Noob seeking smart phone(HTC) (GPS is a must)and internet focused deal advice.

Falcor · 15 Aug 2010 at 13:40

Hi, im looking to get a New phone and have been looking mostly at the HTC Desire and HD2. Im also wanting some sort of internet focused contract etc to go with. All im after is internetand gps, dont want texts or call time

The cheapest contract ive seen i like is t-mobile, £10 a month with 100mins and unlimited internet with 1 GB FUP ofc. But id be interesting in hearing any other suggestions?

Aswell as this id be looking to spend £250 on a phone so probably an unwanted unlocked upgrade off ebay. But as my current phone is really basic i have really not much idea of what the difference is between the smartphones(android and wmc) Any other phone suggestions apart from the 2mentioned would be interesting too. But not I-phone.

Main things i need is web browsing and GPS.(Also want to be able to use OS maps for walking/fishing with the phone too)

thanks

GeX · 15 Aug 2010 at 14:35

forget the HD2, windows mobile is awful.

HTC Desire sounds like it'll easily do what you want. And for OS maps, there is an app called ViewRanger which should do what you want.

Robbo · 15 Aug 2010 at 15:56

HTC Desire is what you want. There are out and out contract deals that equate to a free phone for between £17-25 per month depending on how many minutes/internet allowance you want.

http://www.mobiles.co.uk/

http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk/

As above, forget the HD2. Might be worth having a look at the Galaxy S too.

Sin_Chase · 15 Aug 2010 at 16:41

Android builds available for the HD2 now.

Win-win.

Robbo · 15 Aug 2010 at 16:52

Sin_Chase said:
Android builds available for the HD2 now.

Win-win.

Im willing to bet its not quite as good as the current default 2.2 Froyo build from HTC for the Desire.

sarge78 · 15 Aug 2010 at 18:15

Wouldn't recommend the desire for fishing or walking (you'll struggle to see the screen outside)
I've gone back to the iPhone when going down to the beach...
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YAMAHA MDR-1 SPECIFICATIONS

Robbo · 15 Aug 2010 at 18:22

sarge78 said:
Wouldn't recommend the desire for fishing or walking (you'll struggle to see the screen outside)
I've gone back to the iPhone when going down to the beach...

They've all been changed to SLCD screens now, so its probably much improved in that regard.

sarge78 · 15 Aug 2010 at 22:58

It's the glass not screen type, the lack of polarized/anti glare coating kills it outdoors. Nothing but an expensive mirror when the sun comes out. (That won't be a problem in a few months though

)
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Lost Dicussion

Robbo · 15 Aug 2010 at 23:04

sarge78 said:
It's the glass not screen type, the lack of polarized/anti glare coating kills it outdoors. Nothing but an expensive mirror when the sun comes out. (That won't be a problem in a few months though )

Perhaps they will change the glass with regard to the new screen then? I haven't heard about it being the glass anywhere else so I'm not sure you are correct on that.

Even so, its not THAT bad in sunlight, I was able to use it perfectly fine to be honest. Its just something that some people who dont have one like to chalk down as a big negative.

Deep · 16 Aug 2010 at 02:14

My HTC Desire isn't that good in direct sunlight, it can get very annoying

"andy" · 16 Aug 2010 at 05:33

Deep said:
My HTC Desire isn't that good in direct sunlight, it can get very annoying

thats because of the screen type though. nothing to do with glass

which like robboftw says you wont get on a new one now

avoid the HD2 imo

and i guess we have to warn you that GPS eats the battery quicker than anything else. and also that you need a 3g/wifi connection when your using google maps because it downloads the maps on the fly (admittedly theres modified maps apps which will cache those maps , could be usefull if your often in the same/similar areas)

Participant · 16 Aug 2010 at 08:55

"andy" said:
and also that you need a 3g/wifi connection when your using google maps because it downloads the maps on the fly (admittedly theres modified maps apps which will cache those maps , could be usefull if your often in the same/similar areas)

So you can just download the entire UK via your home wireless connection, so then it won't use any data?

Robbo · 16 Aug 2010 at 09:56

Robbie G said:
So you can just download the entire UK via your home wireless connection, so then it won't use any data?

No you can't. There was a hacked version that allowed this but I don't know if it's around now.

If you get Copilot that downloads everything to the phone so you don't need data, it's not free though.

Google Nav is fine without data unless you get badly lost and have to go out of your way a lot. Even then, the data it uses to update is a very small amount.

"andy" · 16 Aug 2010 at 14:37

Robbie G said:
So you can just download the entire UK via your home wireless connection, so then it won't use any data?

with the modded google maps add you technically could but it would take you bloody ages. probably months or years. think of all the different zoom levels and areas

-westy- · 16 Aug 2010 at 15:15

Deep said:
My HTC Desire isn't that good in direct sunlight, it can get very annoying

Mine's fine in bright sunlight, no harder to see than any other mobile I've had - I've got autobrightness, it turns the brightness right up in sunlight, works very well.

Running OpenDesire 3.0.3 at the moment

Falcor · 29 Sep 2010 at 11:26

got back to this(works been terrible :rolleyes:

)

Anyway galaxy s looks nice as does desire...anything major to seperate them?

Also can anyone recommend somewhere that does internet based contracts rather than talk time. Everywhere i look the contracts are call minute based with internet as a side line, i do not need calltime much at all.

Oh, and one other thing, i have a payg orange atm, but like the number will i be able to transfer that over in any way?

reflux · 29 Sep 2010 at 11:27

Falcor said:
Anyway galaxy s looks nice as does desire...anything major to seperate them?

Galaxy S has better hardware (faster CPU, graphics and better screen) but the build quality is suspect. Also, most people agree HTC's Android version (HTC Sense) is better than Samsung's implementation.

Temi_D · 29 Sep 2010 at 21:06