On the Money Saving Expert Forum, a seemingly knowledgeable poster stated that if you pay anything at all for an orange contract handset - even 50 pounds - as opposed to accepting a free one, you can pester them and get an unbranded handset (Please note, I'm referring to unBRANDED handsets - i.e with ridiculous Orange firmware - and not specifically unLOCKED ones)

I've never heard of this before and it's never been mentioned by Orange, although it's possible it could be one of those obscure things that the average Orange Customer Service bod won't know about and therefore will say is not possible, even if it is.

I'd be grateful for any clarification (is it indeed possible, who do you have to talk to) as I've been offered a retention deal that I probably wouldn't get with upgrades from the Carphone Warehouse etc. However it's getting to the stage where the firmware issue is a deal-breaker - given that I could switch networks via the CPW or an internet provider, get and unbranded handset and hopefully be able to get a retention deal in future and never have to deal with the branding again.

FWIW off the top of my head the deal was

HTC Desire HD
24 Mths
600 mins
Unltd texts
500Mb internet for 15.75/mth

or 18 mths
200 mins
unltd texts
500 mb for 20.00/mth

BTW if you debrand a phone yourself, can you still get a faulty one fixed under the manufacturer's warranty? I know the operator warranty is invalid, but I wonder if this applied to the manufacturer tooo

But surely orange branding would allow you to use orange maps etc?

But surely Orange branding is both bloaty and slowy. Maps, yes I suppose - but what is useful in the etc.?

If you want Orange maps then fine, if not getting rid of the bloat is great.

Mr brother-in-law has the Desire HD on Orange and there's hardly anything Orange about it, nowhere near as bad as what they do (or used to do) with other phones. My HTC Hero is the same... I just have the Orange logo flash up on powering up and that's it... SIM Toolkit is there but hidden away in apps so it's not really a problem. Not bloated at all...

However, no, I've never heard of being able to get debranded phones direct from Orange.

Hate the bastardized versions of Orange. If you really want Maps programs, use Googles which is far better. The only great Orange app I like is the where it shows you your remaining minutes.

I've got the Samsung Galaxy S and they've said I can take it to an authorized Samsung dealer and they will flash it with unbranded firmware for free.

It's not just the bastardization though - there's also the issue of OS updates.

If you have say, an unbranded HTC Desire, you get any updated version of Android as soon as HTC make them available for that handset. If you have a branded handset, you have to wait until the operator faffs around and makes the update available for the branded version, assuming they ever do.

Back in the day, when I owned the earlier SE smartphones, Orange were the worst culprits for taking an age to do this. IIRC correctly in some cases you couldn't get an update for the Orange branded version at all,while those with unbranded versions were happily messing about with firmware that gave them bug fixes and nifty extra functionality. I'm not sure if this is as much of an issue now, but I still want a phone that operates as the manufacturer intended, with a guarantee that I will be able to receive all manufacturer updates as and when they are available.

I'm afraid the seemingly knowledgeable poster is talking out of his rear end.

Apparently not. I've just seen a number of other posters reporting that they've pushed for retention deals with orange, then insisted they have to leave because their heart was set on a phone that Orange don't carry. Orange have relented, told them to take some ID to the Carphone warehouse and get the phone (with the agreed retention deal of course). Not sure how they'd react if they already carry a phone. They may not like the idea of someone not using their firmware unless it's absolutely necessary.

I wish they'd sort this firmware b*ll*cks out. It seems an absolutely stupid reason to lose custom. Why not allow customers to opt for an orange branded phone if they want and for an unbranded one if they don't?

This is totally untrue. Samsung will not do this

That's something different. I thought the OP was referring to retentions department sending out unbranded generic equipment at their end, which is not possible.

Will Orange ever carry unbranded phones? I love Orange but i hate the branding on the phones. I debranded my Desire a week after getting it as i just couldn't live with the preinstalled demos and chargeable services i would never use taking up memory.

Well thats weird cos thats not what the person at Samsung said.

I phoned Orange, made a fuss about the fact 2.2 was still not available for the Orange versions and she said it'd prob be 'another couple of months'.

Phoned Samsung and they said that I could take it to an authorized Samsung team (they gave me the name and address) and said I could take my phone and proof of purchase they would upgrade the firmware for me.

I phoned the shop and they said i was fine. I said since it was a contract phone I didnt really have proof of purchased. He sortta shrugged it off and said not to worry.