Database Users

Where did/are you getting your Touch HD from?

I'm mainly interested in the UK buyers really, but I guess this thread could be useful for anyone if everyone posts where they got it and how much it cost?
I have a contract with 02 already and so have no choice but to buy the phone sim free. I have it pre-ordered through Play.com so is setting me back £520. This will be the first time I've bought a phone without my provider having given me it for free/nominal fee...I'm having a hard time coming to terms with such an outlay. I could buy a laptop for this price! I still want it though, it looks great!

i pre-ordered mine from clove - cost 482 pound with dhl shippment to croatia.

Will preorder tomorrow from www.digitec.ch.
Cost: CHF 689.- (with renewal of my subscription).
Greetz

supersquash said:
I'm mainly interested in the UK buyers really, but I guess this thread could be useful for anyone if everyone posts where they got it and how much it cost?
I have a contract with 02 already and so have no choice but to buy the phone sim free. I have it pre-ordered through Play.com so is setting me back £520. This will be the first time I've bought a phone without my provider having given me it for free/nominal fee...I'm having a hard time coming to terms with such an outlay. I could buy a laptop for this price! I still want it though, it looks great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am thinking of doing the same thing as this would be my first phone sim free too as well as windows mobile and although it is a lot I worked out that it could be cheaper then you think. As I put into the equation that if I got this from T-Mobile I would have to pay about £100-£150 for the phone plus my phone bill would be around £35-£45 per month on an 18 month contract.
But if I bought the HD sim free and changed to the t-mobile sim only deal (£25) I could save around £300 plus having to pay around £100 for the phone it comes to a total of around £400 or even more.
So in a way it does not cost that much but the only problem is paying a big lump sum rather then spread it out (thanks Capital one for your 0% interest until November 09).
My only problem is who to buy from?

I'm probably going to be getting one from Expansys along with a T-Mo web'n'walk contract.

I am in the same boat. I am only 8 months in on an 18 month contract with 3 network. I really want the phone. At £500+ for the handset and then just use my USIM in it (hoping it works and is compatible) seems a lot. However I could by a second contract with O2 and get the phone free on a £35 contract and pay around £580 in total for an 18th month contract overall. So for £80 more I get lots of minutes and texts over 18 months as opposed to nothing at all when just buying the handset. Decisions decisions.

Speaking from the other side of the pond...I preordered mine a month ago from Expansys USA for $885CAN, which at the moment is 453GBP. Not bad considering they want $1100CAN now.

i pre ordered mine from www.pdaplaza.ca last week at $940can , i will get it tomorow, they now sell it for $971 can

Pre ordered mine from here: http://www.algebeld.nl/index.php?Pa...tegories=0&ProductPlusProducts=0&DataBundel=0

I have also ordered an 8GB micro SD from Play, but wouldn't mind finding out if the UK sim free ones come with one, as another guy on this forum from NL said his did.
I've justified the cost to myself by the fact that I have sold two of my old phones and will 'only' need to put £220 to it to make up the balance.

I'll buy mine from o2 germany, because I have contract there. I hope that its coming this week, I'm soooooo curious.. I want it!!! So, I'll have to pay 290€ for it (in terms of contract, with 30€ per month), I think this is ok. Greez, cad^^

Wow! Guys in Canada can have their Touch HD's by tomorrow!!! awesome!
please do post ur reviews here once u get them. I am really concerned about its navigational capabilites, coz of lack of the DPAD.
I want to order the phone in USA, as my cousins staying in Manhattan will have to get it for me in December.
Long wait for me!
PS: PLEASE suggest me some "non-ebay Online Stores" where i can buy the Touch HD, with a creditcard.
Thanks.

boba23 said:
Did you call O2 customer support about it? I am also thinking of ordering it from O2 if it's really true that they sell it for 559 without contract. I have a contract but I renewed it just this spring.
boba
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No, unfortunately I didn't call them, but many in the internet say that its possible to come even earlier because the release was earlier, too in netherlands. So I still hope, if not, its sure to come next week, absolute latest in two weeks. Thats my information I have.. You can belive me, I'm sitting on fire, I really want this device greez, cad^^

Inkino
Ordered my from Inkino today. $780 shipped to USA. Due there the 4th of Nov.

