yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Touch HD General] CPhoenix:
Forgive me, I had heard that the 250mb data allowance only came into play if you signed up for a 24month contact (which seemed completely bonkers compared to other providers).

I'm personally tempted by expansys' offer of the 12month T-Mob contract @ £35p/m inc 1GB w&w, for £170ish... but now I'm not so sure. If I can get a similar contract with Orange, I'd happily go with them.
[Touch HD General] Meza1:
On mobiles.co.uk they have 1200 mins unlim txts on O2 for £32.50 after cashback for 18 months.

If you go through quidco.co.uk you can get £40 extra cashback too, and the Touch HD handset is free.

I believe with O2 you can have the unlimited web bolt on for free, or you might need to swap the unlim' txts for unlim' web.

Anyone have experience of O2 data usage policy?
[Touch HD General] frustin:
stuff like bbc iplayer. if you were on the train, stuff like that would be a great thing to have on your phone but it'll rip through your 250meg in no time on a 3G/HSDPA.
[Touch HD General] CPhoenix:
Not quite sure how you got that on the 02 1200 package (or more likely my basic maths is failing me).

I thought it was £38.88 (£45p/m * 18mnts - £110cashback / 18month)

even with Quidco it only brings it down to £36.66 a month.

Plus with the absence of any definite literature confirming that you can swap your unlimited bolt-on, seems a bit of risk considering the price and length of the contract.

After spending 2 days solid on trains trying to use my TytnII for internet using GPRS (on T-Mobile), I'd suggest people think twice before buying a data package for this purpose. I was barely able to hold connections for more than a few minutes making browsing completely unusable - let alone using HSDPA for streaming (which isn't allowed under 02, Orange & T-Mobile's basic data tarrifs anyway).

That said, I haven't looked into using iPlayer to cache your TV content to take with you.... Is this possible?
[Touch HD General] m.r.davies:
sorry, i meant what are you suggesting as an alternative to orange?
[Touch HD General] R3PUBL1K:
DO you have a 3g phone at present?

I was on one of those unlimited data tariffs until I upgraded to a 3g phone were they insisted on removing it. :eek:

Now I am on the 500MB one
[Touch HD General] R3PUBL1K:
Orange have the exclusive of this handset but for how long>>>
[Touch HD General] Sanj[uk]:
Hello..Long time reader..1st post n all :)

Just spoke to 'Lindsey' at Orange who did not know what the Touch HD was. She kept on yapping about the Diamond.

She went and spoke to her manager who insisted there were no new HTC phones scheduled to be released this month:|
[Touch HD General] frustin:
'friad i dont have one. i've been with orange for quite a few years now and i've always managed to wangle something more from them each year. this year i am supposed to get a free handset (whichever one i choose). i am suspecting when the HD is available the droid at the end of the phone will want to charge me because he wont know i've been told this. so i'll have to kick up a fuss.
[Touch HD General] donbronzi:
As i said in a previous post, getting the HD as an exclusive is 1 of the best things orange have done...... They are not at fault at all, the handset will be there when its there. But their mixed signals are the reason why people feel the need to call and check for updates.

Anyhow thats my point, i think enough has been said on the matter, lets hope we wake tomorrow with the news we all want to hear and hope it won't be an anti climax when we do get the handset!!
[Touch HD General] k3v:
here we are one week on, will today be the day???

anyone called up yet? :o
[Touch HD General] must_dash:
08:15

Yes

and

NO, this week, maybe today....
[Touch HD General] nowimboard:
Not to argue, but I thought I would point out for the t-mobile users that are crying themselves to sleep at night...

"The HTC Touch HD is exclusive on the Orange UK network until 2009 from £79.99 on an 18 month, £40 per month contact *Package includes inclusive option of anytime mobile internet browsing (subject to 250Mb per month)."

Taken straight from the Orange press re-lease. This makes me think that the phone wont be exclusive after Christmas!

*throws in 2p's worth*

Now, come on Orange! I'm waiting! :P
[Touch HD General] k3v:
deja vu re the customer services answer
[Touch HD General] Matt_K:
I was told 11th by a woman in the Upgrade department last night.
[Touch HD General] R3PUBL1K:
My Retail contact just rang saying that he is expecting a delivery tomorrow. So may be then.

