MDA Vario III

[j.o.s.h.1408]

so i can actualy fully unlcok a tmobile version of this phone to accept sims from o2 etc?

edit: is the battery life beter then a n95?

[Flibb]

SIM unlock Kaiser Sim Unlocker - xda-developers
Rather than debrand what we tend to do is flash custom ROMS, the actual t-mobile branding is minor, think its just an extra app and different colour today screen. But using hardspl we can flash the cooked ROMS from xda dev. As far as I am aware you can instal any software to any rom, original or cooked.

I went t-mobile for the data plan, it was a couple of months ago so things could have changed by now.

[Funkstar]

No idea how the battery life compares. Not used an N95. I've also changed my battery for a 1600mAh (standard is 1350mAh). The new custom ROMs can also improve battery life, but I haven't done any testing on this.

When I use the phone heavily (a lot of music playing, some some using a Bluetooth head set, some texts, 3G data connected and using Live Messenger on and off) I get about a day on a full battery. And that was with the standard one, only had the new one a couple of days.

As far as I know, unlocking the phone to make it ready for flashing a custom ROM, will completely unlock the phone and allow you to use any SIM in it. Not tried this though, so that is just what I assume right now.

[Flibb]

The phone is still sim locked when you flash the ROM, the bit of software above unlocks teh sim as well.

Can you keep us posted on the new battery? I get a day out of my kaiser, but thast with ma couple of hours of music via a bluetooth headset, and a hour or so of internet via 3G, phone will be down under 50% when I get home.

[Funkstar]

Will do. Although by the time i test it out properly (next friday in London) I'll be running a new radio ROM and Dutty's v5 WinMob6.1 ROM. That should help battery as well.

[Flibb]

Will do. Although by the time i test it out properly (next friday in London) I'll be running a new radio ROM and Dutty's v5 WinMob6.1 ROM. That should help battery as well.

Thats the problem with these, constantly new things to play with. Toying with the idea of getting an eee pc to run with my one, but keep hangining off with rumours of a higher res screen.Would be a great combo

[j.o.s.h.1408]

what are the chances of bricking it though when flashing the ROM and making it sim free? seems easier to unlock this phone thena standard nokia phone for example.

on my n95 if i play music for a couple of hours, use my 3g and take some pics, by the time i reach home my phone will be on its last 2 bars.

if there was a flaw in this phone, if any, what are they? i have had a play on this phone which was my friends and damm its sexy as hell. i thought the phone would be alot bigger but the size is perfect. its a bit heavy though.

im gunna call tmobile some time this week and try to negotiate a free upgrade to this phone. is that possible? what are your tips on negotating with network providers?

cheers thanks guys for the info

[nichomach]

I have no idea abput the O2 vesion of this phone, but if you want unlimited 3.5G data for a reasonable amount of money, there isn't much point looking at O2.

OK, they have a 200MB FUP, which isn't brilliant, but it's still only £7.50 for the bolt-on. I'm using it at the mo.

[Allen]

I'd be surprised if you couldn't find it on xda-developers - Xda-developers

I've not looked for it though

I had a look, but I couldn't find anything from the UK, most people asking were asking about USA or European T-Mobile ROMs...

I did find this though:

:: T Mobile Download Manager ::

It has the ROMs for the Vario and Vario II but hasn't yet been updated with the Vario III ROMs. I hope they get a WM6.1 ROM on there soon.

[Dreaming]

so i can actualy fully unlcok a tmobile version of this phone to accept sims from o2 etc?

edit: is the battery life beter then a n95?

The battery life isn't amazing - it's the kind of phone you do need to recharge overnight. Having said that, many of the custom roms are designed to keep power consumption low and so they can run for much longer.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

well as long as its better then a n95 i will be satisfied because a n95 when being used cannot last a whole day

[Andeh13]

im gunna call tmobile some time this week and try to negotiate a free upgrade to this phone. is that possible? what are your tips on negotating with network providers?

cheers thanks guys for the info

Im gunna be in the same situation as you in a months time.

Iv been on Flex 25 for 18months, and have gone over every month for the last 12.

I went into their store earlier and spoke to them about my options when my contract comes up, he looked thru his big book of combinations (phone & contract) and said the Vario 3 would be £80 on Flex 35 or £60 on Flex 25 (this is on an upgrade/renewal). Im gunna try calling them up & saying i want to cancel, iv heard this is one of the best ways of getting a better upgrade. - that is unless they turn around and say 'fine, goodbye'.

(Keep in mind currrently t-mobile are doing £5 off a month so flex 30 = £25 etc)

[j.o.s.h.1408]

Im gunna be in the same situation as you in a months time.

Iv been on Flex 25 for 18months, and have gone over every month for the last 12.

I went into their store earlier and spoke to them about my options when my contract comes up, he looked thru his big book of combinations (phone & contract) and said the Vario 3 would be £80 on Flex 35 or £60 on Flex 25 (this is on an upgrade/renewal). Im gunna try calling them up & saying i want to cancel, iv heard this is one of the best ways of getting a better upgrade. - that is unless they turn around and say 'fine, goodbye'.

(Keep in mind currrently t-mobile are doing £5 off a month so flex 30 = £25 etc)

what im gunna say is that im planning on canceling my contract but would only stay if they offer me the HTC phone for free or lesst the £50 and deducte £5 off my monthly contract. the thing is you mentioned they already do the £5 off but not for me im on flex 35 and play 35 plus 7 for web and walk plus.

[JohnK]

Im gunna be in the same situation as you in a months time.

Iv been on Flex 25 for 18months, and have gone over every month for the last 12.

I went into their store earlier and spoke to them about my options when my contract comes up, he looked thru his big book of combinations (phone & contract) and said the Vario 3 would be £80 on Flex 35 or £60 on Flex 25 (this is on an upgrade/renewal). Im gunna try calling them up & saying i want to cancel, iv heard this is one of the best ways of getting a better upgrade. - that is unless they turn around and say 'fine, goodbye'.

(Keep in mind currrently t-mobile are doing £5 off a month so flex 30 = £25 etc)

Same for me - but I have a Vario2 (Tytn) - it's not clear that there's much extra in the Kaiser to warrant getting tied in for another 18 months. I wonder if they'll let me just continue on a rolling month by month basis until something better comes along (perhaps the Xperia)? Or do they make you sign up for another 12 or 18 months? I have Flext 25 + WnW for £22.50/m and I don't wanna lose it, it seems like a good deal to me.

[Andeh13]

Does anyone have any details on the next gen of these phones? Release dates or possibly links?

MDA Vario 4 for example?

Also, is the Wi-Fi blocked unless you get the web & walk package from t-mobile? Or does it come usable from the box? If not, can it be made avaliable with a software change/flash?

cheers guys

[Flibb]

The next thing that has lots of details about it is the SE Xperia X1, its meant to be made by HTC and has a better screen, etc, looks rather nice. Relese date is 2nd half of the year.

Generally HTC make stuff for other people, some times there are hardware differences between models that look the same, some may have wifi, others dont. As far as I am aware all versions of the Kaiser have wifi, some have gps disabled, and some dont have the video calling camera. But the t-mobile version has everything enabled, wifi is not affected by the call/data package you are on.