3's price packages change every year, at the time of writing this review Videotalk 500 offers you 400 minutes of calls and 100 text messages; however please bare in mind that within the next 6 months this will change. As a result of this I'm focusing more on the network. At the time of writing ... Read review
3 brings together video calling, video clips, location based services and amazing content to browse and download. 3 has great offers and a huge range of the 3G handsets. Visit the 3 Shop to find more info. on offers
Advantages: A great range of services and facilities Disadvantages: None as yet (after 3 years use)
...per month.
3 gets a lot off grief simply because people don't understand the network, if you flick through other reviews under this heading you'll find one thing in common they all comment on the network coverage however none of them elaborate on this common gripe. So lets start by dispelling this myth, do you ever hear masses of people moaning about O2's reception? The answer is no! Yet people complain about 3's reception yet they ... ...difference? 3 use two signals there own 3G signal which covers 79% of the population, but if there is no signal available it passes the call over to 02; however the call theoretically always stays with 02. From January however this agreement ends as 3 have decided to change service provider to Orange giving them 99% of the population coverage (3 currently have 98%).
I have always found 3's call quality to be good, and having been with ... more
3's price packages change every year, at the time of writing this review Videotalk 500 offers you 400 minutes of calls and 100 text messages; however please bare in mind that within the next 6 months this will change. As a result of this I'm focusing more on the network. At the time of writing this the 500 plan costs £30 per month.
3 gets a lot off grief simply because people don't understand the network, if you flick through other reviews under this heading you'll find one thing in common they all comment on the network coverage however none of them elaborate on this common gripe. So lets start by dispelling this myth, do you ever hear masses of people moaning about O2's reception? The answer is no! Yet people complain about 3's reception yet they use exactly the same signal as 02, so what's the difference? 3 use two signals there own 3G signal which covers 79% of the population, but if there is no signal available it passes the call over to 02; however the call theoretically always stays with 02. From January however this agreement ends as 3 have decided to change service provider to Orange giving them 99% of the population coverage (3 currently have 98%).
I have always found 3's call quality to be good, and having been with them for nearly 4 years and used the phone in three very different areas of the country I think I have a pretty good idea of whether the service is any good. If I have one criticism its with the phones as apposed to the service, and the flaw is always in the battery life; 3G always takes more battery power as a result you really need to charge your phone daily without fail.
3 mobile were the first 3G service in the UK as a result they have more features than the likes of Vodaphone, Orange and O2's I-Mode. 3 offer nearly 500 different services, here are some of the best.
Within 20 minute up to date balances on screen (no need to call) this will tell you your balances which includes: Remaining minutes, remaining texts and current spend. This is a valuable asset to keeping you in touch with what your next bill will cost you. Although other networks offer similar none of the others give you an up to date accurate spend beyond your monthly standard payment.
NEWS - This comes in a variety of methods all of which are free (except entertainment news). The news page features a main story (updated several times a day) in video format, a Headlines feature offering you a 2 -5 minute video format brief overview of the current headlines updated 3 times a day minimum. But on top of this you have 3 text options which give a hand full of national and world-wide news stories these are frequently updated. The third text option gives the user the opportunity to read some quirky and unusual stories from around the world.
3 Music allows the user to an unprecedented amount of music downloads, more than even I - Tunes. The cost of which is 99p for an MP3 or £2.99 for a music video. All 3 mobiles allow storage for both.
MOVIES - Here you can catch interviews, the top ten UK movie chart, trailers, and behind the scenes videos. The cost of these services varies from free to 25p.
SPORT - From text sporting news to video's which include highlights of all the big sporting events; fees vary from free to up to £2.50 depending on the service. During the World Cup all video footage was provided free.
COMEDY - From stand up performances to short cartoons and excerpts from popular comedy shows and movies. The fees vary from 10p to £2.50.
TELEVISION - The television is a subscription service that gives the viewer up to 20 minutes television viewing per hour for £5 or £10 per month depending on the amount of channels you require. From soap operas, to sport, to GMTV you can find some great entertainment here.
HOROSCOPES - For those who have control over their own lives, free video horoscopes for the week or the month are available here.
GPRS - A wonderful system that works even if out of transmitter range for just 25p you can get a map of your location, ideal for those that get easily lost or for those looking for nearby facilities such as pubs, bus stops, cashpoints or shops. This great facility also provides telephone numbers and full addresses for each location it lists.
TRAVEL - From plane flights to train times, and some bus timetables its available from your phone from free to 25p.
TODAY ON 3 - This free video lasting up to 20 minutes a day gives you lots of information on all the things available on 3 that day. This includes the latest games added, music video or MP3 chart, entertainment news, public opinion, news stories and latest handset upgrades to download.
GAMES - Fed up of paying £5 upwards for games and then discovering you hate the game? 3 allow you download a game for 3 days for just 30p to 49p, then you can either continue to extend the use for the same price in 3 day increments or buy the game outright for £2.99 to £4.99.
APPLICATIONS - From a car manual to a first aid guide £3 gives you loads of practical applications.
MSN MESSENGER - While using this on other networks is costly 3 give you this facility absolutely free if on contract or a set monthly charge on Pay As You Go.
This is not the end from websites to shopping you can do it all on 3. 3 is ideal to those that love playing about with there mobiles.
My Experiences
I decided when 3 launched that I would be a customer and I have not once wanted to leave. I find I get good reception and great call clarity, I find 3 a pretty much problem free network to use. The fact that you can keep track of your bill at any time means no unnecessary calls. And even if you do call don't believe the misconceptions about being diverted to Singapore, yes Singapore not India or any of the other places people believe they call; no part of 3 is in India. I have side-tracked slightly from my point, yes you'll go through to another country however if you feel that your not getting any joy you simply say "please transfer me to Scotland" and they will. But whoever you get you'll only wait 2 rings maximum before you get an answer.
