VAT free disabiliy aids

50Twuncle

I am looking for a particular model of mobile phone (a Nokia e7) to support me in my communication disability (virtually no speech) - and see that http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000184&propertyType=document#P23_1059)
appears to imply that computer systems are rated as VAT free for certain disabilities ....
Does this cover this mobile phone (which costs almost £500 - so would save me almost £80)

Lum

I looked into this quite recently for my partner, she has ME/Fibro and most nights (and on bad days) will reach a point where she can't parse or form verbal sentences, so if we're not at our computers then the mobile phones get used.

It turns out that mobile phones come under "Other equipment and appliances designed solely for use by disabled people". In the case of a phone for someone with a speech or hearing disability this would have to be a dedicated textphone, rather than a general purpose smartphone that just happens to have a nice keyboard, so unfortunately you wouldn't be able to get it VAT free.

Out of interest, why are you buying a Symbian phone in 2012? Especially for £500! Symbian is pretty much a dead phone OS, even Nokia have all but abandoned it in favour of Windows Phone 7. You might also wish to consider some Android phones such as the Sony Xperia Pro, HTC Desire Z or the upcoming Motorola Milestone 4. There's also fancy cases for the iPhone that give it a slider keyboard, but this is likely going to be very expensive.

The HTC Desire Z is available second hand, unlocked, from Computer Exchange for under £200. I have one and the keyboard is fantastic, though I will be upgrading to a Milestone 4 as soon as it's available.

Edit: The Google Text-to-Speech engine is actually really good and this free app apparently lets you use it to dictate your writing to people who don't speak sign language. I'm guessing this is the kind of thing you'd like the phone for?

50Twuncle

The reason why I thought of this phone was pure and simple
I have always had Nokias from the original 9000i, through 9110 to 9300 and finally the E90 - So yes I am willing to consider a change
The Motorola looks good - but will it be available in the UK ?
And How much ?

shays_mum

I have similar fibro problems as well, so this phone seems ideal thx .
I actually like to feel my text keyboard & the android touchscreen just does not cut it!

Lum

21Twinkle wrote: »

The reason why I thought of this phone was pure and simple
I have always had Nokias from the original 9000i, through 9110 to 9300 and finally the E90 - So yes I am willing to consider a change
The Motorola looks good - but will it be available in the UK ?
And How much ?

I'm the same, only I started with a Nokia 9110i, had a 9210i, 9500, 9300i, missed the E90 but my partner has one, then I got an N97 (crap) and an N900 (nice, but the OS was an experiment at best and is now pretty much a dead end.)

Unfortunately Nokia has stopped development on the Symbian OS which the majority of the above phones use, and have switched to Windows Phone 7 which I'm not keen on. Taking a look at the phone market it's clear that all the app development is now centred around iOS devices (iPhone, iPad etc.) and Android devices. Blackberry and Symbian are dying. Windows Phone may still do well, but it remains to be seen at this point. They may be too late into the game. Go for a Windows phone if you wish (and there are some nice keyboard phones from Nokia running Windows) but spending £500 on a Symbian phone just seems like a waste of money to me.

Not wanting to give up my keyboard, and not wanting to pay Apple prices, Android was the only sensible choice for me and at the time the Desire Z offered the best keyboard. It's much much better than the N97 keyboard and that E7 seems to be using the same keyboard. Definitely try before you buy but I found that type of keyboard to be horrible to use. The HTC one actually has a nice click action to the keys.

The Motorola phone does look like it has a fantastic keyboard, possibly equalling the E90 for it's great keyboard, but as you say, no idea when it's coming out. I'm currently keeping an eye on the custom/leaked ICS ROMs for the US version of the Motorola (known as the Droid 4) since these unlock the phone and add GSM/3G support, however I fully accept that this route is not one that most people would want to go down and would not recommend it to you unless you're a geek like me!

If you're unsure about the OS, go into a mobile phone shop and have a play with any HTC Android phone that is running "Gingerbread". Sure it wont have a keyboard but the rest of the OS will be the same, so you can have a fiddle and see what you think about it.

50Twuncle

I am also considering the HTC ONE X

Lum

Nice phone, but no hardware keyboard. Is a hardware keyboard not a requirement for you? I kind of figured it would be given your previous phone history

Samsung S3 might also be worth considering in that case.

50Twuncle

I have ordered a Nokia E7 from DABS at a reasonable £393
Before you say "why order such an old OS" - I know that Symbian may be a little outdated (even "Belle" ?) - but I am used to it and the phone does everything that I want - and more.....

Lum

You're ordering it while fully aware of the OS age, so why would I point it out again?

Enjoy your new phone.

50Twuncle

I am going to have to think again - I ordered an E7 from dabs on Friday and received an email from them this morning, informing me that the phone has been discontinued (which I can't understand - it has only been available for 12 months in the UK) !!

Lum

You might still be able to get it from other places, or indeed get it second hand from CEX.

The market for phones does move fast these days, seems like there's a new phone out every 3 or 4 months, so it's not really surprising to me that a year old phone is no-longer available.