stanski Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Been looking at O2's tarriff and deals etc for the new upgraded one - hmm almost tempted to leave Orange (after about 10 years with them - not once have they rewarded me for loyalty etc ) still pricey but the fact it can surf T'nternet very nicely, is appealing - you know when in Scottish locations becon for useful info on the spot ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 O2's coverage and reception are still way ahead of Orange. Don't know about the Iphone though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 i've fiddled with other peoples iphones and i recon its easily the best internet experience out of any phone - However, be aware that the mk1 iphone has no 3G, which you will need to make the most of the features, so get the new mk2 one. if you are going to use the tinternet a lot its maybe worth it. minimum contract is about 35/40 a month isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanski Posted July 17, 2008 Author Share Posted July 17, 2008 I agree - bloke at work has one too - he said the same get the upgraded one - thats the one I was thinking about? think the £45 tarriff is best overall - with unlimited internet access - handy for car forum websites I would say - better than a bleedin Samsung G600 - worthless piece of poo! Will stick around until the stock levels are regained see what I have to do re: contract termination with Orange, buy new Toyo tyres first though and pay off credit card bill! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 O2 didn't appreciate my 6 years custom till i tried to leave. The "retention" department called after i turned down their first rubbish stick-with-us-please offer, and i ended up with a years free line rental! (£400) Obviously this is at the expense of a new phone, but i wasn't too fussed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanski Posted July 17, 2008 Author Share Posted July 17, 2008 funny how they are all desperate for you to stay when your about to leave!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 O2 didn't appreciate my 6 years custom till i tried to leave. The "retention" department called after i turned down their first rubbish stick-with-us-please offer, and i ended up with a years free line rental! (£400) Obviously this is at the expense of a new phone, but i wasn't too fussed. That happened to my mate & they have just sent him a final bill of something like £18 even though its supposed to be completley free I really want to get an iphone but I still have about 6 months left on my current deal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanski Posted July 17, 2008 Author Share Posted July 17, 2008 I would wait they only released the new version last month did'nt they and the website still mentions which town you can go to that has stock in - mind you the way the economy is going they may have to drop the price anyway - its a luxury item at the end of the day>? See what happens? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neo Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 this might help - http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3358 nice indepth review of the new iphone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 If you can live with the lack of MMS (which I've learnt to) and the basic camera (again, quite easy to do) the the iPhone is by far the best phone I've ever used. Everything is so simple to operate on it, and the introduction of the App Store has simply put it another level above anything I can find out there. I'm on the £35 plan which, even as a business + personal phone, does me fine and the free minutes and texts are more than enough. Try before you buy in case you really don't like it, but I can almost guarantee that you will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zummertor Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 A few thoughts and opinions on operators and mobiles, I can't promise to keep this brief so I won't Operators e.g. Vodfone / O2 / Orange / 3 / T Mobile etc. These companies control in the UK about 50% of the mobiles sold and as such the range each one stocks is driven by their needs for different price points and features. The coverage from the V / O2 / O and T across the UK is very similar for 2G networks but does vary slightly in signal strength in different areas. If you have a foreign SIM among your collection of you can quite easily see the differences in the different areas you frequent. 3 has its own 3G network but does not have it covering the whole of the UK for those areas where its own 3G network does not have coverage it has historically had an agreement behind the scenes with O2 to use their 2G network but to make it look like 3's own, this is similar in how networks look like Virgin but actually aren't as they don't own any network infrastructure they buy it. The main aims for each of them is to drive their utilisation up of their network capacity (cost driver for them as networks are very capital intensive), to maintain customers and to gain customer share from competitors. There has been a market trend to push deal length out to the 18 and 24 month duration to create better lock in as in many respects the UK is quite a saturated market unlike countries like India where new subscribers are running around the 5million a week rate. Texts are very cost effective for the operators to provide they use little bandwidth have no time urgency so are moved around at a low priority and use the "space" in the network already paid for, the overhead