New mobile phone time - what are Orange like?

[slugger]

Almost time for my 3 (v. poor customer service) contract to expire and i reckon it's time to change network... I like the look of a deal Orange have on a Blackberry i saw in their shop at lunchtime which had unlimited email and sat nav thrown in.

Anyone got any alternatives. Max i'll spend is £30 a month. Paying £22 at the moment for 500 mins and 500 texts.

 

[Ste_Denial]

in my eyes orange are the best, iv had ones with 3 (which was poor), vodafone (which was even worse) and orange which iv been with them now for about 2 years

 

[haplesshacker]

I've been on Orange for several years now. Reception is okay as long as you don't want to use it in the countryside.

I got a stonking deal for more minutes and texts than I care to remember and free home broadband for £20 a month.

Not sure about Blackberrys though. I'm a bit of an HTC man myself.

To be fair, Orange have been pretty good about renewals time. I left Cellnet / O2 because they wouldn't give a long standing existing customer the same deals as new customers. Orange on the other hand have always been prepared to 'move' on such things. Even letting me as a private user have business contact phones.

Good luck.

BTW. What ar you looking for in a new phone?

 

[slugger]

i like the idea of sat nav and maps - hence i was looking at the blackberry. i also want to be able to email easily and access and update facebook. Not too bothered about the camera quality as i have a decent compact and a DSLR. The one thing that's putting me off the blackberry is the small keys. I have big hands (midsize grips ) and don't want to have to delete things all the time because i pressed the wrong key!

Oh, and i need to be able to phone people

Not in any rush, so i'll wait about for the right deal.

 

[mono217]

Orange has been the best for ages now.

 

[Pedro_Wedgitos]

disagree on Orange in the last few weeks I have used Orange, O2 & vodaphone

I can drive anywhere from East Sussex to MIlton Keynes (and I do most weeks) and get a strong VOdaphone and O2 signal on a blackberry and an iphone.

Orange on a blackberry and nokia 6300 drops the signal about 25 times. There are whole areas around Tun Wells where there isn't an orange signal at all.

 

[RGDave]

Orange...yep, we're all with them.
Can't complain about one thing (3 phones/numbers) in 12 years, other than the cost of calls in France. (France telecom own Orange )

Couldn't ask for more.

Wouldn't know about contract phones though...but most folk in my line of business are on Orange...

 

[M1tch]

well i have been with orange for 4 years ! and i have never had a problem with them ! in my eyes they are the best around !

 

[Atticus_Finch]

Don't know if you've looked already, but if I'm buying something, I always check with this guy first...
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/mobile-phone-cost-cutting
I love this guy, he got me £1300 back on bank charges.

 

[vig]

My 3 contract runs out next month. Reception has been poor to say the least, in fact it has been shi ite.
Fancy a deal with a laptop but not sure if they are still running the offers

Been paying £35 a month, may go higher and get mobile B/band and cancel sky b/band

Any of you sage's know of any deals?

 

[haplesshacker]

i like the idea of sat nav and maps - hence i was looking at the blackberry. i also want to be able to email easily and access and update facebook. Not too bothered about the camera quality as i have a decent compact and a DSLR. The one thing that's putting me off the blackberry is the small keys. I have big hands (midsize grips ) and don't want to have to delete things all the time because i pressed the wrong key!

Oh, and i need to be able to phone people

Not in any rush, so i'll wait about for the right deal.

Slugger.

For what you want I'd of thought that the 3G iphone or HTC Touch HD which is a similar size to the iphone. Or if you want smaller then the HTC Touch Diamond 2.

I don't know a lot about the iphone, but the HTCs are great.

Integral GPS with Google Earth for route mapping / directions. The GPS can aslo be used with Freecaddie for golfing purposes. Or Intelligolf if you prefer.

Because it's a Windows Mobile device, it syncs seamlesly with Outlook. Also has push e-mail, for emailing purposes. Any emails received on the move sync with the desktop / laptop and vice versa. Wifi, EDGE and HDSPA(?), 3G for data / internet connection.

A very fine (good) screen resolution. Pics look great on it.

The Touch Flo 3D works very well, much better inteface than the standard Windows Mobile effort. More useful apps than you can shake a stick at. (These iphone boys think they invented the whole apps thing!)