The free browsing 3 offer is a refreshing change you can happily plod around "online" reading and watching hours of content without paying a single penny. Even when out of a 3G area there are still bags of things to look at or download, and if you subscribe to the internet package (between £1 and £5 a month) you can look at websites when out of the free areas.
Call charges are great I often ring Switzerland and the call charges come out of my free minutes, and if outside that cost as little as 1p per minute. 3 now offer minimum call charges on cross networking, so if I rang someone on O2 or Orange call charges are just 5p a minute during the day or 1p per minute at night; of course if not used these come out of your inclusive minutes.
I'd recommend 3 to anyone, I for one am one very happy and fully satisfied customer.
Advantages: 500 mins is good unless you're a mobile junkie, decent quality calls Disadvantages: Coverage isn' brilliant, customer servives are foreigners again!!!
...that I'd never go with 3 again. Then when my contract was up for renewal in March my fiancée made a rather generous offer to get me a contract for my birthday. I wanted to fo back with O2 as I've never had any real problems and I like the fact they have British call centres. Anyway I wasn't going to be footing the bill so she signed me up to the VideoTalk 500 tarriff. For this you get 500 free cross network minutes and 100 free texts and as I'm not ... ...value. We also got 3 months half price line rental as we bought it online - BONUS!
So the phone arrived, I popped the SIM in and waited 30 mins for it to get recognised by the network. Apparently this can take up to 48 hours but it had no problems with the standard calling and text bits. Multimedia messaging was a different story. I couldn't recieve or send MMS, but as it was a weekend (and my birthday) I was concentrating on drinking vast quantities ...
ayanayuk 14.07.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 3 VideoTalk 500 12 Month
Advantages: Good value (500 mins @ £25 = 5p/min for CROSS NETWORK!), No problems with reception (can always get 3G or 2G), And did I say good value? Disadvantages: Haven't got total 3G coverage yet, Customer Service is poor
I have been with Hutchinson Three for 2 years now and can definitely recommend them.
One of the things the detractors raise about Three is handsets, that argument is now very much out of date. When I first became a Three customer in 2003 I had an NEC e606 handset, one of the first generation 3G handsets for use on Three. This was very problematic - bulky and many dropped calls, but this is always to be expected with new technology. Thankfully, the ... ...on a par and if not considerably better than the ordinary GSM handsets. For instance, the LG8120 has a good battery (battery complaints were common about the earlier 3G handsets), more than capable screen and is a joy to use. Handset issues have now more or less disappeared as a factor.
Network performance in my 2nd year (2004 to 2005) of being on Three has been pretty much flawless. The improved handset was probably a reason for that as many of ...
dynamics1uk 02.08.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 3 VideoTalk 500 12 Month
Advantages: Excellent free talktime and text package Disadvantages: coverage not good, expensive calls after free mins used
...purchased an LG8110 on the 3 network after seeing an offer providing unlimited free texts for the 1st 3 months, 500 free cross-network talk minutes and half price line rental for the 1st 8 months (normally £25 a month.
THE PHONE:
The phone itself was actually free with the package.
The phone slightly resembles a samsung and contains a camera, video camera and mp3 player.
It also has the standard features such as predictive text messaging, polyphonic ... ...which takes you through to 3 services.
On 3 Services you can also download video clips, music, pictures and ringtones as well as catching up on the latest news and sport and checking your GPS (Global Positioning), which I have to say I have no use for and it sometimes takes so long to get onto I could've looked through the a-z quicker.
THE PACKAGE: As I said this package enables me to make 500 mins of free calls per month to any network (u can ...
karenes 15.09.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 3 VideoTalk 500 12 Month
Advantages: 500 xnet minutes and 100 text for only £30 Disadvantages: Call centre routed to Mombai, they blame shift all the time!
...of all, I've been with 3 for as long as they've been around. In the formative years, the quality of calls and video was atrocious. however in the last coupl eof years they seem to have pulled their socks up and upgraded their call quality. Or that Three are now using more O2 transmitters than before to improve coverage.
I've been on this tariff for around 2 years now. Initially I chose this tariff as it offered the best bundle of minutes and text ... ...phones and offered an extra 3 month's half price line rental to keep me with Three.
Call me a sucker, but I fell for it. Got my lovely LG8138 with new number, and no premium texts or calls appearing on my bill ever since. And to make things even better, 9 months into that contract, Three called me again but this time offering me a free upgrade a 6 months plus and extra 9 months half price line rental! So I took the Nokia 6280, which is a brilliant ...
tommygirl3 11.05.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 3 VideoTalk 500 12 Month
Advantages: Good coverage, Lots of anytime, any network free minutes, great free phone Disadvantages: none
I joined 3 (pay monthly) from T-Mobile pay as you go 6 months back. I am completely satisfied with their service, the free phone and the tariff. I think they provide one of the cheapest tariffs. Yet the service is very good. I used the phone in South, South-East and South West region and never had any coverage issue. I went to Scotland for a few days and did not have any coverage problem there either. It works fine even in fast moving train/bus/car. ... ...connection. I heard from my 3 user friends that they offer new free phone at the end of the contract.
They also have a good referral program; if you are a 3 customer and recommend a friend of yours to 3 then both of you will get £30 each!
On the whole I am satisfied with this network provider and will probably renew my contract with them.
Summary of my experience with 3 contract:
Type of contract: Pay monthly
Monthly payable: £15 + usage on ...
data_ray 26.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 3 VideoTalk 500 12 Month
