Database Develop

Which is the best UK operator?

Hi all,
I'm due for and upgrade soon and I was wondering what you think of your operator. Prices / Customer service and support / Network coverage etc.
EDIT-My original reason for this thread is below. I took the risk of going with Orange today and got a Trinity
I'm considering a Trinity (only on Orange atm) or a Hermes (on o2, T-Mobile and Vodafone)
I prefer to look of the Trinity (bigger storage card, size, cheaper and GPS) but I view Orange as a bad point, but the Hermes has more support and roms here and is available with my current operator - o2, who I plan to bribe with 'give a free phone and a better contract, or I'll go to t-mobile or vodafone.' Anyone had any luck doing that?

reliability- vodafone
best deals - t-mobile
t-mobile wins

Do you know if any of the UK providers offer unlimited internet connection (without the stupid 'fair use' policy)? I mean, really unlimited like usual broadband?

damac said:
Do you know if any of the UK providers offer unlimited internet connection (without the stupid 'fair use' policy)? I mean, really unlimited like usual broadband?
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err usual broadband is fair use too. only very few are truly unlimited

damac said:
Do you know if any of the UK providers offer unlimited internet connection (without the stupid 'fair use' policy)? I mean, really unlimited like usual broadband?
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How much are you planning on using? I find it hard to get anywhere close to the 1GB fair use "limit" on standard Web n Walk.
Unless you plan on doing a lot of streaming video, in which case you should get the Web n Walk pro which has a 10Gb ceiling, you will find it hard to download a lot on a pocket pc.

bbobeckyj, I tried the same 'bribe' but it got me nowhere. I have always been on O2, but might have to switch to Vodafone because they have much better contracts that suit my needs for my XDA Mini S. Vodafon are bringing out a new internet extra as well soon, so I'm going to wait until then.

Well guys and gals I successfully ported across to t-mobile from O2....the data charges are just scandalous on O2.
Web-n-walk and U-Fix 25....nice
HSDPA activated already according to the woman at t-mobile and i can verify it was....just watched the latest BBC News feed without a hitch!.
NICE

chrisjasper said:
How much are you planning on using? I find it hard to get anywhere close to the 1GB fair use "limit" on standard Web n Walk.
Unless you plan on doing a lot of streaming video, in which case you should get the Web n Walk pro which has a 10Gb ceiling, you will find it hard to download a lot on a pocket pc.
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Click to collapse
I was thinking of using skype a lot actually. For that, I think definitely 1 GB limit will be crossed fairly easily. But for that also need a fast connection. Will look into all this when about to get new contract near end August.
Midget1990: I didn't know that usual broadband is also capped! I have NTL and I download easily something like 20 to 40 gigs a month, which sometimes increases and sometimes decreases... So far never faced any caps, and got this connection just for that fact that it was 'really' unlimited, even if the speed was just 2 Mbps.

Just so you know, t-mobiles usage policy doesnt allow skype...you have to use the web-n-walk pro for that.

mrvanx said:
Just so you know, t-mobiles usage policy doesnt allow skype...you have to use the web-n-walk pro for that.
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Thanks for that!!!
You just potentially saved me spending a lot over nothing.
Now all that's left is to find someone who does allow unlimited usage and VOIP. I think I'm living in dreamworld

I don't really want to pay loads for a contract, but it looks like the cheapest t-mobile do is about £30 . Which would you say is better out of web n walk and flext?
EDIT: Just looked at flext 20 and it looks perfect for me. (Mobile internet (t-zones, WAP or web'n'walk) charges
Browsing costs 0.73p per KB, a maximum charge of £1 per day no matter how much you browse the internet on your mobile phone.)
Please could somebody say though, where would the £1 for the internet come from, because the £34 you get to spend a month just says that you use it on calls and texts. Does it come from somewhere else? (Never been on a contract before)

Well all i can say is im using flext 25 with web-n-walk 18.....that works out at 32.50 a month..........unlimited internet (obviously fair use...but a gig is MASSIVE for a pda)
the flext thing has 60 quid of allowance, works out at (if you go half for text and half for calls)
300 texts
150 minutes (anytime,anywhere(uk) )
plus free weekend calls to ANY uk number (not including premium or 08 numbers)

Youd get much more out of the flext + web-n-walk 25, but i really wanted to pay the cheapest option. I hate it when they put a few quid in between, but boost the allowance by almost double.

delude said:
Youd get much more out of the flext + web-n-walk 25, but i really wanted to pay the cheapest option. I hate it when they put a few quid in between, but boost the allowance by almost double.
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Yer ive noticed that...but the free weekend calls must be worth a HELL of alot.....think thats a limited time offer aswell??
Which have you looked at then?

