Budget phone with buttons

Nymins

Nymins

Nymins

Soldato
Joined
7 Mar 2007
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Belfast
Ok so long story short I bricked my dad's phone trying to unlock it with some software, doesn't even turn on.

Anyway, can anyone recommend a decent phone that has physical buttons? Don't want anything fully touchscreen as my dad can't get to grips with it.

Budget is around £50-£60 and I'm after something half decent as I'm the one responsible for bricking his phone and don't want to get a cheapy one after his phone was semi-decent :(

Cheers!
 
Been looking at the C series and they seem pretty good. The C3-01 looks very nice, but the touchscreen could be an issue as, although there are physical buttons, you need to use the touchscreen to scroll through the menus.

Will take a look at the C3 now. Cheers
 
SE T715

Decent enough for his uses. Likes to use the camera on it, so I'm after a similar one with a decent camera.
 
Sony Ericsson Cedar

http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_cedar-3404.php

Sony+Ericsson+Cedar+Green+Heart+Smartphone+(1).jpg
 
Well I managed to bring it back to life. Driver issues caused a problem with the EROM or something, so I installed proper ones and got it up and running and unlocked.

Will still like to find him a new phone though as the T715 is really scratched and grubby. Was looking at the Cedar as well, looks the part, will check it out in more detail.
 
Good to know thanks. I was thinking of getting one as 2nd phone. The spiro W100 is the same price but its seems to get worse reviews due to it crashing I assume due to low ram on board. The Zylo is a tiny bit more, and a bit better spec, but its has the Sony connector which I'd like to avoid. Even though I have all the connections from previous SE's I've had over the years..

I'm not expecting it to be amazing, but does it sound ok for music and radio?
 
Nice one fixing it, EPROM recovery? SE Zylo just went end of life at Orange, think networks are flinging the last of them asap. I really rate the Nokia C2/C3 for it's pricepoint. The C3's screen is resistive it's worth noting but both are well built, last for days and fairly simple to use. Reminds me a lot of the other S40 greats like the 6500 slide.
 
Myshra said:
Nice one fixing it, EPROM recovery? SE Zylo just went end of life at Orange, think networks are flinging the last of them asap. I really rate the Nokia C2/C3 for it's pricepoint. The C3's screen is resistive it's worth noting but both are well built, last for days and fairly simple to use. Reminds me a lot of the other S40 greats like the 6500 slide.
Click to expand...

No idea what I did really! I bought one of those unlock packs of eBay (gives you software and login details to unlock it from a server). Basically it turned out to be a driver issue. The unlocking process froze whilst flashing the rom or something, but the guy gave me the proper drivers and I re-flashed it again and it worked and unlocked. So maybe it wasn't a rom issue, but the phone wouldn't turn on at all, so I'm not sure!

In currently looking at eBay every 5 mins and trying to snag something for around £60. The C3 looks nice, but I'm not sure if he'd like a QWERTY keyboard or not. The C3-01 looks great, but again the touchscreen could be a problem.

The C2-01 looks good too, but at around £60, is it a bit low-end for the price?

There is a Sony Ericsson C510 for £60 at the minute. Seems like an old device, but the specs look pretty good. Its actually quite hard for me because I'm only familiar with touchscreen smartphones, been awhile since I've used a phone with hard buttons!

Phones needs to be unlocked or on T-Mobile as well, so its a bit tricky!
 
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I had a C510 but didn't like it as the camera was a bit dire, and the UI was slow. Compared to my old W810i anyway.

The E52 looks good if you could pick it up cheap.
 
kona786 said:
cedar has a micro usb port for charging etc.
Click to expand...

Bit + I think.

USB, 3.5 jack, decent battery and ram. No slider mechanisim to break. Pity the camera and video isn't better. But those angled buttons seem quite nice when you try them. Its bit like my W810i except no autofocus and USB charging. Autofocus not working on my W810i anyway. TBH I can't 2nd hand phones cheaper than the Cedar is new.
 
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Just won a Nokia C5-00 for £51.99 total. Says the back is a bit scratched, but thats not a problem. Screen doesn't have any scratches on it apparently.

Looks like a decent phone and the camera quality looks alright. He is use to Nokias as well, so it should do him for awhile!

Think it was a good buy for the price?
 
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