Database Users

How to get a cheap Universal

Hi,
First off: thanks to this forum and it's users! I am now a happy owner of a Blue Angel AND a Universal.
I thought it would be nice to share with you guy's these facts:
1) The Universal costs in Portugal 799 Euro in stores and providers tend to ask 849 Euro for it.
2) You may start to find some discounts. Currently they are sold a http:\\www.fnac.pt for just 649 Euro. Obviously the end of commercialization is arraving for this great phone...
3) The cheapest way to get one is through eBay: I got one for 255 Euro + shipping (280 Euro total).
How to do it and why it's so cheap:
1) In Germany, many Universal's are sold by T-Online, branded as MDA Pro.
2) People seem to get them cheap there with a 1-2 year contract.
3) After 6-12 month they want to get rid of it because it is probably TO BIG for them (being a BA user, I will have to get used to this oversized phone, as well - it is really big and clumsy to handle).
4) Because it is normally SIM-Locked (unlocking it at T-Online costs 99 Euro) and because it is branded, it's value is not so high for normal users (I am a freak, so I would pay it's weight in gold, if I had any gold...).
5) There are lot's of them being sold on http://www.ebay.de.
How to do it:
1) Take your time and start observing current auctions.
2) Make a search for all MDA Pro's on the german eBay.
3) Ask each seller if they would ship to your country and if the phone is really in mint condition.
4) If they don't answer fast, remove them from your list.
5) If they have negative feedback (more than 1%), remove them from your list.
6) If they have strange remarks on positive feedback (i.e. difficult contact), remove them from your list.
7) From the remaining, select the ones that offer phones in mint condition without accessories like SDCards (they are cheaper new and will make noobs lose their heads when bidding).
8) Monitor the remaining ones and bid only in the last minute!!! Keep two pages open: one to monitor current bid, one with your bid ready to go.
9) You should not spend more than 300 Euro - if you monitor auctions of these devices, you will see many being sold for less than 300 Euro.
BEAR IN MIND THAT THERE IS OBVIOUSLY ALWAYS A RISK WHEN PURCHASING STUFF LIKE THIS AT EBAY!
What to do next:
1) Use the great SIM Unlock tool available from Buzz.
2) Flash WM6 in WWE.
3) Patch the registry so that it matches the german keyboard. The german keyboard is perfectly OK, the only annoyance is the swapped "Z" and "Y".
4) If this is not acceptable, you can by an english keyboard at eBay as well. It will cost you some 25 Euro, though. Also, you will need to dismantle the whole phone for this replacement.
It is always better to get a second hand Universal from a friend you trust, but if you live in Portugal or other periferic country, it might not be easy to find someone willing to sell his Universal for such a low price.
Hope this helps someone.
Cheers,
vma

Ops - wrong forum! Could a Mod or Admin please move this to the Universal - Universal section?
Thanks,
Vitor

Don't these machines then have the wrong (german) keyboard?

doodle you should read
nice guide vma, also nice to see someone else puls the same tricks as i do on ebay with 2 pages open.. bidding with only 3 seconds left ftw

bidsniper ftw, it bids with 0.5 seconds to go

Does this mean shipping is worldwide?
Versand nach: Weltweit

panzer said:
Does this mean shipping is worldwide?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It means the seller will ship to anywhere in the world

For those who can't understand german, here is a nice link for you:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=de_en&trurl=http://www.ebay.de/
Thanks go to Babelfish, Altavista and of course to Douglas Adams.
Regarding eBay-Tools: I have tried them, but are not very fond of them:
1) Most cost money.
2) You need to give an (unknown) software your eBay-passwords
3) I don't feel confortable having a software bidding for me
The thing is: if you loose in the last minute, then just wait for the next auction. never buy completly out of impulse. Take your time to find the right product being auctioned. Settle the price you are really wanting to pay at maximum. Bid in the last 1-2 minutes with your maximum price. That has always worked for me.
Cheers,
vma

I did the same thig as vma and recently got a UNI next to a BA. eBay is a good place to shop for these phones. But instead to look just for MDA Pro, it's also good to look for the other aliases of the UNI. Like the SPV M5000. Less people will know that this is the same phone and the price is likely (hopefully) a bit less then for a MDA Pro. (at least that worked for me when I bough my BA).
vma said:
....
4) If this is not acceptable, you can by an english keyboard at eBay as well. It will cost you some 25 Euro, though. Also, you will need to dismantle the whole phone for this replacement.
....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The german keyboard layout is quite annoying to me. So I would like to opt for the english keyboard, but haven't been able to find it on ebay yet. You have any links to it?? The problem for me is not with the Z and they Y, but with the special character, eg those above the numbers. So, I rather keep the keyboard layout in english, just like the keyboard of my PC. But the 25 euro would be well worth it.
While replacing the keyboard, it's probably also a good oportunity to fix the little plastic thingie that is preventing the pen from falling out. At least that was a small operation I have done on several BAs in the past and plan to do this soon on my UNI as well, since the pen keeps dropping out.
Talking about pens: On ebay, you'll also be able to find a few shops that sell pens for the UNI. One of the shops in Hong Kong sells you a set of 3 for less than 7 euros including shipping. (just search for "Qtek 9000 stylus" and you'll find several shops)

Look here for example: item # 300098533646
This seems to be a black one, but I have seen many silver ones as well. Beware that they come from Hong Kong!
I don't know how much customs charge for something like this.
Cheers,
vma

Thread moved as requested.

not a reallygood idea since the German keyboard is in QWERTZ!!

