Phones and networks

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Gavin Chipper
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Phones and networks

Post by Gavin Chipper »

I've got a really old phone and was thinking of one day replacing it. I wasn't sure whether to go for one of the uber smartphone things that people have nowadays. So I'm interested in what phone you have and what you make of it, and also what network and whether you think they're any good.

I often find myself printing maps from Google maps when I go somewhere I don't know (which seems to happen quite a bit), but they're still not very good because I might still go somewhere else beyond the original intended route, so having the internet would be quite a good thing - it wouldn't just be a toy.
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I have a HTC Desire HD with unlimited texts and internet and 500 free minutes per month from T-Mobile. It's a pretty sweet deal for £25 a month (18 months) I think, and now my contract is nearly up I've got a phone I like and the freedom to go to whatever network I want. However, I have no real complaints with T-Mobile. Reception where I live is a major factor so you might want to do some research on that.

When I made the jump from shitphone to goodphone, one unexpected delight that I experienced was a PS1 emulators: you can get emulators for any games console up to about the PS1/N64 era I think. It rapes the battery (so get a phone where you can change the battery for times when you won't be able to charge for a while, like a long train journey) but it's worth it to be able to play some really classic games. If that's what you're into. Also you can download and watch DVDs and stuff on them, like Flight of the Conchords and The Wire. It might even make you enjoy your journey to work.
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Post by Ryan Taylor »

I have a Samsung Galaxy mini. I like it. I can't get some of the things because it is on android so I can't do stuff like Words with Friends and stuff but I can get other apps which are cool but I don't often use it. I have like a few games that I downloaded which I might play every now and again (like say when on the toilet). Having 3G is good, got Navigation on it so don't need a separate satnav when driving anywhere I don't know and also when in the street. Always nice to just have facebook at the touch of a button too and can update stuff on the go if you're that way inclined. It does pretty much most things and I pay just £15 a month for this (although I bought a £5 extra bundle for extra Internet usage (however I don't actually use much of this so might get rid of it)). For the £15 I get 100 minutes (which is fine because I rarely call) and unlimited texts (also fine because I text a lot) and also get 100mb Internet usage I think (which I am pretty much always within). This is with Orange (get perks like Orange Wednesdays and also 2 for 1 on food outlets sometimes. The phone itself is free.

I was told when getting this phone (my upgrade was Christmas Eve last year) that phone batteries now are designed to be used for a day and then charge at night. Apparently they are a different style of battery to older phones - I had a very basic Sony Ericsson which could go for about 5 days without needing to be charged.

If money is no real issue then get an iPhone. You can't go wrong with an iPhone.
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Post by Jon O'Neill »

Ryan Taylor wrote: I can't get some of the things because it is on android so I can't do stuff like Words with Friends and stuff
It's on Android.
Ryan Taylor wrote:If money is no real issue then get an iPhone. You can't go wrong with an iPhone.
I just can't see Gev with an iPhone. I really can't.
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Post by Jayne Wisniewski »

I recently upgraded from an old Nokia to an iPhone and I absolutely love it. I use it so much more than my old phone because of the easy Internet access. I love the touch screen for ease of use. Also use it for listening to music, taking and storing photos, checking Facebook, twitter etc, playing games (addicted to draw something ATM!). It's on 3 network which has been great no problems with reception. Only downside I am paying a whopping £35 a month.
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Post by Gavin Chipper »

Jon O'Neill wrote:
Ryan Taylor wrote:If money is no real issue then get an iPhone. You can't go wrong with an iPhone.
I just can't see Gev with an iPhone. I really can't.
Yeah, probably not an iPhone. It's not the money - it's that it's an iPhone. I'd rather avoid Apple if possible.

The other thing I was wondering is where to buy from. If you go to a site like http://buymobilephones.net you can seemingly get much cheaper deals than if you buy from the networks. But they don't get brilliant reviews from everyone.

