an Android phone without an internet contract

[Earwiggo]

i am looking for a small phone with a good camera but only use the internet on my ipad. The sony x10 mini looks good and I have seen it as a pay as you go or £10/month contract online with vodaphone.

I popped into the vodaphone shop to try it and see if they could match the internet deals only to be told I must get a £15/month contract to allow the phone to update it's software automatically online.

I was warned the auto updates could not be switced off and would cost £1 everytime it did this if i didn't have the more expensive monthly contract. She even said it might connect every day costing me £31/month.

Is this true or just a way of taking £5/month off me for something I won't use?!

[maggiemai]

I'd recommend the HTC Wildfire... you can get it on pay as you go with no internet contract and it is absolutely fab!

[NetworkGuy]

I think updates ought to be an option you can disable. I'd be tempted to take out the Vodafone SIM and use an Asda PAYG instead and they can 'stuff' any excessive charges for data (with a different SIM in, it's quite likely to not connect properly for downloading software updates).

Also quite a few phones can be told to switch off the 3G function (so as to be usable on aircraft, and to conserve battery life... handy also when you don't want any 'foreign soil' roaming to take place and be hit for higher charges). Probably worth checking for the Sony.

Being curious, what internet deals have you seen for the Sony x10 mini ? Only asking because the other day when looking around for an Orange 'San Francisco' there were a couple of places which previously had it for 80 +10 top-up (both "Out of Stock") while others are selling it at 100 +20 top-up...

[Jux]

Mostly I have the Internet connection switched off on my htc. Think it probably updates while I'm syncing it with my computer.

[bubbles4]

I,ve got an HTC Wilfire on PAYG and pay £10 a month for calls and get 300 texts and 500mb internet,I,ve never gone over that.Also you can turn off internet so it only connects through your home wifi and as NetworkGuy says it can be put in Airplane mode which disables all wireless connections.

[Earwiggo]

So the woman I spoke to was probably talking rubbish and I should be fine switching it off.

I'll probably go with the £10/month deal for ease but have seen payg ranging from £100 to £130 plus £10 top up, so I guess it pays to shop around.

Will also need to on the ball wrt extras, the £10 deal involves buying some kind of insurance which can be cancelled otherwise adds to cost and at the end of the 2 year contract the monthly charge doubles (it's an intro offer).

[niceguy2]

You may also want to look at moving to Giffgaff pay as you go rather than Voda.

They give free Internet on their £10 a month option. In fact, it's free for now on normal £10 top ups until end of June. To be honest they keep moving this date. It's been extended every month since we've been using them.