CVByrne Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Branded phones will take until the end of november to get the update. I got my phone from carphone in july, it's not branded and o2 were not selling the phone in their shops at the time. So question is, will I get the unlocked update next week like events else or do I have to wait for O2 version? I am assuming britain and ireland will be the same time line. I entered *#7465625# and it says I'm not sim locked, I hope this is accurate. EDIT: Confirmed, I have an unlocked phone despite getting it for €99 on contract with O2. Giggidy, giggidy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mykeyb Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 I took the plunge and bought an Orange San Francisco and boy am I pleased. Superb piece of kit and I still can't believe I got it for £79.99. Currently running Android 2.1 and a custom ROM from Modaco (that deletes all of the Orange Bloatware). Got an unlock code off eBay for 99p. Switching between this and my HTC Magic the screen is awesome, it makes the HTC seem about 20 years out of date. The battery life is still settling down though, first charge took an eternity and then emptied worryingly fast, second charge much quicker and holding up well, hopefully it'll keep improving. One thing I cannot figure out though, I can't seem to get the word suggestion thingy on when I'm typing text messages, I've got it toggled in touchpal but it doesn't appear to be kicking in... Also, please suggest any great apps that I should add, I haven't really looked into what is new for ages as the Magic was getting slower and slower I gave up. Looks like a nice phone at the budget end of the spectrum - this might be just the thing for my sons xmas pressie Its a budget price yes but huge on features. It does it all. Don't let the price fool you into thinking its a poor imitiation of a Desire / Wildfire. Its currently £99.99 +£10 top up on the website, I bought an orange sim pack from Argos for £1, called to register it. Then called back stating I was an exisitng PAYG customer and a friend had got this phone discounted to £79.99, guy checked my number and then did the deal. Easy. It does seem that in terms of value for money this has to be a number one choice for an Android Phone which costs less than £150.00. My son really wanted an Iphone or the HTC Desire both of which as PAYG handsets were way too much - but this one looks like it will do pretty much all he needs it to at a price which doesnt provide too much of a barrier. Cant see Orange being to keen to offer any incentives on this to buy before Christmas either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 That san francisco phone is without doubt a game changer. How they are charging so little is beyond the realms of reason. Awesome is the only way to describe it at that price. Can't wait for the reviews of it to come out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDon Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 EDIT: Confirmed, I have an unlocked phone despite getting it for €99 on contract with O2. Giggidy, giggidy A lot of if you get an unlocked unbranded one is pure luck with supplies. My desire from VM is unbranded and unlocked, yet everyone else I know who has one from VM is branded and locked. Interestingly VM have discontinued both the desire and the galaxy s, they see the handsets as having too long a claw back period on the handset cost, so I'm guessing I'll be looking for a new provider when my contract is up if they don't offer high end handsets then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Well the only place you could get a galaxy s in ireland was with carphone and they only had unlocked and unbranded phones so they can sell them on all four irish networks. Recently, as in last week, O2 and three started selling the phones in their stores. Three handsets are locked to three so I'd assume it's the same with O2. Thing is all the people I know got it in carphone except the lsd in work on three and all are unlocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 I got the zeemote and it's pretty cool. Was playing mario kart there for an hour last night. Tv out cable hadn't arrived yet so I haven't ported it to my tv to play it on there yet. I think it'll be great for many of the psx games like gran tourismo and especially the final fantasy games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Thanks for mentioning the NoLED application...highly useful! Also is there an official release day for Froyo in the UK? Heard rumours of tomorrow but I'm not convinced. I'm getting rather impatient... