Spot Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Hi All, My moby (Sony Ericsson W995) is on the blink and it looks like i'm going to have to get a new one. A quick glance around the shops this lunchtime reveals they seem to be heavily pushing smart phones with contracts. Although I like my gadgets I still don't see the point of a smart phone. I'm not a heavy phone user and ditched my contract a few years ago and have been happily Pay As You Go since. All i'm looking for is a physically small phone that has a good MP3 music facility (so ideally will have memory expandable to at least 16Gb). A decent built in Camera would be a bonus but not a deal breaker. Got any recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Fur Q Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 I could not recommend more that you avoid the iPhone 4, it's awful - I'm counting down the days until I can change mine for something that can make calls reliably. iPhone 4 Review Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikthe20 Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 I know you said no smart phones but I think the Orange San Francisco is an incredible bargain and can be used on PAYG. It's only £70 (no contract) from Orange if you call them and have an existing Orange SIM, or can be bought from Argos etc for £90-£100 and can be unlocked for free to work with other networks. Runs Android, nice screen, syncs with your PC and has a decent music player with album art. Camera is only 3.2MP though and battery life is not great. I thought the same as the OP when it comes to not needing a smart phone, but got this and can't believe how many great and free and genuinely useful apps there are. Makes phone calls too! Stunning bit of kit for the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkman Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 I know you said no smart phones but I think the Orange San Francisco is an incredible bargain and can be used on PAYG. It's only £70 (no contract) from Orange if you call them and have an existing Orange SIM, or can be bought from Argos etc for £90-£100 and can be unlocked for free to work with other networks. Runs Android, nice screen, syncs with your PC and has a decent music player with album art. Camera is only 3.2MP though and battery life is not great. I thought the same as the OP when it comes to not needing a smart phone, but got this and can't believe how many great and free and genuinely useful apps there are. Makes phone calls too! Stunning bit of kit for the money. When these smartphones say they have sat nav, is that a GPS pay as you go thing, or free to use once you buy the phone like a car sat nav? And do you need a monthly plan to use the internet, or can that be pay as you go too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikthe20 Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 When these smartphones say they have sat nav, is that a GPS pay as you go thing, or free to use once you buy the phone like a car sat nav? And do you need a monthly plan to use the internet, or can that be pay as you go too? Proper SatNav with GPS, and free like a car SatNav. PAYG can do Internet too but watch out for pricing and check with your network as it can get spendy if you use the Internet a lot on the phone. Fine for occasional use though. GiffGaff do 250 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited Internet for £10 a month and can cancel at any time so not tied in. HTH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkman Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 I won't be able to resist getting a smartphone for much longer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikhail Liebenstein Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I won't be able to resist getting a smartphone for much longer I've got a Samsung Omnia 7 which uses the Windows Phone 7 OS. The battery life is good as it uses a super Amoled screen plus the interface is easy to use. I've had previous Blackberries (good), iPhone (not great for business), Nokias (great), and Windows Mobiles (yuck), but actually the new Windows Phone OS is far superior to all of these. A lot of people do seem to be opting for Android, but I am sure this is more to do with the commissions being pushed in the phone shops, also I wouldn't support Android for business users, as it is too easy for people to load rogue applications that steal data. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Orange San Francisco or HTC Wildfire which you can buy unlocked from somewhere like Phones 4 U and then get the giff gaff tenner a month bag or bucket, or whatever they call it, PAYG. That is my plan as it removes you from expensive tied in contracts and you basically have a decent phone but not a rip-off price phone. If you go to hotukdeals you will regularly see posted the best deals on the above 2 phones. As much as I would love the latest HTC or Samsung phones I am no longer prepared to pay 30 or 40 quid a month and be tied into 18 month contracts. My last phone, which is now a year out of contract, was state of the art when I bought it but by the time the 18 months was up it was a pile of cr*p. I am now paying 35 a month for rubbish. I am just holding out to see what the new EU rules do - contracts of 18 months maximum are now only allowed in the EU as of this month - to the price and length of mobile phone contracts. I suspect the prices will go up. Bottom line, mobo phones are a huge rip-off in this country. 500 or 600 for a handset is a con. I see the new Samsung Sii is only £400 - ONLY £400. State of the art mobos should be £200 maximum. Rant over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkman Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I wonder if any of these GPS phones have USA maps as well as UK? Maybe you have to download them as extras.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Bart' Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 GiffGaff do 250 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited Internet for £10 a month and can cancel at any time so not tied in. Oddly enough I ordered a GiffGaff sim yesterday and that's the the plan I'm after. (Note to the OP, they use the O2 network.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Bart' Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I wonder if any of these GPS phones have USA maps as well as UK? Maybe you have to download them as extras.... You can get navigation software like Co-Pilot which will have maps for different countries. Not sure if there are any free options as I don't have a smartphone (yet). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libspero Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Hi All, My moby (Sony Ericsson W995) is on the blink and it looks like i'm going to have to get a new one. Got any recommendations? Glad you bought this one up.. I'm also looking for a phone for my other half. Wish list (by importance): Battery life Reliability Simple to use Camera Under £150 (pref under £100) non-contract Non-smart phone Any advise.. appreciated. I was originally thinking Nokia, but I'm not sure they are good on reliability any more. Would a Sony /Samsung be better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Bart' Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Bottom line, mobo phones are a huge rip-off in this country. 