Cheap prepay android phone(samsung europa) 39€

Tockman

Samsung europa http://three.ie/shop/products/samsung-europa-black.html?_selectedTariff=prepay&_defaultPriceplan=9

With three's new prepay offer works out good

messinkiapina

Just had a quick google and it seems to get decent reviews. You can get €7.90 cashback aswell for a new connection via fatcheese. Also I think they're doing an offer of free unlimited data if you top up by €20 per month. Very tempted.

alan85

I have one of these. I won it actually. It's a great phone for €39. The odd time it freezes and I have to restart it but no major problems and the apps are cool...

54kroc

messinkiapina wrote: »

Just had a quick google and it seems to get decent reviews. You can get €7.90 cashback aswell for a new connection via fatcheese. Also I think they're doing an offer of free unlimited data if you top up by €20 per month. Very tempted.

* Unlimited internet subject to fair usage limit of 500 MB per 30 day period and subject to €4.99 internet add-on being purchased out of €20 top-up.

Is this the unlimited data? 500mb a month seems pretty limited to me.

messinkiapina

cork45 wrote: »

Is this the unlimited data? 500mb a month seems pretty limited to me.

Oh ok, didn't realise that. Their 'all you can eat' tag is very misleading in that case.

mawk

500mb is still quite a lot on a mobile. I browse a lot and use a few push notification apps but wouldn't hit 500 most months. I do use wifi at home though, since its faster so maybe if wifi was not available it might be tight.

Still its quite a lot

alastair_doom

Seems to be a 15GB cap:

Three continuously monitors network performance to ensure that the service received by customers is not impacted through a minority of users placing high demand on network resources (e.g. large bandwidths over long periods). Should your data usage exceed 15GB in a 30 day period and your usage affect other network users, we reserve the right to limit your Service.

http://www.three.ie/terms/3pay_terms.html

TheDriver

great phone, there is a new one out now so they must be trying to offload these ones cheaply.

Atlantic Dawn

Supports tethering too, here's a review of it, looks decent http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-europa-i5500-901047/review

heathersonline

Was just about to pick one up as backup for my iphone, then realised the iphone has a micro sim. Any cheap solution for changing micro sim back to normal size? Probably some $1 job on dealextreme somewhere!

Edit: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/micro-sim-card-to-standard-sim-card-adapter-black-41528 ($1.09)

recyclops

How easy would it be to unlock this?

noodler

I don't see an option for switiching if I am a different number.

You can I persume, just not online?

I am meteor but the same phone with them is 80

heathersonline

Just go ahead and pick up the deal, when you get the phone you can port your number whenever suits

noodler wrote: »

I don't see an option for switiching if I am a different number.

You can I persume, just not online?

I am meteor but the same phone with them is 80

bazwaldo

How does this phone rate compared to the cheap Vodafone Android? Specs are similar looking at the procider websites except Vodafone one is Android 2.2 and the three one os 2.1.

I got the Vodafone one for my son just to play games and its not bad for the price. Some games dont run as its too slow but for a net €20 its grand. If this one is faster it might be worth the extra.

chasm

When you purchase this via fatcheese how long does it take for them to list it as "pending" in your statement area? Havent used the site in a while!

evostik

This is a great phone for the price. Think I'll pickup a spare.

Far nicer than the Vodafone Smart Phone.

Does a sim card (new conection) come with this phone or do you have to order one separetely?

John mac

quick question, can this be used without a sim ? just for browsing on a wifi network?

evostik

I assume it includes a new SIM as they don't ask for porting details.

Yes. It works fine by wifi without a sim.

istabrac77

Might be a stupid question but is it possible to unlock this phone? I'm on contract with Metor and have a galaxy S and would use this phone when I'm out training.

istabrac77

istabrac77 wrote: »

Might be a stupid question but is it possible to unlock this phone?

it is possible but i dont know will 3 do it for you.

in my previous experiences,

-O2 unlock their phones in any store no questions asked (this was 4 years ago.)
-Vodafone make you top by at least €127 in 6months to obtain unlocking codes
and -Meteor require around 30 days to unlock your phone (again, years ago)

of course, theres always the option of paying a website to unlock it

cas2kx

Plus you can easily update it (unofficially) to the android 2.2 and now you can download flash player (still trying to get it to work other confirmed its working) very good price for 39€ but battery life is terrible just only use 3g when you need it and you might make it two days without recharging

chasm

Thanks OP, ordered one for my mum, she's coming to the end of her contract and she'll love this, especially with their new payg offer

Savman

AAAAAAARGH just paid full whack for this phone less than a week ago :mad:

Just my luck.

