3G Phones

[Exegesis]

Come end of July i will be eligible for an upgrade to a new phone.

I'm seriously considering getting a 3G phone, but i want it to be cutting edge.

I'd honestly like to have a nice camera on it, mp3 player, and have it utilize 3G efficently (i know, outside the london area it's ****e, but i am wanting it to work well when it does work).

I've heard that the nokia 6630 is the best 3G phone because it relies on an open source OS that you can upgrade to truly utiliize 3G. Unlike the other phones that lock you down on what you can do with your 3G phone.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

BAZ???

[Towneh]

Get the latest blackberry and never be without broadband, irc and ssh again :)

[ScarySquirrel]

Well i work at an O2 shop so ill give my input.

IMO, 3G isnt all that great atm, its a bit like when broadband first rolled out. Unless you live in a major city, then it aint much use.

then again, i never ever use the internet on my phone as i have no use for it at all.

i bloody hate blackberrys, as useful as they are. I also hate all Nokia's that use the Symbian OS as its a pile of **** to navigate.

Get a nice SE or Samsung :)

Sony Ericsson K750i - enough said
2 MP camera, auto focus, flash, red eye reduction, 4x zoom, bluetooth, radio, mp3 player

this phone has everything, and in a nice small package. All little bugs have been fixed over previous SE's such as the jerky slow menu's etc etc.

just my 2 cents

[QBlank]

Been on 3G since Vodafone launched it. I live in quite a small town in a relatively rural area and for around 75% of the time i have a signal (for 3g). The content is good, the ITN video news is fantastic on the move. I would say this though, i dont think theres much point in getting a 3G phone unless you have a good friend/relative who also has one since the main benefit is video calling! The phone i have is the Motorola E1000 which is very good, i believe the firmware is easily upgraded at major vodafone stores.

[Preed]

Okay! Here we go.

If you're going to go third gen, do not go with 3!
Stick with your existing provider if they provide a 3g service, if not, wait. I cannot warn you any more than that.

After a long legal wrangel with 3 I've finally got all my issues sorted but after nearly two years it's certainly been my worst telephone experience in my life.

At the moment the market is still young and 3g phones only currently make up something like 8% of the market so you'd probably be best sticking with a 2g smartphone if you don't want video calling.

[andyf]

Don't the 3 tariffs have boat loads of free minute / texts though ?

[Minidisk]

more free calls that txt's which is a pain, but ive given up on owning a mobile, as the one i picked eats batterys and is ****ing huge

[Preed]

Yes they do, they have some of the best price plans but quite possibly the worst customer experience ever

[Mamacita]

I used to work for a retailer of 3 tarrifs and phones and their customer service was rubbish, hundreds of handsets came back faulty each week.. just no!