Database Users

Cheapest way to buy a TyTn over 12 months in the UK?

I think I've finally worked it out:
Orange SPV 3100 from Scancom on 12M Business 200 contract
Phone £100
6 months line rental (£15.275 per month) £91.65 (half price offer for 6 months)
Switch to Business 120 after 6 months.
6 months line rental (£25.85 per month) £155.10
Total £346.75 (including the VAT and free insurance)
I'm just after a basic phone function with a smaller PocketPC (I'm using a Dell Amin X3 at the moment) so phone contract extras don't interest me.
I've not seen any Vodaphone deals that come under £400 which are just for 12 months and I suspect the T-Mobile Vario II may not be cheaper but I'll wait until it comes out - assuming it's before the end of the month.
Anyone know of a cheaper way?
Regards
Bill

hmm
I was offered the v160 for
£180 and same price as my current contract was (£15pcm).. but as i was on a 50% discounted package i dont think I would have been paying £15.
I managed to get the following deal
Handset £120
Anytime 125 @ £20 pcm x 9 months
Anytime 125 @ £25 pcm x 3 months
With this i get the £40 extras pack completely free which the voda rep told me can equate to 40mb pcm for gprs..
total price was £375..
Just need to get my moneys worth out of the free mins now

htc_dom: that's a nice deal. Is that for rentention then, were you renewing your contract, or starting as a virgin subscriber?
V

I got the v1605 for £72 plus 18mth Anytime 200 contract with 250 texts and 6 months half price.

Maybe i'm missing the point here, but the whole point of this device is high speed data access.... so data bundles are the major concern...well, its my major concern.
Which is why i'm trying my best to hold out for T-Mobile.

Yeah V, it was retention (suppose i could have got a better deal if i had waited longer but i aint too greedy.. lol well try not to be) I think i shot myself in the foot because before i agreed to the contract over the phone i stated i wouldnt pay anymore than £120 for the handset and the retention guy stated he couldnt go lower than £120.. hmmm
bydandie said:
I got the v1605 for £72 plus 18mth Anytime 200 contract with 250 texts and 6 months half price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was told voda only do 18mnths now.. and when i made a fuss the rep said "Ok i will do it for 12mnths this time only.. (yeah right!)"
Id like a shorter contract to get out of it quicker if i need to... I like getting the best deal (or trying to who doesnt!) And i onlyu use the free mins usually after 7pm to make use of the stop the clock tarrif
gazzrenn: yeah high speed data access is good.. but t-mobile do have a fair usage policy of 2gb bandwidth pcm.. they also say that you cannot use msn or skype etc with their services...
now if im paying say £35+ pcm for the contract, Id want what i pay for..
I actually rang t-mobile up and asked the release date for the vario2.. didnt get one (Suprise Suprise).. asked for the MDA Pro (universal) and was told £299 on a 3g data ONLY package @ £30pcm thats quite a bit for me... and was told no voice calls at all on that number.. but cant 3 (hutchinson3 that is) do 3g data and voice with video all on the same tarrif??
Most devices now use wifi and there are so many hotspots about.. i cant see me using over 40mb pcm via gprs or 3g (even though im not in a 3g enabled area yet) so i aint gonna moan.. and I like many other have got the device well below what the rrp is including the contract.
I think new customers would get a better deal on this device as I've been told a few times by retentions that they get subsidised for new customers so can give better deals..

Orange Tarrifs for the Touch HD

Post the deal you got here... Lets work together to make sure we all get the deal we want out of Orange!
What were you offered and how much?
For example today I got offered 3gig fair usage but i'm sure thats a load of rubbish!

Phone £49.99 - with £100 rebate in credit on account
Panther 45 - £20.00/month (long term customer discount)
free upgrade to 500mb/month data.
however i called orange today to ask about data usage as I have seen 1000mb else where and I was advised that there is no additional charge for use over my 500mb a month and that I would only receive a text message telling me I had gone over the fair usage amount - when asked what would happen if this was to continue I was told there was no penalties what so ever. (I asked that this conversation was adequately recorded on their system) In practice I think they are using the fair use system as a sales tool when in fact it does not really exist.

