Geeks And Gadgets
I bought a new phone.
Owing to the fact that my new job won’t involve working in the same office as my wife and the friends I tend to go drinking with, I had a sneaking suspicion that I was likely to be spending more on telephone calls.
So I decided to go for one of those ‘pay monthly’ contract things. This is a little unusual for me. You see, the main reason I’ve been on pay-as-you-go for so long is that I understand exactly how these monthly contract wotsits work.
You know, where you work out how much you currently spend per month on your phone (£12 to £15), add a little bit to cater for the increased usage and then end up with a contract that’s setting you back £60 a month for the next four years because you get a phone with a camera and so many other add ons that not only can you make calls whilst on the lavatory, it will wipe your backside for you.
Well not me, I said. So on thursday I took a half-day off from work and headed across to Newcastle to work out what the best value phone I could get would be…
So, working on the assumption that I’ll use the phone at least 50% more, I was looking for something in the price range £20-25 per month. I was previously with Virgin Mobile — and had been for several years without any problem, so called in there first.
For £25 I could get a free phone, 200 minutes and 200 texts per month on a 12-month deal or 300/300 if I signed up for 18 months. Oh, and once you’re 6 weeks into the contract, they’ll credit your account with £100 so it works out at about £19.45 per month if you take the 18 month option. Not bad at all, I thought, and I nearly signed up then, but thought that would be a little naive.
After all, not only do I not know what the ‘opposition’ would give me, but I don’t know which of the bewildering variety of phones will be most appropriate for me. I want a phone which I can use to — and I know this is going to sound old-fashioned — make phone calls on. Text messaging is another essential.
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