I was gonna go with flext 20 + web-n-walk.
I can't see when the offer ends, I can't actually start the contract now so was going to in a month or so.

damac said:
Thanks for that!!!
You just potentially saved me spending a lot over nothing.
Now all that's left is to find someone who does allow unlimited usage and VOIP. I think I'm living in dreamworld
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WnW MAX allows skype, its basicly everything like home Broadband but with 10gb fair usage, you can go over but if you go over say 3months in a row they may contact you and ask you to reduce it, allthou 10gb for a PDA is a hell of a lot, unless you plan on using it as a modem a lot of the time 10gb should do.
if you will be using it as a modem all the time then the t-mobile usb modem might be a better option as that allows unlimtied internet - http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/personal/.../internet-on-the-move/internet-on-your-laptop
Regards

I wish that t-mobile did a cheaper flext and web-n-walk. I only really want to spend £20 a month.

Orange - best customer service, talk 7 data plans ok, do the Trinity on very good deals if you shop around
T mobile - plans excellent if you want flexibility or if you download a lot.
O2 - customerservice absolute ****, plans ok, once the best range of PDA's - now limited
Vodafone - havnt a clue
Really depends on deal your offered. Orange clinched it for me at last upgrade - 7 months free line rental and a free trinity with GPS on a 12 month contract.

One thing to note about t-mobile wnw.
They are blocking IRC/MSN etc... over GPRS, some users have reported those apps are working correctly however recently signed up customers seem to have ports blocked??
Id be interested to know if anyone can use IRC over wnw....if so what GPRS settings are you using?

bbobeckyj said:
my current operator - o2, who I plan to bribe with 'give a free phone and a better contract, or I'll go to t-mobile or vodafone.' Anyone had any luck doing that?
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Short answer - no. I've been with Genie and then O2 for many years, and the one thing that's happened in that time is handset and contracts have become more expensive. I rang up a while ago to try and get a new XDA, and they wanted to put me on a £35+ contract and I would still have to pay something for a (decent) phone.
What O2 are good at (for me at least) is giving you dirt cheap contracts. For instance I got a 1 year contract of £20 a month reduced to £10 a month, then £100 cash back for not taking a phone. So I'm paying £20 for a whole year for Online Offpeak 300 (or whatever the hell it is). Even the O2 rep suggested I just get an XDA off Ebay.

Want a Kaiser on T-Mobile (UK), got a cunning plan - advice please

OK, so I still have a blue angel, drooling over a kaiser, and my contract with O2 was up last week.
Thinking T-Mobile (for web n walk) but from what I hear the styling isnt as nice as the HTC one, plus my experiences with the O2 version of the XDA IIs ROMs left me a little cold.
So, ideally I want a non-branded Kaiser.
Well, if I take up a contract with T-Mobile, and take no phone, I am losing out, so I thought I would get a phone from them and sell it unused. I was looking and I can get a nokia 6300 for free with the tariff I want and it seems like I could get it unlocked easy enough or do it myself and flog it new, maybe get 100 quid for it? Any suggestions as to whether this would work or if I could shift an unlocked T-Mobile branded nokia 6300 on ebay for a decent rate. Also suggestions as to a better phone to use.
The other question is whether when I hooked the sim-free kaiser up to t-mobile, I would be able to get web n walk and all the other services set up OK. Don't want the T-Mobile front screen etc, just as long as everything works. I would imagine that cooking roms and stuff for it would be much easier as it was a vanilla phone, I am just worried about making the operator-specific settings...
Any other advice welcomed, ie another provider to go with who will subsidise me on the phone and who do an all-you-can-eat bandwidth package for a decent rate.
The only non-flexible bit is that it just *has* to be a kaiser

i did something similar a few years ago, look on tmob for all the phones you can get for free and the look on ebay's finished auctions search for the phone that seems to sell for the highest amount (it is generally the newest phones). You will still be out of pocket doing this rather than just waiting a few weeks on your current contract until tmob release the kaiser.
you will be able to get web'n'walk sms/mms settings fine, but probably won't be able to access their other services like mobile tv very easily

cool, nice to know it can work out.
I think I may have found a better phone to do it with - a sony k800i
There's a few going for over 300 quid at the mo on ebay.
I can get that free with the 15 quid a month contract, that's approaching the price of a kaiser
Not really worried about the mobile TV and stuff like that, am a geek, will do it myself - slingbox or mythtv something

OK, maybe I was smoking crack before I went to lunch or something, but there were multiple K800is on ebay listed at over 300 quid. I come back, check the link and it ended for 99.
WTF?? Maybe it was in euros or lira or something.

