Advice Wanted : Mobile Phones

[lathany]

I'm thinking of getting myself a mobile phone for when I go back to work (so that I too can announce "I'm on the train!") However, I know next to nothing about how to choose one (I've never bought one before).

My criteria are:

Use : To ring out in emergencies and semi-emergencies. I'm not interested in deals that provide chat time, I have a land line for that (it'll normally be switched off).

Features : Just the whole "phone" thing. I don't care about cameras, ring tones, text messages, games, etc (although, I'm mostly interested in the cheapest option so if it's cheaper to get a phone with them, that's fine). I also want something that would fit in my bag, but frankly anything smaller than a brick works (also I find the really small phones annoying).

Main want : Something cheap.

Any and all advice appreciated!

Comments

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

Not many of these concerns apply in the UK. PAYG plans don't have monthly fees any more. Price per minute is high, but if you're only expecting to make a few minutes of calls per month, it's pretty much irrelevant (roughly comparable with using a payphone). The downside of PAYG is that a cheap handset will cost about 50 quid, instead of being free.

And we've had a single digital mobile phone standard for about 15 years, so there's no way you'd mistake an analog mobile for a GSM phone, because at first glance you'd think the analog phone was a typewriter, or a WWII-era field radio, or a double-decker bus, or something.

[onyxblue1.livejournal.com]

Wow, that would be nice. I would have gotten a cell 'phone if I didn't have to pay monthly fees.

I always wanted a bag 'phone, but I don't think I've seen one for . . . about fifteen years.:-) They were a little on the large side, but everyone knew that you had one, then, and you could feel important because of it.:-) Now they're all so tiny that no one can see you've even got one. Maybe I should start telling people I've got a 'phone, it's just so small they can't even see it.

[lathany.livejournal.com]

I reckon that your best bet would be to move to the UK and get a phone here.

</wishful thinking>

[onyxblue1.livejournal.com]

No, you wouldn't want us over there. the_original1 isn't as easy to get along with in person as you might think. Oh, wait, he might read this. Forget I said that!;-)

[lathany.livejournal.com]

The downside of PAYG is that a cheap handset will cost about 50 quid, instead of being free.

OK, thanks. Given that I really do expect to make less than a call a month, it simply means that it'll be better value after the first five months.

because at first glance you'd think the analog phone was a typewriter, or a WWII-era field radio, or a double-decker bus, or something.

Oooh! That sounds fascinating. I want! ;-)

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

And you can almost certainly get a handset free from one of your less cost-conscious friends...

Note also that you can top up PAYG phones directly from your debit card at NatWest, Sainsbury's and I think some other cash machines these days, just by pressing a few buttons. So they really are pretty much painless!