Page 1 of Lobster 700TV (phone/TV/Dab radio) + 200 free minutes £50 or less

# 200 free minutes - to any UK network. Any day. Any time.
# Buy any Pay As You Go phone and pick up Pay Monthly perks!

Direct link here but go though Quidco for cash back



review here

A lot more info, including how to combine discount links here on MSE

This item was edited on Wednesday, 9th May 2007, 10:55

Looks Very Good
Does anyone know if a Sat Nav program will work on this phone such as TomTom mobile? Also, can this be unlocked to O2? If so how long after purchase?

Any other views on this phone would be appriciated anyone got any experiance of it?

Thanks in advance.

Ps mine`s coming soon!

Quote:
Also, can this be unlocked to O2? If so how long after purchase?

You can ask Virgin to unlock it once you`ve spent £30 with them. One poster on MSE said he/she put £30 on the card immediately and rang up Virgin to get it unlocked then and there. You still have the £30 + whatever else you had previously on the card to use.

Apparently updates and the license requires a Virgin card in the phone at the time the update is requested (better follow the MSE link posted earlier for a clearer explanation)

*** tomtom on lobster (cut n paste from MSE) ***
Hi all,

I`ve managed to install tomtom on the phone and it runs fine. the one problem I am having is that because the lobster hasn`t got a touch screen you have use the keypad to navigate tomtom, I haven`t figured out which buttons do what via the keypad.

Also before you can install any software on the phone you need perform something called "application unlock" you only have to do this once.

Virgin when they shipped the phone, they setup the phone so that you can not install any software on it that is not "signed". Instructions on how to remove the application lock can be found here:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=285344
you need to be a member of the forum do download the required files.

Regards

Ayaaz


finally figured how to use tomtom via keypad!!!!
I basically learnt through trial and error.

works really well.

I`ve now got two phones capable of tomtom!!!

I`ll probably give this lobster phone with tomtom and built-in DAB radio to my brother in law as a present!!!

Not a bad deal for £40 - 200mins - DAB radio - 5 TV channels for 90 days after which you only get BBC1 - and phone is tomtom capable providing you purchase a 256mb memory card, a gps receiver and tomtom software

Ayaaz

This item was edited on Wednesday, 9th May 2007, 11:44

Thanks for all the info, I will try it out on Saturday when the phone comes.
btw, can you listen to the TV/Radio through the speaker with the headphones/antenna plugged in?

This item was edited on Thursday, 10th May 2007, 00:09

Many thanks to the original poster. I`ve been looking for a decent pocket DAB radio for a reasonable price. The Lobster 700TV turned out to be just that, and a whole lot more!
Ordered one on Tuesday night with discount from the moneysavingexpert link - cost just under £41 including postage. It arrived on Thursday so I`ve had 1 day to play with it...
First of all, to pick up any TV or radio services, you must plug in the supplied headphones (they act as an aerial) and be in an area with good enough DAB coverage. The phone started without a SIM card and I was able to listen to the DAB radio on it without one, but no TV channels - not even BBC1 - would decode until I inserted a Virgin Mobile SIM card and let it acquire a licence. Apparently you need to renew the licence every 30 days to continue watching TV, and this can be done only by using a Virgin Mobile SIM card. That means even if you unlock the phone, you`ll still need to insert a Virgin SIM once a month, and it`ll cost you £5 after the initial 90 free days if you`re a pay-as-you-go customer. Fortunately I have a Virgin Mobile contract. Watching TV is free for the duration of your contract, so I used my contract SIM to activate the TV subscription - it worked with no problems.
However, there are only 5 TV channels available, and quite a few of the programmes are not available due to rights issues (Why? Surely it`s no different to broadcast terrestrial / Freeview TV?) Obviously the quality is nowhere near that of your living room TV, but it`s watchable as long as you get a good enough signal - if you don`t, the picture freezes or skips. All in all, I consider the mobile TV a bit of a novelty. I could live without it, but it`s probably alright to watch if you`re bored for a while.
I bought it for the DAB radio feature, and this has impressed me so far. Reception is very sensitive, even in bad signal areas where I`ve tried other DAB radios and they`ve disappointed. The `scrolling text` feature of DAB has been implemented better in this phone. Taking full advantage of the larger screen, the text telling you about the programme you`re listening to is displayed all at once on the screen, instead of having to wait for it to slowly scroll past. Even the station logos are displayed in the programme guide, along with a red button option that presumably takes you to the station`s website (I haven`t tried this yet).
Oh, and yes, to answer an earlier question, there is a built-in speaker, and you can play the radio or TV sound through it, but you still need the headphones plugged in to receive a signal.
I haven`t tried installing any other applications on it. There is talk on the xda-developers.com forum about getting TomTom Navigator 5.2 running on it. You will need to buy a bluetooth GPS receiver and a memory card (the phone doesn`t come with one) and there`s no touch screen, so it will be fiddly to use. I don`t think I`ll bother.
However, for what you get for the money, I`m very impressed so far. I showed it to my friend who straightaway ordered two!

HI,iv`e just got one myself and am very impressed! also bought this purely for the dab as its the same price as the cheapest portable dab out there only the bonus of the functions of a smart phone and everything else! i am having problems with tv,in fact every time i try it says cannot get virgin bites try later, then it asks to update subscription,then tells me to check my data connection! hope to sort it out over the weekend. on another forum somebody succesfully installed tom tom 5.2 , and there was also a link to buy a gprs receiver for £19.00 with uk maps which is compatible with the lobster! also veified by another user,so all in all its looking like a STONKER OF A BARGAIN! also like the idea of connecting car aerial to the rear of it so you can have dab in car on the cheap. although how do you connect the bloody thing to a car aerial? also somebody says in ASDA you can now buy a 1gig mini sd card for a fiver! so i`ll be down to the local one tomorrow! cheers! 8)

ordered a 2Gb micro SD card and a car charger for the lobster from play.com

First thanks to the OP as I had seen this on another forum but the discount link made it a cert I would buy.

Abbynat, don`t be a tease and let us know where these goodies can be purchased from. 20 pounds for GPS sounds good.

Also I am sitting in Norway listening to Norwegian DAB radio at present so it works outside of the UK as well.

I`ll do this when I think of something witty to say.

I`ve just ordrered a refurbished one from Virgin for £19.99 plus £2.99 postage. It`s just the phone, no inclusive minutes, and comes with a six month warranty. If you`re a Virgin customer call 789 from your mobile or 0845 602 4420 from a landline.

Anyone know of sources of free software for this phone that will run OK.
Thanks in advance.