It's the plan that drives the bill, not the phone.

By which I mean- get a plan for $30 a month that includes a capped amount of calls, and a free phone. If you don't go over the cap, the bill will always be $30. And you will have a groovy new phone, too.

But is that possible with an iPhone and net browsing and all these other features that appear to be popular with young adults now?

Yeah but you'll pay more than $30 a month for those goodies. Plus what you spend on apps.

Nokia 3310 to iPhone is going to be a big jump for you.

I'm $75 a month plan for an iphone with Virgin.

I probably make 20-30 calls a week (mostly to other mobiles), send upwards of 50 txts a week, use the web/data functions all the time, and I have never gone over my limit yet.

I have a google phone - HTC, and I pay $150 / month. I was getting $500 bills, even when I was on the $500 cap, which is why I went for such an expensive plan. BUT, I get unlimited calls, unlimited texts and 3G of browsing / month. Suits me well.

hm, i have a shitty old nokia which i own outright and my bills are regularly $120+. i make a couple of calls a day.

time to go plan shopping?

Thanks - this is starting to make sense.

if you just want a new phone and aren't interested in all the fancy new features (web browsing etc), have a look at pre-paid as well. it works out at about $20 - $30 a month for me.

i guess it really depends on what you want to use the phone for, and how often you use it. maybe expand on that a bit as it may help people advise you better.

I'm on a $119 iPhone cap with Vodafone which includes unlimited calls and texts (I use the same mobile for personal and work use, so it's reassuring to know that I can use it as much as I like for the same price) and 2GB of data. I'm a heavy data user, I listen to streaming radio on the train every day, use Safari and Google Maps a lot too and have never come close to getting anywhere near my data limit.

Hey Timey, I'm not really sure what I'd do with it, as I've never had any options apart from calls and texts. And playing Snake. I don't think I'd go overboard with the net, etc.

Fuck I hate cap plans, deliberately obfuscating pieces of crap that they are.

I'm on one because it was the only option that had a reasonable data allowance in it at the time I was getting the handset, but damn, do not like it.

In case anyone is wondering:

Freigabe {f} - German:

enable
release
enabling
approval
clearance
acceptance
unblocking
unfreezing
homologation
deallocation
qualification
type approval
decontrolling
liberalization
liberalisation [Br.]
opening [to the public]
declassification [of information]

STICK WITH THE 3310!!!

Cute.

Cripes, some of you peeps sure like using the phone.

If anyone wants a 3310, I have a spare in my desk drawer. Free.

that stock photo of the phone looks charming. but the real one's probably so old and crummy it's not even hygenic to place near anyone's face.

go on, get a new toy, have a new phone. several models available now have surpassed human intelligence.

I have a google phone - HTC, and I pay $150 / month. I was getting $500 bills, even when I was on the $500 cap, which is why I went for such an expensive plan. BUT, I get unlimited calls, unlimited texts and 3G of browsing / month. Suits me well.

Fuck me!!!!!!!! How important do you think you are?

Try doing something on your own, rather than feeling the need to tell everyone what you're doing all the time.

That is disgusting that you spend that much on a fucking phone. How about halving it, or thirding it, and giving $50 a month to Medecin Sans Frontiers, or the Cancer Council, or FBi.

Fuck. I can't believe the indulgence.

wow. i use my phone about once or twice a week to send text messages, perhaps make a quick call or two to my boyfriend on the same network, and i still pay $40 a month, including a tenner for the phone, on a cap. i don't understand how, it just happens.

yeah posty. I think I want everything in one package

Besides which, google phones have made the pub a little bit more boring. Instead of arguing for hours about some minor piece of trivia, someone whips out their phone and answers the question immediately. It's the journey that's half the fun, people!

i like doing this so we don't have to sit around arguing about some stupid piece of trivia because then we can move on to other fish. next please.

I have a really long cord.

Yes, get all the trivia out of the way, then we can get on to solving the world's problems in a serious and business like fashion.

Besides which, google phones have made the pub a little bit more boring. Instead of arguing for hours about some minor piece of trivia, someone whips out their phone and answers the question immediately. It's the journey that's half the fun, people!

agreed. although to be fair, modi, i am not sure there are many people out there that actively enjoy arguing with you. trolls aside.

They can passively enjoy it if they wish. But it's all they're gonna get!

you keep telling yourself that.

whatever it is you keep telling yourself.

You know, I have an excess of iron in my blood, you should be nice to me, pasty.

pfft, i am being perfectly nice (for me). what good is iron if you can't absorb it? just you see if i care.

I have come into this thread to point out the fact hat Block used the word ''groovy''.

Hippy.

That's right, ''hat''.

someone whips out their phone and answers the question
This is very annoying.

I've never seen any of the people I know with internet phones do this. Or use the camera, or the e-mail or to get directions or anything really -apart from call and sms

You should argue with them more. I have seen people do it AT FUCKING TRIVIA!!!!

Cunce.

no modi, it just means we talk about more trivia. eventually we get tired of looking up stuff unless it's a sticking point. however, using internet phones at pub trivia is very cuntlike and uncool. that's a whole different bag of lightbulbs.

well for reception i'm thinking of going back to telstra, even though i've had problems with them. though mostly with home phones and internet, mobile phones have been ok and i was with them for 10 years. it's just their plans suck.

the only times i need reception is in the country at my folks, target basement in the city and meredith/mt buller (for those drunk overseas phone calls).

and my dream phone would have fm radio, mp3 and 5megapixel camera with min f2.8 and decent zoom. no internet, no gps crappo. though it would be great if i could plug it into my laptop and instant modem. don't know why bastards don't do it cause wireless usb modems are just a phone sim chip.

Try doing something on your own, rather than feeling the need to tell everyone what you're doing all the time.

jasmine.po- isn't this what M&N is for?

:)

Hey, binary, do people get iPhones just for perceived value, or do they actually benefit from all the shit it can do?

i've got a $73/month iphone plan on optus with a huge cap and 700Mb/month - they have another plan which is $64/month and i should have gone for that (but i wanted the 32gb model instead of the 16gb). having always-connected internet is bloody awesome. the free maps app is a lot more useful than a street directory. even sms on iphone is great. hard to explain until you use it. i don't really have any other apps on there apart from one that controls my home stereo like a remote (it's a 'squeezebox boom').

the only cons i can see: getting music onto the iphone is an epic pain in the ass. itunes is the shittest music sync manager ever. on PC, anyway. i wish there was a way to hook it up to winamp or something. there's a windows media player plugin that isn't great.

I pay $15pm for $300 credit and never go anywhere near using it all.

I think I've checked my email once. After I leave the house i've zero use for the internet. Actually I usually even turn my phone off outside these walls.

I've heard that Milo tins with string are great, only 12 bucks outlay, for unlimited calls to one person plus photos, radio and internet (if that one person also has a trannie, camera and laptop with them).

i got a 2g phone with internet when my brother got a 3g phone on a contract. it is seriously not worth having and i can't believe anyone actually used it. SO SLOW.
anyway the screen on his new phone cracked after one week so he bought a prepaid one with a 'blue tick' ''apparently in telstra talk this means good reception in the country BUT HE DOESNT GET ANY RECEPTION!
SUCKER!