Anyway, thanks for the info so far everyone!
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Post by Charlie Reams »

Samsung are great.
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Post by Adam Gillard »

Quite recently, I got my first smartphone, having had a couple of old Nokia phones. It's a Samsung Galaxy Europa, which isn't expensive (about £40 from Carphone Warehouse when you put £15 worth of credit on). I'm on the Three/3 network on Pay-As-You-Go/PayG, and I use the £10-a-month add-on, which gives me 100 minutes, 3000 texts and 50MB of internet I think (I don't come close to using any of these 3 allowances, but the amount I use in a month normally comes to about £8-15 anyway, so it's easier to just go with the £10 add-on rather than limiting my phone use on PayG). There are other add-ons if you want more minutes / texts and unlimited internet.

The phone itself is very good. It's on Android and doesn't have Flash or whatever some more expensive models might have, but it really has wowed me with its coolness compared to my old phone (touch-screen; everything can be organised and set to your preferences etc.). I recommend it as a cheap first foray into smartphones for the uninitiated.


Edit: The chief consideration against the Samsung Galaxy Europa is that it has a very short battery life if you use all of its syncing functions and you browse the internet a lot etc. I generally have all of the auto-sync and similar things turned off (I also use a battery saver app), and the battery can last for several days, depending on usage. The best thing to do is to make sure it isn't doing background syncing when you're not using the phone, as that destroys the battery life; otherwise you can leave it idle for 24 hours and the battery % doesn't budge (sometimes may go down by 1%).
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Post by David Williams »

I probably top up less than £10 a year. I give the number to anyone who needs to contact me, but I don't use it much (obviously) for outgoing calls. I was recently offered a shiny new upgrade by T-Mobile which cost me £8.49. The battery lasts about three weeks and it's got a serviceable camera. I've no interest in getting music or games etc. If I'm away for any length of time my wife has one of the more expensive Kindles which, for an extra £40, has worldwide 3G access for life and a useable web browser. When they start making phones with proper GPS (i.e. it still works if you drop it in a river) I'll consider something better.
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Adam Gillard wrote: I'm on the Three/3 network on Pay-As-You-Go/PayG, and I use the £10-a-month add-on, which gives me 100 minutes, 3000 texts and 50MB of internet I think
Do you have to spend the £10 per month, or is there a cheaper option? I couldn't justify such an increase in my phone expenses!
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Post by Matt Morrison »

I'm on 3 with a SIM-only deal (bought a 2nd hand phone from a friend) which is £15 a month and I get unlimited texts and data for that.
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Post by Adam Gillard »