of the systems behind the scene is relatively small. Voice is still the main money driver and main usage. The operators have realised that data usage will become increasingly important and as they own the consumer interface they are in a strong position to drive that market. That said what it means is that the cost to the operator of giving more "free" texts is very low but appears given the usual billing rate for them as a generous deal, voice minutes across network are quite an interesting feature of the way the market works and I won't discuss here. Voice calls within built up areas can be very very cheap for the operators if the receiver of the call and maker are within the same city cells as the call is effectively routed between the providers own local cells and does not jump out into the fibre network where other provider costs come into the reckoning. This means the providers can drive down their behind the scene network costs more effectively so enabling voice plans to be improved as well. The pre-paid market is fantastic for operators as the cash flow and usual less than full usage works well for them. This is why you are gradually seeing more competition in this space as well as the monthly contracts. Currently the iPhone with apple is the only deal a handset maker has where they share in the revenue from the contract and not just the handset sale, this may change with recent changes but this is the main reason why Apple started out its deals on an exclusive basis within each market (being changed in a couple now I believe). So, there is a lot of flexibility in deals beyond what you see being offered, a new deal will nearly always offer you much more than your current provider will, I personally think the difference will alter in the next few years but new customers are a hard fought for area so use it to your advantage. Handsets are very heavily subsidised as the operators negotiate massive discounts with the various providers so swapping them and offering new ones is something you are likely to be able to haggle if they believe you are are serious about leaving / joining. You should be able to negotiate a new deal before your contract ends if they believe you are leaving the key here phrase they need on the help desks is for you to ask for the PAC code which enables you to move your number between operators, until then you will not have been offered their special deals. Handsets have a lot of emotion attached to them some love Moto's others adore iPhone and most haven't heard of Vertu or can even afford them. There are some interesting models about to launched which are receiving some great reviews in the mobile blogging forums. My view is you need to be honest with yourself about what you need and want for both the plan and device you get that way you need not overpay. The new iPhone has some feature the old one really was lacking if you were a heavy techie user and in incorporating them Apple have hit the common battery life problem in driving things like 3G etc. The interface remains very slick but beginning to go a bit slower as more apps are pushed into the chipsets to handle. The physical shape has subtly changed and is a nicer feel. Battery life could become an issue if you are a heavy user on the new device as you can not swap the battery for another you will need to have means to charge it with you. New Nokia E71 for business and browsing use is getting a lot of positive reviews and incorporates the 2nd generation of A-GPS software (sat nav), along with the ususal load of techie Nokia stuff. SonyEricsson some solid designed phones, Samsung are improving their prviously poor quality record and along with LG are gaining ground in the industry, Moto's are having a bad time the RAZR hit was bought in and not designed by them so may be why finding a repeat is harder for them. Downloads are available for more handsets than people realise and this trend of having them available is likely to continue and extend in the next 18 months as more and more software is moved to the handsets. The effect of Android is still tbd but is likely to drive more openess enabling the things that people are used to on Pcs to become available on mobile devices. Better call a stop to this rambling, I suspect it is unlikely to be read by many and those that do will notice I've not re-read or proof read it. The bottom line is know your usage and likely usage and then find a plan that suits and a device you feel comfortable with, don't over buy features or style unless you do so knowingly. Remember new customers are highly valued so you should be bale to drive a bargain, your existing provider will not take the threat of you leaving seriously until you ask for that code. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilsheepshagga_turbo Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 personally i gave the iphone 2 a miss..im not fond of the size of it and the fact that they have used more plastic throughout the phone to reduce costs is just not on.... just got the htc diamond... negotiated for a £35 month contract with 800 mins free...unlimited internet access...unlimited texts... 