Buying An iPhone On Pay As You Go

Paully D

Hi all,

Looking for a bit of advice.

I want to purchase a brand new iPhone, having been a Blackberry user for the last year and a half.

From searching around it seems the best deal I can get the iPhone 4 at the minute is €469 on 02 (8GB), with the cheapest iPhone 4S being €579 (16GB) on numerous networks.

Just wondering is that price generally what I'd be paying or would I be better off searching elsewhere for a brand new one on the likes of Adverts.ie etc?

Also, from researching it seems that for a first time iPhone buyer I'd be better off just going with the iPhone 4 rather than the 4S, would you agree with this?

If you have any other advice, hints etc for a first time buyer I'd love to hear it too.

Thanks all

BrendanD

Paully D wrote: »

Hi all,

Looking for a bit of advice.

I want to purchase a brand new iPhone, having been a Blackberry user for the last year and a half.

From searching around it seems the best deal I can get the iPhone 4 at the minute is €469 on 02 (8GB), with the cheapest iPhone 4S being €579 (16GB) on numerous networks.

Just wondering is that price generally what I'd be paying or would I be better off searching elsewhere for a brand new one on the likes of Adverts.ie etc?

Also, from researching it seems that for a first time iPhone buyer I'd be better off just going with the iPhone 4 rather than the 4S, would you agree with this?

If you have any other advice, hints etc for a first time buyer I'd love to hear it too.

Thanks all

Would you not buy an unlocked iPhone from Apple directly ? Pretty sure the pay as you go iPhones are network locked

whiterebel

BrendanD wrote: »

Would you not buy an unlocked iPhone from Apple directly ? Pretty sure the pay as you go iPhones are network locked

This ^. Go to Apple directly rather than paying €20 less for a locked one.

Paully D

Thanks to both of you for the replies.

I looked at this but the iPhone 4 on Apple seems to be €507, with iPhone 4S being €609.

That's a decent jump from €479 and I wouldn't mind moving to 02.

I see the 3GS is only €355 though. Is there much of a difference between this and the iPhone 4 for to justify the €120 increase in price?

Cheers.

Kenno90

Paully D wrote: »

Thanks to both of you for the replies.

I looked at this but the iPhone 4 on Apple seems to be €507, with iPhone 4S being €609.

That's a decent jump from €479 and I wouldn't mind moving to 02.

I see the 3GS is only €355 though. Is there much of a difference between this and the iPhone 4 for to justify the €120 increase in price?

Cheers.

Hi Paully,

If i were you i wouldn't get the 3GS, at this stage its old technology. The iPhone 4 is definitely worth the extra 120 Euro.

The biggest difference between the two is the screen.The iPhone 4/4S has twice the resolution of the 3GS. So making out individual pixels is pretty damn hard.

Also speed of the device is much faster than the 3GS.

*EDIT* FYI, the iPhone 5 is going to be released later this year. So the prices of the 4/4S will go down when this is released

whiterebel

i've a query along the same line.
i'm definitely getting a 4S soon(ish) and was wondering what the main difference is between getting PAYG from O2 (or any other operator) or direct from Apple.

whiterebel wrote: »

This ^. Go to Apple directly rather than paying €20 less for a locked one.

i was under the impression if you got a phone on PAYG, that it wasn't locked ,which is why they are so much higher in price than bill pay
and
that if i wasn't happy with service after a month i could just switch to whoever i wanted no problem?

thanks.

whiterebel

ed1604 wrote: »

i've a query along the same line.
i'm definitely getting a 4S soon(ish) and was wondering what the main difference is between getting PAYG from O2 (or any other operator) or direct from Apple.



i was under the impression if you got a phone on PAYG, that it wasn't locked ,which is why they are so much higher in price than bill pay
and
that if i wasn't happy with service after a month i could just switch to whoever i wanted no problem?

thanks.

Nope.

