HTC Desire - best deals I've found

daindian

i just sent my faulty desire back to them the sound when calling is playing up as well as the battery as it was an upgrade on t mobile i shpuld get my phone on tuesday

aaranj

Out of curiosity, to those of you who have received your Desire's from BuyMobilePhones.net, are the phones sim-locked? I know that some 3rd party retailers (like Carphone Warehouse) supply unlocked phones. Also, is the firmware branded (i.e T-Mobile start-up logo, pre-installed wallpapers, ringtones, ect, ect)?

daindian

Hi its firmware branded not sure if unlocked not tried yet but there are no t mobile wigets or anything if that helps now to get the galaxy s in exchange

aaranj

daindian wrote: »

Hi its firmware branded not sure if unlocked not tried yet but there are no t mobile wigets or anything if that helps now to get the galaxy s in exchange

How heavy is the branding? Is it significantly noticeable, compared to a factory-fresh model?

Thanks in advance.

daindian

Hi tbh i havnt noticed it doesnt show much as in you only know its t mobile because of the start up screen and the internet home page thats it nothing on the actual phone but im returning it software issues when making calls and also recieving them so helloe samsung galaxy s same tarrif etc 600 mins 500 texts unltd landline and net

zakwilcox

(I can't use links[0] so I've flagged where they were with [N] and stripped the "http" off.)

I spent a while today trying to justify the outlay for the Desire -- I'm an impoverished student so I felt I should do the research to get it cheap, or just not get it.

My search criteria were:

• the gorgeous handset, obviously
• >=300 mins (an upper limit; I'm an antisocial git)
• >=100 texts (might go up if texting on the Desire is less fiddly than on a "feature phone")
• as little extra in the way of minutes and texts as possible -- I won't use them so they're worth nothing
• 500MB data allowance (never owned a smartphone, but that's plenty, apparently[1])
• preferably avoid cashback mobile companies and middlemen (don't think they're worth it -- got bitten once by some atrocious customer service ending up £40 out of pocket for a mistake on their part; I couldn't prove I'd cancelled an incorrect order)
• preferably avoid long-term contracts (>12 months)
• preferably avoid provider-locked and provider-branded phones (sure, I could probably get a code or visit a geezer, and I've debranded my own phones before, but I'd rather just have it unadulterated in the first place)
• for less than the best offerings of the Big Four (Orange, O2, Vodaphone, T-Mobile) which are approximately £??OutOfStock, £750(!), £720 and £720 over 24 months, respectively

What I ended up buying:

• SIM-unlocked HTC Desire from PixMania[2]: £380 list price, £6.60 delivery; total £386.60; £378.60 using the voucher code from TopCashback[3], and this should come down to £367.20 with the (presumably) 3% cashback
• O2 Simplicity Smartphone 12 months[4] with the (Top)cashback deal[5] much-mentioned in this thread

Total price, assuming cashback works (probably will) and that I don't use a similar contract cashback offer when it ends (probably will), should be 367.20 + (15 * 24) - 100 = £627.20/24 months, or £26.13/month.

Not too shabby, but what surprised me is that even without the Simplicity cashback deal (i.e. at £727.20/24 months, or £30.30/month) this beats the locked-branded-phone offering of O2, and is only marginally worse than the other providers. I didn't think that'd happen even with the paltry 300 minutes I use. Perhaps that's the point -- networks know many customers won't use the minutes but also won't bother doing the research to cost the raw component bundle.

One deal-sweetener for me was the O2 "unlimited UK WiFi" of Simplicity for Smartphones. I'd ignored it at first thinking they were trying to claim that the standard ability to use WiFi was an O2 feature, but actually it's the TheCloud / OpenZone access I always see from my laptop (especially on rail journeys) but never use. It'll be nice to be able to use it.

I've since accidentally found that ComEuro do the Desire slightly cheaper[6] (even after PixMania's cashback/vouchers) when I stumbled across The H's price comparison[7]. I'd never heard of "The H" nor ComEuro before -- I just found PixMania in my first price comparison, clearly forgetting the golden rule of comparing the comparators I'm going to let my PixMania order stand, though, because:

• ComEuro are an unknown entity to me whilst I've dealt with PixMania before on big, expensive items (not that trust should matter with credit card protection, but still)
• the difference is only £3.04 because ComEuro's shipping is more expensive

Whew. Hope this massively overgrown post helps somebody!

Zak

[0] Sorry for the footnote links, but "as a new user [I am] not allowed to post with links". I appreciate there's a spam problem, but couldn't the forum have warned me before I started writing? Would a moderator be kind enough to de-spam-flag me, or do I have to meet some post threshold?

