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T-Mobile Vario III UK released on 26 Sep

The phone was released on 26 Sep afternoon.
Just ordered mine. Delivery on Fri. There were 15 left when I placed the call, none 5 minutes later.
Spoke to the cancellations department, or whatever is called.

Yep, 6 left when i called, delivery tommorrow...

Ooo, maybe that means I'll actually get mine today rather than another Compact III. I await in anticipation!

no mention
there is no mention of this on the tmobile website,
i will happily give my hermes300 away when i get this

Cheers for the heads up, mine will be here before 1pm tommorow

Just spoken to T-mobile uk to get an upgrade and they wouldn't even give me a price as "it's not out until October"
How have people managed to find someone who says different?

same here - thanks for the heads up Dan!
Read this thread last night at about midnight and thought I might have missed the boat, but phoned up new connections this morning at around 9am and ordered mine (think they said they had about 45 or so in stock at the time).
PAC code activated and delivery before 1pm tomorrow... woo hoo!
Goodbye Orange and thanks for all the erm.... (oh yeah... not a lot!!! )

I'm tempted to upgrade to this (even though i've bought a standalone Kaiser in the meantime) then just flog it on e-bay

Called a couple times this morning said they were out of stock until October !
Called back the guy said he just had an email and they got more stock so Ive ordered mine, coming before 1pm tomorrow.
What prices did you guys pay? I paid £80 on a 18 month with free eves & weekends, I was promised £60 on a 12 month contract but wanted the order to hurry and go through so ill call back and argue that...lol
Also what tarifs and deals did you get?

wow that sounds really cheap :O
I wonder how much the upgrade price will be....

Pooper said:
wow that sounds really cheap :O
I wonder how much the upgrade price will be....
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Click to collapse
That was the upgrade price ! normal price is £280

Xerxes8933a said:
Goodbye Orange and thanks for all the erm.... (oh yeah... not a lot!!! )
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Click to collapse
LOL you won't be saying that once you try the service
I'm considering changing to T-Mobile myself for the cheaper calls and unlimited data but to be honest I've had several business phones with them and my girlfriend and sister in law are with them and the signal often disappears in places you'd never expect it.
If you're always close to town then it probably isn't a problem but I don't think their coverage is anything like they advertise

TechXL said:
LOL you won't be saying that once you try the service
I'm considering changing to T-Mobile myself for the cheaper calls and unlimited data but to be honest I've had several business phones with them and my girlfriend and sister in law are with them and the signal often disappears in places you'd never expect it.
If you're always close to town then it probably isn't a problem but I don't think their coverage is anything like they advertise
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can vouch for that! It does depend on the phone to a certain extent, but their coverage is far from the best. Luckily it's good enough around where I live and work to not cause an issue, but there are places close-by that have horrible reception.
I'm with T-Mobile for their tariffs, not their coverage!

My T-Mobile MDA Vario III should be here tomorrow as well.

Im on Flext 20, and paid £30 to upgrade.
Why? They owed me one. Or 250!

Hmmm I wonder how much they'll go for on e-bay etc....

TechXL said:
LOL you won't be saying that once you try the service
I'm considering changing to T-Mobile myself for the cheaper calls and unlimited data but to be honest I've had several business phones with them and my girlfriend and sister in law are with them and the signal often disappears in places you'd never expect it.
If you're always close to town then it probably isn't a problem but I don't think their coverage is anything like they advertise
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh...
If Orange spent as much time and effort in providing a decent (and courteous) level of customer care as they do on thinking up silly animal names for talk plans then I might still be with them (it's a long story... ).
Thankfully, I live and spend most of my time in one of the bigger cities here in the UK so I can't imagine there being too many problems with getting/holding a signal (well no more than I experienced with Orange in certain areas).
Besides I have 14 days to play with it and if it really sucks that bad they can have it back