Im also going to use this cunning plan!
But I think your best options for a free phone to sell is either the Nokia N95 or the Blackberry Pearl.
Also, ensure T Mobile puts you on a 12 month contract as opposed to a 18 month one.
Agreed that the design of the MDA Vario III looks pants.

you can't get a free N95 on 12mo contract, and on an 18mo contract, you have to go up to the 45quid a mo contract to get it free - it's 250quid on the 15/mo contract I am going to get. The k800i or similar looks to be the phone that is going for the most on ebay that you can get for free with the 15/mo contract.
Am prolly gonna go with the 18mo contract as it is only actually 30quid more for 6 months more contract and you get more minutes / texts
Plus then I can get the web n walk for 7.50 and am still only paying a total of 22.50 a month

Okay. I talked T Mobile in throwing in a free N95, how much do you think it would sell for on ebay? I have no idea of the worth of these Nokias

If its unlocked, probably £250+
Don't get caught though

Here in the NL you could just go to any telecom shop and get any phone they hold in comination to any subscribtion with any provider. Of course these telecom shops are not affiliated with any particular network and usually the discount you get for the phone are approx 50 euros less then T-Mobile for example but it is worth 50 euros to have an unbranded and unlocket phone...(this what I am doing actually right now via a website)
Of course if you get Branded t-mobile device you get a free Micro SD card with it and the best is the guarantee for the duration of your contract. Plus here in the NL if you need to send it for a repair it goes much quicker then via HTC... T-Mobile send you prestamped & preaddressed envelope (a special one) which you use to send in your device. I haad to use this service on my Vario II when I got allignment issues and I had my phone back fixed after 4 business days. Alternatively you can bring your phone to a t-mobile shop and they even offer you a temporary replacement phone (a junky one) but then it takes longer as it has to go throught their main depot.
I am right now ordering a TyTn II via my resellers website with T-Mobile Flex 40 renewal + PITP the phone costs me including shipment 125 Euros...

darthbane2k said:
Okay. I talked T Mobile in throwing in a free N95, how much do you think it would sell for on ebay? I have no idea of the worth of these Nokias
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Well I see two on ebay currently bidding at £544 and £655 but I saw phones yesterday going for silly amounts and then went back to a more reasonable amount. Maybe bids are getting rejected or someone is playing around.
What tariff did you have to go on to get one chucked in for free??

Churchill said:
Here in the NL you could just go to any telecom shop and get any phone they hold in comination to any subscribtion with any provider. Of course these telecom shops are not affiliated with any particular network and usually the discount you get for the phone are approx 50 euros less then T-Mobile for example but it is worth 50 euros to have an unbranded and unlocket phone...(this what I am doing actually right now via a website)..
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Click to collapse
You can do this in the UK, but it seems that T-mobile do not allow this unless the phone is branded or approved or something. Annoying as tmob is the only one doing a flat rate 3G bandwidth package for a reasonable amount (£7.50 pm or £1 a day) I am going to explore this avenue myself, but it seems to me that you can get way more subsidy by getting a whole phone and selling it.

T Mobile wont permit this in the UK because they like to attach branded phones to their contracts, these days banning services such as MSN messenger (which the Vario III will have disabled by default)

Is MSN etc blocked on web n walk now? I heard before that it was technically against the terms, but it was possible.
What about other stuff? I would ideally like to set up some kind of media centre at home and have it pull any mp3s / videos etc I like over the net.
What about VPN? Could I maybe VPN to my home and route everything inside a tunnel, thus denying tmob the ability to see what I am transferring?

I tried selling a phone a while ago on eBay. From past auctions I was expecting to sell my phone for £200 but at the last minute someone bid £350. The PayPal details said "Kate from Richmond" (an expensive area in London) had bought the phone. It was then that I received an email from someone in Nigeria asking me to send it to Lagos... they promised £50 extra for P&P but it was obviously a scam. They started sending through spoofed PayPal receipts claiming to have paid money into my account (even though my PayPal account said differently) and in the end they got quite aggressive and threatened to report me to eBay.
Just thought I'd warn you

OK, that makes sense.
LOL, one of those N95s just finished @ £1131 !
Normal bidding, then silly bids from "Bidder 1", "Bidder 2" etc...
Looks like the 419 business is getting too much heat so the Lads from Lagos have switched to a new tack.

ateles said:
I tried selling a phone a while ago on eBay. From past auctions I was expecting to sell my phone for £200 but at the last minute someone bid £350. The PayPal details said "Kate from Richmond" (an expensive area in London) had bought the phone. It was then that I received an email from someone in Nigeria asking me to send it to Lagos... they promised £50 extra for P&P but it was obviously a scam. They started sending through spoofed PayPal receipts claiming to have paid money into my account (even though my PayPal account said differently) and in the end they got quite aggressive and threatened to report me to eBay.
Just thought I'd warn you
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I have dealt with these scammers a many a time on ebay. They totally ruin things for all.

evilc said:
Is MSN etc blocked on web n walk now? I heard before that it was technically against the terms, but it was possible.
What about other stuff? I would ideally like to set up some kind of media centre at home and have it pull any mp3s / videos etc I like over the net.
What about VPN? Could I maybe VPN to my home and route everything inside a tunnel, thus denying tmob the ability to see what I am transferring?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not blocked. Its frowned upon. However T Mobile are now disabling use of it via firmware, hence one of the reasons why the Vario III is being delayed.

So guys, if I sell a new unopened T Mobile N95 for £250, you think its reasonable? Or could I push for more £££s? That Kaiser isnt cheap!