500 or 600 for a handset is a con. I see the new Samsung Sii is only £400 - ONLY £400. State of the art mobos should be £200 maximum. HTC Inspire (a HTC Desire variant) is $449.99 PAYG in the US or £272. You can pick up the Desire for under £250 PAYG in various places in the UK. True the Inspire is 4G but it's often hard to find the same phone being sold under the same name in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I wonder if any of these GPS phones have USA maps as well as UK? Maybe you have to download them as extras.... Yes, you can buy CoPilot and just buy regional maps or why not use Google maps? MS have their own version also. I have all 3 on my phone and Google maps is so good I would not bother with CoPilot again unless I needed a car sat nav. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R K Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 If you've paid more than £50 for a phone and £5 a month for a contract you're a victim. If you need Sat Nav to find anywhere in the UK you're an imbecile. hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 If you've paid more than £50 for a phone and £5 a month for a contract you're a victim. If you need Sat Nav to find anywhere in the UK you're an imbecile. hope that helps. Awaits all the iPhonanists who claim they pay £4.99 a month and buttons for their handset. I am an imbecile so its not surprising I am victim. I am a fan of HTC's Android phones although they probably don't fit the OP's requirements. Looking forward to porting to giffgaff to save a life changing £10 a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spot Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 If you've paid more than £50 for a phone and £5 a month for a contract you're a victim. If you need Sat Nav to find anywhere in the UK you're an imbecile. hope that helps. Nope. No help whatsoever. I was really hoping for someone to say, "hey, have a look at the [insert make and model here]. It's small, simple, has mp3 facility makes good quality phone calls and is cheap". Only asking as when I looked at the usual phone shop websites I didn't see a lot that fitted that criteria, ie: it was mainly smart phones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spot Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 You're point about satnav is poignant and spectacularly true. Mr. Fury - Did you ever get a PRS Prism ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spot Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 No, I got a Custom 24 in Whale Blue. Best thing I've ever had my hands on. Had it about 10 months now. I wanted a Prism so badly, but decided against it in the end. An excellent choice of guitar sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Windows Phone 7 – Microsoft, Nokia and the Fish People http://www.hecticshoot.com/2011/04/21/windows-phone-7-%E2%80%93-microsoft-nokia-and-the-fish-people/ Does Steve Ballmer ‘get’ the Windows Phone 7? http://www.hecticshoot.com/2011/03/30/does-steve-ballmer-%E2%80%98get%E2%80%99-the-windows-phone-7/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmic Apple Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Thought I might see a few giffgaffers here! Highly recommend them, £10 a month, no contract, O2 network so good signal... no hassles (so far). HTC Desire for me, tho really I don't use half the features I could but its nice for Email, IM, Satnav, Music etc. Most of our office have them, many friends and a few family all on HTC Desires. Pretty much made my netbook redundant for communicating online while watching TV/reading, just use the phone instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skirmish Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Likewise, my Iphone 3gs. It's slow, unresponsive and about as reliable as Baldrick in a crisis. However, I feel a bit trapped to apple because of the mountains I have spent on (very good) apps, so when the Iphone 5 comes out this summer, I guess I'll consider it in the vain hope that it's not a pile of shit. My other half has just taken out a contract with Tesco Mobile. £10/month, 100 mins calls, 5000 (yes your read that right) texts/month and 1Gb internet data/month. Tesco use the O2 network as they are 50% owned by them. The phone which she had to pay £50 for is a Sony Xperia X8 and is rather nice. Me, I'm on Orange paying £15/month which gets me all the usual stuff and also home broadband. I got a HTC Mozart phone on Windows and I love it. Really nice interface and a doddle to use. If it went wrong though I'd be after one of those San Fransisco's though as they are real bargain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libspero Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 If you've paid more than £50 for a phone and £5 a month for a contract you're a victim. If you need Sat Nav to find anywhere in the UK you're an imbecile. hope that helps. Funny! I was really hoping for someone to say, "hey, have a look at the [insert make and model here]. It's small, simple, has mp3 facility makes good quality phone calls and is cheap". Me too.. I'm going to do some research into reasonable quality non-smart phones. I'll let you know what I discover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Bart' Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 I'm going to do some research into reasonable quality non-smart phones. I'll let you know what I discover. From my brief research it seems that while there are still many non-smartphone devices out there, the phones with really good cameras are the higher end ones. Attached is an image taken by the new Samsung Galaxy S II (not by me I hasten to add). I've adjusted Levels and applied a small amount of Unsharp Mask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libspero Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 From my brief research it seems that while there are still many non-smartphone devices out there, the phones with really good cameras are the higher end ones. Agreed.. the non-smart phones seem to have pretty low spec cameras. Not sure whether it helps the OP or not but I have chosen the Samsung Tocco Icon Review Comes in at around £80, gets good reviews and having used Samsung in the past expect it to be pretty reliable (when not dunked in water). I realise this does make me a "victim" Spec: 3.15 megapixel camera with 2x digital zoom [no flash / no auto-focus] Capacitive Touch Screen Display: TFT, 262K colours, 240 x 400 pixels (3.0 inches) Music player (MP3/AAC/AAC+/AAC++/WMA formats) Stereo FM radio RDS 64-voice polyphonic ringtones / MP3 ringtones Integrated handsfree speakerphone Memory: 30MB plus MicroSD memory card slot (up to 16GB) Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, USB 2.0, 3.5mm audio jack WAP 2.0, GPRS Class 10, EDGE Quadband GSM Size: 108 x 54 x 13 mm Weight: 94g Talktime: 8.3 hours Battery standby: 900 hours Side Note: If you don't want to be a victim, the Tocco Lite is about £45 and is similar to the above but with resistive touch screen instead of capacitive, no 3.5mm jack for head phones and no WiFi. Reviewed here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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