Read what I wrote! I mentioned that fact.
Also, you can configure WWE through a registry hack to this keymap, so the only annoyance is that the Z and Y key's are swapped. But they will correspond to the labels on the keyboard.
Also, you can purchase a keyboard at eBay and replace the german one.
Cheers,
vma

i got my pro from t-mobile for sale...,so who ever is interestet please pm me for this..

UK User with Czech Phone Advice

Just found out I have been sold a Czech phone by handtec.co.uk even though I am in the UK and so are they. Seems I can't get Manila 2.5 upgrade unless someone knows where I can get it from - or if I can HTC think it may change my language to Czech. Main question is do I have a claim against Handtec as I wouldn't have bought a Czech phone for the price I paid. Unfortunately I bought the phone in June 09. If I have no claim does anyone have any advice on upgrading a Czech phone please.

japeron said:
Just found out I have been sold a Czech phone by handtec.co.uk even though I am in the UK and so are they. Seems I can't get Manila 2.5 upgrade unless someone knows where I can get it from - or if I can HTC think it may change my language to Czech. Main question is do I have a claim against Handtec as I wouldn't have bought a Czech phone for the price I paid. Unfortunately I bought the phone in June 09. If I have no claim does anyone have any advice on upgrading a Czech phone please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assuming its an authentic HTC you can flash hard SPL and change your ROM to whatever you want.
Not sure about the claim stuff, sorry.

The hardware is the same no matter what country you buy it from (assuming it's not a copy) You can download an official Eastern European manila 2.5 rom here: sunnysoft.cz/htc/ (it will be in English by default)

I too was sold the Eastern European (EE) version by Handtec. They claimed that they could legally source any unit from one EU country to another without breaking any consumer protection law. Not sure they are right but don't have time to contest it.
However, the EE versions also support English and you can upgrade from the relevant country site and still read it. Happily the upgrade itself has an English title even on the Czech site. I think you are prompted for the language you want when you run the upgrade - I've certainly done it without any trouble.
The only two issues are:
a) upgrades for minor markets (e.g. EE) lag behind the 'major' ones by some weeks (and I suspect some won't appear at all);
b) some ROM applications appear with EE defaults (eg the clock comes with Warsaw and Budapest times not London, Paris, New York).
b) is trivial but a) can be a pain. I certainly won't be buying from Handtec again as I think this is a con.

Finaly got my Galaxy S.

Got my Galaxy S today in Sweden, to bad it was no Swedish Swype on it from start tho. Other then that it is realy damn nice phone, if i compare to desire my last android i bought this one feel mutch more fun so far.

I just checked swypes homepage and they say that it supports Swedish, try downloading the public beta otherwise, might be that the version that is preinstalled is older, but I don't know.
I want mine to =) it is on its way atleast from the UK.
Where in Sweden did you purchase yours?

Mine for sure dont support swedish, got otehr lang. but no swedish And samsung support told it will be out this summer, who knows tho
Did get mine from Geab, they did get 3 and i was first on list so had luck on that front

on swype website there is note.
# If your phone came pre-installed with Swype
DO NOT download this beta (it won't work)

Where to buy I9000 in Greek?

Hey,
My family are planning to fly to Greek, and it will be much cheaper for me to buy it there then buying it in Israel.
There is a popular store there, like Clove or something?
Thanks

You mean Greece
'Germanos' are the first electronics chain that brought them, AFAIK.
Now Vodafone stores have them too, for about 550 euros.
There is a number of greek internet shops that stock them too, but I don't know if any can be considered 'popular'.
The phone was only very recently released in Greece, so the choices are limited. Most Greeks that have it, have ordered it from abroad.

I found a store on skroutz, which listed it for 490, just a week before the greek introduction by cosmote. It doesn't have greek as a keyboard option though, while the OS can be changed to greek. For me this wasn't an issue, but you should be carefull where you buy yours from, if you re looking for T9 and a greek keyboard, .
On the other hand I dunno if the one Cosmote or Vodafone offer, lists greek as input option either.

I don't need a Greece keyboard. I'll flash it and then install hebrew fonts and hebrew keyboards.
550-500 euro is very very high! look at clove price

To people who have bought the EU versions...

Have you bought an EU version of the Galaxy Note either from Amazon.de or one of the UK retailers selling them, like Handtec?
Are the manuals, box and documentation etc in English, or are they in German etc?

I got from eBay, the guy shipped from Germany so it's most likely the German version(Especially since the default language was set to German). The box was in English and the quick start guide came in English and German.

I'm awaiting delivery from amazon.de but I have already downloaded and browsed the user manual....
http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/c...GT-N7000_UM_EU_Gingerbread_Eng_D08_111006.pdf

vinokirk said:
Have you bought an EU version of the Galaxy Note either from Amazon.de or one of the UK retailers selling them, like Handtec?
Are the manuals, box and documentation etc in English, or are they in German etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is polish I assume (the box says www.samsung.pl )
and I have one non-english manual.
I already downloaded/read the english manual though, from the german samsung website.
- Frank

Where did you purchase yours from Frank?

They're comming out at around £480. What did you guy pay?

vinokirk said:
Where did you purchase yours from Frank?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Handtec. Shipping was international priority and blazing fast, left there 1pm UK time, arrived USA 10am next day.
- Frank

Dang thats fast!