[Hands0n]

I nearly did it today! But miraculously I managed to actually not sign up to anything just yet. Instead I carried out my own personal mini-review of what was on offer today.

Anyone who has read about my upgrade intentions of late will know that I am hanging around for the Nokia 6280 slider handset to become available. But the time is dragging on and I'm not famous for my patience :) And so I have been eagerly scanning the Vodafone website for first sightings of the Nokia 6280 to no avail so far. But meanwhile, I have been studying their tariffs and Vodafone really seem to have got things right with the likes of Stop The Clock (STC), Passport and their 3G Live with TV lately becoming available. The whole Vodafone package is gaining worth by the week, it seems.

Today while in town I decided to have a stroll into the Vodafone high street shop. Perhaps I should have known better - always a dodgy thing to do when being of an impulsive nature.

The sales assistant was very polite and helpful - she stayed away when I wanted to surf the handset rack in peace (never make a decision without actually holding a handset in your hand!). She came over when I beckoned for further assitance, and I must say that she was very knowledgable about the product as well as the services and tariffs.

It was the Samsung Z500 that 3GSU raves about that caught my eye. This is the first time I have seen one "in the flesh" and it is a delight on the eye and in the hand. I had [previously] only seen it in Black/Silver which really did nothing for me. But Vodafone's version of the Z500 is all Black, and it really does the handset a favour aesthetically. Very slinky it looked. So much for the dummy (the phone, not me), it was time to have a play with a working model.

I must say that the Z500 fairly whizzes along in terms of speed of response to button pushes. Travelling around the menus is swift and quite intuitive. Nothing that you'd routinely use seems to be buried below one level of menu. Already I was liking the feel of the thing.

We had a bit of a play with Live!, including the new TV channels. It was good, even on the tiny screen of the Z500. I was worried about the small screen having become accustomed to the typically larger screens of the average 3G handset. I had thought that the smaller Z500 screen would be a chore to use, but that proved not to be the case.

So, having personally reviewed a Samsung Z500 in the Vodafone shop I am at a dilemma. Do I go for the Z500 and just get on with it, or hang out for the Nokia 6280 which I may not even like? For sure, the Z500 will do all that I want of it as a worthy companion to my Nokia 6680 on 3. I really do not need to carry around another fully-fledged Symbian handset. So in the end it may just boil down to a preference between (a) Flip vs Slider and (b) Samsung vs Nokia handset OS. Decisions, decisions. Don'tca just love 'em :D

Vodafone 3G Tariff which includes the Z500 "free":
Not available on-line from the Internet is Vodafone's "3G 500" priced at £40 which consists of the following;
500 Anytime minutes
100 texts
50 minuts of video calls
Access to football and news for the life of the contract

The nearest equivalent is Anytime 500 which is £50 a month.

[Ginz]

They are different types of phone so do you want a flip or a slider? The 6280 will be technically superior when it comes out and they say good things come to those who wait so I'd say it's worth the wait.

[Hands0n]

I waited, and waited, and ...... waited. I looked here, I looked there, I looked everywhere. I asked in the shop, I asked in an email. Without wanting to sound too much like The Cat In the Hat :) I pretty much exhausted all that is reasonable in terms of waiting. But the wait was worth it.

The Z500 would not have done for me, and my impatience nearly got the better of me. But as a result of waiting other new handsets appeared on Vodafone and I have finally opted for the Sony Ericsson W900i - copiously reviewed and explored elsewhere on Talk3G, so I wont do it here.

I have two in the household - daughter took the first one and it was a snip ordering it from the Vodafone website. Mine arrived today, but not without significant problems arising after ordering via their online phone number. But their CS did persist with my troubles and we got them sorted out eventually (3.5hrs eventually!!).

Vodafone "Life with 3G" is a treat. It is copious and very quick and responsive unlike 3 (which I am also on) which is like a slug on a cold day normally. There are aspects of 3's portal that I really like, especially "My 3" where you can see your account status online. Vodafone don't make it quite so simple, nothing on the portal and a convoluted affair on the Web. But navigating around Vodafone's portal is very quick, no sooner has one clicked than the required page appears! Perhaps 3 should upgrade their servers from i386 processors lol :)

The W900i is truly is not the Nokia 6280 - but that is having birthing troubles right now, at the time of writing. As a handset the W900i is extraordinary in itself and is busy keeping me entertained and happy. In many ways, I'm glad it all turned out like this ....