yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] mrleoni:
Save your money and go on t-mobile. Then you can make the most of HSDPA as much as you like without having to spend 75 notes for the privelage.

Loyalty is wasted on phone companies, and the day O2 offer me unlimited data and 180 pounds credit for less than 33 quid (as I took out in april on tmob) is the day I will be retracting the following statement "O2 can stick their overpriced data tarifs up their shiny black arse".

The vario 11 is very nice in my opinion - the keypad surround is NOT pink, and it works well with the metallic slate grey. At the very worst it is inoffensive.

If you are willing to pay seventy quid a month more than me for a phone with a slightly nicer keyboard that may never come out then clearly money is not an issue:

in that case I suggest buying a sim-free HTC TyTn.

Of course if O2 ever decide to stop ripping off their customers I may consider going back; but for now I'm happy with t-mobile.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] steverae:
So ignore my ignorance, what exactly is HSDPA and how does it differ from say wifi or gps.....

Also.... how do Orange with there nice looknig SPVM3100 figure in all this....

Thanks for your opinion......

soon to be ex-O2 user.....
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] mrleoni:
There are other forums on HSDPA but in brief it is often referred to as 3.5G it promises (if you believe t-mobile) data speeds of up to 20mbps in the future.

Its advantage over wifi primarily is that your battery will last longer than if constantly connected to a hotspot, and obviously you can access the web from pretty much anywhere.

Since getting my varioII I have noticed SIGNIFICANT increases in speed (usually around 1.2mbps when testing at bandwidth.com) compared to 3G on my old MDA Pro, tested on the same site.

I live in Derby.

The Vario/Trion also reconnects quicker than the Exec/Pro when a signal is lost and throws up the dread 'cannot connect for an unknown reason' error far less frequently. the battery lasts longer than the pro and it is NOTICEABLY nippier for browsing, via wifi AND 3G.

I base this information on personal experience of owning both an Executive on O2 and its equivalent on T-mobile - the Pro.

I understand that this forum isn't about Exec VS Trion but it kind of underlines how stupid it is that O2 aren't releasing the Trion if they are serious about competing in this market.

Other people's experiences may be different to mine - but I am a sensible customer, and go for the best deals I can get.

If I were on the verge of a new contract there is NO WAY IN HELL I would go on O2, since they not only aren't releasing the Trion but seem to have no plans to decrease their obscene data costs, and don't have HSDPA. (They were also the last major network in derby to switch to 3G!)

As for Orange - well they DO OFFER unlimited data on one of their tarifs, but this is off-peak, and the tarif is 45 quid (if I remember right).

One final point - and perhaps the most important - I can use the VARIO II as a phone without being laughed at!

This phone is going to be MASSIVE, whichever network that might be on.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] Sunnychad:
Here's the reason

Spoke with O2 CS this morning and they advised me that 2 new XDAs are due for release on 15 January 2007. They are currently named the XDA Zinc & XDA Graphite. I have the feeling they are O2's version of the HTC Trinity & HTC Artemis respctively. I have no further info and frankly, neither did they.

Any advice would be much appreciated.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] steverae:
Interesting.......

Now my contract is due to run out in october, SO, can i drop down to PAYG and then transfer my number from that to another network or if o2 release new xda's back to o2 contract.

I've had this number for years and i know i can transfer it from contract to contract but not to sure about going to payg then back to contract with it.....
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] dom_mitchell1:
Has there been any further information on what sunnychad discovered?
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] bigballs:
Well I have now requested my PAC Code from O2 and moving over to Orange so I can get this beauty :-)

They tried to flog me off with the IQ which I just laughed :-)

So well done o2 another lost customer coz you wouldn't release the mini's bigger brother :lol:
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] dom_mitchell1:
To add to this, I've just seen that O2 Germany will now be getting the HTC Artemis badges as the XDA Orbit. What the hell is going on? Why is O2 UK so c**p?! I don't beleive this rubbish about the PDA phone market being bigger over in Germany, it may be but only because it is being stiffled over here!
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] Sunnychad:
Dom,

You are absolutely right. O2 is restricting its options in the UK. I can appreciate the market here might be smaller but the desire for new handsets is as big here as it is anywhere else in the world.