150 quid cash back and half price line rental for a year plus free phone and free phone base... basically my weapon is always threatening to leave... my previous contract was £75 quid a month so they were a bit ermm worried i think so its just a case of hagglin... as zummerator says... there's so much flexibility that u really can get away with anything if you've been a loyal customer.. also if its about internet usage then consider the blueberry's?? -ho ps just my two pence worth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanski Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 Thanks folks and especially Zummerator - thats really useful advice not just for me but other people who like me think they can get a good deal by spending 10 mins surfing but in reality need to dig a bit more! Maybe we should have that as a Sticky for Mobile phone advice? I usually find a few sites for phone reviews etc when I see a handset that I like but like most things thses days I have to think harder about the long term payments each month more so than oooh look at the cool trendy phone!! So will wait and see what happens and see what other competition coems on the market - read about that HTC diamond thing sounds cool actually? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zummertor Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 HTC Diamond has a shaped back that is annoying when putting on a flat surface to use, they have a new version coming with that fixed and a few other items, code name I think was Victor. IMO not as slick to use as iPhone UI is. Very easy to get drawn into the latest gadget feature / style. It is just like anything else really if on a tight or finite budget you should manage to that budget for what you really use/ need, trouble is in this space new product releases are so frequent the huge players like Nokia launch over 50 products a year others that operate in only parts of the market launch <5 a year but the reviews are always looking for an angle and the operators to. If you want to have a wander at just one mobile site of what is up and coming this is one of my favourites http://www.boygeniusreport.com/. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cool Hand Luke Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Bought an iPhone at Xmas - had it for two weeks and sold it. Just didnt get on with it. Absolute fingerprint magnet. Too big and heavy in my opinion. Too flash - felt like a **** bringing it out at times. Couldnt use my Bose earphones with it (or Sennheiser & others) because of the way they have recessed the 3.5mm socket) - needed to buy an adaptor at additional cost. Dead pixels out the box. Headline features like 'You Tube' were actually quite limited as the videos have to be converted (by YouTube.com) to run on the iPhone player i.e. not all videos you can access on your PC are viewable on your iPhone. I could go on! Although its packed with features and has certainly raised the bar for all other manufacturers, i found its main failing was actually as a phone - which is surely its primary purpose. I thought it was rather limited - you couldnt send texts to multiple recipients, couldnt send photo (MMS) messages, the battery life was poor and worst of all was the call quality - if i was out and about in a remotely noisy place i could hardly hear what the other person was saying - even with the volume up full. The quality of the screen was very good though and the internet browsing very easy to use. If you were set on getting one i'd recommend getting one thats been unlocked or jailbroke, then you can just slot in your existing SIM (or sign up for an o2 simplictiy contract for £15 a month) and away you go. I wouldnt get hung up on the 'free internet access' being offered on some of these £35 & £45 contracts either as i found that about 85% of the time you are near some sort of wi-fi hotspot when you're out and about and can surf for free anyway. Just set the iPhone to search for networks, select an unlocked one and connect. I dont think i'd be tempted back to the iPhone either - the only big difference about the new one is 3G and thats not exactly cutting edge - its been around for ages and used by many 'older' phones. I am interested to see what Nokia's iPhone rival has to offer though when they release that. Just my thoughts on the iPhone - not saying they are right or wrong. P.S. - Ho, they are called Blackberry's - not Blueberry's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilsheepshagga_turbo Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 sorry guys was nackered and posting quite early in the morning so for some reason i typed blueberry instead of blackberry... silly me -ho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanski Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 The blueberrys - sounds a 1950's blues combo! Luke I agree with your comments also - bloke in the office got one just as they came out (there is always someone who has to have the latest toys!) and I had a 5 minute dabble with it - as you say it was bigger and a lot heavier than I expected and yet certain times i.e out on the street you dont want to advertise to the local scroats what you have !! Anyway I understand the revised one has fixed a lot of the problems of the old - coincidentally guy I work with suddenly mentioned he wanted to buy one this weekend out of the blue so lets see Monday if he has! well thank you again folks its good to get a unbiased opinion especially from people have actually used one or know about the business rather than just the sales blurb on t'internet. So this is my early research thread - after some new Toyos and paying off the credit card I will look at the market to see what the latest toy is and see how the Iphone has evolved - maybe better tarrifs also by then? Keep the opinions rolling in though please Right back to work - on call all weekend - not had much sleep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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