Be Excellent To Each Other :: View topic

throughsilver wrote:

Tell me about it. I'm a bit of a phone dummy, and just checked out the N95. Looks very nice indeed, but best part of 500 quid? Am I crazy, or is that a lot of money?

That's an off-network no-contract price though. No-one with any sense buys phones like that, so there is no reason for them to be priced sensibly. N95 8Gbs are free now on 18 month contracts.

My iPhone is being used with my work's Orange SIM, but I've also successfully used it with my personal O2 SIM.

The fact that iPlayer works on it properly, unlike on my desktop is icing on the cake.

kalmar wrote:

The fact that iPlayer works on it properly, unlike on my desktop is icing on the cake.

Do I have to do something to make that happen?
If I try and play something (the latest episode of the Apprentice, for instance) I get an error.

kalmar wrote:

The fact that iPlayer works on it properly, unlike on my desktop is icing on the cake.

Do I have to do something to make that happen?
If I try and play something (the latest episode of the Apprentice, for instance) I get an error.

Is activating and unlocking the iphone as easy as simply downloading iLiberty and running it?

Are there any extra things I need to do/obtain?

Do you work in London?
If you do meet me at lunchtime with a handful of cash, and I'll buy it for you.

Grim... wrote:

Do you work in London?
If you do meet me at lunchtime with a handful of cash, and I'll buy it for you.

Watch out - CW keep a record of who buys the phones and there's a limit. The blokes in my shop said one each, but I actually think it's 5 or something like that. You'd find out anyway.

Someone said you can't buy them with cash, somewhere. I think it was uk.rec.motorcycles.

#eadf802aed9b4f7a">http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.rec ... 2aed9b4f7a

Thinking about it, are they allowed to refuse cash?

They say they need the card to do a credit check.

kalmar wrote:

They say they need the card to do a credit check.

Well, I watched the whole process at the Carphone Warehouse, and they didn't do anything like that.
Just used to card to make me pay with.

Thinking about it, there's no way they could do a credit check using a card.

Grim... wrote:

Quote:

Thinking about it, there's no way they could do a credit check using a card.

I dunno, that's what they said it was for. Maybe it's just to check your ID then.

The other little thing I've noticed is that unlocked iPhones are still going on eBay for around £250.
Hmm...

Anything else spouted by a CPW or O2 staff member is either uninformed bullshit or informed bullshit to cover up explaining that unlocking the iPhone is trivially easy.

Grim... wrote:

The other little thing I've noticed is that unlocked iPhones are still going on eBay for around £250.
Hmm...

Not for long, I'll wager.

richardgaywood wrote:

Grim... wrote:

The other little thing I've noticed is that unlocked iPhones are still going on eBay for around £250.
Hmm...

Not for long, I'll wager.

They were going for about £380 at the time I bought mine.

I believe they are definitely keeping track of how many you buy though, and the easiest way to do that is with a card.

Can I update these phone in iTunes?
NO! They are already running the very latest version of software (1.1.4) and shouldn't need updating ever again! They already have a full UK keyboard set, installer, iTunes music store and so much more! Please do not update your phone in iTunes! Just tick the option to never install updates again.

I've just been to Carphone Warehouse.

3.5 minutes later, came out with an iPhone. Only had to give them my name and address, and pay the £169 on my credit card.

Now, 15 minutes later, after running iLiberty+ I have a fully unlocked iPhone running on Orange PAYG. Lovely.

If I'm already on an O₂ contract, can I simply bung in my SIM card? I'm very tempted by this.

I'm paid on Tuesday and I really want one of these and

OH! OH!

Is this where y'all use those one-use disposable debit card thingies?

Edit - oops, sorry Richard.

Yes, after all, it only nearly bricked your colleagues iPhone once...

Author:	throughsilver [ Thu Apr 17, 2008 23:16 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
richardgaywood wrote: throughsilver wrote: Tell me about it. I'm a bit of a phone dummy, and just checked out the N95. Looks very nice indeed, but best part of 500 quid? Am I crazy, or is that a lot of money? That's an off-network no-contract price though. No-one with any sense buys phones like that, so there is no reason for them to be priced sensibly. N95 8Gbs are free now on 18 month contracts. Oh cool. My experience of phones is I got given one (well, two now) and pay a tenner every few months. But getting that thing w/o paying half a grand doesn't sound half bad. I learn things here!

