wish i'd never got that xda, and what to replace it with, both phone & maybe provider

[SuicidaL]

i could well be in the market for a new phone if i get the nod from o2 cs. sit back, grab a beer and i'll explain.

last year (under the recomendation of a shop staff member - for which i need sectioning) i got an xda zest. this was my first foray into winmo (and now my last), and was also going to be used for work as all i was supplied was a crappy sammy extreme phone.

anyway, within the first few weeks of having it i was having problems. various issues include - the first that battery wouldn't hold charge for more than a few hours - i'm currently on my 4th battery so i'm pretty sure that not all the batteries are duff. the 3g signal reception is up and down like a pro's you know what's. where i work the 3g signal is quite strong, but most of the time i'll be lucky to get a decent gprs signal - even though my mate (who has an iphone) has no issues at all stood next to me.

next ie and opera decided that they were going to stop working, i managed to get ie to work again (but i hate ie with a passion on winmo) but opera was having none of it. in the end i've had to install another version to get some internet access.

now though the camels back has been broken. with my phone now having hissy fits maybe once a day and locking up. now i don't know that it's happened unless i need to make a call or txt - it refuses to do either untill i've pulled the battery out and done a hard reset on it. but while it's having one of these fits the phone deosn't ring or alert me if someone calls or txt's me.

now when i took it back to the o2 store - about 3-4 weeks for the first battery issue and a couple of months later with the software issue they wern't really intrested. then the old plop came out that because i didn't take the insurance out (and even then said it wouldn't be guaranteed to be swapped) that it'd have to be sent away and tested - but i could have a temp replacement............for £25 . i just walked out the store as i was fuming. funny thing is that not long afterwards the xda's were dropped.


my contract can't be changed until novemeber, but o2 don't seem to want to budge on the issue. but this has been an ongoing issue for 12 months and the phone hasn't been working properly in those 12 months. and now that i'm self employed i need a working phone. i spoke to retentions and again not really intrested much, advising to buy a new phone and then change the plan to a simplicity deal when my contract ends or buy out the rest of my deal - which is about £140, so it feels like i'm being screwed either way. so i'm currently waiting on their mycare team to get in touch to see what my next step will be.


what would be the reccomendations for what's available? and please no winmo phones - had enough of them. have seen the sammy galaxy s in store and it looks neat, in appearance it's almost an iphone without being one but with a few little software teething troubles (what doesn't). and after all my denial and swearing i wouldn't get one, another serious contender would be a 3gs. one might assume that with the release of the 4g, that prices should make their way downward for the 3gs.......


well not everyone seems to have gotten that idea http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/APPLE-IPHONE-3...item35aa23c61f £750 for a 16gb 3gs - mind you there are gulible people outhere who would pay that - just look at the rush and prices for the 4g and ipad.......all because it's apple.


next would be what are the best providers? i have been really satisfied with o2 (and before that cellnet - my number i've had for at least 10 years) until this debarcle. if they get their fingers out of their arses i might well stay, but who else is good at the moment?

[Funkstar]

Vodafone are consistently good signal wise, but may not have contracts to suite you. With T-Mobile and Orange merging it will be interesting to see what their networks end up like.

As for handsets, the HTC Desire is amazing. A large number of people here will agree with this, there must be a couple of dozen of us with one now.

[SuicidaL]

well it looks like o2 are playing hardball, they insist that all they can do is send it off. then they would either repair it (i'm not keen to have it back or another zest as they're pants) or replace with another zest or equivelent phone. now i've no idea waht an equivelent would be now and doubt that they would have any stock of a brand new zezt to replace it with. one thing that i did note, was that the lady i spoke to in retentions said to me. she spoke to the repairs side and they said that they didn't have records of people having issues with the zest. funny thing is a quick google and they'd find plenty - and as it was xda (an o2 brand per sae) they couldn't even say it was not one of thier phones.

so it looks like what i may have to do is get a new phone on contract and let the old one wind down, thus not having to pay the termination fee up front. so do i get real sad and get a 3gs? or look at an andriod - i liked the look of the desire, but it costs. to have it on the tariff that i'm on at the moment would cost me £100 for the phone or to get it free i would have to up the tariff to £45pm - £15 more than i'm on at the moment and wouldn't want to go more if i could help it. the other phone is the galaxy s, as i said nice looking phone. a few quirks to it from the reviews i've read but i could live with them. or dare i mention the 'b' word? another i said that i prob wouldn't entertain.

i'm leaning toward the galaxy and andriod (winmo is a no no) but what else is worth considering? i like the look of the google phone - but don't see much difference from the galaxy.

all opinions appreciated.

[Bunjiweb]

The Desire tariff sounds like a rip off, I have seen people get them for free on £25-30/mo contracts. I bought mine sim-free from O2 for £285 and currently have an Orange contract for £25/month with included internet. Once my current contract is up I will be buying a sim-only contract for something more like £15-20 a month to use instead.

I'd look further at the HTC Desire and packages available, but O2 and Vodafone will definitely be the most expensive, but should be a damn sight cheaper than the iPhone packages... The Galaxy S looks like a nice phone and is certainly one of the most powerful phones out right now but I personally think the HTC Sense UI overlay is much better.

Ben