Mobile phones - OT

[sweetheart]

Hi, I know this isn't technically DIY but I am sure people on DIY will know more than most about mobile phones. I have a monthly account with Vodaphone. I need a new phone as my old Nokia from about 8 years ago is knackered.

So I tried for an upgrade but the phones they offered didn't seem much to be honest ( probably because I am looking at not paying a lot - £10 a month) . I want a free phone so I cant have a new singing dancing model

I saw a Blackberry . I keep hearing rotten things about Blackberry - so what is wrong with it and what sort of phone would be " best" I need phone calls, long battery life, texts ( would like a qwerty key board for that) and a camera ( not fancy) . If it gave sat nav fine but I don't need " social networking sites as I am not signed up to any and don't see the point.

They also offered an Asha ( Nokia) and a Nokia c102i. Never heard of either and cant find much to recommend any of them on Google In fact nothing much gets recommended anywhere. So what would people suggest for a new phone?

[David in Normandy]

There was something in the news the other day about Blackberry making record losses and they are looking around hoping someone will take them over. Perhaps not a good time to invest in their technology; there may not be any support for their hardware on an ongoing basis.

[Bob Eager]

They are going to refocus on the 'corporate market'. Probably not good news for consumers.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I think they more said they were going to 'focus on their core market'.

Which would seem to be a euphemism for slashing R & D ...whatever that means.

[John Rumm]

First decide it you make enough calls / texts in a month to warrant a contract phone. If not, then buy a basic handset "SIM Free" and go to a provider like Family Mobile or Giff Gaff for the SIM. Could end up costing a good deal less than £10/month.

[sweetheart]

I have a payg and I dont like it so I went back to the contract. There is nothing worse than needing to make a phone call and running out of money.

The contract phone suits me well even though I dont use all my minutes always. £10 is little enough so I dont mind paying it. I wouls stick with my existing phone as it is easy to use but its always running down on battery . I am fed up of re charging it. Vodaphone have offered me a contract for £8 a month if I keep my existing phone but its really a new phone I need. Thanks anyway.

I guess I steer clear of blackberry then.

[ARWadsworth]

Some sort of PAYG inheritantace system is needed.

Maybe you could list the 10 people most likely to peg it to your PAYG account and you will get their remaining credit if you outlive them.

[tinnews]

You can get a payg that's paid for by direct debit so you never run out of credit. I spend close to nothing most months and then have the odd month where I spend a few pounds, the DD payg phone works perfectly for me with this sort of usage.

[F]

No it's not, you need a new battery...

[Tim Watts]

Samsung Galaxy S2 - dog bollox and better[1] than the iPhone 4S that it levels with in the marketing, IMHO.

[1] More RAM, bigger screen.

Having used both recently, I am also very convinced that Android is a better platform than Apple's IOS - though IOS/iPhone is still a very good platform.

Galaxy S3 is due out anytime soon, so the S2 might get even cheaper - I got mine "free" on a 2 year "3" contract.

Not sure why anyone bothers with Blackberries - horrible looking things sported by managers, bankers and chavs as far as I can see...

[newshound]

SIM free phones are cheap enough, but if the only problem is the battery why not just get a replacement? Pay through the nose for a branded one at a high street shop, or buy one (branded or not) from eBay

[newshound]

Because they have a relatively secure email system, which many businesses require

[chris French]

In message , newshound writes

This was one of their USP's, but apparently, iPhone and Android phones are making inroads inroads into this market now. and a lot of people lost faith in them after the big outage last year.

[dennis]

Android can have better security on email.

[S Viemeister]

I've registered a credit card to my PAYG phone, and can top up from the phone, at any time.

[John Rumm]

Various PAYG deals allow automatic topup. So there is no need to remember to do it, it just happens when it gets low.

Virgin also do a system where they do PAYG charged in arrears, however can't recommend that since they put the price up to a daft 40p/min!

[John Rumm]

Last set of figures saw for the UK, still had BB at second place in smartphone volume stats. Android accounted for 49% of the market, BB 23, and IOS 17. Although Apple were gaining on BB.

[Frank Erskine]

:-)

[Huge]

Not really. It's because they can be centrally managed via a server (called a "BES" - Blackberry Enterprise Server) and because they can be locked down to prevent the user from fiddling with them (or installing apps).

[Huge]

Not for any sane reason. iPhone and Android are trivially insecure for corporate use and neither has a central management facility anything like Blackberry's BES.