Kerrygold

My Husband is due to leave on his recce in less than two weeks Should he ...... take a mobile phone with him or buy one once there (he needs a new one anyway)......buy a laptop here and take it with him (I won't let him take mine as it stores my itunes) or buy one over there?

Any help and advice greatly appreciated.

simonmarkellis

How long is he in NZ for his recce? There's internet cafe's and i-sites with internet access everywhere! You can get a cheap pay as you go mob for under $100...

Maz

Ditto to Simon, how long is his recce for? We rented a mobile at AKL airport and I used (horror!) the phone instead of e-mail. I had let my contacts for jobs know this beforehand, and the first hotel we were at in AKL had internet in every room (via the telly, 'twas a bit weird) so I e-mailed them to let them know my number, and that I'd be out of touch via e-mail.

If all you have that you cannot do without while your husband is on the other side of the world looking for a job is your iTunes, then let him take the laptop with him. Far easier than him having to find somewhere to log on the whole time. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but I think his work needs outweigh iTunes. Just make sure you download it all to your iPod first.

teebrown

If your phone is not locked why don't you just go on-line to find a phone store and get them to send you a sim card out, so you will have it ready when you land. We did this and it cost us equiv of £12 with $10 free talk time - we went with Vodafone.

Kerrygold

He may stay - for the right job.

Be without my itunes - WHAT! What do you think I'll have to do in the evenings when he's sooooo far away? And I download podcasts every week. Seriously though, we are going to buy another anyway and I wondered whether they were chaper over there? You can buy a fairly reasonable one here for about £399.00. Similarly with the mobile phone, he has a work phone, which he hands back (along with the car keys, office keys and salary!) tomorrow. So he will need one anyway.

So much to do - so little time - so little money!

cappuccino

If you do buy a laptop in the UK make sure you pay a bit extra and buy an international warranty. I bought my laptop in Hong Kong on the way over and got the international Sony guarantee and different plug leads too so I don't need adaptors.

Littletoe

My husband travels back and forth to the UK and he carries his trusty laptop with him, I assume its got a WIFI modem? NZ is a bit, grrrroan, here I go again! Behind the times! You can't find many cafes to sit and join a wireless network. If you're cheeky blighter you can usually hack into someone's unlocked account - there's a warning to you!! The convenience of your own computer is undeniable, especially if he's hunting for work, etc. I would assume most hotels have a plug you can plug into, check first. Then he can message you from the privacy and comfort of his room. Incidentally, I also use itunes and since moving to NZ its switched to the American version - you have been warned! Now the phone. NZ is not in a different triband (unlike the states), so he can as someone suggested just buy a SIM for use here. Why not wait on the purchase of a new phone until you arrive? Have a look at vodafone.co.nz for prices and new handsets. You can order online.

lardyl

If he's in hotels with a mobile I'd suggest getting a calling card (pick a good value one some are expensive!) over here and use the hotel phone for the card's access call (a local call which may even be free to him) as they are much cheaper than calling UK from hotel ($$$!) or mobile ($$$!) or even using the hotel's internet services for Skype - I do it in NZ as I am regularly away.

On the phone front - Vodafone NZ here use Sims and all the vodafone mobiels from the UK I have used work with a pre-pay NZ Voda SIM (about £15-20). As others have said you can buy them from on-line stores. Also there are presumably some for NZ on eBay in the UK as there are plenty of UK/European/Aus ones on Trademe here!

Good luck

shirl

I use my laptop from the UK. Just got a new NZ pin lead for going in the end of the square thingy!!! LOL you know the adaptor thing. We unlocked our phones in the UK and bought a pay as you go NZ sim here. Simple. Oh and for all our national and international calls we use the Kia-Ora Card. Simple, 3.9c a minute to anywhere - States, UK, Canada, Australia, NZ out of area calls etc. I only pay Telecom for the rental and local calls are free. $20 card lasts for ages, you just put in the dialing code that they give you and your pin number and then the number you are calling. Saves $$$$$ on phone calls. Rang my son in USA today for 10 min quick chat and cost me less than .50c. Cheaper than texting too at 20c a go. For that I can have a 5 min phone chat.

Littletoe

What about the $40 talk it up with telecom? You can call UK, Canada, various other places and within NZ for up to 2 hours at a time and pay nothing more. No good for original poster because its for landlines, but I think that system is very good.

spoonguy

Nope much the opposite, Electronic goods of almost any kind are more expensive over here, not to mention they take a while to get the latest models. You’ll be better off on both counts purchasing those items in the UK.

Kiwiprincess

If you want the absolute cheapest cheapest phone and you don't give a rats banana what features it has then there is very little difference between the costs (at least after getting it unlocked). However, there is certainly less of a selection. So, if it is important to your husband that he has a super duper phone with all the top features you can probably pick up a better one in the UK.


It could be just my observations but it seemed to me that there wasn't a huge difference in price of phones - just the range. Therefore, you had a better selection of phones in the UK

I quickly looked at Argos' website
Nokia phone, 1100 range is approx £15 - £20. In NZ that would be approx $60 - $80. It is certainly cheaper to get the UK one, but, you would need to get it unlocked (unless you are comfortable using the online unlock code - which i could never get to work with any of my phones).

lardyl

ulock = £10 at the market allegedly
plus some phone don't need to be unlocked - wou could get a NZ SIM from eBay and experiment, NZ Vodafone should roam to UK - I think??

Kiwiprincess

NZ Vodafone definitely roams to UK - i used my vodafone phone there.

A friend of mine on vodafone UK didn't need to get her phone unlocked when she came to nz - however, little old me on 02: i was required to unlock my phone. Cost me £20 in Wimbledon. I woz robbed obviously!!

Robbo25

Is PAYG wi-fi available?