Be Excellent To Each Other

Hello.

I've had my current phone for about 16 months, so the Carphone Warehouse (O2 division) are offering me a new one, and a different contract.

The contract drops from 35 quid to 25 quid per month, which is nice. The phone they are offering me though is a new version of the one I got 16 months ago, the Sony Ericsson k800i. So, I'm upgrading from one phone to... the same phone? Have phones other than the iPhone really not got at all better in the last 18 months? Not a new model released at all by Sony etc?

That seems odd, and I feel like I'm being potentially ripped off (they've ripped me off big-time before).

So, ummm, OTHER THAN THE IPHONE, do people recommend certain phones/tarrifs at all?

My K800i is really old now, so I was looking for a possible upgrade. But after checking what's important to me (must have Flash for camera, must go a few days between charges, must not cost hundreds of pounds, must not have too stupid a keypad) it turned out that the best phone for me was the K810i, because it's basically a K800i with a better camera shutter cover thing.

So I decided it wasn't worth lots of money or locking myself into a contract just for a different cover for the camera lens and have kept my K800i.

I've never really been a fan of flashy phones. I always try to go for something simple. I wouldn't buy anything with an idea to use it as a camera - I'd always recommend having a separate camera for taking pictures with. The best possible camera on the phone is only equal to the crappiest dedicated camera. use a phone for phoning people and a camera for taking pictures.

Also, if you get a snazzy new phone and play loud tinny hip hop a foot away from my head when I am on the 182 bus I may be liable to stab you to death with a carrot.

you may/or may not be intrested in hearing contracts at vodafone that are on a £25 and over scheme get free internet now, used to be 7 quid a month.

It depends what you're after really, I really like my XDA Orbit that I got from O2, mainly for it's built in GPS receiver. It's great for hiking and also has Tom Tom on it for in the car. It also works ok as a phone, the camera's crap though.

True, but having the decent picture taking ability of a K800i on me all the time has been excellent. Paid £70 for it PAYG on orange, decent phone with 3.2 camera & proper flash, perfect for me.

Well, the k800i isn't too bad for camera-stylings. It's probably the best I've seen on a phone. At least one of the entries in the current photo competition was taken with it!



Hopefully the new one will allow me to send/receive photo messages, as my current one never seemed to work.

I might also call them back and demand more shiny things. I've noticed that new customers can get the exact same phone with more minutes and more texts for 20 quid a month.

Harumph!

If you like sliders, I've never owned a better phone than the Samsung D900i.

I want a decent camera on my phone because my phone goes with me everywhere. I've got a digital camera that's pretty good which I got at the same time as my K800i, but it doesn't sit in my jeans pocket all day, every day. I've taken about fifty photos with the camera, whereas I've taken about six hundred with my phone.

Craster. Yesterday.

I'd quite like an N95 8Gb, but a friend of mine who usually knows his stuff keeps telling me that they're buggy and rubbish. Is he right?

ah, see, I am much more likely to have my camera about my person than my phone, but maybe that is not the norm.

. Mmmm... I kind of see what you mean, but disagree. If you were buying a camera and a phone I'd say to save the money on buying a phone with a not-so-god camera and put it towards the camera, but then I hardly use my phone, when I know where it is, but that's just my opinion.

It depends wildly with what you want, of course. I only do gadget phones myself. The N95 should certainly be on your list, as should the N82 (very similar spec, but is a candybar and not a slider, and has a flash on the camera). The K850i is reputed to be excellent but I hate the keypad.

I've had a Windows Mobile phone for nearly two years now (A HTC TyTN, which is sold under many names) and wouldn't recommend it. WinMob is pretty awful, even though the spec of the phone is mammoth overall I haven't been that happy with it. It's the epitome of the phone that does everything imaginable very badly indeed. I'll be getting an iPhone 3G next month when they launch.

Best advice I can give is to go to a phone shop and try some out.

Oh yes, I was forgetting that this was the forum where 9 out of ten users prefer an iPhone

Actually those iPhones look nice, even to me, but I'd just never get any real use out of it, I think.

Gesundteit.

Danke schoen.

