Ok Boys and Girls here's the deal...

I'm in line for an exciting free upgrade to my mobile phone, currently I have a sony-ericsson W910i.

I need a phone that's good for listening to music (I don't own a separate mp3 player, neither do I want to!) - although I'm no audiophile I want it to sound ok on headphones. And I like gadgets... Also, I'm not after a "premium" phone - I don't want to pay, I want the free upgrade only!Oh and I'm limited to Orange for this in terms of network phone availability.

My main options are :

Sony W705 (newer than the w910i, basically adding wifi to it)
Samsung S5600 (Touch screen)
Nokia 5800 xpressmusic (seems to fill the "music" requirement)
HTC touch 3G (seems to do most of the above with added GPS)
or a new W910i (meaning I get a new phone and can still benefit from the cash bonus of trading in my old phone!)

Does anyone here have any of the above? Anyone care to offer advice over which may be better to avoid or go for? I've had a look online and all of them get good and bad reviews, so I'm not overly sure where to go!!

Any thoughts gratefully received!

Cheers

Paul

I have the xperia which has hardware and os similar to the HTC touch (has the same hardware as the HTC touch HD) and really like it having gone from xperia

I have the Nokia and think its a really good all round phone. It comes with 8GB (expandable) for all your music and has a standard headphone jack so you can use whatever you want (I find these make the world of difference for the money Clicky)

I've also watched the odd film in bed and on the bus. Its not a massive screen but its good enough.

The touchscreen works well and build quality feels good. Also texting can be done with a full screen keyboard, mini qwerty (using the stylus) or alphanumeric which was a nice feature.

What else: WiFi, GPS maps, etc

I cant comment on the other phones as I havent used any of them but for a free upgrade I was very impressed with the 5800.

Mrs Cat has a Nokia 6600. The worst phone we have had the mispleasure to own.



I am hoping to get my first proper smart-phone this week.

I have the Touch Pro and it is an excellent smart phone, but the media player leavers something to be desired. Playback is fine, but I tend to listen to podcasts, which tend to be about 2 hours long each.

The skip backwards and forwards within a "track", when using such long tracks, is a complete pain. I think that the progress bar is designed for 2-3 minute tracks. If you are just listening to music, it should be fine, but if you going to use it for podcasts and often like to "rewind" to rehear something that you missed, or skipping bits, then you could possibly find something better.

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to pop into the phone shop at lunchtime today and see if i can have a play with any of the above phones, see how they "feel" etc.

Keep those thoughts coming if you have any though!

Cheers again!

Paul

The iPhone 3GS is the one I am going to look at. The last time I was in my local Carphone Warehouse it was the one phone that ALL the staff owned. That must say something.

But it isn't on Orange.

Ah!

I'm not denying the qualities of the phone but sometimes people go for the 'must have' gadget rather than the best and/or one most suited to their needs for example.

I don't understand the need for all these gadgets on mobile phones, mine I have had for years and I can make and receive calls that's what a phone is for.
The youth of today they want everything, I may upgrade to this one as it only weighs 28 ounces.

Why are you limited to Orange?

I'm on Orange currently but I'll be leaving (and taking my number with me) to O2 when my contract is up.

Palm Pre?

I have to agree with fakesnake. I used to get the lastest and greatest phone each year when it was time to upgrade but within a month all the novelty had worn off and I spent the remaining 11 months using the handset for making calls and sending texts.

I suppose it helps that I have an iPod Touch so dont really need a phone for a music player and I have a DSLR and compact camera so dont much care for the little cameras they come with.

The Nokia 5800 I have now even with its add-ons is still used as a phone and not a great deal else. I have uploaded a film to the phone to try it out once and keep me from falling asleep on the bus and the camera came in handy when I had a 'road traffic incident' recently but thats about it.

That is pretty much what I am doing.

I don't need games in my pocket, I have a simple hand held game machine. I don't need films and music in my pocket, I have a video iPod. I don't need a new phone, my old one still works. I don't need a camera, I have a digital camera already. I don't need a pocket video device, my camera has a video feature. I don't need the internet in my pocket, I can take my laptop out with me. I don't need a GPS unit, I have a Tom Tom. I don't need a digital compass, I have a hand held standard one that I take out walking.

I can afford a bit of self indulgence once in a while though so for once "need" can take a back seat and "want" can take the wheel for a while.