Maybe it was second hand, or he already had it for a long time or it was a present.

In my opinion, John had some issues with money at the beginning of the series, because his London flat was too expensive to maintain. But that fact doesn´t mean he was as poor as a churchmouse even before he returned to London. As a doctor, his pay in the army was probably quite nice and he could buy any laptop or other such triffle easily, any time. It was only after he was discharged from the army and lost his income that he had some difficulties with money. But even in this situation he could afford to pay for Ella´s sessions, so.... 

Or else it was run by the NHS.  Good point about his army pay, nakahara.  Perhaps it was easier for John to afford a laptop while he was in the army than it was after he was discharged, especially if it was secondhand.

Yes, he had Harry's smartphone, not his own; his finances being what they were, a new smartphone was not an option for him.  He wouldn't have had to look for a flatshare if he were well-off enough financially to afford to buy his own smartphone.
 

Last edited by kgreen20 (May 2, 2016 4:27 pm)

To quote John, he couldn't afford London on an army pension, and I gather from the way he said it that he meant not just central London, either (which is expensive to live in, I agree).  A new smartphone would have been an expense he just couldn't afford.
 

Well maybe someone just gave it to him? It doesn't mean that he bought it himself

Good point, and both of you may well be right.  John probably did get the laptop while he was in the army, either as a gift or as a purchase.  As you said, Ariane, money wouldn't have been the big issue while he was in the army that it became when he was discharged.  And even if he did buy it, it may have been secondhand, and therefore, a few years old (which would have made it much cheaper than a new laptop would be).

Obviously, he did not choose to get a cell phone while he was in the army, as we Americans would call it.  Or if he did, it wasn't a smartphone like the one Harry gave him after his discharge,  If it wasn't, both the phone and the plan he would have been on would have been much cheaper than a smartphone would be.  It may have given out before he was discharged, leaving him in need of a new phone when he returned to England to live (a need that his sister met when she gave him hers).
 

Last edited by kgreen20 (May 25, 2016 6:50 pm)

For that matter, why would he accept Harry's if he already had one?  Harry would have seen no need to give him hers, even to get rid of it, if he already had his own smartphone.  And as Sherlock said in "A Study in Pink," "You're looking for a flat share; you wouldn't waste money on this--it's a gift, then."  And I have a feeling that he was right.

Last edited by kgreen20 (May 25, 2016 6:25 pm)