To clarify on Web n Walk...
On the normal (£7.50) tariff, only surfing and email is allowed.
On the Web n Walk Plus (£12.50) tariff, everything except VOIP is allowed.
I will probably go with the £7.50 one and if they moan, go on to the £12.50 one
So guys, if I sell a new unopened T Mobile N95 for £250, you think its reasonable? Or could I push for more £££s? That Kaiser isnt cheap!
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Dunno, might only get £200. Most of the ones over £200 seem to be tampered with...

What you might be better of doing is browsing the net and seeing if you can get 1 on a 12 month free contract with a cheepish phone and then the money u save on the contract put with selling the cheaper phone might get u somewhere...

New user itching to get a tytn 2

Hi All!!
My current mobile phone is coming to the end of its contract next month so I started to look round at the alternatives.
I came across the tytn 2 and the more I read about it the more I wanted it. Then I came across this forum and now I can't wait to get it (how sad is that, I'm acting like a kid and I'm 47!!).
I do have a question though and that is how easy it was to upgrade it to windows mobile 6.1 because I think it comes with 6???
Apologies if this is a bit off topic but I wondered if anyone out there in the UK has been offered a better deal than me on the Tytn by Orange.
My deal...
On a £30 per month/18 month tariff with money knocked off for handing in an old phone (£50) it comes to £24.44 per month.
For this I get 100 mins per month and unlimited texts
And finally the Tytn 2 itself will cost me £80 and they're throwing in a free but cheap bluetooth headset.
Sorry to go on a bit and again I hope asking about my deal isn't off topic...

I'd do it if i were you. Tytn II is a good friend in your pocket.
But with 100 Callminutes.. bit to low though.
I say: Do it!

Thanks ElProempie
All comments keenly received (the more the better!)

I am on orange and was going to leave them this month, i got the folowing for £40 a month, I am in band 4 of 5 some months my bill used to be a couple of hundred..
1800 mins,
500 texts,
a bolt on that can be unlimited texts, orange calls or land line calls.
250MB web usage
a free tytn 2
I accepted

Hi Sorted69
Thanks for the info, I'm nowhere near you for usage and I've got to keep the monthly cost to £25 at the most.............keep em coming though!!

Forgive me for being a noob world traveler...
Are cell phone plans really that expensive in Europe? I pay $40USD for 450 minutes per month and my unused minutes build up to prevent overage charges. I also have unlimited Data/SMS/MMS for $40USD.
I pay ~$70/mo with taxes once my corporate discount is taken from the normal figures above.

Can't help with the costs, but it's really easy to upgrade the TyTN II. Just use Olipro's unlocker (stick'ed in the Kaiser ROM forum) to install hardSPL, and to SIM and CID unlock it. Just pick a ROM and follow the (easy) instructions. Job done!
(btw, my phone was originally an Orange TyTN II)

NotATreoFan said:
Forgive me for being a noob world traveler...
Are cell phone plans really that expensive in Europe? I pay $40USD for 450 minutes per month and my unused minutes build up to prevent overage charges. I also have unlimited Data/SMS/MMS for $40USD.
I pay ~$70/mo with taxes once my corporate discount is taken from the normal figures above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so your getting 450 mins unlimited texts and net access for the equivelent of £35 a month INCLUDING your discounts.
And your saying the UK is expensive?!
1800 mins,
500 texts,
a bolt on that can be unlimited texts, orange calls or land line calls.
250MB web usage
a free tytn 2
I get that for the equivelent of $80 a month.

I currently pay £27.50 ($54) per month for 75 minutes of calls, 100 texts, and 120mb of data, on a 12 month contract. Since the plan's perfectly suited to my needs, I rarely if ever exceed any of this, so $54 is exactly what I pay each month. Signing up to this, the Tytn II cost me just £50 ($99) last October.
I can upgrade again come August (60 days before the contract ends), not sure what they'll offer me...

Thanks again guys, it's interesting to see what other people are paying!
synet when you say just pick a ROM.........where from???
And do these ROM's have mobile 6.1 on them??
Thanks

Boinng...........this makes me think I should venture into the vodafone and possibly O2 shops before I go ahead with the deal on orange this Saturday!

Giving Wise Educational Noob Instructions
familyguy said:
Thanks again guys, it's interesting to see what other people are paying!
synet when you say just pick a ROM.........where from???
And do these ROM's have mobile 6.1 on them??
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please use the search function associated with this forum!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=383904

Familyguy, best to read the wiki, linked in the above post.
BTW, I'm new to this too. I've only had mine for 2 or 3 weeks, so don't ask me for advice
As to costs, mine gets paid for by my company

This has turned in to a "I pay less than you do" thread.
@ OP
Who cares what who pays. I live by the rule that if I am willing to pay the price that someone is asking, then it is not too much. It all depends on what you are willing to pay. As to 6.1 roms, there is a plethora of cooked 6.1 roms to choose from, from loaded to light. The choice is yours. You don't need anyones advice on whether or not to "Do It" or not. Some would say no due to driver issues and others would say "Go For It". As for driver issues, I really don't see what all the fuss is about. I dont use my phone for serious multimedia. Thats what my laptop is for. I say if you don't think the price is to high or to good to be true then "Go For It". Do what you want and don't let anyone influence your decision. However, all that being said, if and when you purchase it and then decide you made the wrong decision, everything you need to tweak the **** out of it is located in this forum. I really didn't like my Tilt after I first got it, but now I love it. I can change the damn thing daily. It's like getting a new phone every day.

