[bodsham]

I was wondring whether I could downgrade my plan because I rarely use 60 mins a month let alone 600. When I look on the Voda web site to see what the plans are now... I can't find the Magic at all. Is this phone gone? Is downgrading a plan still an option?

[smcgirr]

Go to 'My Account' and select 'My Plan'

If you are eligible to change plan then you should have a change plan button (9 months into current deal). Although when I do that all the plans listed are more expensive than what I am currently on

Even if you find a plan to change to, you can only step down by a maximum of £5 a month.

[pilchardfish]

Interesting!

I see Vodafone and Phones4u have removed the Magic from their sites. It's still on CPW's website however.

Wonder how long we get to keep our special Magic forum on here; none of the other HTC phones have a sub-forum; if they aren't selling the phone any more, and we're just pains in the bum whingeing about 2.0 ROMs (some would say, with good reason, but hey), wonder if this forum will be for the chop ...

Pilchardfish

[maddogUK]

Interesting. Guess they fed up with the users.

[Frostfree]

The iphone, blackberry storm 2 & 9700 are the flagship phones these days

[pilchardfish]

maddogUK, on Mar 2 2010, 10:05 PM, said:

Interesting. Guess they fed up with the users.

Maddog, I like what's listed under your "Handset"

Pilchardfish

[MartinB_Vodafone]

Hi Guys

With any contract you have, you can downgrade the plan 1 step down per month, even if the phone gets discontinued; this is normally the case if the contract is for 24 months.

With any downgrade of a price plan this can start to happen 9 months into that contract.

At this moment in time it is not confirmed if the HTC Magic has been discontinued, even with it no longer been on the Vodafone website.

When any handset is discontinued we will always support the handset as much as possible, especially on the eForum, as we know how important a phone is to each other.

So if you have any questions with the HTC Magic we are always here to help.

Martin
eForum Team

[smcgirr]

doesn't bode well for the future for those who have recently taken out 24 month contracts on the phone.

"as much as possible" doesn't really fill my heart with joy and excitement that Vodafone are going to be proactive on future upgrades

[tony5101]

smcgirr, on Mar 3 2010, 11:47 PM, said:

doesn't bode well for the future for those who have recently taken out 24 month contracts on the phone.

"as much as possible" doesn't really fill my heart with joy and excitement that Vodafone are going to be proactive on future upgrades

Have to agree here - although I'm 10 months into my 18 monther now - (I got the phone when it first came out (on Voda at least))
To see that it's been pulled completely, and not just been relegated to the cheaper contracts - really doesn't look to good.
I think that Voda now realise that the handset isn't popular enough - and that tech. has just moved along too quickly - leaving the Magic verging on obsolescence. I know that people switch the ROM's etc. but how long before ROM (makers/bakers/mixers - not up with the terms lol) simply stop making them backwards compatible, with workarounds to allow usage on our more limited hardware. I think it'll only be a matter of months to be honest, and they'll have moved on to the new more powerful kit. Progress I think they call it

I don't blame Voda to be honest, I shoulder a lot of the blame myself for buying a poor piece of kit in the first place (Hindsight is a wonderful gift!). As I've stated before, I think Android is very much in it's infancy, and has a long way to go - eventually I think it'll probably end up being the star of the show - BUT - you need to couple the OS with a decent bit of kit, with enough processing power and memory etc. to be able to cope with demanding user's needs. Sadly - the Magic (or our version of it anyway) just doesn't live up to expectations.

Tony

[fritter]

Think that's a bit harsh on the phone, Tony!

Personally, I still love my phone. Other than native bluetooth file transfer (which I can do with an app, anyway) there's nothing I need my phone to do that it can't do.

Still love the phone - just want the update for bluetooth, faster browsing and more responsive keyboard!

[tony5101]

I suppose just trying to say that everyone wants bigger/better/faster - and unfortunately it would appear that this phone doesn't have a long shelf life. Technolody moving along as quick as it is at the moment.
I think that a lot of people will start to compare things to the iPhone brand (in terms of longevity) - which appears to have been around forever - just in slightly different flavours (and no - I don't want one of those damn things either! LOL)
If we were just signing 12 month contracts, phone obsolescence wouldn't really be a problem, but the contracts get longer and longer, and it gets to the stage that the phones are just not up to lasting (developmentally) as long as the contracts do.

I know that phones "generally" are more expensive than they used to be - therefore it stands to reason that networks will take longer to recoup the money for the handset and move into 'profit'.
Personally - I would rather go back to a 12 month contract, and pay a nominal fee for the phone. I'm sure that this would open up more choice to people.

