Guest Willbott Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Hi there, I'm new to the forum, but already fascinated by all the interesting banter on here. I have a question about the Huawei G300. When will it be available 'Sim Free'? I'd like to get one without all the Vodafone stuff on it, so wonder when and where I can buy a Sim Free one? Or do you think I should just get the PAYG Vodafone handset? Finally, before I take the plunge - the Orange San Diego looks like a good device. Will this be available SIM Free? What brand would it be? Should I wait for this to be available sim free instead? I used to have an iPhone 3GS which got stolen, so I'd like something with as good or better performance than that. Many thanks for any help and advice. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dmesg Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 It's only available from Chinese sites for ~200$ (as U8818). It's cheaper and very easy to get from Vodafone and reflash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Davidoff59 Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 I think the Indian version of the San Diego is called the lava xolo or something like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Willbott Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Thanks DMESG, Great advice - how do I 're-flash' the device? I'm new to all this! Is it easy? Will this make it just like a sim free handset? Thanks for the help. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NeostarNeko Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 you don't need to re-flash just root it and install clockworkmod then you can make a backup of your rom and start carefully removing the vodapuke stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eLJay Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 (edited) Deleted - browser played up. Edited June 12, 2012 by eLJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eLJay Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Thanks DMESG, Great advice - how do I 're-flash' the device? I'm new to all this! Is it easy? Will this make it just like a sim free handset? Thanks for the help. Will Might be after the 3 month exclusive deal ends with Vodafone ends. I got my unlock code from eBay for not a lot of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pondlife Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Bought one from vodafone shop and it wasn't locked. Would expect the sim free price to be quite a lot more as the Skate was to the OMC. Holding out for a G300 in black though atm, Amazon claimed to have them.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RussellS Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 When they do become available sim free the price will undoubtedly be a fair bit higher, I would imagine around £150. If you do decide on a G300, and I would certainly recommend you do, then just get one from Vodafone and see if they will unlock it for you for free, If they won't then just get the unlock code from eBay for around £5. I have used this seller twice with no problems http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1439.l2649 Then, once you've got your phone unlocked then follow the stickied post Frankish made here http://www.modaco.co...and-i-cant-do/ With respect to the Orange San Diego, firstly it is twice the price of the G300. I'm not saying that it is not worth twice the money but it is a case of whether you can justify spending twice as much IF the G300 will meet your needs. That is a personal decision. Secondly, there are a lot of unknowns about the San Diego at the moment as it is still so new and using completely new architecture. It doesn't even look as though it can be sim unlocked at the moment so unless you are on Orange then that will be a deal breaker. I'm sure this will change very shortly though if not already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Willbott Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Hey guys, Thanks for all the great advice. I'm going to go for the g300! Thanks RussellS for your advice - it made up my mind to go for the G300. Question now is where to buy it from....??? Play.com have it on sale from tomorrow or I could go Vodafone Online or from a shop. Any ideas if Play.Com is more likely to be unlocked? Is the ROM I should install B888? Cheers, and thanks again. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RussellS Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 (edited) Thanks for all the great advice. I'm going to go for the g300! Thanks RussellS for your advice - it made up my mind to go for the G300. Your more than welcome. That's what these forums are all about. Question now is where to buy it from....??? Play.com have it on sale from tomorrow or I could go Vodafone Online or from a shop. Any ideas if Play.Com is more likely to be unlocked? Is the ROM I should install B888? If you go to a Vodafone shop it seems to be a bit hit 'n' miss whether they will unlock it for you and whether they will demand you pay the extra £10 top up. If you buy it online, whether from Vodafone or Play.com there is no top up required. Personally, I've bought two G300's and on both occasions I went through TopCashBack to get it online from Vodafone which pays back £5.05 which basically payed for the unlock code. With respect to the rom, it will probably come with B882 installed (my second G300 which arrived last Thursday did) so I would recommend doing the standard OTA update to B885 first. Then thoroughly test the phone to make sure everything is working fine and it doesn't need to be returned. Then, after you are happy it is all ok, update it to one of the custom rom's. Have a look at the forum threads for the Huawei B888 rom and Paul's Gr1 B888 rom. As I mentioned before, take a look at Frankish's post http://www.modaco.co...-and-i-cant-do/ and if there is anything you are not sure about then just ask. Edited June 11, 2012 by RussellS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Smiff2 Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 (edited) I bought it SIM free from Vodaphone shop (came unlocked AND they sent me unlock code by email!). thinking of buying another online.. expect that'll be locked. unfortunately unlock codes are not transferrable but i expect soon there'll be free keygen anyway (right guys?) TBH can't understand what Vodaphone are doing - they're subsidizing a phone that i gave them 0 credit for, effectively paying me to take it? Edited June 11, 2012 by Smiff2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelago Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 TBH can't understand what Vodaphone are doing - they're subsidizing a phone that i gave them 0 credit for, effectively paying me to take it? I'm sure Vodafone pay less than £100 to buy it from Huawei. