Phones for me?

It depends on what your usage would be. If you do use it a lot for phone calls and texts then pay as you go would soon be ate up. On a contract you could get a package that gives you enough minutes and texts for what you would comfortably use. Or on orange/EE you can get magic numbers so that others on same network, then the calls are free. I don't know about other networks, they may do the same so it depends what your family/friends use and who you call most.

As for the phone, try to get one which is close to the one you have been using imo, as trying to find your way around one you don't know very well can be frustrating. Mine has a smart screen but also buttons to text so that it doesn't get thrown through a window. It is complicated. Have you no young person to take with you to explain better? I take my son with me who is more savvy with these sorts of things.

Thanks rubylady I plan to se if my daughter would come with me. I suppose its an opportunity to think about other aspects of phones than just calls & texts. I gather there are things called "apps"...............

Jane If you want to sit in cafes, checking Gransnet and your Facebook page, looking something up on Wikipedia, check your bank account, or emailing your friends, you need a smart phone. I've got an iPhone5 which costs 25GPB a month for unlimited texts, 1000 minutes of calls and 500mb data but there are lots of others.

Apps are just instant links to websites, for example if you have the National Trust app you just press it and instantly you are on their website instead of having to type in the web address in the browser. I've also got an app that will instantly call a taxi for me (only in London though) and it tells me where the taxi is, how long it will be, the name of the taxi driver and his photo

Have fun!

oh and I forgot to say you can out all your favourite music on it and listen to it and Radio 4 too, and the camera is now pretty good as well

Wow sounds like a bargain!! I once had to sort out my son`s phone bill years ago. He`d got in a mess with contracts which they should never have let him take out as he was only young. It cost a fortune which is what has scared me ever since. Thanks for info

If you like your work one, start from there, but have a check back to see how much you use it for calls and for texts. Then perhaps do Pay As You Go for 3 months or so and see how much that is costing you in top-ups, rather than getting stuck with a contract that is more than you need.

If you want to change from your existing one, ask a few friends if you can make a call and send a text on theirs, to see how it feels in your hands. Ask around: do they like what they've got? What sort of signal would you get at home from different service providers? And of course, how much do you want to pay, for the phone and for your use!

Apps can be a lot more than a link: they can be pedometers and health checkers, GPS and maps, places to store and use your tickets and boarding passes, near field payment systems, multi lingual dictionaries and encyclopaedias, First Aid manuals, baby monitors and loads of others. They are often free, and rarely cost more than a pound.

I kept my iPhone when the contract for 2 years @ £26 a month was fulfilled and now I get the same amount of texts, calls and data for £9 a month on contract. The money really racks up if you keep upgrading to the latest phone and send photos with your texts.

You can send photos for free with Whatsapp - a free ap to download.
It's really down to how much you want to use your phone for things other than calls and texts. I like being able to take photos with my phone - not just people, but sometimes items in shops, to remind me of them! Good idea to try out your friends' ones. Have fun browsing the phones section in the supermarkets - I found them less "threatening" than the phone shops!

I have always been with O2 and had excellent service and coverage.

I have an Android phone, not a smart phone. It's not as sophisticated and cost about £70.

It's my phone and I pay nothing more, it's about 4 years old..

I have a Simplicity contract with O2 at £11.25per month which provides
300 free minutes to another 02 number.
300 free minutes to any other number.
Unlimited texts.
Data access (can't remember how much)

I never come near to reaching my limits, and I think you get an alert when you're near your limit.

Whatsapp is brilliant but only works if the people you want to message/send photos to are also on it! It is really good when you have no phone signal which happens in lots of places in our village - particularly our house

Thanks all. Am going to check things out at a phone shop today. Its really helpful to be armed with all your info!

My daughter has the simplest smartphone(she says) it is a Motorola I think. She has recommended it to me as suitable for the "don't want anyone to cold call me" attitude I have. Still got my ancient Nokia pay as you go.

www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/mobile-phone/3489023/motorola-moto-g-review-4g-lte-best-budget-smartphone/
Seems a useful site

I hope this is not advertising ? Should I report myself?

Thanks. I went to 4 phone shops this morning and am no further forward! When I had finally decided what to go for I waited more than half an hour to be served and was so fed up, considering I was there to spend a lot of money one way or another, that we just left. Will see about buying one online. Its so frustrating

My local Tesco phone shop was very helpful and recommended the same Motorola that Stansgran mentions. I'm very happy with it.

Actually I was just browsing online and found the Tesco site. I think I`ll try to get along to one of their shops. Thanks

Just got back from Carphone warehouse. They were very helpful, keyed in my usage and what data I used. Then several options came up, all explained fully. I ended up with an I phone 5C for cheaper than my I phone 4. This was excellent as I'm miserly with paying for my phone! Give them a try at a time when they're not likely to be busy. X

Thanks- just to show how easily put off I am, when I went to Carphone Warehouse this morning, I took against the "salesman". He had very bad breath and didn't give us the impression that he know what he was on about. We seemed to be a few pages ahead of him in the brochures! If only we had had a more credible salesperson I might be sorted out by now.

Is there another branch near you. I must admit when I went there a couple of years ago for the other I phone, I got a young man who was very helpful at the cost bit, but assumed I knew the rest, set up etc. I had to ask him to explain! I felt very "old". Although, I am really computer literate!
I had a laugh on Friday, when the 20 something sitting next to DH on a plane, explained how to put his I phone into flight mode! Neither of us said anything to upset her. No doubt she thought she was doing her good deed for the day! X

I bought a new phone phone recently after weeks of trying to choose. There are so many networks offering all different sorts of packages, it was baffling! A friend of mine who is real bargain hunter suggested I use a price comparison site and also check if any of the cash back sites were offering any money back on phone contracts.

The sites are really user friendly- they show you the benefits of each phone contract- what the handset is, what features it has and how many minutes, texts and data you get per month.

I found some fantastic deals and am now the owner of a very swish iphone 5 plus I got £65 cash back just for signing up!

Good luck with your search x

When talking with phone salespersons I always ask that they assume I know nothing and explain to me in words of one syllable and I ask questions without caring if they sound stupid.
That way they don't assume I know more than I do.

Giff gaff. I was an early adopter and am still with them. We're all the boss.

Techradar.com give very indepth and impartial reviews on mobile phones.