good android phones?

Avenge7

hey all,
i go to uni in scotland so i have a phone from each country. i need a new irish phone and was thinking about an android fone and was wondering if this would be useful for keepin in touch with friends and boyfriend in scotland as txting with my uk fone is costing me a fortune also i am completely clueless wen it comes to anything android related so was just wondering if anyone could succes a good androide and if would be good for keeping in touch

oh also would rather avoide c ontract if possible as i spend half the year in uk and would be rather expencive paying contract and extra if i was to use my fone at all over there

hope this all makes sense and you help will be really appreciated

srsly78

Use email instead of text. Sign up for vodafone and you can use data abroad (make sure you buy data addon). No reason to avoid contract when you can use phone in both countries.

Phones: get any android phone. Depends on your budget. Best one right now is Samsung Galaxy 2, but it costs a lot. Cheap option = ZTE Blade, check out the thread on this forum for more info.

Avenge7

oh i do like the sounds of being able to use it in both countries hehe...sorry im extremely dense so say i did get one on vodafone wud i be able to use like web txts and stuff still without it costing me a fortune?

Dacelonid

Get a phone from 3, they have 3 like home which basically means you can use your phone as if you were at home, on flexfix and 3pay it is available in UK (and Italy, Austria, Denmark, Sweden)

I used it while in Sweden and it is great being able to ring/text home and not worry about the cost, I even used it for mobile broadband once when the wifi in the hotel went down. I can't recommend this enough,

Avenge7

Dacelonid wrote: »

Get a phone from 3, they have 3 like home which basically means you can use your phone as if you were at home, on flexfix and 3pay it is available in UK (and Italy, Austria, Denmark, Sweden)

I used it while in Sweden and it is great being able to ring/text home and not worry about the cost, I even used it for mobile broadband once when the wifi in the hotel went down. I can't recommend this enough,

thanks that does sound very good defo gunna look into that

hardCopy

Avenge7 wrote: »

thanks that does sound very good defo gunna look into that

Make sure you check their coverage maps around your home here and Uni over there, would be a sickener if it didn't work in both.

seanybiker

Viber be available soon to all android pwople so that should help a bit

Avenge7

sorry im very clueless a 90 yr old granny would know more bout android than me haha wats viber?

The_B_Man

Viber is like Skype. Lets u make phone calls using the internet instead of vodafone/meteors/etc network. Same as Tango.

Avenge7

The_B_Man wrote: »

Viber is like Skype. Lets u make phone calls using the internet instead of vodafone/meteors/etc network. Same as Tango.

oh ok cool thanks hahaha now all i have to do is decide wat fone to get hahahaha

ShadowHearth

Whatapp?

Dardania

I'd suggest you should look at something from Meteor, as they do very cheap roaming in Europe.

This is their Android range: https://store.meteor.ie/phones/android

And here is their page on roaming for Europe: http://www.meteor.ie/do_more/roaming/payg/europe_zone_1/

srsly78

Meteor do not offer data roaming AT ALL. They are the worst network for international data. Vodafone and 3 do offer data roaming.

Also note that meteor only offer good rates with certain partners. In the UK you get cheap meteor calls only if you connect to t-mobile. Your phone will not do this automatically. You might come out of the underground and find yourself connected to 3 or Orange, in which case exorbitant rates apply. Beware.

xENDZEITx

I would recommend the samsung GT-15500 i had mine since christmas and its ideal for someone who is only going to use it for texting or calls as the bat life is great but if your using it for a mp3 player or to view pictures it will eat your bat up. There only 100 euro new on all networks i think but if you trade a old phone in against one it would be 80 or something i think.

delos

If you can go for a bill pay option, 3 will let you use half of your monthly allowance phoing mobiles and landlines in the UK and half of your monthly allowance on the 3 network while you are in the UK. You will still be charged for texts sent while in the UK. Coverage is OK in Scotland - well the bits that have Universities.