Ian Volante wrote:
Adam Gillard wrote: I'm on the Three/3 network on Pay-As-You-Go/PayG, and I use the £10-a-month add-on, which gives me 100 minutes, 3000 texts and 50MB of internet I think
Do you have to spend the £10 per month, or is there a cheaper option? I couldn't justify such an increase in my phone expenses!
I think there is one cheaper add-on which gives you just the 3000 texts for £5 per month and another £5 add-on which only lets you call other 3 mobile users. Oh, and it's 500MB of internet in the £10 add-on, not 50. You can just have a simple PayG without buying an add-on, but, as I said, I've monitored the amount of calls and texts I use per month and it normally comes to around £10 anyway, so I may as well use the add-on (which gives me internet as well).
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David Williams wrote:I probably top up less than £10 a year.
This. Why are people happy to spend this much or more every month on phone contracts? It's like they've been brainwashed or something.
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Phil Reynolds wrote:
David Williams wrote:I probably top up less than £10 a year.
This. Why are people happy to spend this much or more every month on phone contracts? It's like they've been brainwashed or something.
Because it's cheaper? Thought that was pretty obvious. :roll:
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Ryan Taylor wrote:
Phil Reynolds wrote:
David Williams wrote:I probably top up less than £10 a year.
This. Why are people happy to spend this much or more every month on phone contracts? It's like they've been brainwashed or something.
Because it's cheaper? Thought that was pretty obvious. :roll:
Did people used to spend this much on the phone at home? I only ever approached such huge outlay on phones when I was 15 and more hormonally-charged.
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Adam Gillard wrote:
Ian Volante wrote:
Adam Gillard wrote: I'm on the Three/3 network on Pay-As-You-Go/PayG, and I use the £10-a-month add-on, which gives me 100 minutes, 3000 texts and 50MB of internet I think
Do you have to spend the £10 per month, or is there a cheaper option? I couldn't justify such an increase in my phone expenses!
I think there is one cheaper add-on which gives you just the 3000 texts for £5 per month and another £5 add-on which only lets you call other 3 mobile users. Oh, and it's 500MB of internet in the £10 add-on, not 50. You can just have a simple PayG without buying an add-on, but, as I said, I've monitored the amount of calls and texts I use per month and it normally comes to around £10 anyway, so I may as well use the add-on (which gives me internet as well).
Does the fiver allow you to call anyone, or is it just texts? I find it laughable that you could get a phone and not be able to phone who you wanted! Once the amount of free texts gets above about 50, it's pretty pointless...
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Ian Volante wrote:
Ryan Taylor wrote:
Phil Reynolds wrote: This. Why are people happy to spend this much or more every month on phone contracts? It's like they've been brainwashed or something.
Because it's cheaper? Thought that was pretty obvious. :roll:
Did people used to spend this much on the phone at home? I only ever approached such huge outlay on phones when I was 15 and more hormonally-charged.
I done some calculations based on the last 6 months of my phone usage.

For the last 6 months I've been billed a total of £158.35 (this includes VAT and also includes a week in which I was in Tenerife so any texts/calls/internet I used would not come under my contract).

I then worked out what it would cost me had I been on a pay as you go contract for the past 6 months. With over 7000 texts sent, more than 5 hours worth of calls and only 154mb Internet usage I would have paid £767.02!!

So I've saved well over £600 by being on a contract. Plus I got a free phone out of it. OK, so when you Pay as You Go you do tend to watch the amount of texts you send and the time you're on the phone but still not £600 worth of usage.

And in fact, just today, I got rid of my £5 bundle for 500mb internet usage because I never came close to even using my allowed 100mb usage (I go on facebook/emails/navigation but don't download hardly any apps or watch videos/films on my phone). So over 6 months I've basically frittered away £30 on a pointless bundle which would have made the total billing just £128.35 for half a year's worth of usage.
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Adam Gillard wrote: otherwise you can leave it idle for 24 hours and the battery % doesn't budge (sometimes may go down by 1%).
David Williams wrote:I probably top up less than £10 a year.
Phil Reynolds wrote:This. Why are people happy to spend this much or more every month on phone contracts? It's like they've been brainwashed or something.
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David Williams wrote:I probably top up less than £10 a year. I give the number to anyone who needs to contact me, but I don't use it much (obviously) for outgoing calls. I was recently offered a shiny new upgrade by T-Mobile which cost me £8.49. The battery lasts about three weeks and it's got a serviceable camera. I've no interest in getting music or games etc. If I'm away for any length of time my wife has one of the more expensive Kindles which, for an extra £40, has worldwide 3G access for life and a useable web browser. When they start making phones with proper GPS (i.e. it still works if you drop it in a river) I'll consider something better.
I currently top up about £10 every two months or so, and this is a second-hand phone that I was given in 2006 (the only phone I've ever had), so there was no initial outlay, so while I might spend more than you, I probably spend a lot less than most people.

But if I upgraded to a better phone, I imagine I would spend a lot more. Thi is because it would cease to be just a phone, but would also be used for the internet, camera etc. There is more to phones these days than calls, texts and a waterproof GPS! By the way, Time you bought a new phone. There is also the added bonus of waterproofing the rest of the phone, even if that isn't important to you.
Phil Reynolds wrote:
David Williams wrote:I probably top up less than £10 a year.
This. Why are people happy to spend this much or more every month on phone contracts? It's like they've been brainwashed or something.
As above really. It would be very expensive just for calls and texts, but they're not just phones any more. It's just the name they have. It just depends if you want the other stuff.