familyguy said:
Boinng...........this makes me think I should venture into the vodafone and possibly O2 shops before I go ahead with the deal on orange this Saturday!
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Definitely worth shopping around - although note that Vodafone call their version of the Tytn II (aka Kaiser) a "Vodafone V1615", and for O2 it's the "O2 XDA Stellar". Both the same thing, slightly different roms and paint jobs, that's all.
My V1615 came sim unlocked (so I can potentially use it on any network), and I've since used the tools on this forum to flash it to the generic HTC rom, so it is to all intents and purposes a generic HTC Tytn II now

Thanks again guys, I had a look at the link above but didn't notice any 6.1 roms......I'll have a further search though, it's probably me not looking hard enough (wife always finds things but I can look directly at something without seeing it!!)
Trouble with O2 and voda is that they don't do a pink viewty which the wife wants at the same time, plus if we get 2 phones at the same time orange will offer us 1000 free orange to orange minutes per month!!
Seems like I might have a good deal then

sorted69 said:
so your getting 450 mins unlimited texts and net access for the equivelent of £35 a month INCLUDING your discounts.
And your saying the UK is expensive?!
1800 mins,
500 texts,
a bolt on that can be unlimited texts, orange calls or land line calls.
250MB web usage
a free tytn 2
I get that for the equivelent of $80 a month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you all seem to get good phones cheaper then us. The cheapest I've seen the Tilt here was $149 with a 24 month contract. All we get for free here is a *insert random featureless phone model here*.
You obviously have a good monthly plan. However, unless my currency translator (ie my brain) is malfunctioning, you seem to be getting a better deal then the OP.

familyguy said:
Thanks again guys, I had a look at the link above but didn't notice any 6.1 roms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the roms being released in the rom development forum are 6.1.

Thanks P1Tater.........it does make sense.........I totally forgot there were other forums in this section..........DOH!!

Amazing Orange Deal

Dolphin 35, an 18 month contract, £35 a month for 18 months with the option of 5 months free. That brings the total cost to £455, only £55 more than the Sim free cost of the phone and you get unlimited web browsing and unlimited texts and 600 minutes.
Orange may have a poor reputation, but that deal is unbelievably good.
See here: http://www.mobiles.co.uk/orange-htc-touch-diamond.html#MobilePhoneTariffs
Edit: My mistake, there's no unlimited data with that deal. It looks like you have to buy through orange for unlimited data which comes to a total of £540, £90 quid more. Still not bad though.

The standard warning applies with the above offers and all like it. You are likely to not get that money due to obscure overcomplicated rules on redeeming the cashback, normally involving goats, virgins, and lunar eclipses.
It's been scientifically proven that people too evil to be a seal-clubber or second-hand car salesman go on to run discount phone websites.
The original deal direct from Orange is still good though. In fact, it's the one I signed up for earlier.

Or you could get all that and a free ipod or projector or whatever you want, done it with my last phone and an xbox 360 and it all worked fine.

joey7415963 said:
Or you could get all that and a free ipod or projector or whatever you want, done it with my last phone and an xbox 360 and it all worked fine.
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You pay more though, the original deal i quote was £455, to get a 'free' Xbox Arcade it would cost £720. That's £265 more for a console thats worth £150 - So you're wasting £115! Hardly free ey?

i just got a upgrade
they have given me 650 cross network
unlimited landline calls
unlimited texts
"unlimited" data
18 month contract...which i don't mind.... £30
this was direct from orange....no funny middle men

Free direct from orange on £30 pm
Just bought mine on upgrade, direct from orange for £30 pm 600mins + unlimited text and web, phone was free!
I suspect you can get it for free on the £25pm but I wanted unlimited web.

ljames28 said:
Dolphin 35, an 18 month contract, £35 a month for 18 months with the option of 5 months free. That brings the total cost to £455, only £55 more than the Sim free cost of the phone and you get unlimited web browsing and unlimited texts and 600 minutes.
Orange may have a poor reputation, but that deal is unbelievably good.
See here: http://www.mobiles.co.uk/orange-htc-touch-diamond.html#MobilePhoneTariffs
Edit: My mistake, there's no unlimited data with that deal. It looks like you have to buy through orange for unlimited data which comes to a total of £540, £90 quid more. Still not bad though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oranges' deals are not that good at all.
First of all 18 month contracts for any WM Device enthusist are terrible. You want to try the new forthcoming WM7 HTC devices, you will want a 12 month deal.
Secondly Orange's unlimited data isnt unlimited. Its a 500MB fair use policy (too little) that - according to their website (and there has been some confusion about this) is limited to 2 months. After 2 months, you pay for the data package.