In any case, a bloody steal at €39 folks.

Fingleberries

Savman wrote: »

AAAAAAARGH just paid full whack for this phone less than a week ago :mad:

Just my luck.

In any case, a bloody steal at €39 folks.

If you bought it online there is an EU distance selling directive that let's you return the product with no questions asked within a specific time (I'm not sure of the exact details - it was either 7 days or 21 days, but someone else might confirm).

Anyway. If you bought online, send it back for a refund of the full price and buy it again on the cheap. All it should cost you is the price of postage.

ch750536

bought, thanks OP

martyoo

Thanks OP!

triple-M

is there a way to get this phone at that price and keep my old number?im with meteor at the mo but wouldnt mind switching to 3 to avail of this offer

martyoo

Hi Triple-M,

Yes you can. You can get your old number "ported" over to three,
You will need to fill out the form here.

rustyregan

Edit: ignore this post please. See the next post - issue has been resolved I'm pretty sure.

cork45 wrote: »

Is this the unlimited data? 500mb a month seems pretty limited to me.

I just topped up by €20 and I got this message:

Thanks, you've successfully topped up & payment has been taken from your card. If you are a voice customer your top up credit is now available to use.

If you are a broadband customer you will now need to choose which broadband add-on you would like to purchase with your top-up credit. Go to “Buy Add On” and choose the broadband add on you want for a day, week or month.

Remember - if you don't buy an add-on, your internet usage will be charged per megabyte, (which can be a little pricey). To get the best value, make sure you always choose an add-on.

Then I clicked the link for "Buy Add On" and it brought me to this screen:

Save money with Add-ons

Whether you like to text, make calls or use the internet on your phone Add-ons are the answer. Buying an Add-on with your Top-up credit will give you more texts, minutes and/or internet data at great discounted rates. All Add-ons last for 30 days from activation.
Internet on your mobile

Monthly access to the internet on your phone
Mobile Surfing 500MB €4.99 Mobile Broadband

Surf the internet on your computer.
Would you like...?
Mobile Broadband Daily 500MB €3.00 Mobile Broadband Weekly 2GB €10.00 Mobile Broadband Monthly 1GB €15.00 Mobile Broadband Monthly 7.5GB €25.00 Mobile Broadband Monthly 20GB €35.00

So basically there seems to be a discrepency between the t&cs posted here: http://www.three.ie/terms/3pay_terms.html and what actually happens when you top up. Maybe someboday can point out if I'm missing something? It might be a deal breaker for me and I might well bring the phone back, but if I do I wonder if I've lost the €20 top up as well.

rustyregan

Actually, I just checked my account balance and I see the following:

Internet (MB) Free internet allowance
All-you-can-eat 05/08/11 04/09/11 30 days

So that's fine. Maybe their system was a bit slow setting me up as I'm a new user or something. Anyway, please ignore the previous post.

Savman

triple-M wrote: »

is there a way to get this phone at that price and keep my old number?im with meteor at the mo but wouldnt mind switching to 3 to avail of this offer

I ported successfully dude, it was painless

patrickpc

rustyregan wrote: »

Actually, I just checked my account balance and I see the following:

Internet (MB) Free internet allowance
All-you-can-eat 05/08/11 04/09/11 30 days

So that's fine. Maybe their system was a bit slow setting me up as I'm a new user or something. Anyway, please ignore the previous post.

Do you know what version of Android the phone runs. I was in the Three shop on Henry St at lunchtime and the guy there said it was running 2.2 (Froyo)

Can you confirm this please ?

martyoo

Do you know what version of Android the phone runs. I was in the Three shop on Henry St at lunchtime and the guy there said it was running 2.2 (Froyo)

Hope it is 2.2! Think there was a lot of problems with 2.1 on that model.

rustyregan

patrickpc wrote: »

Do you know what version of Android the phone runs. I was in the Three shop on Henry St at lunchtime and the guy there said it was running 2.2 (Froyo)

Can you confirm this please ?

Setting > About Phone > Android Version > 2.2

patrickpc

I was also talking to the Guy in Three at lunchtime about using the phone as a WIFI Hotspot on the all you can eat data plan - 15GB for €20.

He said that this is *NOT* permitted under this plan. The 15GB can only be consumed by the phone itself and not by any other device such as a laptop which uses the phone to connect to the internet.

I don't know how they do this but they can determine if the traffic is being used by the phone or not. If it is being used by a secondary device then it charges usage to a broadband add-on if you have one (e.g. 500mb for €4.99) or presumably whatever the flat rate for their internet traffic is if you don't.

