GPS is buggered, havent had a halfway decent point and shoot compact camera in a long time (well, ever, always had something bigger/better), and my phone’s died.

So given that the combined cost of all three would be in the region of £600 (£330 edge 800, £200 camera, cheep phone), it seems reasnoble to buy something for a fraction of that.

Must be a PAYG phone as I can’t get an upgrade and still have 12 months of a contract left, and I won’t get a better contract elswhere, it’s currently £2.50 a month for 600 minutes and 600 texts, and would be £5/month to add unlimited interntet to that, but if I cancel it I have to buy out of it at £25/month!).

What’s worth looking at for £200, I considdered an Xperia active as it’s got built in ANT+ but developers seem to have ignored it so it’s largely redundant appart from the waterproofness.

Thing’s I’d need it to do day-to-day:
Strava/endomondo logging, CBA with uploading after a ride so I’d probbaly get more out of them if it was uploading in real time. Not that fussed about it being on the bars though.
taking an acceptable photo
phone/texts
e-mail
internet faffing

So what’s like an iPhone, but half the price?

What about this??

whatever HTC are doing, or samsung. Camera won’t match a £200 one tho.

gsmarena.com is good.

A second hand iPhone 4? Look around and you should be able to find a 16Gb one for around £220-250;
http://www.usedmac.org.uk/auctions/used-iphone-auctions/?model=4&gclid=CObBmIP07rACFdKBfAodugNIwg
You get a damned good camera, an outstanding range of GPS and mapping apps, and a huge range of aftermarket accessories for use in the car, on the bike, (waterproof cases), etc. my iP4 is still in use every single day, and having software like CoPilot Live and Viewranger, along with UK Map, installed in a phone, is just incredible.

Replaced all the above with a S2.

Been using an Motorola Defy+ for the las few weeks and it’s been excellent. Some people hate them though. Havent tried to camera function really, but I guess it’s typical smartphone quality. If it’s not going to live on the bars then any old smartphone will probably do.

I have an Xperia S it’s a great phone, but let down by the battery which is also non removable.

Camera phones are pretty rubbish in all but strong light conditions. I cheap compact, eg Ixus, can be had for £100 ish or less and take much better photos (I even got a photo on the contents page of STW from a £90 Ixus).

If you want cheap but good take a look at the Orange San Francisco. I have one and it does all I want. An enthusiastic review here.

Not sure if a t-mobile sim would work in an orange phone, it might but not worth a £200 risk.

Thought of an S2 but they’re still £300

I’m not going 2nd hand, smartphone batteries seem pretty small anyway and 2yr old 2nd hand batteries are even worse.

I’ll have a look at the defy and xperia.

hmmm.. i’m pretty much in the same boat and smartphones and contracts are getting cheaper here in germany (contracts used to be v. expensive without any goodies, i.e. no free/unlimited texts, maybe 100 minutes a month for 30€ or more).

i don’t want an iphone (i’m sure/know they’re good, but i don’t want to support apple and every bugger seems to have one) and don’t like the bulk of them or similar SP from HTC and the like.

i’m looking foer something more like a phone size wise

was looking at a Sony Xperia Mini or a Galaxy Gio GT-S5660, both of which can be had for around a ton. reviews seem to say that the Sony is nicer to use, has a better camera and Android can be updated , but the Galaxy has better battery life.

can anyone say anything more about either of these two phones?

I like my Xperia Active. It’s replaced both my HTC Desire and my Garmin eTrex. Won’t replace my cameras but it does a passable job for snaps (not quite as good as the HTC, though).

Sony have two new ruggedized models coming out soon; the Xperia Go is the cheaper one and may come in around your budget. The Defy+ is also worth considering.

“Not sure if a t-mobile sim would work in an orange phone, it might but not worth a £200 risk.“

All the Orange phones I’ve had over the years have been locked, but I’ve not had one recently. But isn’t the SF also available under a different monicker as a T-Mobile phone?

I bought a Galaxy Ace for £100. 5mp camera isnt too bad but the phone and its functions are great for the price.

Not sure if a t-mobile sim would work in an orange phone, it might but not worth a £200 risk.

I’m reliably informed that it does work in the phone I’m selling in the link above (2nd post).

Last week I bought the Sony Ericsson Experia Arc S. Bought it from a Phones 4 U store [/url]. Cost me $180 plus mandatory £10 top up. 8mp camera, can take 32gb card (£20), great android selection of gps apps. Only single core processor though.

One of the best for the money: http://www.pocket-lint.com/review/5812/vodafone-huawei-ascend-g300-budget-android-phone-review