I cannot wait any longer for O2 to release a credible successor to the XDA Mini S and will get the P990i in 10 days or so. O2 did tell me yesterday that the Mini S is still doing very well for them and with recent firmware upgrades it is a much better unit than it was on release so that might also be contributing factor, as well as a huge forward commitment to handsets!!!

Let's see what comes and all work together to keep the release info updated.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] mrleoni:
WHY WHY WHY

Why go through so much misery? Can't you just go on orange or t-mobile and get the handset you want?

Or are you joined at the hip to o2?

Surely the best approach is to look for the best deal for you, and if your network hasn't got the handset you want then it's simple enough to migrate. Each network is essentially as bad as the next, and all of them seem to care more about new customers than existing ones.

O2 don't have very good data deals going on, so why stick by them if you want a phone that is essentially built for browsing?

Forgive me, but it just doesn't make any sense to me at all.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] Sunnychad:
mrleoni

I pay £10 per month for 750Xnet minutes and also get a monthly credit applied to my account for text messages upto 100 messages.

That is why I am putting myself through the pain, worth it?
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] dom_mitchell1:
I too am on a very good deal with O2 - £30 quid for 500 x-network anytime mins and 500 texts and enough data for my needs. Seeing as I text a lot, and frequently go over my 500 I can not find a deal that won't end up costing me more than I currently pay (around £40). I've had this contract for years now and have never seen anything that won't end up being very much more expensive considering my phone usage.

I wrote O2 a fairly strongly worded email last night concerning thier stagnation of the PDA market. Doubt it'll do any good at all but it made me feel better to vent and I'll be interested to see their response.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] mrleoni:
Sunnychad - yours sounds like a retention deal.

I don't mean to be cynical but If your contract's that cheap you haven't a hope of getting a Trion free even if it DOES come out. Are they REALLY going to give you a good deal on a 400 quid handset if you give them the paltry sum of a 120 quid a year?

It just wouldn't add up would it?

Most people don't get the moon on a stick for a tenner, and if they are as lucky as you? well a separate, data-orientated package with a PDA would be an idea, and probably cheaper.

U could try Flext20+web n walk - the Vario II is just £89.99 and line rental is 22.50 per month, 15 quid for the first three months. Unlimited browsing for under 25 quid and even thirty quid a month to make the odd quick call/send a few messages. Pretty hard to beat you have to say.

Or keep paying your tenner and wait in vain for O2 to catch up with the rest of the world....
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] steverae:
Okay guys, so t-mobile sounds like the place to go got a tytn.... but what about orange, they handset is a damn sight better looking but what do they offer compared to t-mobile....

i know t-mobile has that hspda thing but i have never used my handset (any pda type that i've had) for surfing the net while i'm out and about....

i've been told the m3100 is faster than the vario II but as a general replacement for my mini s
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] Sunnychad:
Mrleoni

In part it is a retention deal. I had a few teething problems with O2 so I said sort it out or else. They gave me a K750i within 5 months of joining or walk away from a 12 month contract. Then I upgraded to the XDA Mini S after a further 7 months. After the initial 5 months they gave me £10 per month off and when I upgraded to the Mini S they said we will give you £15 more off and the text message credit.

Basically they will give you anything you want, within reason of course. I have been told they will give me a P990i for £79.99 so frankly negotiate hard!!! I am a professional buyer and salesman, but it's not just my job, it is my life. I'd buy a suit from M&S and ask for a discount, you'd be surprised how often it works and where it works. O2 are a soft touch!!!
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] mrleoni:
im not sure about the orange version being faster - its essentially the same thing - the only difference seems to be that it has a silver keyboard surround rather than a red one. I would agree with you that this makes it is more aesthetically pleasing.

