U Mobile has also joined the 5.3″ tablet bandwagon by offering the Samsung Galaxy Note on contract from as low as RM1,549. This is the 4th telco in Malaysia shortly after Maxis started offering theirs last week. This gives you an alternative for getting the Galaxy Note on contract with lower monthly commitment on their U28, U58 and U88 postpaid plans.

The RM1,549 contract price is offered on U88 plan (RM88/month) which comes with 3GB of data with bundled calls and SMS. For those that want to commit slightly less, on U58 (RM58/month) it is offered at RM1749. If you want the cheapest plan, there’s U28 (RM28/month) where the Galaxy Note is going for RM1,949. The contract plans are tied to 24 months duration.

There’s no upfront payment for U28 but 1 month advance subscription is required for U58 while U88 requires 3 months advance subscription fee. For ease of ownership, U Mobile is also offering Easy Payment Plan where you can pay the device over 12 months installments.

For more information, head over to U Mobile’s Phone deals.

Big thanks to Tessiemah for the alert!

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Outright, the Lumia 800 retails at RM1,650. So how much does it cost to get a Nokia Lumia 800 from the telcos? It’s time for another round of comparison where we compare the minimum cost of ownership under each different plans available. Head after the break for the full comparo.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Maxis has finally revealed its Nokia Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 contracted pricing from as low as RM799 and RM499 respectively. Without contract, the Lumia 800 is priced at RM1,650 while the Lumia 710 is at RM999.

The details from Maxis on the plan offering is rather brief probably due to time constraints. We assume that the Nokia Windows Phones should be bundled similar to Androids by committing to a postpaid voice plan (Minimum Value First) and bolt-on data plan.

You have a choice to bundle with either 1GB (RM48/month) and 3GB (RM68/month) data plan with contract duration of either 12, 18 and 24 months. For the Lumia 800, they are offering a limited time promotion where you can get it for just RM799 with 24 months contract of 6GB data plan at RM98/month. If 6GB is too much, the Lumia 800 can be yours at RM1099 with 24 months contract of 3GB data plan. For those that want to commit to a smaller data plan with the least contract time, it is offered at RM1,349 on 12 months contract of 1GB data plan.

For the Lumia 710, it is offered as low as RM499 with 24 months contract of 3GB data plan. At the bare minimum contract duration of 12 months with 1GB data plan, it is offered at RM799. It is also interesting to note that Maxis claims to offer the fastest internet experience of up to 14.4Mbps.

For more information, head over to Maxis.

Still deciding whether to get a Nokia Lumia? You might want to check out our hands-on review here.

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This post is sponsored by Maxis. No matter what your needs are,
they’ve got a plan for you.

To use the Internet on your mobile, there are usually 2 routes. Get a data plan which is usually expensive or go on Pay-As-You-Go basis. For light users, a monthly data plan is usually costly and sometimes too much for just the occasional social networking updates and web browsing on your mobile phone. On the other hand, the normal 3G pay-as-you-go rates of 10sen/10KB are just too expensive because 1MB of data will cost you RM10.

So where’s the middle ground? Here’s where the Maxis Value Plus Internet plans come in giving you low commitment plans that also come with mobile internet, calls and SMS.

The Plans

For those that spend a little, you can start off with Value Plus Internet 50 (RM50/monthly) which comes with 250MB of data, 100 minutes of calls and 100 SMS. All bundled calls and SMS are applicable to all local numbers in Malaysia, except of course if you’re on roaming. Additional phone calls are charged at 12sen/minute to Maxis numbers while calls to other networks are charged at 20sen/minute. For SMS, they charge 5sen to Maxis numbers and 15sen to other networks.

For Maxis Value Plus Internet, all additional usages are charged at 30sen per MB which is considerably cheaper than the usual RM10/MB on the normal pay-as-you-go rate. At 30sen/MB, an additional 50MB on your Value Plus Internet plan would cost RM15 as opposed to RM500 if you are to follow the 10sen/10kb pay-as-you-go rate.

If 30sen/MB is too much for you, there’s a cheaper option. The Maxis Value Plus Internet plans also offers time sensitive mobile internet quota upgrades from as little as RM2/hour or RM8/day or RM10/GB for 3 days. This gives you the flexibility to stay connected cheaply when you need the data the most.

According to Maxis, an SMS notification will be sent if you hit 80% of your quota, giving you ample time to plan your quota upgrade purchase. In addition, Maxis does not throttle your data connectivity if you exceed your data quota.

If you need more talk time and use more than 300MB a month, there’s the Value Plus Internet 80 (RM80/monthly) which comes with 500MB data, 300 minutes of calls and 300 SMS.

For just RM30/month extra, you get double the data and triple the number of calls/SMS of the Value Plus Internet 50. Calls to other networks are cheaper too on the Value Plus Internet 80 at 18sen/minute as opposed to 20sen/minute on the Value Plus Internet 50.

