Thread: Need a new phone, don't where to start!

Originally Posted by Ranga

For a cheap pre-paid option you could try this https://onlineshop.telstra.com.au/pr...rola-DEFY-Plus

I've had one for ages, and it's pretty bulletproof (waterproof, drop-proof, to an extent). That deal is locked to Telstra, but as much as it pains me to say it, I wouldn't be on any other provider, considering the remote locations I find myself in. I've managed to avoid a plan, and have used pre-paid for about 18 months. Of course, you would get a better price being on plan, but I'm a bit adverse to being locked in to contracts.

BTW, the Motorola Defy has all the functionality of all the phones mentioned above.

I tend to agree with you on the plan front. I looked at the terms of a few plans a couple of years ago and there's some scary stuff in there. You'd be surprised at how few rights (and how many obligations) you have under one of those things if anything goes wrong.

I'd be getting the Defy mentioned above and use the $30 prepaid cap.

My wife has the original Defy. They.advertise as a rugged, water resistant smart phone. There are youtube clips of them working in a glass of water.
Hers did break though. Cost $180 to repair under insurance. This was only last month.
A bit annoying to find we could have had a new one for less but when I enquired about replacement cost Telstra said $600 but unavailable. The above linked deal didn't exist then.

I use a $50 LG P690. Got it a few months ago to try out Android and love it so will get a 4g S3 soon.

I remember when we had a party line, and the only cap was on your head, Bob

Im a big fan of the HTC range Swmbo likes her defy.

I run the gen one htc desire and shes running the gen 1 defy.

both are capable of running offroad mapping, street level mapping, take reasonable photos, and can be used as a torch.

I like the layout of the desires clock/timer/weather stuff over the defy and the HTC has a bit more processing grunt over the defy. With a bit of a hack I get 48 hours with reasonable use out of the desire the defy struggles to make 36 BUT that doesnt really bother either of us as we have in car chargers and they take just a fraction over 45 minutes to go from shut down on low power to fully charged. That also doesnt take into account that my phone lives in a 5 bar service area during the day and almost everyone struggles for service where she works.

My desire gets GPS lock inside the house if within about 3 feet of a window The defy doesnt usually but will sometimes if you sit it on the window sill. Once its got lock tho its solid.

Both recover from tunnels within about 15 seconds



For me, in this day and age of phones, the 3 key factors for a phone are
1. the quality of the stamp antennae used for the mobile reception (internal layout counts too)
2. the presence of an independent GPS and the quality of its antennea
3. the charge rate of and the standby (as in phone off) endurance of the battery followed by the normal use life of the battery. A new feature Im starting to rate is the emergancy reserve feature which shuts the phone down when its down to its last 15 minutes of predicted talk time.

i was on a contract and for $49 a month plus another $15 to pay for the phone....i got 1GB of data and about $450 worth of calls and text......

then i found out i could get that and more for $11 but was stuck for 2 years due to my contract......

my advice.....?
buy your phone outright.....on credit....be it from a shop or ebay......and dont get tied down with contracts.......they are not worth it......
im now on a bigger plan.....and it only costs me $18 per month.....

both were through optus.....one was direct....and the other through live connected....i can put the money i save onto my credit card each month......
or i can pay it off a heap sooner if i have a bit of extra cash......
most people here should be able to pay off $800 - $900 in less than a year rather than over 2 years......

and you are free to chop and change plans and companies to suit you......
have a look at sim only connections......you will be surprised what you get and for how little each month compared to contracts......

I still run a early Nokia smart phone N8 but my son has traded his iphone for a samsung galaxy S3, the main reason for his change is he is often out bush and it is one of the few smart phones that can be modifed to take an external antenna, I think the entire galaxy / note range can be modified.

I should have also said

for what we paid for them as good as the desire is the defy was the better value for money purchase for day to day stuff

factored in on the plans we have them on (I dislike prepaid service) the defy turned out to be about 1/3 the overall cost of the HTC

I was with Vodafone for about 15 years. Went Telstra this year due to rubbish coverage and wonder why I took so long to change. I am A heavy user. I use my phone everywhere for everything including navigation (Navionics) in the boat and in a tinny coaching;in the car for navigation and camping etc. I have had nokia, apple, htc and now Samsung s3. The s3 simply leaves the others behind (recent phones being iphone 4 and HTC legend).

I use a hd casemate case but wait for a short time (apparently) and get the lifeproof waterproof case.

Cheers