Data costs on Orange range from 4quid for 4mb to 88.13 for unlimited browsing. This seems very expensive to me. They do however offer 3months unlimited browsing for free online which is pretty good, and there's a tarif called Panther which currently offers unlimited off-peak internet access - this is 75quid, but does include a massive amount of minutes too. Apparantly they have 85% coverage, which is probably better than o2 and t-mobile.

Another alternative is to try Vodafone, who supposedly have their own version of the vario II (v1605). I couldn't find it on the website, though it might be worth investigating as they are offering HSDPA (zippy internet) in the first quarter of next year, and i'm told their data prices are very competitive.

Hate to bring it up again though, but everyone still seems to be lagging behind t-mobile in the VFM stakes
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] steverae:
Sold - You don't work for T-Mobile do you ?? :D :D :D

Seriously, that is the exact answer i was looking for. I have had a look on the T-Mobile site and the Flext-25 package is cool, however for how much i actually use the phone, people generally phone me, i could get away with the Flext-20 tarrif, but then the phone will cost like an extra 60 odd quid.....

so i guess the flext 25 is the deal for me, maybe i can sit and surf the web on this thing after all.....

I have to admit that i have only been a o2 customer for a year as i was always with orange before that. i switched to o2 to get the exec but was put on a business 200 tarriff when i bought the phone from mobilefun.co.uk. i sold the exec 5 months later and bought the mini s.

T-Mobile i haven't tried before but everyone on this forum is singing their praises and a totally respect the advice here so i'll give t-mobile a ring now and see what they can do.

Cheers for all the advice, i'll let you all know what they say.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] mrleoni:
In response to Sunnychad.

I agree with you to an extent that O2 can be negotiated with quite easily. This was my experience, and I was offered my previous contract for ten pounds a month as a retention deal, however I was not happy with their customer services, nor the shop I had been dealing with.

I am a very good negotiator, but also very much a man of principal and decided that I wasn't willing to give them any more money.

Worthy of note also is the fact that they aren't as willing to offer cheap data by way of retention as they are minutes/texts. whether this is because they really haven't got the means in place to cope with high data traffic volumes I don't know.

I use my pda a hell of a lot as a browser, rarely with WIFI as it not only spunks my battery but is far less convenient. if I'd stayed on O2 sure I would've had cheap minutes and texts, but my data costs wouldve been 4 times higher (at least) than my priceplan.

Not very cost-effective.

Everyone's situation is different, and you might not use very much data (hence you'd probably rather stick with the familiar).

Also I would rather have a vario II than a sonyericsson for an extra tenner, since I'm not a symbian fan.

The simplicity and reliability of t-mobile's price plan suits me down to the ground.

They are also great to negotiate with - any complaints and a simple, well-drafted email to cust.rel@t-mobile.co.uk always gets things sorted.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] christopherwoods:
Nope.. Just seen the light after a year of absolutely crap service and abysmal overcharging for what I actually got.

I ended up having to do the legwork to solve problems with my account - NOT what I should have to do.

They made no attempt to keep me as a customer, ok byebye then, find a network which treats its customers as customers not just as potential churn percentages. I only went with O2 for the phone, still glad I got the phone but my GOD! What a shockingly poor provider.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] dom_mitchell1:
Word from O2

Here's the email I sent to the data department at O2 and their response:

Now then, make of this what you will. By now I suppose most people bothered have jumped the O2 ship, a move I am very seriously considering. (T-Mobile's Flext 30 with Web'n'Walk looks mighty attractive) but one this that does concern me is that I will then be tied to T-Mobile and the TyTn. I have no massive desire for the GPS element of the Artemis but O2 will eventually have to release an update for the Mini S and this, I believe will be an improvement over the TyTn.

Oh the dilemas!
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] christopherwoods:
To be honest, I wouldn't give O2 the time of day now. I've had enough with them, if they think they can fob us off (and you just know that the Mini S replacement will be at LEAST £150 on even a good tariff) then they have another thing coming.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] Sunnychad:
@Dom - I think our continual battering might have paid off. Just spoke to someone in retentions who tells me the Graphite & Zinc are being released in the final quarter of this year. Apparently they are both Mini S variants with better spec but dark and light in colour respectively. However that could mean as late as 31 Dec!!!

