Mobile phone and tablet deals

Mobile phone and tablet deals

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I am looking at mobile phone and tablet deals as a package. Not much on the carphone warehouse website on prices about business deals.

I would be grateful  for comments on whether it would be better to go on business or consumer deals on these packages.

Thanks

Replies (17)

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By petersaxton
18th May 2012 09:35

Personal contract

You have to take into account that you most likely won't be able to get tax relief for the expenses if you trade through a limited company but contract personally.

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By BigBadWolf
18th May 2012 09:30

call them
Best to call Carphone Warehouse on 0800 049 6000

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By User deleted
18th May 2012 10:41

Options ...

Don't forget that with iPads, computers etc. you can actually tether them to a mobile phone & use the mobile as your 'modem/router'

Bearing this in mind, coupled with the anticipated usage of an iPad (in house, office etc. where wif-fi is available) - review whether a 3G iPad is necessary or will a wi-fi one suffice

Having both - for my usage really don't see the need for anything other than a wi-fi enabled iPad - don't believe it is worth the extra capital cost or additional monthly(?) subscription charge to a mobile network

PS. also see if an iPad 2 rather than 3 will meet your requirements - also cheaper. Believe that a 3 is only marginally better (screen res, & 4G - not available in Eurpoe etc.)

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John Stokdyk, AccountingWEB head of insight
By John Stokdyk
18th May 2012 10:53

Keep 'em coming - details of deals/service quality welcome too

Thanks for getting this topic rolling. It's one that we've been meaning to investigate more closely.

The way phone contracts chop and change and new devices appear makes it almost impossible for an individual to make a really well informed decision, unless they devote huge amounts of time to the project.

But one of the underlying philosophies of AccountingWEB is that many hands can make work light - if we can collect recommendations of good suppliers/devices and alerts about dodgy deals, we could build it into a useful business buyer's guide, like the ones we do for printers. We're thinking of doing a wider survey, but it would help to get us started (and assess interest) to know things like: service provider, monthly charges, data or time/text limits, service quality (and coverage), cost and satisfaction with devices used.

At Aweb, for example, we're currently using Orange, with a combination of BlackBerrys, 3G dongles and a few executive iPads. I'll be investigating the costs (which occasionally hit us badly on international calls & data) and report back. From what I can tell, Orange's service is competent but even with the integration with T-mobile, there are still some frustrating weak signal spots (Mid-Sussex, Hants-Wilts border/Salisbury plain and a lot of Scotland).

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FT
By FirstTab
21st May 2012 08:07

Feedback

I looked at various business contract deals with major providers. I did not find a tablet and mobile phone deals that were of good value. It would be far more cost effective to buy the tablet on its own.

In the end I have gone for a deal with unlimited minutes and 1GB data usage. It includes free phone Samsung Galaxy Note . It is a 24 month contract. The cost is £30+VAT per month.

 

 

 

 

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By Captainblack
20th May 2012 20:50

IPad 2 vs the new iPad

The screen quality on the new iPad is simply a revelation and IMO well worth the small premium over the iPad2. Afterall, with a tablet, it's all about the screen and your interaction with it. I agree with an earlier poster that unless you really need the 3g go for a WiFi only model. On my iPhone I use Vodafone and they have the Passport scheme which allows you 25Mb a day (enough for a lot of e-mails) whilst abroad for a modest daily fee. If you turn off roaming you don't pay any charge at all. So you can choose a day to review and respond to emails and miss a day if you want. Works well. Captain

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FT
By FirstTab
20th May 2012 23:30

Moving away from Apple

Thanks for your comments Captainblack.

I want to move away from Apple. I am just not happy with the fact that Apple does not offer an open system. Anything bought from Itunes cannot be moved to other systems. I have bought a fair number of audio books from Itunes, These cannot be moved to Android. Plus Apple dominance is concerning.

Also I use Google Apps for business which makes Android a no brainer. I am waiting for the Samsung Galaxy note 10.1 Tablet. This is is the one I will buy.

