Advice on buying HTC Desire

sshnuke

I am currently with O2 /CPW and due for an upgrade.

I wondered if it was worth...

- Getting a cheap contract with a Wildfire included.
- Selling the Wildfire on eBay for £180ish.
- Buying a Desire for £290ish on eBay.

Seems like a long way round but it could end up saving me about £100 on the best sim free deals I've been looking at which are mainly 300mins & unlimited data with TMobile & O2.

TMobile - 300 mins 300 texts & unlimited internet
£15 x 24mths = £360
TMobile Wildfire = £75
= £430

- Wildfire @ £180
+ HTC Desire @ £290

£545 or £18 p/m

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/pay-monthly/htc-wildfire/mobile-tariffs/

or

TMobile Carphone Warehouse - 300 mins & unlimited internet
£15 x 24mths = £360
TMobile Wildfire = £99
= £459

- Wildfire @ £180
+ HTC Desire @ £290

= £569 or 19 per month

(Will try and find link for this offer)

This is ample mins\text\data for me and I can just about put up with the 24month tie-in.

Hope that makes sense.

Any thoughts on this convoluted but possibly money saving approach would be much appreciated?

maxtweenie

You should also factor in that buying directly from T-mobile will give you the unlimited internet as a booster, allowing you to upgrade either calls or texts to unlimited. I use more calls than texts so I have unlimited landlines as my booster, which still gives me 300 mobile minutes as well. Also, you can swap between unlimited calls and texts each month if you want to.

You won't get that from CPW.

330d

And if you buy direct from t-mobile, you will have a 3GB limit rather than 1GB.

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

My advice about buying a Desire is don't buy one. Get a Nexus One instead. Much more flexible. Especially of you Root it with a custom ROM. My other advice is buy a phone SIM free the you can choose who you take airtime with and cancel quickly should they not be any good.

lozzaman

The positive about buying an Android phone directly from T-Mobile is the 3GB internet included, with a separate booster included in the tarrif. It's just a shame they put the handset price up so much.
Don't forget Topcashback if you do buy direct though - £80 according to this

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

I would never get a handset and airtime "contract" now. I would always go for the SIM free handset purchased outright upfront or on a 0% credit card and then take a SIM only airtime agreement of 30 days. You can then up sticks if you need to. Otherwise you are saddled with a commitment.

sshnuke

Thanks for taking the time to read through my post.

You are all spot on with your comments. T-Mobile does have a better plan but I'm also used to the flexibilty of an unlocked handset. I guess the cost of unlocking the handset can be outweighed by any savings I make with T-Mobile.

When I spoke to T-Mobile they said this particular plan was 1GB but I shouldn't worry about usage as I'd have to use loads to go over my limit and that T-Moblie rarely cap users. CPW confirmed it was only 512mb.

Sorry... forgot to mention something quite important. I make quite a few international texts - 10p per text and I spend about £2-3 per month on this. T-Moblie charge 20p per internationl text so this cost would double.


Flock: Thanks for the advice about the Nexus One. I've done a bit of research and I think I'll most likely be sticking with the HTC Desire.

lozzaman

All Android phones direct with T-Mobile come with 3GB internet allowance (Web n Walk Plus) and you get to select a separate booster. It's in the terms online. The thing they don't mention is the 3GB internet with Android phones is uncapped and I get around 1.5Mbps. The 1GB booster (Web n Walk Standard) is capped at 384Kbps. This is unfortunate as it makes their SIM only propositions less attractive, for those in the know.

CPW would use the standard booster, so you wouldn't get to pick unlimited texts or whatever as well. Hence my advice about going direct.
International texts - take a look at using Fishtext over the phones data connection. Fishtext will charge 1p-2p per text and T-Mobile won't get any of that. They look like they've been sent from your phone (sender ID wise)

The HTC Desire is a fabulous phone by the way and T-Mobile don't have too many annoying customizations.

lozzaman

A_Flock_Of_Sheep wrote: »

I would never get a handset and airtime "contract" now. I would always go for the SIM free handset purchased outright upfront or on a 0% credit card and then take a SIM only airtime agreement of 30 days. You can then up sticks if you need to. Otherwise you are saddled with a commitment.

I was going to do just that. But then the cost of my Desire on T-Mobile direct was a lot cheaper than SIM free and with a SIM only deal.
The total contract commitment was only about £10 more than the phone retailed SIM free at the time.

sshnuke

Thanks Lozzaman!

Just to make sure I've got it right...

T-Mobile + Android Phone = Web n Walk Plus 3gB - 1.5Mbps approx

T-Moblile + Sim only contact = Web n Walk Standard 1GB - Capped at 384Kbps.

That's thrown a little spanner in my works so will have go back to the drawing board and have another look. I have a need for speed.

Thanks for the heads up on Fishtext. Will check that out as well.

Yes.. the HTC Desire is indeed a fab little phone. I'm a creature of habit and like Flock and yourself in the past I tend to go for the SIM only route as well. I'm still not decided yet. I'm hoping there'll be a price drop in plans/phones in the next few weeks or so.

Thanks again.

unluckymike

maxtweenie wrote: »

You should also factor in that buying directly from T-mobile will give you the unlimited internet as a booster, allowing you to upgrade either calls or texts to unlimited. I use more calls than texts so I have unlimited landlines as my booster, which still gives me 300 mobile minutes as well. Also, you can swap between unlimited calls and texts each month if you want to.

You won't get that from CPW.

As a previous T-Mobile Technical Operator thats not strictly true on that. You can get your phone from CPW and speak to T-Mobile customer service on 150 or go online and add your booster on their for calls/texts/internet.

Only difference is you will end up with a sim-free handset from CPW with no potential network software on it which I find can cause problems.

I have one but I change my phone every 3 months.

24 month contracts are a little too long for my liking. Stick with 18 and pay more just incase it doesn't work out.