neonflash

ok 1st of all i'm based in the UK.

i am looking to by my 1st smartphone (because my actual phone has broken :-[ )

i cant afford to go contract so that rules iphone out since is super expensive to by sim free.
i dont really like blackberry's.

there are no phones on the market (at least the UK market) that jump out at me.

what i have found appealing is the samsung captivate (i897) (pic below).
but it is a US operated phone. i've found some on ebay that say they are unlocked to any gsm network (ie all networks worldwide).
1st of all i want to double check - could i really by the phone unlocked sim free and it would 100% work in the UK wiht a uk network providder (i;m with o2)?
also if it were to break wouldnt it be harder to get fixed because the phone was never officially in circulation in the uk?
it runs on android 2.1 (eclair)

i've also been looking at the htc salsa. this IS in circulation in the uk and another thing in its favour is that it runs android 2.3 (gingerbread) but i just dont like it as much as the samsung.

is 2.3 a LOT better than 2.1?

i'm also put off samsung because my current (broken) phone is a samsung and 12months after i bought it the speaker and camera broke (clearly a manufacturing fault) now again 13months later the same problem occurs! and i saw a review online that showed the speaker of the i897 with a faulty speaker. i really dont want to invest in a fault product again.

pic of both:


feel free to recomend any other phones you think might suit me but bear in mind i'm uk based and will be using payg so have to buy sim free and i'm not looking to spend more than £300.

hope someone can help

Last edited by neonflash; February 11th, 2012 at 09:21 AM.

talhaismail

If the captivate is an unlocked GSM model, and O2 is a GSM network, then it should work. The captivate is upgradeable to android 2.3 so the OS is the same.
The captivate's screen is at 4 inches and the salsa has a 3.4 inch screen, and the captivate has a much higher pixel density. The captivate and salsa have 512 MB ram. the captivate has a 1GHz and the salsa has an 800 MHz processor.

In my opinion and in fact, the captivate is a better phone.
The Salsa costs 240 pounds on Negri, https://negrielectronics.com/htc-c510e-salsa-unlocked.html
And the captivate costs about 270 pounds, and I'd strongly recommend buying the captivate.:

Specs:
Salsa: HTC Salsa - Full phone specifications
Captivate: Samsung i897 Captivate - Full phone specifications

Hit the thanks button if i helped

neonflash

how do i knwo if o2 is a gsm network?
also do they both have wifi?
i'm totally new to the whole smartphone world so sorry for sill questions. i just heard in review vids on youtube it said like "3g quadband" or something.

neonflash

whats the difference between these 2:
https://negrielectronics.com/samsung-captivate-att-android-2-1-unlocked-refurbished.html
and
https://negrielectronics.com/samsung-captivate-att-android-2-1-unlocked.html

talhaismail

The first link Is a refurbished, the second is brand new

neonflash

ahh i see now lol.
is it easy to update the samsung from 2.1 to 2.3? do u need to install it or will it happen automatically?
on a review i heard that the camera shutsdown with 2.3?

Slug

All UK (and European) networks are GSM.

Within your stated budget you could have the Samsung Galaxy W (£249.95), HTC Incredible S (£249.95), Desire HD (£269.95), Desire S (£289.95), for example. These are all available online, SIM-free, from Carphone Warehouse here in the UK.

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neonflash

^ hey ur from inverness! (i'm just down in aberdeen) fellow scot :-]

yes thx for the phone choices i looked at them. the desire s doesnt look too different from the salsa.
main problem is i dont really like any of the designs. i'm really fussy.
i find the salsa the best of them but i'm yet to see it in person.
the samsung on the other hand looks slick as shit!
my mate has a desire hd - what bothers me about htcs is that generally they are huge and i have small hands :[

i'm looking at 2nd hand phones on ebay. might be able to catch a better deal

Slug

Aye, there are a few of us lurking around AF.

Best advice - don't make a buying decision until you've handled your choices. What looks good on paper/screen often turns out differently in the metal.

The Desire S isn't as bulky, but it's important to check them out in person. I couldn't live with the DHD for example, but a Galaxy S2 with the same-sized screen was fine because it fitted my hand better.

One thing to be aware of is that older handsets are less likely to receive updates from the manufacturers. All the HTCs I've mentioned are confirmed to receive updates to Android 4.0, for example.

Just a few things to consider..... btw, the Classifieds section here, particularly the Non-US Listings, may turn up something suitable too.

neonflash

is it sensible to by a phone that has been "rooted"
that just means its had its software updated right?
i found the samsung with android version 2.3.7 not bad although there was one iwth ISC but it sold already
just want to make sure "rooted" means the phone isnt actually damaged or wont run properly

talhaismail

Rooted means that it has root access, like jailbreaking for iOS. It may void the warranty, but the captivate and salsa were releqaed in 2010 so the warranty is already probably expired. Root may cause problems, but that depends on what you do with ur phone after a root. but u can always unroot

neonflash

yeah sincei ts as us phone anyways its unlikely i'd get it fixed easily here (uk).

hmmm. idk i'm scared if i buy it it doesnt work properly i'm not good wiht technology so wouldnt know how to unroot and i'd probably end up bricking the poor thing.

like i said he has positive feedback for nearly all the phones he's sold and like i said he's sold a few other captivates all rooted and running 2.3.7 or ICS!

i guess its a chance to take.

but would you recomend against buying a "rooted" phone?
or would u say if the seller seems leigt enough it should be ok?

talhaismail

If u claim that he was selling captivates with ICS then that means he rooted, unlocked the bootloader and flashed a custom rom which is really risky and voids ur warranty and may brick ur phone. If the phone is just rooted without bootloader unlocked then its okay, but if the.boatlader is unlocked and /or theres a custome rom. Then its risky. Btw all captivates can be updated to 2.3.7 so if it is stock, dont worry about software version

neonflash

well i can get the phone with 2.3.7 or he said he can update it to ICS for me.
what you reckon?
like i said he does have good feekback for other phones incl the other i897's he's sold that run ics, i asked a lot of questions to him, he said his phones done f*ck up because his software is stable. manufacturers warrently is probably already up anyways or nearly is since it was released in 2010 not to mention i'm in uk and the phone is generally US circulated.
so should i just take it the way it is wiht 2.3.7 or get him to update to ICS?

neonflash

found this
Installation and Review of TeamHacksung's Stable ICS Rom for the Samsung Captivate - YouTube
and
How to: Ice Cream Sandwich RC2.1 Captivate - YouTube
dont know if either are legit though.
also: [DEV][RC4] Team ICSSGS [Android 4.0.3] - xda-developers

idk. if you think its safer (ie. everything will work) then i should just stick with 2.3.7.
i mean are there even a lot of ppl on ICS yet?