From the email Dom received from Paul I guess they are talking about the TyTn and MTeoR. Time will tell but if they end up surprising us all with a release in October then great but I think they are well aware of the number of customers they are losing. One thing that continues to astound me is how the staff are all similarly inept but when you speak to T-Mobile or Orange they are a lot smarter, especially the retention teams and higher level CS. I am a select customer which make no difference except free CS.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] steverae:
I will have to mention that we have all had verious emails / phone conversations regarding up and coming releases of new devices on o2. But none have materialised yet..... also i think the t-mobile flext tarrifs offer a much more convenient solution.

EG At the moment i'm tied into a £35 quid a month business tarrif (god knows how i got that) with 200 minutes and 100 texts which i never come anywhere near using a month.

the flext-20 tarrif on t-mobile is 15 a month for £34 allowance which can give you around 150 minutes and about 50 odd texts.... or any combination of both... much more convienent..... also with free web n walk on the vario ii handset you get unlimited 3g browsing..... all for £15 quid a month...

so for me, thats £20 quid a month i'm saving.... so the handset will cose my £90 up front, that will have paid for it's self in under 5 months....

plus i can sell on my mini-s on ebay and recoup most of my initial outlay...

i was hoping to switch to o2 payg for a while and wait for the new range of xda's to turn up but for this deal i don't think anything will come near it.

Orange's best deal for the m3100 is £149 for the handset and 30 a month.. again a hell of a lot more than t-mobile...

I've been a orange customer before i switched to o2 and have to say there customer service is way better than o2, plus their premises are located right next to where i work so i can literally knock on their door to complain, but i have real problems with signal strength in my home area with orange which is why i switched to o2 in the first place.....

I'm gonna wait till i get back off my holidays in october then gonna go and jump onto the t-mobile band waggon, see what kinda service i get from them, after all, you are only tyed for 12 months, you can always switch again after that.... maybe back to o2 if they get their act together.....
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] shadowman:
spv m3100 amazing deal

Just found an amazing deal for orange SPV M3100

a FREE SPV M3100 on Dolphin 35 which gives 500 x net mins, 500 texts and unlimited magic number calls (to a nominated orange number) also includes their free broadband offer as well

AND 9 months 1/2 price rental - so total cost for 18 months is £472.50 (less than £26pm including phone and broadband)

There are other similar deals available, by far the cheapest i have found and much cheaper than orange direct / online / shop

checkout:

http://www.cheapest4mobiles.co.uk/display.asp?hs=m3100&network=&tariff=&gift=&phone=Orange_M3100

also some deals on the Vario II as well:

http://www.cheapest4mobiles.co.uk/d...rk=&tariff=&gift=&phone=T-Mobile_MDA_Vario_II
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] christopherwoods:
Hmm... Are there any deals which are cheaper which don't include the broadband? I know ostensibly it's 'free' but you have to be on a more expensive tariff to qualify for it, don't you?

And do you have to in effect claim back the line rental in arrears, which gets sent to you via cheque or credit on your account? I'm always a bit skeptical of those kinds of offers...
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] mrleoni:
Another thing worth considering here is that NO data is included (aside from the home broadband) though i think you do get a free month's trial.

Not much point getting and spv m31oo without a data package, and as we know, orange are even more expensive than o2, with their paltry 4mb bolt-on being more than half the cost of unlimited internet on t-mobile.

Its all good getting the phone cheap, and working out the overall cost - but USING it cheaply is just as important - might as well just get a normal vario if you're not going to make use of the vario II's browsing capabilities.

I often use over 11mb a day on t-mobile, and at that rate i would have to add another 40+ quid to my account if i were on Orange. Again, not very cost-effective.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] christopherwoods:
That's very true - why I signed up for WnW! (and enabled HSDPA)... Can't believe what a good deal I have on TMob.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] DennisCooper:
Don't know if it's been posted before here or on another xda dev. forum or not....

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/22/htc_splits_with_o2/

Looks like this is the real reason !