You need to check if these 3rd party dealers are giving the unlimited mobile data. I just ordered with M2YD on a Dolphin 35 18 month contract, free handset and this DOES include the unlimited mobile browing (confirmed with M2YD and Orange CS on the phone). £35 per month with £210 back on redemption and £55 cashback with quidco. This means my total cost for the 18months will be £365

Me too
I've ordered from m2yd.
Dolphin 35 .... £210 cashback, unlimited internet and texts. £55 back from www.quidco.com
In all, over 18 months it will cost me £20.28 per month
Best deal currently available over 18 months ... I think I've searched them all!

darthbane2k said:
Oranges' deals are not that good at all.
First of all 18 month contracts for any WM Device enthusist are terrible. You want to try the new forthcoming WM7 HTC devices, you will want a 12 month deal.
Secondly Orange's unlimited data isnt unlimited. Its a 500MB fair use policy (too little) that - according to their website (and there has been some confusion about this) is limited to 2 months. After 2 months, you pay for the data package.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The contract may be 18 months but i was simply looking at the total cost. As in, if a phone comes out in 12 months that you want, buy that also. There's nothing to stop you running two contracts concurrently. If you've seen a better deal from another network, post it, just because it's an 18 month deal doesn't make it bad.
Also, show me a network that does unlimited data that doesn't have a fair usage policy? Hell, every ISP has one, why wouldn't a phone network who has to send data over a massive infrastructure of cell towers
Btw, im not an Orange fan, im a Tmobile fan, no bias here.

I don't worry about the 18 months thing. For heavily subsidied expensive phones, it often works out that the TCO over 18 months is just a few more £ than over 12 months.
Way back when I got my Wizard with Vodafone, the 18 month contract was about £20 more than with a 12 month contract. I still got my Vario II 12 months later, but then had a spare contract phone for 6 months for £20.
As for the whole "unlimited" thing, it's not just in regards to data, they also wrap "unlimite texts" etc. in similar weasel words. I'm surprised that they're all allowed to get away with it still. It's pure false advertising, and they all do it.

ljames28 said:
The contract may be 18 months but i was simply looking at the total cost. As in, if a phone comes out in 12 months that you want, buy that also. There's nothing to stop you running two contracts concurrently. If you've seen a better deal from another network, post it, just because it's an 18 month deal doesn't make it bad.
Also, show me a network that does unlimited data that doesn't have a fair usage policy? Hell, every ISP has one, why wouldn't a phone network who has to send data over a massive infrastructure of cell towers
Btw, im not an Orange fan, im a Tmobile fan, no bias here.
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sounds like bias to me.
At least T Mobile offer 1GB fair use. 500MB is way too limited.
Also with T's web n walk plus, you get free GLOBAL T Mobile hotspot access.
Also T have a brilliant HSDPA network. How extensive is Oranges?
Also with orange - you seen that cost to non orange mobiles outside of your air time?
As for contract length.. let me put it this way..
12 months ago I bought a brand new HTC Touch.

Slightly OT, but does the Orange unlimited internet allow for using the phone as a modem? Is it unlimited internet or unlimited data?
Likewise does it allow for VOIP?
I can see how Opera will quickly eat into the data instead of pocket IE and its cut down pages
Back on topic, Orange allow a downgrade to the next lower tariff after 9(?) months -so a bit more saving. Not sure if this impacts on the cashback offer though

PaulusUK said:
Slightly OT, but does the Orange unlimited internet allow for using the phone as a modem? Is it unlimited internet or unlimited data?
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The unlimited package on orange does not allow tethering or VOIP...

Have done quite a bit of VOIP over 3G with Skype using an Orange 250mb data plan with my old Tytn 2 and never got charged for it, when I check my usage all it shows is I used a few megs, done that for months
Not tried tethering though as I have no need to.
They may say we don't allow you to do it but doesn't mean they banned it

Sorry, whats tethering?

ljames28 said:
You pay more though, the original deal i quote was £455, to get a 'free' Xbox Arcade it would cost £720. That's £265 more for a console thats worth £150 - So you're wasting £115! Hardly free ey?
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Ok for 6 months extra you get a FREE projector and £80 or pay £30 and get £20 and a free projector!
http://www.beepy.co.uk/mobile-phone...hin-35-24-month-home-cinema-gaming-projector/
Or get a FREE iPod so .... yeh it is free when you compare it with your deal

Recieved my orange UK diamond!!
Wooo!
I've got my diamond today through the m2yd and quidco cashback offer.
There's no discernable customisation to the interface and a very discreet orange badge on the rear cover.
Here are some unboxing pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/fareedoon/20080711Diamond
Also to add, it is sim-locked.

Got mine too!
Don't forget, first thing to do is look right at the bottom of the box and get the screen protector, and fit this before doing anything else

PaulusUK said:
Got mine too!
Don't forget, first thing to do is look right at the bottom of the box and get the screen protector, and fit this before doing anything else
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thanks, just noticed it!

why are contract so much in usa

just been looking at some posts and seen the price some of you guys pay in the usa,how come its so much.

