Help choosing a new phone please.

unholyangel

Hi,

Looking for a little bit of help choosing a new phone. I used to be up-to-date on which phones did what but as i've not taken an interest in the past 4-5 years, i'm pretty clueless now!

Although i would like the new iphone, i'm pretty stingy and refuse to spend £600 on a phone that i will probably hardly use (i have a ipod 32gb so it does quite a lot that a iphone would do).

I'm looking for one that i would be able to access emails as this is how i mainly communicate with friends from overseas. My old mobile used to get emails like text messages and i would prefer a handset that did this as opposed to having to check constantly.

I'd prefer one with at least a 3mp camera. Able to access facebook without relying on wifi (we dont have any wifi spots except mcdonalds!) would be a huge advantage. Not really looking to spend more than £200 but obviously looking to get the most for my money. I'd prefer a phone i wont have to replace after a year. Being able to read ebooks/pdf's would be advatage but as i said, i have an ipod so not a huge fault if it doesnt.

I quite like qwerty keyboards aswell for easy of emailing/texting. Touch screen would be pref. I'd prefer it on o2 or orange network but its not really a big deal either way - dont want another contract though.

I'm quite fussy so maybe my order is too tall. Any help or advice anyone could provide would be appreciated.

To give you an idea, i was looking at a few LG models (such as swift), HTC smart and xperia x10 mini.

I know i'm asking a lot so even if someone can confirm if these phones have the features i'm looking for? Or if they dont? Thanks

Oscar_The_Grouch

Hi there

The HTC Wildfire seems popular at the mo and you could get that for about £220 (sim free from Play or Amazon - I'm sure there's cheaper deals around). Lots of people on this forum have raved about how good it is.

If you were willing to pay more, you could get the HTC Desire (the closest thing to an iPhone killer there is) for under £400 or go for a refurbished phone. Carphone Warehouse are selling a refurbished Nokia N900 for £266, but the phone has had some really bad reviews - battery life is poor and the phone freezes.

Have you considered going for a Blackberry? The Curve 8520 is available, again from Play, for £199.99 sim free. It's going to do everything you want but only has a 2 meg camera.

The two main suggestions I'd make for you are:

Go sim free if possible - resale values are better and if you have problems with O2/Orange, you can switch to another network quickly and easily

Play with the phones - once you've got a list of 5 possible phones, go and have a play in your local phone shop. Pick your time carefully - perhaps 3pm on a week day when the staff have nothing to do and will be willing to spend an hour with you giving you details of the different phones.

All the best

9217niall

Nokia E71
Has wifi and you can use the internet if you have an internet add-on
Qwerty keypad and "receives emails like text messages"
3.2mp camera
Get some good deals on ebay between £80 and £150 depending on condition/network/colour/accessories etc
Just an idea. First one broke when I smashed the screen after dropping having only had it 8 months but I decided to buy the same again, they're brilliant.

bubblesmoney

look for any phone that can do push email as it is like recieving emails in sms style as mails get pushed to you as and when they arrive to the server.

see the total cost of the contract though. a contract would be a lot cheaper than PAYG. even if you had to break the contract it would still be cheaper. for example my total cost for 18m contract with 1100(xnet mins/text mix and match) with 300mins 3-3 plus 1gb internet including handset cost is 370£ for entire duration of the contract. most places charge more for the handset alone. so even if i broke the contract or used another sim from another network (mine is unlocked and unbranded phone) i would still be better off buying the phone on contract. so do the calculations for your needs and then decide. try out a few handsets but before trying them out read up about them online so that you know what to look for when you try them out in a shop.

best of luck.