To Contract or Not to Contract

[Googlenut]

Contract renewal (Vodacom) is coming up soon and I need some advice please.

Would it more efficient to buy a decent phone cash and go pre-paid or stick to contract with free phone? I currently own a Blackerry Bold 9300 but it’s rather outdated and the battery life has greatly diminished.

 

[rutger25]

If it's a new phone you are after, contract. Vodacom has some pretty nice deals on smartphones like iPhone with free bonus data now.

 

[AstroTurf]

Contract renewal (Vodacom) is coming up soon and I need some advice please.

Would it more efficient to buy a decent phone cash and go pre-paid or stick to contract with free phone? I currently own a Blackerry Bold 9300 but it’s rather outdated and the battery life has greatly diminished.

What type of phone are you after and how much would you budget if you decided to buy one cash?

 

[Debeer165]

As things stand, the only contract I would take out would be with Telkom mobile (if you have signal naturally).

I bought my phone cash from orange and took a cheap, well specced contract with Telkom to use. Gave the included phone to my friend for free

 

[Chevron]

Contract renewal (Vodacom) is coming up soon and I need some advice please.

Would it more efficient to buy a decent phone cash and go pre-paid or stick to contract with free phone? I currently own a Blackerry Bold 9300 but it’s rather outdated and the battery life has greatly diminished.

Vodacom mess with the firmware of phones too much. I wouldn't even get a prepaid phone from them.

Contracts are awesome as you usually only end up paying the phone off and the min and data end up as "free".

 

[Tinuva]

Contracts are awesome as you usually only end up paying the phone off and the min and data end up as "free".

That used to be true. But nowadays its not always true, depending on the phone you want. I wanted a specific phone, and worked out buying it from Orange and going prepaid on TelkomMobile worked out to the same price or cheaper. The difference being, now I am not locked into a phone contract, and can port to whichever network is cheapest on prepaid. Technically that is CellC currently, but TelkomMobile is close behind, so currently sticking with them for the better network.

 

[Googlenut]

If it's a new phone you are after, contract. Vodacom has some pretty nice deals on smartphones like iPhone with free bonus data now.

Thanks, will be looking into the iPhone deals.

What type of phone are you after and how much would you budget if you decided to buy one cash?

Budget is R4000 and not really fussy about the phone as long as internet browsing is smooth and must have reasonable battery life.

As things stand, the only contract I would take out would be with Telkom mobile (if you have signal naturally).

I bought my phone cash from orange and took a cheap, well specced contract with Telkom to use. Gave the included phone to my friend for free

Tested cellphone signal with prepaid Telkom. It was really bad which is unfortunate because their data is so cheap. Nice of you to give your spare phone to your friend for free.

Vodacom mess with the firmware of phones too much. I wouldn't even get a prepaid phone from them.

Contracts are awesome as you usually only end up paying the phone off and the min and data end up as "free".

The problem with contracts is them offering me crappy deals and of course me not knowing any better. That's why the advice here is appreciated.

 

[AstroTurf]

for R4000 you will be able to pick up several rather nice phones

S3mini is about R3K as an example.

 

[Googlenut]

for R4000 you will be able to pick up several rather nice phones

S3mini is about R3K as an example.

Sounds like a good plan thanks. The rest of the money I can save towards a Cota-enabled handset.

 

[Nishano]

No contract...

Rather purchase from Orange store Za and watch your saving mount up