No - it's a great phone. It's got everything that every other phone on the market has (minus a touchscreen and a QWERTY keyboard).
If you need a phone that can do everything - there it is.

Does it have a built-in proper GPS receiver (not assisted GPS or something)?

I am not sure of the difference? It tells you how many satellites it is connected to, if that answers your question.

I just did a search and it appears to have a proper GPS receiver (some also use cell phone towers to help work out your position which obviously isn't a lot of use in some places) but it's positioned at the bottom of the unit and so doesn't always work that well.

Ah, splendid - I shall order one today. Cheers, Grim....

The camera is good, too.

I got a Viewty a few months back and it's lovely. Everything works beautifully and the camera is seriously funky. The only thing it's not so good for is the internet - the touch screen doesn't lend itself to browsing at all.

I have loved my Sony W810i for the last year but really wanted to give it to my Dad as I knew he'd adore the thing, it is the perfect spec for him and he needs that size/shape really as his motor skills are compromised, so I tried all the latest and best Sonys and couldn't find anything too top that one, with the latest 5mpx cameraphone being a horrid plasicky shitpiece I returned after an evening of swearing. I so wanted to love it, too.

Then on my O2 £26pcm contract I got a 'normal' N95 on a free upgrade, where I'd have to have paid about £125 for the 8GB revision. Mini Review:

Size/Weight: Comparable favourably to any phone capable of same/similar functionality.

Appearance: I prefer the silver one I've got. Spec and performance wise the 8GB is akin to a 360 Elite in terms of what it does. i.e. it comes with more storage than you'll ever need, and is black. You can get new firmware onto a silver N95 and then it'll 'rock' 8gb microSD cards, if you absolutely have to have five seasons of South Park on there in Realplayer Format, along with every photo you ever took.

Charge: Holds it well

Phone performance, sound quality: Fairly average sound, but it does the job. What more do you really need, unless you are a girl and have calls which last over thirty seconds? Reception is decent and typical of anything on O2.

Build Quality: Excellent, sturdy, very useable keypad and nav buttons, the two-way slider makes it fairly versatile and the only downside is that while the slider is very tactile and lovely, a slight vertical jiggle sets in when in the middle (closed) position, although it is barely noticeable unless you look for it. The camera hardware is well protected on the silverN95 and the side buttons and Card slot are as good as any phone I've used, and the sort of weird metallic dark purple back is vaguely rubbery to the touch, in a sleek, grippy, posh sense.

Screen: Yum. Apparently a tiny amount smaller yet higher res than the 8GBmodel. The 8GB has no raised edge to trap gunk (not a major biggie) in its favour, mind you.

Camera: Neck and neck with the Sonys on quality and with a better user interface than the K850i monstrosity, thi is my main camera. The shit-hot video which outputs at mega high res is an uncelebrated massive win here, too. Just don't wave it around when filming and things are lovely.

Connectivity: MiniUSB, IR, Bluetooth, All yer mobile data networks, Wifi (which in a head to head race against my £400 Acer laptop running Vista is faster to see/connect and easier to configure/save profiles on 100% of the time). I've not installed the Nokia software and never would, but drag/drop usb is dreamily simple and tends to make me think of my phone as an extension of my pcs rather than a competing device as it is so easy and quick.

GPS: Right, in default, this streams the latest maps for where you are from your data connection. This CAN be wifi, but will likely be GPRS or 3G or summat. You can't afford it, trust me. Half an hour googling got me the full UK and Europe maps downloaded for free (which they are technically) and just save those to your card. To use the GPS you need the keypad showing (it's under there) and a direct line of sight to the sky. Then it will either try to triangulate and get latest sat positions over your data connection (you can turn this off if you like) or it can take an extra 2-3 minutes at least, and do it just scanning the sky for sattelites. This is the cheapest (effectively free) way to do it and is fine if you are lost or not in a rush and want an interactive map of your surroundings in 2/3D and are perhaps willing to pay a quid to find out where all the best brothels and curry houses are within a mile of you. Or how to get down the mountain. Not going to replace your TomTom (I bought both in a week and regret neither) but certainly nice to have if you are sensible with how you use it. A win feature. I bookmark every place I go where I might get some traction kiting done, or evena spot of stunt flying. I can bookmark these location before leaving (a car park is usually best) and find my nearest one if I see the wind is right. Also, voice direction are subscription or pay or something, I haven't ben arsed with them. I've my TomTom for the car.