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Next week is what I read from Samsung UK. For unbranded unlocked phones that is. Branded phones will be late November. But as usual this could change at the drop of a pin. But it is very close in any case. Yeah NoLED is a must for all Galaxy S users. Also zeam launcher is a must have for galaxy s users. It's super super fast and removes the annoying lag when opening apps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Techradar's Orange San Francisco review Basically it's awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted October 20, 2010 VT Supporter Share Posted October 20, 2010 Has there been any word on the Desire HD recently? Last I heard it was due for release this week I think but theres not been a wimper. Not even any proper reviews that I've seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Em it went on sale today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted October 20, 2010 VT Supporter Share Posted October 20, 2010 Ah. I had heard yesterday. Strange theres been nothing said. And Orange don't have it on their site yet (though strangely the other day it was a coming soon, and now it's nowhere to be seen at all). And the reviews are still thin on the ground. Should be rated pretty well based on the success of the Desire. Looks to have more quality about it than the Galaxy S as well imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDon Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Performance wise it's slightly behind the galaxy s, but build quality is higher, it doesn't feel plasticy, and the new sense has some awesome new features. Hoping they've gone away from their old shitty custom syncing of contacts and used the built in one now. Fed up of it taking over the notes field for my contacts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Build quality of the galaxy s is superb. You mean the build materials. Samsung chose plastic to make the phone as light as possible. Htc use metal casing for a better feel. Depends on personal taste. Same reason that manufacturers have a limit on battery size as it's a weight / life trade off. I love the lightness and hope to god that samsung don't make the sgs2 heavy for the sake of it. Desire hd weighs 164g SGS 119g. Also I'm slightly bewildered that HD only has a 1230mAh battery can it. Though the switch to 45nm cpu will save a load of battery as does running froyo. But why not use plastic casing and house a bigger battery one might muse. But it does have htc sense, which pisses all over samsungs touch jizz. So do you need reviews? It's gonna be the best htc phone around, which itself is high praise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDon Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 It's not just about the weight with the plastic casing, it's about the feel of the phone. IMO the galaxy s feels cheap. If they switched the desire HD to plastic casing it'd feel cheap as well. Metal has a reassuring build quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted October 20, 2010 VT Supporter Share Posted October 20, 2010 I agree with TheDon on that, as I said in this thread a couple of weeks back, I really couldn't get over how cheap the Galaxy S feels in the hand. It could be absolutely bomb proof in it's construction but the materials really do feel low rent to me and it actively puts me off it (as does the fact it's a Samsung ). From what I've read on it, the Desire HD has none of those issues and actively feels robust and reassuring in the hand. Looking forward to having a play with one when the time comes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Each to their own, but as I said in this thread before the weight of the phone was a big selling point to me. I don't mind the plastic if it means weight is low. Plus none of this changes the fact the galaxy s has a superior cpu, gpu and especially screen. Things you'd think should be of far more importance. When I first held the phone I said wow that is so light, not hmm that feels cheap. To me if they were to put the weight up I'd prefer it went on the battery then a frankly useless, technology wise, metal case. But look that's the great thing about android though, find the phone that suites you. But I have to completely point out that on build quality the galaxy s is absolutely superb. Nothing at all has broken or come lose at all. Everything fits perfectly. It is an exceptionally well made phone. Even if it's made of plastic. Anyway, I'm very eager to see the Desire hd. I've only ever seen the hd2 and the screen on the hd is certainly superior to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Techradar's Orange San Francisco review Basically it's awesome. I fully agree, the main problem I think is the price, its actually too cheap, people think that there must be a catch and it puts them off. Orange seem to be very eager to discount it further too. Like I did, if you are an existing customer you can just ring up and ask for some money off, I got mine for £79.99. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 All that matters is they have a high res 3.5inch capacitive touchscreen. How they can get a good screen like that, basically the same as an iphone 3gs for so cheap is amazing. Credit to ZTE, it's an excellent phone that doesn't cut corners in places it shouldn't. Now I wish it would come out in ireland, as a big put off of smart phones is the price you need to pay to get a decent experience. But with this I can get friends who stick to pay as you go phones to get a smartphone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Early november for UK froyo galaxy s release. I hope all this delay is because the galaxy s was rushed out to be released at the same time as the iphone and that samsung will get their act together for gingerbread release. The galaxy s was their first stab at high end android and hopefully a company of its size can iron out the software issues for the future. But if it becomes a trend that they are always behind their oem rivals I will think twice before getting a galaxy S2 next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts