[Closed] Android phone pundits

Have you talked to the contract provider? They will often switch you to an new 2 or 3 year contract and upgrade with that short time left on the original contract. They are desperate to keep you remember.

In store (Orange) I was offered to pay the remainder of my contract (£90, £15 pcm) and get 1/3 of that towards a new phone on a new contract, which I thought was crap.

Worth calling Orange then?

I had the same problem the other day. Bought a s/hand HTC explorer for 90 and it's fine.. Only Had 1 month left on my contact but when I renew next month I won't bother with an upgrade but will go sim only and save 300 over the next two years.

So I've already treated myself to this tablet.

Btw, and videos of typing are uploading now, and will post them when I get back from dropping jr at school

Thanks stoner,

Depends on your budget ,most Android phones have the same capabilities ie.Gps,3G,camera etc.
It's just the independent specs that vary such as Processor speed ,ram, megapixels for the camera.
I got my daughter a T mobile rapport for Xmas and was surprised at how smooth and capable it is ,I have a htc hero which admittedly is getting a bit long in the tooth and the Rapport in comparison only falls down on the screen size and quality and the camera.

I have rooted and put a custom rom on my hero which does not have sense on it ,and much prefer it this way compared to the original Htc rom.
The T mobile rapports are also rootable and there are custom roms available for them too,I think out of the box they are running Android 2.2 froyo.
For £59.99 they are very good value.

if it's any help i stuck my desire in the washing machine a few weeks ago. realised about 15mins later, took it out, took it apart ( as far as you can without tools ), then hoovered it for a couple of minutes. reassembled and switched it back on and it worked a treat. so long as you don't turn them straight back on after dunking them you can get away with it in many cases.
i was thinking about the explorer if i needed to replace - looks to have same spec as the desire?

I have a cheap Sony Xperia Play android phone for sale in the classifieds if you're interested? £130 🙂

Cheers uno - rapports are £40 @ ASDA (local store OOS) and it has a good rep, despite it's figures on here being abysmal.

http://www.mobilebenchmark.net/device_list.php

I don't need the latest thing but con't want to buy something just slow enough to be frustrating.

Ta Del...it sat on the radiator for a good few hours, will not boot up. Explorer a bit slower than Desire it seems.

If you have home contents insurance or mobile insurance you could use that to replace the squeeky clean handset?

Hmmm...I do have contents right enough.

Orange San Francisco / Monte Carlo is what you seek, I reckon.

If I claim on my contents insurance do I get humped on premiums like with a car?

Aye Cougar they seem good VFM, I guess my Q is would I find it frustrating tho

Coming from a Desire, possibly; for a few months though, does it matter?

Do you have any 'upgrade early' options from Orange? The more money you spend on O2, the earlier you can upgrade before the contract actually ends.

If it's just for a few months I might spend (& lose) less. I can upgrade early in May, but I'd prefer to let the contract run out - always get better deals after.

Hmmm my ins has no accidental damage cover, I guess in the 12 years I've prob not had it I'll have saved over the £173 Orange want for a new Desire...

Second hand desire? I'm at work so can't get on E-Bay to check prices but they were a really popular Android phone, been around for a while now so lots of people will be upgrading to the next latest greatest thing and be looking to get rid of them.

that does make sense and it seems £100 buys one...I just fancy trying something different, even if I end up going back...

cynic-al - Member
I just fancy trying something different, even if I end up going back...

The one before you?

What about the new Orange San Francisco? Or even the old one? They are great for the money.

cynic-al - Member
Aye Cougar they seem good VFM, I guess my Q is would I find it frustrating tho

Orange San Francisco FTW

orange SF if you like small screens, or montecarlo if you're an old git like me (also makes in-car GPS etc usage much easier)

they're pretty cheap, can be unlocked, have new OS shoved on and [b][i]everything[/i][/b]

(I don't think the camera's that great but I've never actually looked at any pics I take with it)

Claim on your house insurance, you'll end up being given the newest model which you can then sell on. Use the money to pay off your contract and pretend to kick-off about the poor service from the provider. They butter you up with a new phone and better contract and you still have a few hundred quid left over from the insurance replacement you sold. You then flog the broken phone to envirofone or whoever for another £100.

Poss not worth doing if your insurance company puts your premiums up - I've had loads out of mine over the years with no increase.

I have no accidental cover, Orange will only give me like for like, and they've been fine so I'm not going to pretend otherwise just to get some money out of them, that's unethical...

Well I looked around and got a Sony Live, £100 from Virgin, Android 2.3 and well faster than the Desire it replaces.

Screen is a bit wee but camera seems OK and otherwise it looks good, especially for the money.

I tried the Orange ones, the cameras were really slow, the cpus slow also.