THE SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 2
I have just completed the activation and migration of my brand new Galaxy Note 2 phone to giffgaff.
It was not straight forward so thought I would share my experiences with the community.
Some pointers worth sharing:
PRICING: These phones are the Rolls-Royce of the Android market and do just about everything and very quickly. A young tacky in his early 20’s in a general phone shop said "in his opinion it was a better, quicker and a more functional phone than the I-phone range". I cannot comment on this - not wanted to be tied into the inflexible operating systems introduced with the Apple products.
The phone was priced EITHER on a contract basis from £35 per month (2-yrs contract) or a purchase price up to £550. In the end I got one from Phones4U for £510 and being an avid giffgaffer, the cost for 2 years giff-gaff @ £10/month (£240), added to the purchase cost of £510=£750. Compared to a rental cost = £35 x 24= £840.
INITIAL TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
My SIM card was an old style standard SIM. I downloaded a cut-out template to reduce its size to fit my new phone and promptly cut it to the next size down (I=phone Nano size not Micro-SIM). So I ordered a new style SIM and a week later my new card arrived. The instructions on our community web site are VERY good and reliable about migrating your account into the new card.
Here is the method described on the Web to perform a SIM Swap. (all credit to the member who put this info up – it was brilliant!) (http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Learn-giffgaff-Top-Tips/What-is-SIM-Swap/ta-p/7320084#faq_no_1)
1) Back-up all your contacts and texts saved on your SIM to your phone memory, as these data cannot be transferred through SIM Swap.
2) Take an unactivated SIM card. If you don't have one, you can order a new SIM via the regular order system.
3) Logout of your giffgaff account and click activate SIM on the homepage.
4) Here is where you enter the Activation code of the New SIM you're swapping to.
5) It then ask you if you already have a giffgaff account or not: Choose "Yes".
6) This is where SIM Swap starts. It will confirm that you want to swap SIMs. (You need to double check the serial numbers, just in case.)
Etc (please refer to the original article)
This phone differs from my previous phone (a Galaxy Ace) and search as I could I had real difficulty finding reference to the phone features. (Hence this article). It is essentially a tablet in a phones body BUT once understood, the phone functionality is as awesome as the ‘none-phone’ features.
So the instructions for creating the account as defined in the giffgaff community were subtly different. Again I have plagiarised from another set of brilliant instructions inserting the deltas: (http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Unlocking-Discussions-Knowledge/Guide-Android-Phones/ta-p/3521671#faq_no_3)
Press the following sequence;
Menu Key
Settings
…More Settings
Mobile Networks
Access Point Names
Menu Key
New APN
Tap Name then tap the text box and enter giffgaff then tap OK
Tap APN then tap the text box and enter giffgaff.com then tap OK
Tap Username then tap the text box and enter giffgaff then tap OK
Tap Password then tap the text box and enter password then tap OK
Tap MMSC then tap the text box and enter http://mmsc.mediamessaging.co.uk:8002 then tap OK
Tap MMS proxy then tap the text box and enter 193.113.200.195 then tap OK
Tap MMS port then tap the text box and enter 8080 then tap OK
Tap MCC then tap the text box and enter 234 then tap OK
Tap MNC then tap the text box and enter 10 then tap OK
Press the Menu key
Tap Save
Tap the circle next to giffgaff so a green dot appears.
Press the Back key four times to return to the home screen.
Turn you phone off and back on again
Meanwhile back to my previous Galaxy Ace phone. It still had lots of life, but to import her email data and delete my setting it had be put back to its original settings and with it the giffgaff APN. Once again I got splendid use from the guidance on: http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Unlocking-Discussions-Knowledge/Guide-Android-Phones/ta-p/3521671#faq_no_3
In conclusion, I strongly recommend the Note 2 – it is packed with great new features, and has excellent battery life when using such functions as WiFi and GPS!