More one: http://www.redcoon.pt/index.php/cmd/shop/a/ProductDetail/pid/B163772/cid/34
The Rom is in Spanish like my Diamond when I buy in redcoon... but I change to WWE (xda-dev) one week later

If I do go for the Touch HD (considering SE X1 too - difficult choice), then I would probably (at this point) get it from Mobiles.co.uk.
I phoned up and told them that Orange have exclusivity on it in the UK (until 01 Jan 09 I believe).
However, the guy (who wasn't that informed it seemed) said that if it was on the site then it was authorised for sale.
Also, I saw on one website, a recent post said that with tariffs on O2 above 600 minutes, you get free web access as an "O2 Bolt-On". Seems like a good deal.
Unfortunately, O2 itself will have no stock and I've been out of my contract for 1 month now waiting for the X1 to come out. Therefore, I'd have to get a new contract, and a new number (you can't transfer an O2 number to a new O2 number provided by a third party I think).

SingaporeAirlines said:
If I do go for the Touch HD (considering SE X1 too - difficult choice), then I would probably (at this point) get it from Mobiles.co.uk.
I phoned up and told them that Orange have exclusivity on it in the UK (until 01 Jan 09 I believe).
However, the guy (who wasn't that informed it seemed) said that if it was on the site then it was authorised for sale.
Also, I saw on one website, a recent post said that with tariffs on O2 above 600 minutes, you get free web access as an "O2 Bolt-On". Seems like a good deal.
Unfortunately, O2 itself will have no stock and I've been out of my contract for 1 month now waiting for the X1 to come out. Therefore, I'd have to get a new contract, and a new number (you can't transfer an O2 number to a new O2 number provided by a third party I think).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can if you transfer to another provider E.G. T-mobile PAYG then back to your new contract , put a couple of quid on PAYG

Amazon.de sent me a mail: expected delivery to me 03.12.-17.12.

SingaporeAirlines said:
If I do go for the Touch HD (considering SE X1 too - difficult choice), then I would probably (at this point) get it from Mobiles.co.uk.
I phoned up and told them that Orange have exclusivity on it in the UK (until 01 Jan 09 I believe).
However, the guy (who wasn't that informed it seemed) said that if it was on the site then it was authorised for sale.
Also, I saw on one website, a recent post said that with tariffs on O2 above 600 minutes, you get free web access as an "O2 Bolt-On". Seems like a good deal.
Unfortunately, O2 itself will have no stock and I've been out of my contract for 1 month now waiting for the X1 to come out. Therefore, I'd have to get a new contract, and a new number (you can't transfer an O2 number to a new O2 number provided by a third party I think).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I decided to go for O2 from mobiles.co.uk, as 600mins with a free internet bolt-on is a sweet deal. Only time will tell if they manage get around the exclusivity deal but I'd rather peel my face off than sign up to Orange's garbage contracts with a data package that is cat vomit.

Got mine this morning from www.pdaplaza.ca in montreal, i just love it

Touch HD on Orange

Hi all,
After trawling around the web to help me make the decision on whether or not to get the touch HD...or an iPhone, I've finally got a Touch HD through Orange upgrades. Getting 400mins, unltd texts, 500mb data for £22.50 per month. Had to pay £100 for the handset though! My phone is getting delivered on Monday, and I've heard a lot about tweaks for the device, where do I find these? Which ones would seasoned users of the HD recommend installing?

you got two choices
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=463783
or for a better way of doing it, but have a good read first because you can screw things up if you do it wrong.
First point of call before you do anything
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=431217
then head on over to and update your ROM, this contains many of the tweaks and is a fine ROM.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=461228
if you fancy watching movies on your HD
head to
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=467112
download that re-encode your movie and enjoy!

ChilledDJ said:
Hi all,
After trawling around the web to help me make the decision on whether or not to get the touch HD...or an iPhone, I've finally got a Touch HD through Orange upgrades. Getting 400mins, unltd texts, 500mb data for £22.50 per month. Had to pay £100 for the handset though! My phone is getting delivered on Monday, and I've heard a lot about tweaks for the device, where do I find these? Which ones would seasoned users of the HD recommend installing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds like a good deal, I just upgraded on Orange and am paying £19 for just the minutes and texts as didn't know what data bundle i needed, online the data bundle is £7.50 for 250mb so how did you get that deal???