Kenno90

No afraid not. The reason why PAYG is so much more expensive is because you haven't got a contract with them , and over the course of 18/24 months the operator would end up making far more money off you then a PAYG customer , so they pay for most of the device as a way to lure you in.

phew...

thanks for the quick replies...
ye saved me from making a fairly big mistake there (i.e. tomorrow)
as i was think if heading into town to see if there was one about.

so there's pretty much no downside from buying from apple,
apart obviously from the €€€ outlay which , as ye pointed out can be easily justified instead of going payg.

also, if people have bought from apple did they get the Apple Care Plan or just get insurance from elsewhere.

OP, sorry i've hijacked your thread

Paully D

Kenno90 wrote: »

Hi Paully,

If i were you i wouldn't get the 3GS, at this stage its old technology. The iPhone 4 is definitely worth the extra 120 Euro.

The biggest difference between the two is the screen.The iPhone 4/4S has twice the resolution of the 3GS. So making out individual pixels is pretty damn hard.

Also speed of the device is much faster than the 3GS.

*EDIT* FYI, the iPhone 5 is going to be released later this year. So the prices of the 4/4S will go down when this is released

Thanks for the information mate, much appreciated!

ed1604 wrote: »

OP, sorry i've hijacked your thread

No problem

whiterebel

ed1604 wrote: »

phew...

thanks for the quick replies...
ye saved me from making a fairly big mistake there (i.e. tomorrow)
as i was think if heading into town to see if there was one about.

so there's pretty much no downside from buying from apple,
apart obviously from the €€€ outlay which , as ye pointed out can be easily justified instead of going payg.

also, if people have bought from apple did they get the Apple Care Plan or just get insurance from elsewhere.

OP, sorry i've hijacked your thread

AppleCare is not insurance. Its extra warranty.

padraig_f

For Apple products, I think it works out better to buy the latest version, because they don't get discounted that much as they age. If it was me buying now, I'd wait for the iPhone 5, which can't be far away, and should be about the same price as the current iPhone 4S.

I bought the 3GS right when it came out, 3 years ago, and I'm still happy with it (though may be tempted by the iPhone 5). If I'd bought the 3G at the time, I wouldn't be able to run the current iOS now. So it's possibly a false economy going for an older version. The iPhone 4 is a good phone but it's 2 years old at this stage.

I'd wait for the iPhone 5 announcement, see if you think the new features are worth the extra money, if not, the 4/4S will be discounted from what they are now.

boreder

padraig_f wrote: »

For Apple products, I think it works out better to buy the latest version, because they don't get discounted that much as they age. If it was me buying now, I'd wait for the iPhone 5, which can't be far away, and should be about the same price as the current iPhone 4S.

It'll be at least October, which is 5 months away.

drunkmonkey

Have a look at a HTC One V in a store, it's a nice solid feeling phone and it's well within your budget €299 or under and easy unlock if you leaving. It also has a 2 year warranty as opposed to apple's 1 year warranty.

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_one_v-4575.php

culabula

Paully D wrote: »

Thanks to both of you for the replies.

I looked at this but the iPhone 4 on Apple seems to be €507, with iPhone 4S being €609.

That's a decent jump from €479 and I wouldn't mind moving to 02.

I see the 3GS is only €355 though. Is there much of a difference between this and the iPhone 4 for to justify the €120 increase in price?

Cheers.

You'd be mad to buy a locked phone: buy it from Apple for barely 28€ more, then go to O2, if you like, or anyone else, as the mood takes you.

It is absurd to pay so much for a crippled phone.

Kenno90

culabula wrote: »

You'd be mad to buy a locked phone: buy it from Apple for barely 28€ more, then go to O2, if you like, or anyone else, as the mood takes you.

It is absurd to pay so much for a crippled phone.

Exactly , also you could try looking for refurbished iPhones on the apple website. they'd be cheaper and **like** brand new

Also look at this for advice

whiterebel

Kenno90 wrote: »

Exactly , also you could try looking for refurbished iPhones on the apple website. they'd be cheaper and **like** brand new

Also look at this for advice

Apple don't do refurb phones on the Irish website

Kenno90

Ah , so that would explain why no body mentioned it before