My old phone is on its last legs ... advice please in simple language!

[Rogerb]

(It doesn't even have a camera! ..... and I just pay as I go)

I'd like to to be able to make infrequent phone calls, check and reply to my emails when away from home, and take the occasional photo(video would be nice).

And it must work in Spain!!

Any suggestions which don't contain jargon/TLAs/FLAs would be much appreciated
(I used to be a mainframe programmer, 30 years ago, so be gentle!)

 

[kevgermany]

Do you check emails at the moment on your pay as you go? Internent can add a lot to the cost.

I replaced my phone recently. Best bet seems to be amazon, simlock free, contract free, lots of suppliers, keen prices and plenty of specs. Many slightly older/discontinued phones at very good prices as well. But it's a confusing business - too many features to decide between. One thing I wasn't sure if I wanted it, was a good built in MP3/music player, but the phone had one and I'm using it a lot now. I used the camera twice, it's crap (didn't want one, but try finding anything other than an entry level phone without one).

As far as I know, Spain's the same as all the other countries in Europe, so no issues over which phone (certainly my old phone worked there when I was on a business trip). But go for a tri/quad band, they work in the US, you'll also need the multi band network connection.

And a USB pc connection is a must for phone book backups/music downloads. If it charges through that, even better.

 

[old git]

ARGOS.
From £7-49 which even taking into account your travel costs, is still a bargain.

Otherwise, a Councillor I know finds her Blackberry often omits emails that appear on her desktop but I've never heard of this happening on an iPhone. Might be because I din't know anyone with an iPhone.

 

[Fraser Jarvis]

Go for a Blackberry, real easy to use and great for emails to, i recently upgraded to an i phone that does the same thing plus loads more but the email function is not as easy to use as the blackberry, it's another case of going around the houses to get to the end of the street i find! also with the iphone i seem to loose the signal quite a bit, even though it's with the same provider as the blackberry was and the battery only lasts for one or two days at best, the blackberry lasted four to five days! and remember in my case o2 wanted an additional £15 a month for insurance for the iphone but there are sites that will do specialist iphone insurance fore as little as £4.99 a month.

 

[Mamos]

I use a blackberry and find it invaluable for running my email based business when out of the office.
Has tons of storage for photos, music etc plus it takes a micro sd card so you can increase the memory.
Easy to use
Plus it isn't an iphone
mamos

 

[kevgermany]

We're straying from Roger's spec, but Roger, you need to realise that these phones don't speak EBCDIC or JCL.... It's all ascii under the covers.

(ducks and runs)

 

[Rogerb]

Thanks, guys, a few votes for the Blackberry, then.....any particular model?
I am not interested in walking around listening to music ...I make my own noise at home... and I believe the the BB has a qwerty keypad, which is a plus for me. And it's just useful, sometimes to have a built-in camera.
My present one (n o k i a) is just a phone ... does nothing else!

[I didn't realise that (some) phone company names are on the 'rude word list' ....apparently this one, beginning with N, is ]

 

[half diminished]

Blackberry is great for push email but unless thing have changed a lot it's pants for html formatted email, pdfs and other attachments. Someone else may comment on the latest versions as I've not had one for almost 3 years. The other options are an 'android' phone or iPhone both of which will offer a great web experience and brilliant view of email, but not brilliant push email and less battery life. They're also not the best phone, as phones go.

I have used iPhones for nearly 3 years and the iPhone 4 is great in most areas though not cheap without a contract.

 

[jonf]

I have used iPhones for nearly 3 years.

Hi Ian

Why am I not surprised you use iPhones?

Actually, in your first para you pick up a really good point, and one that really ticks me off with a lot of smart/multi function phones. They have a million functions, but fail at the most fundamental thing, actually being a phone. So you get a camera (that's not as good as a proper camera), can send and receive emails, and surf the web (but not as well as on a proper computer) and you can listen to music (but not as well as on a proper music device). But with all this extra functionality, you just get a mediocre phone. Oh, and they're fantastically expensive, fragile and are all useless for a bloke with big oily biker fingers.

But then I would say all this, wouldn't I? Although I have had a mobile for the last 18 years, I'm only on my third one, and I still use a N0kia 3310. ))

PS - I see what you mean about N0kia, Roger. Bleedin' web censorship.

