24 replies to this topic

[PaulOBrien]

[teaser]

My T-Mobile Pulse review is now online at Engadget Mobile!

Head on over for my thoughts on the device (hint: bargain of the century!) and feel free to post any questions about the device either here or in the Engadget comments.

I've also included my hands on video below.

If you are interested in buying the Pulse on prepay, clicking through this link will earn MoDaCo a fiver at no cost to yourself.

Finally, if you need the in-box DVD for the Pulse, i've mirrored it here!

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[/teaser]

[emotiveicon]

Nice review, Paul. This looks like an awesome handset for the price. My girlfriend saw my Hero and got all envious for Android. Do you know if there are any plans to root and unlock this phone? If my girlfriend could use her own O2 SIM in this then I'd definitely get one for her.

[PaulOBrien]

Check out my Twitter stream of the past few days... i've rooted it and plan to do a MoDaCo Custom ROM for it shortly (provided the units that hit retail have a security unlocked bootloader like mine!)



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[Dr Who]

Good price - but anyone know of any further discounts that could be applied to the PAYG version to get the price down even further?

[PaulOBrien]

I've had a look around all the cashback sites etc. and not managed to find anything yet!

If you click through this link you'll earn MoDaCo a fiver, but that's probably not what you're after!

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[Dr Who]

Cheers Paul.

I will have to hang on a bit then - if I see one of these closer to the £150 mark I will probably buy one to tide me over until the release of WinMo7.

[summerlove]

Paul, on Oct 12 2009, 10:26, said:

If you are interested in buying the Pulse on prepay, clicking through this link will earn MoDaCo a fiver at no cost to yourself.

I'm currently trying to find a cashback site deal for T-Mo PAYG, but i've had no luck.

Anyone?

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I'll use the link!  Anyone know when they're expecting stock on payg? The coming soon is taunting me...

[PaulOBrien]

I thought it was supposed to be last week, then Monday this week, but no sign yet! Definitely shipping on contract, so i'd hope it's soon!

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[summerlove]

Paul, on Oct 15 2009, 16:55, said:

I thought it was supposed to be last week, then Monday this week, but no sign yet! Definitely shipping on contract, so i'd hope it's soon!

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Cheers, will keep an eye out for it!

[Spooke]

Paul, on Oct 15 2009, 16:55, said:

I thought it was supposed to be last week, then Monday this week, but no sign yet! Definitely shipping on contract, so i'd hope it's soon!

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Hey, Im also interested in buying one, I have read that it is actually availible to buy in the tmobile stores, I will be checking my local one on saturday, will post back if they had any

[xangma]

Went in to buy one today and they said they might have them in tomorrow. I've been reading they're being delivered to stores around the UK this week =]

[rameses]

I'm undecided as to whether to get one of these once (if) a SIM unlock is available or get an Acer M900 from Expansys as the price is about the same.

Any thoughts either way?

What are the screen and camera like in comparison to other HTC devices?

[PaulOBrien]

The screen is better than HTC devices, the Camera (in my experience) is poor.

M900 vs Pulse? I'd take a Pulse personally, depends on your affinity with either hardware keyboards or WM I guess!

imei-check have my Pulse atm, they are working on an unlock...

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[PaulOBrien]

Updated link in first post, it's finally available!

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[FurryPotato]

Paul, on Oct 22 2009, 14:51, said:

Updated link in first post, it's finally available!

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Saw one when I went to return my Hero for repair (Bricked). Looks very nice actually. If I can't get my phone repaired I may well be tempted to buy a Pulse....

[McSpoon]

Have they removed the £5/month Internet option?  I'm sure when I first visited that link it suggested adding a Web'N'Walk internet option for £5/month.  But now it doesn't.  Did I just imagine it?

I am hoping the Pulse can be unlocked without rooting.   3UK offer a £5/month internet option for PAYG - do you reckon that would work with the Pulse?  I just want a cheap data-only PAYG Android device.

[Timmmm]

McSpoon, on Oct 24 2009, 12:54, said:

Have they removed the £5/month Internet option?  I'm sure when I first visited that link it suggested adding a Web'N'Walk internet option for £5/month.  But now it doesn't.  Did I just imagine it?

I am hoping the Pulse can be unlocked without rooting.   3UK offer a £5/month internet option for PAYG - do you reckon that would work with the Pulse?  I just want a cheap data-only PAYG Android device.

Unlocking and rooting are completely independent. The cheapest deals for data are:

1. Contract: £15/month for ~150 minutes, 300 texts, 500 MB data.
2. PAYG top up £10 / month and get free internet. Can't remember what network this was, and it might end up being a hassle to pay the top-up if you can't automate it.

Apart from that, AFAIK none of the non-3 networks are doing data-only contracts with PAYG for voice and texts.

[JingleManSweep]

Just thought I'd tell you about my setup...

I purchased my "Pay As You Go" T-Mobile Pulse from my local T-Mobile store (for £185 + £10 topup) in Ipswich, Suffolk, UK on Wednesday 28th October 2009, however, they were not ready for the "Internet Booster" PAYG topup at this time, so they may or may not be available in store now, however, as I said, I've had mine for a couple of weeks now.

Also, on PAYG, you have two "Internet Booster" options available:

Text "1MONTHWEB" to 443 for 1 months internet access. This costs £5 credit from your PAYG balance.
Text "6MONTHWEB" to 443 for 6 months internet accces. This costs £20 credit from your PAYG balance.

I can confirm that this works, as both my work colleague and myself have the same T-Mobile Pulse, purchased from our local Ipswich store, and although there was an initial few days delay on T-Mobile's side setting up this internet booster, it does work now.

So, apart from your calling/texting costs, you can obtain a whole 12 months internet access for £40. According to the T-Mobile store staff, this is subject to a "Fair Use Policy". Apparently, if you overuse your allowance, you will receive a number of warning text messages, and if you continue to abuse it, they will cancel your current booster package forcing you to purchase it again.

I have been streaming Spotify and Last.FM audio (high quality streams) via 3G, as well as normal Gmail/Calendar syncronisation (usual Android data communications) every morning and evening before and after work, and hardly use any data at all. You can check your exact usage via the "My T-Mobile" website.

Also, you can queue the Internet Boosters, so for example, if you have £40 credit available, you can text the "6MONTHWEB" twice at the same time, you will debited £40, but you will have 12 months access. Basically, the second booster will not become active until the first one expires.

Finally, if you forget to use these Internet Boosters, you will be charged £2 every day for internet usage. This is not an "upto £2" cost, for example, as soon as your phone accesses any 3G data services beyond midnight, you will be charged £2 for the remainder of the day. I know this because of T-Mobile not configuring the Internet Booster packages when I bought my Pulse, and so I was forced to pay £6 (£2 x 3 days) while they were setting it up. Unfortunately, not even the standard "WEB" internet booster which gives you 5 days access for £2.50 worked either.

Hope this answers any questions you have, and remember this is for the "Pay As You Go" T-Mobile Pulse on the T-Mobile UK network. I cannot comment on the "Contract" version.

Edited by JingleManSweep, 04 November 2009 - 06:12 PM.

[PaulOBrien]

Bargain!

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[martinbrook]

Paul, on Nov 4 2009, 18:51, said:

Bargain!

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I have this one on my sons Pulse.  Took another visit to the store to get the 6monthweb put on my account as customer services denied all knowledge.  It seems that the Pulses were wrongly provisioned on the web and walk ($) tarrif.