I see many users are going for the TyTN/Vario 2 - I want one as well!! I'm just going to buy one outright, then sell off my Exec. I'm on a good deal in so much I know people working at O2 HQ - so I'm on a 50% discount, therefore for the last 3.5 years I've been on the O2 max tariff for £37.50 rather than £75 per month!

Plus O2 are STILL the only UK network to include 0845/0870 access as part of their inclusive minutes - So I'm staying..

However, I do have another O2 SIM/contract and I may indeed port that over to T mobile much like many of you have done, but for that, I'm waiting to see if they release the new XDA with the Built In GPS ! if not, i'll just buy one of those outright!

In 2-3 years time, we'll all laugh at how we wanted to have this or that phone/handset, by then, PDA's will be able to do 10 times more ! and we'll all STILL be grumbling about availability !!!

Cheers!

Dennis! West London !
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] christopherwoods:
Yeah, I knew about that a fair while ago (Engadget Mobile was first on the case amongst other mobile-related blogs)... I already thought that O2 UK had parted ways properly with HTC, since they reneged on their XDA contract with HTC and went to another company to get a new XDA device made (Inventec if memory serves)...
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] shadowman:
I wouldnt worry too much about cashback deals requiring claiming back at a later date. I have been doing this for 3 years and havent paid a thing on some contracts. provided you follow the instructions you will be paid, but make sure you send the correct documents / vouchers at the correct time by recorded or special delivery. I know of at least 8 other people who have all reclaimed cashbacks without problems too.

I have read a few forum contributors complaining that their claims were rejected, but later they admit they couldnt find the correct invoice so sent another one, or sent it 2 months late. what do they expect if they dont follow the rules!?
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] shadowman:
The free broadband offer isnt on a more expensive tariff, its just an 18 month contract. In fact they work out cheaper (per month) than a 12 month contract anyway because of the cashback offers available on 18 month tariffs.

If you dont want to commit to an 18month tariff, there are other deals on 12 month contracts too but you wont get the broadband offer.

The website also quotes deals on T-mobile Vario II and also the HTC TyTN on O2!!

You can checkout the t-mobile deals:

http://www.cheapest4mobiles.co.uk/d...rk=&tariff=&gift=&phone=T-Mobile_MDA_Vario_II

the deals are even cheaper than the examples listed as there is currently a £5 per month discount as well

or the HTC TyTN deals (on O2)

http://www.cheapest4mobiles.co.uk/display.asp?hs=tytn&network=&tariff=&gift=&phone=HTC_TyTN
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] christopherwoods:
Hmm, interesting.

May well consider it when this current contract ends...
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] mrleoni:
HSDPA T-mobile demo. Check it out

Hey guys, thought I'd attach a little video for you here. It's not great quality but it shows just how good HSDPA really is on T-mobile. I live in an average area for 3G coverage, and yet i find it to be of amazing speed (when you think that it's just a cellphone.)

Sorry about the slightly poor quality, but it gives you an idea. I only ever have two bars at home, yet it doesn't seem to affect performance.

Leon
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] mrleoni:
Ok....well that didn't seem to work. I've uploaded it to the root of the FTP Hermes folder if anyone wants to check it out.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] shadowman:
Someone pmd me to say the deals i had mentioned werent there!

It said on the site that over the weekend not all the deals were listed due to some technical issue with power failures and BT !!!

The issue has now been resolved and all deals are listed once more.

checkout:

For Orange SPV M3100 deals

http://www.cheapest4mobiles.co.uk/display.asp?hs=m3100&network=&tariff=&gift=&phone=Orange_M3100

also some amazing deals on the Vario II as well (its actually cheaper than the examples listed as there are some further deals / line rental discounts once you click on any deal shown)

http://www.cheapest4mobiles.co.uk/d...rk=&tariff=&gift=&phone=T-Mobile_MDA_Vario_II

HTC TyTN deals are also there, but tend to be more money (but are available with an O2 connection)

http://www.cheapest4mobiles.co.uk/display.asp?hs=tytn&network=&tariff=&gift=&phone=HTC_TyTN