Recommend a phone / operator / package?

[Guest G1LIW]

OK, I've come to the decision that Orange and I should part company, and the sooner the better.

I HAVE looked at the deals going around, and have even looked at the Money Supermarket comparison site, but figured that here was the place to ask, as most every phone that could be used, and contract be had, has been used by the membership here.

I'm out of contract by three months, and have sim-free phone that's now close to 18 months old (HP iPAQ HW6915) that I use all the time, and an SPV C600 sitting on it's box as a contingency, hardly ever used after the first three months. Both phones are technologically a generation in capabilities too old, and getting older all the time, and are thus regrettably in need of replacement.

So, here's the question:

I'm seriously considering going for a sim-only deal, but this would prevent me being able to take advantage of 3G, or of having a decent camera in the phone (the iPAQ only having a 1.3mp camera).

So, I need advice. What's the best phone, and best contract deal, to go with the specs I've outlined below?

So, here's the requirements list:

PHONE:

• The phone must be windows mobile (WM5 or WM6, I'm not too bothered), preferably touch screen, preferably with a keyboard.
  
• It must have a camera, ideally better than 2.5 mega pixels resolution.
  
• It should have the capability of being able to take photos and short videos in poor light, or with the aid of a good quality built in flash.
  
• It must have a built-in GPS receiver (a SIRf III GPSr set would be best). I already have the software to take advantage of this.
  
• The phone must have bluetooth capability (I use a hands-free headset whilst driving my car)
  
• I would prefer the phone to have WiFi (home use).
  
• Preferably, the phone should be a Quadband unit, although it's unlikely I'll be going anywhere other that the UK for a year or so, thus a uk-only phone would do at a push.
  
• It should have a large screen
  
• It should have the capability to accept an external ram chip (miniSD or microSD) with a capacity of 2gb or more.
  
• It should be able to make and receive phone calls, texts (SMS), and Mutimedia messages (MMS).
  
• It should be at least 2.5G, preferably 3G.
  
  • I need a minimum of 200 minutes per month. More would be nice.
    
  • I need a minimum of 200 texts per month. Again, more would be nice.
    
  • I will need an unlimited data plan in the contract (i.e. web browsing)
    
  • Budget-wise, the cheaper the better. I wish to spend no more than £20-£25 per month on the phone contract, maximum contract length 18 months, and not have to pay anything more than £30 on top of this for the phone.
    

  BROADBAND

  The hapless operator that gets my custom should also offer low-cost broadband. I wish to have up to 8mb download speeds, router (wireless or wired, I'm not fussed) supplied foc, cost to be no more than £10 per month on top of the phone contract.

  Operator-wise for the above, I'm none too bothered, but will not keep orange on whatsoever.

  That's about the size of it :D

  I suspect these specs are a non-starter, but does anyone know of a service plan meeting these specs?

  Cheers in advance :(

  Roger

Edited March 18, 2008 by G1LIW

[Guest froggyoggy]

Strangley enough roger, i'm in the same boat as you...

I have come to the end of my 18mth contract and orange are offering the following:-

1. HTC TyTN II phone or any other phone in their shop other than the nokia 8800.

2. 18mth contract - 1400xnet mins, 100txt, unlimited landline calls and ability to add upto 4 magic numbers (orange to orange).

All this is for £30 per month.

I want to know if this is worth it or shall i cancel the contract?

If necessary please could someone kindly look through the orange shop and tell me if i could get a better phone?

Lastly is it possible to unlock the TyTN II phones for free??? If so, how?

Thanks for helping!

Edited March 21, 2008 by froggyoggy

[Guest G1LIW]

Mate, I will not be going back to Orange; you may want to read my post on this here. In any event, if they do not include a data allotment, even as an add-on feature, you can seriously stuff yourself up - orange charge a fiver per megabyte on non-data plans, and that mounts up horrendously.

Hope the above helps.

[Guest froggyoggy]

Mate, I will not be going back to Orange; you may want to read my post on this here. In any event, if they do not include a data allotment, even as an add-on feature, you can seriously stuff yourself up - orange charge a fiver per megabyte on non-data plans, and that mounts up horrendously.

Hope the above helps.

i'm not too bothered about the contract mate...i just need help choosing the best phone from their online shop. I want a phone that can be unlocked easily...can the htc tytn II be unlocked? if so, how?

[Guest G1LIW]

Sorry, I don't know; I doubt it, if it's from Orange (or any other operator), though, as they'll have made a sizeable purchase on that phone, and'll want to get their money back on it. SIM-free, you'll probably be looking at around four or five hundred, here in the UK.

[Guest WearTheFoxHat]

I would personally recommend you look at:

HTC TyTN II - Available on different operators under different names

Glofiish M800 - Recently reviewed by Paul on Modaco

Both phones are pretty much the same, apart from the TyTN II has more RAM and a tilting keyboard, whereas the M800 has a VGA screen and a flash with the camera.

I'm not sure if the M800 is carried by any operators, hence attracting a subsidy. However if you went sim-only package from say T-Mobile, you could have a normal package, say Flext WnW 35, but at a discounted rate if you already have a handset.

As a previous customer of Orange, Vodafone and 02, I am really impressed with the customer service attitude at T-Mobile, and their fair pricing plans. All the offers I have seen them advertise lately have also been available to existing customers.

Vodafone offer a broadband service, but I am somewhat unimpressed with it.

My personal recommendation would be to source each product individually:

Phone and contract

Home broadband

Mobile broadband (although you could use tethering on the handset, if the contract allows)

The TyTN II can be easily unlocked.

One final handset to consider is the upcoming Sony Ericsson X1 .. which "should" be released during the second half of this year.