Author:	Doctor Glyndwr [ Thu Apr 17, 2008 23:20 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
Yeah, I'd neglected to mention the bootleg MMS clients. There is no fix for the A2DP though. None of these things are deal breakers, I can use corded headphones, keep my old phone for GPS, etc. But the new model, in addition to 3G, is likely to have twice the flash capcity in it too it seems (there are leaked ads for a 32Gb iPhone floating around). We'll know in a few weeks. And thoughtsilver, it's likely only free on a £35 a month contract and up. 35 * 18 = £630, so not a trivial commitment.

Author:	CUS [ Thu Apr 17, 2008 23:41 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
I fully expect there to be a new model out soon, because yeah, that's what Apple do. Of course, it'll be full whack when it does come out. Still, I need a new phone, as PAYG, and I was thinking of getting one more 'fancy' than usual. It not being 3G doesn't bother me in the least. So hoorah and stuff. Unfortunately, my phone is being delivered to my parents's address (on Friday), and I had a mail an hour ago to essentially say "Don't forget we're going out all day Friday, so if you want us then you'll have to leave an answerphone message." Oh fucknuts.

Author:	Grim... [ Thu Apr 17, 2008 23:41 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
No bluetooth worth a damn either, which is irritating. [edit]No copy/paste? WTF?

Author:	Nik [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:36 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
This is probably a stupid question, but when you unlock an iphone, is that just so you can use another network's sim card in it? If you wanted to use an existing (under contract, but obviously from a different phone) O2 sim card in an iphone, would it still need unlocking? Sorry, I did say it was a stupid question.

Be Excellent To Each Other https://www.beexcellenttoeachother.com/forum/

The iPhone thread https://www.beexcellenttoeachother.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=411	Page 2 of 117

Author:	Grim... [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:51 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
Zio wrote: My iPhone is being used with my work's Orange SIM, but I've also successfully used it with my personal O2 SIM. Yup. GRIM...'S OPINION OF THE IPHONE. It's very girly. I don't mean that it's suited more for girls, I mean that it's rather like a very pretty secretary. She gets the stuff done and she's organised, but she'll only ever be a secretary. There's potential for so much more there, but currently all she does is handle your emails and calls and such. And, if you're honest with yourself, you employed her more for her looks than her skill. It's an average phone with a killer UI, some good apps (email is very nice, for instance), some crippling problems (no copy/paste, bluetooth that only hooks up to headsets, no MMS, rubbish camera for a phone that slick) and a surprise or two (I found the 'iPod' section of it very clunky, for instance). If I had to choose a phone to impress other people with, the iPhone would be it. If I had to choose a phone for using as a phone (stroke office suite thing stroke email reader stroke etc), I'd chose an N95. Is it worth £169? I'm not sure. One thing I am sure of - it's so close to being great that it hurts.

Author:	Grim... [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:53 ]
Post subject:	Re: Bits and Bobs
kalmar wrote: The fact that iPlayer works on it properly, unlike on my desktop is icing on the cake. Do I have to do something to make that happen? If I try and play something (the latest episode of the Apprentice, for instance) I get an error.

Author:	Nik [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 2:10 ]
Post subject:	Re: Bits and Bobs
Grim... wrote: kalmar wrote: The fact that iPlayer works on it properly, unlike on my desktop is icing on the cake. Do I have to do something to make that happen? If I try and play something (the latest episode of the Apprentice, for instance) I get an error. Are you connecting via wifi, or EDGE?

Author:	Grim... [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 2:14 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
Wifi.

Author:	Nik [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 2:30 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
Well that fucks my theory then, sorry. Does Quicktime work otherwise? (And can Quicktime on the iphone be updated?)

Author:	Grim... [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:37 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
Where do I find that?