He said the reason for this is that three don't want people using the new plan just for cheapo internet access for other devices.

Anyone see this in the small print ?

chasm

patrickpc wrote: »

I was also talking to the Guy in Three at lunchtime about using the phone as a WIFI Hotspot on the all you can eat data plan - 15GB for €20.

He said that this is *NOT* permitted under this plan. The 15GB can only be consumed by the phone itself and not by any other device such as a laptop which uses the phone to connect to the internet.

I don't know how they do this but they can determine if the traffic is being used by the phone or not. If it is being used by a secondary device then it charges usage to a broadband add-on if you have one (e.g. 500mb for €4.99) or presumably whatever the flat rate for their internet traffic is if you don't.

He said the reason for this is that three don't want people using the new plan just for cheapo internet access for other devices.

Anyone see this in the small print ?

http://three.ie/terms/3pay_terms.html#prepay-topup-offer

The data service is available for use with your Three SIM Card in your Three handset only. Tethering or use of the Three handset as, or the sim in conjunction with, a modem is not allowed and may be disabled.

54kroc

chasm wrote: »

http://three.ie/terms/3pay_terms.html#prepay-topup-offer

The data service is available for use with your Three SIM Card in your Three handset only. Tethering or use of the Three handset as, or the sim in conjunction with, a modem is not allowed and may be disabled.

Is there anyway around it?

danjo-xx

rustyregan wrote: »

Setting > About Phone > Android Version > 2.2

three>specifications says
Operating System Android 2.1

Daemos

So just to clarify, you have to pay a fiver a month to get on the internet, even with WiFi? Or have I read that wrong? Sorry but I'm terrible with technology

lindtee

Thanks OP. Just ordered one for my son's birthday:)

Riderlad

Would I definately be able to get this phone unlocked and would it be particularly difficult?
It's a real deal clincher for me!

mikom

Daemos wrote: »

So just to clarify, you have to pay a fiver a month to get on the internet, even with WiFi? Or have I read that wrong? Sorry but I'm terrible with technology

Rang them up there today.
Top up with 20 a month and you have access to the 3 "all you can eat" internet.
WiFi is your WiFi once you have it at home.

Daemos

Excellent, thanks, I've been looking into getting a new phone for a while, looks like I finally found it

Esel

heathersonline wrote: »

Was just about to pick one up as backup for my iphone, then realised the iphone has a micro sim. Any cheap solution for changing micro sim back to normal size? Probably some $1 job on dealextreme somewhere!

Edit: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/micro-sim-card-to-standard-sim-card-adapter-black-41528 ($1.09)

Or if you want to go from normal size to micro SIM http://cgi.ebay.com/Micro-Sim-Card-Cutter-4-Sim-Adapter-iPhone-4G-IPad-/260818894812?pt=US_Tablet_Accessories&hash=item3cba047fdc

I know it's not what you need. Just spotted it and thought it was interesting.

Simi

Riderlad wrote: »

Would I definately be able to get this phone unlocked and would it be particularly difficult?
It's a real deal clincher for me!

Just a case of flashing a different firmware to unlock it. There's a thread on xda with all the official firmwares, including all the irish networks.

Picked one up for a friend of mine on meteor. Bargain at that price.

Dozen Wicked Words

Simi wrote: »

Riderlad wrote: »

Would I definately be able to get this phone unlocked and would it be particularly difficult?
It's a real deal clincher for me!

Just a case of flashing a different firmware to unlock it. There's a thread on xda with all the official firmwares, including all the irish networks.

Picked one up for a friend of mine on meteor. Bargain at that price.

I thought flashing the firmware was a totally different procedure to unlocking it from a network. Maybe I need to swot up some more!

Simi

Under normal circumstances yes. Flashing a new firmware through kies will do nothing. Flashing a new through odin will completely wipe the phone. Start reading through the android forum & it'll give u an idea of just how easy these phones are to mod

heathersonline

Have you a link?

Simi wrote: »

Under normal circumstances yes. Flashing a new firmware through kies will do nothing. Flashing a new through odin will completely wipe the phone. Start reading through the android forum & it'll give u an idea of just how easy these phones are to mod

Onikage

This link? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=781149

No mention of Odin unlocking network - no good reason why it would do this either.

Simi

Onikage wrote: »

This link? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=781149

No mention of Odin unlocking network - no good reason why it would do this either.

Hmm seems resetting the europa is a wee bit more tricky than I thought. U can either buy an unlock from an online unlocking service, or if u feel up to it u can give it a go yourself using the guide here.