Wanted: Multimedia Phone and SIM Plan

[MetalheadGautham]

I'm based in Bangalore. I want a provider with a cheap unlimited GPRS plan. I don't give a damn about STD and/or international calls but receiving them must be cheap.

Budget: If I say student plan I mean CHEAP. Really cheap since I always avoid making calls and just SMS or email instead and when I call I like to get a plan which has low call costs. I mostly receive calls.


EDIT: For phone I am considering Nokia 5130 XpressMusic. Does it support WiFi ?

And if I am not allowed to use multimedia phones at college, I need a plain simpler phone but with a fat memory space for SMSes. Would Nokia 1202 or Nokia 1203 be better ?

[Tamoghno]

Go to some local sim card dealer and you'll get best advice .

If you're into gprs , check bsnl .

[MetalheadGautham]

Most local sim card dealers push dumb plans with Re. 1/- per day as rental. No way am I paying Rs. 365 extra per month for #$%^ing rental.

BSNL has this plan I liked for Rs. 250/- with 2 yrs validity, 300sms free/month, 50rs talktime and 30ps/min rate for 5 numbers.

But how is their GPRS ? I'm in Bangalore, not Kolkata, Mumbai or Rajastan where all providers charge filthy low amounts.

[nvidia]

^^GPRS sucks on all providers except airtel. But airtel is too expensive.. Look for plans that give you more free SMS per month. If you don't care about connectivity, then i would suggest Spice/Idea. Connectivity sucks but they have good plans.

[MetalheadGautham]

Originally Posted by nvidia

^^GPRS sucks on all providers except airtel. But airtel is too expensive.. Look for plans that give you more free SMS per month. If you don't care about connectivity, then i would suggest Spice/Idea. Connectivity sucks but they have good plans.

What about CDMA 1x internet ? BSNL has EVDO and CDMA 1x standalone plans doesn't it ? The 2.4mbps EVOD comes at 550/month and the 144kbps cdma 1x at 250/month. Since the 2.4mbps speed is available only at 1km radius around tower, and since I wouldn't do any heavy downloading and only browse net, for me Rs. 250/month plan seems ok.

Is the same thing available on mobile phones ? And if yes, does Nokia 5130 XpressMusic support CDMA ?

And btw, how are Spice and Idea within bangalore ? I mean including outskirts areas like Yelahanka, Electronics City, Nagarbhavi, etc ?

[confused]

there was a plan, forgot name, 50rs for sim + 10 rs talktime. 6 months validity i think.

[confused]

bsnl ofcourse

[MetalheadGautham]

I want low call costs too

I guess you can drop GPRS or CDMA internet from the requirements. My funder (my mom) refused to allow me to use net on a phone saying its useless

So right now I want to concentrate on a good plan with mainly cheap call rates and nice number of free SMSes.

I'm thinking of the Rs. 349 Student plan of Aircel in Bangalore. Univercell is offering it for Rs. 250 if I give 2 passport size photographs and a photocopy of my "proof of studentship" (id card, allotment letter, etc).

Should I go for it ? It comes with Rs. 100/- talktime. Does Aircel also have 100% recharge vouchers ? I mean if voucher is Rs. X, the recharge value should also be Rs. X.

And also suggest a phone. I'm thinking of Nokia 5130 XpressMusic since it would best fit my budget of 5.5K. Does it support WiFi ? I may need it because the only way to browse the net without a dataplan would be in WiFi hotspots.

UPDATE: Nokia website says 5130 XM supports upto 2GB memory but GSMarena says it supports 16GB(verified). Which is to be believed ? Does 5130XM have any performance issues when dealing with 8GB memory card ?

And when are 2700classic and 2730 classic coming out ? The later seems to be the cheapest 3G phone. What are their expected prices ? Can we use more than the specified limit of 2GB memory in these too ? 2730 looks SEXY to be honest.
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3...&idPhone2=2800

[Tamoghno]

5130 easily supports 8gig card , i tested it by myself while arguing with se salesgirl in the shop . The bootup time is considerably slow but after that the phone runs as it is , no lagging . The card i used had 1700+ songs , so music player initialization was a little slower , but its still faster than most solution out there. The device is amazing for its price , just go for it .

It dont have wifi , why are you even expecting wifi on a 5.5k phone ? If you need wifi then cheapest decent solution is e51.

[MetalheadGautham]

Thanks for the comments. About wifi again, do I get cheap wifi adapters for nokia phones like the ones for laptops ? I mean the around Rs. 600 type. I may be able to afford an adapter after several months.

And E51 is seriously out of my budget costing 10K.

So what ABOUT the 2700c and 2730c ? I speculate that 2730c won't be of much use for me due to its expected 5K over 2700c's 4K with only advantage being 3G and ULTRA UBER SEXY LOOKS. But I would still get it if it also supported XpressMusic like music quality and support for 8GB memory cards.

[Tamoghno]

I dont know of any wifi adapter . If you need wifi and web browsing then consider getting a 2nd hand s60/winmo phone. I think you can get 2nd hand htc touch in that price , but then you'd lose , nokia's music , camera , battery . But i wont recommend it , winmo is nice toy to tinker with but too much of headache to use if its your primary 'phone'.

[MetalheadGautham]

Originally Posted by Tamoghno

I dont know of any wifi adapter . If you need wifi and web browsing then consider getting a 2nd hand s60/winmo phone. I think you can get 2nd hand htc touch in that price , but then you'd lose , nokia's music , camera , battery . But i wont recommend it , winmo is nice toy to tinker with but too much of headache to use if its your primary 'phone'.

Thanks. And what about the other two phones ? Any reviews of them with over-memorying ?

[MetalheadGautham]

bump

[gopi_vbboy]

i have a plan here in hyd... bsnl power pack 225(sim rs 225)...1 year valid... 5 local bsnl no's 30p.... any bsnl n/w 60p....500sms free every month(above it 20p/sms)...other n/w call 70p...std bsnl-1.2rs...other n/w std 1.5 rs...thats the most economical n suitable plan for me...coz i dont use much of sms ...i rely on calls

thers also a venella plan of bsnl here that costs 150rs for sim ...the same plan but 250sms n night 11pm to 6am morng low call rate for bsnl n/w(20p)

if u r using beyond 500sms go for airtel..but the rates are high but worth for money

bsnl overall is good but n/w sucks sometimes...also if u activate message deleivery in bsnl packs...i think it charges 10p...beware

idea has good plans but hav to chek out...i think aircel also uses idea n/w...but bsnl is most reliable for me n cheap till now


jus chek out if its ther in ur area

[gopi_vbboy]

i have a plan here in hyd... bsnl power pack 225(sim rs 225)...1 year valid... 5 local bsnl no's 30p.... any bsnl n/w 60p....500sms free every month(above it 20p/sms)...other n/w call 70p...std bsnl-1.2rs...other n/w std 1.5 rs...thats the most economical n suitable plan for me...coz i dont use much of sms ...i rely on calls

thers also a venella plan of bsnl here that costs 150rs for sim ...the same plan but 250sms n night 11pm to 6am morng low call rate for bsnl n/w(20p)

if u r using beyond 500sms go for airtel..but the rates are high but worth for money

bsnl overall is good but n/w sucks sometimes...also if u activate message deleivery in bsnl packs...i think it charges 10p...beware

idea has good plans but hav to chek out...i think aircel also uses idea n/w...but bsnl is most reliable for me n cheap till now


jus chek out if its ther in ur area