Thetownend.com

My Sony C905 has crapped out again (c button not working) and rather than pay to get it repaired phones4u will buy me out of my contract 5 months early.

So what latest flashy phones can people recommend me? My only criteria is that it must be good for the internet and if it is touch screen it has a big screen because I'm a complete flid when it comes to texting etc. Everyone recommends the iphone but the HTC hd2 has better specs it seems. I know nothing of Blackberrys other than the fact some people love them and some people hate them.

I'll be spending around £35 a month and I don't want to pay for the phone.

If you want to stick with Sony, the Xperia X10 looks interesting. Specs beat the iPhone into a cocked hat, but as the cult of Jobs will tell you, it's not about the specs, it's all about the "user experience". I have to declare an interest here, I'm interested in one myself but not sure what they're like to use so I'd quite like it if you got one and tried it out for me :)

I won't be getting a Sony. I'm on my 4th C905 and it's been repaired once before, now it's broken again.

Ah, but that's just the C905 though. I'm sure the Xperia's a quality piece of kit. Or, at least if it isn't, I'd rather you found out than me :)

There are loads of good reviews on smartphones out there, you can usually pick up the links from Reevoo.com and Sony phones usually good for their media/cameras etc but have had to do some catching up on the touch screen and app technology. Some good reviews on HTC phones if you don't want to go down the iphone route.

I've had a look and the HTC Desire looks a good bet. Lack of voice dialing could be problematic, I'm trying to see if there is an app to do it or similar.

Si, have a look at the new HTC Legend, the latest issue of PC Pro rates it quite highly

Don't get a Blackberry, they were only made for emailing.

Personally I would get an iPhone, but I know very little about all these new mobiles. All the networks offer pretty much the same for your money on iPhone contracts, though I think O2 have the best deals. You have to buy the phone, though I'm sure you could negotiate a half price reduction with them. I'd also be thinking that with an iPhone I'm getting an iPod and camera, so its worth the investment (and the money I'd recoup from eBaying my camera and Nano).

That said I'm sticking with my ancient mobile, £15 a month and nothing more, does what I need it to and people spend too long looking at their phones these days.

FWIW I am enjoying using the cheapest android OS phone money can buy - a t-mobile pulse (£120). I wouldn't recommend it if you actually want to make phone calls, sound quality is crap.

The point is I am quite impressed with Android, enough to start thinking about a Desire/Legend. Not as many apps as iphone...yet ..but enough.

Obviously the downside to smartphones is the battery life. I assume that's improving with each new generation.

The new iPhone is due in June, so if you decide to get one it would be worth waiting if only to get a better deal on the current models. I wouldn't change my iPhone for any other phone and I'm yet to read a review that rates another phone higher. There's a lot of good new stuff in the next version of the iPhone OS as well, also due in a couple of months.

I can't really wait because this phone is broken and iPhones seem too expensive.

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/htc-desire-679515/review (http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/htc-desire-679515/review)

HTC Sense is amazing, you won't regret a Desire/Legend.

http://tinyurl.com/y4dzmod

I use an HTC Touch-Pro 2, with the full microsoft office suite on it. When it dies I will def get an HTC again.

Another vote for HTC + Android. Hero in my case, but there are definitely better phones out there now.

Utter rubbish.

Just got a Blackberry 9700 and it's the best phone i've had by a mile.

FWIW, El Reg pretty much soiled themselves over the Desire:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2010/04/06/review_phone_htc_desire/

Very constructive. Why is it a good phone?

They most certainly were made for emailing, which is why all of the first users were businessmen. Also, have you noticed that it has a full QWERTY keyboard? A design feature to enable....

Undoubtedly good if you text a lot though, with the BBM feature too, very popular with girls and gays.

Well they all have QWERTY keyboards these days. Mobile phones were initially built just to call people, that doesn't make a Sony Ericsson or Nokia less of a phone does it?

I just got a samsung jet ultra.....but the email set up is a ball ache.....

Two further thoughts on the Xperia:

1) It's Sony's first effort at doing an Android phone, so for that reason alone is probably best avoided
2) It does have a bloody great camera/video capability on it. Generally, Sony do very good camera phones, if that's what floats your boat.

A very constructive post yourself too mate!

''popular with girls and gays'' .

Twat.

Well anyway, thanks for the feedback girls and gays. I think I will look at a couple of the HTC models and hopefully the Desire lives up to expectation in the flesh and it's free on contract in store.

I wouldn't get a HTC, all the gays have them around here and they're mainly for just sending E Mails and shopping online for skinny fit jeans.

Phonosexuals

The HD2 is a fantastic phone, it doesnt have the flashy apps the ipone had but it out performs the iphone hands down. 1ghz snapdragon processor  512mb Ram  4.3inch HD screen  only down site is onboard storage but does support up to 32gb micro SD card.
Another down side to some would be its size, it is slightly larger than the iphone, but it had to be due to its massive screen.

Ive been reading up on the  htc desire and it does seem a good bet, or maybe wait for the HD2 Mini,.

It would appear an employee of Apple left a prototype of the new iPhone in a bar, I imagine they are now an ex employee:

http://gizmodo.com/5520164/this-is-apples-next-iphone

The big problem with the iPhone is the cost as its unlikely you'll get one for free with a contract. Though other than that I reckon it is still hard to beat, especially if you've already got an iPod (which you can get rid of when you've got an iPhone).

I've still got the iNokia. Seven years old. Makes and receives phone calls. Sends and gets texts.

Meh.

