Thinking of switching from 02 to Meteor

jos28

I am thinking of buying my first smartphone and I'm looking at either the HTC Desire or Samsung Galaxy SI9000.
I have been with O2 for years and have not had any problems but the Meteor prices are very tempting.
The HTC Desire with 02 is €149 on a silver upgrade. I can get the HTC Desire for free with Meteor or pay €89.99 for the HTC Sensation
For €40 a month I can get;
O2 - 250 mins/250 texts/250mb with free 02 talk and text on a 12 month contract
Meteor - 400 mins/400 texts/2GB on an 18 month contract.

Any advice or experiences would be much appreciated.

leon.healy

jos28 wrote: »

I am thinking of buying my first smartphone and I'm looking at either the HTC Desire or Samsung Galaxy SI9000.
I have been with O2 for years and have not had any problems but the Meteor prices are very tempting.
The HTC Desire with 02 is €149 on a silver upgrade. I can get the HTC Desire for free with Meteor or pay €89.99 for the HTC Sensation
For €40 a month I can get;
O2 - 250 mins/250 texts/250mb with free 02 talk and text on a 12 month contract
Meteor - 400 mins/400 texts/2GB on an 18 month contract.

Any advice or experiences would be much appreciated.

I have been on all networks....except emobile.

Meteor are great value in my opinion. The i9000 is a great phone. I had it recently. I would not suggest you get it now because You would be trying yourself into a contract for a phone(Excellent phone) which is not up to date!

jos28

Thanks Leon, what would you recommend if I don't sign up for the i9000 ?

Edit - Agh!! I rang the Carphone Warehouse and now I am even more confused. They are recommending the 3 network who are giving the Galaxy S2 for free with unlimited data and loads of other bits for €40 per month on a 24 month contract. Decisions, decisions.........

danmanw8

Just be careful if you travel a bit in Ireland. Meteor coverage is rubbish in certain parts of the country and for data is the worst network as they don't have 3G coverage in a lot of places. If you stay in the same place a lot and there's Meteor 3G coverage then go for it.

also, eMobile is just another eircom brand piggybacking on the Meteor network so the coverage is just as bad.

Compare the prices of tesco mobile too. They are cheaper than O2 but yet use the O2 infrastructure so coverage is much better than Meteor

jos28

danmanw8 wrote: »

Just be careful if you travel a bit in Ireland. Meteor coverage is rubbish in certain parts of the country and for data is the worst network as they don't have 3G coverage in a lot of places. If you stay in the same place a lot and there's Meteor 3G coverage then go for it.

also, eMobile is just another eircom brand piggybacking on the Meteor network so the coverage is just as bad.

Compare the prices of tesco mobile too. They are cheaper than O2 but yet use the O2 infrastructure so coverage is much better than Meteor

Thanks Dan, I do a fair bit of travelling both here and the UK so I think I will scratch Meteor off the list. The Three mobile deal looks impressive but I don't fancy a 24 month contract. I will check out the Tesco deals. Thanks again

bop1977

OP, if you are near the end of a contract with o2 i'd hold on and dont buy anything yet.

both myself and a guy i work with both got a call from o2. he got and 8 euro per month reduction on his bill and i signed up for a new 24 month contract and got an iphone 4 for free. i had to press them and they pretty much gave it to me. i'd say if you are looking at the android phones they will probably give them to you for free as well.

jos28

Thanks bop,
That's a great deal from 02. I am going to ring them tomorrow and start haggling. I have been with them for at least 10 years, that's got to be worth something.

Kensington

jos28 wrote: »

Thanks Dan, I do a fair bit of travelling both here and the UK so I think I will scratch Meteor off the list. The Three mobile deal looks impressive but I don't fancy a 24 month contract. I will check out the Tesco deals. Thanks again

They do shorter contracts than 24 months.
Handy if you were travelling about the UK a lot as you could roam on 3-UK for free and all your calls, texts and data would come out of your inclusive units as normal. Just make sure coverage in the areas you frequent most (both here and over in the UK) as there are some congestion hotspots here and reception blackspots over in the UK and it can be an absolute nightmare.

I'd see what O2 offer you anyway, they won't match Three's offer in all likelihood but they may offer you some sort of a deal so it's worth a try!

maynooth_rules

I had been with O2 since I got my very first mobile when I was 12. Im 27 now and last month I left them and joined meteor. I actually felt a little guilty for a while but O2 are doing simply nothing to keep their customers happy, Its seems only Meteor and 3 are bothering to compete with each other at the moment