It does sound like it very much depends on your previous usage / length of time with Orange / your bartering skills LOL
I've been with Orange forever, but my bill is generally quite low - I got a deal which wan't quite as good as that cost wise (also on Panther 45), but did include the unlimited data usage.
Orange have a 'Blackberry connect' deal running at the mo, which offers unlimited data use for £5 a month - I guess they might have the option to apply this to non-Blackberry phones too?
Took a couple of "I need to speak to my manager" breaks, and I was on the phone to them for an hour.
But I was happy with the resulting deal

Great idea for this thread, I was just about to start one up however it would be appreciatied if all tariffs offered are marked as "New Contract" or "Upgrade".
I popped into town today to buy the Touch HD from Orange as a new contract and see how well I could do.
Well I've gotta warn people DO NOT BUY FROM NOTTINGHAM (Broadmarsh) unless you want to PAY FULL PRICE. Completely un-negotiable! 'Area Manager' refused to offer any discount what so ever because it was a 'just release handset'. Still can't believe that I suggested that I move upto £40p/m and was met with the same contempt!
Whilst chatting to the other staff, the lad let it slip that the 'area manager' has already given as many discounts as she's allowed for the month and its unlikely that I'll get anywhere even talking to her. Unfortunately, she then told him to get rid of me since I wasn't going to get anything (obviously she didn't like the look of me, loitering in the shop waiting for her to deal with some OAPs buying a topup).
I can't fault the lad I was talking to, since he's got no authorisation and was very apologetic but despite saying that he's practically got a sale on his hands and its effectively ££££ walking out the door and ends up as lost revenue, neither the him or the area manager would offer any kind of discount.
Oh well, next place is Derby I guess - hopefully the manager hasn't spent their quota of discounts
TTDegs said:
Orange have a 'Blackberry connect' deal running at the mo, which offers unlimited data use for £5 a month - I guess they might have the option to apply this to non-Blackberry phones too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm I was informed in-store that the only data tariff they have is the 250mb @ £7.50p/m - I repeatedly asked if there was any other options, teirs, or offers which would increae my limit and he responded everytime with "the all we've got, we are really uncompetative with out data charges".

Mine was sort of new (I've got to cancel my previous [expired] contract), as I believe that Orange don't officially have stock for upgrades at the mo.
I've always found that I get the best deal by phoning them.
You might (if you're lucky) get a better deal face to face in store - but only if the manager likes you / has deals left.
And if they have any in stock anyway.
Obviously, you stand a chance of physically walking away with one in your hand doing it that way - but at least the call centre people have access to centralised stock, not just the 3 (or however many) that have been delivered to the store that week

Are these 18 month or 12 month contracts? I can't get a good deal on 12 months (They have conveniently lost a good 12 month offer i was made on Saturday!)

Mine was 18 month.
Anything else I forgot to add?

I'm on an 18 month contract (had to move from 12) This is why they offered the £100 credit.
Also i cant imagine getting a better upgrade deal from the store as they operate on a commission basis, the store would only offer better terms on a new contact for low use customers.

touch hd
I'm currently paying about £40 a month including the mobile internet option, contract finishes in a month.
I was offered £15 a month for 1000 mins, loads of texts and apparently unlimited internet. I have to pay £120 for the phone though.
I'll believe it when I get the phone in my hand; still waiting for them to get more stock, I was told it should be tomorrow (Wed Nov 10th).
This was over the phone btw.
They aren't even making me quit Orange and start a new contract like the have every time for the past eight years.
Sounds like a good deal to me but I'm wondering if they will "lose" this offer when they get more stock

£35/month, panther 45
250MB data (grrr)
£100 for phobe with £100 cashback.
I'm not sure how you guys got much better deals than me... :/

My deal:
Phone cost: £199 but will get £60 credit on bills so no bill for a few months!
Data: Unlimited data (FUP Capped at 500MB)
Mins: 300 X Network Mins
100 Txt Messages
Unlimited Landline calls
£20pm - 18month contract
7 Days DSR / Cooling off
This was the best deal I could get since my last 3 bills were quite low.
There was no negotiating with them on the handset price, although I did try - including threats to leave as I was out of contract. Sometimes that works and sometimes not.

Touch HD in stock for upgrades - just got a text. However they will not discount from £199 for the handset (although I could get £20 a month for Racoon)
Think I may buy out of the contract I'm on, and go with either the Expansys deal or the mobiles.co.uk instead

Doh!
Just called up Orange and they couldn't find the 15 p/m offer on their system.
Apparently it was from a different department so I'm waiting for a call back with someone from disconnections rather than retentions.
Will keep you all updated

got it ordered
It's now ordered and should be delivered tomorrow or maybe Friday.
Panther 45 for £40 a month with a £25 discount getting it down to 15 for the duration of the 18 month contract.
Free broadband if I want it (i don't), 1200 minutes, 500 texts, unlimited (250MB) internet and £129 for the phone.
And I get to keep my number. Looks like Orange have got over their "brand new customer only" mindset.
Out of the four people I spoke to there was only one muppet, a definite improvement and they now tell you how long you will have to wait to speak to someone instead of keeping you on hold for thirty minutes.
After years of slagging Orange I'm now actually happy with them.
Woo hoo!