The way things are going at the moment, I'm probably going to go with Giffgaff. It's pay-as-you-go and works off the o2 network (which I know works comparatively well where I live), and you can get unlimited internet and more calls and texts than I will use for £10 a month.
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Post by Jennifer Steadman »

Blackberries are one of those love 'em/hate 'em things, but I have a Blackberry Curve something-or-other which is quite pretty and I really like it (except when it deletes lots of my old messages without telling me, which is fairly often). I'm not really a fan of touchscreens for typing purposes (my iPod touch is lovely but the typing drives me mad) so Blackberry was one of the few choices I was left with. I never use my phone for games (if I were to play games I'd do it on my iPod, but I rarely do that because it kills the battery and I'd rather have the battery alive so I can listen to music on it...), like having music/phone separate and hardly ever use fancy apps (except the Soccer Saturday Score Centre one, a calculator one and a Wordpress one to check my blog views. Oh, and Facebook/Twitter - Twitter is excellent since they did an upgrade, Facebook's app still needs working on). It fulfills all my requirements, basically.

As for network, I've been on O2 Pay As You Go since the dawn of time* (*9 years) - you usually get great signal, even in the Cornish backwaters, can get free unlimited texts as long as you top up every month and 10% of top-ups back every 3 months (so usually £3). No free minutes, but I try not to call people on it unless I'm out (I use the house landline both at uni and home, the former because we have free weekend and evening calls and the latter because I'm not paying for it!) and even then I'll text where it suffices. When you've got Skype, instant messaging and free texts, who needs calls? Also have a Blackberry add-on for £5 a month which gives me access to unlimited email access and Blackberry Messenger services and quite a lot of internet (more than I need, anyway) - rarely use BBM as I only have about 4 friends with it but the email connection is invaluable and means I don't have to go on the computer just to check my emails, plus it comes in useful when important uni emails come through. There's a little light on my Blackberry which flashes when you've got a new notification (be it text, email, call, Facebook or Twitter). Basically if you like texting and email then it's excellent; if you want to call people, not as great.

