Switching from meteor (PAYG) to 3 (Bill)

thehomeofDob

Hey guys,
I've been going over my phone costs for the past two months, and I'm considering going to 3. I've been with meteor almost since they first started operating, so I don't think I'll drop them entirely (definately don't want to lose the free texts for life). My credit costs, however; are steadily rising, and I'm looking for a way to save a little cash, as well as get a hold of the Nokia 6280. 3 seems to be the best way forward, as Meteor will probably never stock a phone that I'd like to purchase, and sim free can be quite expensive.

Here's a basic look at my call/text costs for April and May taken from MyMeteor,
April
Call Time: 20:45 @ 20cent = €3.91
Texts: 225 @ 9cent = 20.29
May
Call Time: 51:04 @ 20cent = €7.59
Texts: 400 @ 9cent = 36.01

Note that May call costs are off, because I spent a bit of time on the phone to IBB Tech Support while our landline was down and it's a different rate.

On average I spend less than a minute on each phone call, generally landline/mobile is about fifty/fifty. As you can see though, I don't spend a whole lotta time making phone calls, I'm a texter.
So I'm looking at the 500texts a month bundle for €25. I know I would most definately be able to use the majority of those texts every month. 500 texts with meteor would cost me €45, so right off the bat I'm saving €20 a month.
I make calls during any time of the day, no more so on weekends than weekdays, so a flat rate suits me fine.
If I were to go with the 500 texts + about 15 minutes landline and 15 minutes mobile calls I'd be looking at €32.75 a month. With meteor that would be around €51, definately a saving. Even if I only used 300 of the included texts I'd still be saving money.

I do have some questions about 3 though, before I jump into a 12 month contract.
For €25 a month, 3 have three different plans, 200 minutes, 100minutes/100 texts and 500 texts. Is it possible to change to a different plan in the same price catagory? If so how does it work, and does it incur any extra charges. My thinking being, if I stop texting as much as I do, then I'd like to be able to switch over to the 100/100 option.

Is there free webtexts? I use these a lot! though I'm keeping my Meteor sim, and it only needs €5 every 6 months to stay active, so no webtexts isn't a big deal. Plus I have acess to two vodafone accounts for webtexts, so yeah, I guess that's a moot point.

Do 3 bastardise their phones with their own software a lá Vodafone branding? I've always liked how meteor does very little or nothing at all with there phones. Now I know there is exterior branding, but the software is the important thing.

Signal quality? How is it? Anyone in Cork city, or Waterford (dungarvan and there abouts) have experience with 3? They are about the only places outside of Dublin that I regularly visit, so having signal there is important.

Apart from that, is there anything else I should know about before heading down to 3 after my up coming paycheck and signing up for a 12 month contract? Also, are there any problems or general comments you guys have on the 6280, as that phone is one of large factors in my decision.

Thanks for any help you can give,
~Dob

chrislad

Regarding the 6280, honestly, it's a nice phone but very basic. I'd recommend splashing out a bit more on the N70.

Blaster99

Wrt the changing of packages, I'd say calling 3 is your best bet.

Wrt signal strength, never been to Cork or Waterford with a 3 phone so can't comment on those but in my experience if you're in any reasonably big town you will have decent 3G coverage. In Dublin, no problems obviously. In rural areas can find yourself in very marginal 3 coverage before the Voda coverage kicks in. I've also had the odd problem making phone calls while in Voda coverage.

3 does plenty of bastardising and there are 3 logos everywhere. I get the impression it's difficult to get 3 to give out unlocking codes as well, but I don't know for sure. If this is an issue, ask 3.

I've been using 3 for quite a while now and the call savings (I don't text) have been great. The only major problem I've had with them is that their roaming outside of Ireland/UK sucks but seeing how much it costs, it's been a good excuse not taking phone calls.

thehomeofDob

@chrislad - I don't wanna splash out right now, I loved my 6230 when I had it, so an upgraded version of S40 should be okay. Right now I have a 6260, and it's the slowest mofo in town, doing my head in at the moment. The 6280 will tide me over till I can pick up the n73 at the start of next year.

@Blaster - I'm planning on heading into the 3 shop in Blanch on Sunday, will see if they'll let me take a look at a working 6280 as well. About the coverage, I just wanted to make sure I'll have signal for texts/calls in those area's, if 3 have a deal with vodafone I should be okay. As far as branding is concerned, the phone comes with a USB cable, correct? I should be able to flash the software to nokia's original then. Getting it unlocked will be an issue for me, I'll mention that in the shop on Sunday. Roaming isn't, I haven't been outisde the RoI with my phone in years.