[cynic]

Cheap advertising for Apple

[/cynic]

I upgraded for the first time in about 7 years or so, got a Razr when they first came out and was on my forth until i decided i needed to try out some new tech. I got a blackberry, with a free X-Box.

I love it and to say why to OF, i can't. I haven't used anything modern (i use a phone for phoning, a camera for photos and i have a computer for email!) so i'm only comparing it to an old Motorola. I also find the iPhone a bit too much to be honest, as i said i want a phone, not a mobile entertainment centre. Plus every bastard owns one. :)

The reason I went for the Blackberry 9700 was because I wanted a Smart phone that wasn't touch screen. Very chuffed with it.

Have you got a Smart car too?

God no. I have a gay's phone, don't want a gay's car as well.

Blackberry's are shoite


end of story

Thats your opinion.

buttons are too small and difficult to read

I hate mine

Try Love Hearts Andy. Bigger writing.

more a case of having flid fingers and coming to the conclusion that I have to wear my glasses all the time mate

Yeah, my daughter has a Blackberry. There is no way I could use that with the Wall's Best Pork digits that are at the end of my hands. Eyes still work ok though.

You can get iphones free on contract, although the monthly charge is quite expensive.

http://shop.o2.co.uk/promo/iphoneindex

16GB iphone free on £45 monthly charge (1200 mins, "unlimited" texts)

32GB free on £60 monthly charge ("unlimited" mins and texts)

As I've already stated, I'll be spending around £35 a month and besides, I'm far too uncool for an iPhone. I should have probably mentioned that I'm already on O2 so I would have to leave if P4U buy out my contract.

Thanks for the help though ;)

If it's any help Si, I'd still rather have an iPhone than my Blackberry Pearl, but as I'm on PAYG there was no way I was paying iPhone prices. So I just got myself the Pearl from fleabay and got it unlocked etc

Not true.

I wouldn't get an Iphone 3GS now. The 4G will be out ina  few months.

Already been left in a bar in California by an engineer apaprently

Yeah it's been leaked on a techie geek site thing. I like the look of it but it will cost shed loads on top of a contract no doubt. Thats the only reason I haven't gone with an Iphone before.

Ah cool, that gives me more options then.

When the iphone 4G comes out it will be well expensive.

honestly ??

iPhone 4G is going to have their new Ad Platform (iAds) installed in it to allow advertising within Apps. This is because Steve Jobs reckons app developers make no money... Ooookay then Steve... If you're going to lie, don't lie about something, which everyone knows isn't true.

It's going to give advertisers somewhere in the region of 1 Billion impressions a day. 60% of revenue will be shared with App Developers to motivate them into retro fitting their apps and using the service.

Welcome to the new Apple income stream, your new mobile advertising centre, the iPhone 4G. :)

iAds is part of iPhone OS v4, so will be in all the iPhones that support it (which I think is all the 3G phones).

There are already various ad platforms that developers use to put ads in their apps, this is just Apple's version. The developers that make no money which Steve Jobs referred to are those that don't charge for their apps and are reliant upon ads for their income. Nothing has really changed with iAds so its a bit of a non event rather than the mass conspiracy you seem to be portraying it as.

Mass conspiracy indeed...  ::) I'll put that defensive outburst down to Apple Fanboyism.

1 Billion impressions is from Steve Jobs' own mouth (and is something which isn't currently accessible to advertisers) and he also refers to those charging "too little for their apps" as making no money. Besides, alot has changed, this introduces the likelihood of masses of free apps supported solely on ad revenues. There's no conspiracy, just a turning of the tide.

iAds, is far from a non-event. It will be absolutely massive because the implementation of iAds is slick as fuck. The current display advertising within iPhones is unacceptable to both advertisers and even more so to users. It's clunky and renders 99% of ads ineffective and pointless (for the advertiser). iAds cleans it up and makes ads more like apps, therefore friendlier, therefore likely to offer a return.

iAds was the major feature Jobs went on about at the launch/preview event they held for OS4 recently. He clearly doesn't see it as a non-event

Maybe non-event was a bad choice of words, but it ain't as revolutionary as was made out. It's just Apple's take on ads within apps, nothing more, nothing less. The 1 billion figure was just plucked from the air, based on the number of devices out there and a certain number of impressions per day per device, nothing scientific about it, plus those impressions are already there.

Whether iAds are slick as fuck or not, the main factor for developer is the returns they get from the ads. If iAds doesn't increase the returns developers won't support it and will just stick with the current advertising platforms. There is no guarantee it will work, especially as Apple are going up against Google who are the clear market leader in mobile advertising.

It wasn't even the main feature of the iPhone OS v4 presentation, that was the new multi tasking system.

iads is an anagram of aids.

He said

From the dias.

jonny, i know you're always right and love a good pedantry based discussion, but you fail to grasp this at all. 1 billion impressions isn't meant to be scientific or a headline grabber, it's simply potential eyeballs. Also, with the platform being owned by apple they have the single most important piece of information, at their finger tips, and likely available to advertisers. Customer information. Demographics. You know your audience's age, sex and location, you've won a massive part of the battle before a penny is spent.

Also, regardless of the size of Google's AdMob, do you not think that iAds will steamroller anyone who's advertising currently? They will, this WILL obliterate current in app advertising, because they can get themselves in front of anything. First.

I don't get why you think it is a big deal for the consumers, developers and advertisers might be knocking one off about it but for everyone else it's just another form of advertising - something which most people do their best to avoid where possible.