Supplimentary Line
Supplementary lines users can get on the mobile internet bandwagon too with the Maxis Value Plus Internet 30 for supplementary line plan. At RM30/month the Value Plus Internet 30 for supplementary lines come with 250MB of data, 50 minutes of talktime and 50 SMS. You also get free 15 hours of talktime and 1500 SMS between family lines.

These new plans from Maxis are great alternatives for light browsers and those who want to stay connected casually but don’t want to commit to expensive data plans. No doubt there are cheaper plans out there in the market but Maxis boasts on having superior voice quality and 3G coverage nationwide. It’s something you can consider if you’re not a hardcore mobile surfer.

For more information, click on the banner below.

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For this coming Chinese New Year, Maxis is doing a buy 1 and get another 50% off promo on BlackBerry. However it is limited to the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and you have a choice between a Curve 9300 and a Curve 8520 for discounted purchase.

To entitle for this promo, you would need to get the Bold 9900 bundled with 24 months. The Bold 9900 goes for RM1,630 on BIS 55 which comes with 500MB (with free 500MB extra) and RM1,390 on BIS 90 which comes with 3GB of data. Then you have a choice to get a Curve 9300 at RM434 or the Curve 8520 at RM299. From the site, it appears that the additional device is contract free with no additional subscription required.

For more information, head over to Maxis BlackBerry Page.

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In a surprise turn of events, Maxis is now re-offering the Samsung Galaxy S II on its bundled plan options. It goes for as low as RM1,099 with 24 months data add-on of 1.5GB or 3.0GB. For those that rather commit less for shorter period of time, it can be yours for RM1,499 with 12 months contract of 500MB data plan.

Surprisingly the data plan rates are still showing the old rates with 500MB plan at RM58/month which was recently revised.

With Maxis now re-offering Samsung devices, hopefully they would be bundling the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Nexus as well. For more information, head over to Maxis Android page.

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If you carry lots of gadgets on the go such as an iPad or WiFi only tablets, a portable wireless router or MiFi is rather useful solution. Now Maxis is giving away a Free Huawei MiFi if you subscribe for its 6GB Broadband package of 12 months. The 6GB Broadband plan goes for RM98/month but existing Maxis subscribers can get it cheaper at RM88/month. That’s a pretty decent deal to have your very own mobile WiFi hotspot as long as you are within the 3G coverage areas.

There’s a RM100 activation fee and if you terminate before the 12 months are up, there’s a RM200 penalty charge. If you need more data, you can top up more quota from RM8 for 500MB/day up to RM28 for 1GB that’s valid for 30 days.

For more information, head over to Maxis.

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For this Chinese New Year, Maxis is offering the iPhone 4S 32GB for free if you subscribe its iValue 4 plan of RM375/month for 24 months. Actually this isn’t new as it is an extension of its earlier promo which ended on 15th January 2012. Normally the iPhone 4S 32GB is offered at RM350 for 24 months on iValue 4.

For more information, head over to Maxis iPhone 4S page.

So how much does an iPhone 4S ownership cost on different telcos? Check out our plans comparison here.

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Maxis has finally revealed its new reduced monthly mobile internet plans. Just recently, most Maxis subscribers with mobile internet plans were bumped with higher data quota for free. The most recent we’ve seen is existing 500MB subscribers at RM58/month are upgraded to 1.5GB/month.

Comparing the new rates with the previous one, the 500MB and 3GB plans are reduced by RM20. The 1.5GB option is currently missing form the table but there’s a new 1GB option at RM48/month. Another plan that’s missing is the 6GB option at RM98/month. Overall, the reductions are pretty good which saves you RM240/year.

Maxis still charges excess fee if you exceed your monthly quota but the rates are now cheaper at 30sen per MB. Previously it was charged at 10sen per 10KB which is about RM10 per MB. For more information, head over to Maxis Mobile Internet section.

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Before subscribing, you would need to understand the conditions & restrictions that apply with such plan. Firstly the unlimited Facebook access is limited to Facebook Java app or via m.facebook.com. Accessing through your smart phone Facebook apps or the full www.facebook.com site will incur data usage. Another tricky situation is that your unlimited facebook access will automatically expire if you used up the bundled data. This means if you finished your 10 Days quota on the first day, your unlimited Facebook access will be immediately revoked. As a result, you will be charged the standard pay as you go rate of 10sen per 10KB.

From the looks of it, this Facebook Internet Plans are better suited for feature phones with Java app where connectivity is normally accessed on ad-hoc basis. For smart phones such as iPhone, Android or BlackBerry, the tiny bundled data quota would be easily depleted from the usual background notification/services. We recommend sticking to the usual monthly data plans for better peace of mind. As always, do read up their FAQ before subscribing.

For monthly data subscribers, Maxis has updated the excess data usage to 30 sen per MB, which is currently being offered on its new Value Plus Internet plans.

For more information, head over to Maxis Mobile Internet Plans.

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