Desire on 3 UK

[westbros]

I am considering buying my Desire from 3. I have never used 3 before, so I have a few questions:

1. Will the phone be locked? (The guy in the 3 Store in my town wasn't sure.)
2. Does 3 put its own software on the phone (and if so, what?), or is the phone in essence a default HTC phone? (I want to avoid the sort of bloatware you get on Orange and Vodafone.)
3. Any issues with 3 with regards to owning a smartphone that I need to be aware of?
4. Does anybody know when FroYo will be available for the Desire on 3?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Corinne]

1. I have an unlocked Desire on 3UK but I bought it from a Carphone Warehouse store so it may be different buying from a 3 store. If you definitely want an unlocked phone I'd suggest you have a look in other phone stores and see if you can find a similar deal there.

2. My whole family are on 3 and I haven't seen any bloatware, but I'm not entirely sure. Best thing would be to check with a member of staff in store. Some phones come with shortcuts to Planet 3/My3 etc. but obviously if you don't want these shortcuts they can be avoided by buying from a store other than the 3 store.

3. Because I had an unlocked phone I was able to get the OTA FroYo 2.2 update as soon as it came out, but as far as I know, 2.2 is not available yet on 3 but should be around by the end of summer/September. Read this: Three UK updates status on HTC Desire upgrade to Froyo (Also the 3-specific update they mention COULD mean that 3 are putting their own software on the phone.)

Hope I was able to help a little!

 

[srh]

I have an unlocked Desire from 3 that I received as an upgrade. It arrived completely unbranded and with no software from 3 on it. This was just last month. I've been with 3 now for about 5 years, and as long as you don't need to use their call centre, then I have no complaints with the network whatsoever.

 

[TremF]

I got my phone online from Mobiles.co.uk as you can get cheaper Three tarrifs than going to Three themselves. It's a sim free phone so no 3 software and I got the FROYO update as soon as it was available. Also they delivered next day

I have found that 3 don't tend to really add much to the firmwares. Mostly links to their "Today on 3" or "My 3" which annoys me because for such little changes you can't get the latest updates straight away.

The only thing you need to be careful of is their fair usage for data. They have changed it to 1GB now but when I first got my Desire it was 500mb which I hit within 12 days (Remote Desktop App) and they charged me as soon as I went over the 500mb so I had to pay

 

[chris 290]

Bought mine from three store Milton Keynes over a month ago and was told that it was three locked but it wasn't I'm on froyo and all is good.

I'd buy one from three store if your buying outright but take it straight back if its not SIM unlocked. You can tell if there is no three logo when you switch on. I would even do it in store.

Best thing was, cost me fifty pounds cheaper than anywhere else including online prices.

 

[westbros]

Bought mine from three store Milton Keynes over a month ago and was told that it was three locked but it wasn't I'm on froyo and all is good.

I'd buy one from three store if your buying outright but take it straight back if its not SIM unlocked. You can tell if there is no three logo when you switch on. I would even do it in store.

Best thing was, cost me fifty pounds cheaper than anywhere else including online prices.

How do I know whether the phone is locked to 3 or not? I saw one in the 3 Store again today. They put a SIM in the phone and then started it up. Only an HTC splash screen, nothing from 3. No evidence of any 3 software on the phone - I couldn't find Planet 3, which was a pleasant surprise as the HTC Wildfire in the shop did have this. But the guy who served me said that the phone would be SIM locked. So how can you tell?

 

[chris 290]

That's an unlocked and unbranded one then. If its branded on start up it will show the three logo.

You can dl the planet three from the market.

Buy one quick

 

[westbros]

That's an unlocked and unbranded one then. If its branded on start up it will show the three logo.

You can dl the planet three from the market.

Buy one quick

If it were a locked phone, would it also show the 3 logo? I'm just wondering whether locking and branding are two separate things, or are they part and parcel of the same thing?

 

[chris 290]

The phone you described is both, three told me if no logo on start then it is unbranded and unlocked.

Mine was as I got the froyo update as soon as it was released.

 

[mercurystar999]

Got mine last week from 3. It has the 3 logo on start up.

 

[JsT]

The one I ordered last month via phone came branded and locked but other than the 3 logo on startup and lack of Froyo yet there isn't much difference.

 

[westbros]

The phone you described is both, three told me if no logo on start then it is unbranded and unlocked.

Mine was as I got the froyo update as soon as it was released.

On the phone I saw this afternoon a message appeared shortly after starting the phone saying that there was a software update available. I assume this was FroYo.

In view of the fact that not everybody is getting an unlocked phone, how can I be sure of getting one? If I ask for an unlocked phone, do you think they would be able to guarantee finding one?

The reason why I want an unbranded and unlocked phone is because I may be moving overseas at some point during the life of the new phone contract. I'm not so worried about the phone being locked, because 3 told me they could unlock it at any time for GBP 15. What I don't want is a whole load of branding from 3 which then causes a problem when I'm overseas and get hold of another SIM.