He is annoyed as he and all the other stores got an email Friday stating that the device would be launched on Saturday... WTF

A friend in Germany has one on the o2 network - the lucky pig
[Touch HD General] must_dash:
On the website, but not on 150 yet...
[Touch HD General] JPGLOS:
just rang up, again they said unsure when the release was mybe the end of the week, but it is on the website i told them and there reply was "is it?"
[Touch HD General] jrshodges:
Not on retentions yet either, although the nice lady said that it should be shortly if it was on the website..... and she would call me back later on today to let me know either way.
[Touch HD General] elmarko99:
Wow i'm shocked at having to pay £129.99 for the phone on Dolphin 35 on Orange's website.

The O2 deals on www.mobile.co.uk are starting to look quite decent.
[Touch HD General] frustin:
i've rung up quite a few times, they never offer to ring me back though. i must sound horrible on the phone or something.
[Touch HD General] bond007:
Actually No, i`m on t-mobile migrating my number to a 02 PAYG then migrating back to a new t-mobile contract from expansys easy

This exclusive to orange is just nonsense, and orange data plan is useless

IMO
[Touch HD General] k3v:
does the prices being put on the website mean you can now actually buy it??
[Touch HD General] AFK_Matrix:
Gah lol I am now in 2 minds on what to do!! I really would like to have a play with one of these things to see if I am gonna like it. Now I am with tmobile at the mo but out of my contract so can pretty much choose anything. I am liking the Expansys Tmobile deals (specially as they do 12month contracts) as they have the data package included and I haven't had any probs with Tmobile, oh and their available now on Expansys but Quidco don't have Expansys on their website!!!. But I am very interested in the O2 packages at mobiles.co.uk but worried about getting the data package on O2 and by the looks of it if I can get the data having to wait a month to get it. GAH, why can't they make it easy lol!!!
[Touch HD General] R3PUBL1K:
:confused: the same deal on Mobiles.co.uk and the phones free?

HERE
[Touch HD General] k3v:
150 just told me it is on the system, just not available to upgrades yet....
[Touch HD General] R3PUBL1K:
Its' on the Orange site for new customers @ £79.99 - but not upgrades - coming soon still.
[Touch HD General] vafanculo13:
It's £49,99 on the £40 Pounds tariff.
[Touch HD General] mrpetrov:
I'm confused -

How is it places like Expansys and mobiles.co.uk can offer the HTC HD with an O2 or T-Mobile contract (and data) when O2 and T-Mobile themselves cannot? Doesn't that defeat the whole "exclusive to Orange" story?? I'm clearly a novice when it comes to contract shopping..!

Petrov.
[Touch HD General] jon-:
HTC are providing you with a sim free device from stock and a sim only contract from O2 and getting a nice kick back from O2 to cover the cost of the touch HD and some margin.
[Touch HD General] trentend:
Because the mobile phone company is not selling you the phone. They are offering a tarif with a refund value to the dealer. The dealer packages this refund and bundles it into a deal to discount the phone. It could be any phone, or computer, or cheese sandwich.
[Touch HD General] SiliconS:
The operators (O2, Orange etc.) give mobiles.co.uk a kick-back for every contract they sell. If the kick-back for a £35-per-month contract is (say) £500 then this is offset against the trade cost of the hardware. The operators don't care which machines the resellers are offering, as long as a punter signs up for a new contract.

I've no idea what the actual figures are. I suspect the trade cost of an HD is near to £500 which is why we haven't seen any retail prices lower than this. I bet most of the retailers are only making £10 or £20 per unit, just to get the turnover.

The operators' offical deals are the only place where there's an exclusive arrangement with the Touch HD's UK distributors, and Orange will probably have paid more for each unit to get this exclusivity, which is why the retail price through Orange is higher.

Vodafone don't seem to have these kick-back deals which is why I'm not seeing their contracts offered by retailers like mobiles.co.uk.

Edit: as explained by two people before me :)
[Touch HD General] jon-:
Trade price of a HD is £423.
[Touch HD General] SiliconS:
Wow - I'm surprised market forces haven't forced a lower price in the retail market then. Perhaps all these early adopters are bending over too soon. ;)
[Touch HD General] R3PUBL1K:
You're right -

It ranges from 49.99 to 299.99 depending on tariff? the option to but on the Pather tariffs is grey'd out fro now?

Yer - I use to work for t-mobile reseller - If I sold you a phone on a tariff £25 PM to £40 - I could expect a wooping £400-£500 for selling this to you. This is why online and 150 will offer better deals than the shops (if you speak to the right person)
[Touch HD General] mrpetrov:
It's weird - I have got 2 conflicting answers from Orange sales people (one in-store and one on the phone).

I asked about upgrading from the 250mb mobile broadband offering to their 3 gig mobile data offering (£15 per month). The man on the phone says that is fine and that I can get the £15 p.m. contract assigned to the sim that comes with the HTC HD.