I've been waiting for these to arrive on T-Mobile so I can move across from O2. Went into the local T-Mobile shop today and they said not in yet, but have taken my phone number and will call me when they get them.
In the meantime, I went across the road to the O2 shop, to just check what they can offer me (clearly not a Kaiser, as they don't so them... yet). They guy in the shop said, "yes T-mobile have had better data plans for a long time, but I would highly recommend waiting until Monday, as we are announcing some new plans that include unlimited data, and they will put T-mobile to shame... and I've been waiting for a LONG time to say that... and thought it might never happen! We also have new phones being released, but I can't say anything more."
Not sure what he means, but I will now wait for Monday and hope he isn't just pulling my leg and spouting marketing speak, but he seemed genuinely excited by it all!
I don't think they will have the kaiser, so I will probably still go with T-Mobile, but I do like O2 all the same! And being with them for 9 years should mean I get a good discount on any tariff I pick with them. But any ideas how I could get the Kaiser onto O2 at a reasonable price.
Should I get a "no-phone tariff" and buy it unlocked? Or should I get the most expensive (and re-saleable) phone I can from them, and flog it on Ebay to fund my unlocked Kaiser. Or should I dump O2 and move to T-mobile and be done with it?
The comments here about poor network coverage on T-Mobile worry me, and the O2 guy said the same (albeit, he would wouldn't he!), and boasted about the strength of the O2 network. I certainly seem to get signal everywhere with O2! (except inside my house! but T-Mobile are no better in my house either!)
Decisions, Decisions....
Mike

xpcomputers said:
I've been waiting for these to arrive on T-Mobile so I can move across from O2. Went into the local T-Mobile shop today and they said not in yet, but have taken my phone number and will call me when they get them.
In the meantime, I went across the road to the O2 shop, to just check what they can offer me (clearly not a Kaiser, as they don't so them... yet). They guy in the shop said, "yes T-mobile have had better data plans for a long time, but I would highly recommend waiting until Monday, as we are announcing some new plans that include unlimited data, and they will put T-mobile to shame... and I've been waiting for a LONG time to say that... and thought it might never happen! We also have new phones being released, but I can't say anything more."
Not sure what he means, but I will now wait for Monday and hope he isn't just pulling my leg and spouting marketing speak, but he seemed genuinely excited by it all!
I don't think they will have the kaiser, so I will probably still go with T-Mobile, but I do like O2 all the same! And being with them for 9 years should mean I get a good discount on any tariff I pick with them. But any ideas how I could get the Kaiser onto O2 at a reasonable price.
Should I get a "no-phone tariff" and buy it unlocked? Or should I get the most expensive (and re-saleable) phone I can from them, and flog it on Ebay to fund my unlocked Kaiser. Or should I dump O2 and move to T-mobile and be done with it?
The comments here about poor network coverage on T-Mobile worry me, and the O2 guy said the same (albeit, he would wouldn't he!), and boasted about the strength of the O2 network. I certainly seem to get signal everywhere with O2! (except inside my house! but T-Mobile are no better in my house either!)
Decisions, Decisions....
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do they put T-Mobile to shame?. I think not.
Note 200MB fair use policy! LOL!
O2 launches unlimited data packages
12:56AM Thu 27 September 2007
O2 will launch unlimited data downloads on 1 October for its prepay and contract customers for £7.50 a month.
The package is for users wanting to browse the internet and send emails and comes with a fair usage policy that offers around 200MB a month, which is equivalent to around 1,400 web pages.
The service is the same price as T-Mobile's Web'n'Walk package, which gives users 1GB of usage a month.
The network will also launch O2 Web Max for customers who want to connect their handset to a PC or use a data card. This costs £30 a month and comes with 3GB of usage a month.
Business customers have also been targeted by O2 with a service called Unlimited BlackBerry. This gives users unlimited access to the internet on BlackBerry with a fair usage policy of 200MB at £10 a month. It is aimed at customers who want to browse the web while their email is pushed to their handset via the BlackBerry service.
http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/content/16929.asp?men=2&sub=6

congratulations to all of you in europe! hopefully the AT&T version will hit the uS soon.

Uk T-Mobile where ?

