time for a new phone

[suicidal_monkey]

well, my vodafone contract has finished and my V3 is definitely getting old, so it's time to move on...

features I'd like to have:
not too big/thick
good battery life (more than 2 days between charges with normal use would be nice...)
mp3 player with "proper" headphone socket of some sort (mini/regular, as long as it's not proprietary
should have a memory expansion slot for mp3 storage
radio might be nice too I guess, but not a problem if it isn't there
decent pc connectivity, again non-proprietary would be nice, e.g. mini-usb
fun stuff like games would be cool V3 is crap due to its slow cpu

Obviously I'd like a cheap contract and a wonderful shiny new phone, but these two things aren't compatible, so either a cheap contract with a phone with decent features,

So far I'm quite keen on the Blackberry 8100 ("pearl") smartphone which can be had on o2 via e2save for £30 per month with unlimited web&email which would be cool. It's more than I'd like to pay of course, but it is a nice looking phone...

p.s. is it true that o2 tend to give out their phones unlocked by default?

[BigFatCat]

Don't know for deff but 02 used to be less branded than most, sometimes providing unlocked handsets. However, I get my k750i last year from phones4u and they had a stock of unlocked handsets with which they just provided the relevant network's SIM. Gave me £60 from the till too.:yahoo:

[OldBloke]

Having had a fair few phones myself I've come to the conclusion that my next phone will be chosen by manufacturer rather than model. Why? Because only one manufacturer (IMHO) makes phones with a decent, intuitive, full featured operating system. Sony Ericsson.:toast:

[suicidal_monkey]

done a little researching...and have a few options that seemed appealing, boiled it down to the following... agreed on the phone manuf. quality. SE are definitely quite nice, and I think blackberry are pretty good too

SE W850i
 - orange, 12 month @ £16 per month with 200min, 75sms
 - o2, 12 month @ £22.50 per month with 400min, 100sms

Blackberry 8100 "Pearl"
 - o2, 12 month @ £30 per month with 400min, 100sms, and free data&email
 - tmobile, didn't understand their pricing structure so figure they're a rip off...

of course if vodafone will match one of the better deals I might stick with them. The free data&email thing sounds very appealing but I'm not sure if it's actually worth it! advertising sucking me in!:rolleyes:

p.s. I also foung the SE k610i for *free* for 12 months on the 3 network but I dislike 3

[BigFatCat]

Seriously thinking about not having a SE phone next time, their little stubby joystick control is starting to irritate the, er, life, out of me with its increasing refusal to work.

[Armitage]

I have just got a V3. It's small, the sound is good and the battery is much better than my old nokia. I get 3+ days of good use.  So gets a big thumbs up from me.

[suicidal_monkey]

I have just got a V3. It's small, the sound is good and the battery is much better than my old nokia. I get 3+ days of good use.  So gets a big thumbs up from me.

My V3 has served me well, but it's battery is old now and isn't very good (or at least the battery indicator says it's not very good anymore) and I'm tired of motorolas UI and predictive text. Nothing majorly wrong, just had enough, need a change

vodafone's best offer on the W850i is for me to get another 18 month contract at £25 for 200min, 250sms, and their "stop-the-clock" thing. They wanted to charge £70 for the phone but once I got through to the leaving dept it became free...still nowhere near as good as the e2save offerings though...might be time to switch networks again!

[delanvital]

Having had a fair few phones myself I've come to the conclusion that my next phone will be chosen by manufacturer rather than model. Why? Because only one manufacturer (IMHO) makes phones with a decent, intuitive, full featured operating system. Sony Ericsson.:toast:

I am with you on that one. I've done Nokia for a long time, but I've seen the light.

My main argument is the stability of the OS though. SE doesn't crash, doesn't get weird with age (well, so I've been told) and handles more moist... (that I know!)

The SE w810i is about 200 quid here. Size is nice, good battery life, good player with in-ear plugs that sounds good (the new type), has a MemoryStick slot (comes with 512MB) and a good RDS radio. PC connection can be done via bluetooth, IR og cable. Can be used as a usb-stick via the usb cable. Games are ok I guess, only tried a few. J2ME compatible.

[Penfold]

I've just got this phone.

http://www.motorolakrzr.net/

It does have all the features you're looking for and is from the same stable as the V3 but with improved features such as taking video - mp3 player - takes an expansion card yada yada.

Not sure if you'll get if free though on contract

PEN