However, the man in the Orange store says that they are completely separate and you can't get the 3 gig bundle assigned to the HTC sim, but that you'd have to swap sims to use the one that comes with the 3 gig bundle to take advantage of the 3 gig limit.

So who is correct? Any thoughts...?

Thanks,

Petrov.
[Touch HD General] Mickster:
Lovely wee girl at OCS says that there has been a slight delay and that they are being built just now. Try back Wed....
[Touch HD General] frustin:
i dont understand why the hell i cant get an upgrade but a new customer can buy it now.
[Touch HD General] Mickster:
New customers = more money.

Way it's always been, way it always will be.
[Touch HD General] vafanculo13:
My Dear Petrov, these people give you the phone as a gift what you get is a SIM only deal from them.
[Touch HD General] R3PUBL1K:
I would disagree with that... SIM only deals are anew thing - a year or so. Free phones from third party re-sellers have been around for years.
[Touch HD General] vafanculo13:
Sim only deal is new for costumers but not for re-sellers, they play with us for some years telling those things were free but we always pay them back somehow, like mirowaves use to be used on spaceshuttles, or spam meat on first world war.
[Touch HD General] JPGLOS:
Ive got one! 39 quid upgrade 12 month contract cause ive spent a bit over the last 2 months, will be with 2mrw!
[Touch HD General] k3v:
hi,

did you upgrade on the phone?

Tell me more about 12 month contract, i hate 18 month contracts
[Touch HD General] vafanculo13:
SE postcode banned to delivery

And just when i was thinking that i would get my hand on the thing, the guy on the CS line tells me that my post code is banned because of a high number of "fraud incidents" happening on South East London area, and then i asked: So all SE post code are banned from receiving deliveries? and he said: YES SIR!, and then i asked if i would get the same web deal in-store, and he said:L NO SIR!, well that's costumer service on its prime.
[Touch HD General] donbronzi:
They're in!!!

Just had a call from retentions will be with me tomorrow... Bring it on
[Touch HD General] Matt_K:
Mind telling how? who did you speak to?
[Touch HD General] k3v:
im on th phone now, the c.s girl told me next week, im trying retentions now

edit retentions just told me its not on their system!!
[Touch HD General] tonyblack:
Just ordered mine through Orange Uprades on the phone. £49.99/12 Month contract. Should be here tomorrow.
[Touch HD General] donbronzi:
Hang on in there if they aren't there now it will be very soon. I had preferential treatment due to orange screwing up my last contract, therefore i had someone on the inside fighting for me. That said he to had to wait for them to be in stock, he might have got there early? There was a error in the initial build resulting in ony a limited number being available but the rest will be in this afternoon...... (this info is from someone within orange, not me).

Good luck
[Touch HD General] vafanculo13:
is avaliable on upgrade for £119,99
[Touch HD General] k3v:
frustrating... lol.

ill try again
[Touch HD General] Matt_K:
MY GOD.

It's ordered. Coming tomorrow. :eek:
[Touch HD General] vafanculo13:
retentions are fukced up at the moment, system is too slow they said, maybe using windows 3.11 there...
[Touch HD General] Mickster:
Done.

Handset for 29.99, got them to keep my old 1G data package for free and got free insurance and a tenner off line rental for the next 18 months.

Yay!

Thanks to everyone on this thread for watching it so closely.

Looking forward to the first WM6.5 ROM!
[Touch HD General] vafanculo13:
Good for you, i think they will make £49,99 on upgrade for me.
[Touch HD General] JPGLOS:
ive been on the same contract for last 3 years, she asked me if i was happy with my 12 month contract as there are 18 month contracts LOL.
[Touch HD General] Matt_K:
Don't play ball, get the right person you can haggle them for all they're worth. Be cheeky, all they can do is say no.

I got my Tariff reduced from £40 to £30 per month (but more calls / unlimited texts), and kept my old 1GB data pack
[Touch HD General] k3v:
ive just got one for £200 on an 18 month contract @ 18+vat contract..... i just agreed and now ill do the maths. Its the best the guy said he could do as my last contract isnt up, im in the last 3 month renewal period.
[Touch HD General] vafanculo13:
40 minutes on the phone fighting and counting....
[Touch HD General] vafanculo13:
you've just been served!!!, i got mine for £49,99 £35 a month and it was an upgrade from a 2 month SIM only contract, call them back and ask for more, i know they can do it.
[Touch HD General] Matt_K:
Really?

