[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Might not cost you anything depending on model...
http://giffgaff.com/unlock

[Paul B]

yes (but thanks), however I thought somebody might have a "mate in jail" with another solution. ~£10 each (2 phones) for 2 months is barely worth it really.

HTC Wildfire (not S) - T-mobile

[Lund]

yes (but thanks), however I thought somebody might have a "mate in jail" with another solution. ~£10 each (2 phones) for 2 months is barely worth it really.

HTC Wildfire (not S) - T-mobile

Ah, I think you're stuffed.  ebay might be cheaper?

[chris20]

Me and my gf have tried to unlock ours to go on giffgaff, we were both on T mobile she has some slidey nokia thing and I have a Nokia 5800.  We phoned T mobile and they sent us unlock codes for free within 2 weeks (I think), hers worked but mine didn't.  I phoned them again and we tried a couple more codes over the phone but didn't work, so may be worth a try....

[Jaspersharpe]

Have noticed that the Nexus 4 is still unavailable direct from Google but you can get it on contract from most service providers (and Carphone Whorehouse etc).

However, they've all handily forgotten that the big difference between Nexus 4 and S3 is the price (£280 vs c£400) as the deals they are offering are basically the same on both phones. The cunts. Other places are offering the Nexus 4 sim free - for around £400......

So given that you can't put an SD card in the Nexus 4 or remove it's battery I just ordered an S3. Worked out that with the usage I need buying it up front and getting a giff gaff sim would basically cost the same (would have saved about £30, or less than a fuck all a month) over the 15 months I'll have the phone as sticking with O2 so I've done that for laziness / warranty / not having to pay up front purposes.

[slackline]

I hope Google have drastically underestimated demand for the Nexus 4 rather than attempting to manipulate its desirability by purposefully limiting its availability.

[Jaspersharpe]

I really don't think it will be the former.

You don't bring out a phone with as good a spec as the best phone on the market for 30% lower price and then go "fuck me, loads of people want one, that was a shock!". Especially if you're Google.

[slackline]

I expect you're right, unfortunately.

[Jim]

Has anyone got a nexus 4?

[Jim]

no one got one then?

[slackline]

Spare £7000 gets you a titanium case w/saphire screen phone 

[metal arms]

Has anyone got a nexus 4?

Few folks in my office have got 'em and love them.  Reckon they're well worth it.  They all went for the tesco £10 sim only deal with it - 500mins/more than enough texts/1gb data.  Sorry no first hand experience though.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Nexus 4 back in stock at https://play.google.com/store/devices at the moment. £239

[Durbs]

I've owned a Note II for 2 weeks now, absolutely love it.

Too large if you're just looking for a smartphone (unless you watch a lot of videos), but if you spend any time doing more advanced thing on the go, and don't want a tablet - definitely worth a look. The S-pen is ace too - surprisingly useful, not just for Draw Something... Good handwriting recognition (I could've been a doctor) for texting/e-mails/note taking, and ability to doodle too e.g. at a band practise, type info about new tracks, and also write the musical score.

You can also say you own a phablet/phoblet which I personally think is worth £450 by itself...

[SA Chris]

Anyone got any personal experience of using 3 as a network? from POV of customer support, 3G and mobile phone reception. Not bothered about 4G right now, and phone won't be set up for it. Use T-Mobile / EE at the moment.

[lukeh]

Anyone got any personal experience of using 3 as a network? from POV of customer support, 3G and mobile phone reception. Not bothered about 4G right now, and phone won't be set up for it. Use T-Mobile / EE at the moment.

I came to the conclusion that they were the cheapest for a reason.

My experience was of poor customer services and poor phone signal. However, this was about 4 years ago and in mainly in Aberystwyth, I think their reception was always supposed to be better in cities?




In other news, Samsung Galaxy S4 to be launched in a few weeks...

[SA Chris]

Yeah, i had the same concerns. Might go into an independant shop and get their views; Aberdeen aint exactly centre of the universe and where I will soon live even less so.

[tomtom]

Get a payg sim for a month and try?