 

[MandyH]

I have just "upgraded" my N0k!a for a N0k!a The new one does web access, so I can pick up my web-based e-mails, no idea about proper e-mail packages though, and check out the cafe. My husband has the same phone, same price (£44.00 ish) even though we're on different networks. IIRC its a N0k!a 2730. I does the phone bit - calls and texts, it has a 2 Meg camera (that I have no interest in using!) it has bluetooth, so I can use it in my car, with the built in bluetooth hands free kit. And the internet bit just worked. I've never used the internet on the phone before, and don't often, so the 50p a day charge is fine. I',m PAYG with Vodafone, my husband is PAYG with Orange. Has calendar, notes, contacts etc. I was just after a simple phone and something fairly cheap and pretty to look at (so I'm a woman!), and am pretty happy with it so far. :welldone

 

[Rogerb]

Thanks, Mandy, that sounds like the sort of thing I need

And I agree with jonf about unnecessary/unwanted 'functions' and fragility

What the heck are 'push email' and 'android' ?....only answer if you can do so without even more gobbledegook, please

And ....just out of interest..can anyone suggest why Nok¡a should be a censored word ??? (Perhaps I am unimaginative!)

 

[kevgermany]

Roger, the 'smart' phones use an operating system. Android is a linux based one, originally developed by Google. Other operating systems are windows based, symbian based... iOS is the Apple one (actually a derivative of Unix). Most phones will also run apps written in Java.

Push email - the email arrives automatically on your phone, like an SMS, you don't have to sign in to the mail server and pull it down. Standard email is pull.

Talking about functions you don't need - how about the Nok!a 5800 with full navigation. You can get rid of your Tom Tom. And the maps/updates are free. Works well.

 

[thehunt]

Just to add my penny worth. Use a Blackberry for business, best way to get e-mails, very good battery life, it does what it says on the tin, even though i don't actually like the look of the phone, camera is crap as well, i preferred my ***** N95 with it's 5Mp camera and chunkier design.
As we are all linked in the office, have to use the Blackberry.
Good luck Phil

 

[Rogerb]

I certainly don't wanna throw away my nearly top-of-the-range TomTom .... although the updates do come expensive!
And I have a fairly 'good ' camera for fancy stuff, but most phones have some sort of cam built-in now, it seems, and it could be useful. MP3 player is of no interest.
I think an email capability is the most important thing, after making/taking phone calls!
It's a minefield out there!

 

[kevgermany]

A colleague biought the 5800, reckoned the Navigation was almost as good as his Tomtom, so sold it on ebay and is now happy.... But I hear you. And the touch screens work really well...

But phone cameras are mostly junk... OK for snaps, but nothing else

 

[half diminished]

iPhone 4 is brilliant. My car has built in sat nav which is pants but TomTom on iPhone is great. Love apps like iReal Book and Skype. Cleartune and Jazzbuddy and Relative Pitch are great too. I wouldn't want to go back to a normal phone or Blackberry though I miss proper push mail.

 

[Stevie]

I have an iPhone 3GS (the last version). My wife has my old iPhone, which is 2.5 years old and still going strong. Neither has seemed particularly fragile, though I had to reglue the silent/ring switch on the first phone (I think the iPhone 4 has a different arrangement). The nice thing is that there are relatively few moving parts, because it's all screen-based, so no keys to go wrong, or to have to press 3 times to get a letter "c".

It's great for email - very easy to set up - and for internet. What we usually do while abroad (it's on a Tesco contract) is find somewhere with wifi and go there for a coffee when we want to view emails or surf, McDonalds if desperate.

I like the applications which you can get too.

The camera is okay - it wouldn't replace a real camera, but it's nice to have a camera in your pocket.

The phone is okay.

 

[jonf]

For me, the main problem with the iphone is the horrendous cost, as I only really need a phone to use as a phone, and I don't want to pay for all the tools, gadgets, utilities and the branding. I've also heard too many people saying that it's only just acceptable as a phone as well. But I'm curious about something else, and this applies to all screen based phones. I frequently get oily hands from my bikes, particularly at the time when something has gone wrong, which is when it's most important to have a phone. How well do the screens stand up to getting oil or petrol on them? With the old style N0kia phones I've been using for the last decade or so, if you wear out the keypad, or get it filthy you can just buy another one for 99p from t'internet. Obviously you can't do that with a screen, so do they really stand up to blokey use? How about rattling around in a pockets with keys, cash, etc?

 

[Stevie]

Jon, I use a screen protector and a case. I've not bought into the "isn't it a beautiful shape?" thing, and I'd always put a case round something like this. My wife's has a lesser case, but still a screen protector, and seems fine still. It's too big for trouser pockets anyway.

The screen protector has holes for the single button on the front of the phone and for the loudspeaker for your ear, which could get clogged up I suppose.

For me, the phone aspect is probably the least important!

 

[Mikec]

I didn't want to know how it all worked, I just wanted a phone so I called Virgin and got a £10 a month account with them. They sent me a N O K I A 3360 (or something like that) which is a smart phone. It makes phone calls really well. It also does loads of other stuff if you want it to, including e-mail, audio, satnav, bad photos etc. It has a touch-screen which shows a qwerty keyboard when necessary, and a cute little pointer thingy. I know it works in Spain, because I've just had a holiday there.