Mobile upgrading advice needed please

I have quite an old mobile by today's standards - a Sagem MW 3020.
Basically it's a blue screen one with grey text, certainly with no
picture, video or polyphonic music support. Anyway, I have a
pay-as-you-go account, and I'm wondering if it would be possible to
upgrade my phone, preferably to one with photo and video, and games
too, but I'd like to be able to transfer my sim card across and still
use the same account. Would I be able to do that? And if so what kind
of phones should I be looking at? And I know that with some phones and
networks you can order games and download them to your phone, but would
I be able to find out if I would be able to do that with my existing
account in a new phone? Thanks for any help!

Edit: Also I know that some mobiles have better graphics than others,
what would I need to know about that?




--
ianpwilliams

ianpwilliams schrieb:
> [...] Anyway, I have a
> pay-as-you-go account, and I'm wondering if it would be possible to
> upgrade my phone, preferably to one with photo and video, and games
> too, but I'd like to be able to transfer my sim card across and still
> use the same account. Would I be able to do that?

Yes, but know that phones without a contract attached cost much more
than those 9,99 you see in the ads.

> And if so what kind
> of phones should I be looking at?

From your email address, I take it you are in the UK. In that case, you
need either a GSM900 or 1800 phone, depending what network you are on.
Most phones (especially the flashier ones you are looknig for) are at
least dualband today, so no problem here.

Also make sure you get an unlocked phone, i.e. one that accepts all
types of GSM SIM cards from all manufacturers. Phones sold in payg
packages are mostly locked to the operator you buy it from, sometimes
they are locked to the payg SIM card they are sold with.

> And I know that with some phones and
> networks you can order games and download them to your phone, but would
> I be able to find out if I would be able to do that with my existing
> account in a new phone?

Most likely yes. But downloading games requires your account to support
GPRS data traffic. Only your network operator can tell you if that is
possible with your account and what the costs are. Depending on your
tariff, cost for the data transfer alone (adding to the price of the
actual game) may well be in the range of several pounds.

> Thanks for any help!
>
> Edit: Also I know that some mobiles have better graphics than others,
> what would I need to know about that?

Every model is different. Find out what features you really want, then
read review on the internet, make a list of candidates and then take a
look at a running devices in a shop. As an alternative, just buy what
your friends have...

Andreas

Excellent, thanks for that!




--
ianpwilliams