Being teh ub3r geek I am, I want to show this off everywhere I am and the one way I can do that is by having the latest smartphone in my hand!

(When I say ’show off’, I mean ‘be able to do absolutely anything anywhere’.)

So yeah, as it goes I’m about 40 days from ending my contract on O2. It’s been a long 18 months and my sim card has seen more phones than a top notch prostitute has seen clients. A chronological list of the phones would consist of: LG Viewty, Sony Erickson W850i, Apple iPhone, Nokia N73 and my current HTC TyTN II. Not a whole lot of phones I know, but on an 18 month contract 80% of people will stick with their phones, and in my instance, I think you can tell I didn’t much like the Viewty, hehe.

That said, I have a reet dilemma now my contract is due to expire. There are two main options I can go for and various other sub-options to them main options that I can go for. Here they are..

Option 1) On September 28th, head into Carphone Warehouse or an O2 shop and upgrade my contract but remain on O2. (O2 graciously let me upgrade 30 days early.)

- Upgrade with O2 and get one of their selection of phones and to be honest, their current selection of phones are abysmal! There’s one or two I got my eye on, but require sacrificing one or two things I WANT in my smartphone. EG, the Sony Erickson W995 and the Blackberry Bold 9000 look to be amazing phones, they have most of the trickery I want in a phone but no touchscreen, but, touchscreen is one of the things I can leave out and not feel like I am missing out. The only problem with the SE W995 is the email support & how good it is. With the BB Bold it’s the rather poor battery life. Also while on O2, I am rather tempted by the iPhone 3Gs, but then I am un-tempted when I read the price tag. Why can’t things be in pennies and not Pounds! Lastly the new Samsung Galaxy i7500 is what looks to be a awesome phone. Straight off, running Android which is the mobile OS I am gunning for in an upgrade this time around, but the only snag for me is when you compare it to the HTC Hero/T-Mob G2.. You kind of go off it. (Will explain why below.)

Option 2) Wait my contract out until the end of October (Or cancel/pay it off and end early) then go onto another network for another phone.

- Initially, I was all for canceling my contract, until I tried to work out how easy it will be. Thinking about it, it wont be too easy. The last thing an operator would want is a customer walking in and inquiring about canceling their contract and such would either lob out loads of bullshit to the customer such as ‘Oh, your not able to do that at such and such a time into a contract..’ or try and sell me God’s Green Earth to try and keep my custom, and both them I really cant be asked to go through. But, at the end of it, if I am to switch providers it will have to be one that will give me a HTC Hero (or as I found out from my mate Scott a couple of days ago, the T-Mobile G2) for £40 or less. The last month or nine has consisted of me drooling over the HTC Hero in Brown on Vodafone via Carphone Warehouse. There is a £40 contract which consists of 600mins, Unlimited texts and web. The drawback being paying £29.99 for the phone, but in comparison, it’s nothing and very much worth paying. But, having now seen the G2, For £35 a month I can get a free phone with 800mins, Unlimited texts and unlimited web! What a score! Also to note that the G2 comes with the HTC Sense UI for Android and comes in an orgasmic all Black finish, such a sexy colour on a phone.

There is a un-sung third option too. The option consists of me upgrading early on O2 via Carphone Warehouse and getting a despicably cack phone but getting a free Netbook or Laptop. All the phones on the rosta will easily text and call, but do little else. And, if I am brutally honest, I would only go for the Nokia 6300 they are offering. But if I go down that route, I will have to look into the contact deals such as minutes, text (no point looking for web on these phones really) and so on. But it’s still an option.

SO yeh, I’m at a loss with what to do. On one had a laptop/netbook will be very handy but I don’t want to not have mobile internet on my phone. Staying with O2 will be the easy option but breaking free from them to get something much better will be totally rewarding, but a lot of hassle.

I’ve not even mentioned about waiting for the Palm Pre! Although, I wouldn’t want to pay for a smartphone with a 3MP camera and NO AUTOFOCUS, no matter how good WebOS is.