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By Captainblack
21st May 2012 07:38

Audio Books

Ah, hadn't realised you were heading down the Android route.

As to the iTunes Audio Books you could convert them to MP3 format and then they would operate on any device. Depends on how many you have I guess!

Captain

 

 

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By taxhound
21st May 2012 09:17

personal contract

I got a very good deal in my own name.  Even after allowing for the tax relief, the business contract was much more expensive so I will not be claiming the cost, but am furious that the phone companies are able to charge different amounts for the same service to different categories of customer.  Is this fair?

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By petersaxton
22nd May 2012 10:59

Same service

It's not thought of as being the same service. If you are a business they are expecting you to use the service more than if you are an individual. The fact that you are "cheating" by not disclosing that you are a business doesn't make it right.

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By BOD
23rd May 2012 20:25

Asus Transformer

 

Has anyone used the Transformer from Asus? I've heard some good things about it and I believe the hard drive is expandable unlike the iPad.

It has the plus of being a tablet but with a sort of attachable keyboard that effectively turns it into a netbook. Not sure how fast it is though as might be out a couple of years.

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By Captainblack
23rd May 2012 21:00

A friend has one
Hi. A friend of mine has an Asus Transformer. Generally he likes it and the keyboard / docking station thing is well made and provides both a more practical keyboard and additional battery life. The storage is expandable but note, it has no hard drive - the storage is solid-state (like an iPad).

Is it better than a Netbook? Depends what software you want to run. It's an Android device so no Windows software. The screen isn't as good as an iPad3 but ignoring that it's a perfectly competent tablet with the useful addition of the docking station / keyboard. Best to try before you buy I guess.

Captain

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By BOD
23rd May 2012 21:31

 

 

I didn't realise you couldn't run Window on Android really really surprised. I thought Excel etc worked on iPad perhaps due some third part device and assumed Android was the same.

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By Captainblack
23rd May 2012 21:37

Operating systems
Hi

The Asus uses the Android operating system rather than running Windows. There are of course spreadsheets, word processors, etc, on Android but if you want to run genuine MS products (Excel, etc) perhaps a Netbook would be a better bet.

Captain

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By RogerNeale
24th May 2012 11:44

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

I've just bought a Samsung Galaxy Teb 10.1 because I regularly need to fly to meetings and the laptop is just far too heavy.

I went for the 10.1" Galaxy Tab with 64Gb storage, WiFi and 3G.

I have the "Business 1" contract with T-Mobile (also uses Orange cells) for my mobile phones and I looked at all the mobile phone providers for the best option for a 3G sim for my Samsung.

The best deal for that was from T-mobile. It's not linked to my contract exactly but it is under the same account and so is all on the one bill.

It is the Mobile Broadband Sim Only at £15 / month and is on a rolling 30 day cancellation option.  You get unlimited browsing and emails with 5Gb/month download allowance.
You can upgrade to a 10Gb download allowance if you need it and I believe that costs £25/month.

Here's the link to the deal.

https://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/sim-only/mobile-broadband-simo-15-30days/mobile-broadband-sim/extras/

Hope that helps.

Roger Neale

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By markabacus
24th May 2012 11:57

Dell Inspiron Duo

Hi

Just bought a Dell Inspiron Duo, early days but most impressed so far. Runs Windows so we can run our business pgms. Run it like a laptop or flip the screen and it's a tablet. Touch screen in either mode.

Even has a sim slot if you need one but personally not planning to, wifi is fine for now at least.

Mark

 

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By Cath Walker
24th May 2012 15:12

I managed to get 3 to contract with my company on a personal deal - don't know whether that is standard or whether I got a 'green' sales person who didn't know any better!

Also, if you have a dongle (3 or unlocked), you can buy 3GB/3m pay as you go 3 sim cards from Amazon for less than £12 (or 1GB/1m for less than £4), which is usually much better value than a contract if you're not a heavy user.

 

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