Garfoid said:
That sounds like a good deal, I just upgraded on Orange and am paying £19 for just the minutes and texts as didn't know what data bundle i needed, online the data bundle is £7.50 for 250mb so how did you get that deal???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They've recently changed this and its now £5 for 500mb

yea just phone the customer service they will add it for you £5 for 500 mb, and dont forget to add orange cae for £6, great value for money, then you dont have to worry about anything hapening to the device.

makavelianz said:
yea just phone the customer service they will add it for you £5 for 500 mb, and dont forget to add orange cae for £6, great value for money, then you dont have to worry about anything hapening to the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sweet! thanks for the heads up guys
I rung them about a month ago for a package and they were asking for £7.50 for 250MB off-peak!!! - this is a bargain, also took out orange care, never know when I'm going to need it

considering the HD is one of the epensive devices they sell well worth going for that flat rate of £6 a month , now you dont have to worry about it evey 2 minutes

When I upgraded back in November I was told I was getting 500mb of data a month for free, anyway after my second bill arrived I decided to check my usage for the month - I was surprised to see that I had only used 320MB but even more surprised to see that the package was shown as unlimited.
Has anyone else looked at their bill?

_macca said:
When I upgraded back in November I was told I was getting 500mb of data a month for free, anyway after my second bill arrived I decided to check my usage for the month - I was surprised to see that I had only used 320MB but even more surprised to see that the package was shown as unlimited.
Has anyone else looked at their bill?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The exact description of the data package appears to vary a lot between paperwork/staff/bills. On the phone they describe it as "Unlimited with a 500Mb Fair Usage). But online it's described as a "500Mb limit". Sounds like their billing calls it unlimited.
The impression I get is that £5 for 500Mb is for new contracts only (including upgrades) and you commit to it for the length of the contract. If you add it to an existing contract, it's £7.50 for 250Mb, but you make no commitment and can remove it next month.
Now is an excellent time to be upgrading as, at this time of credit crunch and general economic downturn, retentions departments are desperate to keep customers. By observing that I could get an iPhone, Storm or G1 for free by moving away from Orange, I managed to effectively get the Touch HD for £15.50 on a £20/month contract, including the 500Mb data. Granted I only get 200 mins, but I never use them anyway. I also had to pay £195.95 upfront, but it's offset by £180 airtime credit (meaning I effectively don't pay a bill for the next 8 months or so)

Htc touch hd for only £59.99 !!!
Hi,
I got my Htc Touch Hd only a few days ago , vost only £59.99 , this is the lowest price I have seen on any UK online or shop retailer! I opted for the lowest Orange Contract Racoon 20 , I have to pay £19.57 Every Month.
I'll Probably cancel the contract after 12 months , this is allowed in the terms and conditions of Orange.
The website where I got my phone : http://www.buymobilephones.net/
I have just unlocked it , put a T-mobile chip in it , I had a Mda Vario 2 since 2006 , my contract expired , t-mobile haven't released the MDA VARIO 4 , as this was the phone I wanted , couldn't wait , so I get the Touch Hd.
Anyway , it a great phone , bbc iplayer , even bbc live news works perfectly , only works with opera , the website you need to enter is :www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/iplayer/

Ordered a Touch HD on Orange yesterday - as an Upgrade from my current phone/contract (Nokia E65/Racoon 25).
Speaking to the retentions department I got:
HTC Touch HD on Panther £40 (1200Mins/500Texts/500Mb internet/Unlimited Landline) + £5 Orange Care. The Touch HD I bargained down to £28.50! (yes it's a more expensive monthly package, and 18 months).
Currently Orange are doing an offer for a FREE Touch HD on a £35 montlhy contract (but for 24 months)
dazza9075 - thanks for those links!

Have order mine at £28.50 with a Panther 40 plan + £5 Orange Care. That was an upgrade from the Retentions department.
Dazza - thanks for the links!
RE the Orange plans - the Panther plans have 500Mb data "as standard" now, and the other plans (except the really low cost Racoon plans) have the 500Mb data as a £5 bundle.
Incidentally - if you're not on a contract, or don't mind changing number - they're doing a January sale with a FREE Touch HD on a Dolphin £35 24 month contract.

