Database Users

A question about tariffs (UK)

Greetings All.
I am finally thinking of upgrading my ancient Nokia to a Magician. Taking tightfistedness as a given, as a UK resident, my question is what is the least money I need to part with to acquire a Magician? If on pay-as-you-go, price is easily seen. But I am a little confused about tariff options: I would consider a phone on a tariff to cost:
[handset price] + [no of months] * [monthly rental]
where
[no of months] = least no of months before I can get the contract cancelled
Unfortunately, I don't actually know what this last number is with the UK companies: is it 6 months? Less? More?
Any information would be greatly appreciated, including what buyers have found to be the typical "total price" as defined above.
Regards.

I have found u a sim free himalaya for sale at Amazon. I wouldn't go for the magician myself due to it only having 64mb of ram and the himalya having 128mb of ram.
http://s1.amazon.co.uk/exec/varzea/ts/exchange-glance/Y06Y2078550Y1436518/202-4701076-6303825
Anyway check out the link I have given you.
s1nn0n

Thanks for the link. Is the ~£370 mark the standard, therefore for the Jam? If so, do the tariff equivalents also level about £370 after minimum contract?
And since I don't actually know this despite having lived here all my life, what _is_ the minimum contract with the various phone firms (T-Mobile, O2, Vodafone, etc.)?

ive had the xda 2 and i have recently got rid of it and got the imate jam
its alot better signal wise/ battery life wise/ size wise/ faster/ better cam
id choose it anyday over the xda2 as its just too heavy and big compared to the jam
i brought mine sim free from expansys for £407 near enough
simple to set up on o2 payg online

Look here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=15279
Contracts are usually 12 months. I have seen some 18 month contracts too.

the Jam's camera is basically the same as the xda II's anyway, I don't know why the Jams is so poor its suppoed to be 1.3MP there is so much noise in the pics they look worse than the XDA 2's.
As for the signal, the new 1.18 radio upgrade not only increases the signal of the XDA II so it's much better than before it also has increased the battery life by a considerable amount i've noticed.
Personally, i'd go for the XDA 2 any day over the JAM, I can't stand that they have halved the amount of RAM in the JAM compared to the XDA II. Size isn't everything!

id stay clear from the contracts and go onto o2 online pay as you go. 300 free texts, 1mb free gprs, works out at giving u 40mins of calls compared to contract and all for £10 / month.
sims are only like £5

So everyone who buys a phone from, say, O2 or T-Mobile absolutely _has_ to pay the 12 month contract? There is no option to, say, cancel after a minimum time and still keep the handset? Excuse my n00bness on this issue...

u dont even have to buy a contract with this one
http://s1.amazon.co.uk/exec/varzea/ts/exchange-glance/Y06Y2078550Y1436518/202-4701076-6303825
they are sim free. NO CONRACT! u can change phone and switch networks whenver u want.
just simply stick in an o2 online sim card for £5.

1.18 rom on the xda2 didnt do much for me still couldnt get signal at work
now i got my jam i got 1 bar all the time
camera quality is crap i the dark but with the new patch its improved daylight photos alot they look very clear now
and no the 64mb ram doesnt make any difference when you have a 1gb ultra SD card i use that for storage
128mb would be nice but its no problem at the moment
also you dont look like a fool with it to your ear no more lol
gaz

Agreed, s1nn0n. The only reason a contract idea is being entertained at all is the possiblity of getting a better overall deal on the Magician handset.

kneeslasher said:
So everyone who buys a phone from, say, O2 or T-Mobile absolutely _has_ to pay the 12 month contract? There is no option to, say, cancel after a minimum time and still keep the handset? Excuse my n00bness on this issue...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you have to usually have them for 12 months or sometimes 24months but you can pay the contract off upfront (pay the monthly charges all in one go)

yeah maybe.
but they are still expensive on contracts.

also the IR on the jam works just like an ipaq unlike the xda2 which doesnt do anyhting at all lol

look at the below link, id just put that in a sim free phone. works out much cheaper and a contract wont give u anywhere near the value.
THE SIM IS FREE NOW!!! lol
http://shop.o2.co.uk/cgi-bin/o2uk/j...Details.jsp?prodID=consumer:O2:TALKALOT:GROUP

urs must a been dodgy thn.
mine works fine.

Thanks. In that case I shall factor [12 * monthly cost] into the price. Right. In that case I shall now scour the other threads for where good deals on the Magician are available. Thanks for the XDAII suggestion s1nn0n, but I think until the XDAII evolves further, the Jam is for me.