You're right about the high level of detailed demographics Apple will be able to offer advertisers and they appear to be removing access to this for other ad networks. But again, I'm not sure this will have much affect on consumers.

And no, I don't think it will obliterate current in app advertising as it isn't going to appeal to all advertisers. It will cost a fair bit of money to develop the ads to the level Apple will require, it will most likely cost more than current ads do and it just isn't a suitable platform for a lot of advertisements - it might work well for advertising a movie, but not so well for an online shop.

Not what el Reg reckoned: they had the iAd stuff as being the main feature Jobs focused on and everything else being a bit "Oh, yeah, and there's this stuff too"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/08/iphone_4_dot_0/

htc desire > iphone

I dont get why people love apple shit some much. Its expensive and their closed shop attitude stops you from doing what you want with them.

Not what Steve Jobs reckoned, quote from the beginning of the keynote launching iPhone OS 4:

Two main reasons:
1) Apple put a lot of work into usability. A lot of their stuff genuinely is easier to "just use" out of the box
2) Hype.

God this thread is fucking shit.

Sorry, John. I tried to balance it out with my amazing adaptation of the Numa Numa song for Nouble in that thread somewhere but it has obviously escaped your attention.

The one peak in a thread of new lows.

Steve McMahon's a wanker.

Why do people do this?

Read a thread, think its shit, but carry on reading it anyway. Then despite it being a shit thread they post a comment to it telling everyone they think it is shit. Then they come back to the thread again and carry on reading it and posting in it again confirming that they still think it is shit.

If its so fucking shit, why waste your time with it?

I think people posting to say a thread is shit is shit.

For the same reasons you have gone through a thread, found someone saying the thread is shit, and spent your time and energy posting exactly why you think posting that a thread is shit is in itself shit, which incidently, I think is pretty shit.

Well  think you are shit posting that someone else is shit for posting that someone else is shit for posting the thread is shit....

I think !!

Go retro Si

[url width=400 height=392]http://blog.dialaphone-blog.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/05-mobira-talkman.jpg[/url]

If you are going retro it has to be:

[url width=164 height=256]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w6/erikan83/SouthWestern_Bell_Motorola_Brick_Ce.jpg[/url]

Gordon Gekko indeed.

I've always wanted one of these hands-free kits, albeit with a city-style shoulder holder as well.

[url width=320 height=320]http://media.firebox.com/pic/p1044_main.jpg[/url]

That's livened it right up. Good work gents :D

My vodafone contract is up for renewal now and I'm going to have a peek in their shop at lunch to have a play with the HTC Desire.  If it's good then I think I'll get that rather than waiting until the summer for the new iPhone.  I do love the iPhone that my Mrs has got, though.

I've never used an HTC phone and don't know anyone that has had one, so I'm a bit cautious about getting one!

apple fanboys, wank wank wank

Oh its the design, its so beautiful, so easy to use

Its a fucking phone. Apple are not a football team to be "supported", they're a major technology corporation trying to sell you shit

Except the iPhone is not shit though is it CT? Not sure what you have against it but the iPhone pretty much ticks all the boxes that you want in a phone. The fact it is also an iPod have been a major factor in its sucess. I love my iPhone, simple to use and in general always works, which is more than can be said for the 'freezing' problems i had on my previous Nokia's. Can't comment on the HTC Desire as not seen or used it. Obviously when it comes for renewal time I will choose a phone thats best for me then, whether thats the latest iPhone, HTC, Blackberry or Nokia. Can't see how that makes me a fanboy, just want the best available phone to me and at the time the iPhone was.

I never said it was shit. I've never used one but I'm sure its actually really good. You looked at the range available and chose an iphone. fair enough.

But people get really wanky over apple products in a way that they dont seem to get over other brands. They'll only buy apple stuff. Its like a cult.

Well there is that CT. Its the only Apple product i own. Same could be said for the Sony fanboys who wank over anything with a Sony badge on like the PS3 and insisting its the best bit of kit on the market, when infact global sales say otherwise!

The Nazis dominated Europe in the 40's - didnt make it right though......

You only have to look as far as the pop singles chart to realise that most buys = fuck all.

and a football club would never try to make money (actually most don't so maybe you're right)

If you go for a HTC (which i highly reccomend) try and go for one with android as opposed to WM6.5.

If the HD2 ran off android if would be that little bit better.

Not in the case of the Ford Mondeo v  the Bugatti Veyron

A pleasure my Dear John. Oh...won't be writing to you again then...

I've had a wank over a Golden Delicious. The skin was a bit salty, I have to say.

I used to have one of these badboys. Absolutely loved it and i'm almost tempted to fuck the modern shit off and get this. Sweeeeeeet!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SONY-CMD-Z1-MOBILE-PHONE-CHARGER-ON-O2-VODAFONE-Z1_W0QQitemZ260585685185QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_MobilePhones_MobilePhones?hash=item3cac1e00c1

For all the Geckos amongst you, get your whale-tail 911 ready and feel the excess.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GSM-Classic-Mobile-Cellular-Retro-Vintage-Brick-Phone_W0QQitemZ140395753845QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_MobilePhones_MobilePhones?hash=item20b03d3175

I love you Barry. In a mobile kinda way. Let's touch old git cellphones.

Got an HTC Desire today, cheers for the advice all.

Should have said something, could have had my iPhone.

I'll have it!

Be interested to know how you get on with it, looks like a great phone, knocks spots off the iCult <ducks>

Yeah I'll post some thoughts when I've had a chance to find the good and bad points.

