San Francisco, unlocking and sims

beardiedog

This is my first smart phone and I'm a bit uncertain on how to go about setting it up on PAYG.

OK, first I know how to unlock it so that part I'm fine with (and I'll probably root it later when I get my head round that bit).

Now, it has £10 top-up included (which I haven't activated yet) but I would like to go with a cheaper provider, probably GiffGaff.

Once unlocked can I still apply the Orange top-up and then switch when this runs out or should I use it then unlock?

Also, I would ideally like to port my number over from Virgin. At what point is this best to do (before or after unlocking) as Orange offer £30 top-up when you port your number over to them?

Sorry if this has been covered before and for being a bit niaive. Hope someone can clarify things for me.

OneADay

I would have thought the £30 credit for porting a number to Orange would only be usable with Orange - so no point in doing that unless you are going to stick to Orange.

Maybe Orange can give the unlock code using the £10 credit as part payment for the unlock code?

Im_just_careful

Unlock is free, see http://sanfranciscoandroid.co.uk/ for details.

I found the PAYG deal with Orange was so poor compared with T-Mobile that I wouldn't bother porting your number to Orange at all. Pick your final provider and port to them instead.

myfairrlady

I have OSF on Giffgaff and I encourage you to root with a custom ROM it which will get rid of all the Orange apps which are not useful. The phone is awesome after root.

beardiedog

Im_just_careful wrote: »

Unlock is free, see http://sanfranciscoandroid.co.uk/ for details.

I found the PAYG deal with Orange was so poor compared with T-Mobile that I wouldn't bother porting your number to Orange at all. Pick your final provider and port to them instead.

Thanks for the link, I was just tempted by the extra £30.

beardiedog

myfairrlady wrote: »

I have OSF on Giffgaff and I encourage you to root with a custom ROM it which will get rid of all the Orange apps which are not useful. The phone is awesome after root.

Thanks, I think that's what I'll do. I might keep my old phone as a backup as I've still got some credit left. Maybe I could port it over to Giffgaff later or do I need to do this from the outset?

bingo_bango

Just to hijack this slightly, does anyone know if there is a difference between the grey OSF and the white OSF?

I know that the newer ones come with a TFT screen rather than the Amoled screen. Just wondering if one of these is a newer model and one older as I'd prefer to buy the Amoled version?

beardiedog

bingo_bango wrote: »

Just to hijack this slightly, does anyone know if there is a difference between the grey OSF and the white OSF?

I know that the newer ones come with a TFT screen rather than the Amoled screen. Just wondering if one of these is a newer model and one older as I'd prefer to buy the Amoled version?

As far as I know they're exactly the same. If you want one with an Amoled screen the only place to get one is probably eBay at a much inflated price.

bingo_bango

beardiedog wrote: »

As far as I know they're exactly the same. If you want one with an Amoled screen the only place to get one is probably eBay at a much inflated price.

Ties in with other info I have found. OH will just have to put up with TFT then!

Cheers.

beardiedog

bingo_bango wrote: »

Ties in with other info I have found. OH will just have to put up with TFT then!

Cheers.

Apart from a saving on battery power I doubt it will make that much difference to be honest.

T_T_2

The only difference between WHITE and GREY is that a white san francisco will almost certainly have a TFT screen whereas a grey san francisco could be OLED or TFT depending on when it was bought.

If you ever have a grey sf and you aren't sure then look in Settings>>About Phone>>Build and look for build B05 or B08.

B05 - OLED (OLE)
B08 - TFT (LCD)

Another thing to consider with a white version is that the finish of the phone is liable to flake off over time, so if you can't avoid a white one then at least get a suitable case for it.