Well, stupidly i agreed to lend my brother my phone while he was at the Leeds festival, and surprise surprise he lost it on the first day. So now i'm going to need a new one. I barely ever touched my old one, but if it had more features i think i might have. So what with the money he's giving me and perhaps some i'll chip in myself, i have a budget of around £50, maybe more but i'd rather not. I like the idea of being able to check sal's on it so i was looking around and i found the Orange Vegas, and the T-Mobile Vairy Touch. What do you think? Any suggestions? Thanks.

http://www.apple.com/iphone

Hands down.

You can't get it for 50 pounds, though. And if he's not on the UK AT&T, he'll have to buy an unlocked one, which is more expensive.

Isn't the iphone on O2 over here anyway? Besides, i definitely want it to be PAYG. No way do i use it enough to warrant a monthly payment. I suppose i could stretch the budget to £60, that seems to open things up a little more. Suggestions?

Would something with Wi-Fi be in budget? What about used?

The iPhone 2g goes for 150 pounds (at least) for O2 and Unlocked.

Maybe try a used blackberry or an older model.

I was looking at the Orange Vegas... something like that would be perfect, if only it could access the internet via a wireless router and so for free.

The problem is that most "dumb phones" don't have built in wireless.

Most, but not all... it's times like these when i wish i had paid more attention to the mobile phone market. I always dismissed it in that i wanted my phone to just make calls and text... and play snake. Could i get something good used?

Ok, why does everyone suggest iphone when there is so much more? :roleyes:
Look at HTCs, if they are too expensive, look at Samsung. (Omnia HD is a great phone i heard, 3D acceleration)
(Notice i didnt say Nokia, because they are more for Symbian-freaks like me.. )
Omnia HD has the same processor as iphone, as much memory and 3d acceleration. (Kind of video card)
You get the same performance, as iphone too, if you say the specs on it sucks, think again.
It has 8Mpx camera with AF. (thats kind of pwnage..)
Not too many downsides, its S60 5th Edition (That is something only those who use it understand.. )
I know, there is no App store, but Samsung is still establishing one.
You find many variants of snake for it, there is 3D-snake, normal snake, Python snake (there is a script for running snake in Python)

Does that sound tempting?

Or do you want clean purified computer-power in your pocket..?
Nokia N900
The phone is as the site says: Raw power.

I know phones...

Or, do you want a complete plain one without advanced features?

I think i'm looking at an 'average' phone, but a touch screen and wi-fi would be really nice. Since my birthday's at the end of this month i think the budget could be around £100, so maybe low end smartphone? Or refurb...

Oh, and i completely agree about the iPhone... the HTC Hero looks amazing.

There you see, an alternaltive popped up!
But, Hero is a bit expensive.
Its a nice UI though..

Low-end smartphone?
List up your needs, but you dont need to list texting and calling, those are all the basics. (+MMS, E-Mail, and more)
And i bet you want Wi-Fi?
And a good music player?
Ability to play videos?
Often the touch-phones are much better for video because of the display and less buttons making light on the screen beneath.

Meh, Music and Video i'm not to bothered about, i still have my iRiver Clix 2. I suppose i could sell it and get a bit more...

Just as a quick thought, what's the cheapest Android phone? I've heard things about sub $100 ones on the horizon.

Hard to say, the only ones are G1 and Hero..
But you could check the price for G1.

There are more than that surely? The HTC Magic, HTX Touch 2, HTC Touch Diamond 2... i assume there are more from other manufacturers, since just a while after the G1 i heard about the second one, there's a G2+ as well now i think. Android or not, what would you suggest? Would the Vegas i posted earlier be okay? I was looking at the LG Cookie and the Tocco Lite but i can't find any with wi-fi, which is the main thing i'm looking for really.

Oh.. i only knew about those 2..
I bet you wont get Snake as easy on Android, because it only supports special Java apps.

But i have a question: what was your last phone?
That might help deciding the next based on what you are used to.

The orange Vegas doesnt seem too good, looke here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Vegas
The screen only has 256k colors, not too good in my opinion.
Normally you get 16Mil colors or 24-bit.
Many defects on Cookie, and no Wi-Fi.
Tocco lite = no Wi-Fi.
Take a look at Omnia, seems reasonable.

Haha, it was a Nokia 1680 Classic which i had no say in buying. As long as the interface is decent i don't really care how similar or different is is. These are the phones i've managed to find:

• Orange Vegas (or other replica ZTE phones)
• LG Cookie
• Samsung Tocco Lite

Gah, i wish you could build phones as you do PCs... would make it much simpler. Basically, i would have the innards of an HTC Magic inside the skin of the Orange Vegas (or similar) running Android with Sense. Which would of course be cheaper

I'm thinking about getting that Vegas now, then getting a used or refurbished phone that has Sense on it later. What do you think?

