MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Either current or discontinued model?
Some interesting thoughts on these threads (if you can ignore the anti-apple crap and get to the info on the threads):
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/android-phones
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/smart-phone-to-replace-my-iphone-3g
and this post is interesting...
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/wheres-the-cheapest-mobile-pay-monthly-deal#post-3087051
HTC Desire S with 600mins, 500txts and unlimited data for £13.odd a month:
http://www.comparemobiledeals.com/
PAYG Orange San Francisco.. look around for discounts and cashback deals..
SIM Cards
Investigate GiffGaff if you want cheap PAYG or monthly deal SIM card. You can take your number with you aswell.
Orange Monte Carlo
I've just got an Orange Monte Carlo (£119.99 + £10 top up) via Quidco website, which gave me a £20 cash back (£20 -£5 fee) and an Orange cash Card loaded with £25 (the confirmation said £30, but should be £25). So, the phone should actually cost me £85. I'm also an Orange Broadband/home phone customer, so I'm now entitled to £5 a month disc off my broadband.
If you don't want to use the Orange network, you'll have to wait 3 months to get an unlock code from Orange (costs £20). Nobody has managed to unlock the Monte Carlo yet, but it's only been out on the market a couple of months.
I've had it for 5 days now and it appears to be pretty good and it does pretty much everything. However, at that price it is a bit short on quality and cutting edge kit, but it's good enough and excellent at that price. Odds and sods might possibly cause issues for someone downgrading, but certainly not a smartphone noob.
You can Root it and install custom ROMs if you want to get rid of all the Orange Bloatcrap.
Orange San Francisco
£99.99 Been on the market for over a year and lots of online support to unlock it and customize it. Very well thought of by the review sites and lots of people love it.
If you're going to buy one of these and immediately unlock it and customize it, you'll void the warranty. So, perhaps look at ebay, but the OMC and OSF both seemed to be going at pretty much new prices, which is bizarre. certainly, if you want it pre unlocked, rooted and customize, ebay is the place to go, but you're taking a bit of a gamble.
I'm not sure it's worth bothering with the bargain phones and sim only setup unless you really really need the freedom.
The above San Fran deal works out at £13.50 a month over 2 years, assuming you go on the basic £10 GiffGaff deal.
You can get a HTC Desire S on 2 year contracts for that sort of money, and you don't need to mess about rooting it and invalidating your 2 year warranty. And a Desire S is the better phone.