Media functionality: There's a 'simple' spinny wheel of icons interface or a normal symbian menu or a file manager. Also atypical mp3 player menu system. Interface can slow a tad occasionally. Use it at a steady pace and it should keep pace with you, just don't expect to sprint many places and configure shortcuts to you liking for maximum useability. Firstly, this comes with cable which leads from your 3.5mm headphone jack to a composite yellow with phono white and red jack set. Straight into your telly with excellent results for 'showing people without getting it all done up nicely on the pc'. Home from kiting on the beach and want to check the pics over a smoke? Crack on, sunshine. Sadly, the multifunction 3.5 on the unit suffers with Audio playback. Reproduction is decent for a phone, comparable to Walkman standards, save for the background hum and hiss, which is utterly unacceptable. It is unnoticeable until about 60% volume, then it is unavoidable. I circumvent this by using the supplied lead only as far as the little broach of controls that come with these sorts of phone, which is itself a little flimsy (so, light then, which is what you want in such things) and does the job fine. I then plug into that my Sennheiser earphones which have an analogue volume control and work the two volume controls until I get a decent loudness with little or no residual hiss. This gets the job done but no decent cleanliness in the audio form boxed peripherals is a fucking disgrace and I've told one of the inventors this to their face. I was fairly pissed on champers at the time though. But the media player is great interface wise and you can slid out a little control keypad for it as well, which is unnecessary but nice. Not sure about the 8GB one, I don't recall liking it as much, but the media keys on the silver are 'ZX81' style and seem fairly hardy considering. You shan't be using them much, anyhow.

Video comes from Realplayer, which on a fixed platform isn't the system hog mess it is on Windows. Perfectly good for our purposes. Normal phone video and realmedia are the filetypes, I think. There's a podcast client on there but I don't understand podcasts. It'll do the media linky thing like my 360 and my pcs do over wifi. I've been known to use the inbuilt speakers when doing something quietly by myself, at medium volumes it is as good as one could hope it to be which is 'good enough'.

Then there's Lifeblog, which chronologically showreels you all your photos, videos, texts, picture messages, etc... and can be linked to your proper blogger/wordpress/whatever. Just tag the things you want uploading and hit 'go', adding text if you like. Prefect for travvel blogging. Have a day's fun, lurk outside a wifi cafe for two minues and your mates at home can roll their eyes at more middle class tales of Thai culture.

Games: Not bothered, downloaded Snake from nokia, it looks like tron nowadays. Apparently, the N95 is an N-Gage but honestly who is ever going to play on one of these when the DS exists?

Phone Stuff: Your SMS stuf is great, the keyboard is text friendly by modern standards.

Browser: Fairly snazzy, seems to give me a little zoomed in and out P-I-P choice when I need it and lose it as soon as it is unnecessary, which is nice. Not streamed youtube or owt as yet, fine for forums, bbc, etc. I use seperate GMail app and would recommend you do too. Only downside over Opera mini is no online caching/refrmatting for mobiles of page content, which drives down the data charges if you use Opera instead. I've not done so yet on this phone, mind, so the native browser must be good enough for my occasional use. A great 'always with you' wifi web device in such a common phone is surprising. I like it.

And so yeah get one, they rule. I keep mine in one of these: http://products.lowepro.com/catalog/Leather,27.htm because it can't easily be pulled off the belt, the flap is held by a really very decent magnet and I don;t like having clear pvc and faux leather all over my slider phone, trapping frim underneath and stopping me pressing things properly, which is the best any other case can offer. Whichever one in Comet is the right size, get it. I think I paid about £18 and my N95 is in pristine condition and there's been not a single 'accident' with the magnet in the three or so months I've had it.