The predictive text thing really annoyed me at first (it predicts what word it thinks you want, instead of the word you may have typed). This meant I ended up having to send a 'this is my new number' text three times, due to the dictionary not liking my surname, then typing the word woops as woods. Sorry people, it must have been confusing!  :-[

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100403070614AA0ZH5g

OK chappers i need some advice.

Signed up with the Carphone Warehouse in Chippers for a Samsung Jet on Orange - 2 year contract.

I was told the Jet had push email.....it does in a way...but despite all the fiddling and going on the net and getting info all i can do is download email....they dont bump on to my inbox as i thought...and.....more importantly i cannot send emails...just keeps coming up 'connection failed'.
In short i am fucked off and want to swap over to a Blackberry.....

What is my best course of action......Carphone Warehouse or Orange?

How long have you had it?

Erm.......Weds 14th April...

You're very lucky then. Take it back to CW tomorrow. Normally you get 14 days to change your mind about a phone. They'll probably let you swap it before April 28th.

Whoops, no wonder it was confused.

You should get one of these instead Flash:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/24/stuart_hughes_luxury_items/

Damn rediculous

I'm not going to turn it off, it's actually good if you get the odd letter wrong on the touch screen! I just didn't realise it may do that so was quite happily tapping away on the QWERTY keyboard without really checking the outcome.


I typed in nevillew and it changed to pedant.

The swype keyboard looks an interesting concept. I think it is in Beta for Android right now.

I just had a look at that, I wonder how easy it is to use. I thought tapping small buttons on a touch screen would be tricky, but with the flid finger correction it's a doddle. I think the iPhone does this well too from what people have said.

Android 2.1 has speech-to-text, which could be quite handy for lengthy emails, it's not worth it for text messages.

si, This will be very handy.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=594

beware, Its very elitist so dont go rushing in and ask every quesiton under the sun, do the research first, search for what you want to know or else you will get flamed.

I found this forum useful and fairly friendly, looks like there is a device specific forum for the desire.

http://android.modaco.com/category/363/device-specific/

I've already signed up to the android forums and found a solution to a problem that I and many were having.

Geeeeeeeeek!

i live on xda dev forums, just geeking about, i flash mine every week or so. not sure what ROM developments like on androids mind.

I got 15 texts from you on the same subject you bastard. It filled up the memory on my iNokia.

quality

Even better is that I have kept them all as I love you Simon.

They are trinkets of obsession.

swype is in beta, but you can use slideit from the market... been getting used to it over the last week and its amazing me how quick i can msg now .... 10/10 from me

FAO Si Pie:

You naughty bastard....

http://forum.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=6266

Did Si steal the phone? or throw a seat at small children??

I bet he did both the little oaf!

Thisis just gets better and better....

That has brought a smile to my face!

People standing up?!?!?

DESTROY THEM

Fucking hell check out this quote...


He's so up himself that he won't even sit with other Town fans at away games. He prefers to sit with the home fans. WHAT. A. TWAT.

God that site has some spanners. Obviously the phone was stolen... Couldn't have bounced down the steps several levels like my sunglasses when Austins goal was in, or so i thought at the time.

Ha, ha, I wondered what had happened to Gerald. Still on it then, I see

Or indeed, Stilton it.

Thought that is who it was - classic Gerald but you'd think he be used to it though being an ex copper

Is he a bit Forrest?

a bit??

The blokes a full on cunt. 

http://thetownend.com/index.php/topic,24701.0.html

hes gerald phillips on this thread

what a fucking mong

No, he is a lot Joey Deacon.

I was busy purchasing the phone whilst all the hoolies were making their way to Wycombe. Bet the chump didn't even check lost property, just assumed the worst.

Although this did remind me of the time my Grandad thought he'd left his phone in a shop and it had been nicked. Rang it up and left a load of abusive answerphone messages. Then a couple of days later something starts rattling inside the car. Turns out the phone was under the seat and the muppet had to listen to all his abusive messages to delete them off the phone :)

To be honest, the twat that threw the seat would be minus a few teeth if I'd have seen him. What with it hitting my 5 year old son and all.

That said, first time anything like that has happened to anyone I know. Well, there was the Rovers fans that once but I was safely in the Town End. But anyway the point is to tar all Swindon fans with the same brush is ludicrous.

Yeah, forgot all about that and am surprised that's the first time i've seen it mentioned. Saw us score and saw a seat back or base, fly up, hit the roof and they come flying back down.

Well that's slightly better than lobbing it into our own fans I suppose.

I assumed that was the same one, I saw that, but didn't realise it was a seat until a bloke came charging up the aisle with it looking for the people who threw it.

We must have our wires crossed, because that's what i saw. One of our own fans at Wycombe throw the seat into the air, which is what i presume hit your son?  :sherlock:

*BUMP* Looking at one of these myself now. So after a week or so, how are you finding it for daily usage Si? Esp interested as you've done a similar migration to that which I'd be doing (C902->HTC Desire in my case). Should I leave my SE comfort zone or wait a while, see what else comes out?

The phone is amazing compared to my old one and it's faster, despite it doing more. It will take time to set it all up, but once you have it's worth it. I'm sure any smartphone is the same. It's certainly no grind to get the best out of the phone, all I'm talking about is setting up online accounts (google/facebook) and email accounts.

