Bye Bye Symbian

sillo

So I bought a Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic about 18 months ago and have now had it for long enough that I won't feel guilty if I switch to a new phone. Needless to say that is what I want to do sooner rather than later as it has aged very badly and Symbian is basically dead in the water now.

I am on Meteor PAYG, I do not want a monthly plan as I rarely use the phone for much outside of web stuff (I have a work phone I use for most calls). With that in mind I'm looking for an entry-mid-level android, i'd probably be willing to pay up to 200 of your earthling euros.

I looked at the wildfire but the reviews arent great. The LG Optimus seems marginally better but I'll be honest, I haven't done a huge amount of research so I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts about the Optimus or would recommend an alternative in my price-range.

NB I do not disagree that the Desire/iPhone/Galaxy S are beautiful phones, the reality is they are just not worth the outlay for me.

EDIT: Per Charter, sorry....

What features are important to you in a phone? - Touchscreen, web-browsing, physical construction (ie not a cheap looking yoke), apps
Form factor - Touchscreen
Internet - WiFi a must, and 3G for the road
Operator - Currently on meteor but I have no qualms about switching....would be hesitant about going back to O2. Particularly a big fan of meteors PAYG internet deal (ie 50c a day), it suits my usage patterns well as on many days I wont need 3g.
Pre-pay/Bill-pay/SIM-Free - Pre-pay or *low* bill-pay (i'd be willing to pay at most 25/month)
Price range - 200 squids.

drunkmonkey

sub 200 the optimus one is one of the best, it really is a nice phone i've used it a couple of times, don't know about the meteor one but the 3 one comes with the official lg screen holder so you can use it as a sat nav, it works very well.

for your 20 euro top up, you can get up to 2GB of internet, unlimited texts and unlimited weekend calls and they'll give you back 10 euro at the end of the month. It would be a cheap phone to run based on your usage. If you have good 3 3G coverage it's worth a look.

Its a lot nicer than the x8, the ordinary optums, galaxy europa and wildfire, I reckon it's the best of the bunch until you get up into the big money bracket.

sillo

drunkmonkey wrote: »

for your 20 euro top up, you can get up to 2GB of internet, unlimited texts and unlimited weekend calls and they'll give you back 10 euro at the end of the month. It would be a cheap phone to run based on your usage. If you have good 3 3G coverage it's worth a look.

Thanks Drunkmonkey for your opinion. I assume the above is one of the Three plans; of all the vendors I find them the most baffling. Would you mind telling me which one it is?

As I am based in town for living and working I assume I would have fine 3G coverage.

The Sparrow

drunkmonkey wrote: »

for your 20 euro top up, you can get up to 2GB of internet, unlimited texts and unlimited weekend calls and they'll give you back 10 euro at the end of the month. It would be a cheap phone to run based on your usage. If you have good 3 3G coverage it's worth a look.

Yeah what plan is this? Sounds great.

cojomo2

sillo wrote: »

So I bought a Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic about 18 months ago and have now had it for long enough that I won't feel guilty if I switch to a new phone. Needless to say that is what I want to do sooner rather than later as it has aged very badly and Symbian is basically dead in the water now.

I am on Meteor PAYG, I do not want a monthly plan as I rarely use the phone for much outside of web stuff (I have a work phone I use for most calls). With that in mind I'm looking for an entry-mid-level android, i'd probably be willing to pay up to 200 of your earthling euros.

I looked at the wildfire but the reviews arent great. The LG Optimus seems marginally better but I'll be honest, I haven't done a huge amount of research so I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts about the Optimus or would recommend an alternative in my price-range.

NB I do not disagree that the Desire/iPhone/Galaxy S are beautiful phones, the reality is they are just not worth the outlay for me.

EDIT: Per Charter, sorry....

What features are important to you in a phone? - Touchscreen, web-browsing, physical construction (ie not a cheap looking yoke), apps
Form factor - Touchscreen
Internet - WiFi a must, and 3G for the road
Operator - Currently on meteor but I have no qualms about switching....would be hesitant about going back to O2. Particularly a big fan of meteors PAYG internet deal (ie 50c a day), it suits my usage patterns well as on many days I wont need 3g.
Pre-pay/Bill-pay/SIM-Free - Pre-pay or *low* bill-pay (i'd be willing to pay at most 25/month)
Price range - 200 squids.

The Desire comes in within your budget..

Cost: 140 euro
Plan:SMart 30(18 month contract) 25euro/month when you sign up online.

Or you could get the desire HD on the same plan . Phone comes in at 220.

Plan included 200mins + 200 txts+ 1 gb data with free m to m calls and txts

flazio

they said they didn't want to go on bill. There are some 'Ryanair' style smartphones starting to emerge, the Samsung Galaxy Europa is only €99 on Meteor pre pay, it's got Android, Wifi and GPS. There's also a Sony Ericcson X8, but I think they only come in white if that's going to be an issue.

sillo

Thanks all for your feedback so far. I do appreciate your time

@cojomo2 thanks for your suggestion. As noted I prefer to stay on PAYG but if I was going billpay your suggested plan would definitely be where its at and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted

@flazio yes I am doing a bit of a balancing act I suppose. You are right that there is a new wave of entry level androids around but from what I can tell there is enough extra features/value to justify the mid-range price-tag of the Optimus.

@Drunkmonkey I checked around three and couldnt find the plan you mentioned so would appreciate it if you could clarify on that. Perhaps I am missing something obvious.