brilliant
been playing with it all day and i've got to say i'm impressed.
only gripe so far is landscape doesn't work for all apps. GSen fixes this though and also turns it off when you put it face down.
touchflo i pretty cool but i miss spb diary so am experimenting with it turned off.
the options for claunch don't render on the big screen but appart from that it's a wicked bit of kit.

phoned orange for the pac code as I'm thinking of moving to O2 home broadband, so moving my mobile as well(to get the ~£5/month reduction the broadband). after asking for the pac code(they offered their broadband for £8/month(as I don't have orange at my exchange so can't get it free) on their home start(only 10gb usage), the home max(40gb) for £23/month) I asked to see what offer they could do on the touch hd(wasn't expecting much as the experiance back in october asking for the omnia wasn't fruitful(wouldn't go under £110 on £30/month contract), £25/month(500mins(quite a bit more then my needs), 100texts(not a big texter) & unlim land line(most of my calls are to land line)), handset for £175(with £130 credit to my following months bill, so £45 for the handset) + £5/month for 'unlim' web(500mb, used to be 250mb. apperently increased from boxing day). I'm going to see if I can get a couple quid more off a month and/or the handset down to £150(not hopefull on that).
I'm tempted to go ahead and get the touch hd from orange, but tryin to decide due to the O2 brodband. also thinking of waiting till the N97 comes out next year(1st half of 2009 according to what mobile).

The deal I ended up with is:
£49.99 for phone
£50 rebate
1200 Minutes
500 Texts
Limited to 250mb fair usage ... (but they always say unlimited when I call ??)
£30 a month
Amazing phone. Well worth it.

AlexEv said:
The deal I ended up with is:
£49.99 for phone
£50 rebate
1200 Minutes
500 Texts
Limited to 250mb fair usage ... (but they always say unlimited when I call ??)
£30 a month
Amazing phone. Well worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats a cracking good deal for 30 quid a month you got there... just hope you didnt have to get on your knee's for it lol .
Anyways....you guys forget about orange and their rubish about not available for upgrades etc and head on to mobiles.co.uk and grab it from there either as upgrade or new contract (free hd ) ...either way I found it nuch simpler than dealing with the lovelly people at orange and bagged a unlocked and unbranded HD through my Mrs upgrade for 60 quid (shes quite happy with her trusty pink nokia ) and now running my o2 sim that is due for upgrade in february but will just change it for the simplicity tariff since wont need a new phone for now but will keep it as a contingency plan for the HD successor :-D

NEVER EVER EVER buy a phone from your local orange shop - they are a useless set of twits who have no idea of half of the capabilities of the phone and then try to rip you off - for example:
couple of weeks ago I visited them (under the impression the Touch HD was exclusive to them) - They could only offer me either £200 for the handset on a £35 per month contract OR £50 for the handset on £45 per month handset (18 months). At the time I was happy to pay this, but put a deadline on them for the next following day as they didnt have the device in stock and said they would have to procure it.
That night I went on teh interwibble and Carphone warehouse were doing them for £137 for the handset on £35 per month contract. Phones 4 U however were doing them FREE on £35 per month contract.
I visited the orange shop next day ready to bargain - but luckily they didnt get the Touch HD in stock, so told them where to go and ordered it from Phones4U over the phone. 2 Days later a VERY happy bunny having saved £200!!!
Moral of the story - tell orange to go play with themselves and goto a third party provider like Phones4u

300£ for phone
270£ cash back
800 min, unlimited texts and unlimited landline
500mb/month fair usage policy.
also received a samsung g600 to keep my other orange number.
35£/ month

UK Tariff/Network advice please!

I'm one of the many waiting for the Leo. It's popped up on a couple of sites already with networks and tariffs attached to buy now with Nov 11th despatch.
I'm on O2 but there's a lot of speculation about them raking the price of the tarrifs up. I would like to stick with them because they are reliable in terms of reception.
So lets cut to the chase:
T-Mobile are offering it on 18 month with 700 mins talk time, unlimited texts and internet for £35. Oh and the device is free!
Vodaphone are doing a similar package but for 24 months.
What is reception like for these two in comparison to O2? Or should I just be patient to see what they offer?

