Mobile phone question

[Ian Rubie]

I have a feeling this is going to be a "which tyre is best" type question but here goes.

I am looking to upgrade my current mobile phone to one I can browse the web and get email on.

I like the idea of 4 inch ish screen for ease of use. The obvious two seem to be iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S. I have also seen HTC HD7. This opens the what OS can of worms.

What do you all think?

Cheers

Ian

 

[Gav Peter]

Oo oo, where's me popcorn smiley gone???

 

[TonyP]

Well.... it will all come down to personal preference, but I use the HTC Desire HD and love it. Very similar to the i[strike:3stkmanl]Phone[/strike:3stkmanl]Clone, but slightly larger screen.

The issue with all these smart phones is battery life. Mine lasts about a day, so if battery life is important then steer clear.

Personally I like the smart phones, and with the Android OS it gives you lots of add ons like synching contacts with google contacts, Latitude for tracking folk etc etc. They are all about the apps....

 

[Ecky Thump]

Similar to Tony but I have the Sony Ericsson XPERIA which has an app to bin the crap running in the background so the battery can last 3 to 4 days. Taking into account, I hate mobiles so use it rarely

I love the Android apps

 

[ignat]

to the Android OS. Have a look at the Google Nexus

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Desire Z here, for the keyboard really, big improvement over the windows based smart phones I've tried previously.

 

[EvilEd]

Just had to go without my iphone 3gs for 4 days while it was repaired. Went back to my much loved N95.... and hated every minute of it.

If you want something that just works. no faffing, then I suggest the iphone.
If you are happy to tinker with software and find good / bad stuff yourself, get android.
Another alternative is BlackBerry, uses far less "data" which if you go abroad may be useful. IIRC a BB uses about 1/3rd of the data an iphone does for the same webpage on average.

They will all do mostly similar things.

If you go down the "questionable source" software route, then Android is your friend. Otherwise you head into the world of jailbreaking the iphone etc..... I personally would have another Iphone, but would also consider one of these dual processor Android phones.

The only warning I will give, is that if you buy an iphone, be prepared to buy the missus one too.... (kerching)

 

[Lorin]

This opens the what OS can of worms.

My opinion, being someone who has absolutely no tolerance for technology not doing what it is supposed to do resulting in many smashed phones over the years, would be for Android. I have not tried Blackberry though.

None of them are perfect but windows OS is utterly crap, iphone is very good but still managed to upset me, Android has so far proven best of bunch with fewest glitches.

Advantage of Android is greater compatability with other devices/software than iphone. Is also very simple to use and to a large extent most phones allow you to remove the majority of the rubbish you dont want whilst leaving the bits you do.

I always type the name of any phone I'm interested in and words such as "problems" into google and see what people are saying on the forums before getting. Has highlighted a few phones as being significantly more problematic than others. Signal is an issue on a lot of smart phones as well as battery life. In rural areas, iphone 4 had worst signal of any phone I've had.

 

[Ian Rubie]

Thanks for the posts so far. Not much going for Windows based ones it seems, that's them out then.

I had no idea phones were going dual processor, there seem to be a lot internet rumours about an HTC Scorpion, no confirmed release date though. I like the idea of something that just works so that is a big plus for Android.

Lorin - what annoyed you about iphone?

Cheers

Ian

 

[Dave Docwra]

I have the Blackberry Torch which doe's functional things very well (make calls & text)has a very good calendar/diary, the web side works really well & once you get your head around the way it operates which is just like a laptop it is fine.

 

[spackrackman]

Tried all operating systems on phones over the last few years and stuck with the iPhone4. The only other that has tempted me is the Andriod and when they finially make one that does not feel like a plastic piece of cr@p then I may try that route. The Iphones feel like a well built phone, they work great! Signal is far better than the 3gs and everything works. I have played with andriod ones and yes there is a lot more choice of software but its not always a good thing when presented with two many options I never know which one to go for. The camera on the iphone is great and I am now clocking up 1700 pictures on the phone and its still as quick(100 times faster than the older iphones) as the day I bought it. The signal issue is resolved when its put in a case and most people have one so issue solved. Windows phones were bad bad bad bad, I tried a new windows in a shop a few weeks back, out of the three on display two had crashed and the other was giving an error message so I walked away.

