The geek bargain of the year?

For the last year or so I've been using a basic Nokia 6300 as my mobile. I've lusted after the iPhone and come close to signing up for one a couple of times but there's just no way I can justify the monthly cost. Sure, unlimited internet access is nice but that's unlimited access on the device, if you want to tether it's an extra chunk o' change a month. As for the included minutes and texts, it wasn't a bad figure a year ago but now it's getting slaughtered by offers on Android phones on other networks.

So what about an Android handset? Well, they're nice enough but I'm not yet convinced and the monthly cost is still too high considering my normal use. The problem is very simple - I don't call much via the mobile and texts have been replaced to a large extent by chat programs, facebook, twitter etc. I'd much rather make calls from my home number as it's usually more comfortable, better quality and, of course, free. The rest of my calls tend to be quick 'where the hell are you' conversations which really don't require hundreds of 'free' minutes a month.

Which leads me on to the point of this post and what I think might just be the best geek bargain of the year. The 3 network are currently selling a S2 Skyepphone on pay as you go for just £40 and their current PAYG deal is ridiculously good. The handset comes with free Skype to Skype calls forever (or until 3 change their policy I guess) but your £10 nets 300 free texts, free voicemail, free Windows Live Messenger, free three-to-three calls and, most importantly, 150MB of internet access either through the handset or tethered to a computer. All the free stuff lasts for 90 days or until you top up again. Oh, and of course you get £10 of calls which works out at 50 minutes. Add on the ability to use SkypeOut for international calls (note that national calls are forbidden as you'd be taking money away from 3) at the low low cost of 1.4p per minute (although you need to maintain credit with Skype seperately from your 3 bill for that) and you've got a very impressive package.

I'm reserving judgement on the handset until I've used it for a while but initial impressions are very positive. It's solid, surprisingly good looking, easy to use and fairly quick in operation. The screen's nice and while the keys are the annoying thin bar type it's actually not bad at all in use. My main worry right now is the battery life of such a cheap phone (especially as it's a 3G device) and the stability of the handset as it had turned itself off in my bag this morning (but I can't swear that it was locked before being chucked in). Time will tell I guess.

Obviously if you make a lot of calls to multiple networks or land lines this isn't the deal for you but if you want a good mix of freebies and internet connectivity for very little money you could do a LOT worse. I'll come back with some more in-depth thoughts about both the hardware and the bundle later on but for now it's certainly worth looking at.