[SA Chris]

Guess that's an option,would mean possibly porting number more than once which is a potential PITA, plus I wont be move to new house to give it a proper test before current contract expires plus one month expires, need to do 2.

[tomtom]

I didnt mean port over - get a £5 sim with credit, and just use it to test how well it works where you're moving to/work/frequent etc.. test the data speeds blah blah...

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Anyone got any personal experience of using 3 as a network? from POV of customer support, 3G and mobile phone reception. Not bothered about 4G right now, and phone won't be set up for it. Use T-Mobile / EE at the moment.

Tomtoms idea is a good one. Personally I really rate them, and it's the only network I've stuck with for more than a year since I ditched Orange (or they ditched me) vowing never to return. Haven't had to phone customer service much but I've actually found coverage great. Strangely far better in rural areas like Cumbria and North Wales than other networks. To such as extent whenever we are up in the lakes my phone becomes the hot spot for the rest of the family to connect to. (Others on O2 and T-Mobile)

It is totally dependant on your coverage, and Aberdeen does look a bit patchy on http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Coverage

Worth checking distance to your nearest mast and who is on it on here too http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/search bit of a pain to navigate as you can't filter by network.

If you do decide to give Three a try, the advantage is they have been quietly upgrading their network to next gen HSDPA over the last 18 months. Once complete in your area, if your handset is DC-HSPDA compatible (Dual Channel HSDPA) then you'll basically be getting near 4G speeds for 3G prices. They aren't rolling out different contracts for the faster connection. One of the main reasons I want a Nexus 4 as my current handset isn't compatible. 

[tomtom]

FWIW, I'm on EE using LTE and I'm in the process of ditching my ISP and phone line and moving over to tethering from the phone.

Here (in Hull) I'm consistently getting 15-18Mbps download and 2-10 on upload. Compared to 2down and 2up on 3g. Thats on 2 bars coverage LTE.

In Manchester (mrsTT's) I get 15-18 down on LTE and 3G (this is the DC-HSPDA obi wan talks about) and 2-10 up on LTE and 2-3 up on 3G. Again 2 bars LTE and full 3G.

All measurements at peak times. My ISP is giving me 2-6 down and 0.4-0.8 up.

The LTE is really good - though I have now had to turn on all my ad/video blockers on my PC - as video adverts etc.. that usually took a few secs to load on the Broadband now pop up pretty instantly. LTE isnt world changing - but it is impressive.

[SA Chris]

Thanks, useful....

...up until OWiL's last paragraph, and the whole of Tomtom's - I can't make head or tail of it.


On that coverage map though the new pad ( AB39 3RW, a bit west of railway line in Newtonhill) looks to have pretty poor coverage, mainly because we are in a bit of a dip (in spite of the "hill" in the name) and don't get line of site to nearst mast (which I seem to recall is Netherley) might be best to stick with EE for now.

[richieb]

I am on 3 at the moment. The phone signal in the highlands/north west is rubbish but it isn't much of a problem cos my phone just roams onto other networks and it doesn't seem to affect my bill. Not for texting anyway.
Actually maybe I should check that..

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

I am on 3 at the moment. The phone signal in the highlands/north west is rubbish but it isn't much of a problem cos my phone just roams onto other networks and it doesn't seem to affect my bill. Not for texting anyway.
Actually maybe I should check that..

When Three started and coverage was very patchy they had an agreement with O2 then later Orange that in any blackspots calls would roam onto the other network on 2G/GSM (calls and texts, no or very slow data). This was a tempoary agreement and in late 2010/early 2011 as they expanded their network they started dropping the Orange back up in certain areas where they thought the coverage was adaquate. I don't know if they have finished this altogether, or it still continues in less well covered  areas. Also the change to EE from Orange may have effected it. On another note was talking to someone today who was with Orange, but after the merge with T-Mobile they 'rationalised' the network removing masts where there was overlap of coverage, including the nearest one to their house which effectively removed any chance of getting a signal indoors. Great improvement.  Suffice to say they are no longer on Orange/EE.