For signal reception, that's entirely down to your location.
My expectation is that the device will be free on a £45/month contract for 24 months.
Maybe £50 for £35/month over 24 months.
Maybe £97 for £35/month over 18 months.
That is my prediction, not a statement of fact.

This is what I was thinking. A bloody rip-off compared to other networks IMO. T-mobile wasn't very good reception wise but as we all know, they are set to merge with Orange. I presume this means better reception for all?
As an existing O2 customer they should price-match tariffs, surely they won't want to start losing a customers too?

Mobile Phones Direct http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk is offering it for free on T-Mobile for £34.26 a month / 18 months / 700 minutes / unlimited texts & Web 'n' Walk / 3 months free insurance. It's the best deal I've seen on the web. Be patient! Wait until just before Xmas (I have to anyway) when the price war starts and you'll get a good deal...

aiwama said:
Mobile Phones Direct http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk is offering it for free on T-Mobile for £34.26 a month / 18 months / 700 minutes / unlimited texts & Web 'n' Walk / 3 months free insurance. It's the best deal I've seen on the web. Be patient! Wait until just before Xmas (I have to anyway) when the price war starts and you'll get a good deal...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the one I put in my first post Thanks though I'll try patience

Does anybody know whether T-Mobile are going to muck up the HD2 with its own (horrible) widgets or leave it well alone and original? Is the mobile going to be MDA'd or going to stay HTC'd? I KNOW this website is precisely to "sort out" any dislikes, BUT I would personally prefer that T-Mobile offers an HTC instead of an MDA.

Mobile phones direct sell their phones unlocked, so there wont be any T mobile branding at all.

Mobile phones direct have awesome deals, but their customer service is less than ideal. Expect your order to be canceled from them for minor issues that wouldn't take more than a phone call to resolve. Their automated notifications were innacurate (they blame the carrier for anything that might go wrong). I had to be very persistent when I ordered my TD2 a couple of months ago! The guys seemed to be on a race against the clock to hang up, and in not much mood to help.
Once my order went through (after four attempts I think), I had it next morning All in all, you need to be patient, but noone else can beat their price!

Mobile phones direct does look like the best deal out there at the moment, but if you use them remember to cancel the "free" insurance. 15-20 clicks and the sacrifice of a goat will reveal the extra small print of the extra charges that come "free".
But hey, once you have the phone, you never have to deal with them again, which is good.

pangel83 said:
Mobile phones direct have awesome deals, but their customer service is less than ideal. Expect your order to be canceled from them for minor issues that wouldn't take more than a phone call to resolve. Their automated notifications were innacurate (they blame the carrier for anything that might go wrong). I had to be very persistent when I ordered my TD2 a couple of months ago! The guys seemed to be on a race against the clock to hang up, and in not much mood to help.
Once my order went through (after four attempts I think), I had it next morning All in all, you need to be patient, but noone else can beat their price!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a quick question about Mobile Phones Direct. Once I order my phone, I'm assuming my contract is then with Vodafone (who I will be getting my HD2 with hopefully) and I can phone Vodafone to increase and decrease my contract and change texts etc yes?
Just want to make sure, before I go placing an order with them.

http://www.mobiles.co.uk/o2-htc-touch-hd2.html
O2, £25 per month for 24 months with 600 min unlitmed Text and £99.00 for phone, or same for £39 at £35.00 per month.

mec1234 said:
http://www.mobiles.co.uk/o2-htc-touch-hd2.html
O2, £25 per month for 24 months with 600 min unlitmed Text and £99.00 for phone, or same for £39 at £35.00 per month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What sane person would buy into a 24 month contract?!

vinokirk said:
What sane person would buy into a 24 month contract?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a 24 month pay-per-MB contract on a data-centric phone, too.
To be fair, 24 month contracts as absurd as they are, are probably ok for casual phone users. For enthusiasts (which presmably 90% of the people on a site such as this are), that last 12 months is going to make you feel like you're handcuffed to a piece of junk when next year's devices come around.
I'm even wary of 18 month contracts!

vinokirk said:
What sane person would buy into a 24 month contract?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone who is planning to sell his phone in 3 months, use the money to buy another one SIM-free, and then use the new phone with his contract SIM card, repeating as necessary until the term of the contract is up. Doing it this way means you can upgrade whenever you like, and you don't have to pay the full SIM-free cost of the first phone up-front; you pay it off over 2 years instead.
It can work out quite cheap. You can get a TP2 from Vodafone on a £30-a-month contract with no charge at all for the first three months. A comparable SIM-only contract would probably cost £20 a month, which means you effectively get a TP2 for a total payment of just £150, paid off at £10 a month, with 2 years' interest-free credit.
The only problem is if you think you might want to change carriers within the 24-month period; that's a real pain.

mr_Ray said:
That's a 24 month pay-per-MB contract on a data-centric phone, too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It £6.50 for the unlimted Data bolt on.

mec1234 said:
It £6.50 for the unlimted Data bolt on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So an extra £156 on top of a 24 month contract, makes it less attractive.