Hi all,
Finally out of contract on my hermes with orange and looking to move to t-mobile for the W+W 35 contract.
I am sure i saw a thread where someone posted a link to a website that they reccomended doing the phone for free. Ive looked everywhere and cant seem to find it.
Failing that are there any companies that are reccomended that are doing good offers at the moment.
Thanks in advance

I know a friend bought one from vodafone on a price plan that works out at 38 per month and he got the phone free.
He might have gone to vodafone direct.
can you not upgrade on orange for free?

I probably can mate but their data plan sucks big time and i can only really use the net off peak.
I was looking to go to tmob so i can surf whilst at work during the day.
I think voda is pretty stingy on their allowance as well.

Hi,
got my Vario III for free from a T-Mobile store on Oxford street on an 18 month £27.50 p/m tariff with unlimited data use - the phone would have been £50 but the guy gave it for free if I took out insurance - cancelled the Direct Debit when it got set up. Didn't see a reasonable tariff online where the Kaiser was free though.
Pete.

Keepoffthegrass said:
I probably can mate but their data plan sucks big time and i can only really use the net off peak.
I was looking to go to tmob so i can surf whilst at work during the day.
I think voda is pretty stingy on their allowance as well.
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Click to collapse
It is always worth contacting Orange Customer Retentions on the pretence of getting a PAC off them, depending on your monthly spend you may find they are able to offer much better deals or even match Tmob priceplans.
They wouldn't bend at all for me so I jumped to Tmob 2 years ago and haven't looked back since.

Zoidy said:
Hi,
got my Vario III for free from a T-Mobile store on Oxford street on an 18 month £27.50 p/m tariff with unlimited data use - the phone would have been £50 but the guy gave it for free if I took out insurance - cancelled the Direct Debit when it got set up. Didn't see a reasonable tariff online where the Kaiser was free though.
Pete.
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Click to collapse
Agree with the chappy above. You're best off walking into a T-Mobile shop to get the phone for free on the w'n'w flext 35 tariff.
I got mine back at the start of November for free on that very tariff (amazing feat to pull off then, by the way) due to taking out insurance for the phone, which I cancelled in less than a week. The salesman even told me to cancel the insurance when trying to sell me the contract. I'm on an 18 month contract, mind, but considering what other providers offer in terms of data allowance, I can live with T-Mobile for a year and a half. Besides, the salesman messed up when selling me the phone, as he pushed the HSDPA aspect of the phone, saying I could use it on normal web'n'walk. Found out later that I needed web'n'walk plus (extra £5 a month) to have HSDPA enabled and working. Complained to CS about it, and was called later by a CS manager who told me that he'd added web'n'walk plus to my contract for free for the entire 18 months. So, I'm lucky in that I have my phone on flext 35 with web'n'walk plus, with the Vario III free on an 18 month contract for just over £37 a month. Remember, this was back in November, not long after the Vario III became available. Web'n'Walk plus is the only way you'll get use out of HSDPA with T-Mobile....and it has a FUP of 3gb per month. Web'n'Walk only has a 1gb allowance, and no HSDPA. Those who bought their Vario IIIs before November had HSDPA enabled on Web'N'Walk...T-Mobile changed it when they saw how many people on basic W'n'W were hooking up their laptops to their phones to use the HSDPA connection.

Thanskfor the replys chaps,
The supervisor in the shop could do no more than £30 off the handset price. He said this was the max he could authorise.
The dept Area manager is in on monday and should be able to give a better discount so i will call them back then.
I do think t-mob is the way to go. I thought of playing the retentions trick with orange but the amount of data you get on the unlimited plan is puny.

vodafone V1615
After much research I found the cheapest free deal at vodafone (I chose vodafone as their kaisers are unlocked), was free v1615, for £26 / month 18 months business single phone for 300 mins / month, unlimited landline calls, and calls to vodafone numbers on business tariffs. Since I was changing from Orange business, Vodafone paid me a bounty of £150 (I had to ask for this). The only problem was number porting, as I had to have the PAC when I bought the first phone.
my calc
Cost
sim free unlocked kaiser £449 expansys
vodafone
£25+vat * 18 = £549
-bounty £150
= True cost £399 or £22/month
includes 18months insurance.
I only get 50 texts/month, but I use a free web service for that.