The people here who have got orange care, Do you intend updating the ROM on your phones?, As this would surely invalidate the care option.

if it does, i would back up the rom, on to a pc, the utility is found somewhere on this forum, its what i'm planning on doing, i'm on orange aswell paying just ova 40quid a month, i'm a new orange customer from 02, 600 mins unltd txts and 500mb data and the orange care, and do orange release rom updates from the htc phones, on the htc website there atest rom was released in dec08, the 1 i hav is Rom 1.19.61.1 date 11/25/08 radio 1.09.25.14, as fellow orange htc HD owners what version of rom are u using.
Edit: the rom is for the asia release ( http://www.htc.com/hk-en/SupportDownload.aspx?p_id=179&cat=2&dl_id=453 )
Also in the following link in this forum ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3048728 )

Can you post this ROM

here is my rom whioch i dumped earlier 2day its the orange rom
http://rapidshare.com/files/191585731/ruu_signed.rar
chand4u76 said:
Can you post this ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

just taken delivery of phone from orange. been with them for ten years managed to get 'limitless' data some texts( never use), free landline calls, 700mins all network, paid £90.00 for phone and then got another 3.50? as loyal customer from the lady in india. First impresions
1 orange can certainly **** up a phone with there own rubish programs.
2 do not like the fact they take of programs.
3 came with micro card 8mb quite good
4 charger is rubbish silly shape in some locations
5 cases from htc getting worse have ordered cyrstal cases off ebat from uk dealer. but i bet it comes from china by post.
6 I have had other htc and atoms so am use to these always replace roms not sure if i will keep 3d flo as it seems slow.
7 please god let microsoft deliver a good operating system for next mobiles.
8 If they do not offer upgrades then they will loose me to apple. I have stuck with microsoft through thick and thin. More thin and I would like to be treated nicely for once.
9 will need to install agenda one as built in contacts still pants. agenda 1 lets you link contacts to diary.
10 bluetooth on this phone easier and clearer than than on atom.
11 does feel big please don,t let me snap it.
12 why are htc accessories not as snazzy as iphones.

Thanks for uploading

Got 400mins, unlimited texts, unlimited web browsing anytime, made sure of this as it is needed with the HD, phone for 48.50 on 18 month contract for £9.79pm, happy with that, just keep badgering them and they have a new computer system which i was lucky enough to get onto.

cjovic said:
Got 400mins, unlimited texts, unlimited web browsing anytime, made sure of this as it is needed with the HD, phone for 48.50 on 18 month contract for £9.79pm, happy with that, just keep badgering them and they have a new computer system which i was lucky enough to get onto.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's better than my deal! But I got what I need, at least.
100 minutes, 300 texts, unlimited mobile internet, phone for £48.50 and a free bluetooth headset. £10 p/m for 9 months, then £15 p/m for the other 9 months. By the end of it, I've not even paid for the phone, let alone the bluetooth headset!
Took a LOT of convincing to get that, though. "O2 are giving me the phone for free." was my opener. By the end I was all "Any sweeteners? Laptop? iPod? ... Bluetooth?"

Orange just discontinued the Touch HD

Damn it. Called to give my 30 days notice yesterday and when they asked what phone I'd want to stay, I naturally said a Touch HD (since I was going to get one from elsewhere anyway). £15 per month and £15 for the phone? Fantastic thinks I. Phone arrives today and they sent me the Touch 3G instead. Called Orange back and they tell me that as of today they no longer offer the Touch HD - it has been discontinued and will be removed from the online store shortly. Crap
Now I have to return this Touch 3G then call Orange again to get a refund for the postage and the money I paid for the Touch HD. Anyone know where the Touch HD is available on Orange for a reasonable price since Mobiles.co.uk is still out of stock?

ordered mine yesturday from phones 4 u whihc got delevered today!!!
free handset, £30 per month for 600 min and unlimited text.
Sooooo, pleased i decied to end my contract early and order from phones 4 u as I was going to get an upgrade to the HD from orange at the end of next month.

Blastman, don't know if you needed those minutes, so..
buymobilephones.net is doing a free HD with Dolphin 25 on Orange. 400 mins / unltd texts. 2 Months eve/ wkend HDSPA interenet.
If you plan on using a ton of daytime data, orange is pretty costly mind...

imo, the touch HD is more business consumer based.
iphone is what the masses go for, and thus o2.
anyway, im due to ring orange business tomorrow, so i'll get word if they have discontinued the HD also.
such a shame though. orange just aint been the same since they stoped everyday50
btw, i ordered a HD for one of our managers on monday/tuesday - no problems here!