Lastly, these are my Sennheisers. Great for sports, no trailing wires, secure yet removeable in an emergency, no hanging buds and a great volume control... http://www.sennheiser.co.uk/uk/icm.nsf/root/500495

/edit Bargain Alert: http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electro ... Headphones

Ooh, why not? I think it's great, personally. You can write your SMSs on the PC and smack 'send', new messages appear on your screen automatically, you can just drag and drop files onto the interface and it will place them on your phone (in the right place, too - so videos go to your gallery and mp3s to your music folder, etc.), and, of course, you can back it up.
All of this without ever taking the phone out of your bag, as it connects over bluetooth.

*digs up thread*

Hello. O2 can more or less fuck off, as far as I'm concerned, now.

I'm currently looking at T-Mobile and Three as potential providers of phone, text, and mobile internet (on my phone)...

Can anyone recommend/warn me off either of them, or wave a hitherto unconsidered other provider at me for such things? I don't really want to pay much over £30 per month nor per-megabyte costs for internet downloads. Ta!

O2 have pissed me off so much I'm considering an N95. If there was a 12 month free line rental deal on HUKD right now I'd probably have ordered it already.

3 have always been good to me. Can't really vouch for their 3g "Stuff" but they're usually the cheapest and the few times I've needed CS a human has answered almost instantly.

People please stop saying o2 can fuck off. I'm planning on getting an iPhone off them this week, and I don't want horror stories!

No more!

Mrs C had an O2 phone through work which seemed to be all perfect and lovely.

Just checking - one of the new ones with 3G, yes?

Yes indeed. 30 squid contract

Make sure you get it insured. *returns to kicking can disconsolately down road*

Heh, will do. Especially as I'm moving into another area. One that's a lot nearer to Chapeltown.

And I'm not talking Sheffield.*

* Actually I'd take out double insurance if I was moving to Sheffield. Rocket! Yeah!

I've been an O₂ customer for four years and had no problems at all.

I've been with O2 for seven years (well, BT Genie then O2) and they've always been fine with me. Having a bit of trouble getting the phone I want at the price I want (N95 8GB for £20-25 per month instead of £35) but otherwise fine.

O2 has been fantastic in terms of coverage and working. Not so good in charging me the right amounts of money and sending the bills to my correct address.

that might be the malign influence of The Carphone Warehouse though.

Yeah I think if you got it through them then they are managing it. At least that's what I gathered when I tried to phone O2 about something this morning. The other good thing about being an O2 customer is that you can get their excellent broadband for really cheap.

*pours some sugar on him*

I've been with O2 for five years and while the service itself is reasonably good (the tariffs aren't as good), the customer service from both them and Cuntphone Whorehouse certainly is not.

The one thing I remember from the incredibly tedious meetings I just endured was that 68% of the time, people give up on companies because of poor customer service. So there.

I'm actually moving to Chapel Allerton, which is infinitely nicer. But still uncomfortably close to Chapeltown.

I'm going to go to the Three store today and have a poke around at their ("phones" -Ed.)

While I still like the design of the Viewty (stop sniggering, 'wood) I would probably regret not getting a phone with GPS and so the N95 or N95 8Gb have tempted me.

Any thoughts on these? Or should I be waiting until August for the N96 (or... will it have an even more rubbish start than the N95 AAAAAND cost a small fortune?) or getting sometime else altogether?

Rich, think we should have another 'Dreamcast' moment and both go out and get N95s in close succession and then send a flurry of emails back and forth about what we're doing with them? Hell, fancy a late lunch and going out to get 'em today?

I usually chime in with "Good! if customers never moved around, the market would stagnate and we'd never have any growth".

Early rumblings are that the N96 is going to be incredibly expensive. I wonder if you could get a really good deal if you shop hard for the original N95 -- like, a 12 month contract, maybe with some cashback. I think the original is still a fine choice on the newer firmwares.

Two things. Firstly, Thursday is our Burger Day in work, so I'm not around for lunch I'm afraid. Secondly, O2 sent me a confirmation email last night for a JesusPhone, but with no information about ship dates. So I have no idea what is going on now.

I need to decide whether I want an N95 (so I have removable microSD) or N95 8Gb. There's only a few quid's difference per month with Three. It seems a better deal to go with Three for the 8Gb, or T-Mobile for the normal one.

So, you are getting an iPhone after all now? Very odd - not to mention the incredibly uneven customer service from O2 if it's true.

I think I saw the N96 as being something like $800.