Have you had a look at any add-ons from UK based companies that will let you phone Ireland or use the phone here - the deals in the UK tend to be much better...

Avenge7

srsly78 wrote: »

Meteor do not offer data roaming AT ALL. They are the worst network for international data. Vodafone and 3 do offer data roaming.

Also note that meteor only offer good rates with certain partners. In the UK you get cheap meteor calls only if you connect to t-mobile. Your phone will not do this automatically. You might come out of the underground and find yourself connected to 3 or Orange, in which case exorbitant rates apply. Beware.

ye i am currently with meteor and have learned this over the last two years i always check my network before i answer my phone hahaha

srsly78

Oh yeah, and with meteor non-preferred partner you actually get charged for incoming calls too Nevermind just paying a fortune for outgoing ones.

Avenge7

ye wrecks my head so wouldnt really bother me changing from meteor to different network to be honest lol

ya wreckon ill get done if i was to go into carphone warehouse and just tell them wat im looking for? lol

srsly78

Mate I switched to vodafone... I move between London/Dublin a lot. It works perfectly, no more messing around. If you are locked into contract you can't switch without paying them off tho, depends on contract. I was on bill-pay lite with meteor, so only 30 days notice.

Avenge7

and vodafone have data i can use over there ye?

im on pay as go now so i have no problem changing

srsly78

Yes - IF you buy the internet addon. Their website is a bit confusing when it comes to this. I only switched 2 weeks ago, and this is my first business trip to London since. I range up vodafone support and CONFIRMED with them that I wasn't getting screwed for internet usage. After watching loads of youtube etc they said my balance was e3.50 and that was for some roaming calls.

Careful, without the internet addon I think they charge silly prices (subject to e50 cap).

Other people will tell you 3 can also offer the same thing, but in my experience 3 simply does not work in Ireland - so fcuk that.

Avenge7

well i usually dont ring out with my irish fone wen im in uk so i shud hopefully avoide extra charges like that cause dont fancy paying the contract and then some wen i already have two fones to run hahabut is it free to recieve calls with vodafone wen away?

PS. sorry for the twenty million questions

srsly78

Yep it's free to receive in UK. Time to switch networks. Vodafone and 3 can do what you want, but I personally do not recommend 3 at all.

edit: Just so you know: Vodafone is more expensive than 3. But I'm happy to pay for a service that actually works.
edit2: Full disclosure, I have never worked for Vodafone. I did work for t-mobile tho

Avenge7

hahaha well i appreciate all your help

one more question tho and thats it then i promise hehe...wat problems did u have with 3?

srsly78

Kept losing internet connection, and having to toggle airplane mode. Drove me up the wall. 3 won't even acknowledge the problem.

See various megathreads of complaints on 3 forum: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1367

Avenge7

thanks for all ur help uv been great x

Dmz1984

rule of thumb: buy cheap and you'll get cheap

just look at the amount of posts on this forum
because of people buying cheap phones and
then complaining about stuff not working on them

my 2 cents..

all the best

Avenge7

Dmz1984 wrote: »

rule of thumb: buy cheap and you'll get cheap

just look at the amount of posts on this forum
because of people buying cheap phones and
then complaining about stuff not working on them

my 2 cents..

all the best

im more trying to figure out wat network is gunna work out best for half the year in uk than price of the phone..thanks tho

Dmz1984

Avenge7 wrote: »

im more trying to figure out wat network is gunna work out best for half the year in uk than price of the phone..thanks tho

indeed this is the first dilemma,

but when you get your brand new shinny phone and begin to use it,
you'll find that things cool and funky,

then you may even start getting into the buzz of it,
for instance IPhone and the obsession of its users downloading
and paying for all sorts of worthless apps.

suddenly you'll realize why didn't i get a better phone

this has nothing got to do with techno junkies, i've seen it happen to technophobes

I used a nokia 3210 for 10 years :P