To the OP: surely they have mis-sold you the product and should accept all costs in rectifying their mistake?

Went into Phones4U last week & they told me they didn't carry it. So I ended up getting it from mobilephonesdirect.co.uk, good service but only do it on T-Mobile & Vodafone. £35 for 700 mins, unltd texts & free internet. Next day delivery, good customer after-sales service too.

what would happen if i send my phone in for warrenty ?
im on orange would i get a like for like swap ?

Rubbish!
I can confirm that this is not true, as I myself work in orange retail, sometimes direct just tell you things so as not to lose too much money.
Hope this helps.
Besides, they have just released Orange Maps and the Touch HD is one of the main promoted devices for this service.

d8smt said:
Went into Phones4U last week & they told me they didn't carry it. So I ended up getting it from mobilephonesdirect.co.uk, good service but only do it on T-Mobile & Vodafone. £35 for 700 mins, unltd texts & free internet. Next day delivery, good customer after-sales service too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Phones4u do not have it in stores, online only.

Give the Carphone Warehouse a call. I have been with Orange for years and when I wanted to upgrade to the Touch Hd at the end of last year, Orange were looking to charge me £100 for the handset.. I don't pay for phones, ever...
So, I told Orange to do one and called CW, they offered me a free Touch HD, unlocked and unbranded, and said I would be able to continue my Orange contract. I was sceptical, but 6 months on and I am still with Orange with the Touch HD. The contract was renewed and I carried on.
The most positive point is I didn't have to pay a penny to upgrade.

i ordered one yesterday! so this is not true

Man this is just plain annoying. Rang Orange posing as a new customer and the sales person said they didn't have any Touch HD's and didn't know if or when they would be getting any more in stock.
I guess I'll just give BuyMobilePhones a call and get one from them (once I call Orange *again* for a refund on the phone and postage of the return)..

orange business: still current model and no plans to dis-continue!
looks like orange have been trying to have ya
-1 for orange

i ordered mine from buymobilephones.net last week and got it in no time. free on a £25 a month with orange. best phone ive ever used!

Contract distance selling laws. Return it in as new condition and tell them you want to cancel it. Not going to be easy to get them to admit to it but it is legally correct so keep hounding them

My sister has just upgraded to the Touch HD yesterday, so i think someone at Orange is telling porkies!

I was kicking myself as i rang orange last week to upgrade but they wanted £195 to upgrade, so i called their bluff and requested the PAC code and thought i would ring back this week to see if they would improve their offer.
But I was told on Thursday the exact same thing by orange that they have discontinued the HD, they told me that will be replaced by the Touch Pro 2 but that it is still been tested and will not be available for another 3 months.
But many thanks to d8smt who mentioned mobile phones direct where i got the HD for free on a tariff of £35 per month on Voda.
I received the phone this morning just waiting for it to fully charge before i start to play with it

Tis true!
Just rang Orange Upgrades and they have discontinued it!
They are replacing it mid June with the HTC Touch Pro 2
Going to the orange shop to get mine as they have "old" stock in

Htc touch hd discontinued already!!!
MOD EDIT
Threads merged
Can you believe the beatifull HTC HD/BLACKSTONE has been DISCONTINUED already. all good things in life dont last for long.... lets see what HTC has in store for us now

hamyg84 said:
Can you believe the beatifull HTC HD/BLACKSTONE has been DISCONTINUED already. all good things in life dont last for long.... lets see what HTC has in store for us now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TC,
Where did you hear this?
Cheers.

UK - Orange Dumping HTC Touch and my probs getting an upgrade!

I've been with Orange for the best part of 10 years, my average bill is about £30 but Orange shops would only offer me an uograde to HTC Touch for about £300!!! I'm wanting to sign an 18 month extension and take out their broadband package, so I'm surely worth something to them, but thats the best they could offer.
So I called Orange direct and now they tell me they are no longer offering the HTC Touch HD!! Operator wasn't sure why but suggested it was too expensive and thereofre not popular enough.
I've even been to many 3rd party folk like phones 4u and carphone warehouse and none of them offer the handset as an upgrade, only to new customers.
(for a number of reason I am unwilling to start a new contract)
damn, I'm a windows developer so I was looking foraward to making myself some apps :-(
none of the other HTC on offer right now interest me (HTC Diamond, 3g and Magic are available) and very few other makers offer windows mobile

I got myself put through to the "retentions" department and made a lot of noise about hos
a) orange were supposed to offer the same things to existing customers as new ones
b) why should I renew with orange when I can go elsewhere (there was an offer on the Touch HD at the time though)
c) I'd been them for well over 10 years
d) return to a)
got my Touch HD for about £30 on Panther 45 (which admittedly is more calls/texts than I need, but was the lowest they'd go at the time).

