I want a new phone but I'm clueless......If I tell you what I want to do with it, can you tell me what I need please?

[KirstyJC]

My mobile is ancient and it is about time I got a new one. The problem is I have no clue about what is available now and when I had a look just now in Tesco I felt like completely overwhelmed .

There were things called androids (I thought that was something out of Star Trek?) and then some were triband and some quadband...some were really expensive and others worryingly cheap so I am obviously missing something.....HELP!!!!

OK, I need it to:

1. make phone calls (rarely) 2 texts (also rarely)
2. camera (low quality is fine)
3. Go onto t'internet (we have wi-fi) to read sites (like MN) and make posts, google stuff, buy stuff on amazon, have apps to eg find nearest cashpoints, petrol stations etc (does this even exist?!)

So really I need something that I can use as a mini computer really, that also makes calls/texts for the occasions I might need it to.

I want PAYG I think because of the low use of calls/texts but then I have no idea how this works with the internet - I assume at home I can use our wi-fi but is this actually correct? Do I need to use the phone to make internet connection, and if so would a contract be better? If I can use our existing wi-fi then what happens when I am away from home?

Oh, and I have no money either so it needs to be cheap! Don't really mind whether it has a keyboard or touch screen although I like the look of the touchscreens.

So, can anyone advise me on what I want? I would be ever so grateful.

Oh, forgot to say also it would be very handy to have a sat nav. Not sure if this is generally an app to add on or if it comes on the phone already?

What's your budget?

If you look at the different payg tariffs you will find some that if you top up by say £15 a month you get free texts, and a gb of internet (which is plenty) a month. Like here;

www.virginmobile.com/vm/genericContent.do?contentId=payasyougo.whychooseus.sm072

I'm sure Orange, o2, etc do similar tariffs. Yes you can use your home wifi when at home. I believe if you're with Orange on some tariffs you can also use Cloud wifi hotspots.

HTC Wildfire
Samsung Galaxy Ace

are cheaper smartphones. Might be worth looking at some reviews for those.

Thanks for your responses so far. I have looked at different websites to try and get a bit more tech-savvy and I think I defintely want a smartphone with wi-fi.

I don't expect to use it much for calls though - I use about £10 of calls over about 6 months at the moment and that is an expensive PAYG tariff - so I won't be topping up by £15 a month!!

My budget is non-existant really but I could maybe find up to £100 at most - I see some of the Samsung Galaxy phones look quite cheap. Carphone Warehouse has this one www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/mobile-phones/SAMSUNG-I5500-EUROPA-THREE/PPAY?src=phoneFinder&tariffNetworks=&clearance=false and this one www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/mobile-phones/SAMSUNG-GALAXY-Y/PPAY?src=phoneFinder&tariffNetworks=&clearance=false which look OK price-wise.

If I got one of those, I assume I could use the home wi-fi and then only need to pay for connection to internet when out and about ie in the car for gps or something. Is that right? When you use GPS do you need the phone to be 'on' ie costing money for the whole time it is taking you along the route or once you have it programmed in, is that it? (I don't even have a sat nav so have no idea how they work ).

Would I need to buy an additional storage card or battery as well do you think?

Thanks for your responses so far. I have looked at different websites to try and get a bit more tech-savvy and I think I defintely want a smartphone with wi-fi.

I don't expect to use it much for calls though - I use about £10 of calls over about 6 months at the moment and that is an expensive PAYG tariff - so I won't be topping up by £15 a month!!

My budget is non-existant really but I could maybe find up to £100 at most - I see some of the Samsung Galaxy phones look quite cheap. Carphone Warehouse has this one www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/mobile-phones/SAMSUNG-I5500-EUROPA-THREE/PPAY?src=phoneFinder&tariffNetworks=&clearance=false and this one www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/mobile-phones/SAMSUNG-GALAXY-Y/PPAY?src=phoneFinder&tariffNetworks=&clearance=false which look OK price-wise.

If I got one of those, I assume I could use the home wi-fi and then only need to pay for connection to internet when out and about ie in the car for apps or calls etc. Is that right? Would I need to buy an additional storage card or battery as well?

Ooops - posting went a bit funny there, sorry about that!

You sound like me - last month I bought a HTC Desire upfront and got a rolling 1 month contract with Three for £10/month which is 100 min, 300 texts, 1Gb data. It's great!
I downloaded all the data you'd like.

My phone was off ebay so if budget is limited try that?