Best deals to get HD2... Post them here

So, I'm looking around frantically to find the best deals and order my HD2. I know there are loads out there and many people looking, so why don't we collate them all together and post here, in a kind of format that is easy to read.
Company: Mobile Phones Direct (http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk)
Network: T-Mobile
Plan (Cost per month): Combi 30 + Web'n'Walk (£35)
Phone Price: Free
Term: 18 Months
Minutes / Texts / Internet: 700 / Unlimited / Unlimited
Total Cost: £630

Ok, so found another, not as good minutes wise, but still not bad for the money...
Company: Mobile Phones Direct (http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk)
Network: T-Mobile
Plan (Cost per month): Combi 30 + Web'n'Walk (£35)
Phone Price: £127.99
Term: 12 Months
Minutes / Texts / Internet: 300 / 200 / Unlimited
Total Cost: £547.99

And another. Anyone else chip in at anytime
Company: Mobile Phones Direct (http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk)
Network: T-Mobile
Plan (Cost per month): Combi 30 (£30)
Phone Price: £151.99
Term: 12 Months
Minutes / Texts / Internet: 300 / 200 / n/a
Total Cost: £511.99

nicelad_uk said:
So, I'm looking around frantically to find the best deals and order my HD2. I know there are loads out there and many people looking, so why don't we collate them all together and post here, in a kind of format that is easy to read.
Company: Mobile Phones Direct (http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk)
Network: T-Mobile
Plan (Cost per month): Combi 30 + Web'n'Walk (£35)
Phone Price: Free
Term: 18 Months
Minutes / Texts / Internet: 700 / Unlimited / Unlimited
Total Cost: £630
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Considering that data is pretty much a must, this is the obvious choice, and the one I went for last week.

mr_Ray said:
Considering that data is pretty much a must, this is the obvious choice, and the one I went for last week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, but its not to some people.
I was just looking at the options of this rather than buying sim free. With sim free, you still buy the phone and pay your existing line rental (or payg) but if you can get it £40 more with minutes / internet, surely it must be worth it that way and you pay monthly rather than in one chunk.
Just thinking of alternatives.
I'm going for the 12month Combi 30 + Web n Walk I think

Makes me said I cant get this phone in the US... Why must the US be so far behind with phones!!

If you order online from Vodafone then the phone is free and for £40 a month you get 1200 minutes, unlimited texts, "unlimited" Internet, and unlimited calls to UK landlines. (I think it's 1200 minutes anyway - it's not entirely clear if the extra 300 you get for ordering online is included in the 900 figure). £45 a month gets you an extra 300 minutes. This is on an 18-month contract: £5 per month less for a 24-month contract.
http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/cat...nitialFilters=flt_paymonthly&_requestid=64351

nicelad_uk said:
With sim free, you still buy the phone and pay your existing line rental (or payg) but if you can get it £40 more with minutes / internet, surely it must be worth it that way and you pay monthly rather than in one chunk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, but when another tasty phone comes out in 6 months, you can sell the SIM free one and buy it. I've been a fan of buying outright for a few years now, and it's really nice not being tied to a service provider. It basically means you get a SIM because of the service, not the phone they offer. As well as that, I can cancel my "contract" with a month's notice, at no cost.
Each to their own, but now that I buy I couldn't go back to a contract unless there was something VERY special out there!
Anyway, I got my HD2 from Expansys.com. It was the usual £500, but comes with £30 of Expansys vouchers. Should be delivered tomorrow

johncmolyneux said:
Yeah, but when another tasty phone comes out in 6 months, you can sell the SIM free one and buy it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but you can you do that on contract too: sell your contract phone, use the money to buy another one SIM-free, and then carry on using your contract SIM. That way you don't have to pay any money up-front for the first hand-set - the cost is spread over 18 months, or two years. If the first one you buy is SIM-free then you have to come up with £500 in cash up-front. If the first one is on contract then, when you buy the second, you've got the resale value of the first handset to offset the cost.

