New (Smart)Phone

[shought]

I currently have a Sony Ericsson W995i, but I would like to get a subscription with Internet services. The problem being that I feel the screen will be too small and the usage will be too 'in-intuitive' because it has no touchscreen.

So I've decided I'll need another phone as well, the thing is I don't like paying a lot, especially for phones. Anyhow I've compared a 'wishlist':

- Looks decent (doesn't have to be great, I'm fine with most things)

- Android (2.1 or later)

- Touchscreen

- Cheap

- 'me-proof' (I tend to throw around my phone all the time :P)

Some things that are not necessary but would be nice:

- 3.5mm plug

- decent camera

Now I'm planning on buying it before the end of this year, at any time I feel 'the price is right' :P

Also it needs to be available on the Dutch market, you can try Tweakers.net Pricewatch to find out whether it is available (insert the model number/name in the box 'Toestelnaam').

Please let me know if you guys have any suggestions.

(If you feel like some of my criteria (perhaps the 'Android' one) are 'uncalled for', don't hesitate to let me know!)

[toyo]

See if you can get a cheaper/on offer smartie together with you new subscription. The local Vodafone store has a few phones that get cheaper and cheaper (even 0 USD) depending on what type of subscription you buy. The good ones are still lots of money (for me), but a few bucks off the final price still help.

[0veR]

Go to www.gsmarena.com and chose what phone you want. :)

And you can use advanced search:

http://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3

Input you want android and touchscreen ;)

[shought]

Thinking about the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8....

[Atasas]

Thinking about the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8....

Rather hard to offer opinion as IE my needs/expectations of a phone are quite different, but would agree, that if you do have Sony-E.- get same one, to save yourself from major disappointments. (IE I have mostly had S/E phones, did get myself LG... could not wait to change that, due to many irritants... was no need! screen cracked -_-, went back to S/E)

[mara-]

I wouldn't recommend Sony Ericsson. Their support is terrible. Second thing, I would go with Android 2.2 or newer, since 2.1 can't install apps on memory card. Last thing, but bit pricey, is support for flash. Only phones with 1Ghz or better can support it. Now, when we talk about brand, I would recommend Samsung or HTC.

Cheers ;)

[shought]

I've already found a guide on installing Android 2.2 on the Xperia X8. It should be rather easy ;)

Don't think I'll need support for Flash... Not sure.

HTC was recommended to me before, but they're quite pricey.

Thanks for the suggestions tough :)

[mara-]

Just be sure that everything will work if you decide for that phone. That is not supported by S/E and I often see missing functionality with unofficial FW, like camera not working, no sound, etc.

Cheers ;)

[Hottwire]

I wouldn't recommend Sony Ericsson. Their support is terrible. Second thing, I would go with Android 2.2 or newer, since 2.1 can't install apps on memory card. Last thing, but bit pricey, is support for flash. Only phones with 1Ghz or better can support it. Now, when we talk about brand, I would recommend Samsung or HTC.

Cheers ;)

Yeah I own a HTC Wildfire (2.2 froyo) my dad owns a Samsung Galaxy Apollo (i bought him it as a birthday present) and that is 2.1 (Eclair) but both very good entry level models on android fairly decent'ish screens. I don't know if these would match up to what you want or not but just thought i'd let you know we are both happy with them.

So I recommend HTC & Samsung as well :)

[shought]

K, thanks for the additional recommendations...

I don't think I'll go for the Xperia X8 anymore, not sure which other.

[myidisbb]

what toolos/apps are a must to you all?

[RadioActive]

Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830

(official website | review)

• Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
• 7.2 Mbps HSDPA support
• 3.5" 16M-color TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen of HVGA (320 x 480 pixels) resolution
• 800MHz ARM 11 processor, Adreno 200 GPU, Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset; 278MB of RAM available to the user
• Android OS v2.2 (Froyo) with TouchWiz 3.0 UI customization
• Swype text input
• 5 MP autofocus camera with LED flash; Geo-tagging, face and smile detection
• QVGA@15fps video
• microSD slot (up to 32GB, 2GB in box)
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g, n and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS connectivity; Digital compass
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• DNSe sound enhancement
• FM radio with RDS
• Document editor
• File manager preinstalled
• Samsung Apps brings a few nice apps for free
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor

I believe that offers the biggest-bang-for-the-buck.

[shought]

@Lohengrin

It's going to be either the HTC Desire S or that one, I think... But I'm waiting until I find a good offer (max total 480 euro for 2 years (20/month average) or 300 euro for 1 year (25/month average)). I'd actually prefer 1 year as I don't like being 'stuck' to some provide + I can easily get a subscription for <15 euro per month which suits my needs (including Internet), so 300 + (12 x 15) = 480 ;)

[RadioActive]

It's going to be either the HTC Desire S or that one, I think... But I'm waiting until I find a good offer (max total 480 euro for 2 years (20/month average) or 300 euro for 1 year (25/month average)). I'd actually prefer 1 year as I don't like being 'stuck' to some provide + I can easily get a subscription for <15 euro per month which suits my needs (including Internet), so 300 + (12 x 15) = 480 ;)

The HTC Desire S is a totally different (higher) tier, you can't compare it to the Galaxy Ace. But you can compare it to the Samsung Galaxy S/SL.

In any case, I still think the Galaxy Ace offers the biggest-bang-for-the-buck since it's much cheaper than the Desire or the Galaxy S/SL while providing an excellent set of features.

