What's the cheapest pay as you go phone you can buy?

[familyguy]

Hi

Just wondering what is the cheapest basic phone you can buy?

I went into a carphone warehouse and they want €40 for a basic handset but you don't get any free call credit.

Basically a friend of mine is coming to Ireland for a few weeks and he's a complete technophobe, he asked me to pick up the cheapest pay as you go phone I can find so he can make and receive calls and send the odd text message while he's here. Nothing fancy required.

Would Tesco be the place to look? I know they're doing phones now.

I haven't bought a phone for a long time so was just hoping to get some help with this, thanks.

(sorry about the title typo - won't let me edit it.)

 

[flattea2]

I dont mean to be funny but why dont you look at the various companys websites?

 

[reddanmm]

The post office have a basic phone for 34 euro with 10 euro free credit . Buy instore or online .
Do any of your family or friends have any old phones lying around if so you will only need a new sim card .

 

[familyguy]

I dont mean to be funny but why dont you look at the various companys websites?

Well it's because I'm at work and most of those sites are blocked. And I've just moved house so I've no broadband connection at the moment.

I don't have any old phones I could use unfortunately.

 

[dereko1969]

Could they not use their own phone and just buy a local sim card - i thought O2 or Tesco were selling them for a fiver.

 

[demoivre]

Could they not use their own phone and just buy a local sim card - i thought O2 or Tesco were selling them for a fiver.

I think the phone needs to be SIM free for you to be able to do that.

 

[Mrs Vimes]

I got a pay as you go in Tesco for €30 a few months ago which came with €20 free credit (although I possibly only got that credit because I ported my number to them). If you top up by €10 you get an extra €10 free credit.

There is a thread on here about different payg options.

 

[AlbacoreA]

Harvey Norman

€24.99 Samsung E1080 Sim Free Mobile Phone
€19.99 Alcatel One Touch 228 - Sim Free Mobile Phone

Tesco

Nokia 100 Pay As You Go €19.99

PowerCity

SAMSUNG E1080 MOBILE PHONE
No Contract
€19.95

Theres lot of contract phones around for not much more. Some places also have offers on like this...

http://www.carphonewarehouse.ie/category/Clearance-Listings/333.3

 

[flattea2]

Ask your friend to ring his network and check if it is SIM locked.

If not, he can just get a pay as you go SIM card here.

 

[AlbacoreA]

Just to note...

Visitors from the United States and Canada:

If you are using a GSM/UMTS phone network and you have a triband / quadband handset, your phone should work perfectly in Ireland. For example, in the United States AT&T and T-Mobile and in Canada Rogers use GSM/UMTS networks.

If you are using a CDMA network such as Verizon or Sprint in the USA or Bell Mobility in Canada, your phone will not work in Ireland or Europe! However, some networks have GSM/UMTS SIM cards available for roaming in Europe. You should call your mobile provider for advice.

Alternatively, you can purchase a cheap pre-pay phone in Ireland when you arrive. It is possible to buy a very basic pre-pay phone for as little as € 20. You can then topup with vouchers or a credit/debit card.