Thinking of jumping on the Android Bandwagon

ancapailldorcha

Hey guys,

I've been a strictly basic phone type of guy for many years. I've just moved to the UK and I'm thinking of getting something that does a bit more than phones,texts and alarms. I was looking at the HTC Wildfire which was recommended by a store clerk. I'll confess my android knowledge is a tad limited. I wouldn't be looking for an iphone as I dislike Apple.
What's the battery life like on these things? I've heard it's pretty woeful but I suppose it depends on usage. They won't let me get one on bill pay here because I just moved. I'd mostly use it for internet surfing, maybe checking the news occassionally on train journeys, bakebook and the obvious texts and calls. My Irish phone is Vodafone so it might be good to stick with them. No real operator preference though. Wifi would be nice. Don't know what EDGE is... Would love one on bill pay as the deals here are good. My budget would be in the region of £150. Touchscreen would be nice. Does it pick up dirt a lot?

Any advice greatly appreciated!!

Thanks lads/ladies!!!

yosemite_sam

I have a Galaxy s, you'll get a day out of a charge which takes getting used too

LukeS_

If you're living in the UK I suggest you go and get the Orange San Francisco. Thousands of times better then the wildfire. The wildfires screen is actually so bad, you can see more pixels then the actual image. I had one for 4 months then I moved to a WVGA screen (HD2) and never looked back. It's also really slow and it just drags along. If I was offered one for €20 now I wouldn't even take it. Best to go for something a little more higher spec, your whole Android experience will be much better.

smilerf

ye the orange sf is a million times better

ancapailldorcha

A day? I suppose you can use a few shortcuts to lengthen that. I might look into the Orange SF then. I was looking at the Wildfire because the sales guy suggested it and I know a guy who has a desire. He loves it.

ongarite

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I was looking at the Wildfire because the sales guy suggested it and I know a guy who has a desire. He loves it.

The Wildfire is a budget 2010 phone, low spec everything. The sales guy was probably trying to flog the last of them.
The Desire was one of the best phones of 2010.

As mentioned the Orange San Francisco would be recommended. It costs £100 from Orange or Argos.

theteal

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

A day? I suppose you can use a few shortcuts to lengthen that. I might look into the Orange SF then. I was looking at the Wildfire because the sales guy suggested it and I know a guy who has a desire. He loves it.

I'm in NI at the moment, i'm assuming the offers up here would be the same as mainland UK. Having a wander around Belfast city yesterday i was a little taken aback by how many phone stores are seriously pushing the Wildfire. Every CPW (there must be 6 of them in Belfast!) along with O2 and P4U has it in the window advertising unlimited data. Of all the androids to push?!?! I can only assume there on a serious push to get rid of old stock. It's a very good but dated (soon to be very dated) handset. Surely the desire would be cheap enough at this stage, why would anyone plump for a widfire?

OP, I'm sure you could get a Desire S on a fairly good plan for in and around £150 - this would be my choice

ancapailldorcha

theteal wrote: »

OP, I'm sure you could get a Desire S on a fairly good plan for in and around £150 - this would be my choice

Problem there is, I've only had my bank account here for about 6 weeks. Everywhere I've been has turned me down so far. I didn't know that about the Wildfire. I might look into the Desire but I might take the cheaper SF instead. Thanks!!

srsly78

Don't mind them turning you down, it's retarded. They turned my company down as well (new account), even though I wanted sim-only contracts (no phones lol). This was with meteor, turned out all I had to do was mail/fax someone in customer accounts and they marked me as approved on the system.

Yes it's a bit mental, companies refusing valid business ?????

bd250110

Best bet mate is 3-UK, probably at phoens4u. 3 will connect pretty much anybody, as will phones4u. Other option is to take out a 30 day SIM-only contrat, which they SHOULD give you, even with no credit history. After 3 months this can be 'upgraded' to a handset contract.

srsly78

They will even reject you for a sim-only contract it's moronic. As I said above, if you get onto their billing department they can "force" the order through. The guys in the shops have no power to do this.

bd250110

The OP is talking about UK networks. My experience, both as a consumer and from working in the industry in the UK that 3-UK will connect what other companies will not, and phones4u know all the tricks to minimise the chance of failing a credit check or for the network asking for a deposit.

It does look like the OP has tried a few places, he would be best off to wait a while as failed credit checks have a negative effect on his credit history (UK networks are different to Irish networks in the way, as they can access your credit file). Best off to use your debit card quite a bit, if you have a credit card, do use it, but make regular payments.

ChopShop

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Any advice greatly appreciated!!

Wait a couple of months for newer models.

ancapailldorcha

I went to a 3 store and the guy ordered me the phone online but I got rejected again. There was a sale and I would have saved £5 a month. A guy at Phones4u seemed extremely keen to sell me one and mentioned a rolling contract. I don't like pushy salespeople so I left.

theteal

Is it a flat out rejection or do they not ask for a deposit up front?

I know the operators in the RoI can ask for up to €300 to set up an account for what they deem potential risky applications - do they not do that in the UK too? After 6 years working in the industry in Ireland, the only flat out rejections i saw were for people who used to have an account with the network and did bold stuff like not pay their bill.

ancapailldorcha

I never asked, to be honest. I might go back tomorrow. Don't know if I want another credit check on my account in such a short period. I'll ask anyway. I might just get the Orange San Francisco on prepay. Should make for a good intro to android.