| Author |
New Zealanders |
Muhammad-Oli
Joined: Jun 13, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: The NZ of L
PM |
On 2008-05-21 09:55:14, carkitter wrote:
@Jism
They're already discounting like hell to slow down the massive rush of customers to Vodafone. It seems everyone is on Vodafone these days. Only the business customers persevere with Telecom and then only those too conservative to change.
And those young people that still think Telecom is the best from back in the days that $10 text was the best thing ever. I only bought my Telecom because absolutely everyone I knew switched over when $10 text came out. I resurrected my old Telecom a few days ago just to text this one guy at university that I'm working on a brief with. I'm not paying 20c a text to him on my Vodafone! If those people would switch over to Vodafone, they'd realise what they were missing:
- BestMate - I think you can have up to four now, and its pretty cheap!
- TXT2000 - The same as Telecom's Boost Text deal, which most of them had anyway.
- Actually decent, and not stuck in the dark ages cell phones.
- A network which is actually fairly up to date. I find it surprising that Telecom doesn't yet offer a text service to get your account balance. Vodafone has had that as long as I have had a phone, and thats about 6-7 years now.
- GSM phones, so they don't have to worry about roaming and don't have to worry about the future changes.
@M-O
Video calling won't be a major loss, I'm not sure if there is a video call camera on the W980, just so long as I don't have to wait six months to use the HSDPA and email client.
The SE website lists Video Calling as a W980 feature. I don't think you'll have to wait for HSDPA or email. The W910i and W980 are likely to be very similar on the inside so I would imagine you can just use the W910i settings and it should work out fine! 
This message was posted in the mail
2008, 2009, 2010 Best Australasian Member. |
|
|
Muhammad-Oli
Joined: Jun 13, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: The NZ of L
PM |
Looks like the W910i may have been removed from NZ stores... Its not showing up on the Vodafone site, and I remember it wasn't in my local Vodafone store anymore when I paid a visit the other day. I'm kinda glad... Makes my phone more exclusive. 
This message was posted in the mail
2008, 2009, 2010 Best Australasian Member. |
carkitter
Joined: Apr 29, 2005
Posts: > 500
From: Auckland, NZ
PM |
Hmmm... perhaps were getting the W890i or (perish the thought) the W980 at the same time as Europe. We seem to be getting the 3G Apple iPhone at the same time as other countries, if I were SENZ I'd be asking Vodafone to sharpen up thier SE release dates or admit to hipocracy/favouritism since unlocked iPhones in NZ supposedly number only 3000.
_________________
My V640i review
"Innovation in styling comes from innovation in packaging" - Gordon Murray
[ This Message was edited by: carkitter on 2008-05-24 03:11 ] |
carkitter
Joined: Apr 29, 2005
Posts: > 500
From: Auckland, NZ
PM |
Just noticed that Vodafone are doing a talking GPS download much like the SE GPS plugin accessory called Vodafone Compass. Right now it only works on Blackberry devices, but it'll work on other handsets in the future. It cost $2.50 a day or $10.00 per month to subscribe. I bet this has been optimised for the iPhone!
|
K71
Joined: Jan 28, 2008
Posts: 34
PM |
so the G900 is out on ebay for us$600 odd.i think i'll wait for a three or so months before i seriously consider a purchase.hopefully the exchange rate will stay ok for us!!especially when the K850 is still $1000 at v.fone stores, it looks very tasty!!
another thing, with t.com going gsm, how easy do you lot think it will be to swap between the two??its just that i can remember a time not so long ago when officially you couldn't send txt messages etc. between v.fone and t.com, so will they block eachother from branded phones you think? |
Muhammad-Oli
Joined: Jun 13, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: The NZ of L
PM |
The K850i is actually $800:
http://store.vodafone.co.nz/m[....]t.aspx?brand=60&price=0&page=2
But I do agree with you. It seems like importing any phone is the way to go now because prices here are ridiculous! Hopefully Telecom will bring some competitive pricing to the market so we can finally afford what we want! In fact, thinking about it, Telecom might start bringing out SE phones again and they might bring out ones that Vodafone doesn't... And if they both stock the same phones, we'll have a price war on our hands!
Regarding switching between networks, I have no idea how its going to pan out. But carkitter recently said Vodafone is going to start locking mobiles, so it looks as though its not going to be easy!
This message was posted in the mail
2008, 2009, 2010 Best Australasian Member. |
K71
Joined: Jan 28, 2008
Posts: 34
PM |
yeah that would be typical wouldn't it, lock phones to one network.if they do that then could that possibly screw up buying a phone from ebay etc?you should be able to buy a better range of phones than what they offer really.t.com are the ones that will benefit more with gsm as they'll have a better range of phones than they used to, so maybe v.fone will extend its range a bit.just as long as a G900 can be used here i'll be happy.
and the k850 i saw yesterday was $999 in the v.fone store in wgtn, so maybe its an online price?or they haven't changed the price labels in store yet.
[ This Message was edited by: K71 on 2008-05-25 12:08 ] |
Muhammad-Oli
Joined: Jun 13, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: The NZ of L
PM |
I don't think you'll have problems buying from eBay, just as long as you buy an unlocked phone. A G900 or almost any phone will work fine here, they'll only be locking the phones you buy directly from Vodafone NZ (and probably Telecom once they get the hang of this new GSM business  ). One thing you might have to be careful of is TradeMe, because the majority of phones on there will be NZ-purchased ones and may be locked. With the average know-nothing NZer, they probably won't know to warn you either. Not for a while anyway.