mrg2003 said:
After much research I found the cheapest free deal at vodafone (I chose vodafone as their kaisers are unlocked), was free v1615, for £26 / month 18 months business single phone for 300 mins / month, unlimited landline calls, and calls to vodafone numbers on business tariffs. Since I was changing from Orange business, Vodafone paid me a bounty of £150 (I had to ask for this). The only problem was number porting, as I had to have the PAC when I bought the first phone.
my calc
Cost
sim free unlocked kaiser £449 expansys
vodafone
£25+vat * 18 = £549
-bounty £150
= True cost £399 or £22/month
includes 18months insurance.
I only get 50 texts/month, but I use a free web service for that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem with vodafone is the absolutely abysmal data allowance you get. The OP is after a decent data allowance to use the phone to its full advantage. T-Mobile is the way to go with this one, as it's great on data allowance in comparison to Vodafone. Unlocking is easy enough...there's a thread on here showing you exactly what to do...my Vario III is now debranded and unlocked.
OP, try a different T-Mobile shop if you can. Each shop is given an allowance per month which they can use to discount phones. It could well be that the shop you visited doesn't have much of its allowance left to play with. What I forgot to mention in my earlier post was that I went to another T-Mobile shop before finally getting my phone/contract from my local T-Mobile shop. The first one (city centre shop) said I would have to pay £60 for the phone if I took out an 18month flext35 contract with insurance and web'n'walk (discounted from £120). A few days later, I popped into my local (small town) shop. They let me have the phone for free on the same deal. They explained about the allowance thing. Also told me they only had 2 Vario IIIs in stock and don't normally get asked about them, as the Vario III doesn't fit with the demographics of the town. Their most popular phone back in Nov. 07 was the N95.

O2 do an "unlimited" plan (Fair use of 200Mb) for £7.50, but they really suck at promoting it (although their iPhone tariff has a higher fair use limit)...
One thing I do recommend - get some free SIM cards and use an unlocked phone to try out the signal. A lot of my friends who are on T-Mobile are getting annoyed with their apprent lack of coverage around their home. You may think it is not a problem with people claiming "99.9% coverage" (or whatever), but I know at least one village where the ONLY reception is on Orange.

The MDA Compact IV has been REMOVED from T Mobiles coming soon section

Rang T Mobile sales, had a very lengthy chat about the MDA Compact IV. Two weeks ago their coming soon section had it released for 30th June, after that the date changed to 1st July, then changed to just 'early July' - now it has been completely removed from the internal coming soon section and the staff have no idea what is going on. Doesnt look like a release is happening for some reason.

my contract is up with orange
so i am waiting to see who gets the phone out first
and who will do the best data deal

liamhere said:
so i am waiting to see who gets the phone out first
and who will do the best data deal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like that could be Orange.
They have the phone listed on their site, £30 gets you 600 mins, unlimited texts, unlimited land line calls and unlimited data (500MB fair use)

Just rang T-mobile she said its still in comming soon list and willbe coming in few weeks, but not sure if she was just telling me to saty with t-mobile, keep asking me is there any other handset you intresdted in, like vario 3, i saod vario 4 is coming why i need to buy vario 3, then she kept quit and said, i will advise you to ring us back in few weeks.

mub786 said:
Just rang T-mobile she said its still in comming soon list and willbe coming in few weeks, but not sure if she was just telling me to saty with t-mobile, keep asking me is there any other handset you intresdted in, like vario 3, i saod vario 4 is coming why i need to buy vario 3, then she kept quit and said, i will advise you to ring us back in few weeks.
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Dont you just love this??!
Imagine the £££s in lost sales and contracts because of T Mobiles inability to set a release date and actually launch a phone

I got impatient then discovered the tmobile deals on the eXpansys site. Got the same contract as I had before and the phone cost me £75.
Very happy. I agree tho, altho the same thing happened to Orange to start with, they kept saying they were "testing" the phone and kept putting the date back, maybe they have had the same problems?

darthbane2k said:
Looks like that could be Orange.
They have the phone listed on their site, £30 gets you 600 mins, unlimited texts, unlimited land line calls and unlimited data (500MB fair use)
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Just looked on the Orange site... they say the Diamond lasts 12days on standby!!!