Things I love:

Looks really smart, not too flashy either.
HTC sense (the skin for the Android system) looks great. You can set up 7 'home screens' (desktop type things) with widgets and shortcuts and it's easy to switch between them. Everything is as user friendly as you'd want/expect.
Android is great for customising - for instance I've added speech to text on mine (and a modified keyboard) just by installing a couple of application files. The original keyboard is still available to use as well, so it has not required any risky process which would lose factory defaults for good, or a risk of turning the phone into a brick. That's not to say you would need to tinker/install many things to get what you want from the phone, generally everything is ready to go.
The screen looks incredible when not in direct sunlight.
It's really quick.
You can find many free apps, most of them better than the paid ones.
Ability to sync everything online to google - this means you have an online backup of your contacts/calendar etc. without needing to ever plug your phone into your pc. You will need a google mail account for this and make sure you save contacts as the 'google' type in the phone. It can also sync to Outlook or equivalent but Google offers an integrated solution so again, keeping you from connecting the phone to the pc.
Synced facebook friends to my contacts.
Touch screen is really smooth and responsive.
The browser is really good.
Some flash video support.
Internet sharing which works first time over VPN - essential for when I'm out of the office but my Sony only worked when it wanted to in this regard.

Things I don't:

Currently can't save apps on the micro SD card without flashing your phone with a generic ROM and rooting it. There is an extremely strong indication this will be sorted in the next update, due announcement in the next few weeks.
Screen is hard to see in direct sunlight.
No bluetooth voice dialing - not a problem for me - when I'm driving I take calls but don't dial out. It works fine with a bluetooth hands free, you just can't voice dial from hands free. Indications this could be fixed soon but in the meantime the voice search button on the phone itself will do voice dialing.
Being a smartphone, battery life isn't so good. It takes a few charge cycles to get the battery working correctly and it appears to be improving. Wi-Fi browsing is the main battery killer - but if you're at home you're going to browse on the pc and not on the phone.

Does it make calls and can you text with it?

Fucking expensive toy really, isn't it?

Cheers Si. That's a really good run-down, very helpful.

It can also cut your hair. Well not yours, but generally.

That's deeply hurtful.

How did you do this? I got as far as downloading the voice data, realised that it still didn't work and promptly gave up.

im actually thinking of getting rid of my HD2 and getting a desire, I was warned about WinMo but chose not to listen, Its a superb phone but if only it ran android as opposed to WinMo.

http://nimbu.amorvi.com/2010/04/add-full-voice-to-text-to-htc-desire/

Ta

The HTC Evo 4G looks interesting. Basically a better HD2 but with Android.

So, not having used a 'smartphone' before and as I can upgrade my contract next week do I look at phones only with Android on them or are others equally as good, I'd probably use it for internet, email and the standard phone bits and maybe use the camera, battery life is key though as I have to charge my current mobile every few days and I don't use it that much

Any recomendations ?

My Desire arrived today! I wasn't in however... so my iPhone gets at least 24 hour stay of execution.

If you want decent battery life, don't get a smartphone.

Oh and a new android update should be out very soon, whether HTC port it over quickly is another matter mind.

Fixes the niggles I mentioned in my rundown and will be 2.5 times faster with no hardware changes.

Cool... are updates to Android generally easy to apply, or a bit more convoluted than the iPhone OS ones?

Over the air, it will even tell you when its available

I'm assumnig that benefits of the smartphone are that you can access email and browse the interest as and when you want to, what other benefits are there ?

No need for a separate MP3 player or Camera... everything i want or need is in one device, in my pocket.

You can do that on non-smartphones but if I compare my old non-smartphone to the Desire, the Desire works more like a mini-computer and the C905 was cumbersome and felt like a diet version. Internet browsing for example - on the C905 (non-smartphone) the pages were really stripped down, squashed and it was a chore to try and scroll the page around. On recent smartphones you can move the page around with your fingers, zoom into specific things or the entire page and it'll justify it within your screen size.


I find it pretty handy to be able to view my work planner on my phone, which is in the form of an excel document, but my phone can read office docs and pdfs. This also saves me updating my calendar for absolutely everything work related.

Speaking of which, as my calendar is synced to my google account it updates for changes automatically (both ways). With a mind to wanting world cup fixtures in there, I found a calendar to import into google by just entering a url into the 'add calendar via link/url/somethingorother' on my google calendar and it appeared. Saves me from messing about importing csv files into outlook/lotus notes as I have had to do so in the past.

Smartphones also have apps for stuff. Forgetting the usual stuff like Facebook and Twitter there are plenty to download and use. Most of them won't enrich your life, but it does make it easier. An ebay application is much easier than using the website for example, or I have an app which is a tv guide and I can set reminders at the click of a button to watch (if you have sky+ I think you can get ones to remotely set up something to record).

It's basically just an expensive geek toy (don't let iPhone users persuade you otherwise). But mobiles themselves were expensive geek toys 15 years ago. Now they're the norm and smartphones are rising in popularity now too.

Is there a Sky+ and eBay app on Android?

I must admit I use the internet periodically now mostly to check scores while I'm out of at HT and it is a pain navigating, Vodafone tell em on line I can upgrade next week - I thought it wasn't until about Sept / Oct, so I'll see what deal they wil ldone the one of the HTC's I think next week, they did phone me a few months ago and told me what a special customer I was and how they would look after me...standard bullshit  :) we shall soon see last time I got quite a few freebies and about 3 or 4 months free line rental for staying with them do all deals now come with unlimited internet browsing for internet and emails ?

How easy is it to get used to texting using the screen rather than a keypad as I do text a lot ?

