HTC hero vs Blackberry Curve 8520

Gilbretto · 4 Nov 2009 at 19:20

Im looking for a new phone and have been offered 2 deals which seem reasonable to me.

HTC Hero/G2

800 minutes/500 text
Unlimited Web/email
Free phone
£25 per month (18 months) on T-mobile

Blackberry Curve 8520

600 minutes/1000 text
Unlimited Web/email
Free phone
£29 per month (18 months) on o2

My uses will be calls/texting. General web use (including facebook/youtube). And accessing email. I'm not too fussed about the quality of the camera. Battery life needs to be over a day (preferably 2).

Which of these phones do you think i should go for? Or what else would you suggest?

on a side note. I have large fingers! Is the Hero only suitable for people with kiddy size hands?

Hope you can help.

Gil.

magicoi · 4 Nov 2009 at 19:39

May i ask how on earth you got that deal with t-mob?

Ive been with them for years and whilst not a heavy user currently pay £25 a month. Bast they would do was £30 for 24 months! I asked for my PAC code - they gave it. nothing more heard

Damn i want a hero, bt not for £30 a month

daveydave · 4 Nov 2009 at 21:30

blackberry

warren_1979 · 4 Nov 2009 at 22:13

If you have large fingers you will struggle with the blackberry keypad. I have normal size fingers and have problems. I have a Blackberry 8900 (same size/keypad as the 8520) and cannot for the life of me type out an SMS without making a string of errors and having to backtrack. I'm kinda thinking I should have got the hero instead, but its too late now I'm out of my return period.

Stellios · 4 Nov 2009 at 22:35

Ive never played with the standard Blackberrys, but a mate of mine has the Storm2 and its a nice bit of kit, but its a lot more cluncky to use than my Hero.

Gilbretto · 5 Nov 2009 at 18:13

magicoi said:
May i ask how on earth you got that deal with t-mob?

Ive been with them for years and whilst not a heavy user currently pay £25 a month. Bast they would do was £30 for 24 months! I asked for my PAC code - they gave it. nothing more heard

Damn i want a hero, bt not for £30 a month

I rang up the sales line, and said that i'm an o2 customer and i'm ringing around to see if anyone can steal me away with a good deal.

I asked about the Hero, and it was the second deal she came out with. She called it the mega deal.

To all the other replies,

Thanks for the info on the keyboard. I'm gonna head down to the shop and play around with both for a bit and see which is easier to type on.

Yas786 · 5 Nov 2009 at 20:54

Gilbretto said:
Thanks for the info on the keyboard. I'm gonna head down to the shop and play around with both for a bit and see which is easier to type on.

Best plan in all honesty...everyone has different tastes so really you would be better off going down and playing with both and seeing which one you like the best.

I will say this though the BB 8520 is an entry level BB...its nothing spectacular other than having the trackpad...id also have a look at the 8900 Curve, 9000 Bold, the Storm2 as its a much better touchscreen than the first Storm was and also have a look at the new 9700 Bold2...but that wont be out till next week.

Mundu · 19 Nov 2009 at 21:30

Picked up the hero on t mobile with the same tariff as the op but for £22.50! First girl said the cheapest was £30 plus web but second time around got the above deal.

HarryPainful · 20 Nov 2009 at 10:09

Hmm... I think I need to give tmobile a call tonight!!!

Mundu · 23 Nov 2009 at 01:30

HarryPainful said:
Hmm... I think I need to give tmobile a call tonight!!!

They should put it on as a 10% extra discount on top. If they say they can't do it just ring up and try someone else.

6thElement · 23 Nov 2009 at 02:44

Soo annoying how cheap phones and monthly fees are in the UK compared to the US :<

manic111 · 23 Nov 2009 at 09:16

Think I need some haggling lessons. Paying £30 a month for my Hero on the same (18 mth) contract as above.

Still worth it though, awesome phone

Slinky1989 · 23 Nov 2009 at 09:31

Double post

Slinky1989 · 23 Nov 2009 at 09:38

6thElement said:
Soo annoying how cheap phones and monthly fees are in the UK compared to the US :<

Well come on, explain, just how much more expensive is it there?

Also I work in a t-mobile store, the mega deal is the £35 combi discounted by £10. However the reason it comes to thirty in store rather than 25 or 22.50 a month is because the unlimited Internet for the hero is a specific bundle for that handset with an FUP of 3gb instead of the usual 1gb (you don't get charged if you go over btw, just warned and then throttled at peak times if you REALLY take the ****) and it HAS to be added on at an extra £5 a month.

So it's:

800 minutes
unlimited texts
unlimited Internet

£30 a month all in.

However as has been pointed out above, you can often get better deals by going direct over the phone.

Hope that clears up a few things and explains things a bit better!

Just ask if you want to know anything else

DoubleCheese · 23 Nov 2009 at 11:40

slinky, if I've been offered and accepted (but not received yet!) a Hero on the deals above (free Hero, 800min, unltd SMS and W'n'W ) for £25 x 18mths, what are the chances of re-negotiating it to £22.50?

Also with an impartial hat on, what are the chances of T-Mobile getting the new gen of Snapdraggon HTC Android devices in the next few months and getting a deal the one above?

Microwave · 23 Nov 2009 at 11:42

I have the 8520 and the keyboard just takes getting used to, regardless of how big your fingers are. I've found if you cut your thumb nails it helps!

I know it's the entry level blackberry but I hate the scroll wheel. The trackpad works significantly better.

Slinky1989 · 23 Nov 2009 at 12:06

DoubleCheese said:
slinky, if I've been offered and accepted (but not received yet!) a Hero on the deals above (free Hero, 800min, unltd SMS and W'n'W ) for £25 x 18mths, what are the chances of re-negotiating it to £22.50?

Also with an impartial hat on, what are the chances of T-Mobile getting the new gen of Snapdraggon HTC Android devices in the next few months and getting a deal the one above?

It depends if it's been sent yet. If it has then unfortunately there's pretty much no chance. If it hasn't however you could always give them a ring and try but if I'm honest it depends entirely on the discretion of the person you get through to.

It's worth a try though!

On the subject of snapdragon, I believe we're getting the HTC HD2 in very soon however as for snapdragon android phones it's probably going to be another 4/5 months yet. We're supposedly gonna be getting the new xperia but it's all just rumours atm.

DoubleCheese · 23 Nov 2009 at 12:11

"slinky" said:
It depends if it's been sent yet. If it has then unfortunately there's pretty much no chance. If it hasn't however you could always give them a ring and try but if I'm honest it depends entirely on the discretion of the person you get through to.

It's worth a try though!

On the subject of snapdragon, I believe we're getting the HTC HD2 in very soon however as for snapdragon android phones it's probably going to be another 4/5 months yet. We're supposedly gonna be getting the new xperia but it's all just rumours atm.

Thanks for that. Its been sent and is with RM, I coudn't even change the delivery address to my work rather than home! I'm happy with £25/mth TBH and happier that the Snapdragon Android devices are many months away, doesn't make the Hero obsolete that quickly!

Slinky1989 · 23 Nov 2009 at 12:30

No worries

tbh you did well to get the internet free so £25 for it all is pretty damn good. And yeah I just asked my manager and he reckons it'll be at least 5 months before we see any android snapdragon handsets. Damn you windows mobile! Still looking forwards to giving the HD2 a whirl though