3G iPhone Thread - [sourcing Qs / news about 3G iPhone here *ONLY* !!!]

CivilEx

brianon wrote: »

If thats true then option 2 of €480 becomes more attractive as it would mean a much cheaper monthly bill. Anyone know how much a data packahge costs ?

Also. I wouldn't be tied to a big new contract.

Assuming you are on O2 it's €7.53 excluding VAT for 250MB. Check out their website http://www.o2online.ie/wps/wcm/connect/O2/Home/Shop/Phones/Price+plans/Pay+monthly/Add+ons/#

3DataModem

If you are on 3 it is €9.99 per month inc vat for 1GB.

brianon

Thanks guys. €7.50 for 250mb ? Thats crap. 1G is €15. Need something in between.

€9.99 on 3 is good but I am with O2 and don't want to jailbreak it if I do buy.

I edited my previous post but....

Website shows only two data bundles. 200mb (€7.50) & 1GB(€15). 200mb would be a bit small and 1GB would bring me almost up to my existing contract price.

Hmmmm. Hard to know so. €480 (keep #, slightly cheaper bills, no long term contract) vs €350 (new #, slightly dearer bills, long term contract).

Thoughts ?

My wife is going to the states next month...anything she could get over there ... that woudn't involve a jailbreak ? And if I did get an iPhone from the states, what happens if it breaks ?

Eoin Macollamh

brianon wrote: »

My wife is going to the states next month...anything she could get over there ... that woudn't involve a jailbreak ? And if I did get an iPhone from the states, what happens if it breaks ?

Any iPhone you bought from a shop in the US would require you to sign a 2-year contract, which I think you can break after some minimum period (a month?) but only if you pay them a fee. If you break it before, I believe you have to return the phone.

And you'd have to jailbreak the phone to use it anywhere else.

CivilEx

The only other option I can think of is Jailbreaking a prepay phone and unlocking to work on Vodafone. Similar to 3, their 1GB isp data add on is €9.99 per month, but their 3G coverage is probably stronger nationally at this stage.

BTW if you do decide to go with the postpay iPhone tariff, you only have to stay with it for 6 months. After that you can change to the standard Clear price plans with a data add on...

brianon

CivilEx wrote: »

The only other option I can think of is Jailbreaking a prepay phone and unlocking to work on Vodafone. Similar to 3, their 1GB isp data add on is €9.99 per month, but their 3G coverage is probably stronger nationally at this stage.

BTW if you do decide to go with the postpay iPhone tariff, you only have to stay with it for 6 months. After that you can change to the standard Clear price plans with a data add on...

You sure about that ? Website says minimum 18 month contract.
From T&Cs "All iPhone tariffs are subject to an 18 month agreement."

CivilEx

brianon wrote: »

You sure about that ? Website says minimum 18 month contract.
From T&Cs "All iPhone tariffs are subject to an 18 month agreement."

Just to be clear...You have to sign up to an 18 month contract, initially an iPhone tariff. After 6 months, you can change to an O2 Clear tariff of your choice, but you still have 12 months of a contract with O2, total contract length 18 months.

Did exactly this earlier this week myself, so I'm sure of it

brianon

Cheers for that. Thats not so bad. Will have to just do up the calculations so as to which is cheaper. Postpaid or Prepaid.

Does the iPhone cost the same in O2 Retail stores ? Or is it dearer than online ?

EDIT*
Rang an O2 retail outlet. €569. Same as online. Now just gotta find one in stock

Rob_l

CivilEx wrote: »

Just to be clear...You have to sign up to an 18 month contract, initially an iPhone tariff. After 6 months, you can change to an O2 Clear tariff of your choice, but you still have 12 months of a contract with O2, total contract length 18 months.