Do Orange have tariffs that can compete with T-Mobile yet?
That £30 one doesnt sound bad, does the data include HDSPA? But with my discounts (one was a 25% off offer when I took out my contract and the other is a £10 loyalty thing) I get my Flext35 and WnW+ for like £23 a month. Suits me down to the ground!!

I was checking whether it pays more to take contract with expansys or with t-mobile with some good phone, flog it on ebay and then buy new diamond of the internet. Normally if you take contract with t-mobile you get £5 off, plus in June with plans of 35 or more you had additional 10% more if ordered online. And they offer new plans. Expansys offers old plans like £30 with £90 allowance, and £35 with £180 whereas t-mobile already has those plans with £140 and £200 of allowance respectively...

Any news on an O2 version of the Diamond2?

I notice the post showing the images and dates for the T-Mobile Diamond2, is there any news on an O2 version? I believe they didn't bother with the Touch HD, but since they had the Diamond, I presume they'll do the Diamond2?

The Touch HD was exclusive to Orange, thats why O2 didnt offer it unless you go to and indepentant retailer who will package the Touch HD along with an O2 tariff.
I've not heard any news about the diamond 2 being exclusive to anyone yet so i would just keeps your eyes open.
Currently mobilephonesdirect are offering the diamond 2 with T-Mobile and Vodaphone - [URL="http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk/Brands/HTC/b509/p10957.aspx#tabsAnchor"]mobilephonesdirect[/URL]

If you already have an O2 sim, consider switching to a Simplicity tariff and purchasing an unlocked D2 from Play or Amazon or one of the other suppliers mentioned in other threads.

Garneth said:
If you already have an O2 sim, consider switching to a Simplicity tariff and purchasing an unlocked D2 from Play or Amazon or one of the other suppliers mentioned in other threads.
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Cheers for that! As it happens, I have just done that. I've gone from £40 a month to £20 a month for pretty much the same deal, but slightly more texts, and a month-by-month rolling contract. So that's £240 a year saved to put towards a new device bought retail.

Andy, push for more
I was on simplicity back in Dec 07 when I first got it @ £25 a month
Went down to £20 after a £5 off for life loyalty discount
Went down a further £5 for more loyalty
Now paying £15 for
800mins cross-network anytime
Unlimited Blackberry
Unlimited Email
Unlimited Internet
Unlimited SMS/MMS
Not bad eh? :- )
My bills rarely now go over £18

akash_84 said:
Andy, push for more
I was on simplicity back in Dec 07 when I first got it @ £25 a month
Went down to £20 after a £5 off for life loyalty discount
Went down a further £5 for more loyalty
Now paying £15 for
800mins cross-network anytime
Unlimited Blackberry
Unlimited Email
Unlimited Internet
Unlimited SMS/MMS
Not bad eh? :- )
My bills rarely now go over £18
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a good deal. They've just offered me:
400 mins
1000 texts
unlimited internet
reduced from £35/month to £20/month for loyalty
plus a £150 instant rebate, so no bills for over 6 months or an average of £11.67/month for 18 months
Perhaps I should push for more.

Just spoken with Devicewire and their delivery due today has been delayed at Customs. They're now quoting arrival on Thursday 17/4 with delivery Friday 18/4.

Another plus with an "independent" device: Firmware updates and bugfixes direct from HTC instead of waiting for the next carrier release. Can't wait for my 2-year contract to run out, I'll never buy a device tied to a carrier again.
Touching on the now-obsolete O2 question, that usually is country-specific. While the Touch HD may have been exclusive to Orange in the UK, it was exclusive to O2 in Germany.