[1] macformat.techradar.com/blog/iphone-data-usage-survey-results-15-06-10

[2] pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/4902846/art/htc/desire.html

[3] topcashback.co.uk/Pixmania/discountcodes

[4] shop.o2.co.uk/tariffs/simplicity/smartphone/12_months

[5] topcashback.co.uk/o2/

[6] You'll need to add the "www" back on to this one else it gives you a 404: comeuro.net/webshop/product.php?productid=74208&cat=0&page=1

[7] h-online.com/priceinsight/a521379.html

loser40

zakwilcox wrote: »

(I can't use links[0] so I've flagged where they were with [N] and stripped the "http" off.)

I spent a while today trying to justify the outlay for the Desire -- I'm an impoverished student so I felt I should do the research to get it cheap, or just not get it.

My search criteria were:

• the gorgeous handset, obviously
• >=300 mins (an upper limit; I'm an antisocial git)
• >=100 texts (might go up if texting on the Desire is less fiddly than on a "feature phone")
• as little extra in the way of minutes and texts as possible -- I won't use them so they're worth nothing
• 500MB data allowance (never owned a smartphone, but that's plenty, apparently[1])
• preferably avoid cashback mobile companies and middlemen (don't think they're worth it -- got bitten once by some atrocious customer service ending up £40 out of pocket for a mistake on their part; I couldn't prove I'd cancelled an incorrect order)
• preferably avoid long-term contracts (>12 months)
• preferably avoid provider-locked and provider-branded phones (sure, I could probably get a code or visit a geezer, and I've debranded my own phones before, but I'd rather just have it unadulterated in the first place)
• for less than the best offerings of the Big Four (Orange, O2, Vodaphone, T-Mobile) which are approximately £??OutOfStock, £750(!), £720 and £720 over 24 months, respectively

What I ended up buying:

• SIM-unlocked HTC Desire from PixMania[2]: £380 list price, £6.60 delivery; total £386.60; £378.60 using the voucher code from TopCashback[3], and this should come down to £367.20 with the (presumably) 3% cashback
• O2 Simplicity Smartphone 12 months[4] with the (Top)cashback deal[5] much-mentioned in this thread

Total price, assuming cashback works (probably will) and that I don't use a similar contract cashback offer when it ends (probably will), should be 367.20 + (15 * 24) - 100 = £627.20/24 months, or £26.13/month.

Not too shabby, but what surprised me is that even without the Simplicity cashback deal (i.e. at £727.20/24 months, or £30.30/month) this beats the locked-branded-phone offering of O2, and is only marginally worse than the other providers. I didn't think that'd happen even with the paltry 300 minutes I use. Perhaps that's the point -- networks know many customers won't use the minutes but also won't bother doing the research to cost the raw component bundle.

One deal-sweetener for me was the O2 "unlimited UK WiFi" of Simplicity for Smartphones. I'd ignored it at first thinking they were trying to claim that the standard ability to use WiFi was an O2 feature, but actually it's the TheCloud / OpenZone access I always see from my laptop (especially on rail journeys) but never use. It'll be nice to be able to use it.

I've since accidentally found that ComEuro do the Desire slightly cheaper[6] (even after PixMania's cashback/vouchers) when I stumbled across The H's price comparison[7]. I'd never heard of "The H" nor ComEuro before -- I just found PixMania in my first price comparison, clearly forgetting the golden rule of comparing the comparators I'm going to let my PixMania order stand, though, because:

• ComEuro are an unknown entity to me whilst I've dealt with PixMania before on big, expensive items (not that trust should matter with credit card protection, but still)
• the difference is only £3.04 because ComEuro's shipping is more expensive

Whew. Hope this massively overgrown post helps somebody!

Zak

[0] Sorry for the footnote links, but "as a new user [I am] not allowed to post with links". I appreciate there's a spam problem, but couldn't the forum have warned me before I started writing? Would a moderator be kind enough to de-spam-flag me, or do I have to meet some post threshold?

[1] macformat.techradar.com/blog/iphone-data-usage-survey-results-15-06-10

[2] pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/4902846/art/htc/desire.html

[3] topcashback.co.uk/Pixmania/discountcodes

[4] shop.o2.co.uk/tariffs/simplicity/smartphone/12_months

[5] topcashback.co.uk/o2/

[6] You'll need to add the "www" back on to this one else it gives you a 404: comeuro.net/webshop/product.php?productid=74208&cat=0&page=1

[7] h-online.com/priceinsight/a521379.html

£627 for 24 months, well you pays your money and take your choice - but many reseller deals over 24 months work out around £200 cheaper overall.

M.

loser40

CORRECTION....

£627 for 12 months, well you pays your money and take your choice - but many reseller deals over 12 months work out around £100 cheaper overall.

M.

RockOnZombies

Hi Guys,

Been looking at a HTC Desire from mobiles.co.uk does this seem like a good deal.

300mins, unltd texts and 500mb mobile internet. On a Orange Dolphin 25 contract 24 months long. It says 15 months half price line rental by redemption (do these things actually work) and £50 from quidco making effective cost somewhere between £12 and £15 a month. Obviously I can afford the £25 a month normal price if the redemption thing doesnt work.

cheers
R.O.Z

twe

I hate redemptions, always stay away unless its automatic...