Edited March 21, 2008 by WearTheFoxHat

[Guest froggyoggy]

The problem is that T-Mobile can't match the same contract or do better than orange. I need the minutes as this is why i'm sticking to orange...unless you know of any company offering more minutes than orange for the same or better price?

Also the other problem is that i need to decide in the next few hours, as i want to speak to the same guy who offered me this choice and he's only there till 4pm.

If i can find a phone which has a good price tag if i wanted to sell later and has the necessary features for my personal needs, then i'd be more than happy to take that instead. This is what i personally want from my mobile:-

Small in size and not too bulky - IMPORTANT!!!

The possibility to have tomtom, although not important

Holds good value in price if i needed to sell it - IMPORTANT!!!

Is unlockable to all networks - IMPORTANT!!!

Easy to use

Has a good battery life - IMPORTANT!!!

If i can't find a phone which has most of the above features then i would rather buy the most expensive handset and sell it to pay for the contract.

Lastly could someone please tell me how easy it is to UNLOCK the TyTn II mobile to ANY NETWORK??? What would I have to do??

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!!!

Edited March 21, 2008 by froggyoggy

[Guest WearTheFoxHat]

The problem is that T-Mobile can't match the same contract or do better than orange. I need the minutes as this is why i'm sticking to orange...unless you know of any company offering more minutes than orange for the same or better price?

Also the other problem is that i need to decide in the next few hours, as i want to speak to the same guy who offered me this choice and he's only there till 4pm.

If i can find a phone which has a good price tag if i wanted to sell later and has the necessary features for my personal needs, then i'd be more than happy to take that instead. This is what i personally want from my mobile:-

Small in size and not too bulky - IMPORTANT!!!

The possibility to have tomtom, although not important

Holds good value in price if i needed to sell it - IMPORTANT!!!

Is unlockable to all networks - IMPORTANT!!!

Easy to use

Has a good battery life - IMPORTANT!!!

If i can't find a phone which has most of the above features then i would rather buy the most expensive handset and sell it to pay for the contract.

Lastly could someone please tell me how easy it is to UNLOCK the TyTn II mobile to ANY NETWORK??? What would I have to do??

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!!!

Seriously, look at T-Mobile Flext 35 WnW+ ... for the 18 month contract it gives you the equivalent of £180 pounds worth of credit each month to consume using text/calls. At 20p a minute for calls, is equates to 900 minutes of calls per month.

Small in size and not too bulky - IMPORTANT!!!

Depends what you call too bulky, I personally think the TyTN II is not as small as the current handsets you can get. But then again it saves having an ipod, gps and phone in my pocket!

The possibility to have tomtom, although not important

All Pocket PC style phones will have this ability, either via a separate bluetooth GPS, or in the case of the TyTNII built in GPS.

Holds good value in price if i needed to sell it - IMPORTANT!!!

I wouldn't ever buy a phone thinking of the resale value, technology moves so fast, that it is out of date literally the moment you walk out the shop. So buy a handset because it does what you want it to, not to make money on it when you sell it.

Is unlockable to all networks - IMPORTANT!!!

Tytn II can be easily unlocked. www.xda-developers.com ... full details on there.

Easy to use

They all are ... plus simple to change applications if there is a different one you prefer.

Has a good battery life - IMPORTANT!!!

Depends how you use the handset ... if you have wifi, gps and bluetooth on constantly on the TyTN II, then it wont last long. But sensible usage of the phone and its services will last you a day.

[Guest froggyoggy]

hi fox and thanks for your prompt replies.

Okay i have looked at the Flext 35 package and to be honest with you mate, it doesn't match with the orange. I mainly need to call a lot and hardly text at all. I have never used the net access on phones. Have a look at the comparison below and tell me which one does better mate.

FOR £30 ORANGE GIVE YOU:-

1400xnet mins

unlimited calls to landlines

upto 4 magic numbers which will allow me to ring to my friends (who are also on orange) for unlimited amount of time

FOR £30 T-MOBILE GIVE YOU:-

900xnet mins

free weekend calls

So which one would you say offers you more?

Lastly that site you gave to me, its american...i'm in the UK...is the TyTn II also known as kaiser? Do you have exact link to unlocking it mate as there are loads of different phones on the site?

From looking at the orange shop, which phone (excluding the nokia 8800 and any PC pocket phones) would you say is good one?

I mainly need the phone for calls, so i maybe choosing the wrong one.

Edited March 21, 2008 by froggyoggy

[Guest WearTheFoxHat]

Yes, the TyTN II is the Kaiser. (TyTN II is HTC's name for it, and Kaiser was there development name afaik)

This is one of the unlocking threads: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=375583

Personally I wouldn't touch orange with a bargepole.

If it is just calls that you need, then maybe you are looking at the wrong handset. The TyTN II is a great handset for doing a multitude of tasks. But for just calls, then you could choose any handset really.

Perhaps a separate GPS would be better value.

[Guest froggyoggy]

thanks for helping me mate...much appreciated.

After weighing up the option, i decided to look into other phones. I have just spoken to orange about the n95. They told me that they don't have the "black n95 8gb"

But they told me that they have the n95 silver with 8gb memory card. (h**p://shop.orange.co.uk/shop/show/handset/nokia_n95/features/upgrade)

What is the difference between the two and should i go for the silver one???

[Guest Confucious]

Neither are PPC's so irrelevant on this site. If you just want to make calls get the phone you can sell for most on eBay and buy a basic one. If you are getting any sort of 'smartphone' you will need a data bundle to make the most of it ant that's something O don't do well.

This site is specifically for Windows Mobile phones so probably not much use to you.