The D2 is to be available on T-Mobile as MDA Compact 5, it does have a different shell though... I was speaking to O2 when my upgrade was due, and they said it'll probably be another month. And I here Orange will be stocking it very shortly aswell. Like others have mentioned though, you can go through the likes of MobilePhonesDirect or mobiles.co.uk and you can get the D2 on either of the 4 major networks.

i think its out in germany now, as the o2 german website below has the rom available. check out;-
http://o2online.de/nw/support/downloads/software/xda/diamond2/index.html

Any news on if UK O2 will stock D2? Im due an upgade soon

Just phones O2 Upgrades and still no news about the Diamond 2. I've got a month until I can upgrade though so I will have to wait.
Andrew.

I upgrade via the CPW over a month ago and I'm with O2

Isnt CPW different to O2 though? as in do you get to keep any current loyalty discounts etc?

DMAND said:
Isnt CPW different to O2 though? as in do you get to keep any current loyalty discounts etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Car Phone Warehouse is separate to O2, but they do some good deals. Not sure what customer loyalty bonus gives you with O2, but I have got some good cashback deal with CPW. Currently on 600 Xnet min, 1000 texts and unlimited net usage forthe equivalent of £25 pcm. In got the misses on a SIM only upgrade last time with 800 xnet mins etc etc, for the equivalent of just over £2 pcm (yes two!!).

Leaving Orange for the TD2 - how best to do it?

Hey everyone, It's been really interesting reading the comments here, especially regarding T-Mobile and their riduclous failure to release the phone properly. I have a question about my new upgrade to the TD2...
I am just finishing a contract with Orange - one of the reasons I went with them is because they always have the HTC handsets and I love them. I called up to ask if they were getting it in and told they didn't know. I then asked for my PAC code and the guy at retentions (whose job is to stop me leaving) asked me why. I informed him that I am extremely particular about which handset I get and T-Mobile have it whilst Orange don't. He then had the nerve to argue with me! He kept telling me that only Orange get HTC phones, it's an exclusive contract, etc. I calmly told him that it was an HTC phone that T-Mobile were getting but rebranded. Our conversation went something like:
"Why are you leaving Orange after 7 years?"
"Because I want the HTC Touch Diamond2 and you don't have it."
"Neither do T-Mobile."
"Yes, they do."
"No they don't." rolleyes
"Really, they do. It's called the MDA Compact 5."
"I'm looking at their website right now and it's not listed there"
"I know it isn't. But there are numerous press releases confirming it, not to mention I just spoke to them personally."
"Are you thinking of the G1?"
"NO. It's the HTC Diamond 2."
"Only Orange have HTC phones. It's exclusive."
...etc until I lost patience and told him that this was one of the reasons I was leaving Orange.
I have always been someone who attaches to a network directly rather than through a reseller, but I've discovered that some of these online places like MobilePhonesDirect do rather better deals for new contracts than the networks themselves do. I was thinking of the 18 month Combi 30 + WnW - the handset would be free which is better than T-Mob do themselves! (http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk/Brands/HTC/b509/n447/p10957.aspx)
My question is, given that I'm giving up on 7 years-worth of loyalty bonuses, would it be better to go to T-Mob via MPD or go direct and pay more for the handset? Am I at any disadvantage from buying from a reseller?
Cheers for your help!

I left Orange aeons ago, after running with them for 18 months with my Tytn 1; their data packages were laughable then (4 pounds a month for 5MB) and although are better now, still pathetic compared to other operators. No idea why they don't sort out their attitudes towards data given the fact they carry internet phones.
Anyway, original question - a D2 off ebay is between £350-400; got mine for £380. I now have a 30 day rolling contract for £17 from O2 - 600 mins, 1200 texts, unlimited web. The maths doesn't support it really - you can get a D2 on a similar contract for £25 a month on a 24 month contract (£600 in total) - compared to my independantly bought handset and contract (£788 if carried for 24 months), I've shafted myself.
On the other hand, I was desparate for a new phone; I'd had a Kaiser for 18 months on T-Mobile (who 3 weeks ago said they would not be doing the HTC Diamond 2 (cretins for not knowing their Vario V is the D2)), and my credit checks wouldn't let me have the D2 on O2.
Also, this does mean I can get the next "must have" phone on contract instead of having to wait 2 years for an upgrade.

