Mobiles

[Ronin Storm]

So, I had intended to use SkypeIn to receive my phone calls for contracting. Unfortunately, the service appears to be arsed in that a high proportion of the time me and others are getting "number not in use" continuous tones. Which is bad (tm).

Given that, I guess I'll need to look at getting myself a mobile (unless any of you have good VoIP alternatives with landline-to-VoIP connections?)

But I know squat about mobiles...

What I do know is that I don't care if the phone is sleek and takes photos and dances a jig. It needs to be robust, get a decent signal, have the option of a comfortable hands-free kit without too much (preferably no) cost and not cost me much (£50 is too much).

Any suggestions for a phone and/or network and/or package to look at?

I have no clear conception of my likely usage requirements. Maybe I can make all my outgoing calls using SkypeOut but receive calls using a mobile? Maybe that'd mean PayGo schemes might work?

Suggestions?

 

[waterproofbob]

If I were you I'd look for a half decent one of them Its one of the most successful phones ever sold, they last forever, I know loads of ppl who bought them on release yrs ago and they are still running fine today. It does all the important things a phone should, it makes phone calls and can even text message If you are feeling fancy. It also has blutooth if you need that.

I personally think that modern phones with all this silly camera rubbish are poo. If it hadn't been for my old phone finally dieing after 5 yrs I'd never have upgraded. The old school nokias are the best for what you need i reckon. I'm not sure If you can still buy simple phones anymore.

*bob goes a hunting*

errr no it would appear all modern phones are indeed poo.

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

What bob said, but do not, repeat, do not buy used phones even if they are old nokias - the batteries will be shot to pieces. There are some good cheap Nokias available at the moment, my elder bro has a Nokia 2310, which cost about £50 (probably cheaper, now) and he's happy with it.

he also has an old Nokia 6510 which he isn't doing anything with at the moment ...


EDIT: 2310 for 15 quid on T-Mobile. I'm not sure how good T-mobile are though

 

[DeZmond]

I've been using Sony Ericsson phones for the past year and have been really pleased with the balance of features, ease of use and build quality. The only potential downside is PC sync software, and even then there are free alternatives.

Of course, they cost money. While I was in India I bought a really basic Motorola phone - it was reasonably easy to use, stored up to 750 text messages and had a colour screen and polyphonic ringtones, if you care about such things. And it cost me the equivalent of £25. Don't know if you'd find that particular model on sale here, but certainly that type of phone is worth a look if it's purely for calls and the odd text.

Network-wise, I have been previously advised to steer clear of 3 (fair enough, seeing the junk they shove onto their phones) however I've been using Orange for a while now - they just gave me a brand new phone and 10% monthly discount for renewing my contract... which is quite handy. No problems with network reception or service availability for me, but it's a little pricier than some other networks.

For network coverage, check with people living in the same area as you to see what they would recommend in terms of connection quality.

 

[Ronin Storm]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Much appreciate it. (Rep love on its way. )

I've remembered that I do actually have an old SIM card for a Virgin phone on a PayGo contract, but the handset is totally dead and not worth investigating repairs for.

That 2310 that Tets has pointed out looks interesting. I'll investigate. The 6310i is clearly a decent phone but damn it's expensive (by my standards).

 

[Ronin Storm]

Hmmm, more investigation tells me that the 2310 might be a fair choice and a good price. T-Mobile's package at £15 is exceptionally cheap but then there's a £10 mandatory top-up for PayGo purchases (roughly 66 minutes talk time at 15p/min).

Alternatively, the same phone from Virgin Mobile is £25 and then comes with 200 minutes of free call time (~£70 at 35p/min) and free voicemail calls.

Still looking...

 

[Ronin Storm]

Just to wrap that one up, I've gone with the Nokia 2310 with Virgin Mobile. Decent deal, decent phone, no unnecessary frills, all for £27.98 delivered including 200 minutes talk time.

Thank you all for your help! Time to hit that Rep button.

 

[elDiablo]

I've been using Sony Ericsson phones for the past year and have been really pleased with the balance of features, ease of use and build quality.

As I've just seen this, I'm afraid to say I hate Sony Ericsson. I have the W550i (the "walkman" line which twists open), and it broke a few months after getting it. The screws which held the two halves together on a metal bracket unscrewed themselves. At that time I had already downloaded a fair few games (which cost money) to the phone. When I phoned up Sony Ericsson to ask if they would just fix the phone (so keeping my purchases) they said no, it would be cheaper for them to just give me a new phone. Due to the non-swappable memory, I would therefore lose everything. And as I had made the purchases through the O2 portal, I could not re-download them for free.

So the build quality and customer service of Sony Ericsson is pretty shite, imo. Sorry

Old phone were built to last, new ones are made to break just after a year so that you have to buy new ones

 

[waterproofbob]

As I've just seen this, I'm afraid to say I hate Sony Ericsson. I have the W550i (the "walkman" line which twists open), and it broke a few months after getting it. The screws which held the two halves together on a metal bracket unscrewed themselves. At that time I had already downloaded a fair few games (which cost money) to the phone. When I phoned up Sony Ericsson to ask if they would just fix the phone (so keeping my purchases) they said no, it would be cheaper for them to just give me a new phone. Due to the non-swappable memory, I would therefore lose everything. And as I had made the purchases through the O2 portal, I could not re-download them for free.

So the build quality and customer service of Sony Ericsson is pretty shite, imo. Sorry

Old phone were built to last, new ones are made to break just after a year so that you have to buy new ones

I couldn't agree more, my experience with Sony Ericsson is very similar to this. I had no problems for about 4.5 yrs with my old nokia and within 2 months of having the sony things started to go wrong with it. I'm sure if all the littel cool things worked all at the same time then I'd love it but I'm afraid that didn't happen.

 

[Haven]

I would do a google for Voip Providers in the UK and take a look at http://www.zoiper.com/ for your client.

Most decent voip providers will provide a SIP interface and a number that routes to your client.

 

[KillCrazy]

Upsetting story there elD! I have to agree that old phones are the best too. I had a nokia 3310 for a few years which was my very first mobile, and it never let me down. I had the oppertunity to get a 3200, which I accepted, as I wanted to have a camera phone and something with more memory, but it has recently stopped working (just won't turn on).
So I'm now back with the old 3310, which still works perfectly. It's indestructable!

 

[DeZmond]

I once had an old Motorola that was a real brick, but it brought a certain meaning to the word 'indestructible'... such as getting dropped down a flight of stairs and was still a) working perfectly and b) without a single scratch.

You just don't get that kind of build quality anywhere any more...