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Smiff2 Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 (edited) yes but: selling it unlocked and not asking for topup, when i would have paid £10 topup AND paid them to unlock it is bad business. other places sell U8815 for £200+ so they're underpriced anyway? V*daphone don't even get their branding on the phone (like Orange did with the Blade) not complaining, i think the guys in this shop made a mistake and V*daphone are being silly too :P Edited June 11, 2012 by Smiff2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Prog_Drummer Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 (edited) If you buy from Vodafone online, make an account on quidco, then you will get £5 cash-back :) Also you don't need to buy the £10 top-up online. http://www.quidco.com/vodafone/ Just noticed RussellS had posted a similar offer, sorry about that... Edited June 11, 2012 by Prog_Drummer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Willbott Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Thanks again guys, I'll order the phone at the weekend - still trying to decided on Play.com/Quidco or Vodafone online. Then I'll try and get my head around this 'Flashing'/ROM business! Cheers! Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Willbott Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 It's ordered! Went for Vodafone online in the end as Play.Com put the available date back. Thanks for all the help and advice - can't wait to get the phone. What's the best stock Huawei ROM to put on it? B888? Where's the best place to download this from? Any other checks to do before I start using it??? Cheers again Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RussellS Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 It's ordered! Went for Vodafone online in the end as Play.Com put the available date back. Thanks for all the help and advice - can't wait to get the phone. What's the best stock Huawei ROM to put on it? B888? Where's the best place to download this from? Any other checks to do before I start using it??? Cheers again Will I would say that when you get it it will have B882 on it with the low volume bug. Firstly, do an OTA update (/settings/About Phone/Online Upgrade) to get it to official B885 which should fix the volume bug. Then thoroughly test the phone to make sure everything is working as it should and it doesn't need returning to Vodafone. Once you are happy that it is all ok then you can decide which unofficial rom to upgrade to. I would probably suggest Paul's Gr1 B888 as it will ber easier to revert back to stock later if there are any issues which require a warranty return. If you go to the Huawei B888 rom then it is not possible, or at least much harder, to get back to stock for warranty purposes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Willbott Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 Thanks Russell - top advice. Is the 888 ROM official? What's the safest place to download it from? Is there a Non Vodafone 885 ROM? Cheers Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RussellS Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 Thanks Russell - top advice. Is the 888 ROM official? What's the safest place to download it from? Is there a Non Vodafone 885 ROM? Cheers Will Well, that's an interesting question. It is an official Huawei rom but not officially released. It is what I am running on both mine & my wifes G300's. One thing you need to realise is that there are two B888 roms available. One is the original Huawei B888 rom which you will find details about and a download link in this thread http://www.modaco.co...ad-link-inside/ Then there is Paul's modified Gr1 B888 rom with details and download link in this thread http://www.modaco.co...ated-optimised/ Neither of these rom's have any Vodafone stuff in them. I don't think there is a non vodafone B885 available although I know it is possible to remove the vodafone stuff yourself but I don't know how. There have been threads about this in these forums. Personally, I would recommend first installing ClockWorkMod recovery by following the advice here http://www.modaco.co...-and-i-cant-do/. This will allow to to make a complete backup of your system before installing any new rom's. Then install Paul's Gr1 rom. This will give you all the benefits of the B888 rom but with the added benefit of making it easier to return to stock should the need arise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Smiff2 Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 (edited) ^ some of that stuff should be stickied. i will add one more thing: official ROMs don't allow themeing, modded (DeOdexed) ones like Paul's do. Edited June 14, 2012 by Smiff2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RussellS Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 ^ some of that stuff should be stickied. i will add one more thing: official ROMs don't allow themeing, modded (DeOdexed) ones like Paul's do. Very good point. I forgot to mention that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Willbott Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 Thanks chaps. Before I do this flashing business I guess I need to backup the phone? What's the easiest way to do this as a newbie??? Titanium Backup or Clockwork Mod??? I just want a very simple backup. If I install the 'Official' B888 ROM will I still get any OTA updates?/Official new ROM updates? Would it be the same with Paul's ROM too? Cheers guys - sorry for asking silly questions - I'm new to all this and just want to get the phone running as smoothly and up to date as possible and for it to still update OTA. Many ta's! Will PS. Phone is ordered but no word on delivery - wonder if Vodafone are having supply issues as I spotted that Play.com have put back their release date for the G300.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RussellS Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 (edited) If you update to either of the B888 roms then I don't think they will auto update OTA, in fact in the case of pauls rom you wouldn't want it to because it would just replace it with a standard one. I would recommend using CWM to backup with as this will back up your entire system and if anything goes wrong you can easily restore the system back to exactly how it was at the last backup. That way you can backup and then just try different roms to your hearts content. Just make sure you make a full backup of your B885 rom first and then you can always get back to where you are now. Edited June 14, 2012 by RussellS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Willbott Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 Cheers Russell, As ever brilliant advice - thanks for getting back to me. So I'm I right in thinking that means even if I Flash the stock B888 ROM I can get back to B885 really easily from the CWM backup? I was worried from things I'd read that I might not be able to go back once B888 is flashed. Thanks again Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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