Tempted by the Voda deal at £40 over 18 months.......how unlimited is their data I wonder? And apparently it's in stock there

AGxM said:
Tempted by the Voda deal at £40 over 18 months.......how unlimited is their data I wonder? And apparently it's in stock there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Vodafone's data limit is 500MB per month.

Shasarak said:
Vodafone's data limit is 500MB per month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And from what I've heard, they usually charge when you go over!

Shasarak said:
Yes, but you can you do that on contract too: sell your contract phone, use the money to buy another one SIM-free, and then carry on using your contract SIM. That way you don't have to pay any money up-front for the first hand-set - the cost is spread over 18 months, or two years. If the first one you buy is SIM-free then you have to come up with £500 in cash up-front. If the first one is on contract then, when you buy the second, you've got the resale value of the first handset to offset the cost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats exactly my point.
I can get the phone for £511.99 with a contract for 12 months and get some free minutes. Then I can still sell the phone at any time and buy another, but I still get free minutes.
You're paying whatever a month for your month by month contract and then £500 on top for the phone, which works out more.
If you're sim free is £20 a month and you sell your phone after 6 months, you've still paid £120 in line rental, which is more than I'll be paying for 12 months line rental and a phone.
£511.99 (12 months) vs £620 (6 months)

Got an upgrade from Vodafone web site as the following:
12 months at £25
phone £100
total cost: £400
100mins / Unlimited Internet (500 Mb fup)
Have been using the internet a lot and have not yet been warned or charged by vodafone regarding the FUP.

Have you got a link for this offer please?

For the upgrade, you need to log in to your VF account and then select upgrade option (must be within the last 70 days of your existing contract).
Then they require you to fill in a form and if you are allowed to upgrade, you are forwarded to upgrade section to pick a phone. HD2 is not there by default so you need to view all phones and select HD2. I think before doing so, you need to select the duration from the top. For me the phone showed up for £100 on existing contract. I heard some people get different quotes and would like to hear what others get.
On the confirmation emails, it is specified as 12 months so the deal seems to be right.
However, this morning also received an email from vodafone back orders apologising that due to the demand it is out of stock and they are expecting new stock in 7-10 days. If it is true that they had stock and it sold out, perhaps they have prioritised new contracts as opposes to upgrade deals like I had.
It is a little disappointing but the deal seems to be worth the wait.

Just ordered mine from Vodafone. Apparently, they had 500 phones come in today, and there were 53 left when I placed my order.
Got a pretty good deal I think, especially as I'm a new customer.
900 minutes, unlimited text, unlimited landline, unlimited internet
18 month contract, £35/month.
Phone should be here on Monday. Well chuffed.
Bagpuss.

Hi Bagpuss,
Did you phone to get this deal or order online? Contact number please......

Ordered direct from Vodafone via their sales line. 08080 408 408.
Spoke to a nice lady called Emma Morgan.
Initially was told that the lowest price for a free phone was £40/month on an 18 month contract. Kept insisting that I needed them to match the deal I was currently getting from O2, which was 1200 minutes for £35/month. Eventually, she agree on the £35/month, but couldn't match the minutes. I was happy with that.
I've heard reports of some new Vodafone customers getting the phone for free on a 12 month, £35/month contract, but I'm a bit sceptical as that doesn't even cover the cost of the handset.
Bagpuss.

Thanks will try them on Monday..........

HD2 available on Virgin Mobile UK

Just in case you hadn't noticed (well I hadn't anyway!) the HD2 is now available on Virgin Mobile in the UK
http://bit.ly/6tBFFr
The deals seem to blow some of the established ones away

Hardly blown away, to get the free phone you need to sign up for a 2 year tariff and the £35, 18 month tariff isn't much better than what I got from O2. Except I got the phone for less than £2 and they want £20.
Still, some good deals on there, especially if they have good stock levels.