[shought]

Yeah, but for some reason I want a HTC Desire S :P

Not sure exactly why again...

Also for some reason the cheapest subscription with which I can get the Galaxy Ace is also the cheapest with which I can get the HTC Desire S :s

[RadioActive]

Yeah, but for some reason I want a HTC Desire S :P

Not sure exactly why again...

Also for some reason the cheapest subscription with which I can get the Galaxy Ace is also the cheapest with which I can get the HTC Desire S :s

Lemme put it this way; if you gonna buy the phone then go for the Galaxy Ace, but if money isn't an issue then most definitely get the Desire S (or the Galaxy S/SL), it's a no-brainer in that case.

[shought]

I'm going to wait for next month's offers and see what I can get then... I'm going to a local shop where they used to have great offers tomorrow, but I don't expect them to hook me up. Then again: you never know :rolleyes:

(As in if the I can get the Galaxy Ace with a cheaper subscription next month then I will probably get that one, but if I can still get them for the same subscription I'll probably get the Desire S.)

Btw: the new branding adopted by Samsung is really clever and manipulative; 'Samsung Galaxy S' --> best smartphone of the year! Great phone, fabulous, wauw, yippie.

All people remember is 'Samsung Galaxy' and when they look for a new phone they see 'Galaxy Ace' and think 'Oh, that's one of those best phones!'. Don't know who thought of re-inventing this old trick (sub-brand names), but it was most definitely a great idea, I think :)

[teamacc]

You could try and wait for the Huawei Glory

Although it has cdma to replace SIM-cards, which dutch providers dont support (yet). (http://www.allaboutphones.nl/nieuws/5341/KPN-bouwt-in-alle-stilte-een-CDMAnetwerk-op-450-MHz.html)

Also, not available until november, but should be around 300 dollars.

[shought]

I think I'm sold on the HTC Desire S. It really looks like a great phone.

I always search for 'PhoneName Review' first, read a couple and if I think I want the phone (or anything else for that matter) I search for 'PhoneName bad points/negatives' to find out what I might not like. The only bad points people mentioned about the HTC Desire S was the processor (1 GHz LOL, they were whining about dual-core), the fact that there is no camera button (and you have to use the touchscreen) and that it has no HDMI support. I find none of those points to be really 'disturbing', it just looks like a well-rounded, solid and fast phone.

Anyone who would like to try and talk me out of it? :D

@teamacc

Huawei... never heard of it. To be honest I ruled out all Acer phones as well, just because they are not 'real' phone makers (in my eyes) :P

[toyo]

Lots of money for a phone. You sure you really need it? Maybe they're better spent somewhere else.

[shought]

Of course I don't 'need' it... I would like it though.

I could think of a million ways to better spend the money, but none of them would include spending it on something for myself. :rolleyes:

[toyo]

Well, you could keep/save some more money and have patience until you find something you really like&need. It would also be very nice to have a cash reserve for eventual bad days. I'm not sure, but I think I saw on the forums that you already have some laptop, so no need for mobile Internet. I assume you also have a mobile. These things deprecate the fastest in the tech world (so I read in a few magazines). And, common, the better ones have prices comparable to a computer, this is ridiculous, even with their fancy touch screens and dual-core CPUs.

PS: If I were you, I'd get one - I like toys, duh - but only if I had enough money to buy it without "feeling" their loss. Who cares about 700$ when you have a few thousands to play with...

PPS: These are very hard times. Some countries feel the pressure less, of course... but I doubt it very much there will be a true economic recovery. IMHO, it's not a good time for spending at all, the money you have could turn out to be really, really useful...

[shought]

Because I have a laptop I've no need for mobile internet? Not making sense much? :P

I know the prices are ridiculous, but I need a subscription anyway.

I call/text for about 10 euro a month, but if I were to add Internet to that I'd be prepared to pay 15 euro a month. Now this makes 15 x 12 x 2 for 2 years, so 360 euro. Now I could get something for that price for my current phone, but I would not be able to make much use of Internet because it'd be really annoying on my current phone. So we've established that if I want internet I'll need a new phone. I want Internet, so I need a new phone :P

Now the cheapest subscription around is for 14,75 x 12 + 29,50 x 12 with HTC Desire S for free (it is possible to get the subscription cheaper, but without a phone and it is much cheaper to get the phone with the subscription in most cases). Sometimes they have deals that have the reduced price for 24 months though. They actually had it just a week ago (before I started looking), but now they're no longer offering it... Which is why I'm going to wait for next month's offers and possible even the offers in August before I get a new phone.

So as you can see above it is not the fact that I don't want one of the cheaper phones, but it's the fact that even the cheaper phones (Wildfire or Galaxy Ace for instance) will cost me more than 150 euro and if I get the cheapest subscription with the HTC Desire S the costs I'm paying extra (for the phone, because I could get a cheaper subscription if it didn't include the phone) are much lower than 150 euro (closer to 100).

I don't know about other countries but here in the Netherlands subscriptions are sold 'because of the phone'. A subscription without a phone is a rarity :P (Well, except for prepaid.)

[toyo]

Because I have a laptop I've no need for mobile internet? Not making sense much? :P

Take it as you wish, but for me, having a laptop is actually having (quality) mobile Internet at reach. While this makes no sense to you, it does to me. I don't have anything to gain trying to convince you not to buy a toy given the actual economics, have your fun :)

[shought]

:)