Got my works HTC Desire last Friday what a peice of kit, I showed it to my mate who has had an Iphone for a while and the first thing he did was go straight on the tinternet to see how much they were.

How long typicaly do the battery's last if your not playing with it all day ?

The battery life is not too good but I have not done any research I am pretty sure if the Wifi and gprs/3G settings were correct then it would be a lot better. It seems to last about 2 days although any lengthy internet surfing or video playing drains it.

I've got an HTC touch + and the battery lasts about 4 days if you turn off the wireless and bluetooth etc. 36 hours with it all on.

I have to say, i've only had my Desire for about 12 hours, but it is brilliant... getting used to it still compared to the iPhone, but it's excellent. Facebook hasn't worked all day today, but i'm not overly bothered about that, as i'm sure it's just a glitch.

My facebook isn't working either but Friend Stream appears ok if you really need facebook access.

Search for Sky+ in the market, there are a few apps that apparently do it. I'll have a look on tinterweb at some point to see what the best one is.

There's not an official ebay app, but Pkt Auctions Ebay does a decent enough job.

Get yourself to http://androidforums.com/htc-desire/ for finding out some stuff, hints & tips thread stickied at the top is the best place to start.

Must admit I'm tempted by the Desire, getting a bit bored with my Pearl

Doubletwist is a must for any new Desire owners http://www.doubletwist.com/cure/ it is Itunes for android. Dragged an MP4 of last king of scotland into it and it synched it down converted it on the fly.

So what is the differences between the Legend & Desire other than size of the phone / screen ?

Desire has a faster processor and more RAM too I think

I'm thinking of the Legend as it is smaller and easier to fit in your pocket I reckon - depends what deal vodafone are prepared to do as I only want another £18 month deal and I'm not interested in paying anymore than £25 a month - but the HTC phones seem to be the phone to get, can't upgrade until next Weds so I will wait until then and see if I get offered a better deal by phoning them or going into the shop.....

The Legend is doing less with half the power, the smaller size doesn't compensate IMO. It's neither fish nor fowl. I'd recommend you try them out in store so you get an idea of how big they actually are, how easy they are to . You seem a little bit vague as to what you want tbh.

Oh, and you'll pretty much always get a better deal by ringing up and threatening to leave than you will going in the shop

To be fair I don't know what I want - but if I can get one of these type of phones then it will be new to me and probably be interesting finding out how to use it, what it does etc etc, would I use all it's features ? I really don't know but they do seem to be the way to go for the future so I see it as why not give it a go

I know this is dragging on but I'm, sorting this tonight so new phone the weekend....a question for those in the know with HTC's

The Desire is the powerful one with the larger screen etc I'm aware of that what are the main differences between the Desire and the Legend other than screen size, are the differences noticable once using it ?

Apparently, but I haven't used the Legend to confirm.

The Legend has that awful little 'chin' bit, some like it, others don't.

Cant honestly say about the difference between the 2 - but my son has a Desire, and I have to admit it's a bloody brilliant bit of kit !

I am a Blackberry boy myself - but using the Desire is just dead easy, it's quick and the amount of "apps" you can put on is phenomenal !

The "only" slight issue he has (and he uses it a lot - all day) is the battery does work its way down fairly quickly if you are using all the features.....

I'd have thought the twice as powerful processor would make a considerable difference given that, as Si says, it's essentially a mini portable computing device with phone capabilities rather than a phone with some twiddly bits. Assuming you're going to get tied into a 2 year contract like most people seem to be these days, what may not seem that much of a constraint now may become really frustrating over the next year or so. On that basis alone, I'd go for the Desire.

Spoke to vodafone and apparently there is a shorttage of the Desire from the manufacturers at the moment due to a component issue.....prepared to do me a good deal though when they get them in

I heard its because they are selling out due to demand!

They say they cap the internet usage at 0.5GB and you can't go over I'm assuming that is plenty ?

0.5gb makes me shudder

Thats what i've got on my phone and never gone over, always checking TEF, adver site, facebook and other things

Anyone on Android check our AppBrain

http://www.appbrain.com/

It's basically the apps market but on a pc. All you need to do is download the appbrain application to your phone through the market (browsing on your phone) and sign in with your google account on the website.

If you login on the website it makes it easier to browse the market, and can choose on the website what to install/uninstall. Then you just open the appbrain application in the phone and select sync with account and it automatically does the rest.

Took the kids to the fair last night and cracked the screen on my Blackberry Storm.

Can these be fixed easily enough or is there somewhere in Swindon i can get it fixed?

How are you finding the change from i phone to desire.

I was set on getting the i phone 4 but reading some of the posts on here is making me think twice.

I don't fancy spending forever getting used to a new smartphone as I just want to hit the ground running as use it mainly for e mail, internet, texts and calls.

the iphone 4 tarrifs are disgusting also

I thought they were ok. Unlimited texts on the same tariff for me when I already am paying extra for a bolt on and minutes and browsing are plenty too!

Have you thought about keeping your existing iPhone and switching to a simplicity plan?

No not really as the new one will only cost me 30 quid after I get cash back for my old one!

Plus, I like the idea of a brand new shiny phone hehe

When are you due to upgrade? Cos those cashback prices will fall, but sounds like an ok deal.

I can't speak from experience about switching from iPhone to Android but I would say it takes some time to set it up, but once you have it's all good. It's not that it's a particularly hard phone to setup, just that there is quite a bit you can customise, you'll be playing around with it in this respect.

