Spec me a new mobile!

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Looking to get a new mobile phone of some sort - my Sharp GX25 has about given up the ghost.

Ideally, I'd like a camera phone with mp3 functionality - preferrably with a memory card slot of some form to expand the capacity. I prefer clamshell phones, and cannot stand Nokia or Sony Ericsson. Narrows the field a bit

[JMio]

I know that last bit said you hate Sony Ericsson, but...

I've got a w800i, and it's (by far & away) the best phone I've ever had! I used to work for Vodafone, and as a result we got to use tonnes of different ones, I'd previousy stuck with Nokia or Sharp (GX20 was a good'un).

It's not a clam-shell, but the camera's brilliant, it comes with a 512Mb memory card, decent (Sony) headphones & has a few other useful bits (eg a good, bright light that you can actually use as a makeshift torch).

My advice, give it a try & see what you think, however if you listen to nothing else - DON'T BUY ANYTHING BY MOTOROLLA.!! Honestly, not a day went by when we didn't have to return one of theirs! They're awful!

[Don Quioxte]

LG chocolate is quite sexy.. dunno much about phones I'm afraid but that was my upgrade and it is rather dishy..

http://www.mobile-phones-uk.org.uk/l...late-kg800.htm

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Originally Posted by Dear God!

Reviewed by BLAYZE from Uk on 25th May 2006
DIS FONE IS SOO SIK. I IS GETIN WEL GUD VIBES FROM IT. THE BACHRY IS WACK, BUT IT LUKS GD. I GOT IT WELL CHEAP, £3O A MUNF - DATS LOADS CHEAPER THAN OTHER FONES. EVEN IF YOU IS HATING IT, I SAY YOU ARE GAY, COS IT IS SO COOL. EVERYONE LUVS ME NOW AND THEY ALL WNT TO PLAY WITH MY CHOCK FONE. I HAS GOT WELL GUD RESP FROM IT, SO ITS WELL WORTH THE MONEY COS ITS ONLY LIKE 1 DEAL ANYWAYS.

... do people really write like that?

It was you, wasn't it DQ. Go on, admit it.

[Don Quioxte]

Guilty as charged. My day job. Chav reviewer for mobile phones UK.

DQ a.k.a BLAYZE

[jonni2bad]

Presume you are looking at a contract too, or were you thinking of just PAYG?

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Hah! Gotcha!

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. The LG Chocolate doesn't quite match up to my needs - only 128mb onboard memory and non-expandable, it appears?

The Sony Ericsson w800i... but, but, but... it's a Sony! Sorry, that's about my only excuse

(I'll note here that it's not just mobiles by Sony I hate - my loathing extends to pretty much anything produced by Sony since the very first PS2. Company is so badly out of touch it actually hurts).

Been looking at a few Samsung phones - E900 (/dribble), SGH-D600 (full-featured slider with micro-SD expandable memory capacity), z500 (Pretty much what I'm after, full featured clamshell with micro-SD memory slot), z520 (more recent model of the z500) or z540 (Same as previous, nice screen but looks a bit Motorola Razr-ish).

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Originally Posted by jonni2bad

Presume you are looking at a contract too, or were you thinking of just PAYG?

I'm on a Vodafone contract at the moment, paying a far higher tariff than I need to as seems to be the course for contract subscribers these days.

[jonni2bad]

When does it run out?

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August. Got a few months yet, and no doubt dangling that in Vodaphone's face should get me a decent phone and/or a better tariff. Still, interested in looking elsewhere if you've got any ideas...?

[jonni2bad]

Depends upon your position regarding cashback deals - I use CPW or their partner e2save since the likelyhood of them going bust (and not honouring the cashback) is very slim.

I'm on the 3 network, got a Nokia 6680 on their TT700 package (400 xnet anytime mins, 250 txt, 25 video/pic messages, and 25 vid minutes plus £5 of web content, per month) which would normally be £35 - this was a refurb phone but is basically brand new without the original box - and the deal was 10 mths free on a 12mth contract, so that's £70 over the year.

N series Nokias are also good for TomTom sat nav too!

You get a further £25 referral if you buy through Quidco, so that leaves £45 - divide by 12 = £3.75 per month after cashbacks. Obviously you still pay the standard £35 per month out of your bank account, not the £3.75

I've done this 2 years running now, and the latest runs out in Sept. All cashbacks received.

Some people have horror stories re: cashback, but they tend to go with smaller unknowns off t'internet and don't follow the terms properly.

Essentially now I look for the best cashback deal from the big boys, take whatever phone is on offer with it, then buy the phone I really want from eBay and I'm still quids up.

Maybe food for thought?

[daniel_r_clarke]

I got the LG choccy phone last month and i love it. Its such a breeze to use. The only downside, which you have pointed out, is the lack of memory. However, i have about 20 songs on it plus pictures and videos which can easily be downloaded with the supplied usb cable.

But why such a downer on Sony? I have used Sony for years now and have never had any problems with anything! I also believe Sony to be one the best quality commercially available brands. My feelings may change though when the PS3 is released. Have you seen the price?! $600 for the top of the range model. I think i'll buy an x box.

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Sony: Proprietry software that is often even more buggy and unstable than the standard Windows equivalent (Take a look at their Walkman MP3 player software).

Proprietry hardware formats (Sony Memory Stick/Memory Stick Duo, UMD disks for the PSP, and Sony are the main sponsor of Blu-ray with the PS3 to name just 3) which only work with Sony products, and require Sony management software to operate.

Price margins are much much higher than equivalent models produced by other manufacturers - take a look at their range of monitors for EG.

Then of course there's the Sony Vaio vs other notebook/laptop manufacturers... yes, it's thin and light. It's also twice as high a price as it needs to be, even with a respectable margin.

That said, I'll reluctantly admit they release some nice stuff. It's generally pretty and of decent specification, but I'm resolutely of the view that the extra premium you pay for Sony's 'style' (http://www.sonystyle.com - nuff said) just isn't worth it.

Just in case you're wondering if I ever owned or used any Sony products - Yep. Sony Clie PDA. Worst. PDA. Ever.

[fallen404]

Actually, the walkman software's better now. I remember there was a point when Connect would just sit there for over 30 minutes before I could use it. Now it loads pretty fast, and the transfer rate's pretty decent. When I called up about Connect being slow, the tech guy basically went "yeah. we know. We've got people looking into it. Download Sonic Stage for the meantime."

I've got a QTek 2020i, which is more of a PDA, and so has an SD slot and Windows Meeja Player. Camera's not too bad, either. I know some of the Sharp ones are pretty spiffy, too.

[JMio]

The w800i lets you just drag & drop mp3's onto the Memory card via Windows XP, so no need to use Sony's (admittedly sh@te) own software...