I don't use my phone as much as a lot of people my age - text conversations generally annoy me (I'd rather instant message) and I prefer sending REALLY LONG TEXTS than lots of short ones. However, most of the people I know who use them a lot frequently are forever losing/breaking their phones, whereas my phones have only ever died from old age. Or being totally out of date.
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Ryan Taylor wrote:
Phil Reynolds wrote:
David Williams wrote:I probably top up less than £10 a year.
This. Why are people happy to spend this much or more every month on phone contracts? It's like they've been brainwashed or something.
Because it's cheaper? Thought that was pretty obvious. :roll:
How is £10 or more a month cheaper than £10 a year? :?
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Adam Gillard wrote:I think there is one cheaper add-on which gives you just the 3000 texts for £5 per month and another £5 add-on which only lets you call other 3 mobile users. Oh, and it's 500MB of internet in the £10 add-on, not 50. You can just have a simple PayG without buying an add-on, but, as I said, I've monitored the amount of calls and texts I use per month and it normally comes to around £10 anyway, so I may as well use the add-on (which gives me internet as well).
Ian Volante wrote:Does the fiver allow you to call anyone, or is it just texts? I find it laughable that you could get a phone and not be able to phone who you wanted! Once the amount of free texts gets above about 50, it's pretty pointless...
You can always phone people (and text and use the internet); it'll just eat into your PayG balance (which is separate from your add-on balance and only used when your add-on runs out or if you call a premium number or something) if the action is not included in an add-on (e.g. calls and texts aren't included in the £5 texts add-on). There must be people out there who approach 3000 texts a month; I'm certainly not one of them. These are the PayG rates on Three/3:
  • 26p per minute for calls (normal landline and mobile numbers)
    11p per text
    11p per internet (per MB used?)
So 15 minutes, 30 texts and 30 internets (MBs?) would cost £10.50 on PayG. Seeing as I use about this much in a month, I thought it best to go with the add-on to cap monthly spending at £10. I've already used 18 minutes and 20 texts (£6.88 worth) 13 days in to this month's add-on, so I'll probably save about £5 this month by using the £10 add-on rather than pure PayG rates.
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Adam Gillard wrote:
Adam Gillard wrote:I think there is one cheaper add-on which gives you just the 3000 texts for £5 per month and another £5 add-on which only lets you call other 3 mobile users. Oh, and it's 500MB of internet in the £10 add-on, not 50. You can just have a simple PayG without buying an add-on, but, as I said, I've monitored the amount of calls and texts I use per month and it normally comes to around £10 anyway, so I may as well use the add-on (which gives me internet as well).
Ian Volante wrote:Does the fiver allow you to call anyone, or is it just texts? I find it laughable that you could get a phone and not be able to phone who you wanted! Once the amount of free texts gets above about 50, it's pretty pointless...
You can always phone people (and text and use the internet); it'll just eat into your PayG balance (which is separate from your add-on balance and only used when your add-on runs out or if you call a premium number or something) if the action is not included in an add-on (e.g. calls and texts aren't included in the £5 texts add-on). There must be people out there who approach 3000 texts a month; I'm certainly not one of them. These are the PayG rates on Three/3:
  • 26p per minute for calls (normal landline and mobile numbers)
    11p per text
    11p per internet (per MB used?)
So 15 minutes, 30 texts and 30 internets (MBs?) would cost £10.50 on PayG. Seeing as I use about this much in a month, I thought it best to go with the add-on to cap monthly spending at £10. I've already used 18 minutes and 20 texts (£6.88 worth) 13 days in to this month's add-on, so I'll probably save about £5 this month by using the £10 add-on rather than pure PayG rates.
Interesting stuff.

I suppose the telecom companies have managed to get people into the habit of using mobiles for lots of stuff; the instant-access world is probably a lot more lucrative than one full of patient people :)

The prospect of being able to get a smartphone at what appears to be a close-to-justifiable rate makes it a bit more appealing. Then again, I literally haven't used my phone for over a week apart from to receive a call.
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Phil Reynolds wrote:
David Williams wrote:I probably top up less than £10 a year.
This. Why are people happy to spend this much or more every month on phone contracts? It's like they've been brainwashed or something.
Or maybe they want something you don't want, and are prepared to pay for it accordingly.
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Charlie Reams wrote:
Phil Reynolds wrote:Why are people happy to spend this much or more every month on phone contracts? It's like they've been brainwashed or something.
Or maybe they want something you don't want, and are prepared to pay for it accordingly.
Damn, that makes sense. Curse you Reams.
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Charlie Reams wrote:
Phil Reynolds wrote: This. Why are people happy to spend this much or more every month on phone contracts? It's like they've been brainwashed or something.
Or maybe they want something you don't want, and are prepared to pay for it accordingly.
Then again, isn't that what they'd think if they had been brainwashed? I think the acceptable term for it nowadays is marketing.
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David Williams wrote:
Charlie Reams wrote:
Phil Reynolds wrote: This. Why are people happy to spend this much or more every month on phone contracts? It's like they've been brainwashed or something.
Or maybe they want something you don't want, and are prepared to pay for it accordingly.
Then again, isn't that what they'd think if they had been brainwashed? I think the acceptable term for it nowadays is marketing.
Marketing isn't brainwashing though. Market research is about finding out what people like and are willing to pay for, then they show ads to let people know those products are available. Just watching an ad is not going to make you go out and buy something you don't want. Unless maybe your an idiot, but you were an idiot before the ad not after it.
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Mark James wrote:Unless maybe your an idiot
Sorry! Had to be done.
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Re: Phones and networks