Took 10 minutes for me - 5 of those were chatting about flashing ROM's. Guy knew his stuff.
[Touch HD General] mrpetrov:
So guys, is there any way you can get more than the 250 per month download limit on the HTC HD, using the same SIM card that comes with it from Orange (e.g. £15 per month mobile broadband package)?

Petrov.
[Touch HD General] R3PUBL1K:
HA! I use to work in that post code when I lived in the SW area -

The guy just told me next week AHHHHHHHH
[Touch HD General] jon-:
ok it's on retentions now, just upgraded to 600 mins unlimited text unlimited data (500mb package) £30/month for 18months.
[Touch HD General] jrshodges:
Could you tell me if you were on a 12mnth one previously??
[Touch HD General] lsainsbury:
Ummm...

Just been offered this:

Handset: £200

18Month /£20pm: including 300mins x network, unlimited landline, 100 txt and the £7.50 data bundle (not sure what it's capped at though)

Good deal? Still don't really want to pay more than £100 for the handset...

Decisions, decisions...
[Touch HD General] jrshodges:
Apparently there is no 500mb package - speaking with retentions now!?
[Touch HD General] jon-:
I asked him if it was the 1gb package or the 250mb package and he said neither, it was the 500mb 'unlimited'. He didn't sound that sure thinking about it, but at least it should be in the recordings somewhere :)
[Touch HD General] hite:
Orange or wait?

Im currently on a dolphin 35 contract and I can upgrade my phone in december (contract finishes in march). So im not sure whether to wait till march and get the phone on tmobile for £99.99 with the web an walk and what not or get it in decemeber on my current contract? If I upgrade my phone would it be cheaper than what they offer for new customers?
[Touch HD General] Mavrick:
Just spoken to retentions and I've been offered the following:

Phone: £39.99

900 minutes

200 texts

1GB data

Orange care

£43pm on an 18mth contract

Good deal?
[Touch HD General] jrshodges:
20 mins on phone to retentions and the best they would offer me on 18months was £42 - 1200mins, 500 texts, unlimited data (250mb there is apparently no 500mb option!) and orange care. Phone cost £49.99.

Now I suggested that there ought to be no charge for the handset, as I am out of contract and my average spend over the last 3 months has been close to £80 per month!

I was not impressed and the lady was very, vert unhelpful - just said thats it take it or leave it, I am now seriiusly thinking about switching to O2 after 13 years with Orange!
[Touch HD General] yaughan:
Interesting reading about the different upgrades you're being offered.

As someone who's never upgraded (mainly relied on company phones in the past, now have a recently expired contract with T-mobile), how do I negotiate the best deal on a new contract HD? What story should I make up? Without calling T-mobile, what should I pretend to have been offered?

I will only make about 150 texts a month, 20 minutes of calls and use 50Mb of data! Mainly want the device as a satnav/PMP which happens to do the rest.

Am happy with the £130 for phone, £33+7.50 pm 12-month deal advertised on the website - is it possible to beat this by speaking to a real person?

Thanks!
[Touch HD General] jrshodges:
What was your average last 3 months bills?
[Touch HD General] R3PUBL1K:
just got mine for free :)

via retentions -

Just hope it supports line 2 like the diamond ( Acelister can you tell me if this has the ALS optionunder phone)
[Touch HD General] tonyblack:
Yes, was previously on a 12 month contract that had run it's course.
[Touch HD General] frustin:
for free? you going to tell us how? what's your normal monthly bills like then?
[Touch HD General] Mavrick:
Circa £70pm

Why?
[Touch HD General] k3v:
I know what you are saying, im not sure about it but I do not use the minuts or texts I have so a bigger monthly contract would be a waste.

£18x1.175x.9(10% discountt)x18 = £342 + £200 = £542

or lets say

£35 x 18 = £630 << thats not including any phone cost

the above logic only applies if you dont use the inclusive minutes.

I am tempted t ocall them back though and barter
[Touch HD General] Mildajz:
Is this phone in shops now?
[Touch HD General] Mavrick:
Can you (if you don't mind) provide us with some details of the tariff you're on?
[Touch HD General] donbronzi:
Don't want to gloat or anything, but i have 3 moths left on my old contratc, i got the phone for free with 500 cross network mins, unlimited text, 250mb blackberry data, free insurance on a 12 month contract for.................................. £25.

This is down to being a long serving customer with average bills £35. However they did screw up my last contract a bit so want to make amends...

Good old orange.

