Next phone and maybe (finally?) going contract.

[appollo1]

when i was looking at changing my contract from t-mobile to another service provider i went into phones 4 u to just ask about what was available.

almost an hour later i managed to get out the shop after telling the bloke dozens of times that i was only looking. think the penny finally dropped when i just raised my voice in the shop as lots of people were in there and i told the bloke that i wasn't going to be pressured into signing for a phone i didn't want.


went next door to carphone warehouse and got the phone i wanted at a better deal with far better service that Phones 4 u. .....IMO

i work for virgin mobile telesales mate (inbound onlly )

we sell the htc desire, not a low priced package mind, and its flying off the shelf, i sold about 15 today alone on £35 24 mnth deals etc,

had a play with it, seems a good phone, its an android phone so internet will be awesome, its new so if your into 'apps' it will take a while to get up with iphone status but they have loads out and contstantly developing them,

have a read through reviews and spec on www.gsmarena.com type in the model in the search bar at the top.

best site for phone info

Orange offering £80 cashback, and Vodafone offering £90 cashback on new pay monthly contracts via Quidco at the minute. Will take a few months to actually get the cashback through - read properly about clearing cache, enabling cookies and not opening other tabs and windows in your browser for it to track properly, but well worth signing up - it's free money!

get my desire delivered today sometime

ive used phone 4 u in the past and had no problems with them although i think they want something like £10 a month for the insurance but i get it free with my bank account but take took insurance at the time (which i cancelled 2 days later) for the extra negotiation

My brother is getting his today so should be able to have a good play. All reviews are good. As to battery life... I think any of the "smart phones" are bad on battery, my friends and co workers are charging them pretty much daily or at best every 2 days...

Originally Posted by ThEGr33k

My brother is getting his today so should be able to have a good play. All reviews are good. As to battery life... I think any of the "smart phones" are bad on battery, my friends and co workers are charging them pretty much daily or at best every 2 days...

My battery life is getting better with each charge, when I first got it I was only getting about 24 hours out of it. Its not been off the charger for 26 hours and only used 54%. Thats with calls, 3g, wifi, email etc etc being used frequently.

Ive had this from about the 3rd day after release and i've got one word for it:

Outstanding

Believe me, i've shown my mates who have iPhones this handset and even theyve been impressed by its screen, and the way in which it functions. I've been looking for something to replace my old N95 for a while now and whilst I wanted something like an iPhone, I wanted something which wasnt Apple. I have found what I was looking for. The screen is amazing, battery life is decent (I can get all day out of the phone from moderate-heavy use and it seems to be improving)

Texting is a dream. Its fast, predicts all manner of wrong inputs and the way in which it stores a series of messages as conversations makes it easy to review what you've talked to your mate about previously.

Internet - possibly the greatest feature of the handset in that its fast (faster than iPhone using very non-tech bench test although mate was on O2 whilst I was on T-Mob), and its very easy to access. I've got all my favourite sites bookmarked and its that good to browse, I've been using the phone rather than my laptop at times at home.

Music Player - if you're an Audiophile, then you'll probably complain at this. Android handsets dont have EQ options available to them so unfortunately what you hear is what you get with this phone. The player itself is fairly easily navigated, and intelligently collects album covers when music is downloaded to the phone. There's no application required to put it onto the phone (like iTunes), its simply drag and drop into the Mp3 folder. GUI on the player is pretty good

Nav - GPS seems to pick up quickly and google maps is installed on the phone. No Turn by Turn Nav using Maps at the present time in the UK, but i'm not sure if thats to change in the future. There are other 3rd party apps which you can buy at £29.99 which will sort that out. I may pick one of these up myself. Street view is amazing, and with the built in compass option, it detects which way you're facing by GPS & the inbuilt accelerometer and simply rotates the screen with the direction you move the phone.

Apps - Android market is much smaller than Apple iStore but its catching up due to the open source nature of the market. A lot of the more useful apps are on there anyway, and it only falls away from the iPhone in my opinion with the quality of games on offer. Numerous emulators are available for the Desire and I've been playing a Genesis emulator on there and whilst the action isnt in full screen, its perfectly playable.

Video & Photos - I've found the camera excellent and certainly comparable with the N95 if not better in good light, and its only in low light where quality suffers. Being a google based phone, its very easy then to upload straight to YouTube so your footage can be on the net within minutes of it being taken.

Synching with the likes of Facebook, Bebo, Myspace, Flickr etc is simple and very effective. Most of my contacts have also got a facebook profile so linking it is simple which provides the profile picture when you're calling people.

Phone function - Bizarrely last, but then again most of these smartphones are now computers with the function of a phone available. The phone doesnt disappoint with calls being made easily, speeddial functions available and a great loudspeaker and handsfree reception where I've sat in a noisy car with the recipient of my call being able to hear me clearly.

In sunlight, the screen does suffer from glare, but I have a brightness button on one of the 7 screens available. I simply tap this and it gives me maximum brightness from the screen which then makes it easy enough to see. Hand gestures are shamelessly stolen from Apple in the pinch and zoom options, multitouch etc.

Overall, I cant recommend this phone enough. In the 3 weeks i've owned it, its been almost faultless and only on a couple of occasions has it had some form of error (which its rectified itself in seconds). Fast, good looking and well built, it is in my opinion an iPhone beater.

Overall 9.7/10

I'm also on a TMobile deal at £20 a month 300 mins ultd texts ultd net (3gb pm fair usage) as a long standing customer. £15 spare from my iPhone chums to spend down the pub.

[Dave20046]

I've had a htc for ages, apart from when I broke it it's been otherwise fine.

If I was you I'd look at sites like topcashback,quidco & greasy palm before taking the plunge, I spotted £200 cash back on £25+ p/m contracts the other day.

Cheers for the review Rob. Cool that im not the only one out there not wanting apple. Anyway, how it T mobile? I've heard many bad things tbh...

Originally Posted by Dave20046

I've had a htc for ages, apart from when I broke it it's been otherwise fine.

If I was you I'd look at sites like topcashback,quidco & greasy palm before taking the plunge, I spotted £200 cash back on £25+ p/m contracts the other day.

How do all these cash back web sites work? How can they work?

Originally Posted by ThEGr33k

How do all these cash back web sites work? How can they work?

Look at the price of your contract etc, they will make money off it. Vodaphone called me the other day offering me a sim for the same amount of minutes and texts I already have for £20 cheaper a month...