T-Mobile Comet (Huawei IDEOS U8150)

[cheaplikeafox]

Anyone interested in this phone? It's expected to be released on Nov. 3.

Seems like a decent low end Android with stock 2.2. According to the news, it might be $150-$200 without contract. That means it probably be less than $50 with contract which seems like a steal. It also supports USB tethering.

I'm thinking about getting this one or the LG Optimus T to replace my Nuron. The Optimus T and Comet seem pretty comparable except the Comet has a smaller, low resolution screen and slower processor. The Ideos has been getting pretty good reviews though. I know the other Huawei phone, the Tap didn't turn out so well though.

http://www.tmonews.com/2010/10/t-mob...t-in-the-wild/
http://www.pocket-lint.com/review/50...d-phone-review
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-pho...view-50000664/
http://www.tmonews.com/2010/10/the-h...-mobile-comet/

[cheaplikeafox]

The price of the phone is $150 at Costco unsubsidized and free at T-mobile.com.

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/...o-cost-149-99/

review
http://mobile.engadget.com/2010/11/0...-comet-review/

[er86]

Costco is not selling the Comet...The phone is nowhere to be found and when asked the employee thought it was an online only deal. When pressed she did some looking and said they were supposed to have the phone, but something happened so they are not selling it.

[cheaplikeafox]

yeah it was just a rumor that Costco would sell it. I guess they aren't now? All the reviews have said that the Optimus T is much better than the Comet though...so I would go with that phone if you want a budget Android.

[er86]

Amazon is selling at the same price as the Costco rumor/statement ($150) without a contract so I pulled that trigger last night. I agree that the Optimus T looks better as far as specs, but I could not justify $150, much less going north of $200.

Someone with a contact at Costco said they expected to offer the Comet after Thanksgiving.

[cheaplikeafox]

Amazon is selling at the same price as the Costco rumor/statement ($150) without a contract so I pulled that trigger last night. I agree that the Optimus T looks better as far as specs, but I could not justify $150, much less going north of $200.

Someone with a contact at Costco said they expected to offer the Comet after Thanksgiving.

thanks for the info! are you going to be using it without a data plan or do you have web2go/tzones? If you do have web2go/tzones, can you try it with the comet to see if it works?

I agree...if you want to buy it off contract, then I wouldn't spend the extra $90 for the optimus. On contract prices are only $5 difference though.

Here's the review of the comet. It didn't do so well.
http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/T-...-Review_id2581

[er86]

I received my prepaid Comet phone! I do not have a data plan so I purchased a webpass for the day using the handset's browser. No issues accessing a few web sites other than big fingers and I am new to Android so I just did the basics of setting up my Google account in Marketplace and installing the My Account application. Visiting my favorite weather site in the browser and did a couple of Google searches.

I was able to use the WiFi hotspot feature to access the internet on my XP system, but I am not able to tether it. The tether feature is on the handset and seems to work, but I cannot get the driver to work. T-Mobile does not seem to offer a driver or ANY support so I tried to use the KB article on the G2 that points you to http://www.android.com/tether. On the hotspot side I was able to connect to an open spot or one that I setup with WPA2 encryption. Very trivial to do this on the handset!

[cheaplikeafox]

hope you like the comet! I ended up getting a DEFY instead.

[eugenile]

anyone use this with tzones/web2go plans (make sure to change APN)

[er86]

I wanted to pass along to anyone who may be reading the thread, that I was able to tether the Comet to my Linux setup (Ubuntu 10.04 LTS). Just worked out of the box as you would expect.

Still no luck figuring out what is missing from XP to enable that feature, but XP is the past and not the future for me (other than my employer drinking Microsoft koolaid)...

[cheaplikeafox]

anyone use this with tzones/web2go plans (make sure to change APN)

so it works with web 2 go? Do you use it with web2 go or tzones?

[er86]

I purchased the Comet for PREPAID use only so I have no plans of any kind. I am using the Web DayPass, which may be purchased via the My Account application or via the browser which seems to go to m.web2go.com/myaccount.

"$1.49 Web DayPass: Unlimited 24-hour mobile web access for Pay As You Go (also available if you need more data than included in your monthly plan).
Service available for 30 days on monthly plans and 90 days (one year for Gold Rewards status) after activation/refill on Pay As You Go plan."

[er86]

Tethering on XP works if you install Microsoft ActiveSync 4.5. Yes, seriously. Ignore the MS web site when it says it only works with Windows XP SP2 and earlier as it works just fine with SP3. I am still baffled at the nonsense on the Google site about using that .INF file as a driver.

[wam]

anyone use this with tzones/web2go plans (make sure to change APN)

Anyone else say that the Comet works on the Web2go plan? I thought i would get the Comet and try it out on the web2go plan. How do i change the APN?

[Ludawg94]

Has anyone been able to run gingerbread on this phone? I know there are some roms out there and I have yet to root the phone itself. Wanted to get an idea if I should try 2.3 on it or just stick with 2.2. Also anyone rooted it yet to get flash 10 running on it? I just recently got the phone for 69.99 new from Radio Shack and I am coming from an N95-3, so I'm a newb with Android.