If I recall market coverage I've read correctly, the US contracts reflect higher bundled minutes per month and subsidies for purchasing a phone. Both of these "features" aren't typical in other parts of the world (most notably Europe) where the minutes/month is either lower or non-existant and the carriers don't provide a discount for the phone that you pick up.
Many analysts expect the US model to migrate more towards the European model as time passes due to market pressures.

so for a average price plan what do you get for your money,here in the uk you get a free phone eg the diamond 600mins and say free web for 18months and for 35 uk£

Over here in the UK, phones are certainly subsidised. As for, higher minutes? I'm paying T-Mobile £37/month, for an 18 month contract. For that, I get 1000 voice minutes, 'unlimited' texts, 'unlimited' web, and a free MDA Vario 3 (Kaiser).

Big US companys are incredibly greedy, care nothing about the customer, don't care about improving the customer expirience, and only really care about the money.
that's why!
Edit:
For a US individual AT&T customer, you'll run...
$40 - 450 talk minutes... not even unlimited *5000* night and weekend minutes
$35 - unlimited data/ internet usage
$20 - unlimited texting
so for an individual who wants to text and use his tilt that even with a REBATE he spent 200 dollars on, for internet usage, he pays 95 us dollars per month. this is using the edge network most places in the US *only get HSDPA in metropolitan areas* which is quite slow :-S

sdconvoy said:
Big US companys are incredibly greedy, care nothing about the customer, don't care about improving the customer expirience, and only really care about the money.
that's why!
Edit:
For a US individual AT&T customer, you'll run...
$40 - 450 talk minutes... not even unlimited *5000* night and weekend minutes
$35 - unlimited data/ internet usage
$20 - unlimited texting
so for an individual who wants to text and use his tilt that even with a REBATE he spent 200 dollars on, for internet usage, he pays 95 us dollars per month. this is using the edge network most places in the US *only get HSDPA in metropolitan areas* which is quite slow :-S
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That is a fact...and a very sad one at that.

o2xdaexec said:
so for a average price plan what do you get for your money,here in the uk you get a free phone eg the diamond 600mins and say free web for 18months and for 35 uk£
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this might be a stupid q, but are the 600 mins per month or for the whole 18 months?

AthenaLod said:
this might be a stupid q, but are the 600 mins per month or for the whole 18 months?
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600 minutes per month

sdconvoy said:
Big US companys are incredibly greedy, care nothing about the customer, don't care about improving the customer expirience, and only really care about the money.
that's why!
Edit:
For a US individual AT&T customer, you'll run...
$40 - 450 talk minutes... not even unlimited *5000* night and weekend minutes
$35 - unlimited data/ internet usage
$20 - unlimited texting
so for an individual who wants to text and use his tilt that even with a REBATE he spent 200 dollars on, for internet usage, he pays 95 us dollars per month. this is using the edge network most places in the US *only get HSDPA in metropolitan areas* which is quite slow :-S
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Corporate greed knows no borders, we have T-Mobile in the U.S., they are a German corporation, and Verizon Wireless, Vodafone has a big stake in them. I get HSDPA in my area, and it's VERY rural, so you'd be wrong about HSDPA only being available in metro areas, I live in a county (Mendocino, NW CA) that is HUGE at 3800 sq.miles in size, has a population of 88,000 and is very mountainous and rural. The nearest Metropolitan area to me is San Francisco, 115 miles south of where I live.
Edit-To be fair, while many of the bigger carriers, like AT&T and Verizon may not be as customer oriented as they should be, you have to remember the U.S. has many smaller and regional carriers as well, like US Cellular, Golden State Cellular, Inland Cellular (to name a few), and they are often VERY customer oriented, and tend to provide more personal service to their customers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_mobile_phone_companies

Try here (Switzerland).
Prices are approximate due to conversion but gives an idea:
For $30/month:
250MB data/month
NO free calls, $0.45/min to other mobile networks (there are 3 so the chance the other person isn't on the same as you is quite high), $0.45/hour (you pay that amount regardless whether the call lasts 1 min or 59 mins) to same network or landline.
NO free texts ($0.15 each).
And as the retail value of a Kaiser is $1100 here, youl'll still pay it $650 with a 1-year contract or $450 with 2 years.
The billing model for all phone providers have now gone to that "per hour" fee on landlines and same network, and same amount per minute for other networks.
The one network that is usually always a bit in advance regarding their offers has gone for plans where your monthly fee becomes a credit and you can use it up, basically removing the base monthly fee IF you use it up entirely. But free minutes/texts are basically non-existant apart for the top ($70/month range) plans.

It is probably worth mentioning that, at the current exchange rate, one US dollar is worth approx. .6844 Euro.
Call that a buck and a half per Euro.
So a 40 EU contract is worth $60.

