Motorola W180 + prepaid = crazy cheap on Carphone Warehouse
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Dec 15th 2008 4:52PM
posted Dec 15th 2008 4:52PM
It looks like the age of the free prepaid phone is nearly upon us, with Carphone Warehouse offloading Motorola W180s for the ridiculously low price of £2.88 (about $4) when purchased with £10 worth of Orange airtime. Granted, you're not going to turn any heads with the W180, but you might get a raised eyebrow or two once folks find out how little you paid for the darn thing. And hell, it's even got an FM radio built in -- where are you gonna get an FM radio for $4?[Thanks, jc]
I'll bet by next year, the UK will be offering free pay as you go phones. Last month, the cheapest phone was £5, now it's down to £3.
I feel sorry for you Americans with your expensive, crappy phones on shockingly long contract lengths. I don't feel sorry for you enough though to give up my free N96s, G1s, iPhones, X1s and Touch HDs on 12 month contracts :)
Yeah except that you pay an arm and a leg for unlimited (or do you even have unlimited??) text messaging and data bundles. As much as I want the best Nseries or HTCs for free, at the end of the day, I want to able to afford the usage as well.
lol. you are funny. no wonder the plans are the way they are there. they seriously have you guys fooled. you have no idea what you are talking about. you guys pay way more in the end for much less service!
First of all, most U.S. plans include:
-unlimited night and weekend calling to anyone on any carrier
-free long distance coast to coast to anyone on any carrier (can you call from London to Athens for free? cuz i can call Los Angeles to New York for free)
-free mobile to mobile calls anytime within the same carrier (some carriers you can even call mobile to landline anytime free within the same carrier)
-free roaming coast to coast
-no extra charges or higher rates for calling or texting users on other carriers
Oh, and let's not forget that (airtime aside) U.S. phones are Calling Party Pays!
As for our phones and contracts...
-For £36/month Metro PCS has plans with NO Contract (since this article is regarding prepaid) that give you completely unlimited calling, long distance, roaming, email, internet, sms (domestic and international!), mms, IM, and Directory Assistance. With phones starting at £35.
-Sprint has contract plans (since thats what u mention) for £72/month that include completely unlimited calling, long distance, roaming, email, internet, sms, mms, IM, push-to-talk, gps navigation, mobile tv, streaming radio, blackberry internet service, and phones starting at £0.
...By the way, WTF good is £10 worth of Orange airtime? Orange charges £30 for unlimited texting within UK! Are you freaking kidding me? In the "expensive" U.S., £15 would get you completely unlimited sms, mms, and IM... to/from any carrier, coast to coast
(Note: Yes I realize coast-to-coast, as I have mentioned so many times, is still within the U.S. But you must consider that the US is roughly the equivalent area size of all of Europe. That is important to consider when discussing coverage area. Can you imagine paying interstate mobile charges for calling or texting someone in a different state?)
Do we have unlimited text messaging?
The UK has had unlimited text message tariffs for longer than the US public have even been aware text messaging exists.
You can get a contract with unlimited texts for as little as £15/month and you can add on unlimited data for about £5-7.50/month as well.
I just purchased the HTC Touch HD for £116.99 ($178.90) on T-Mobile's Combi 30 + Web'n'Walk.
The 18 month contracts comes with; 700 cross-network anytime minutes, unlimited texts, and unlimited data.
Monthly cost: £35.00 ($53.54).
I just purchased the HTC Touch HD for £116.99 ($178.90) on T-Mobile's Combi 30 + Web'n'Walk.
The 18 month contract comes with; 700 cross-network anytime minutes, unlimited texts, and unlimited data per month.
Monthly cost: £35.00 ($53.54).
If our government has their way though, every mobile we purchase will require proof of ID and mandatory registration :(
George Orwell anyone?
If our government has their way though, every mobile we purchase will require proof of ID and mandatory registration. :(
George Orwell anyone?
The latest FM radio I bought was much more then $4, fact.
Actually, apparently a few years ago Carphone had a handset that was free when purchased with £10/20 of credit on Virgin.
how about shipping to the states please :P
I'm paying £5 ($7.61 inc. tax) a month for unlimited data in the UK. The only restriction is no tethering, but even that only costs another £5 a month. This is on 3.
I rather pay for my N96 than take only foggy snaps...
For what it's worth, the Moto 175g, which is pretty much the same as the 180 here minus the FM radio, can be had for $10 via Tracfone here in the US. Airtime starts at $10. The 175g is a GSM handset, and i've thought of getting one to replace my SLVR L7 as a spare phone for when the Touch Pro is too bulky or valuable to risk losing.