New Phone Choice.......stuck on what...

[netn00b]

ok i am one of the very very few people, if not the only one who does not uppgrade their phone as often as they change their underwear 

my old sony ericsson w850i has been my constant companion for over 3 yrs......yes i can hear the sniggers in the background already....pipe down back there ! 

i've been an orange customer ever since i got a mobile phone....circa 1998 iirc.  i think i've probably had 3 phones in that entire time !!....again pipe down in the cheap seats please ! 

my first phone was the Nokia 'banana' phone, the nk502...aka The Matrix phone ! I have very fond memories of this phone...it was a bit of a fashion statement given 1998 and the other phones around at the time....

my next phone followed the above phone from Nokia....the original Orange WAP phone iirc? - the 7110. It had a neat little silver button on the back that you pushed and the front cover flipped down as it was spring loaded and would auto answer calls in this way   Again very neat.

my next phone afair is my current one mentioned above.

a few weeks ago i went into a local phone shop to get my father a new pay you go phone, cheap as possible.  the guy in the shop was very nice and got asking me about my phone. we got talking, i said i'd been with orange for yrs  he remembered the banana phone and was amazed that i'm on such an old old old orange plan.....never bothered upgrading it. its been a non plan for yrs now !

he phoned orange as i said i was deffo out of contract and would find out what i was eligible for....something about orange using a band of 1 to 5 for what you can have and for free as i did not want to pay money :p - he said 5 was sorta like u get something NASA would be proud of......he comes off the phone and looks amazed and says I am in Band 5 and what do i want cos i can have anything in the shop for nothing !

i wanted to take my time as they would expect me to sign up for a 24 month contract although they tried to say i'd get a free upgrade after 18 months. where as orange are 12 or 18 month contracts.

so i bought some magazine that had the Awards of the Year and had a good look online and came up with the choice being an :

HTC Hero - but i saw it in the flesh and thought it looked yuck...but i like the reviews and the android OS.

Otherwise it was a

LG BL40 Chocolate
iPhone - now its out on Orange but prob wont be free as a) apple and b) v popular
Satio - but seemed mainly aimed for the 12 megapixel camera and a camera is the least of my wants on a phone.

or wait til early 2010 and see what is coming out with the Andoid OS and the likes of Google Maps etc.

Any comments/opinions etc ?

[Glenn]

You'll need to wait for an Android 2 phone, for Google Maps I believe.

I've been with Orange for a good few years myself, I'm on an Orange Virgin plan. Like you, I don't change a phone very often, in fact I have only ever had 1 free upgrade.

[Sebby]

It has to be the iPhone. I got mine back in November (and in fact, it's the reason I switched to Mac recently). Honestly, it will be the best gadget you've owned. It still amazes me to this day.

[Lance]

I agree with sebby. I don't think it matters how you use your phone, whether it's just calls and text, or whether you would use the web and download every app going, the iPhone is the right phone!

It just makes things so easy to do and is so easy to use.

[Simon]

How many email addresses can you set up on an iPhone, and will it check them all at set intervals?

[Lance]

I've tried a quick google bu that didn't turn up a limit. As far as I know there isn't one.

As for frequency, you can have it every 15mins, 30mins, hourly or manually (being whenever you open the mail app).

[Simon]

OK, thanks Lance. 

[Rik]

I'd also go iPhone atm.

[talos]

You are not on your own having an old phone, my first was an analogue phone and it cost me an arm+leg, still got it somewhere.    Then they switched that system off, so I had to go digital, I went for another Nokia, don't know which model, but it just makes phone calls, and to be honest thats all I want a phone to do ,   I've got a PDA for appointments and a camera for photos and the idea of putting all that in one losable bundle horrifies me, so I guess I'll just have to lag behind

[Rik]

I didn't realise your backside was that cold, Bob.

[talos]

 

[Rik]

 

[netn00b]

cheers all.

i was/am tempted with an iPhone. i know people who have them swear by them although i understand you're a little more restricted in being able to do/add some things cos Apple tie u into them ?

from the little i have read in the past few weeks i am really liking the look of the Android OS.

Glenn : not sure what Android 2 is or what you mean about needing it for Google Maps ?

the HTC Hero that has won a variety of Phone of the Year Awards has Google Maps and Street Maps etc

i'm a bit the same Talos - i certainly do not want a phone as a camera  i am sure our digi camera will best any phone camera ?  however i would now like to be able to do a bit more on my phone for social networking.

i think i will probably end up waiting a couple of months and see what comes out....i believe Android OS is still relatively new and i've seen a review of a new motorola Dext android phone which meakes me think in a few months there will be lots more out there.....LG i read are coming out with their first Android phone to before Xmas.....

i weill check out the iPhone but i think for me it will end up costing cash as i do not want to pay over £30 a month. i was hoping to drop my bill to £25 in all honesty !

[Glenn]

netn00b The phone you looked at may already have Android 2 installed http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/352891/htc-hero-to-get-android-2-boost

[talos]

weill check out the iPhone but i think for me it will end up costing cash as i do not want to pay over £30 a month. i was hoping to drop my bill to £25 in all honesty !

PAYG it's what I use, you have control over costs

[netn00b]

happy with being on a contract tbh. never fancied pay as you go.

happy to hear from anyone with the

iPhone - esp the new 3gs
htc hero
lg chocolate bl40

for comments/reviews/features/ pros and cons etc

thanks