I pay $73USD per month to AT&T. For that I get:
450 Peak Minutes
5000 Nights and Weekend Minutes
Unlimited Data
1000 Messages (any combination of message types)
Weird Al's Canadian Idiot greeting my callers until I answer.
I don't see how this is such a bad deal. In order to exceed the 5000 minutes of off-peak time, you would need to be on the phone 1 minute for every 4.94 minutes during the off-peak periods. Let us also remember that AT&T has Rollover, so our unused peak minutes hang around for 12 months.

NotATreoFan said:
I pay $73USD per month to AT&T. For that I get:
450 Peak Minutes
5000 Nights and Weekend Minutes
Unlimited Data
1000 Messages (any combination of message types)
Weird Al's Canadian Idiot greeting my callers until I answer.
I don't see how this is such a bad deal. In order to exceed the 5000 minutes of off-peak time, you would need to be on the phone 1 minute for every 4.94 minutes during the off-peak periods. Let us also remember that AT&T has Rollover, so our unused peak minutes hang around for 12 months.
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I get a tad of a discount so mines a bit less. I pay 120 USD for the following
National Family plan 700 mins ( I can go anywhere with 0 roaming fees here in the states )
Unlimited data PDA Connect for one line ( believe me I use it more than ATT might like lol )
1500 sms/txt per line
Longer Free nights and weekends
I bought 1 tilt from Ebay and 1 from the retail store. Even though I paid almost 700USD for the 1 from the start ( when it first came out ), I don't regret a second of it. I feel the prices for the plans themselves are quite fair.

wron wrong WRONG!!!
Comjon now! stop complaining about how high our monthly contracts are!! (My wife's idiot brother in law once had a $900 bill come to him--his wife was happy) but that's besides the point. How else are we going to contribute to our gov'ts 1.7 TRILLION bail out? lol

telegraph0000 said:
Comjon now! stop complaining about how high our monthly contracts are!! (My wife's idiot brother in law once had a $900 bill come to him--his wife was happy) but that's besides the point. How else are we going to contribute to our gov'ts 1.7 TRILLION bail out? lol
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India is pretty cheap when it comes to mobile usage...Vodafone charges me 13$ per month upto 1GB data plan free per month and about 0.02$ per minute outgoing and free incoming with some text msgs free per month dont remember how many now...here you need to buy the phone seperately a decent WM device can cost upto 200$ appx but its a one time buy and you can switch SIM cards (i.e the phones are unlocked so you free to switch service providers) My average bill for a month comes upto 32$ including the rental charges.
Cheers

FCC plays a big part of why contracts are so much. Just look at the last auction they had for the 700mhz spectrum. If you want cheap rates, Sprint had a SERO plan for $30 a month for 500min anytime, $50 for 1250 min, $100 for 2500 min, all plans include Unlimited Text Messaging, Unlimited Data, Free Nights & Weekends Starting at 7pm. SERO is no longer offered but instead Everything Plus. $60 for 500 min $80 for 1000 min both plan include what SERO had.
MetroPCS also has pretty cheap plans.
For me I have 700 min/mo rollover family plan shared with 5 phones. My phone has PDA data plan and 1500 txt/sms. 2nd phone has unlimited medianet and 200 txt/sms. Rest just voice. I pay $137 a month for all 5 lines because I have a FAN account. I got about 1500 minutes of rollover minutes so it doesnt cost anything if I go over my minutes. Besides if I ran out of minutes, theres always Skype on my tilt and on my N75.

PerfAlbion said:
If I recall market coverage I've read correctly, the US contracts reflect higher bundled minutes per month and subsidies for purchasing a phone. Both of these "features" aren't typical in other parts of the world (most notably Europe) where the minutes/month is either lower or non-existant and the carriers don't provide a discount for the phone that you pick up.
Many analysts expect the US model to migrate more towards the European model as time passes due to market pressures.
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Erm, I paid the most I have ever paid for a phone for my Tytn II, 85eur for the phone, 35 Eur (250 outgoing minutes (all incoming calls are free)) a month plan, 10 Eur for unlimited FUP 3G internet. I pay just under 45 Eur a month for a 2 year plan.
I hope people in the US go towards a EU type policy. I cannot believe people still pay for local incoming calls.

Hmmm
How far do you get to call without paying extra? We get all of the USA, which is pretty big. Maybe we pay more to get more, our network is a bit large.

Here in the UK, mobile numbers don't have area codes (which I believe is the case in the US, although I stand prepared to be shot down in flames if I've got that one wrong).
Therefore, we don't pay more to call 'further'. Fixed lines, however can be geographic (with area codes), or non-geographic (freephone and premium rate numbers), so call can vary there. Calls to mobiles and geographic numbers usually are taken off the minutes bundled with the tariff before being charged; non-geographic numbers are generally charged.
As a result, I can call my brother who lives at the other end of the UK from me, and it comes out of my free minutes. If I had used all of those, however, it wouldn't cost me any more than if he were down the street.

Do any of your europeland companies let you keep your anytime minutes if you don't use them? That was my draw to AT&T when I first signed up.
My current plan is $68/month. approx 46.25 euros a month
Tilt came free to me for being a professional
450 anytime minutes, 5000 n&w
Unlimited data
1000 texts/mms/etc