HTC Wildfire - advice

sb12

Hi all, been looking for a smart phone on a budget.

Saw the HTC Wildfire was available at my price range of £20 a month with 100mins (don't do much talking), unlimited texts and 500Mb of internet, with a cashback deal.

Just a few questions:

1. Any recommendations for the phone?
2. How reliable are these cashback deals?
3. Any retailers to avoid/recommend?
4. What's the feedback on Mobiles.co.uk?

maxtweenie

Can't tell you about the cashback deals but you won't be disappointed with the phone. It's a budget version of the Desire but only because it has a smaller screen and a slower processor. My neighbour loves hers.

bubblesmoney

see on the other smartphone threads. for 20£ a month you could get the samsung galaxy s with better minutes etc from what others have posted. so you can get a better phone and minutes for the same price unless this is the phone you want.

sb12

Would the 500Mb be enough for a month for a phone like this?

Basically I've no idea as this is the first 'serious' phone I've looked at purchasing. Been on PAYG for so long that I should spoil myself and enjoy a bit of the technology that's available.

With regard to the Samsung, my g/f has had a few Samsungs and nearly all of them gave up from one fault or another. So I wasn't soo sure about build quality and durability.

bubblesmoney

you would need to seriously control the synching and updates etc to wifi mainly and use the data on 3g for things you actually need on the go, otherwise you can easily surpass the 500mb limit. also you need to make sure that you switch back to wifi after getting home.

i cross 500mb a month on one month but just a bit under in the other month. but i use about one gb of data a month while on wifi and switch off synching while not on wifi. if you have one laptop at home and two people sharing it, then you will find that it is more likely you will surf the net at home too on the phone if the other person is using the home computer / laptop etc. so you need to make sure you use the wifi when at home, if you forget to switch to wifi then you will get big data bills.

make sure you use apps like netcounter or 3gwatchdog to monitor your data use daily. also use toggles preinstalled by htc on the phones if you buy a htc phone for controlling data usage or install apps from the market like apndroid etc which others have recommended. also use opera browser that compresses and decreases your data usage. i dont use it much as i use the stock browser, but i keep an eye on the data usage regularly.

if you use spotify on 3g then you will cross 500mb in about 12hours of spotify use on 3g! so watch your usage of video streaming and music streaming etc. same applies for googleearth / maps / navigation etc. if pricing is the same then get the 3gb limit available on tmobile for android phones when bought direct from them or sometimes possible when bought through resellers too.

Snakeeyes21

If you buy from tmobile you can get 600 mins, unlimited texts and 3gb of internet for the same price.
http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/pay-monthly/htc-wildfire/pay-monthly-20-24m/extras/

Sput2001

I got a Wildfire last week. It's a great phone. Battery life isn't great, but I think that's pretty typical of all smartphones.

I've never had a problem with cashback deals (through OneStopPhoneShop & e2save) but make sure you follow the instructions they give you TO THE LETTER, and check with the supplier asap if there's anything you don't understand.

I've got unlimited (subject to the 3Gb fair use allowance) internet on mine, although I'm not a huge user.

iamadave

I got mine last week after waiting for it to finally come out, I have played with desire before and can hardly notice any speed difference.
Battery is bit poor but with a couple of apps you can kill tasks, alter updates, use wifi sparingly etc to improve it.

I got the phone on a 12month without any problems (i usually get 12 months after bit of haggling) but with the handset being £150 odd cheaper than desires should be more easy to come by.

sb12

Well the deal I've seen is on a 24 month contract on Orange with 100mins Anytime/X-Network, Unlimited txts, push email, 500Mb of data.

Cashback by redemption - 13 months FREE, with Mobiles.co.uk

Just want reassurance the phone is good, the deal is good, and that the company are reliable with the cashback.

timbouk

sb12 wrote: »

Well the deal I've seen is on a 24 month contract on Orange with 100mins Anytime/X-Network, Unlimited txts, push email, 500Mb of data.

Cashback by redemption - 13 months FREE, with Mobiles.co.uk

Just want reassurance the phone is good, the deal is good, and that the company are reliable with the cashback.

I got a deal through them last year, had 2 cashbacks so far. You can even email a PDF version of your bill to them! Email stating they have received, then one saying processed, then one saying successfull, then one saying cheque requested. 4 weeks later a cheque arrives from Carphone Warehouse (owners)

No complaints, other than customer service can be slow to respond sometimes. I would recommend them.

If you know anyone who has used them before, they can send you a special link which will generate them a cheque for £40 too. I recommended my wife for an X10mini on T-Mobile, got an email within 10 minutes saying I had qualified for the cheque

(And before anyone says anything, I am not requesting sb12 contacts me for the link )

I would also look over the X10 mini too, tiny (but surprisingly beautiful) has a 2.2" screen thats the same (lower than "normal" Android) resolution, BUT its capacitive touch rather than resistive (more sensitive, like iphones) X10 mini currently on an older version of Android, but is supposed to be updated later this year.

sb12

Seen another deal with dialaphone - same question as before, are they reliable for cashback deals?