Extele.com, Excellent Sim-Free Supplier (extele.com)

Member Name: monkeywarrior

Product:	extele.com
Date:	01/10/04 (407 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great prices, Good range, Easy to order

Disadvantages: Lack of order tracking , not always the cheapest, shop around

I have been a bit of a mobile phone dealer/enthusiast for a while now, specialising in rare and sim-free models, so I'm always on the look-out for new suppliers.

I came across extele.com (or .net as they used to be) about 2 years ago and have used them several times since. The full address is http://www.extele.com. They deal mostly with SIM-free mobiles. For those not in the know, these are phones that come without a SIM card (the little chip that stores your number and identifies your phone to the network you're with). This means that you are free to use your own card, which is great if you like to keep your number/network but swap your phone around, or indeed moreso if you want to use several different SIM cards with the same phone. If you buy a phone straight from a network you will usually find it is 'locked' which prevents you from using it on any other network.

The look of the site has changed little over the years, becoming slightly flashier with little animations and new features but esentially remains pretty basic. You can find all the details about the company and their policies etc along the top bar whilst the side bar contains the categories of phones, which are sorted by brand. There is also a selection of other bits and pieces available, from bluetooth headsets to sim cards to insurance.

The most popular deals are listed on the home page, looking today I see a SonyEricsson T630 for £149, a Samsung C100 for £69 and a Siemens CL50 for £89 - all bargains given these are SIM free factory unlocked phones. Personally, I got a great deal on a couple of old Ericsson R380 smartphones a while back and frequently browse the site for unmissable offers.

Ordering is very simple, just click add to cart on the phone you fancy and you're practically there. Courier shipping is £5 on top of order value which isn't too bad and you can expect delivery within a couple of days after you've paid for the item by any major card on their secure server.

When I placed my first order, we ran into a problem when there was an error in my card details, however I got straight through on the phone and the problem was sorted out quickly and courteously.

There are only a couple of slight snags with the site, one being that it does not offer an order tracking facility which I find very useful, especially when I'm buying phones for clients it really helps to keep track of things. Also, you're not gonna find every phone under the sun on here, the range is limited to what they can get hold of and prices aren't always the best. As with all things on the net, you're well advised to shop around.

But still, overall I'd say it's well worth heading over to Extele and having a browse round - you may well find the phone you've always wanted for a price you never thought possible!

Hope you've enjoyed reading about one of my 'trade secrets'!!! Tom.

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