Hmm.. Vegas has a small screen, so you should really be sure about it.
It doesnt feature Wi-Fi either.
If you are 100% sure, you could go for it.
Myself i am a little bit pikcy on phones, especially when an operator makes it.
There is Chess X1 and X2 around here, they were BAD phones, no Wi-Fo and bad camera.

Building a phone aint as easy as building a computer, you need both knowing of electronics VERY well, and need to connect small cables at size of needles.
The processor is something you could blow away, same with RAM chips.
But, the FBS and BBS in a phone is incredibly high when it has small areas to travel between.
I transfer a 100Mb file in the phones system in seconds. (Around 10 secs)
There IS a reason why only machines make the phones, they do more precise actions.

To introduce manufacturing a phone yourself also needs an OS to load into it.
There is some Linux systems capable, and also Windows DOS systems.

Haha, you could just make an mITX system, stick a screen on the front and call it a day.

Seriously though, i haven't got a clue what i want. The Orange Vegas (and the T-Mobile Viary Touch) aren't made by them, they're just ZTE models with a different sticker stuck on. What i want is top of the range with a £100 price tag, but that's just not going to happen.

Its not too easy to help about prices when i am in another part of the world, unknowing of where you buy.
Look up a more varied collection of phones instead, then pick out some of them, then qualify out from that which is best in price and features.
I bought Nokia 5700 instead of SE W580i, because i thinked the 5700 looked better and lasts better.
Think of factors you would need it to handle when looking.

Yeah, i'm having a look on GSMArena now. I didn't think it would be this hard to choose a phone...

See if your friends have a phone they don't use much anymore. Cheapest way is through people you know.

But yea phone choosing is hard because there's so many bad phones.

Can you give me a list of the best sub £100 (preferably sub £50) phones, touch screen or not? Would probably make it easier. Also, what's the cheapest one? Like it costs nothing, calls, texts and plays snake?

http://threestore.three.co.uk/payg/dealsum...041&id=1402

I bought one, to use my contract SIM with (fed up of my contract phone) and it's a great phone

I was looking at theses:

Nokia 3600
Nokia 5220
Nokia 6500
Samsung U600
Sony Ericsson W880i
Sony Ericsson T303
Sony Ericsson W580i
LG KS360
LG KF310

Out of all of them i think i like the Nokia's more... What's the difference between Xpress Music and Comes With Music?

Comes with Music = You can download as many songs you like for 6 months from Nokia Music.
XpressMusic = Phone that is MADE for music, like dedicated music buttons, or a big aim for music.
I have 2 XpressMusic phones: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and Nokia 5700 XpressMusic, still, i can play heavy games on them.
When buying XpressMusic, some are S60 and some are S40. 8You never know if a phone is S40 or S60 these days..)
The best choice is those with S60.
if you want to check out Nokia phones, go to this site:
http://www.forum.nokia.com/devices/matrix_all_1.html
It tells you every single spec on them.
You can also compare phones.
But as i see, you only chose S40 phones..
Look in this section for S60 phones:
http://www.forum.nokia.com/devices/matrix_s60_1.html
As you see there are many new touch-phones.

LG KS360: Not many colors, only 256K.. (To have a good experience, its best with 16M)
And a little bit worried about when the screen is so small when its touch.
Cant find info about KF310 on Wiki..
Samsung U600:
SE W580i: Seems okay, many of my friends have it.
SE T303: lil' tiny screen? and few colors on screen?

And, you do know there is 2 versions of Nokia 6500?
Slide and classic?

Meh... i have enough music already. The KS360 isn't really a touch screen, it's just for typing numbers. Looking at the reviews though i think i can count it out.

Nokia 3600
SE W580i
Nokia 6500 Slide

And what about the Tocco Lite and the LG Cookie?

You coud eliminate the choice of Nokia 3600, its a very old phone.
Its S60 1.0.

The rest, read tests of both of them, see which you like better.

I thought that SE was older, but still, age is irrelevant. I quite like it. The 6500 looks like it should have wifi to me, only because it looks like the N95 but still a good phone... what i really need to know is what's the cheapest i can get them.

What's the cheapest one with a 3.2MP Camera?

Sony Ericsson W205
Vodafone VF533
Nokia 5000
Samsung S7550 Blue Earth
Samsung S3030 Eco
Nokia 3110 Evolve

I really like the look of the Blue Earth... shame it's not out yet.

