Portable Telephones

Lateralus · Post by **Lateralus** » January 12th, 2010, 13:47

Lets talk mobile phones, bitches. I’m due an upgrade at the moment, and am torn between the Sony Ericsson W995 and Nokia 5800. I also like the look of the HTC HD2, but think that it’s doubtful I could convince O2 to give it to me for free. However, for a reasonable tariff (see below, maybe ~£30 a month) I’d be willing to stretch to get this as it does look awesome.

My main criteria are a free phone, wifi, music playing capabilities, and it not being an arse of a phone to actually use. As I’m lazy I think I’d rather stick with O2 than move, but I’m happy to threaten to leave to get a better deal, and if there genuinely are better deals around that they won’t match then I’m not actually too fussed as long as I can take my number with me.

In terms of the tariff, I need approximately 300 mins a month (any time, and network) and 400 texts. I also want free internet browsing on my phone, for those times I’m not able to use wifi. My current 18 month tariff gives me this for £25 a month, and I’d like to keep it more or less the same.

So, any recommendations?

spoodie · Post by **spoodie** » January 12th, 2010, 14:03

My iPhone's going to get thrown at the wall one of these days. It can be annoyingly slow at times. Fortunately may contract is up in about a month so may be an HD2 is on the cards.

amblin · Post by **amblin** » January 12th, 2010, 14:22

Lateralus · Post by **Lateralus** » January 12th, 2010, 14:31

Yeah, that's why I'm after a free phone. The HD2 was listed as £200 on my current contract, and while I might be willing to increase my monthly payments a bit, I'm not forking out a load upfront as I haven't got the cash.

Assuming I can't get the HD2 affordably, what would you guys chose from the other two? The Nokia looks a bit nicer, but somehow I find myself leaning more towards the Sony Ericsson.

amblin · Post by **amblin** » January 12th, 2010, 14:53

Post by **HereComesPete** » January 12th, 2010, 15:27

Get a HD2 on a 2 year £30 a month contract. I didn't really pay anything for the phone that way but I've been on an o2 contract for ages so I rang retentions and shouted at them a bit. It's unlimited interwebs

I think they're normally after about £70 for it on that contract. You can sell it for profit and get another phone cheap if you get bored early.

You can have a skinny at mine if you want, no doubt we'll go the cinema or such soon. But if you're looking right now just let me know and we can organise a few beers or summat.

Post by **FatherJack** » January 12th, 2010, 15:34

What have you got now? I had an HTC (an earlier model) for a year, but got fed up with not having a proper keypad when I was trying to use it as a phone.

Post by **ProfHawking** » January 12th, 2010, 16:16

There is only one phone I respect:

However, I use a blackberry bold nowadays. Can't beat the functionality if you ask me.

Lateralus · Post by **Lateralus** » January 12th, 2010, 16:21

I have the Sony Ericsson c902 at the moment, and my one concern about a touch screen phone is losing the tactile nature of typing on actual buttons. However, I think that the capabilities of the HD2 would certainly outweigh that, and I like Pete's idea of increasing the monthly charge in lieu of the upfront one.

spoodie · Post by **spoodie** » January 12th, 2010, 18:05

ProfHawking wrote:There is only one phone I respect:

That was an awesome phone, at the time.

Lateralus · Post by **Lateralus** » January 18th, 2010, 7:59

In the end I've gone for the Nokia 5800. As shiny as the HD2 is, I feel that the novelty would wear off for me rather quickly, and I'd just end up using the more basic common functions, and it's bulk would just get annoying.

The 5800 is more or less typical phone size, but has a decent screen with a high resolution, and a reasonable browser. Plus, because I opted for a refurbished model, I get a free Nintendo DS Lite as well! The WAP internet access is impressively fast compared to my old C902, and it also has wifi too which is great. Still getting used to many of the functions, but overall I'm pretty chuffed with it so far.

Davius · Post by **Davius** » January 19th, 2010, 19:20

Lateralus wrote:In the end I've gone for the Nokia 5800. As shiny as the HD2 is, I feel that the novelty would wear off for me rather quickly, and I'd just end up using the more basic common functions, and it's bulk would just get annoying.

The 5800 is more or less typical phone size, but has a decent screen with a high resolution, and a reasonable browser. Plus, because I opted for a refurbished model, I get a free Nintendo DS Lite as well! The WAP internet access is impressively fast compared to my old C902, and it also has wifi too which is great. Still getting used to many of the functions, but overall I'm pretty chuffed with it so far.

was going to suggest an n97 as its basically a 5800 with a flip out keyboard a hell ova lot more phone memory than you could ever need and the kicker ofr me is the inbuilt FM transmitter, if you change vehicles alot or get in one without an aux socket its pure win, no wires ftw.

Post by **TezzRexx** » January 19th, 2010, 20:14

I have the 5800. It's a pretty good phone overall, the only thing that lets me down is the camera as it's pretty low quality - my old 6500 had a far superior camera.

I'd probably also preferred the 5730 version of this phone as it provides a keyboard and using a touch screen for texting isn't ideal.

Other then that though, I can't really fault it.