Orange San Francisco

[Wij]

OK - ordered one of these without a contract. Hoping to unlock, root, de-crap and install 2.2.

Anyone done it ?

 

[Fast]

Unlock code, you can get for free so people mentioned in the new phone thread. If not I paid £3.99 off flea bay for one.

You dont fancy 2.3 on there? Mate has 2.3 on his and it runs nice enough.

[ROM] CyanogenMod-7 for ZTE Blade/San Francisco :: V7.0.0-RC1 (02/16/2011) - Android @ MoDaCo

 

[Wij]

Didn't know 2.3 was available yet.

Google user fail

 

[Starman]

Purchased one for the gf recently (From Argos for £89.99) - used the unlock generator here and then de-branded and flashed to Android 2.2 (Swedish Spring RLS4) and she has left me alone ever since!

 

[Wij]

Purchased one for the gf recently (From Argos for £89.99) - used the unlock generator here and then de-branded and flashed to Android 2.2 (Swedish Spring RLS4) and she has left me alone ever since!

Is swedish spring better than japanese jellyfish ?

 

[Starman]

Well my build is based on an newer EU firmware rather than an older JP one but can't see there being too much difference

 

[Wij]

Went with JJ for now. Took me just over an hour to root and flash. Feels nippier now and no Orange crapware. Just need to get a decent SIM deal and unlock. Piss of piss for a dirt-cheap, reasonable-spec Android phone

I did try an overclock app but that seemed to make it crash even with a modest 100 MHz o/c. I assume that was what did it. Hasn't crashed again since I set it back to stock.

I'd heard reports that blades usually hit 800 MHz easy but no joy on this one I think

 

[dysfunction]

Good place to get it unlocked...as mentioned above

Free Instant Unlock Codes for Alcatel, Huawei Modems & ZTE Mobile Phones


As for SIM card deals. These people are really good:
http://giffgaff.com/

 

[Tom]

Dear Mr Wij, I want to buy one of these as a birthday present for my sister. She has a crap phone, is a bit skint, and I think would love the San Francisco.

How is the phone, any good? She isn't a "power user", just photographs, texts, facebook, etc.

 

[nath]

It really is fantastic Tom. I'd recommend rooting it and installing a custom rom to get rid of all the Orange bullshit and make it faster. Beyond that, great smartphone - *astonishing* value for money and if you tinker with it you can set it up to be as straightforward as you like.

Suffice it to say, my brother is a techno-retard and he gets on with his SF fine .

 

[Tom]

That sounds good then, what rom does your brother have on his? And are they easy to unlock?

 

[cHodAX]

Seriously considering getting one of these, the screen is superb and after rooted/modded the reviews are excellent.

 

[nath]

Um, I can't remember which rom specifically, it's a 2.2 android but I hear that there's a 2.3 out there so I may have to tinker .

Just go to Windows Phone @ MoDaCo forums and check out the ZTE Blade section for all the instructions you need for unlocking, rooting and flashing. Oh and I've never seen an easier phone to unlock - pop the imei in to a website, it generates a code, punch it in to the phone. bam. Unlocked .

Chod: You simply can't get any other phone that packed with features for that price. It's absolutely insane and I keep waiting for them to realise that it's a miss price and it should be 200-250.

 

[Wij]

Simplest instructions here:

Orange San Francisco - Now £69.99 - Install Android 2.2, Tutorials, Guides & Tips

I'm on Swedish Spring as suggested there. LauncherPro added, Dolphin Mini Browser (added to LP dock) and a Sense-style clock widget. Ace.

 

[Wij]

Oh, and I wouldn't bother with 2.3 yet. A friend has it and can't find any benefit over 2.2.

 

[MYstIC G]

I'm assuming the £69.99 in their URL is bullshit?

 

[dysfunction]

Yes that deal ended ages ago...

 

[Wij]

Yes that deal ended ages ago...

It was on last week iirc

 

[Tom]

Do women tend to prefer white phones? I'm not asking her as she'll get suspicious.

 

[nath]

Do women tend to prefer white phones? I'm not asking her as she'll get suspicious.

As an owner of a white HTC Hero, I'd advise against it. Might look nice at the start, it'll quickly look naff as fuck though.

 

[MYstIC G]

White = Dirty faster & more noticeable scratches imho.

 

[Tilda]

Did a similar thing for my gf. Using guides of XDA it was easy to unlock and re-flash a better firmware.

 

[nath]

Oh, and I wouldn't bother with 2.3 yet. A friend has it and can't find any benefit over 2.2.

When you press the power button to turn off the screen on 2.3, you get a little oldé worldé CRT HBO switchoff effect. It's lovely.

 

[Wij]

Did a similar thing for my gf. Using guides of XDA it was easy to unlock and re-flash a better firmware.

What firmware is your gf running now ? Does she give you root access ? Are there any risks to flashing her ?

 

[MYstIC G]

What firmware is your gf running now ? Does she give you root access ? Are there any risks to flashing her ?

Police record?

 

[cHodAX]

Off topic but fuck it, anyone know where I can find an unlock code generator for a Nokia E71? Got one laying around and would love to unlock it for my mum.

 

[Ch3tan]

Do women tend to prefer white phones? I'm not asking her as she'll get suspicious.

Yes they do.

 

[cHodAX]

Just bought one, sadly it is the newer build and the guide I have doesn't apply, I need one for the OUK_P729BV1.0.0B10 build. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Haven't rooted or modded a phone before and I am a bit lost.

 

[soze]

Modaco has a GEN 2 device walk though is that the one.

 

[cHodAX]

Modaco has a GEN 2 device walk though is that the one.

Thanks bud, will give that a look when the phone has a full charge, all this Orange branded crap is getting me down, can't even switch off 3G and connect to the internet only via wifi, it constantly wants to use 3G even though there is a rocksolid wifi connection up.