Nokia 6500 does not have WiFi.
Its a S40 phone, those never have WiFi.
If you want WiFi in a Nokia you need to look at S60 phones and their specs.
Note: Not many phones have WiFi, but Nokia is starting to make more and more high-end phones.
As i see, you have only listed S40 Nokias. (S40 = no WiFi because WiFi cant be programmed correctly for S40.)
You should compare them yourself, like searching for: (phone name) specifications

But i cant help with prices as i dont live in the states.

Also, i got a video showing N900 in gaming, you get REALLY, now i say REALLY detailed games. It has a shader, and kind of looks like GameCube graphics..

I know, i was just saying it looks like an N95
Okay.
I don't much care for wifi any more... i can't imagine many situations where i'd be near a router i knew the password to or a hotspot where i wouldn't have a laptop or dekstop available.
I think the main constraint now is budget. I'm eying up an i5 build, so the cheaper the better as far as i'm concerned.

That's good. Neither do i.

Maybe so, but i don't have that much to spend Also, if i did i'd probably be looking at a DSi... at least that has wifi

I think the Samsung Propel before I had my iPhone. It's a pretty cheap phone (mine was 70 USD after mail in rebate) and has a micro sd slot for music, videos, and pictures. Plus a full keyboard which is good to type with. No internet (which is kinda why I got an iPhone ).

If you want to use internet on your phone and if you text call often just get a contract. You can get great deals on £20 a month contracts on vodafone which give unlimited texts & web + you get a free smart phone. Nokia 5530 xpress music for example.

Skypephone S2 Caboose,

It's a pretty good phone for it's price. Has a nice case too

Actually, that doesn't look half bad. Only £50 for a 3.2MP camera and an ad hoc wireless modem, which would sort out the reason i wanted wifi in the first place (internet on holiday).

Would an INQ1 be worth the extra?

I have an INQ1, it's a fantastic phone if you will make good use of its features (social networking access and Skype in particular). It doesn't look exactly great, but it's fairly sturdy The built-in web browser is usable but not great, I downloaded Opera Mini and used that instead.

And you didn't suggest it earlier because?

The INQ1 is £70 with £10 top up. The Skypephone S2 is £50 with £10 top up. I'd get 150MB download allowance every time i topped up, i suppose that's okay. I know they're almost exactly the same, but i'm leaning towards the INQ1. Can the INQ still do that modem thing?

sony ericsson w350i

Because you said you wanted a £50 phone, and my INQ1 cost £80

Yes it can function as a modem, but it's kinda breaking your contract.

Definitely stay away from this phone.

Nokia 5530 seems like a good choice, but you should also check out Nokia X3 or X6.
Those are REAL design phones.X6 has a capacitive touch screen with glass, 5Mpx camera, 600Mhz CPU, and more goodies.
Or, you could go for X3, which isnt touch, but still looks great.
I think it has some touch-buttons though. (Note: i said THINK, not sure about it because phone isnt released)
Look those up and tell if you like them.

Nokia is starting to make great phones nowadays.
First Nokia N900, then X6.

Sure, i like them. But i also like my wallet. I think it's between the INQ1 and the Skypephone S2. Can the INQ act like a modem as the Skypephone does? If so then i think i'll go with that.

Both those phones look good.

Just looking at the two, I'd go with the skypephone. I think they're pretty much the same phones to some extent, not much differences. But the INQ1 has the worst menu system I've ever seen (reminds me of Sony Ericssons).

I quite like the look of its menu. Most 'dumb' phones have pretty much identical UIs, i admire it for breaking from the croud. But nobody has answered the big question yet, does the INQ1 act as a modem like the Skypephone does?

I presume it does Caboose



http://www.itworld.com/mobile-amp-wireless...cial-networking

However caboose it's a bit of a con, as it does charge you per mb, even with the internet included

Most phones do have modem functionality.
But 1 thing is important then: Have unlimited access to web on your contract.
Even my old phone could do modem.
Nokia 3220 im talking about.
The phone i have now even does WiFi, Turbo3G, EDGE and GSM. (Turbo3G = 3,5G)
To have networking for HSDPA is good surfing through a phone.

It'l be PAYG, and the 3 website sais that you get 150MB whenever you top up, then you have to start paying 30p per MB.

Only on 3 sites & Facebook/Twitter/Myspace and skype. 

I have mine on a £15 contract a month that gives me 1GB internet usage, 150 minutes (I think) and 3000 texts. Serves me well because texts are virtually impossible to live without at school. I think you can pay £5 a month for unlimited social networking access, but it depends whether you'd consider getting tied into a contract, and how often you intend to use it.

No, the 150MB is for the internet. Those websites you mentioned are free.