I bought from www.mobilejoker.de with a 1GB SD Card (65 Euros), 40 Eueos delivery and 15 Euros Cash on Delivery charge and it came to £380.
You'll get the MDA alone for less from them or Ebay's German sellers.

seriously the imate JAM is pants.
the xda II also has MP10 on it now and wm 2003 se
there really isn't much difference.
JAM is smaller but xda 2 has more memory.

That doesn't sound too bad, 27. But what on earth is this 15€ C.O.D charge?
I agree with s1nn0n in that the Jam has less memory/functions/etc.. I have computers to do my work. The phone/pda is just for simple carry-around utility.

Where is the best Place to buy MDA-MINI, in the UK?

I used to buy it from Scanocom.co.uk for 240GBP, but price is now closer to 300GBP. Any ideas on the cheapest online retailers?

Just get in on a contract. You cant beat these deals:
http://www.phones2udirect.co.uk/Products/type/phones/ProductID/5654/NetworkID//I-Mate_JAM.asp
I got my Jam from them - they were quite on the ball with everything.
With that free Jam on O2 that the have, you'd be better off than buying the phone SIM free, especially when you calculayte what a SIM-Free Jam will cost PLUS how much you spend on mobile phone each month.

I got mine a week or two ago from http://buymobilephones.net/store/merchant-2-34.ihtml.
They have the imate and qtek on all networks, about £30 on contract - qtek is same thing but with 2 years warranty instead of 1 on imate, so no question really. Quite cheap, fast, professional service (I decided to change network after placing my order and they were very happy to make changes etc. Still got delivery next day!).
You're welcome to use me as a referrer if you do go with them!
V Rathour on oh 7725 oh 79342.
Vijay

i got mine from AGBglobal... they are in UK and they are very helpful.
http://www.agbglobal.com

Wait O2 Exec or buy Universal from expansys.com

I live in Hong Kong. From my estimate, the O2 will sell in Hong Kong in December 2005. I want to get the Universal to be first in Hong Kong. Do I buy the Universal from expansys.com or wait the offical selling in Hong Kong?

If you want to be the first you don't have much choice but to get it from somewhere else other than O2!

I'm in the same boat as you are... No warranty and ugly looking Jasjar But on the other hand, the wait is killing me too....

XDA EXEC
Hi in answer to your question, i would only consider the O2 XDA EXEC,i have seen both devices,the XDA EXEC looks way better than the Imate Jasjar.
In addition the XDA EXEC will be tested more...O2 have better support + the O2 active service installed in the phone really inhances the device.
At the end of the day i Know its hard to wait...but i promise you will not be dissapointed this device really sets new standards.

O2 vs JasJar
Disagree with you on some points, firstly, o2 Active is a complete waste of time, been on 02 3years since xda 1 and always dumped it. For Guarantee, they're both about the same, 1 year, so no benefits there. I have also owned an Imate and their customer support was fine, no worse or better then o2. Rom Upgrades are much faster at imate, less bureauracy, and that is a big plus. And if you want to, you can always put an o2 rom later.
Jasjar is a terrible name, and will be more expensive than o2, always. They cannot subsidize like o2 can, not a big difference, so waitin 3-6 weeks you'll get it cheaper for sure.

O2 vs JasJar
Disagree with you on some points, firstly, o2 Active is a complete waste of time, been on 02 3years since xda 1 and always dumped it. For Guarantee, they're both about the same, 1 year, so no benefits there. I have also owned an Imate and their customer support was fine, no worse or better then o2. Rom Upgrades are much faster at imate, less bureauracy, and that is a big plus. And if you want to, you can always put an o2 rom later.
Jasjar is a terrible name, and will be more expensive than o2, always. They cannot subsidize like o2 can, not a big difference, so waitin 3-6 weeks you'll get it cheaper for sure.

Mark,
You can preorder Qtek from expansys. The price a bit cheaper.
You can check here.
http://www.expansys.com.hk/product.asp?code=125550

Re: XDA EXEC
fanacreonte2804 said:
Hi in answer to your question, i would only consider the O2 XDA EXEC,i have seen both devices,the XDA EXEC looks way better than the Imate Jasjar.
In addition the XDA EXEC will be tested more...O2 have better support + the O2 active service installed in the phone really inhances the device.
At the end of the day i Know its hard to wait...but i promise you will not be dissapointed this device really sets new standards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bet I can guess who you work for , but I must say the exec is much easier on the eyes.