Author:	kalmar [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 9:48 ]
Post subject:	Re: Bits and Bobs
Grim... wrote: kalmar wrote: The fact that iPlayer works on it properly, unlike on my desktop is icing on the cake. Do I have to do something to make that happen? If I try and play something (the latest episode of the Apprentice, for instance) I get an error. Hmmph, that should "just work". Seems that it doesn't for some people though, it may be due to the unlocking method. I'd suggest restoring it and re-unlocking it but maybe wait a while in case it's something else.

Author:	Grim... [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 9:50 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
I'd say the wife can officially live without it I can't get the swirlyMMS thing to find any pictures either, but never mind. I'll get there.

Author:	CUS [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:00 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
Hoorah, Carphone Warehouse have mailed me to say there's a problem with my order (which doesn't surprise me as I have tedious postcode issues due to infuriatingly life-complicating rezoning). So, I'll not be getting one... yet. I shall be keeping a close eye on Grim... and that wonderful tool he has in his palm.

Author:	Sir Taxalot [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:46 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
Is activating and unlocking the iphone as easy as simply downloading iLiberty and running it? Are there any extra things I need to do/obtain? I can read through the forums at hackintosh and all that and work it out, but if someone has already sucessfully down it then i would really appreciate the distilled and condensed knowledge. Ta muchly, chums!

Author:	kalmar [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:53 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
Sir Taxalot wrote: Is activating and unlocking the iphone as easy as simply downloading iLiberty and running it? Are there any extra things I need to do/obtain? Give it a charge up (half an hour at least) with the plug-top charger first. Also, you should to deactivate the "itunes helper" app which runs (on the mac at least) and close itunes before connecting the iphone to the computer with the USB cable for the first time. Then, yeah, just run it. I don't know what options iLiberty gives you but with iPLus, you just specified -u to do the unlock as well as the activate and jailbreak. HTH! CUS: go to a shop. Join usss.

Author:	CUS [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:05 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
Can't go to a shop - fucking Lloyds were supposed to send me a new PIN but they or the fucking Royal Mail have fucking fucked it up. This is the same reason why I was asking about Online Shopping...

Author:	Grim... [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:06 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
Do you work in London? If you do meet me at lunchtime with a handful of cash, and I'll buy it for you.

Author:	kalmar [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:12 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
Grim... wrote: Do you work in London? If you do meet me at lunchtime with a handful of cash, and I'll buy it for you. Watch out - CW keep a record of who buys the phones and there's a limit. The blokes in my shop said one each, but I actually think it's 5 or something like that. You'd find out anyway.

Author:	Sir Taxalot [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 13:03 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
Cheers Kalmar, I'll give it a try tonight (picked up the phone yesterday, but too busy to try). Small print at the bottom of the ads all over the free london papers said maximum 2 per customer. Wonder how they check (if they do) - if it's by card number or by name on the card or what....

Author:	MaliA [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 13:04 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
kalmar wrote: Grim... wrote: Do you work in London? If you do meet me at lunchtime with a handful of cash, and I'll buy it for you. Watch out - CW keep a record of who buys the phones and there's a limit. The blokes in my shop said one each, but I actually think it's 5 or something like that. You'd find out anyway. Someone said you can't buy them with cash, somewhere. I think it was uk.rec.motorcycles. #eadf802aed9b4f7a">http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.rec ... 2aed9b4f7a

Author:	Grim... [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 13:06 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
You can't.

Author:	Sir Taxalot [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 13:07 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
MaliA wrote: Someone said you can't buy them with cash, somewhere. I think it was uk.rec.motorcycles. #eadf802aed9b4f7a">http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.rec ... 2aed9b4f7a This is true, or at least it was in the o2 shop I went in. They refused to sell to the guy in front of me who had only cash. I asked the guy behind the till why they wouldn't ake cash, but he didn't give a reason - just "no cash, card only. Not solo or electron cards either".

Author:	Grim... [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 13:14 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
Thinking about it, are they allowed to refuse cash?