Fair comment. I haven't seen that deal on O2.
It's just that I was about to commit to either a £35 18 month contract or £45 12 month (handsets £free - £90). So £25/m (+£80) seems ok.
But as you say, let's see what the stock levels are like.

this IS the best priced company out there, i ordered mine last night.
18 months, virgin £25, 500 mins, unlimited text and internet to 1gb fair usage, phone cost £80 + £5 postage. with this i got 2 months free so £50 because i am a virgin media customer.
you can get £30 cashback through quidco.com or another cashback site.
even the customer service at tmobile couldn't believe it (when i was getting my PAC) and had to go online to check lol.
25*18 = 450 - 50 = 400 + 85 = 485 for 18 months.
that about the same cost if you took this on vodafone through a third party company (dial-a-phone) but here you can port your number (which i think is an important thing).

iandooley said:
Just in case you hadn't noticed (well I hadn't anyway!) the HD2 is now available on Virgin Mobile in the UK
http://bit.ly/6tBFFr
The deals seem to blow some of the established ones away
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for posting this. It is a good deal.
Sunil_237 said:
this IS the best priced company out there, i ordered mine last night.
18 months, virgin £25, 500 mins, unlimited text and internet to 1gb fair usage, phone cost £80 + £5 postage. with this i got 2 months free so £50 because i am a virgin media customer.
you can get £30 cashback through quidco.com or another cashback site.
even the customer service at tmobile couldn't believe it (when i was getting my PAC) and had to go online to check lol.
25*18 = 450 - 50 = 400 + 85 = 485 for 18 months.
that about the same cost if you took this on vodafone through a third party company (dial-a-phone) but here you can port your number (which i think is an important thing).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right. It's the best deal I've seen so far and I haven't seen anything close from anyone else with those minutes and Internet included. Add the 2 months free and cashback and it's an outstanding deal.
Do you have your phone yet? If so can you use Skype on it to chat and talk?
Any issues with it?
Also, did it come with the case and an SD card?
Thanks.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!
my virgin contract was up this month aswel!

I paid 100ish on a 34/month 12 month contract more than a month ago, including internet. This is way more expensive.

Pagnell said:
Hardly blown away, to get the free phone you need to sign up for a 2 year tariff and the £35, 18 month tariff isn't much better than what I got from O2. Except I got the phone for less than £2 and they want £20.
Still, some good deals on there, especially if they have good stock levels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hardly a reason to say the Virgin offer isn't a good deal - show me where O2 advertise a HD2 for £2 on a £20 per month contract? I'm going to say that you can't because it was a retention offer which they probably only offered you because you spent £30+ the previous 18 months with O2.
To concentrate on getting a 'free' phone also shows your naivety in thinking - no handset is offered for free as they are all subsidised according to how much you are paying over the term of the contract (it's funny how the handset becomes 'free' when the monthly price is £35+ over 18+ months isn't it?).
The Virgin mobile tarrifs are extremely good value in comparison to everyone else especially when you compare the overall costs. Now if someone can find out if they are sim unlocked directly from Virgin this will become a stonking deal.

kai_ said:
Now if someone can find out if they are sim unlocked directly from Virgin this will become a stonking deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll let you know later. Mine's due to be delivered today

arfster said:
I paid 100ish on a 34/month 12 month contract more than a month ago, including internet. This is way more expensive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it's way more expensive. In fact I think that it will still be cheaper on Virgin.
How many minutes and texts does your deal come with and what network is it on? Is the Internet "unlimited" on that network and could you please let us know how much you actually paid for the phone? £98, £120, £101?
Thanks.

My deal with T-Mobile was
16GB SD -
£25.00 cashback
Free phone
900 Mins / Unlimited txts and internet
18th Month contract.
£35.00 per month
I moved from 3 to T-Mob to get this phone..

arfster said:
I paid 100ish on a 34/month 12 month contract more than a month ago, including internet. This is way more expensive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Virgin Mobile Tariff (best value/cheapest that I can see):
500 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited internet:
18 months x £25 + £79.99 for handset = £529.99 total cost.
Your tariff:
12 months x £34 + £100-'ish' for handset = £508'ish'
No idea how much 'ish' is and also no idea how many minutes or texts you are getting either for your £508'ish'. Neither can it be said that £22 for 6 extra months usage is 'way more expensive'.
When I was looking for my HD2 I think at the time MobilePhonesDirect were offering the best value for me, can't remember the exact pricing and tariff but overall cost was something in the region of £520 but with only 300 minutes and 200 texts, unlimited data on T-Mobile. That was over a 12 month term I think and also required £102 up front for the handset.
Now considering that the cheapest you're going to get a HD2 outright for is about £450 from Carphonewarehouse (reported by someone, but no idea if it's sim free or not) you can't say that the value of calls/texts/data isn't worth £80? After all, even if you buy the handset outright you've still got to pay for a phone plan of some kind.