i got the touch diamond 2 for free on a 24month contract 600 minutes talk time any network and unlimited text any network for £25 a month its an O2 contract but arranged through i think it mobiles.co.uk just search for touch diamond 2 deals on google. Also first 7months are half price

Cool, thanks for the info. What I was wondering is if it makes any difference going through a reseller regarding upgrades. So, let's say I got an 18 month contract on T-Mobile via one of the reseller sites. Could I then call up T-Mobile and negotiate directly with them for a new contract and phone? And would it make a difference that I didn't originally go directly with them?

I had been a customer of O2 for 10 years when I decided to leave to get my mitts on a TD2.
The loyalty only goes so far so I wasn't too fussed to leave. I also had to jump networks to get the best deals from an online reseller (for some reason staying with the same provider yields much worse deals).
I had been on a £15pcm Simplicity tariff with the web bolt-on since my previous phone went out of contract.
I went with the 18 months T-Mobile Combi 30 + WnW plan from Mobilephonesdirect. Had it a month now and pleased as punch. A few advantages of going through a reseller (especially the mobilephones direct deal)
1 - The phone is unlocked and unbranded so when that Windows Mobile 6.5 goodness(?) is released as promised by HTC I won't have to wait and if in 17 months time I want to change provider then I can keep the phone and get a cheap SIM only tariff.
2 - The deals are more competitive. If I'd bought an unbranded TD2 outright and kept my O2 tariff I'd be paying over the odds compared to the "free" handset offered by MPD over the life of the contract. If I'd waited and gone with the T-Mobile version I'm pretty sure I'd be paying three figures for the handset.
3 - With MPDs £50 of accessories offer you can get a 16Gb card for £25 (Yes I know the fact that they charge £75 for it isn't the cheapest, but in real terms it still has only cost me £25 and I now have oodles of storage for MP3s, etc)
4 - My ongoing contract is directly with T-Mobile not MPD so I can start building some T-Mobile "loyalty"
TBH T-Mobile works better than O2 in some places and worse in others to the extent that I think they just about balance out. Just odd to get cut off in the car in places that weren't a problem and then be able to carry on in longstanding O2 blackspots!
My tuppence.
Niall

Informator said:
Hey everyone, It's been really interesting reading the comments here, especially regarding T-Mobile and their riduclous failure to release the phone properly. I have a question about my new upgrade to the TD2...
[snip]
"Only Orange have HTC phones. It's exclusive."
My question is, given that I'm giving up on 7 years-worth of loyalty bonuses, would it be better to go to T-Mob via MPD or go direct and pay more for the handset? Am I at any disadvantage from buying from a reseller?
Cheers for your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazing isn't it... I bought my D2 from mobile phones direct and it's been a perfect experience so far. I actually ordered the phone on the day it came out and was absolutely amazed when it turned up next day, on a Saturday morning.
I'm on the Combi 30+ WnW and the account is with T-Mobile. It appeared on my existing T-Mobile account page on the web. I assume I'll start building loyalty with them again. The phone was free and there was £50 of freebies so bought 8GB card and car charger. ExpanSys charged £50 for the phone and no freebies.
It was rather amusing when I cancelled my old contact and got through to the inertible loyalty team. At least they were english. I tried to point out that I wasn't really leaving T-Mobile, just going sideways. And only did it because T-Mobile didn't (at the time) offer the phone.
So go for it!
Cheers, Rob.

I'm another happy MobilesPhonesDirect.com customer and the asnwer to your main question is yes: you will be a t-mobile customer like any other.
Tony

Wow! Thanks everyone so much for your responses, that's really helped me cement my choice. I really appreciate your feedback. On the strength of this I am going to purchase it on T-Mob via MPD as soon as my stupid PAC code comes through.
Thanks again!