UK Orange upgrading
I have been with Orange 10yrs +.
I upgraded to the Touch HD from the SPV M3100.
They first told me it would be £290 to upgraded.
I asked if they could do adeal and was told i could upgraded for £50 if I did it there and then. I said no.
Waited a couple of days then phoned "retentions" again and stated that i would leave if they didn't do the same deal as Carphone Warehouse who where offering the HD on Orange for FREE at £35/month.
They relented and give to me for FREE.
I did the same with my wifes phone two weeks later.
You just got to force there hand.

yes, I considered calling retentions but was told they were no longer offering the HTC at all so I din't bother, perhaps I ned to do it anyway and see what they come up with

Riceburner said:
I got myself put through to the "retentions" department and made a lot of noise about hos
a) orange were supposed to offer the same things to existing customers as new ones
b) why should I renew with orange when I can go elsewhere (there was an offer on the Touch HD at the time though)
c) I'd been them for well over 10 years
d) return to a)
got my Touch HD for about £30 on Panther 45 (which admittedly is more calls/texts than I need, but was the lowest they'd go at the time).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rinsed and repeated that approach with Retentions on 3 different occasions in March this year. I got no satisfaction whatsoever.
Their best offer was £50 for the handset plus Dolphin 35 for £35pm 18mo. Online they had a deal Free handset plus Dolphin 35 for £30pm 24mo which they would not let me have.
Went via phones4u for took out Dolphin 30 @ £30pm for 18mo's. Took me about 5 days to swap my old Orange number out to T-Mobile then back to my new Orange contract.
I love my HTC Touch HD and Orange's great reception but hate Orange customer service and crappy internet tarriffs.

I got mine, after many arguments and bartering.
i paid £194 for the hand set.
And they put me on a £10 a month contract.
200mil
Unlimited texts
AND they put a £200 credit on my account, so 18 bills at £10 = £180. i pay no bill, aslong as I dont go over my 200min (Which i will never do!)

i got my htc touch hd for £107 on £21.50 a month
700mins
500texts free landline callin
n my existing magic numbers
2 months free internet trial
not bad loving my phone but wished they gave me the internet unlimited but oh well!!

You can get one for less than £300 on ebay - no contracts to sign!
I bought one in January for £370, then paid £15 to unlock it. I then cancelled my Vodafone contract and signed up to O2's SIM only tarrif, where I pay £20 a month for 1000 texts, 500 mins, and unlimited internet.
Sorted!

They gave me one for free when they first got them in, but then I do have a couple of contracts with them (my girlfriends is in my name) so maybe I'm a valuable customer.

I didn't have too much trouble getting what i wanted.
I paid £46 for the handset, and pay £26 a month, down from £50 a month before hand, for that i get...
700 minutes
Unlimited Texts
500mb Web browsing
Insurance
I've always had great service from Orange.

I had to start a new contract with orange to be able to get the phone for free.
Picked it up from phones4u website in the end.

I used to be with Orange but left due to customer service problems. Bought the HD on ebay for £300, £15 to unlock it and am on O2's sim only deal. It's a good feeling knowing I can leave the network whenever I want (or whenever they piss me off)

i phoned retentions and told them i wanted to go O2 for the iphone if they didnt offer me a Touch HD. they gave me 900 mins, unlimited texts and unlimited internet for £26 and i had to pay £50 for the phone. about double on everything i had previously for £14 a month cheaper!
they seemed to suddenly accept anything i wanted as soon as i threatened to go to O2 for the iphone so maybe give that a go!

Guys and Girls,
I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the THD when they released it in early October last year - been loving it ever since.
The only observation that I would make is........................
Don't get yourselves tied into 18 / 24 month contracts with any of the airtime providers on the strength of this handset as it is already "end of life"!!!
This may be a good reason why some of you are struggling to get a great deal or get one at all! Wait with your current handset and see what is going to replace it.
On that point - I also have a Blackberry 9000 (bold) which I have got to say outperforms the THD at every turn, and more importantly has a keyboard! Anyone who is wanting to upgrade from any HTC product that has a keyboard currently (TyTn / TyTn ll / Touch Pro etc etc) be warned, I missed that functionality!
Anyway - good luck.

