Confused and Slightly Off Topic
I'm probably missing something. You buy your own hand set, say £400, you take out a SIM only contract for 12 months at £15 a month. By my arithmetic that averages at £48.33 a month over a year. Plus calls etc.
You sell your handset and upgrade every year(?) But what you make on the sale won't meet the cost of the new handset. So if you sell your handset for, say, £200, buy another for £400, take out another £15/month SIM only contract, that still averages at £31.66 a month. Plus calls etc.
Yeh, you've got the 'full' software and the I'm superior to you advantage of being able to say "I own my handset", but what are you actually gaining where it matters, in financial terms.
I'm on an 18 month contract with Orange. I pay £35.00 a month. Plus calls etc. I got a new N97 last year. In July next year I know I can upgrade to the latest handset from whichever manufacturer I choose, change my operator if I want to, sell my old one and off I go again.
Maybe I'm being simplistic, but who is getting the best deal here?