Tony

This post has been edited by tony5101: 04 March 2010 - 10:44 AM

[maddogUK]

The iPhone is looking extremely dated now which is why they are getting worried by the Android phones. Carriers love it because it is all controlling, but users with a touch of brains are moving on.

I agree with the return of the 12 month contract and pay more for the phone but another carrier, with O and 2 in it's name, has realised that rolling contracts seems to be the way to go if the user wants to keep hold of their smartphone.

I am moving away from contract phones now though. I would rather have the support and software from the OEM and a rolling SIM contract than a crippled piece of rebrand and locked into 18 months of excuses. The fiasco of the Magic/Google/VF has put me off.

Hey Ho.

[maddogUK]

Our answer is confirmed here.

[bodsham]

maddogUK, on Mar 4 2010, 10:13 PM, said:

Our answer is confirmed here.

Dead after 10 months eh? Am very glad I didn't sign up to a 24 month contract. I'm reasonably happy with the Magic but I'd just like to have a picture of what to do later this year when the current contract expires. Right now I'm not at all sure. Maybe buy something unlocked and get a sim only deal. Not much point in tying yourself into long contracts if a phone that was flavour of the month less than a year ago is suddenly dead in the water.

PS - yes I can change my plan. But only to ones that are more expensive and less useful than the one I've got. Great...

This post has been edited by bodsham: 04 March 2010 - 10:25 PM

[pilchardfish]

maddogUK, on Mar 4 2010, 10:13 PM, said:

Our answer is confirmed here.

Oh dear lol

Well, almost 10/11ish months down, 7 to go ... glad I got the Magic at release, think I'd be annoyed if I'd bought it only a week ago!

TBH I'd love to flash it and put a new ROM on, but even after everything I've looked at on the internet (here, other forums) there isn't a black and white complete idiots guide to flashing a new ROM onto your phone. Only the prospect of spending a whole weekend reading every single forum thread to ensure you don't hit any problems.

Out of interest, how is everyone going to ensure they don't get a crippled phone next time? Just avoid branding and stick to OEM, or just compare the technical specs across different territories first before committing?

Pilchardfish

[maddogUK]

Question is, if they die within contract what will they be replaced with? Not the current poor selection I hope.

[Frostfree]

I've read that the Legend is to be a voda exclusive from April, I suspect this is the reason the magic has been discontinued, after all they can charge premium contracts for that ,which is something they could no longer do with the Magic.

[maddogUK]

Not a phone I would select through choice.

[Tom_Vodafone]

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to pop on and say the Magic hasn't officially been discontinued yet, but is coming towards the end of its life with us.

To be completely honest, I don't remember a single phone in the last few years that's been sold for more than 12 months. Mobile technology changes so rapidly that we're constantly releasing new devices, and realistically older ones sell less well when the newer ones come out. The HTC Magic is one of the longest running devices in our entire range, in fact I think only the Nokia 5800 has been on sale longer.

That said, this doesn't make a scrap of difference to the service and support you'll get from us around the handset. If you're in a 24 month contract, we'll still support that handset in terms of warranty for that time, and will still be releasing new software for it later this year, even if we don't sell it any more.

Hope this explains it all to you,

Tom

eForum Team

[bodsham]

Has the Magic been on sale for 12 months yet? I thought I bought mine when it first came out, on an 18 month contract last June. Also you'd expect it to be be replaced by something similar and better i.e. an Android 2.0 phone. And that simply hasn't happened. Anyone wanting an Android phone right now wouldn't be coming to Vodafone.

This has been a learning experience for me as a first-time Vodafone customer. I'm reasonably happy with the phone and the service. But I'd never sign a 24 month contract in a million years on this basis and it seems to me to make a lot of sense to move down to a £20 a month sim only service with a sim free handset in future.

I may well be doing that before this one runs out to be honest. Can someone please spell out what exactly the costs might be in a situation like this where I want to either...
a) change the existing contract to a sim only £20 a month one or...
b) just cancel the contract?

Tom_Vodafone, on Mar 5 2010, 10:18 AM, said:

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to pop on and say the Magic hasn't officially been discontinued yet, but is coming towards the end of its life with us.

To be completely honest, I don't remember a single phone in the last few years that's been sold for more than 12 months. Mobile technology changes so rapidly that we're constantly releasing new devices, and realistically older ones sell less well when the newer ones come out. The HTC Magic is one of the longest running devices in our entire range, in fact I think only the Nokia 5800 has been on sale longer.

That said, this doesn't make a scrap of difference to the service and support you'll get from us around the handset. If you're in a 24 month contract, we'll still support that handset in terms of warranty for that time, and will still be releasing new software for it later this year, even if we don't sell it any more.

Hope this explains it all to you,

Tom

eForum Team