|
mailto: blog -at- heyrick -dot- eu
Specs getting silly
In 11 months, I will be up for renewal of my mobile/internet package. I was not keen on doing this, because when I cancelled and took out a new contract for my mobile phone with Orange, I got a new number each time. As I said way back when, I think Orange do this intentionally in order to keep you locked in because every time I ask why I cannot keep my number, the excuse changes. Assume "mumble, mumble, mumble, that's how it is". The only number I ever remembered was 0681 40 77 93. That was three phones ago!
As my contract rolls the internet and mobile together, and since our landline is VoIP through the Livebox, to have this number change would inconvenience many. Well, maybe a dozen people. But it's still more than just me.
The reason this came about - I should add - is because when my contract time is up, my monthly payments remain the same even though the phone subsidy has reached the end of its time. Looking to get a replacement model... Let's just say the 'accepted advice' from several people (including an Orange rep!) was to break the current contract and take out a new one.
And the reason that everything is bundled is because it costs me €60/month. That's €15 less than doing it separately. And that's about 4-5× what the same sort of thing costs in the UK. Ho hum.
It is therefore with some measure of pleasure that I see that I will be elegible for a replacement phone at a 'good price' in 11 months. In this way, the contract can be renewed (not cancelled) and I get a better phone at a better price.
At the moment, a phone that looks good is the Sony Xperia SP. At a list price of €299,36 (.36? seriously?) on a 12 month contract (or €319,90 without contract), Orange claims that they can offer this to me for €149,90 at the end of the year. I'm not paying to much attention to the price, for a year is forever in the psychotic chaos that is the mobile phone market.
At any rate, it looks like quite a nice phone for the money.
But I wrote this blog entry to take exception to TechRadar's review summing up the Xperia SP as:
Heavy users will likely get frustrated with the moderate battery and mediocre processor. But if you want to save a bit of money and still own a smartphone that you can show off at parties or around the office, you could do a lot worse than picking up the Sony Xperia SP.
"Mediocre" in this case is a dual-core 1.7GHz processor hooked to an HD (as in 720P native (wheee!)) display. That's like way above the spec of my current Xperia U (1GHz dual core; just like the iPad Mini); that's much more than my previous Xperia Mini Pro (1GHz single core); and let's not even mention my first Android handset, the Motorola DEFY, which with its 800MHz OMAP36xx is outpaced by both the Beagle xM and the RaspberryPi!
Really... WTF? A dual-core ARM clocking 1.7GHz is "mediocre" these days?
Your comments:
Please note that while I check this page every so often, I am not able to control what users write; therefore I disclaim all liability for unpleasant and/or infringing and/or defamatory material. Undesired content will be removed as soon as it is noticed. By leaving a comment, you agree not to post material that is illegal or in bad taste, and you should be aware that the time and your IP address are both recorded, should it be necessary to find out who you are. Oh, and don't bother trying to inline HTML. I'm not that stupid! ☺ ADDING COMMENTS DOES NOT WORK IF READING TRANSLATED VERSIONS.
You can now follow comment additions with the comment RSS feed. This is distinct from the b.log RSS feed, so you can subscribe to one or both as you wish.
| PhoneAddict, 15th February 2014, 22:11 |
Not sure what it's like over there, but here, on Orange (or EE as they're now known) I switched to a SIM-only plan once my contract was up. £17/month, unlimited calls to ALL UK landlines and mobiles, unlimited txt messages, 1GB of mobile data (including "tethering"). And if I want a new phone, I'll just buy one off eBay. |
(Felicity? Marte? Find out!)
- RISC OS WiFi - restarting, When is a fork not a fork? (2024/04/16)
- Dumb sci-fi movies, Sakura!, Other flowers, I blew sixty euros on gunk, Biting off more than you can chew, The truth about bug lamps, Not a creme egg, Red flags for dodgy builders, The first Swallow. (2024/04/14)
- How not to fill up. (2024/04/10)
- Scotland's hate crime law, School photos. (2024/04/07)
- Who's four some Tea? (2024/04/04)
List all b.log entries
Return to the site index
PS: Don't try to be clever.
It's a simple substring match.
Last read at 15:34 on 2024/04/20.
© 2014 Rick Murray
This web page is licenced for your personal, private, non-commercial use only. No automated processing by advertising systems is permitted.
RIPA notice: No consent is given for interception of page transmission. |
Have you noticed the watermarks on pictures?
|
| | 