Standard features include music player, FM radio, weather viewer, (useful for planning the golfing).

I looked at the Blackberry last time around and thought the same as you. The buttons are to small.

HTC link.

http://www.htc.com/www/product.aspx

I don't sell the things, but you can probably tell that I like 'em!

 

[medwayjon]

I put my wife on Virgin. SO CHEAP its unbelievable, excellent customer service and excellent coverage as they lease time off the big4

 

[Macster]

Ive been on Orange for years, and never had a problem at all. Customer service is good too, they've been quite flexible in my experience even when still 'in contract"

I have the Blackberry Bold and its fanbloody tastic - great call quality, easy as hell to use, and so easy for email its untrue.
My hands arent 'small', but I love the keyboard.

I pay £35/mth + £5 for unlimited Email/browsing, but for that I get unlimited landline calls, (hence its my total business phone) + 560 mins of X-Network calls, and 1000 Txtx/mth between 3 of us. + Free calls between family etc.

Happy Bunny here.

 

[Imurg]

I've had Orange before and although its been ok in most places, I can't get a signal in a 100 yard radius of home. Not that big a deal but I get a lot of texts from clients in the evenings and if I'm at home I don't get them until I go to work the next day.

O2 on the other hand is fine.

 

[CliveW]

I put my wife on Virgin. SO CHEAP its unbelievable,

Funnily my ex-wife was the opposite. She claimed she was a virgin and certainly not cheap!

 

[slugger]

My 3 contract runs out next month. Reception has been poor to say the least, in fact it has been shi ite.
Fancy a deal with a laptop but not sure if they are still running the offers

Been paying £35 a month, may go higher and get mobile B/band and cancel sky b/band

Any of you sage's know of any deals?

Just came across this site... offers free laptops, xbox's, PS3's etc...

http://www.mobiles.co.uk/orange-lg-ks360.html

I think i'll print it off and go and have a word in the Orange shop to see if it's cosha!

 

[User 105]

I've had the iPhone 3G on O2 for a while now and love it. It's about £30 for 600 mins 500 texts and free data.

There is almost an app for everything. Camera's not the greatest but I don't need a good one anyway.

I put a lot of films on it and have a cable to connect it to the TV. So if I'm traveling, just plug it into the hotel TV and watch what I want

Never had any problems with reception or customer service.

Golf wise I use something called TeeShot, integrates with OOB golf and lets you upload your rounds to the Internet so you can do stats and stuff.

Never used orange but I've heard things have got a lot better over the past years.

We use Vodafone at work. Reception is good. Customer service is fantastic. But we have a dedicated vodafone help desk for the company. So it should be.

If you're going to use e-mail and browsing be careful of the data charges. I know depending on the contract you get it can be costly.

 

[vig]

My 3 contract runs out next month. Reception has been poor to say the least, in fact it has been shi ite.
Fancy a deal with a laptop but not sure if they are still running the offers

Been paying £35 a month, may go higher and get mobile B/band and cancel sky b/band

Any of you sage's know of any deals?

Thanks for that slugger, i'll have a good look at that later.

Just came across this site... offers free laptops, xbox's, PS3's etc...

http://www.mobiles.co.uk/orange-lg-ks360.html

I think i'll print it off and go and have a word in the Orange shop to see if it's cosha!

 

[Cernunnos]

Some of my workmates used to use Orange & used to swear by them, but now they swear about Orange.

Personally I consider Orange to be overpriced & never offer the deal I want.

I've recently moved over to "3", well maybe not that recently, so has my other half, I'm reletively happy. There are certain things both Vodafone & O2 do better (previous networks used), but can't really quibble about "3".

Slugger, you could of course have a look at T-Mobile, but I remember having a bad experience in the past with their customer service. But deals at T-Mobile are good. But for petes sake, don't try Orange, heard way too many bad stories about them.

Thing is the other evening I had to call "3"'s customer service, (wont go into details) but they were very helpful & offered a very good solution, though as with most firms these days, they were trying very hard to sell something too, but either way had the perfect solution.

 

[mattdeeks]

I'm with O2 and have been with them for a number of years. Never had a problem, good customer service. I was with Orange to begin, reception kept dropping off. Now this may have changed but O2 are the one for me.