Phone with e-mail, messenger and web <100 quid

sharingan_sasuk

sharingan_sasuk

sharingan_sasuk

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Hey all, I currently use a Nokia 6500 classic, on PAYG Orange and although it covers my basic needs, most importantly phone calls and text, I feel like I'm quite behind these days when it comes to phones.

Often I see people with always on e-mail and Messenger services (occasional Facebook ones too although that's not important for me), and to be honest, I've never even managed to send a successful picture message in my whole mobile phone history let alone e-mail!

Here's another scenario I was faced with the other day when I was out: I planned to go to a restaurant in central London the other day. I checked it up at home, took a pic of the map with my Nokia camera (lame I know, quality was poor) and with the restaurant in mind, I set off. However, I got lost for an hour before I had to phone up a mate to help me locate it (forgot to write down the restaurant's details). Now this wouldn't have been necessary and less inconvenient if I had a simple and easy to use web browser to recheck the restaurant, Google Maps and a quick and free Messenger service.

So you can guess what I would like in a new phone:
- some sort of internet browsing, Messenger, e-mail and Google Maps or GPRS map service that is available to connect ANYWHERE and not paid by the minute. I don't require a full on browser, but one that works and loads up faster than the crappy one on my Nokia!
- now obviously this may not be entirely free but I expect to maybe be made to top up a fiver or tenner a month to obtain these free services (with fair usage of course)
- less than 100 quid preferably. I don't have much money to spend on a new phone atm, and I don't require a music player or high megapixel camera. A radio FM feature and 3.5mm headphone socket would be a bonus in rare cases I forgot to recharge my iPod the night before!

A mate of mine who owned a Blackberry Pearl 8110 recommended it. It's around 100 hundred quid and requires only a small topup every month, but I'm guessing that phone is quite old now. I would have definitely considered an iPhone (as I have an iPod Touch and it is absolutely wonderful, until ofc you have no Wifi connection lol), but I'm unemployed atm and it ain't feasible money-wise.

So does anyone have any suggestions? Many thanks
 
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a nokia with built in GPS and ovi maps sounds right up your alley. Can use the software offline too. N79? or maybe a second hand n82 / n95 8gb

All have 3.5mm sockets (n95 is on side though annoyingly), all have built in FM radio.
 
Nokia 5800, shouldn't be a massive amount more than £100 second hand.
Web browsing speeds are very good over 3g (especially if you use opera rather than built in browser), and it has built in GPS and a 3.5mm audio socket.

I've used mine for internet banking in the pub before, had to move some money between accounts so i could use the cash machine :)
 
Three is probably your best bet for light-use PAYG internet. They offer 150MB with each top up (£5 minimum) and the allowance lasts for 90 days. If you have a friend already on Three, they can sign you up through the Free Agent promotion, which gets him a fiver and you £2 extra credit on your first top-up.

5800 is a good bet - it might slightly push your budget but you get a lot of phone for your money. E71 is a quality phone, but the 2.5mm headphone jack might be a dealbreaker.

In the meantime, you can download the Opera Mini browser for your phone (depending on how much you pay for data) - it does a much better job than the Nokia browser.
 
Thanks for the replies so far. The 5800 does look like something that fits my needs, although a bit out of my budget. The E71 seems like it's available on contract mostly and I'm only looking for a PAYG phone (sorry, should have mentioned that). I don't really call much and I would say I use 5-10 quid a month on calls/texts.

And the 3G thing with the 150MB each top up sounds good. Gonna have a look to see what phones they have within my budget, but I'll keep the 5800 in mind.

And thanks for the Opera Mini suggestion. Can't believe I didn't think of it earlier! I thought you would need a more powerful smartphone-like model to have it function properly.
 
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If you want the 5800 within £100 then it's worth considering a 5530 - practically the same but without 3G (still has wifi) and has a slightly smaller screen.
 
Superewza said:
If you want the 5800 within £100 then it's worth considering a 5530 - practically the same but without 3G (still has wifi) and has a slightly smaller screen.
Click to expand...

No GPS though, a bit of a downer considering that the OP is keen on maps.
 
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