Mobile Phones

[breadlord]

I've rooted my Galaxy S2 and I'm running the nightly builds of cyanogen mod. Much nicer experience than either Samsung or HTC skinned android and the battery now lasts two days.

[tomjimtom]

plus andriod you can play angry birds for free... Think you have to pay on iphone?

If you're not fussed though, I'd look at O2 simplicity, you just pay a rolling monthly contract for the sim card atn various extras, use your own phone.
http://www.o2.co.uk/tariffs/simplicity

Do look at Tesco, they use the same network as O2 (as my little mind understands it) so if you're happy with the signal you get now, Tesco might be cheaper (plus clubcard points - how exciting)

Tom

[goldfazer]

For any Android users who want more battery life, install JuiceDefender - basically it stops all the wifi, email, etc etc when the screen is turned off. I get a few days out of my Desire now, used to be a day if I was lucky. Of course you could always have a spare battery in yer pocket, something not possible on an iPhone

[Robbie8666]

my tuppence
i was on PAYG with o2 & Tesco mobules for years swapped to orange pay monthly contract they gave me a basic Nokia that i can use as a phone , it texts and has a camera. i can get fb on it, i dont need apps or anything as if i want a pc/laptop i have one at home / on my desk at work. if it is important ppl can call me if i cant answer it they leave a voicemail,,, simples. cant use all those apps when driving or riding !!
 
keep it simple!

[locksmith]

Theres a coincidence, I did the same thing yesterday. Finally got a smartphone. Got fed up with small text and keypads for my ageing eyes
I plumped for the Sony Experia arc s. Main reason being, I've been with o2 since Jesus was a boy. I'm not a big user and have been on a £10 tariff for ages.
The Sony was only £80 to buy on the same tariff. I've added a £3 data pack to that. OK it's a 24 month contract but I'm not planning going anywhere.
Also it gets good reviews for it's camera and I do take the odd piccie. Not interested in Facebook etc and emailing from it but it's built for them.
Google maps actually works as well
Was playing with it all evening and it's a joy to use. I can actually see the text

[dx408]

Old maybe but love it. 

[helen]

Tim, I've got an iphone 4s (which makes and receives calls pretty good!!).................but it might be a bit exciting for an accountant 

[cy8rm4n]

 I'm using Sony Xperia S on O2 for £18.50 a month. Phone was free as an introductory offer. Seemed best deal around at time. I was shopping around for best deal/best phone for about a month before I could upgrade. Found this helpful
http://www.billmonitor.com/

[crishner]

i have the iphone 4 got it for christmas i had the nokia E7 b4 this and there is no comparison the nokia had to be charged twice a day from brand new the iphone will last 2 days with the same usage if you do go for an android or the nokia smart phone then make sure you install an app killer as that is what did in my nokia as it dose not shut down the apps in the same way as the iphone with the nokia you have to shut them down manualy.

[chilly]

http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/deals/samsung_galaxy_s3/#products=cost%3D30%26texts%3D1000


thats what i am going for

[locksmith]

OMG I can talk to google 
For an old boy like me, it was quiet a moment in history when I discovered that yesterday
 
OK - techie question. Using the phone as a sat-nav, I realise it will use data, but how much do you think it uses, say for an hour's journey with directions??
Just wondering whether to bother getting a mount for the car or not. (got a regular sat-nav but the phone would look at lot cooler )

[breadlord]

My experience, in an hour of android navigation you're not going to use more than 100k. You can get that down to even less if you pre-cache the areas you're going to be in when you're on wifi at home.

[locksmith]

100k, so is that .1 of a mb?

[breadlord]

100k, so is that .1 of a mb?

Aye.


That said, there is navfree:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.navfree.android.OSM.ALL


You're given the option of downloading the data for given countries. I'm not too certain of the quality of the openstreetmap.org maps, though. Not used them much. I prefer the Google ones.

[crishner]

100k, so is that .1 of a mb?

Aye.


That said, there is navfree:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.navfree.android.OSM.ALL


You're given the option of downloading the data for given countries. I'm not too certain of the quality of the openstreetmap.org maps, though. Not used them much. I prefer the Google ones.

i have this on my iphone works great you can do a google serch to find your addy and away you go

[breadlord]

i have this on my iphone works great you can do a google serch to find your addy and away you go

So don't bother with an iPhone - it'll take up all of your non-upgradeable storage space, whereas if you had a 'droid you could put all the maps on a separate memory card just used for long trips...

[clayt74]

      
 
iphone just say no!!!

[alan09]

 i tried the htc sensation but the audio was shite so i sent it back & got the iphone 4 & very happy with it. £20 a month with tesco mobile no other provider could come close to that, also what i really like about the iphone 4 is the facetime on it, its  the same as skype but only works iphone to iphone.       

[goldfazer]

'its  the same as skype but only works iphone to iphone.       '

So why not use Skype and be able to call anyone

[locksmith]

Looks like there's a reason for Alan09's title then

So using the sat-nav for a day's journey shouldn't use much more than a meg of data then? (I realise if abroad it's a different story).

[goldfazer]

One issue I found with live downloaded maps is that if you don't have a good data signal and you're zoomed in (i.e. down to street level) the maps don't always keep up with where you are

[breadlord]

...So using the sat-nav for a day's journey shouldn't use much more than a meg of data then? (I realise if abroad it's a different story).

Data isn't going to be your problem here, it's battery life. I use my galaxy S2 because I'm moving between two places in London I don't know and it's never more than an hour and a half. You're not going to get more than four hours out of a phone on navigation.


Not so bad in a car because charging it's easier, but on a bike you'll struggle.

[locksmith]

It would only get used in the car and very rarely so I'll get a mount and charger off amazon, loads of cheap ones there!

[know your limitations]

So using the sat-nav for a day's journey shouldn't use much more than a meg of data then? (I realise if abroad it's a different story).

I use my HTC Desire daily as a sat nav and cover around a 1000 miles a week in my lorry. I have a 1GB monthly data allowance and wouldn't come even close to using that using sat nav alone.
Little tip for you. Once you have your route, turn off your mobile data on your phone. This will save unnecessary downloading of data (but it keeps your network signal for calls).
You will only need data on if you decide to stray hugely from the route planned or if you want constant traffic updates.
The phone downloads the map required in "tiles". Even if you make a small error following the route, so long as you don't stray too far, the sat nav will keep up and redirect you.
If you've gone too far the wrong way and off the downloaded map, just turn your data back on and it will donload the required portions for you.
On most Android phones, you can set your home screen to contain a Mobile Data On/Off toggle button to save going through the menus, so it really is very quick.

[locksmith]