Simple Question about Mobiles.

[conny]

Ok, don't want to go into a long drawn out discussion as not technically minded so just a simple question.
I use my phone for calls and texts but have the opportunity to change it to one of the following. If I get one of the following I will probably 'surf the net' a bit as well, not watch/download movies but say come here for a chat etc.

Which one would be best for what I am thinking of doing.

Samsung Galaxy Ace,
Nokia Lumia 610
Blackberry Curve 9320

I'm on Virgin at the moment and intend to stay with them
Thanks in advance.

 

[Diane2]

depends if you want to use a touch screen....if you are happy with buttons...go for the blackberry, otherwise, the Samsung would be my choice.

 

[calorific]

Got a Galaxy S2 - best phone I've ever had

 

[conny]

Sorry for the delay in getting back, grand kids here and need amusing,



Suppose its time I got with it and learnt how to use a touch screen, (Don't say a word Diane! )
So at the moment its looking like the Galaxy. Will give it a few more hours to see if anyone comes up with other opinions.
One question. When you are out and about do you have to be at a certain place such as a Hot Spot to access the internet and come on here and do you pay for it or is that in with the package?

 

[ajstoneservices]

Do not get the blackberry curve it's a piece of junk that only the likes of oddball (or me) would buy.

 

[enyam]

Suppose its time I got with it and learnt how to use a touch screen,
So at the moment its looking like the Galaxy. Will give it a few more hours to see if anyone comes up with other opinions.
One question. When you are out and about do you have to be at a certain place such as a Hot Spot to access the internet and come on here and do you pay for it or is that in with the package?

I have a cheap old alcatel with touch screen and they are ok to use,wait for secure to come along, with the amount of time spent looking he ought to be red hot on what you want.

 

[alan333]

When you are out and about do you have to be at a certain place such as a Hot Spot to access the internet and come on here and do you pay for it or is that in with the package?

You can use the internet in your house via the same wi-fi you currently use for your pc etc, or you can use wi-fi free at plenty places such as restaurants etc, or you can use mobile internet anywhere you have a signal, but it's slower and will involve using some mb of data - but a reasonable amount of data tends to be included in your monthly package.

 

[Inky Pete]

If you've got BT broadband at home you've also got free access to around 4 million BT wifi hotspots. Or you can also buy a subscription to use these hotspots if you're not a BT broadband customer.

I hardly ever use data from my mobile contract these days - pretty much everywhere I go I'm in range of a wifi hotspot.

 

[calorific]

One question. When you are out and about do you have to be at a certain place such as a Hot Spot to access the internet and come on here and do you pay for it or is that in with the package?

As stated above regarding hotspots. Regarding mobile data usage, the contract I have includes 500MB per month which I haven't come close to using up and I download some songs and piccies from my amazon cloud fairly regularly. You will be able to download apps that monitor data usage - there is one availabe on the Galaxy S2 as standard, but I'm not sure if this is true for all smart phones. So, unless you get a bit carried away or forget to check your usage regularly, you'll be unlikely to incur extra out-of-contract costs. Personally I tend to switch mobile data off most of the time just in case.

Whatever you do, make sure that you keep an eye on the "roaming" facility and turn it off especially if abroad since this catches a lot of people out as it enables invisible upgrades and searches to be carried out potentially at cost to you.

 

[enyam]

Whatever you do, make sure that you keep an eye on the "roaming" facility and turn it off especially if abroad since this catches a lot of people out as it enables invisible upgrades and searches to be carried out potentially at cost to you.

The closest conny get's to abroad is a ferry cross the mersey.

 

[calorific]

 

[conny]

Whatever you do, make sure that you keep an eye on the "roaming" facility and turn it off especially if abroad since this catches a lot of people out as it enables invisible upgrades and searches to be carried out potentially at cost to you.

The closest conny get's to abroad is a ferry cross the mersey.

I'll have you know I've travelled to distant foreign lands.
Went to Talacre a few years back!

 

[calorific]

Went to Talacre a few years back!

Reminds me of an episode of the Royle Family

 

[securespark]

wait for secure to come along, with the amount of time spent looking he ought to be red hot on what you want.

Love it!

I have looked at and used most of what's on offer today, and yes, from that choice, I would go for the Ace as well.

In fact, eldest son has one (please don't let that put you off!) with 175 mins and 5K texts and 250MB data (what you need to use internet, email and some apps). This he got for 7.50 a month.

However, I know you're on Virgin and want to stay. Have they offered you a free upgrade?

Not sure if you're PAYG or Monthly at the moment.

I'm going to get Mrs Secure a sim-free Ace 2 (more memory, faster chip, bigger screen, but also twice the price of the Ace ) with a Virgin sim only deal giving 250/ UL/ 1GB.

The Ace 2 is £160, the sim only deal is £9 per month.

But if you're an occasional user, the Ace should be fine and dandy.

Don't forget, as IP was saying, you don't have to connect via your handset when you're at home. You can set up your mobile to connect wirelessly to your router, thus saving your allowance for when you're away from wifi hotspots.

 

[spiceyokooko]

So at the moment its looking like the Galaxy. Will give it a few more hours to see if anyone comes up with other opinions.

I can't really comment on any of those phones, I'm a bit of a dinosaur when it comes all these new fangled technology devices and this comes from someone who worked in computing for many years! The pace of technology change now truly is frightening and a lot of the time companies want you to upgrade to continue generating revenues for them.

I still have a fairly old iphone 3GS which does everything I want it to do and to be honest, I don't use a fraction of its true capabilities.

Samsung's have a good reputation and once you get used to the touch screen interface it is an improvement over scrolling though menu's with a button.

One thing you will notice when upgrading to a larger touch screen interface - the phone needs charging a lot more often, particularly if you're using it for web surfing etc. I went from an old Sony Eriksson which needed charging about once a week to the iphone which needs charging everyday.

One question. When you are out and about do you have to be at a certain place such as a Hot Spot to access the internet and come on here and do you pay for it or is that in with the package?

There are two ways you connect to the internet whilst outside the home -

1/ Via WiFi, which are as you say hotspots and can be free or you may have to sign up for one.

2/ Via 3G cellular, which is basically like a telephone call, whereby you'll be charged per MB downloaded on most plans.

Check your virgin plan and see if cellular 3G (or 4G now) is included and how much (MB) of it you'll receive.