Not sure
I think they really are 100% the same, unless you really are a tosser and care about device color...
Warranty 1 year
Rom: within a month, you'll put whatever you want in, no big deal active
o2 Active, Useless (Unless someone wants to convince me otherwise)
Price: 100% o2 will be cheaper, it always is. I will always buy these under contract, they are cheaper + you get minutes which I can throw away.

Buying O2
Buying O2 guarantees you a few things:
1) O2 active will be available, and if installed (which at least is optional on the exec without needing silly corporate codes) it will make your device crash much more than devices that dont have it. I have no confidence that O2 will sort out the O2 active issues that exist on the XDA IIs
2) You will wait *eons* for firmware updates. O2 are still shipping devices with BT build 3500, rom 1.31.00, radio: 1.06. They are now about 6 versions behind and there is no news of whether there will *ever* be an official update to the latest and greatest. For the record, BT3900, rom 1.41, and radio 1.12 are the latest.
3) You will get a cheaper device than if you bought it elsewhere.
So.... if you buy O2 then be prepaired to hack around with it, cook your own roms, and rely on timely updates from *other* vendors (which will need to be hacked for the O2 XDA) to fix the bugs on your exec.
O2 do not aknowledge or fix bugs on their devices period.
Nigel

I agree 100%
Exec will be considerably cheaper, but you'll get screwed on support. Even more true for T-Mobile, they are the most agressive guys, u wiull save a lot if you are patient.
For example I bought 13 T-mobile MDA's for 235GBP (purchase price + contract), and flipped on ebay for 320GBP. Now I have cancelled my contract and am getting 446GBP back, paying for JasJar....
So, buying through an agressive operator is always cheaper because they factor in that you will be spending more then you're contract....guess I didn't

Getting it from O2 doesn't offer much advantages; All O2 settings can be obtained from their site or the net; O2 active is useless, I always get rid of it in all my O2 pocket pcs; waste of memory. I bought the jamjar on an o2 contract costing 320GBP, paying 25GBP per month for 100min and 100text which works out to 620GBP. I don't think waiting for the exec itself will give a more significant discount. 320 quid for the device sounds fair enough considering it costs over 600GBP sim free at the moment; some shops sell it at 700GBP!

Did the same
Paid 660 GBP for 250 minutes on o2 and the phone for one year. Not bad? (I already have 500 minutes from o2 for 15GBP per month, but I figured can keep the 250 minutes for guests)

It is pre-order only.
1. Expansys is on pre-order stage.
2. Expansys cannot provide the handset warranty.
3. The price is about 700GBP
I am only wait for O2 Exec.
Hemant said:
Mark,
You can preorder Qtek from expansys. The price a bit cheaper.
You can check here.
http://www.expansys.com.hk/product.asp?code=125550
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

What is the price of the O2 Exec from O2 UK for handset only(Sim free)? Who can help me to reply this post?
Thanks!!!!!!

Are you really gonna wait for the O2 XDA Exec in Hong Kong?
I have just been told that Universal will not appear in Hong Kong under O2 brand - the distributor will introduce it as Dopod 900.
Wait and see - October 2005.

Re: Not sure
mikeycollins13 said:
I think they really are 100% the same, unless you really are a tosser and care about device color...
Warranty 1 year
Rom: within a month, you'll put whatever you want in, no big deal active
o2 Active, Useless (Unless someone wants to convince me otherwise)
Price: 100% o2 will be cheaper, it always is. I will always buy these under contract, they are cheaper + you get minutes which I can throw away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Making him care about the colour on a device that costs £600+gbp makes him a tosser?Would you like a **** brown with pink spots coloured ferrari?

Personally I would wait for the Exec.
I like the O2 colors better than the grey MDA ones - this is just and aesthetic issue. Functional-wise I think you should wait because there are problems with apps that are not compatible yet with WM5, therefore you might not be able to use all the apps which you have purchased (or downloaded as freeware) to run on your device,so your gaming/productivity/communication/entertainment might be impaired

1. Are you sure the O2 Exec will not release in HK?
2. After to read some posts, I want to wait O2 Exec released in Hong Kong rather than to buy imate/MDA Pro from overseas/Internet(expansys or www.pocketpc.com.hk).
shu_sum said:
Are you really gonna wait for the O2 XDA Exec in Hong Kong?
I have just been told that Universal will not appear in Hong Kong under O2 brand - the distributor will introduce it as Dopod 900.
Wait and see - October 2005.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