As for SMS - if you want iPhone style sms there's an app for this.
Email - doddle, especially if you are on gmail or googlemail as Android is done by google.
Internet - Perfect. Multi-touch, pinch to zoom (or double click which I prefer) and auto-justifies the page you're browsing when zooming. Fast and most flash videos play e.g. those integrated into a bbc page.

I'd probably guess the things which would niggle an iPhone user are finding stuff on the apps market (but if you use appbrain it makes it 100 times easier) and possibly not syncing music to iTunes (you can use DoubleTwist to have easy iTunes-like syncing). You can find most apps for what you want to do for free.

It'd be interesting to hear Lucien's view. I would say an Android phone is more customisable, but may make it less 'pick up and play'. I'm not sure it betters the iPhone4 in terms of capabilities, or vice-versa, so if you're happy with the iPhone and it won't cost you any more then you may just as well stick to the iPhone.

Although you could recycle your old iPhone and keep the money if you went for a different phone I guess. Could be worth having a play with a Desire or similar if you can get your mitts on one.

An iPhone might be more expensive up front than an Android, but what about all the time you have to spend getting an Android up and running and working the way you want? I've got far better things to do than fuck around with a phone, I'd prefer to pay the extra for an iPhone and know I can just plug n play with full integration built in for iTunes and the app store.

It's the same reason why I'm happy to pay a premium for a Mac, it works the way you'd expect it to and you don't have to spend loads of time customising it, maintaining it or trying to figure out how to perform the most basic tasks.

You've misinterpreted what I meant. For example, there are 7 home screens on the Desire. I can set up all manner of widgets and shortcuts on each of these. I've ended up changing things around to my own requirements, but it's great because I don't have to learn to live with things being in specific places etc.

It took some time to link my contacts to their facebook accounts (you can do the same for flickr and twitter as well). You don't have to do these things to get the phone to function, these are things which the user can play around with if they wish to. It's not like I sat around for an entire week trying to get the thing to do anything.

Email is as simple as typing in your address and password, changing the download settings to what you want (push in my case) and then leaving it be. If I want to transfer music and video I'm not restricted to particular file formats and can even drag and drop as a normal disk drive.

I think the issue is, some people don't want to customise their device, they're happy to take it out of the box and leave it like that and if it has shortcomings they cannot change then they either don't notice them or learn to live with them. I could have got an iPhone and I would have been happy with it, it's a decent bit of kit - but like every single Apple product, it's overpriced and there are alternatives out there which can do similar things. That doesn't mean the alternatives are suitable for everyone though and it doesn't make the iPhone crap.

Read a good book.

Thanks Si - useful info.  Was due to upgrade last month but been waiting until more info was released for i phone 4 before deciding.

I think I'll stick with the iphone simply because I know how to use it and set it up myself (after much playing around anyway!). 

If I do see anyone with a desire though, I will look at it just in case!

You're free to take a gander at mine if you like, though when I don't know.

Despite how it may come across I'm not anti-Apple, just trying to save people a few quid if possible. It sounds like you can get a decent enough deal with the iPhone and like I said, the iPhone will suit some people more than another phone.

Good news, you can pre order a 4 32gb contract free direct from Apple for only £600

http://tinyurl.com/33fh6eu

i got a HTC desire 2 weeks ago, love it. i had a G1 previously, so i know my way around the
Android system, its a good piece of kit!

I'm jealous

Yeah Yeah.......Android - Apps - SMS - Blah Blah..................

Where the fuck can i get my Blackberry Fixed in Swindon?

A phone shop

You disappoint me.

Phones4U
Carphone Warehouse
Swindon Phone Fix

That's if you're being serious, I can't remember if you got it fixed or not.

Woohoo finally getting my Desire this week after a big bust up with Vodafone...and getting the tarrif I want as well - I'm sure I'll be on here for advice etc when I get it on the best things to download etc etc

Got a quote today off phonestyles for £75 to fix...

going to have to get it done tomorrow.


Where is this Phone Fix place??

Commercial Road.

Have you spoken to your service provider to see what they can do ?

Huge queues this morning outside the 3 main mobile phone stores (O2 / Vodafone / Carphone Warehouse) I see a notice on one of the windows that the I Phone 4 was released at 0830, but it just shocked me that there was that many people that either had the money to purchase it or that needs to upgrade, the biggest queue was outside O2 that stretched all the way round the corner up to the the enterance to the Brunel.

Orange were hopeless.

Got it fixed at Fonestyles, they did it in an hour and charged me handsomely for it!

Very Good.

Probably because you didn't have Orange Care

Indeed.

Anyone use a mobile under £200

I did for a bit, a Xiaomi. it was ok but apps were being shut a bit aggressively in the background despite trying to turn off battery optimisation. suspect it was the MIUI OS wrapper

it's a backup phone now. switched to a second hand oppo find X5 and it's a lot less frustrating (but 2.5x the cost)

Cheers Batch, where did you buy the second hand oppo ebay etc

eBay. nearly backfired as I've of the SIM slots was blacklisted. Thought I'd bought one that somebody owed money on.

was claimed to be a "mistake on operators part "

Thought it was going to get part paid, unlocked, then happen again.  but touch wood it's been several months and all good

although you have done level of protection from eBay/PayPal is made me think for next time.
-----
anyway I'm not really up on value sub 200 phones..

Cheers, I'm not that interested in the latest iPhones etc so will just have to keep looking

Samsung A23 Jimbo, would probably serve you well.  Decent camera, mid level type of smartphone without any added bullshit and probably matches several iPhones that are poss a generation or two ahead of it.

