Metropol

Hi,

I'm looking at getting a Samsung Tocco Ultra but I know precious little about mobile contracts etc. I've done some research but the info just isn't clear enough for me - I lose all interest when they talk bundles, add-ons, fair use policies, bonuses, etc. So I'm wondering if someone could explain the catches to look out for and advise which of these would be my best option.

I'm currently a happy Pay As You Go customer on Virgin Mobile. I spend, let's say, £10 on a good month and £30 on a bad month. I mainly text but not excessively, I occasionally call, and occasionally like using the internet.

I've narrowed it down to two options:

1. 3 @ £15/month plus £195 for handset (unlimited texts, 75 minutes) plus an internet add-on.

• I can choose between a £2.50 internet add-on for 10MB or £5.00 for 1GB - but what do these figures mean in context? I know this depends on the length of the string, but is 10MB a fair allowance or is it worth paying extra?
• I've heard that Three isn't a great option if you want to use the internet freely instead of being restricted to the sites IT wants you to use?

2. Stick with my good Virgin Mobile service where I control what I pay depending on what I'm using, and purchase the phone separately for about £330.

• Their Mobile Web costs 30p per day on the days when internet is accessed. A fair use policy applies of 25MB per day, costing £2 per MB above the limit. Is that good, bad or neither?
• Is it dangerous buying this expensive phone with swanky features and using it on a pseudo network like Virgin? Would I find that some features like GPS would become redundant?

Any advice and explanation gratefully received, I feel like the equivalent of those people who can't setup widescreen correctly.

From personal experience I would say that 10 MB of data a month is not enough. Over the last 30 days my phone says that in total I used around just shy of 500 MB (1/2 GB). Admittedly from what you have said I am a heavy user in comparison, but I think if you went for 3 over Virgin I would certainly recommend going for the 1 GB allowance. It is a massive jump in allowance for little additional cost (relatively) and based on what you have said you really will never go over.

With regards to Virgin. A daily limit of 25 MB seems perfectly reasonable, again based on what you have said. If you used the internet everyday that would be £9 a month.

As to network qualities I'm afraid I can't comment. I've used a few but unfortunately not these two.

Having been with 3 for the past year I've had no problem accesssing any website I want and alternative browsers like Opera mobile work just fine although I haven't tried things like exchange email or Peer to Peer software. Skype also works fine and 3 are actually keen for you to use it.

As for staying with Virgin Mobile I don't see any reason why this would stop any party of your phone working as expected (unless you don't have a 3G sim - but I'd imagine you do) as the network actually runs off the back of the large and reliable T-Mobile network.