Did exactly this earlier this week myself, so I'm sure of it

o2 WEBSITE wrote:

Eligibility - Connection to an iPhone tariff is subject to status, credit-check, payment by direct debit and an 18 month minimum term O2 contract. You can change to another iPhone tariff a maximum of once per month. You are not able to connect or change to a general O2 Pay Monthly tariff if you have an iPhone. These tariff terms apply in addition to the terms of your Customer agreement.

http://www.o2online.ie/wps/wcm/connect/O2/Home/Explore+Services/Price+plans/Pay+monthly/iPhone+tariffs

If you done it fair play but I wouldn't be so sure that everyone ringing up to do so would get the same deal as it does seem against their T's and C's

BostonB

The only reason I'd go with a prepaid iPhone is to get a better tariff. I mainly ring O2 numbers, so I would switch to the €20 a month O2 unlimited text and mobiles, add 15 data and 9 insurance. So thats €44 for unlimited calls and texts to O2. Also its only a 30 day contract, so if it didn't work out, you could sell the phone and move to another contract.

The cost of the 16BG phone is.
Prepay 569/18 so €32 a month
BillPay 229/18 so €13 a month

So bill pay 45+9+13=67 a month for 175/100/1GB
So prepay 20+9+32= 61 a month for Unlimited O2 calls/text/1GB

I'm not sure they'd let you move to the O2 Clear SIM (30 Day) though and add the data bundle etc.

brianon

BostonB wrote: »

The only reason I'd go with a prepaid iPhone is to get a better tariff. I mainly ring O2 numbers, so I would switch to the €20 a month O2 unlimited text and mobiles, add 15 data and 9 insurance. So thats €44 for unlimited calls and texts to O2. Also its only a 30 day contract, so if it didn't work out, you could sell the phone and move to another contract.

The cost of the 16BG phone is.
Prepay 569/18 so €32 a month
BillPay 229/18 so €13 a month

So bill pay 45+9+13=67 a month for 175/100/1GB
So prepay 20+9+32= 61 a month for Unlimited O2 calls/text/1GB

I'm not sure they'd let you move to the O2 Clear SIM (30 Day) though and add the data bundle etc.

If I was to ....
- Add a data bundle to my existing sim.
- Buy the speakeasy iPhone.
- Disregard the new sim.
- Put my existing sim in.

There should be no problem right ?

BostonB

An o2 sim should work. I think you have to activate the phone on the prepay sim before switching to the post pay sim.

zuroph

whats the best data bundle offer on irish prepay?

Random

"Best" really depends on your requirements.

Have a look at http://powermyphone.com/datapricing.php and see if it helps any. It lists them all. I must add a comparison table one of these days though

And if you can't make heads or tales of that .. tell us how often you'll use the web, for what, etc

denhaagenite

Hey, living abroad and got an iPhone for Christmas, can anyone tell me what's the best application to use to listen to internet radio over 3G? I'm using one at the moment for today fm but it keeps rebuffering every 10 seconds or so....

brianon

BostonB wrote: »

An o2 sim should work. I think you have to activate the phone on the prepay sim before switching to the post pay sim.

Cheers. Can anyone else confirm this ?

BostonB

denhaagenite wrote: »

Hey, living abroad and got an iPhone for Christmas, can anyone tell me what's the best application to use to listen to internet radio over 3G? I'm using one at the moment for today fm but it keeps rebuffering every 10 seconds or so....

Will that not savage your data allowance?

denhaagenite

BostonB wrote: »

Will that not savage your data allowance?

Fortunately no data allowance on my package, just hoping my first billpay experience will be a good one! Any ideas?

BostonB

denhaagenite wrote: »

Fortunately no data allowance on my package, just hoping my first billpay experience will be a good one! Any ideas?

You've unlimited data allowance I assume.

Eoin Macollamh

BostonB wrote: »

Will that not savage your data allowance?

I use WunderRadio on mine and it's fine. Most of the streams I listen to are at low bitrates.

brianon

Sorry to bump my post but...

BostonB wrote: »

An o2 sim should work. I think you have to activate the phone on the prepay sim before switching to the post pay sim.

Cheers. Can anyone else confirm this ?