Which network (UK)?

I've spent about 2 days trawling through the various offers available on the Hero but I'm having trouble making a decision. Does it matter very much which network the contract is with? Is it better to choose one that sells the phone themselves, or will everything work just as well on another network?

i think its all depends on how much you are willing to spend on a contract?
Also you might wanna check with tmobile or orange with there 3G coverage in your area.

Thanks, I would be going through a reseller either way; the direct contract works out about £100 more.
T-mobile's coverage checker says 3/5 signal in my area, and I know Orange isn't very good because I used to be on it. One of the best deals I've found is with e2save on vodafone, works out at £482.50 after cashback for 18 months. I was just concerned by another post that suggests not everything works properly on Vodafone.

Has anyone tried it on O2? Any issues?

arnoldjrimmer said:
Has anyone tried it on O2? Any issues?
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I used an O2 'simplicity' SIM with web bolt-on (If you are ging to do this, go through one of the cashback sites. Topcashback gets you £100 off)
The only issues I found were...
1) If you try to text 'ACTIVATE' to 2020, in order to automatically setup MMS, then you get an error back from O2. When I queried this with O2, they said it is because The Hero is not a phone that O2 sells and the auto settings are therefore not in their database. As it turns out, my hero had somehow managed to set itself with the relevant setting anyway, so I could not find anything that failed to work, with the exception of the next item.
2) The Android application 'SIM Toolkit' would not work. Every time I tried to use it, I got an error text from 2020, which I'm assuming is related to the first item above.
Regards,
Glenn

indeed o2 do not sell the hero so activate would not work. however the device itself has a database of most european networks so it should set itself up automatically.
secondly, the SIM Tool Kit is a program on the SIM itself, and the O2 one probably isn't working properly on android handsets cos they haven't put a compatible one on there. maybe once the galaxy starts selling they might update their SIMs to work correctly.
On my T-Mobile handset, the SIM tool kit does not even appear cos it is not compatible....

If you havent seen it, there is another thread here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=539606&page=9
To sumarise, it would appear that the best deals you can get work out at paying about £450-500 for the phone + contract.
As the phone is £400 by itself, I would say that getting a contract with the phone on it is the best way to go.
I bought mine from mobiles.co.uk for £15/month over 24mnths and £170 for the phone - £40 instant cashback from Quidco. This works out at £495 for the phone and 24 months of network connection. I think thats pretty good value myself.
As for Vodafone, I dont see why there would be an issue. I havent been able to play with the Hero yet (its been delivered home and I have been away with work for over a week ) however my G1 Developer Phone works flawlessly on Vodafone. The only annoyance is that if it loses Voda signal, it auto roams onto another network, which is quite annoying.

chrisps said:
I bought mine from mobiles.co.uk for £15/month over 24mnths and £170 for the phone - £40 instant cashback from Quidco. This works out at £495 for the phone and 24 months of network connection. I think thats pretty good value myself.
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Is that the 100 minutes + internet plan? That is a good deal but I need more minutes than that. I am trying to decide between the e2save deal I mentioned above and a mobiles.co.uk deal: 24 months 300 mins @ £15pm + £150 for the phone. I'd then need to add £5pm for internet so it would come to £590 for 24 months compared to e2save's £482.50 for 18 months. There's no cashback to claim for mobiles.co.uk which is a plus.
Sorry I should probably have just posted on the other thread.

I've got the Hero and with Vodafone I've run into myriad problems getting it to work. There are issues with WAP data connectivity which, for me at least, can't be solved. It may be fine for you, natch, but be warned.

I recently got my white HTC hero which i much prefer over the others. Looks and feels better and initial responses from other people generally more positive. Anyway got mine from mobilephonesdirect.com on a combi 25 + web n walk(3gb fair usuage policy) 300 mins 300 texts on T-Mobile for £29 per month 18mnth contract. More expensive then orange but I wanted the white version plus data bundle with orange is absolutely rubbish. Returning my graphite one back to orange which I got free on 12month for £32.61.