I need a new mobile phone/cellphone
Community Forums/General Help/I need a new mobile phone/cellphone
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| I bought a LG Optimus P500 last year when I was fancying a crack at Android dev, and my previous phone was at death's door which is why I replaced it. Anyway, no Android dev for me now. The problem I have is that I'm on PAYG - reason being I don't use a mobile enough to justify paying for a contract one. The thing is, I'm putting £10 of credit on it each month because if I don't, the thing sucks up £1 worth of data per day (O2's maximum data charge) and that might not sound like much but if you look at it as if I'm spending £30 a month on a phone I hardly use, it's all getting a bit silly. It's only running Android 2.2 and there was talk of an Android 2.3 upgrade but that never happened and even if it had, Android is WAY beyond that now. There is absolutely nothing I can do to stop this thing from sucking up data by itself and O2 charging me for the privilege. Turning off data services etc does not make any difference whatsoever. So... anybody recommend a NORMAL, non-smart phone that lets me call people, send/receive SMS/MMS, maybe a decent-ish camera and that isn't going to cost me money to have it sat on my desk doing nothing? |
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| Stupid question, but if you don't want/need any data traffic, you may be able to have to provider BLOCK it on their side for your line -- that way you can't rake in any unintended charges for data traffic, while at the same time you keep the ability to connect to the net over Wi-fi. (Although it depends on your provider -- Verizon requires an active data package on android phones, but did allow me to block it completely on my old clamshell dumbphone.) |
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| I use my phone to check email sometimes when I'm not at home, so I *do* need a small amount of data for that. I'd just rather the phone wasn't nibbling away at either my bandwidth or my phone credit without me knowing about it. |
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| anybody recommend a NORMAL, non-smart phone that lets me call people, send/receive SMS/MMS Normal? Non-smart? Ha! Those are practically mutually exclusive! For my actual-phone-I-use-to-make-calls, I must say I have yet to hear a good reason to use anything more advanced than a V3. Advantages: -- battery life is an order of magnitude higher than smart phones -- cheaper than its own postage to replace via eBay (good if you break phones as often as I do) -- still the coolest-looking phone ever made Disadvantages: -- don't care, and it sounds like neither do you |
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| Android is WAY beyond that now. actually as far as phones go phones you are only a few versions behind (android 3 was only for tablets).If you have turned off mobile data then there is no way the phone can use data, unless the provider has put something on there to turn it on. Which is surely against your rights as a consumer. If you are getting charged for data with the mobile data setting off then i think you have a case for demanding your money back. Take it to the C.A.B. This is why i always buy an unlocked network free phone, you never know what shovelware these contract companies load on it. My old HTC desire i am using as a free-sim PAYG as a backup to my main phone (i tend to use this backup when at concerts or out skateboaring incase it rains or i fall on my ass) I have never had the problem that it is sucking data credit though. Data is off and it seems to stay off on that one (unless i am on wifi of course) Last edited 2012 |
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| That's the thing - mine is sim-free. Yet if I don't put credit on, at some point i get a message saying that i've reached the £1 daily data charge and won't be charged any more that day. |
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| I don't think you'll find a decent camera in a non-smart phone these days. I'd say just go grab something cheap. If all it does is make calls all phones can do that just fine at this point. IMO there was never that big a difference between a "good" phone and a "bad" phone call quality wise back in pre-smartphone days anyway, but then I'm not picky about my audio quality. If you don't need something specific then get something cheap, no sense in spending extra money on something that just sits there 90% of the time, save it for when you inevitably switch back to a smart phone (the world will force you, maybe in a month, maybe a year, maybe 5) and you can get something then that makes you happy to own it instead of annoyed all the time. p.s. NEVER trust a manufacturer saying they'll update an android phone. They have *nothing* to gain and lots to lose by upgrading it. Upgrades are quite rare even on flagship devices, and best case they'll be incremental. Fundamentally they want you to buy a new phone, what better way than making your old one obsolete? Also they have to pay to test the software, and the carriers have to pay to get it to their customers, etc. all they want is you to buy a new phone and re-up a contract, helping you hurts them so they don't do it. A tiny bit of good will with a few android addicts that at this point are already expecting to buy new hardware anyway really doesn't make up for all the real world costs and hassles they incur. |
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| Thats crap i have had may progressive ud.s on all my devices. |
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| You're using British pounds (or is it Australian pounds) (sorry, can't find the pound symbol on my keyboard) instead of U.S dollars, so I'm thinking you're not from the United States of America. Anyway, I don't know which pho9ne providers you have whre you're from, but over here in america, almost every phone provider have a no-contract phone with unlimited talk, text, and web, and some of them have even a mobile hotspot if you need that in a phone when you're away from the office. I recommed either a phone from HTC or Samsung. In my experience, they have the sharpest display, and they each have a version of the Android OS. I myself have an HTC Evo design from Boost-Mobile ( a part of Sprint) on their shrinkage plan. Where I live, you start out at $65.00 a month, pay for 6 months, then the company takes $5.00 off for another 6 months, and the cycle starts all over again, until you reach $35.00 Wehn you strip the name of the model, (HTC markets the Evo, Thunderbolt, INspire, OneX, etc.) they're all pretty much the same thing aimed at different interests. The mystery I find, with all these no-contract phones available, I don't understand why consumers insist on having a contract phone with its negative impact on your credit rating! |
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| So... anybody recommend a NORMAL, non-smart phone Goodness no! Anything that isn't a smart phone tends to be a feature phone with delusions of grandeur, these days. You may as well get what they're imitating! I picked up a Lumia 610 recently, which is cheap-as-chips, bottom of the range, practically obsolete and... a stonkingly decent phone. I imagine the same is true with Android phones -- even the lowliest should have enough oomph to give you a decent experience. I'd always recommend people to look at a Windows phone after using one, though, as the UI seems particularly well suited to the domain. If I'd known how much I was going to like the 610 I'd have thrown some wedge at a better model. Last edited 2012 |
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| My wife has a Lumia 800 which cost £120. It's the dogs. Lot of phone for the money. The Windows o/s is pretty sweet. Basil |
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