I want to buy an HTC android phone but where do I start please?

[MaggieW]

I have a pay as you go via Vodaphone (imagine something the V&A Museum would be happy to exhibit) but think it's time to upgrade. Rather than pay as you go - I currently put on around £15-20 per month, I think I can get a better deal on a contract as I text mainly and make a small number of calls. So how do I go about it please? I'd like to be able to text, make calls, have email and small use of internet, but that's not vital.

Do I buy the phone separately and go to a provider to get a tarriff or do I buy the lot in one place?

I want to know what I'm doing before going into the shops as I find them a little bamboozling so don't want to be swayed by a sales person into territory I have no knowledge of! TIA.

Ok, firstly does it have to be HTC?

Secondly can you afford to put anything upfront towards the phone?

Would you be happy to increase the monthly cost to say £25 for a good deal?

The reason being is £15-£20 is fairly modest for a contract phone if you want a free phone. You can get one but they'll be quite basic models and you'd almost certainly be tied into a 2 year contract.

We have a HTC desire S & it is very good. I bought it for £149 at the 02 shop & use a GiffGaff sim in it. The bundle I use costs £10 per month, for unlimited internet, unlimited texts and 250 minutes of calls per month. I'm pretty pleased with it.
I priced up contracts versus outright purchase & didn't find a deal that was good enough. If you divided the phone purchase by 12 and added the monthly bundle that would come to £22.40 per month. Over 18 months it would be £18.20 and over 24 months it would be £16.20.
Hope that may be of some help.

Thank you both. Niceguy, I've researched phones and done poll amongst friends and HTC seems best choice. However, I can be persuaded otherwise!

Am happy to pay upfront, and would increase monthly cost depending on how long I would be locked into the contract.

PostBB - where did you get the GiffGaff sim etc from, and did you have to do anything to the phone to make it work with that sim? It sounds a very good deal. Which network does it use, if that's not a stupid question?

I presume I can't keep my old Sim/number if I change phones - or can I?

You can keep your old number - just need to get a code (possibly PAC) from old network.

I have an HTC Wildfire which gives me 500 min, 5000 texts and 1gb internet for £20 a month and phone was free. Think you get wildfire Ss for less than that now.

GiffGaff was where I was alluding to. I've got my entire family on GiffGaff except myself but that's only because work pay for my line rental.

The £149 for the Desire S seems very very cheap. If that's still available then it's a real no brainer since it's a very very good phone.

Another deal worth considering would be TalkMobile on a 12 month contract. You can choose a HTC Wildfire S or Samsung Galaxy Ace. On £20 a month contract you'd get 200 mins, 1000 texts & 1GB Data per month. TalkMobile are owned by Carphonewarehouse and piggyback on the Vodafone network.

If you are happy to tie yourself down for 24 months then you can get the HTC Desire S free on an £18 a month contract.

giffgaff.com/,dh has just gone over to them and they are great,the unlimited texts and internet are really unlimited,giffgaff dont operate a fair usage policy so there are no hidden limits

Also I think that giffgaff sim cards work with phones locked to the o2 network,at least it does in ds,s blackberry.

OK. Thank you for all of this. What's the best place to buy a phone only as the ones I've seen are all contract-linked or pay as you go. Where would you advise please?

I could be you OP.
My antique is finally being consigned to the recycling bin after 9 years loyal use.

I also wanted an HTC and have just bought one from Carphone Warehouse on an excellent deal.
They were offering a HTC Desire S for £15.50/month and no up front cost. You don't get that many minutes (50) but that's fine for me, but you get unlimited txts and 250mb data.
It was only a limited offer, so may not still be on, but if it is, it's well worth considering. It was exactly what I was looking for, but hadn't hoped to find.

Should say, it was only on Orange (I think). You still had to pay £100+ for the phone on Vodafone.

250MB of data isn't a lot for a month, so make sure you download an app which will track your usage and warn you when you are near your limit.

Thanks - they recommended 3G Watchdog.
It shouldn't be a problem as I'll use WiFi most the time I expect.

I highly reccomend HTC on Talkmobile. £12 per month, 24 months contract, loads of data, calls, texts included, you do not pay for phone. Only down side is the battery life is a bit cruddy. Otherwise v. good deal, good phone too.

Thanks Greenshadow and SewC. What's Orange like compared to Vodaphone, does anyone know, as the £15.50 per month is tempting for a Desire S.

Also 250mb - what would that allow me to do over a month or what wouldn't it allow me to do. Remember I come from a phone that only txts and makes calls, but am I going to become frustrated by this over the 24 months?

Thanks again all.

It's hard to say really as different provider's are better in different areas. You could live in a blackspot for one and get strong signal for another.

That said, Orange do share their masts with T-Mobile and vice versa so you should get more chance of getting a decent signal. Last I heard, this didn't include data but I believe plans are in place to fix that.

In my area, Vodafone are rubbish and O2 seem very good. But that's just anecdotal.

The main concern I have is if the 250MB is enough and how much it would be if you go over, or want more. 250MB is in effect 8MB a day which isn't much at all. You'd be ok if all you want to do is check Facebook, maybe collect a few emails. Nothing more. You may sit there and be thinking that it's fine but smartphones are one of those things which grow on you and you find new uses once you have it.

I'd suggest this deal might be better for you BuyMobilePhones.net

The above gives you the phone with nothing up front. unlimited texts and a more reasonable 500MB. Downside is that it's only 100 mins a month but then it depends on how much you talk on it. £15 a month with 4 months free (via redemption).

That phone and deal looks perfect niceguy - thank you. So can I keep my old number with this one - and, if so, how can I ensure this happens smoothly. Also, what happens at the end of the 24 months - presumably you keep phone and shop around for another plan? Sorry if this sounds a very basic question but I'm only familliar with pay as you go and an ancient phone!

Yes you can. Call up Vodafone and ask for a PAC code. This is a code you need to give your new provider (eg. T-Mobile). They should then give you a date when your existing phone number will be moved over.

So you will probably get your phone with a temporary number and on the given date, at some point it will change.

At the end of the 24 months, if you don't say anything then they'll just keep billing you monthly as you have been. But I suspect by then you'll be chomping at the bit for the next latest/greatest smartphone so will be counting down the days anyway. If you swap providers, again do the above and ask for a PAC.

Hope that helps

Oh and if you are going to go with the BuyMobiles.net offer above, first visit www.quidco.com , joint that and visit the site through there. That should net you another £25 back eventually.

Niceguy. Thank you again. I have joined Quidco and have ordered the phone through the site you suggested. I'm now looking forward to moving a few centuries ahead in terms of technology than what I've been used to. Thanks again for your help.