N900 free on a £25/month contract – £240 effective price. Unlocked, Unbranded, unlimited internet, plus free case. Best deals for the Nokia N900?

Note: Delivery is £3.99 with this retailer and I'm not sure if the free case is with all their tarriffs/monthly plans. update: Yes, the free case does come with all tarriffs. Do ask customer service (I think they have a chat service) to confirm any details/questions before purchasing.

If you’re just after a N900, your cheapest bet might be going for the unlocked option. In the UK that would mean setting adrift £440-£499. Great if you’ve got that sort of cash lying around. Plus you’ve got to fork over extra for data/calls/text.

I prefer the whole contract route. Yes you’re somewhat slightly tied up for a period of time, but if you get yourself a good deal you can effectively get more for your money, whilst paying at a more manageable bitesize monthly debits (as a student, that’s perfect for me).

It’s unlocked/unbranded!

Now I’ve not been paid by these guys (although I’ve mentioned them a few times already and I am a customer) but the best deal I can find at the moment on line is through mobilephonesdirect.The great thing is, the handset is straight from Nokia (they’re a Nokia Retailer) This means, unlocked, unbranded; NOTHING to affect any future firmware updates and swapping network sims. If you buy from Vodafone directly, most likely you will have Vodafone lock and branding (though enquire as they might not), meaning not only can you not use any other sim except Vodafone (awful for travelling/roaming) but it might delay any firmware upgrades.

If you are just after the cheapest way to get the N900 unlocked and unbranded with the added benefit of subsidized handset cost (it’s free!), monthly payments and some talk/text/unlimited web allowance, this might just be the plan for you.

Deal 1: MobilePhonesDirect – Vodafone, £25/month.

At £25/month over 24 months that’s £600. Much more than the £440-£499 range of the unlocked.

But let’s take into account inclusive allowances.

• For unlimited web: £5 x 25=£120 (This is really the most important thing with the N900.)

• For calls and text: £10 x 24=£240 (on a monthly plan – over vanilla pay&go, 20p call/10p text, this could be as much as £936, though not advised to be on pay and  go if your usage is that high)

• In total that’s £360 of allowances.

• £600 – 360 = £240. Provided you stick to your tariff allowances:

The effective cost of your N900 will then be about £240.

If you have higher call/text consumption, there maybe other plans, not just from this retailer  that will work better for you. But this is the cheapest option for low/minimal usage + unlimited internet.

If 8-14 months down the line, you ever did want to sell on your handset whilst on a contract, you can sell it for £300-£350 (provided it’s unlocked – usually is with MPD but please check with other retailers-, mint condition with all accessories) and then use that to pay off the rest of the contract. At 12 months, there’s £300 [12*£25] left. Selling at a bottom price of £300 and you’ll even break even, ready to jump on a new contract. Sell for £350 and you’ve got an additional £50 for a new contract (or whatever)

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How much did you get your N900 for?

Can you find a better deal than this (make sure it’s from a reputable retailer)?

Tags: Cheap Contract N900, Contract, Contract prices UK, Maemo 5, MobilePhonesDirect, N900, N900 unbranded, N900 unlocked, Nokia, Nokia N900, Tarriff, UK

Category: Maemo, Nokia, Price Comparison