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Ryan Taylor wrote:So I've saved well over £600 by being on a contract. Plus I got a free phone out of it.
It's not really free though - it's included in the contract price. If two contracts are identical apart from the phone, then the one with the more expensive phone will be more expensive!
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Ryan Taylor wrote:
Mark James wrote:Unless maybe your an idiot
Sorry! Had to be done.
Oops. No wonder I buy Coke and am insured by Go Compare.
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Re: Phones and networks

Post by Gavin Chipper »

By the way, I think networks are an example of where competition doesn't really work for the consumer. Masts in the same places and leaving other areas uncovered, and where one network might be good in one obscure area, it's crap in another where another network might be good.

What do you think is the optimum screen size? The Samsung Galaxy Note is 5.3 inches, compared to the iPhone's 3.5. Some say it's too big but it would still fit in most pockets.
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Gavin Chipper wrote:By the way, I think networks are an example of where competition doesn't really work for the consumer. Masts in the same places and leaving other areas uncovered, and where one network might be good in one obscure area, it's crap in another where another network might be good.
Different networks use different sets of masts (with some overlap), so there's competition to provide coverage for different areas, and to build new masts. They're all competing to expand their coverage. That's exactly what you'd want, isn't it?

What do you think is the optimum screen size? The Samsung Galaxy Note is 5.3 inches, compared to the iPhone's 3.5. Some say it's too big but it would still fit in most pockets.
Mine is 4.3 and that occasionally seems quite cramped for things like using the on-screen keyboard while trying to read what you're writing. Resolution (which is higher for the iPhone, I think) is also a factor there, but for things the user has to touch there's only so small you can make it.
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Charlie Reams
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Re: Phones and networks

Post by Charlie Reams »

Any news, Gev?
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Re: Phones and networks

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Charlie Reams wrote:Any news, Gev?
Well, I am considering getting the Samsung Galaxy S3 which comes out at the end of the month. I'd also want to wait probably at least a month after it comes out to see what problems there might be that need ironing out.

I was considering the Samsung Galaxy Note, with its bigger screen. It is very big, but I think it's still portable enough. It's more like the Galaxy S2 with its specs I think, and while I'm not necessarily that bothered about having the latest specs, I have heard that both the Note and the S2 have trouble connecting to Wifi, which the S3 is supposedly better at, and that does make a difference. And I'm not sure if/when they'll bring out a newer version of the Note.

As for the network, I think O2 is probably best where I live, and while obviously it's not just for use at home, I think it would be a bit rubbish to have a phone with poor reception in the house. Giffgaff use the O2 network and I think their pay-as-you-go prices are quite good, so I'll probably buy whatever phone I get outright, and go with Giffgaff.
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Re: Phones and networks

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Just got a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 a few days ago - the screen size was a major factor. I'm still getting used to it. I'm not impressed by some of the intuitiveness. 3G doesn't seem to work in my house or even outside, even though the O2 website says it should. I've got Wifi at home anyway, but that's not the point.
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Re: Phones and networks

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Gavin Chipper wrote:Just got a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 a few days ago - the screen size was a major factor. I'm still getting used to it. I'm not impressed by some of the intuitiveness. 3G doesn't seem to work in my house or even outside, even though the O2 website says it should. I've got Wifi at home anyway, but that's not the point.
Mostly got used to it now. The 3G thing was a Giffgaff issue (it not being clear that yo have to enter some weird settings to get it to work).

But basically despite some people going on about the Note and Note 2 being "too big", they will easily fit into any reasonable pocket, and if you want to go on the internet, a smaller screen would just be rubbish. It's too small itself, so anything else would just be really annoying. I think the size is a good compromise, since fitting in your pocket is quite important. Bigger screens are the future.
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