to not want to have to pay in excess of £300 for a mobile phone?

[wannaBe]

I need a new phone. Mine switches itself off periodically/freezes/the battery runs down very quickly so it's on the verge really.

But the software I use that makes my phone talk to me is only compatible with certain phones.

When I bought this phone I got it second hand and it already had talks (access software) on it (as I got it from someone who is VI) and it only cost me £60. But if I buy a new phone I will have to buy a new version of talks which will cost me £150, so that's before I even have a phone to put it on.

But now looking around for a new phone I look at the list of compatible phones and most of them are no longer sold (it seems that phones are only sold for a year or two and then become obsolete ), and the only ones that are availlable are super fancy ones with cameras and internet capability and video and lots of other things that are in no way related to making phone calls . And they are extortionately expensive, hundreds of pounds if you buy as PAYG or £25 a month if you get a contract (which I have no use for as I rarely use my phone).

But I need a phone I can put my contacts into. Because we live in a society where people text each other wrt things. And because I've got used to it I can't see myself taking a step backwards and living without it, iyswim?

But I really cannot find a use for a camera, or video, so I really cannot justify spending hundreds of pounds on a phone.

what is it exactly you want / need? my BIL is a senior manager for 3, if you let me know what sort of phone you are after I can ask him whats out there?

Can't you get a sim only £15 a month deal and then buy a cheap phone? I bought an LG Chocolat from Carphone for £40 odd and a £15 a month sim only from Voda, sorted.

O2 Sim only

and I went for Voda but only because 02 couldn't find my bloody address in their Post office address file (PAF) so wouldn't acceot me, tossers, hre

IF you just want it for texting then you can get a PAYG for £12 from TJ Hughes. Its a nokia on Orange. I hardly ever pay for texts because if you top up by £10 you get 100's of free texts.

If you don't want a fancy all singing dancing phone it does the job.

and it makes calls as well!

Um, WannaBe is vision impaired, hence her software problems.

Aren't there charities that will have info on this for you?

Just checking, you need voice access type stuff, right, not super big buttons, iirc?

Wait, what mobile do you have now?

the problem is that because I have no vision I have to use speach. And the software that provides that speach can only be installed on certain types of phones.

these are the compatible phones

But most of those phones are no longer sold by the phone companies, and the ones that seem to still be available are the top of the range ones.

I can buy just a cheapy phone for making calls/emergency purposes, but then I wouldn't be able to use the addressbook/text/calendar/all the other features because "talks" won't work on it. iyswim?

nqc I currently have a nokia 6630.

what network are you on now?

three.

ah, ok, what do you pay now? payg or contract?

and what phone have you got now?

payg.

a nokia 6630

Get a refurbished Nokia 6630? Maybe at mobileguru.co.uk (45 pounds, haven't checked delivery).

firstly, my BIL has said to make sure all applications are closed that you are not using. sounds stupid, but I didn't realise that on the nokias, if you don't exit an application, even the contacts one, it runs in the background draining the battery and running along with the talk program could cause the phone to crash sometimes. it may also be worth looking into buying a new battery. you used to be able to go to carphone warehouse for a free battery check, worth a thought. I will pass on the other details about your phone and plan to my BIL to see if he can do anything for you.

what about ebay wannabe?

Here is a Nokia 6630, new, boxed, buy it now price of £50 + £5 delivery.

The refurbished people tatt mentions sound good, too.

I'm assuming you want to stay on the same model of phone, but if you don't, you can no doubt find a version of whatever phone you want on ebay.

This doesn't solve the sw problem, unfortunately. Any chance you could talk to the software people and find out if you already owning a version of it gets you a discount or anything? Worth a go, surely?