Upgrade!

[Paul777]

Hi I have been with 3 for about 4years. I am on the 3 to go contract.
I have never been offered a upgrade in that time! I am happy to be on the 3 to go contract, as my monthly bill is only about £6.
I realise If I decide to upgrade they will put me on a new plan.
I am not prepared to pay out £30 a month as I am a low user.
What would be my best options to get a new handset, should I leave 3 and try another network.
thanks Paul.

[3g-g]

Is there a condition that you need to change tariff if you upgrade the handset? My understanding was that you could stay as you were, you just had to sign for a further 12 months? If 3 insist that you move to a more expensive monthly talk plan I'd inform them that you'll swiftly be leaving for another network, one that values customers that have been with them since their opening days, as you seem to have been.

If you're only spending £6 a month would one of the operators PAYG options not suit? They all offer some nice incentives nowadays, topping up £10 a month will get you a few hundred free texts etc, I suppose the initial outlay for a decent handset may be an issue.

I suppose another option, if 3 are being difficult and the PAYG option doesn't sound that great is buy SIM free, either from one of the many SIM free dealers, ask on here and you'll get some recommendations or via eBay, there's thousands of new and nearly new handsets on there!

Let us know how you get on.

G.

[Ben]

I think your best bet would be to buy a Three branded handset from somewhere like eBay or a friend/someone you know. A lot of people take their 12/18 month upgrade just for the sake of it without wanting it and then sell it on, or sell on their old phone. Getting something Three branded should ensure all your Three services work correctly and, as you could even accept a handset locked to Three, should keep costs down.

I'm not sure what handset you have, but maybe look for a Nokia 6680 or N70? A 6280 would be lovely at the right price. See what you can find.

[Hands0n]

@Paul - Staying with 3ToGo is your best bet considering your low usage of £6 a month. Although that does rather suggest that you use the handset only for voice calls and text messages. Would that be a correct assumption?

If so then I would be inclined to suggest that you take a serious look at one of the various MVNOs that are out there. In particular have a look at easyMobile (http://www.easymobile.com) who have some rather attractive handset deals. But the tariffs are probably the most favourable at 15p a minute for non-easyMobile calls and 6p per text message.

They have the Motorola RAZR handset (in blue) for a reasonable amount if bought with £30 credit. The credit can be used up as much or as little as you like with no stipulation other than you spend a minimum of £5 in any three month period, or they deduct 75p per month from your credit. The easymobile SIM is free of charge and will work in any unlocked handset.

easyMobile's network is, of course, 2G only at the moment. But then it does rather sound like you'd not miss 3G anyway!

If you want a larger more mobile-phone-oriented brand name then Carphone Warehouse's TalkTalk deals.

Also, if you're of the charitable kind you could also support the "Global Fund fighting AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria" with the Motorola Red phone and pop an easyMobile SIM in that too

[mob453]

Buy a Threepay handset.

My 3togo contract has never been offered an upgrade either, had it since May 2003.

Nokia 6630s are a very good price in The Link Stores.

3 upgrades will try to charge you £200+ for the same phone you can buy on 3pay for £89.99

Or check out the www.three.co.uk clearance site

[Paul777]

Thanks for the advice I probably stick with the 3to go and buy a hand set from ebay or someware and just put in my sim card . I take any 3g hand set locked to 3 will do!
Paul.
ps. I'm using a nec 616. a freind gave me to try other wise I still would have the nec 808y 3 gave me 3 years ago

[Ben]

Crikey, well you're definitely due an upgrade And yes, any Three UK branded handset should work fine. It doesn't still have to be locked to Three UK but you'll probably save money over demanding one that is unlocked/unbranded.

Keep us updated on your thoughts regarding handset choice and we'll let you know our opinions!

[Paul777]

Hi if 3uk don't offer around £20 / month deal (I thought 3 would be happy to cancel the 3togo contracts) I as was thinking of the se 608i I seen on ebay for about £65. I know it has limited memory, any thoughs on the 608i.
Paul.

[3g-g]

The 608i is a nice capable little handset, if you're not for taking loads of music/photos/ringtones etc it'll do you nicely. The other half has the K600i on Orange 3G and it's great, no complaints whatsoever.

[Ben]

Yup, I think the K608i would make for a nice little upgrade over an NEC e616!