There's one problem with the O2 exec, at least in the UK - O2! They're rubbish in every sense. I used to be a customer of theirs and I had to phone them EVERY MONTH when they double billed me. They never sorted this out despite my repeated atempts and they're repeated promises. You'll also spend 15 minutes on hold when you call them. Their customer service is completly ineefctual and, as mentioned elsewhere, bug fixes and rom updates are almost non-existant. I'm told they also have poorer 3G coverage in the UK than the likes of Voda.
I bought a JasJar (and paid prolly about £70 more than if I had bought an Exec on O2) soley becuase it meant i didn't have to use O2!
But I agree the exec looks nicer. There is also some concern over the JasJar not having a keybaord backlight - I'll be able to confirm or deny in a couple of days when my order arrives.

wanted in UK !!! imate JASJAR/Qtek 9000/O2 XDA EXEC

I am looking for a black color imate JASJAR/Qtek 9000/O2 XDA EXEC.
Should be unlocked and the maximum I can pay is £350. Do let me know if someone has it. I dont mind buying the slightly used ones as well.
cheers

You can buy a Exec for £360 online from www.o2.co.uk under the 12 month £19 tariff whcih you can reduce to £16 or data 5 at £9.40 after 6 months. Price of the handset is £150.

thanks for the quick response.
is it mentioned in the terms and condition that we can downgrade our package after 6 months?
is data 5 available as a stand-alone package?
as far as I know, all o2 phones are already unlocked. please correct me if I am wrong.
cheers

None of my high end O2 phones (Nokia 9500, Treo 650 & Exec) have been locked.
You can downgrade after 6 months. Down greading to Data 5 is possible but depends on the call centre person you contact. Down grading to £16 after 6 months should not be a problem at all.

placed the order ... will take 5 working days.
some people here are compaining that the already installed software in o2 XDA EXEC occupies too much space and arent much of a help..what are your views?

hi
i contacted o2 a week ago, they said £19 tariff is lowest tariff available online, so we wont b able to downgrade to £16 or data 5 after 6 months but give their customer services a call using a cheap access no from
www.saynoto0870.com
or read this thread for other cheap options to get exec
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=32105
The phone form o2 online was unlocked
Cheers

@knowme, jatt may be correct about the £19 tariff being the lowest available online. But the this only makes the total cost £18 more !

yea true...doesnt make much of a diff. and u dont have to make one off payment too :lol: .... so who cares!!! 8)

Another happy customer

anyone here using sat. nav. on XDA EXEC? if yes, which 1?

application turned down coz of some stupid credit scoring ****

Using hermes/tytn etc in uk with o2

Hi
I'm a newbie, have checked but can't see anyone has asked this specific question before:
I'd like an xda trion but I've been told by O2 it won't be coming to the uk.
So my question is, if I got hold of an unlocked HTC Hermes or one of it's equivalents and put in my o2 3g sim - could I use all of it's features?
i.e. would this be like using a Trion but without all the O2 software etc..
Also is there a recommended model to buy? - i.e. HTC or imate etc
Thanks

Do you really need to stay with O2 ? Because the T-Mobile and other operator deals can give you a 12/18 month contract + Hermes for the same price as a device without contract.

kennyboy said:
Hi
I'm a newbie, have checked but can't see anyone has asked this specific question before:
I'd like an xda trion but I've been told by O2 it won't be coming to the uk.
So my question is, if I got hold of an unlocked HTC Hermes or one of it's equivalents and put in my o2 3g sim - could I use all of it's features?
i.e. would this be like using a Trion but without all the O2 software etc..
Also is there a recommended model to buy? - i.e. HTC or imate etc
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought an unlocked TyTN from mobilefun.co.uk aswell as a 1GB microSD (the UltraII one). Works a charm, no rpobelsm(LOL leaving that for irony) whatsoever (apart from ones ive made hehe). Its the HTC branded TyTN but ive flashed it with the imate JASJAM ROM and used the HTC ext rom to get the standard green content etc.... (having tried the updated unnofficial HTC rom, aswell as the dopod rom). 3G works a treat and im still on my O2 online contract (sim only.....1 month rolling contract...£25 line rental...1000 txts and 1000 off-peak minutes)
O2 is pretty good for me and im ok with not having the full speed internet and settling for (around) 1mbps on 3G.

kevino - I wish I could, my current contract doesn't finish until April though.... there's no way out is there?
mrvanx - thanks for the info that's great. Think I'll look for second hand though, it's expensive isn't it.
Also I'll have to look in to all this rom update stuff to get it all sorted.
Thanks guys - very helpful.
Kenny

Kenny,
April is a long way off. I just moved to T-Mobile because of W'n'W. Depending on your usage it may be worth your while to just get a new contract anyway. You can, I believe, buy out your contract if you want to keep your number. Anyway I'm sure you'll know what's best for yourself.