Mobile Phones. Guh :|

[nath]

Ello,

My contract has just expired and I'm looking to renew and get a new phone. I've checked the orange shop site and there's far too many to know what's good so I figure there may be some people on here who know a bit about what's decent.

I'm actually happy with the phone I've got now (SPV M3100, brick of a phone, but great for what I need), but I need to replace my business phone which is Orange PAYG - I figure I may as well use my contract renewal to do this. I just need something light/slim, decent battery life and no fancy shite. I was thinking the Nokia 6500 classic would be perfect, but my dad has just got that and the battery lasts about 2 days at best which is pretty weak.

So anyone know of any decent robust phones out at the mo? The ability to sync my calendar with outlook would be a bonus, but preferably without having to use any incredibly shit software - such as Nokias.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Yaka]

starman uis wanking over some new wm6 based sony phone, wait till he zeros in on this thread

 

[nath]

Those ones tend to be a little chunky though, WM6 would be great as I've got activesync running for my other phone, but I need something more petite for this one. Also, I've been with orange for some time so price shouldn't be an issue, I should be able to get pretty much any top end on this contract free.

 

[Edmond]

I'm in the same position, i have had my Sony Ericson w810i for about 2 years and i love it, but the camera has stopped working on it and they dont do it anymore. i went to the vodafone shop yesterday just to see what was available, as i haven't bothered keeping up with the new phones that are out

First of all the guy starts with the 'what are you looking for in the phone', so i tell him that i dont care about the music player or internet element side of things, as i have a iPod and have never felt the need to browse the web from my phone, just never wanted to as the PC is always at hand, but it has to robust as in my job it tends to get beaten about a bit. Then i tell him its under contract on a business tariff, i just want an upgrade, so he starts trying to sell me a blackberry, and tells me all the benefits of its web browsing capabilities...Aarrgghh

So my question is the same as Nath's, basic phone, needs a good camera 3.2 or up, preferably a Sony (cos i know how to work them, thats all) and will withstand the day to day grind

I thank you all

 

[Kryten]

I tend to recommend the W960i but it may be a little overburdened with something you might feel unnecessary or redundant if you've anything but the most basic/smallest ipods or mp3 players (although 8gb is often enough to make a fair few folks "consolidate" features). You can sync with it how the bloody hell you like, it connects via usb like a hard drive, not dissimilar to your mp3 players; all the 3rd party apps support it (Floats for instance) and Sony's software, although a little basic is fairly unintrusive. The camera is as good as the K800i which is no bad thing, yet video (I guess may be unimportant to you) isn't quite as sharp.

I can't really recommend anything else as I've been away from dealing with phones/offline for too long to have kept my feelers open. I keep hearing good things about a new samsung though, but that's about as far as I know; I'm not even sure about which model!

 

[nath]

I found a review site that claims the Samsung U900 is pretty natty. Spoke to Orange about getting that, not 100% on it yet but it looks like it might do the job. All these ruddy phones look like they've been designed for 13yr old girls.

 

[Edmond]

All these ruddy phones look like they've been designed for 13yr old girls.

Yep, i'm with you on that one

That Samsung one is the first thing he shoved in my face yesterday, they must have a deal to shift as many as poss. Looks like a nice phone, but totally impractable for me, the screen would get scratched so quickly. Nokia used to do a rubber incased phone that you colud literally throw around, but there is nothing like that about at the moment

 

[Kryten]

You know, that's exactly the phone I was thinking about.
I know what you mean about the "designed for girls" thing; personally I prefer something that just makes a bloody call and sends a text without basically telling you what you want to say or write/type first :/

 

[nath]

HTC are coming out with a new phone in the next month or two, the Touch Diamond. Looks like it's basically an iPhone except on windows mobile, the interface looks just as good as the iPhones (which regardless of your opinion of Apple products, is fantastic). Gunna give Orange a call tomorrow and find out when they're getting it and if I can get it for my new contract.

Coolsmartphone.com - Video and Photo Special - HTC Touch Diamond Up-Close

 

[Bahumat]

DONT GET THE U600, I have this and there is a software fault. It means when using predictive text, the phone reboots after 4 or 5 words. This is something they are trying to fix. It's happened on alot of their models and most are fixed, however U900 sounds newer thus will probably fuck up as well.

 

[soze]

If your just looking for a small basic phone try the Nokia 6020 it has decent battery life i use it when i do not fancy carrying my big phone and its a solid little phone. Only thing if you make hour long phone calls stick clear it gets uncomfortably hot.

 

[Tilda]

I have the LG Viewty, touch screen, really good 5MP camera with flash etc, internet, mp3 player, but most usefully for me, FREE google search, maps, mail, blogger. So I can use google maps for free, which is so handy when walking around and a little lost!
Worth getting!

 

[taB]

I fucking hate using the phone but a mobile is a necessary evil. Just got a nokia 5610 thingy which does radio and mp3. Reception is shitty so far but ok when stationary. Means I don't cart my Zen and my phone around together now, just need to change the playlist more often due to lower memory. Never used the net on a phone and don't intend to start.

 

[Edmond]

been looking at the Sony W890i, i know its an old one now, but it does the same as my current one and the camera is better

 

[Tom]

nath if you just need a phone, get a 6310i from Ebay. Battery lasts a week and they are indestructible.

 

[nath]

Ah, that was part of my problem - my contract is up and it didn't make sense (financially speaking) to go on with my current plan without signing up for another contract and getting a new phone. I finally settled on an HTC Touch Dual because it's Windows Mobile, so I can easily sync my calendar entries with outlook and get my emails.

HTC Touch Dual - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You're bang on about the 6310i though, best phone ever made.

 

[old.user4556]

nokia n82?

 

[Adari]

i have a samsung u700. it looks brilliant but the touchscreen is annoying, same probably goes for the u900