Greetings to you all.
THis is my first post here, and I would appreciate any help.
I am considering buying an HTC touch HD from eBay. I found that the cheapest ones are those listed in eBay.co.uk, and locked to Orange UK. However, the price difference compared to the phones which are factory unlocked made me think whether there is something wrong with the Orange UK phones.
To be specific, I have two questions:
1- Do Orange UK HTC-HD phones have different specs compared to other HTC-HD phones?
2- Are Orange UK HTC-HD phones guaranteed to be unlockable? If yes, could they be re-locked again after a ROM upgrade? will they work (after unlocking) on all GSM networks worldwide?
Again, any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks a lot in advance.
To Orange or not to Orange!
eng_asa said:
Greetings to you all.
THis is my first post here, and I would appreciate any help.
I am considering buying an HTC touch HD from eBay. I found that the cheapest ones are those listed in eBay.co.uk, and locked to Orange UK. However, the price difference compared to the phones which are factory unlocked made me think whether there is something wrong with the Orange UK phones.
To be specific, I have two questions:
1- Is the Orange UK HTC-HD phones have different specs compared to other HTC-HD phones?
2- Are Orange UK HTC-HD phones guaranteed to be unlockable? If yes, could they be re-locked again after a ROM upgrade? will they work (after unlocking) on all GSM networks worldwide?
Again, any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks a lot in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1- I believe the Orange hardware specs are exactly the same. It's just the ROM/software that they play with.
2- Every phone should be SIM unlockable. I have seen many reports in this forum that they can be. You can easily replace an Orangised ROM with a cooked one or WWE stock ROM to remove any unwanted Orange stuff.... all you'll be left with is the little orange logo on the back. There is no need to SIM unlock the phone to upgrade the ROM. Check out the HSPL / USPL threads to see what must be done and how easy it is to ROM upgrade.
I have an Orange HD (still locked) running the non Orange HK 1.19 ROM
I have a Orange handset, i use orange so im not bothered about simunlock, ive removed the orange software and put Duttys 1.7 on at moment.
i believe there are a few vendors that can provide guaranteed (or your money back) unlock codes for around 18euros
I've had an Orange Touch HD for almost two weeks now and it seems fine. I flashed it with Duttys ROM and that improved things like RAM usage and stuff, but added its own little annoyances.
Go with the Orange, you wont regret it!!
I have an orange sim locked one... but as I am an orange customer I am happy.
Dutty's v1.7 rom is the current flavour.
Thank you all for your quick response. this will definitely help me out ...
One last question before I actually make a bid: Has anyone unlocked his/her Orange Touch-HD phone and used it on a different network outside UK?
Bought a HD ORANGE (UK) on ebay, unlocked it with code (htccode) and now im usin it in slovenia
Thank you so much
I will start bidding.. will let you know if anything went wrong!
I bought an Orange one from eBay a few weeks ago. Got it for £370 with a Best Offer. I had previously won another one which was described as 'brand new in box' but had a scratched screen and obvious signs of use!
Make sure you get what you payed for!! I had to do a PayPal dispute as this person was adamant they hadn't used it... despite the pouch being fluffy, the earphones having the furry covers on, and various scratches! Needless to say, they had it back on eBay as BNIB the next day again!
Anyway - my second one arrived still with the original screen warning protector, and I got a best offer on the unlock code on eBay for £14. The code came through within a few hours, and I typed it in twice and it worked perfectly. I then updated the ROM to Dutty's - as the Orange one was a bit naff - and stuck in my O2 SIM card! As with Dutty's ROMs on my old Diamond, it instantly knew it was an O2 SIM I'd put in, and asked me if I wanted to install the settings - which I did. A simple soft reset and my WAP / MMS settings etc were all sorted!
Orange phones are definately the cheapest, as people are taking them as a free upgrade and selling them on - because they're probably the phone thats worth the most at the moment!! The only downer is the naff Orange logo on the back cover which won't come off no matter what I scrubb it with! Their old ones wiped clean with some label remover or paint stripper
Can someone please take a picture of the Orange logo on the back? How big and gawdy is it?
i dont really like the orange logo on this one either, since the back cover is the same microsatin finish as the touch dual i had, its not gonna be possible to remove it.
its not very big, but a sudden orange square kind of spoils the "blackness" of the device.
im assuming there is no free unlock solution yet....
anyone know the cheapest place to get it unlocked? if its on ebay, could you give a link to the seller? im a bit cautious cos i've had some dodgy ones in the past thanks!
Orange HD Upgrade
I got my HD free as an Orange upgrade through mobiles.co.uk this week. Was very happy to find that Orange had not been let near this phone. Haven't even got the silly logo on the back and it's unlocked. I think they get them direct from HTC.
ModernMuseum said:
Can someone please take a picture of the Orange logo on the back? How big and gawdy is it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's 1cm square or 1 square cm!
Damn....looks like I'll be looking for an un-branded phone then....
cant u just buy a new back cover off ebay and get rid of the logo that way?
My orange logo is less than 7mm squared!
I bought a replacement battery cover from eBay about a week ago, and it just arrived the other day. It was an 'original htc HD cover' from Hong Kong for £15.
It certainly looks original, and all the stuff inside is the same - but its missing the volume buttons, the power button, and the speaker grill bit. It also comes with the camera cover as a seperate bit you need to glue on!
