best contract? (UK)
 

never been on contract before and I want my first to be the n900 :D whats the best price and length of time i could get unlimited texts, internet and a good few minutes with the free phone? lowest price possible is preferable, but open to suggestion too if there's a better deal to be had.

also, is there a battery with better life yet for the n900? just wondering, still want it even if not! :D

Re: best contract? (UK)
 

The cost/features of contracts on various networks is relatively similar, essentially you're looking at a £30-£35/month contract, usually for 24 months, thatll get you between 500 and unlimited texts, 400-800 minutes, and unlimited data - You should be able to get contracts with O2, Vodafone, and T-mobile at least through CPW with these rough specs and costs.

Edit: There is a 2400mAh battery by Mugen (the standard battery is 1320mAh) however it also comes with a replacement backplate as it makes the device much thicker, and generally horrible. IMO, you'd be far better with an external battery to charge the device as needed when out-and-about, a-la a Powermonkey.

Re: best contract? (UK)
 

I'm on £35 24 month contract with T-mobile 1200 mins, 500 texts and (allegedly) unlimited data (in practice 1Gb) - phone was free through Carphone Warehouse. Beware though: you will need to upgrade to Web and Walk Plus (which gives you 3Gb total data) to get things like MSN working over mobile internet conection (It works fine over wireless) - If that's important to you have a search there is a thread about it somewhere (Power Search is better than normal search!)

Re: best contract? (UK)
 

You need a special cable to charge with an external. I've got the Power Monkey and it doesn't charge unless I use the converter, but that gets really hot so I'm guessing it is wasting juice.

I paid for my N900 up front, so I'm loving the Three pay as you go deal. 5 nuggets and you get 150MB of internet for up to 3 months. I don't tend to abuse the 3G for bandwidth so it is working out really well for me.

Re: best contract? (UK)
 

Charge-only cables are pretty common though (I have an older powermonkey from a couple of years ago that came with a charge-only cable by default and works fine with the n900, so they must vary) and any electrical shop will sell them, alternatively soldering the two data pins together only takes 30 seconds if you happen to have / have access to a soldering kit.

Re: best contract? (UK)
 

i got mine from nokia retail, i pay £30per month, unlimited text, unlimited internet (1GB) and 300 mins on an 18 month contract from T-Mobile. Have a look, they might have a better deal now!

Re: best contract? (UK)
 

If you're not with vodafone yet, try the offers from mobiles.co.uk. you can even try multiple offers by getting cashback from quidco and half year half price from mobiles.
If you are with vodafone try calling them and talking them into offering price match. I got my contract directly from vodafone with the same plan / price as mobile.co.uk offers.

Re: best contract? (UK)
 

Alternately you can buy the phone separately. There are quite a few good deals around for both new (around £350) and almost new N900s. Then you can get a new sim only contract. I am on a SIM only contract with O2 and get 900 minutes, 1800 texts and unlimited internet for £11.50 a month(O2 used to have a 500mb fair use limit but that was scrapped). So do the maths.

Re: best contract? (UK)
 

Also if you go O2, you can get a discount for your O2 home broadband (I believe).

Re: best contract? (UK)
 

i have a 1 month rolling contract with o2, 700 mins, 1400 texts, unlimited net and i can use my message allowance for mms and when roaming abroad (1 mms costs 4 texts, 1 abroad text costs 4 texts, 1 abroad mms costs 4 texts(!) )

Sadly, the contract is no longer available for signup, but a number of similar plans exist albeit with a lower number of minutes:

http://shop.o2.co.uk/tariffs/simplic...tphone/1_month

I'm not sure whether you can use the iphone or blackberry tariffs if you don't own own, but being within range of a wifi hotspot (cloud? openzone? cant remember) might mean buying an iphone tariff makes sense because you are then sorted for broadband

I would like you to prove the numbers you've quoted here. O2 do not offer any sim-only deal that costs 11.50 per month, nor does any sim only offer carrying 900 minutes per month and unlimited net cost less than £25 per month