I am looking to buy speakeasy iPhone tomorrow and put my current O2 billpay sim in it. Should I have any problems ?

zuroph

Random wrote: »

"Best" really depends on your requirements.

Have a look at http://powermyphone.com/datapricing.php and see if it helps any. It lists them all. I must add a comparison table one of these days though

And if you can't make heads or tales of that .. tell us how often you'll use the web, for what, etc

well at the moment i only use it for boards browsing, email checking etc, but if I was getting an Iphone, i'd like to be able to use it much more, stream stuff from home etc.

paruss100

I recently have become interested in getting an Iphone 3g, i already have an ipod touch and an n95 and i was thinking of trading them in for an iphone 3g which will do everything the two of them will do all in one device (plus the n95 isnt as cool as a phone!)
I have done a bit of research on the net looking to see where would be the cheapest place to buy an iphone from.
I tried ebay first and they were about 450-500 euro unlocked.
I then i tried O2 and they were about 500 but they were locked to O2, you can also get them cheaper on some ridiculously priced bill pay plan.
I then tried ebay again but this time i tried ebay.com instead of ebay.ie and to my surprise they were an awfull lot cheaper about 360 euro including shipping.
The question i have is would it be worth buying from the US? I found out that the phone will work (as long as i have the unlock sim thing) but my biggest concern is will i be charged custom tax when i receive it?
I heard that if an item is marked "gift" you can get away with the tax, obviously im not condoning doing this i just want to know if its possible.
Or is there anyone else out there that knows a cheaper way to get an iphone.
Thanks in advance for your help.

long_b

As for customs - marking something as Gift doesn't always work.

It's hit and miss in my area whether you get hit for it or not. Better to assume you'll be paying it and then maybe be pleasantly surprised.

I'd probably buy from eBay or www.adverts.ie

projectmayhem

paruss100 wrote: »

The question i have is would it be worth buying from the US? I found out that the phone will work (as long as i have the unlock sim thing) but my biggest concern is will i be charged custom tax when i receive it?
I heard that if an item is marked "gift" you can get away with the tax, obviously im not condoning doing this i just want to know if its possible.
Or is there anyone else out there that knows a cheaper way to get an iphone.
Thanks in advance for your help.

I bought mine off eBay (from Europe, but same idea)... You are likely to get taxed because they're being sneaky with seeing receipts put on plastic sleeves on the box. I bought a digital camera from the states and got stung. Mind you, being stung still brings you out cheaper then buying it from O2.

CivilEx

brianon wrote: »

Sorry to bump my post but...


Cheers. Can anyone else confirm this ?

I am looking to buy speakeasy iPhone tomorrow and put my current O2 billpay sim in it. Should I have any problems ?

This works in reverse ok i.e a speakeasy O2 sim will work in a contract phone. So you should be ok. Ask them in the shop before you purchase is the safest bet or ring customer care on 1909 if you are buying online

brianon

CivilEx wrote: »

This works in reverse ok i.e a speakeasy O2 sim will work in a contract phone. So you should be ok. Ask them in the shop before you purchase is the safest bet or ring customer care on 1909 if you are buying online

Asked in an O2 retail shop and she said...er....eh....yeah. Yeah that should work. I was filled with confidence though. She seemed confused :rolleyes:

vinnycoyne

If you can't activate it with the bill-pay SIM, you will be able to activate with the speakeasy one, then switch SIMs. Worst case scenario, you might have to unlock, but I'd be very surprised if that was the case.

BostonB

The guys on the 02 forums are much better.
http://forums.o2online.ie/forums/index.php

I think I asked them before and they said this would work.

Dades

paruss100 wrote: »

I then i tried O2 and they were about 500 but they were locked to O2, you can also get them cheaper on some ridiculously priced bill pay plan.

Have you actually looked at your potential call and data usage? I thought the same as you initially about the O2 tariffs, but with free texting and (effectively) unlimited data usage I've never paid over the €45 a month. (Was paying €50 + with Meteor - and didn't even have the internet.)