Should I go Prepaid or Contract for Mobile Phone?

Lharn.mui on 20/05/2009 - 21:34

Hello, I'm helping my sister to find a new phone. I'd appreciate the advice of fellow smart-shoppers/bargain-hunters. She's currently a Prepaid user, ie. she recharges month to month Optus $30 (expires after 30 days). There is about $150 worth of bonus credit that she gets, and she usually can't use it all up. This means her mobile costs stay at $30 each month.

Now that her current phone has died - would she be better off getting
a) a Prepaid phone - I'm thinking of the reduced to $99 Samsung L760 (Optus Online) & continue to recharge $30 credit each month OR

b) signing up to a 24 month contract, say at $29/month, which provides her with possibly a nicer phone with more bells & whistles. (She says she feels effectively 'locked on a plan anyway' with having to recharge $30 month to month & not being able to spend less.

My sister's main priorities in order

1) As low a monthly rate as possible on her current usage - we've seen some plans which advertise $19/month with $150 worth of included calls
2) Must be Optus
3) Having Yes Weekend would be great (20c for every call to mobile < 10 mins) but I don't think this can be found on any new contracts
4) Only an occasional texter
4) FM Radio & MP3 player nice to have

Thanks for any advice/recommendations you might have.

Find Me A Bargain

Comments

  • Davo1111 on 21/05/2009 - 22:05
    +1

    Have a look at the caps on TPG mobile, very good prices, byo phone, no contracts and it runs on the optus network (from memory)

    • Davo1111 on 21/05/2009 - 22:06
      +1

      fm radio and mp3 are gimmicky and come on almost every phone these days.

    • punter1 on 22/05/2009 - 09:58
      +1

      tpg is the way to go

  • kogi on 22/05/2009 - 08:25
    +1

    1) Is there any reason she is on Optus. ie friends/Family on Optus?
    2) How much does she use a month? Because there is five (yes 5) different types of Optus prepaid.
    There are types which credits expire in 60 or 186 days
    3) Have a look at 3. The currently have the samsung F480 on the $29 cap. Also the nokia E63 (nice phone)

  • epicwin on 23/05/2009 - 02:20
    +1

    dude, check out vodaphone's 12 month contracts. they rule. most mobile phones will get pretty ratty by the 12-16 month mark

  • epicwin on 23/05/2009 - 02:21
    +1

    oh and optus are horrible

  • [Deactivated] on 23/05/2009 - 09:48
    +1

    Personally I think prepaid is generally the way to go if you are a light user (yep some exceptions), so now she has a feel for how much she uses a plan make more sense. As for phone, unless there are many extra features - and remember she has to learn how to use them - which is ok if she is technology accepting - so as such if she was happy with the brand she was using then lean towards a better model of the same brand - less learning time.

    Also watch your phone preference may not be hers. As for prepaid handset then moving to post paid there is no problem as long as its the same network. But often with a plan you do find the phone is cheaper. Really you just need to do the maths.

    As with all plans its not the dollar cap thats the big point its the number of call minutes you get. Some plans with high free $ amounts have pretty high call rates so the effective call minutes are reduced, and flagfalls can eat into the cap value fast if they are high and she makes short calls. So one persons ideal plan may not be anothers. Then again some people you ask have no idea. So you are better evaluating past calling patterns. Hence the value of prepaid as a starting point to help determine this.

    TPG that Davo mentions do have some cheap plans but no phone - so in this case saving $10 a month offsets the cost of buying the mobile

  • harn.mui on 23/05/2009 - 12:34

    Thanks Davo1111, sus888, kogi, epicwin, and ozpete for taking the time out to answer my Q. I really appreciate your time & effort in helping me out! Ozbargain is a great community :)

    My sis wants to stay on Optus, since we're on the Optus Fusion plan at home (free calls from home landline to all Optus Mobiles, prepaid or contract), and most people are on Optus in our family. I found out that my sister is on the $30 Turbo Cap plan which has an expiry of 30 days-she has been a loyal Optus customer for the last 10 years or so & hence she has some features rolled-over from her initial 'plan'.

    Thanks for the pointers about the other prepaid plan types - good options with longer periods until expiry, but unfortunately(!) it seems along with significantly less bonus credit.

    ozpete - thanks - looks like my sister will end up continuing with prepaid, and buying a handset somewhere, prepaid packaged one or otherwise. Interestingly, I've found that the $29/month 24 month contracts with Optus (I used to connect these at the mobile phone stores run by Chinese operators - eg. at Chinatown) are being phased out, and the call-rates, flagfall rates etc for these plans are no longer "accessible" by even the sales-staff or so they say - and Optus is moving to either $19/month or $49/month plans (or higher).

  • pearldrops on 28/06/2009 - 00:39

    just my 2 cents opinion..go for the new iPhone 3GS!! going post-paid is the way to get new phones every 2 years..that's what i do anyway..cheers!

  • [Deactivated] on 17/08/2009 - 20:56

    Never went near plans until wife wanted a fancy touchscreen phone. We have everything on one network and can call our mobiles from home for free and can call mobile to mobile for free. We get a $5 discount for bundling and can use the minute to call overseas. $2 per minute. The plan pays for itself many times.

    1. We used to spend the same money just to call overseas
    2. The phone costs the same as the total 2 year contract so it's really free
    3. We used to pay $1 per minute to call mobiles from home or prepaid so, again, this is pays for the plan itself.

    So, plans can be really good value. (You can get insurance in case you lose your phone to replace the phone and cover any costs that the thief incurs with your stolen phone.)

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