Oh and these so called lower spec type of phones do tend to come with more in the box as well {flagship Samsung/Google/Apple models come with just the device and charging cable}.

I think the A23 is priced at about 150 GBP, so also plenty of change for a Snickers too  :D :pint:

https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=11373&idPhone2=9848

Cheers Kev :pint:

Not quite under £200 but this is a cracking deal

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/google-pixel-6a-one-month-6gb-data-sim-contract-clubcard-price-tesco-4169362

I'll take a look even better if it's a one month contract
Cheers

Yep, it's a sim only phone with a 1 month sim deal that you can cancel straight away.

I just got a new phone, new to me, got a refurbished deal on a Samsung S23 Ultra for £200 from Giffgaff. Seems to be very good so far with a brilliant camera and 128gb storage and 5g etc.

oooh. Looking for a good camera phone for youngest.

Is that a 12 month contract or just 1 month credit

No contract just PAYG.

That's a heck of a deal JJ. I can't see anything on the Giff Gaff site that comes close to what you've got.

It was a sale about 2 weeks ago and being a Giffgaff customer I get priority deals, they come up often but change and sell out quite fast.

Fair play that was a real bargain what you purchased. The phone that you've got is now coming up as £529

Shit thats a lot more than I paid for my refurbished one from them, I know it was s ale I didnt realise that was the normal price.

Are you sure it's an S23 Ultra? They're over a grand brand new

Yes mate, it was a flash sale on Giffgaff me and the wife both got one I checked and it was £215 each on a refurb, it just seemed the best deal for the cost at the time.

Do you remember what condition they were classed as, good, very good or like new🤔

No idea we picked the cheapest and there is absolutely no marks on them at all came with usb charging lead but not plug, thats all i remember.

Still a great deal  :pint:

The new ones don't come with a plug which is ridiculous given the price

I'm not sure if it's just a Samsung thing that that they've stoppi giving plugs with new mobiles.

Contract coming to an end very soon.
Anyone got any experience of Google Pixel 8? On paper seems ideal, great value but is it cheap for a reason.
Many thanks

I've got a pixel 6a - great phone

Thanks.
Was looking at Xiaomi very well loaded phones but read some horror stories about unsafe personal data and online payments.
Will probably go for it (pixel8) as its a great price and has a decent spec

plus you're first to get android updates and it doesn't go out of support for years and years

Not only that, though that's the most serious.

I had a complete pain with some apps and notification. I think the OS wrapper was killing background tasks in the name of battery saving (and yes I turned off all battery optimiser settings I could find).

Oh right, even better.
More pros than cons then with a Google phone
Many thanks

Think those issues have been solved with the new OS and confirmed update support. In the European Market Xiaomi has effectively replaced Huawei - their latest phones are using the Sony Vario Lens at 1.4f stops - the very same lens system my Huawei P30 Pro uses. Only thing that lets my P30 down now is the video but the camera and the phone overall is still very good - 5yrs after its launch.

Very surprising in a modern era to still see a phone competing with new flagships AND still receiving updates. The only issue I had for a short while was the camera going all spasmodic but that has been resolved after an update but yeah, 5yrs in and I'll actually be quite sad when it stops getting any updates and it slowly depractes.

If I were to get a new phone at present, I would opt for either a Google Pixel 7 Pro, Oppo Find X5 Pro {the X3 Pro is also very good} or the Xiaomi 14 Pro 5G

The only thing that lets my p30 pro down is the bloody bottom microphone is broken. Was a good phone but it is a common fault with the flex cable/main board connector.

Can only go with my own experience, Xiaomi were miles off Huawei.

Oh that's weird, I've not had that. Like I say just an issue with the camera app in one update.

Don't get me wrong Xiaomi were indeed miles off them but with Huawei all but gone from the UK/European/US Market, I think Xiaomi have replaced them. It would not surprise me if Huawei are working with them, especially when it comes to some of the hardware {either that or Xiaomi have taken over those deals} like Leica and Sony Vario Lens, which Xiaomi didn't use to have I believe. And the new OS is supposedly much better than the old one.

If Huawei were still bashing out P{ins number + Pro} models in the UK market and it had all the Google support then I would probably just get a P60 Pro.

The OnePlus 12 Pro is decent too, and similarly like Oppo has a similar Hasselblad lens system - not too shabby but the 12 is rather pricey at present.

No mention of Apple or Samsung too expensive maybe🤔

There will be Apple and Samsung folk in here but notoriously, despite being absolute fantastic marketeers and brand loyalty forcing whores, their flagships don't tend to match up to other phones that are even a couple of generations behind them.

I found it quite funny the other day when someone stated they were buying an Apple iPhone 15 Pro with 128gb Memory and 8gb RAM, for the princely sum of c£850...

But 30s of google action and you can pick up an Oppo Find X5 Pro with 256gb Memory and  12gb RAM, for c£400.

That's just one example of course and for some, they won't see beyond brand loyalty and ''what they know'', which is fine but for many they don't realise that a ''new'' model doesn't necessarily mean better. It's something though that Apple {to their credit} have managed to convince many of their customers of for a while, whilst also ditching anything relating to interoperability - something Apple actually based it's own foundations upon years ago

Source:
The iPhone 15 launched just six months ago {Sept 2023}
The Find X5 Pro launched in March 2022

https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=11236&idPhone2=12557

I currently have the X5 standard. It's great except for the battery. Probably cooked it with too much "supervooc" charging.

Never really considered Oppo before. Good company.