Picking out a Hermes. Do most of you use 8525's?

[kalibar]

I'm kicking around the idea of buying a Hermes, it's a sweet phone and it seems to have fallen a bit in price since I last looked at it. When searching for the different branded versions on eBay, I noticed that I could pick up a Cingular-branded Hermes (8525) a good deal cheaper than the rest of them. Are there any major shortcomings to the 8525 over other versions of the Hermes outside of the missing front camera? Using an American GSM provider, would I even miss the front camera?

I'm on T-Mobile, but if I grabbed a Cingular Hermes I'd obviously just go ahead and unlock it and use it with my service. Honestly, I think it would be pretty sweet to get the T-Mo UK branded Hermes (MDA Vario II) and carry that around instead. Then my friends would be like "whoa dog why does my T-Mobile store not have this phone how did you score it!!!" and I would be like "hell nah homies this shit is elite". But alas, it's not worth paying $600+ for a T-Mo Europe branded one when I can get the Cingular-branded one for well under 500.

Do you guys who have used multiple Hermes' have any preference? Would I likely be just as well off with an 8525 (given that I plan to flash it) as an HTC branded "TyTN" or other HERM200 version of the phone?

Thanks!

[lokmeup]

I got the 8525... If your not going to use the video calling, why pay more?

Ron

[kalibar]

I got the 8525... If your not going to use the video calling, why pay more?

Ron
That's just it, though -- I'm wondering if it's even possible to use video calling in the United States. Is it?

More importantly, are there any replacement shells or cover-ups available for the 8525 such that one could make it appear not to be a Cingular device? I know I'm weird, but if I buy a Hermes for use with T-Mobile USA, I think it looks silly to have Cingular branding on the shit.

Thanks so much!

[trashcan]

That's just it, though -- I'm wondering if it's even possible to use video calling in the United States. Is it?

More importantly, are there any replacement shells or cover-ups available for the 8525 such that one could make it appear not to be a Cingular device? I know I'm weird, but if I buy a Hermes for use with T-Mobile USA, I think it looks silly to have Cingular branding on the shit.

Thanks so much!

I bought a Vodafone 1605 on Ebay and used it with T-mobile and now Cingular....I don't mind the brand name on the phone cos I know it's all the same inside:D

[chachi]

The Vario II pricing is coming down in the UK ... just got given one for £50 on a renewal which is roughly 60% less than I was quoted about six weeks ago.

(typing as I wait for a full resync on my shiny new wm6 black to complete :) )

You might be able to snap one up off eBay UK on the cheap if your timing is good ...

[lokmeup]

I know I'm weird, but if I buy a Hermes for use with T-Mobile USA, I think it looks silly to have Cingular branding on the shit.

Thanks so much!

I am pretty sure a little alcohol and rubbing would remove the branding.... if your really desperate you could use a little nail polish remover... :D

[DeniaL]

I think you can buy "shells" for these phones on ebay. I don't know if they are interchangeable, aka using a Vario II shell on a Cingular 8525, but I would assume they would as long as the button configuration is similar.

[kalibar]

The Vario II pricing is coming down in the UK ... just got given one for £50 on a renewal which is roughly 60% less than I was quoted about six weeks ago.

(typing as I wait for a full resync on my shiny new wm6 black to complete :) )

You might be able to snap one up off eBay UK on the cheap if your timing is good ...
That's actually a really good idea; I could only find about two total MDA Vario II's on ebay.com (which makes perfect sense), but when I went to ebay.co.uk there were shitloads. Unfortunately, it seems that most sellers only offer to ship within the UK so I'd have to find one ahead of time that would be okay with shipping to the States.

That brings my next question though. What's the deal with QWERTY vs. QWERTZ keyboards? The MDA Vario II seems to be the latter, and I've typed on a QWERTY all my life and really have no intention of switching. Is it possible to not only map the buttons to QWERTY on a Vario II, but to physically switch the keys?

Man, what a pain this is all turning out to be. I guess I should probably just score a Cingular-branded Hermes and be done with it.