When going for an upgrade always tell them things you didn't like about your contratc, things that make you want to leave. Then tell them how you got all your friends and family to get a contract with them, and that you are a good advertisment for them. Finally as said in a previous post be cheeky they can only say no!

Good luck
[Touch HD General] R3PUBL1K:
Line1 = £30 per month (I have a line 2 on everyday 50)

Have been a orange customer for 13 years
[Touch HD General] jrshodges:
Becasue apparently this is what they base your upgrade fee on..... So was wondering how much more or less thanh me you spend as I was offered a phone for £49.99 and spend similar to you....so I would say that was a good deal!
[Touch HD General] Mavrick:
Sorry for being a bit dim, but I thought you had to have a Blackberry to use that tariff?
[Touch HD General] m.r.davies:
1st guy

---------

not available

2nd guy

----------

100 txt

300 mins

unlimited land line

250 data

£20 pm

3rd guy

----------

300 txt

700 mins

unlimited land line

500 data

jabra headset

extra 4gb memory card

£20 pm

both 18 month contracts and both £199 for phone.

3rd guy i start convo by asking for pak code

tell people to look in upgrade place for phone, as they couldn't find it at first.
[Touch HD General] R3PUBL1K:
I have the blackberry service too but dont pay for it :)
[Touch HD General] Mavrick:
Ummmm How?

Moreover how does it work? Do you use some sort of exchange server for your emails?
[Touch HD General] Baz999:
£20 - 18 Month, 300xnet, 100text, Unlimited landline

Handset : £130

Less Discount : £40

Total Handset : £90

Package(£20) : 300xnet, 100 Texts, Unlimted Landline - 18months contract + 3months still to run on current contract.

Total Price of 18 Months...

£450

And I got my exiting contact reduced from £35 to £20, so that saves another £45.

Think it was a pretty good deal.
[Touch HD General] R3PUBL1K:
I had a preal for about a week and called up 156 the guy conencted me to www.blackberry.orange.co.uk I think it uses Blackberry Internet Service or even BES?

The service Poles for messeges on my GMail and my Orange Mail and sends delivers them to my handest (the pearl) when I had this.

I prefer the exchange route though with my WM handset cost £5.00 per month.
[Touch HD General] donbronzi:
This is a way for orange to enable you to use full internet functions like the blackberry does,. Until very recently the only package a non blackberry user could use was orange world data bundles. Really expensive!

The blackberry talk entitles you to 250mb download on any internet service and is the bundle i recommend any one renewing or getting a contract asks for.
[Touch HD General] m.r.davies:
just to clarify

I've just got 500mb data

does that mean i wont be able to use the blackberry email thing from orange?

....bummer
[Touch HD General] garthy:
Just ordered my Touch HD on upgrade Though retentions just now..

£49 for phone couldn't get em down but didn't try to hard after they halved my monthly cost.

And £15 quid a month For:-

200 Mins

Unlimited Texts

Unlimited Internet (500MB she said)

Orange care

So I'm Fairly happy. :)
[Touch HD General] mrpetrov:
Still no-one can tell me if the Orange 3gb mobile broadband package (£15 p.m.) can be added onto the same HTC SIM that you get with the phone on one of the orange animal contracts?

Any confirmations/denials appreciated...!

Petrov.
[Touch HD General] Matt_K:
I'm not 100% sure, but I think it's more to do with the person you get.

I spend £200 - £300 a month and I struggled to get much knocked off the handset cost.

I could have called back and spoke to someone else, but I was pretty happy with the overall deal I got so never pushed further. £5 or £10 a month off a £300 bill doesn't add up to much at the end of the day

(for me personally I mean)
[Touch HD General] R3PUBL1K:
I would have thought this is not possible as its a different contract (SIM)
[Touch HD General] hite:
Doesn't oranges data bundles only cover for when your using orange world and not other internet stuff:

"The Offer provides 250 MB data browsing for £7.50 per month. Any usage beyond this limit during the month will be charged at £0.94 per MB. The offer is not to be used for other activities such, non-Orange internet based streaming services, voice or video over the internet, instant messaging, peer to peer file sharing, non-Orange internet based video. Should you exceed this limit or if such use is detected, notice may be given and Network protection controls may be applied to all services which Orange does not believe constitutes mobile browsing. This may result in, at Orange’s discretion, your inability to purchase the Offer, a reduced speed of transmission, suspension of data browsing services and/or suspension of your account."
[Touch HD General] donbronzi:
Best advice is call orange and ask!!!
[Touch HD General] donbronzi:
Now a few of us are getting the HD, do you think they will include the 8gb memory card in the box?

It doesn't list it on the orange HD page.