MAKING A PURCHASE, ADVICE NEEDED :)

[Guest SL1CE]

HELLO :)

I AM INTERESTED IN PURCHASING A NEW MOBILE SMARTPHONE AND WOULD LIKE SOME ADVICE FIRST. I LIKE THE LOOK OF THE 'HTC S710', AS IT HAS A 2MP CAMERA ALONG WITH A FULL QWERTY KEYBOARD. I AM GOING TO BE USING THE DEVICE PRIMARILY FOR CALLING AND TEXTING - BUT I WILL ALSO BE TAKING A LOT OF PHOTOS, PLAYING A LOT OF GAMES, AND USING THE INTERNET (EMAIL, MESSENGER, ETC) FREQUENTLY. I LIVE IN THE UK AND WILL BE USING AN ORANGE SIMCARD ON A PAY-AS-U-GO TARIFF. I'LL BE HONEST AND ADMIT THAT MY KNOWLEDGE OF SMARTPHONES IS FAIRLY LIMITED SO I'M AFTER SOME ADVICE FROM THOSE WHO ARE IN THE KNOW BEFORE MAKING THIS MAJOR PURCHASE. I'D LIKE OTHER MEMBERS TO ATTEMPT TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE I MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION ON PAYDAY! SO...

1. WHAT WOULD YOU REGARD AS THE BEST ALL-ROUND SMARTPHONE AVAILABLE IN THE UK AT PRESENT?

2. IS THERE AN AWESOME NEW SMARTPHONE COMING OUT SOON THAT I SHOULD WAIT FOR BEFORE BUYING?

3. WHAT IS THE CHEAPEST RETAILER FOR SMARTPHONES IN THE UK?

4. WHAT NETWORK (EG, ORANGE, O2, T-MOBILE) OFFERS THE CHEAPEST DEALS ON PAY-AS-U-GO FOR INTERNET USE?

5. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THE HTC S710?

6. WHAT IS THE BEST OPERATING SYSTEM (WINDOWS MOBILE, PALM OS, ETC) IN YOUR OPINION?

I REALISE THAT'S A LOT TO ASK ALL AT ONCE, BUT YOUR OPINION'S WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. I ANTICIPATE SPENDING OVER £200+ WHICH IS NO SMALL FIGURE FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME WHO HAS A LOT OF OTHER COMMITMENTS AND BILLS TO PAY. THIS IS GOING TO BE A MAJOR PURCHASE AND I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE I MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION. IDEALLY I WANT A SMARTPHONE THAT IS TOP OF THE RANGE AND WILL REMAIN THAT WAY FOR A LONG TIME!

MANY THANKS IN ADVANCE (HOPEFULLY)

SL1CE

[Guest SL1CE]

LOADS OF VIEWS BUT NO REPLIES??? CAN ANYONE HELP ME???!?!?!?

[Guest Samsonite]

1. Orange E650

2. Probably...but then you'll never buy anything.

3. Piece of string question...

4. T-Mobile - £1 a day unlimited.

5. Its very very good.

6. WM.

hope this helps.

p.s. stop shouting. :)

[Guest SL1CE]

Thanks mate-The HTC S710 (aka E650) looks awesome so I'm glad that's been confirmed. Anyone else fancy taking my questionarre!?

ps sorry bout the SHOUTING.. I just find it quicker and easier to type in CAPS

[Guest chucky.egg]

1. Samsung SGH-I600 (Euro version of the Blackjack)

2. Not that I know of

3. I tend to buy SIM-free from overseas for better variety and price. Handtec are good, as was hi-mobile.net

4. Don't know, I think they may all be about the same. T is cheapest for contract data rates

5. OK, but sluggish and heavy. Numeric keys too close to the bottom (hard to use without thumb cramp) and the keyboard keys are too flat (hard to hit the right key). IMHO

6. You're not going to get many people say anything other than WM here, this is a WM forum after all. I've used Symbian Series60 (which I quite liked) and Symbian UIQ (liked at the time but looks/feels really dated now). I'd still go for WM