Android help please

[Zootoxin]

Hi Android lovers!

I really would like an Android phone and was intending to get the Desire HD

But

I wasn't expecting it to be sooooooooooooo expensive.
Ã,£35 for 24 months is a lot of moola!

Also, I am pretty much tied in to 02 who have opted for the windows phone instead of the HD I am told.

Now correct me if I am wrong but the Desire HD is basically
HTC Hardware
Google (Android 2.2) Software
HTC (Sense) Front end

where the Galaxy S (also too expensive) is
Samsung Hardware
Google (Android 2.2) Software
Samsung Front end.

Yes?

So, my question is does it really make that much of a difference which handset you get as long as you get Android 2.2?

and, if you have Android 2.2 can you get different front ends?

I hope that makes sense

Thanks

Zoot

[TeaLeaf]

Ã,£50 for the phone and Ã,£25pm from Orange?  (24 month contract)

Why are you tied into O2?

[Zootoxin]

Ã,£50 for the phone and Ã,£25pm from Orange?  (24 month contract)

Why are you tied into O2?

Mainly for the broadband discount I get which is Ã,£5 per month and my wife and family or on it, so free calls without minute loss.

[delanvital]

Well, very basically, yes, you see the same screen and they do about the same things. But e.g. Galaxy has wonderful screen. Desire has lots of other features. Galaxy S squeaks and Desire HD can get dents. And so it goes on. You need to make up your mind. How good a camera, screen, processing power, build quality etc. you want. And even then, go to a shop and try them out before you buy. Don't put too much into custom interfaces.

Also, there is not much front end on Galaxy S. And finally, yes, you can change to other third party front-ends, since they are basically just programs, but HTC is for HTC etc. and MotoBLUR for Motorolas etc (mostly).

Bob and I basically run the same setup, which is very common now, same 3rd party frontend (LauncherPro), a completely different and customised version of Android 2.2 which is rooted (FroydVillain) and offers additional functionality. Desire HD has already a few customized ROMs, not sure about Galaxy S...

[Tutonic]

Zoo, I was in a similar position to you last week - I wanted to upgrade (I'm on Orange) to a Desire HD, but the cost was rather steep.

So I called Orange up, and told them that I was going to leave Orange to get the Desire HD cheaper elsewhere (technically true). They offered me a 12 month contract, Ã,£15 per month (which gets me 200 minutes plus unlimited texts & data - plenty for me) and they've thrown in the phone for free.

So basically call them up, threaten to leave and you'll get a much better deal

[lionheart]

Agree with Tutonic, I didn't even want to leave Orange but phoned up to enquire about the Galaxy and ended up with the phone for Ã,£19.95 internet thrown in for free (on my existing Ã,£25 a month contract (18 mths, 300 mins, 300 texts unlimited calls to land lines)).

Give em a call.

[T-Bag]

Go for any Smart Android phone you can afford. Even my Hero (which is now starting to be quite old) is a good phone, and the software got updated to 2.1 so it's got all the turn by turn sat nav stuff on it for free.
The more you pay the better the features.  Beware of phones like the wildfire which are just regular phones, so are under specced if you intend to make the most of android. If you want a safe and probably fairly cheap by now bet the regular Desire is still good and powerful, big screen etc.
I think the Galaxy is the current trendy one at the moment due to it's iPod/iPhone type looks, but the Desire HD is the new power user phone. It all depends how modern you want to go with your phone. The better the phone the higher the premium.

O2 look pretty poor on the smartphone front, and their prices are fairly terrible...not really sure how much choice you have with phones with them.

[suicidal_monkey]

I ended up buying a desire from o2 outright for 285, staying on my simplicity rolling contract. Works out close to 35 a month I think...but without the 24 month tie-in.