A waste of £15 if you ask me - unless I can send it back to Hong Kong (which will probably cost me heaps anyway!!)
I got a fairly good deal with mine on Orange (£20 /month 500min, 100txt 3 magic numbers and phone for £95) so i dont see anything wrong with buying from orange. The phone works fine and specs are the same.
I have a Orange HTC HD as well...not anymore, new ROM(original HTC) and new HTC battery cover from expansys.com. Works fine...I'm on O2, I hate Orange very much gf using orange, poor customer service and poor reception, I give them a F with a - as a Mobile Network Provider.
My baby HD works and looks great after I got it back to the original HTC look thanks to the guys at xda-developers.com
See pic of Orange logo on the back of the phone, you also get a I must admit nice Orange splash screen which I removed when installed my new original HTC ROM678
Thanks for the photo. I'd rather do without the orange logo if I had a choice.
I'm currently looking for one, but all the UK sellers require a verified UK paypal address, which I don't have. I have a UK Aramex address, but of course it's not verified since I'm abroad.
Just buy the battery cover HTC original after you buy your phone. I think I payed for mine £23. Looksa good, from HTC or expansys.com.
GL!!
Today, Vodafone Spain has announced they will be releasing the Magic in a few hours, no word on prices/contracts yet.
They have been teasing on their blog for some days now, and they now tease some more with a countdown to release ( http://tienda.vodafone.es/ofertas/htc_magic/ ), scheduled to hit 0 at 17:00, local time.
Let's hope they put a reasonable price tag on it, though it's definetly doubtful.
Cheers!
Edit: pricing is now available ( http://www.unandroideenvodafone.com/Notaprensa.pdf )
Any chance of finding an unlocked version of this in Spain any time soon?
Vodafone is not selling them without a contract, though I'm preety sure these fellas will find their way onto ebay in no time.
rammand said:
Vodafone is not selling them without a contract, though I'm preety sure these fellas will find their way onto ebay in no time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone said that Vodafone will issue unlock code if you request. I want to buy a G2. Where can I find it ?
Magic - purchased in Vodafone
Hi guys
Just to say that I have purchased in Tienda On-Line of Vodafone my Magic. I am really impressed, it is a great device.
I am still learning and starting to play, but it looks like it is going to be very funny.
BTW: they recommend strongly to contract the flat navigation tariff to avoid billshock, but it is only a recomendation...
Hi all, someone offered me a htc touch dual unlocked, but originally telstra network for US$200, do u think this is a bargain or not?
what are they worth new now?
I have an Elf but touch is not working atm, so have to fix... should I get this for a replacement, are they any good?
cheers!
Bought mine second hand, half year old for somewhere around €120, which comes down to US$165. I did not have to look for it that hard. That, and it was a while ago already, so prices should have dropped in the meantime.
So US$200 is not a bargain, but not really a ripoff either. I like this phone, especially the faster cpu and the keypad compared to the Elf which lacks both.
sold mine on ebay a few days ago, great condition for about 150usd with a bluetooth gps receiver so yeah, thats not a great deal
Hi everyone.
Im about to take the plunge with my first android based phone. I have just returned the compact 5 / Diamond 2 to tmobile as I wasnt impressed with it. Ive had windows mobile before but just couldnt get on with it on the diamond 2 and the phone did not ring anywhere near loud enough unlike the hero that I have had a play with.
So phoned tmobile today to order the g2 / hero and tmobile tell me there will be a 3rd android phone as in the pulse. Also instead of using my upgrade, I could put my contract sim in the pulse and buy it outright for 174 pound.
Bar a larger screen, hardware looks identical. I am aware the hero is a high end device, but when you look at the specs of the pulse which is supposed to be a low to midrange handset, there only looks to be the camera resolution thats different.
Any news on the tmobile firmware update as yet please as well?
Any satnav software that comes with any recommendations, and hopefully free.
Your thoughts and advice please ???
Cheers
Paul
Get the G2/Hero.
The new firmware should be available for it in a few days. T-Mobile have set themselves a deadline of 28th September to have it avaialble. I know this from official posts on the UK T-Mobile official forum.
Free SatNav? You could try AndNav2 but it's still very much a work in progress. CoPilot Live 8 is reasonably priced and a good product.
Hello all,
I bought a Rogers HTC Dream a couple of weeks back but stupidly performed the E911 update. The whole thing has me pretty bitter knowing that I can't get anything past Android 1.5 on there (for now) and I was thinking of selling it while I can still get a decent price. What would you recommend if I were to upgrade without paying too much of a premium. Here's what I have so far:
1. Stick with the Dream, wait for exploit to root/flash new roms
2. HTC Magic - newer Android, but still Rogers (they blow), and no QWERTY
3. LG Eve- QWERTY, but resistive screen and unknown build quality
Ideally, I'd want to stick with Android as I love the OS, but would also like a QWERTY if possible. Milestone is a bit out of my price range. Any suggestions?
Cheers
The G1 without Rogers. nuff said lol
Haha I was thinking of that as well. I was also weighing up selling both the Dream and my 32GB Zune HD which could fetch a pretty penny up here in the Great White North and getting the Milestone....hmmmmm
This is why we buy the T-Mobile G1 and use the rogers sim card =) Pretty sure the Rogers G1 was only out there to attract kids with the keyboard