kai_ said:
Hardly a reason to say the Virgin offer isn't a good deal - show me where O2 advertise a HD2 for £2 on a £20 per month contract?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And show me where I said it wasn't a good deal. Take your time.
kai_ said:
To concentrate on getting a 'free' phone also shows your naivety in thinking - no handset is offered for free as they are all subsidised according to how much you are paying over the term of the contract (it's funny how the handset becomes 'free' when the monthly price is £35+ over 18+ months isn't it?).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're talking to someone who worked for O2 IT for four years, I'm well aware how this works thanks and that phones are subsidised. And I'd wouldn't say I 'concentrated' on anything, merely talked about something that was relevant.
Still, feel free to continue being patronizing, I'm sure you feel a whole lot better for it.

but ....
in case anybody is interested ...
the phone has no sim lock
no branding on it at all
the serial number works on the htc website
all good for me

kevb said:
in case anybody is interested ...
the phone has no sim lock
no branding on it at all
the serial number works on the htc website
all good for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, now I'm very interested.
If possible could you let me know what your fastest download rate is when you have good coverage. Also if possible could you test out Skype (if you use it).
Thanks again.

DuoM said:
Thanks, now I'm very interested.
If possible could you let me know what your fastest download rate is when you have good coverage. Also if possible could you test out Skype (if you use it).
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use skype, never felt the urge, i never max my tariff out as is
don't have any any other apps loaded on it yet except for resco explorer and sbp backup.
this is only my 2nd day with it, ordered it online from virgin at about 2:30pm and it was delivered next day by DHL
it was my intention to run the phone "as is" for a while to make sure there are no problems, which means i will not be installing any other software just yet.
if i download any large files files i will try and time it manually if thats any good to you?
any other info you need feel free to ask.
apart from getting used to a (very)sensitive screen compared to my last resistive screen i am still feeling the love for it

kevb said:
I don't use skype, never felt the urge, i never max my tariff out as is
don't have any any other apps loaded on it yet except for resco explorer and sbp backup.
this is only my 2nd day with it, ordered it online from virgin at about 2:30pm and it was delivered next day by DHL
it was my intention to run the phone "as is" for a while to make sure there are no problems, which means i will not be installing any other software just yet.
if i download any large files files i will try and time it manually if thats any good to you?
any other info you need feel free to ask.
apart from getting used to a (very)sensitive screen compared to my last resistive screen i am still feeling the love for it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you could try and time it manually or you can use the website: http://www.dslreports.com/mspeed
which should allow you to test the download speed.
The only thing is that I'm not to sure about how accurate it is and their servers seem to be in the USA so that's probably not too good.
I was going to ask about the keyboard but it sounds like it's super sensitive, like others I've tried on the HD2. Can you type on it?
Oh, perhaps you could tell me which ROM version you have and if it came with an SD card and a case (not that I normally use one)?
Thanks.
EDIT: Oh, just saw the ROM in your sig. Did it come with that one?

I was really tempted but then realised you cannot downgrade tariffs at anytime. I personally think going via mobilephonesdirect with topchashback and vf maybe the better option.
Scott

kevb said:
in case anybody is interested ...
the phone has no sim lock
no branding on it at all
the serial number works on the htc website
all good for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perfect!
My T-Mob contract is up in a week, and Virgin was by far the best deal I could find.
Virgin £25pm 18mths + £79.99phone = £529.99
The closest I can get is:
TMob £22.50pm 18ths + £169.99 = £574.99
Virgin give more 300 more minutes and unlimited texts (versus 200), both having unlimited web. I can't find a better deal really. I would perfer O2, but I can't get anywhere near Virgin for mins/txts and phone price. Closest is £20pm + £7.50Web 18mths + £250 phone, making it £745 in total! And you only get 75 minutes!
I was worried about being locked into operator provided updates only (my Diamond was bought from Expansys, so fully unlocked), but this is great news! Thanks!
Quick question: Do I need my PAC code when I order, or can I do it after ordering? I was able to do so when I moved to T-Mob...

I was close to considering...
Tried to coerce O2 into getting near to the Virgin offer but the best they could offer was £35/month 18 month contract, 600 mins, 1000 texts, unlimited wi-fi (after I forced the issue) and unlimited internet with £90 for the phone.
Total cost £720 over the life and although Virgin is £190 cheaper I have broadband with O2 so leaving them would increase my monthly payment by £5 and therefore £90 over the life so Virgin only worked out £100 cheaper for me (though I could've got £30 from Quidco).
£100 is a lot of money but I have no experience of Virgin whereas O2 have always been good to me (and normally very generous with my renewals) and I know I get good reception wherever I need it.
Ordered it around 18.45 and supposedly should receive tomorrow according to the email and text they sent me - weather permitting - though I was told Friday by the guy on the phone.