I suppose, the question I had been meaning to ask in my original post is - is it worth switching to 3?

chrislad

3 don't bastardise their phones as badly as Vodafone. On my E1000, there's two small logos on the front and back, and the start up logos. However, they are well designed and seem natural rather than the forced Vodafone ones. I hate branding but 3 doesn't bother me.

Cabaal

chrislad wrote:

3 don't bastardise their phones as badly as Vodafone. On my E1000, there's two small logos on the front and back, and the start up logos. However, they are well designed and seem natural rather than the forced Vodafone ones. I hate branding but 3 doesn't bother me.

Fully agree, my Nokia 6680 just had a 3 logo on startup...but you can easily remove it through settings
Vodafone plaster their name everywhere on their phones

Blaster99

Yeah but 3 does stuff like not allowing you to fall back to 2G manually. The odd logo here and there bothers me little, modifying functionality does bother me. I can understand why they do it, mind you. Vodafone has been known to remove functionality also.

thehomeofDob

Vodafone completely removed reports from my old v525, I hated that. As long as there are no major software/functionality changes then it's all good, because themes and start up screens can be changed.

I talked to a guy in 3 today, he said they're working on webtexts so they should be out shortly, and I can change between tariff plans of the same price, then I can move to another price plan after.I had a short look at the phone, and I'm definately gonna pick one up when I get paid at the end of the week.

GusherING

3's Unlock codes require 25€ plus the remainder of your contract. Thats a lot of cash.

Sam Vimes

GusherING wrote:

3's Unlock codes require 25€ plus the remainder of your contract. Thats a lot of cash.

well you're going to have to pay that anyway so its not that bad

dubadubdub

Check out:

www.callcosts.ie

Though I notice that they are using 3's promotional offer of 3c/min to other 3 mobiles in their calculations but that offer ends in a couple of months when it switches to 35c/min! But it will give you some figures to go on.

MayoExplosion

dubadubdub wrote:

but that offer ends in a couple of months when it switches to 35c/min!

Pay monthly

Calls to all Irish mobiles are 30c/min. Calls to landlines and voicemail are 15c/min. Calls to and from UK & NI are 30c/min. Video calls to 3: 30c/min. Video calls to other Irish networks: 50c/min. Texts: 9c, Picture message: 25c, Video message: 50c. You get a free daily trial of 2MB Mobile Web Sites until 10/7/06, after that it's €1.

3Pay

Voice & Video calls to 3: 3c/min (until 18/08/06, after that it's 18c/min, not 35). Calls to other networks are 35c/min. Calls to landlines are 18c/min. Voicemail is free. Calls to and from UK & NI are 35c/min. Video calls to other Irish networks: 50c/min. Texts: 3c (until 18/08/06, after that it's 9c), Picture message: 25c, Video message: 50c. I assume the Mobile Web Sites daily free trail also applies to 3Pay, but I'm not too sure; you could ask customer services.

Some of 3's rates aren't as cheap as Meteor, but the phones, coverage and services are definitely better.

1huge1

well what i find good is that you can use 50% of your minutes for video calling but the problem is that its only 3 to 3 and its 50c per minute to the other netoworks
we must get more ppl to join 3

thehomeofDob

Well I've made the switch - I went into 3G on wednesday and picked up the phone. I did make one big mistake though, I totally forgot that 3G isn't 3. I had set up the account, chosen the phone and done all the rest when I was told the phone is €229 instead of the €179 on the 3 website... I had gone too far to walk out at that moment, so I had to shell out an extra €50!

So far I'm completely happy with the phone and 3 in general, though we'll have to wait for my first bill to be sure. The phone quality is great, especially soundwise!

Cabaal

thehomeofDob wrote:

........ I was told the phone is €229 instead of the €179 on the 3 website... I had gone too far to walk out at that moment, so I had to shell out an extra €50!

Yeah big mistake buying it in a shop, when it comes to There you'll always save money by buying on-line...its worth the day wait imho

Sam Vimes

Cabaal wrote:

Yeah big mistake buying it in a shop, when it comes to There you'll always save money by buying on-line...its worth the day wait imho

not necessarily. there was a period where the shop was cheaper than the net and it was the same price for quite a while. a while ago the e1000 was over 100 on the net and 29 in 3g