Why not go through carphone warehouse and get the TD2 on orange
you wont loose your loyalty bonuses !!
i dont see what the issue is ?

carphone warehouse will do it for u on orange it will come unlocked to all netwoerks without the stupid operator branding. Am with orange and did mine at the carphone warehouse.
Good Luck buddy

There's no point me going through the Carphone Warehouse as they'd set me up with a new contract, which would defeat the point of having loyalty with Orange. For new contracts, T-Mobile definitely win with the TD2.
Having said all this, Orange did say they'll be launching the Touch Pro 2 soon, so there's always the option of getting that (hopefully free) then selling it on eBay and buying a sim-free TD2 instead. It never gets any easier to make choices, especially now that 18 months seems normal.

Double post

What's the data plan like on Orange though?
When I was looking to jump ship and was looking at operators direct (as well as through resellers) I found Vodafone and Orange's websites to be almost cryptic as to what, if any, data bundles were included or available seperately.
Pretty useless when your wanting a phone that elevates itself to Smartphone status by virtue of it's many data using features!
When I bought via MPD I went with T-Mobile over the Voda offers purely for the better (and clearer explained...) data tariff. T-Mobile are certainly one of the more progressive operators when it comes to data, and who ever you get your TD2 from or through, be sure that to get the best from the handset you have a good voice AND data plan!
Though I have now learned that my last bill has £6odd on it for simply checking voicemail.......
Niall

A good point - Orange will throw in their data bundle if I stay with them, which at 500MB isn't as good as T-Mobile's 1GB but would be enough for my needs.
The question for me now is do I wait for Orange to give me a good deal and a Touch Pro I can sell, or jump ship to T-Mobile and risk ending up paying much more?
Decisions, decisions...

Informator said:
Wow! Thanks everyone so much for your responses, that's really helped me cement my choice. I really appreciate your feedback. On the strength of this I am going to purchase it on T-Mob via MPD as soon as my stupid PAC code comes through.
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohh I gave up trying to transfer my PAC code across. It just too much like hard work as I was going from T-Mobile to T-Mobile. The process was request PAC code from T-Mobile, obtain a PAYG SIM with another provider, give them the PAC code and transfer the number to PAYG. Wait a while (!) and then go through the process again to transfer back to T-Mobile.
Of course, each time you want that PAC code they bamboozle you with crap and you'd have to work through the retentions team. They kept going on about end periods, charges etc (T-Mobile this is).
I was expecting to end up without a number at all!
All of this must be complete bull**** as I can see BOTH my accounts on T-Mobile web page so they are on the same computer system with the same provider.
In the end, I simply emailed/text all my friends with the new number. That was far less hassle.
It's things like this that still give the mobile providers a really bad name. Ohh and the fact that I had go through this pain with an Indian call centre at the start and they failed to transfer me three times to retentions.
And to further add salt into the wound, I rang up when I first got my new phone in T-Mobile and they said "Ohh, you can't cancel until 17th June without a charge as that's when the contract runs out". So I duly created a task in Outlook on 17th June to cancel and they said "But of course, you've just paid for another month"...
Charletons the lot of them! ;-)
Cheers, Rob.

goonerjae said:
Why not go through carphone warehouse and get the TD2 on orange
you wont loose your loyalty bonuses !!
i dont see what the issue is ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because if they are anything like T-Mobile, this will be classed as a new contract.
Rob.

Informator said:
A good point - Orange will throw in their data bundle if I stay with them, which at 500MB isn't as good as T-Mobile's 1GB but would be enough for my needs.
The question for me now is do I wait for Orange to give me a good deal and a Touch Pro I can sell, or jump ship to T-Mobile and risk ending up paying much more?
Decisions, decisions...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think T-Mobile on Combi 30+ wnk is unlimited, fair use...
Rob.

Both Orange and T-Mobile are "unlimited", but last I checked thir fair use policy was 500MB for Orange, 1Gb for T-Mobile. (And 200MB for O2, out of interest.)