Author:	kalmar [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 13:31 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
They say they need the card to do a credit check. They won't let you buy the phone otherwise (to make sure you can afford the contract, presumably). I'm sure you could pay by cash if you also gave them a card to do the check on, but they do a pre-auth to make sure it's your card, so you need to know the PIN. It does sound a bit fishy to be honest, and I don't think they do the check on the spot so I don't know what happens if you fail the check subsequently. I guess you end up with a phone you can't activate and bring it back within the 7 days for a refund. And yeah, they're wanting to limit the number per customer, which is probably based on the billing address of your card. I don't think they could insist on it for that reason alone though.

Author:	AceAceBaby [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 13:48 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
Grim... wrote: Thinking about it, are they allowed to refuse cash? No store is required to serve you, for any reason they like* I think. *that doesn't get them into hot cakes with rights groups/laws.

Author:	Grim... [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 13:51 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
kalmar wrote: They say they need the card to do a credit check. Well, I watched the whole process at the Carphone Warehouse, and they didn't do anything like that. Just used to card to make me pay with. Thinking about it, there's no way they could do a credit check using a card.

Author:	kalmar [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 13:55 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
Grim... wrote: kalmar wrote: They say they need the card to do a credit check. Well, I watched the whole process at the Carphone Warehouse, and they didn't do anything like that. Just used to card to make me pay with. Odd, they definitely used mine twice, the first time to do a pre-auth. Quote: Thinking about it, there's no way they could do a credit check using a card. [/quote] I dunno, that's what they said it was for. Maybe it's just to check your ID then.

Author:	CUS [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 13:56 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
When I tried to order one online, it mentioned some kind of 'Mobile history check' and said 'Your mobile rating will not be affected' Mobile rating??

Author:	Doctor Glyndwr [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 14:05 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
kalmar wrote: Grim... wrote: Quote: Thinking about it, there's no way they could do a credit check using a card. I dunno, that's what they said it was for. Maybe it's just to check your ID then. Grim... is right. You can't perform a credit check in the UK without three years of address history because that's what the Equifax and Experian computers want to ensure they know who you are. This isn't a credit check, it's a "is-this-dude-buying-hundreds-of-iPhones-and-eBaying-them-to-China" check. They use the card details to ID you to their internal database so that they can do this check. This is where the "five phones per customer" limit comes from and also how it is enforced. There are hundreds of thousands of iPhones going overseas every month and Apple would very much like that to stop. Anything else spouted by a CPW or O2 staff member is either uninformed bullshit or informed bullshit to cover up explaining that unlocking the iPhone is trivially easy. Edit: forgot to add: there is no credit check at purchase time. If you settle down infront of iTunes to do the contract activation when you get home there is a credit check then, that comes with the usual string of questions. If you fail that you are entitled to return the phone for refund. Notably, this is the only circumstances under which a CPW will issue a refund on an iPhone; by law, on all contract phones, they are of course obliged to offer a 14 day cooling off period but as you buy the phone and the contact separately they cooling off period does not apply to the handset purchase. O2 and Apple will still offer full refunds though.

Author:	Grim... [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 14:07 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
The other little thing I've noticed is that unlocked iPhones are still going on eBay for around £250. Hmm...

Author:	kalmar [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 14:08 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
richardgaywood wrote: Anything else spouted by a CPW or O2 staff member is either uninformed bullshit or informed bullshit to cover up explaining that unlocking the iPhone is trivially easy. Absolutely, I was just relaying what they said to me. As I mentioned they also told me it was "illegal" to "box break" the unit to work on another network so the rest is clearly suspect too. I believe they are definitely keeping track of how many you buy though, and the easiest way to do that is with a card.

Author:	kalmar [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 14:09 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
richardgaywood wrote: Grim... wrote: The other little thing I've noticed is that unlocked iPhones are still going on eBay for around £250. Hmm... Not for long, I'll wager. They were going for about £380 at the time I bought mine.

Author:	Grim... [ Fri Apr 18, 2008 14:29 ]
Post subject:	Re: "Cheap" iPhone
From an ebay auction, my bolding: Quote: Can I update these phone in iTunes? NO! They are already running the very latest version of software (1.1.4) and shouldn't need updating ever again! They already have a full UK keyboard set, installer, iTunes music store and so much more! Please do not update your phone in iTunes! Just tick the option to never install updates again.