I think you will be able to get the phones unlocked but I bet it will cost you!
Yeah you might be right about the K850i pricing. But then the pricing is never consistent anywhere in NZ.
This message was posted in the mail
2008, 2009, 2010 Best Australasian Member. |
K71
Joined: Jan 28, 2008
Posts: 34
PM |
well if/when i get a G900, it'll be new and unlocked from ebay like my previous two se's.better start saving now eh? |
Muhammad-Oli
Joined: Jun 13, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: The NZ of L
PM |
Yeah, you'd better! One good place to look is here.
They've been recommended by a few Esato users and their prices are generally very cheap. Make sure the drop down box in the upper right of the page is set to New Zealand dollars and have a browse. They don't have the G900 yet but they're usually very quick. I'd expect to see it within a week or two.
This message was posted in the mail
2008, 2009, 2010 Best Australasian Member. |
K71
Joined: Jan 28, 2008
Posts: 34
PM |
looks interesting thanks..............ha!!k850's for nz$480!!!!amazing isn't it!!still $800 in nz!! |
carkitter
Joined: Apr 29, 2005
Posts: > 500
From: Auckland, NZ
PM |
Vodafone have announced they'll be SIM locking phones from May 1st and that unlocking will cost $50. Telecom have announced they will NOT be locking phones and there's some SPECULATION they may offer a $50 credit to get people to bring across thier locked phones. Telecom's GSM network is apparently taking longer than expected to get going so coverage in November could give new meaning to the word 'sparse' if you want more than GPRS... I also read that Telecom were front-runners for an exclusive NZ deal for the iPhone until Apple decided to drop the 'one network per country' policy meaning that until they get thier HSDPA act together (perhaps next year) they won't be able to release thier version of the iPhone.
As far as pricing goes...  in the mall this morning, I went past a Vodafone Kiosk that had the W910i selling at $799 and the K850i at $999 while the Vodafone Shop just 50m further up had both for the new $200 lower prices. Just dumb, but I'm sure some schmuck will pay it. No sign of the W910i disappearing from stores near me...
I can't see there being a pricing war for non-contract phones unfortunately as I've recently come to find that SE phones here and in OZ are not supplied by SE but by a third party who buys in bulk. With VodafoneNZ being able to piggy-back of the Vodafone World-wide brand and loading unique firmware on arrival, it can get a better deal than Telecom NZ who have no associations to leverage off. Expect to see cheap/free phones if you sign up to a contract though!
What I hope will happen is that we may see SE phone stores pop up selling branded and non-branded phones as they do overseas. It would depend on whether Official Apple Resellers who are not Vodafone affiliated like Magnum Mac get to sell un-branded iPhones... it could be a significant precedent if they do. Here's hoping!
|
Muhammad-Oli
Joined: Jun 13, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: The NZ of L
PM |
On 2008-05-26 04:02:02, carkitter wrote:
I can't see there being a pricing war for non-contract phones unfortunately as I've recently come to find that SE phones here and in OZ are not supplied by SE but by a third party who buys in bulk. With VodafoneNZ being able to piggy-back of the Vodafone World-wide brand and loading unique firmware on arrival, it can get a better deal than Telecom NZ who have no associations to leverage off. Expect to see cheap/free phones if you sign up to a contract though!
What I hope will happen is that we may see SE phone stores pop up selling branded and non-branded phones as they do overseas. It would depend on whether Official Apple Resellers who are not Vodafone affiliated like Magnum Mac get to sell un-branded iPhones... it could be a significant precedent if they do. Here's hoping!
Well thats pretty much settled then. I probably won't buy a new phone from Vodafone or Telecom again. I think I'm going to just buy imported phones from now on. It sounds like this new Telecom GSM network isn't going to help so much as make it worse in many cases. I will still hope for dedicated SE stores, but NZ is so small...
To be honest I don't think Vodafone is really going to be able to brand their iPhones. Apple won't allow them to. They can lock as much as they like, but not brand! At this stage Apple is the only company that can draw me away from SE, and that depends on how good the next gen iPhone is!
This message was posted in the mail
2008, 2009, 2010 Best Australasian Member. |
Muhammad-Oli
Joined: Jun 13, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: The NZ of L
PM |
I just noticed our little New Zealanders thread is coming up to its 500th post.
This message was posted in the mail
2008, 2009, 2010 Best Australasian Member. |
carkitter
Joined: Apr 29, 2005
Posts: > 500
From: Auckland, NZ
PM |
On 2008-05-25 12:56:49, Muhammad-Oli wrote:
But I do agree with you. It seems like importing any phone is the way to go now because prices here are ridiculous!
Not only the prices but the indignity of waiting up to 6 months behind European release and not getting FANTASTIC models like K810, T650, W580, W890, etc. 
The Mobile phone market is the fastest moving in the world. We all know that a phone in the market for 6-9 months is old and a 2yr model is ancient. Even Motorola went from boom to bust (nearly) in only 2yrs. We want our phones now! ** slams the table**
|
|
|
Posted: 2008-05-21 10:22