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I was very sceptical about getting yet another not so smart phone, I'd given up on them and gone back to my trusty Nokia 6303 which just bloody works, picks up the weakest of signals and the battery lasts forever but wandering through the local shopping centre one day Steph made me have look at the Desire Z I'd made some noises about looking interesting and then made me buy one, no really she did I thought it was a waste of money but you know I like toys and actually I've been very pleased with it, so far it also just bloody works, picks up signals ok (hasn't been to Wales yet) but battery life is as chronic as the rest.

I played with Ray's iPhone a few times (iPhone 3 I think it was) and didn't find it very intuitive, not to mention I was trying to set up his IMAP email and I'd get part way through when he'd get a txt message and the stupid thing would forget all about email set up and make me start again I hear they've fixed that on the 4 but I dread to think what other stupidness it has

 

[Rob]

[youtube:194kt3yl]Pkxdk9zpS98[/youtube:194kt3yl]
Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple) response "Your holding it wrong". Basically you need to buy a case to actually be able to use the iphone 4 as apple are saying it works fine and there is no problem. So if you want a phone that just works and has the apps you want, instead of a selection of propriety apps that Steve Jobs tells you to have, get an Android phone. Also most of the Android apps are free!

 

[Chris]

I have an iphone 3. Don't know what people think the problems are but mine works fine. Tonnes of App for free. I don't pay for many and then they're only 50p. But then I like Apple products. Tried another smart phone to begin with. It was SO bad that I manged to get Vodabone to actually cancel my contract and start again. Plus I kept the phone and sold it on to one of those phone buying companies for £75. Result. Brother-in-law has the Anrdoid, Google, iphone and HTC (he's a phone nut) and oddly never answers any of them

Chris

 

[Rob]

Also there is no Adobe Flash support on the iphones so a vast amount of current internet content including videos does not work on them.

 

[AndyCook]

"I have the Blackberry Torch which doe's functional things very well (make calls & text)has a very good calendar/diary, the web side works really well & once you get your head around the way it operates which is just like a laptop it is fine"

I got one of these from work last week to replaced the older blackberry i have had for last 2yrs - find it more fiddly than the old blackberry to write emails.

GPS usefull though

i was in dixons at heathrow T5 today, and saw the cost over £500 - i would never spend that much on one myself! but if work want to give me one thats fine

 

[Scott]

I have the iPhone 4 and it's the best phone I've ever had! Stick it in a Otterbox Defender cover and it makes it ruggedised enough to cope with workshop environments, their too fragile naked, and the warranty is voided if the litmus paper in the phone shows evidence of water / moisture ingress.

I use it so much for Internet surfing and checking my emails, that I hardly use the laptop these days. It's so handy to be able to access everything so quickly when you have a spare 5 mins.

There's tons of app's, I generally try not to get carried away spending loads on these, and stick to the free ones, unless I really think I'll benefit from it.

The battery life on the 4 is a lot better than the 3GS, I've only managed to run out once, and that was after a lot of internet surfing over a 20hr period. I still charge it everyday as a rule, as on average it's normally down to 50% ish.

I don't have any experience of android phones, I can't get on with the Blackberry's tiny buttons and smaller screen.

Out of the bunch of guys I work with around 80% have iPhones, if there were better options out there, the techy ones would have had one by now, but knowones been enticed away from their 'phone of I'!

Cheers

Scott.

Sent from an iPhone 4!

 

[karl webster]

Ian

Talking os windows based phones i strongly suggest not to go for the toshiba tgo1( Pile of shit) had a few. Gone onto the iphone 3gs with no probs and i brought it second hand at 2 years old. I do know they have few issues though.
Battery with mine when it gets alot of hammer can last half a day at times. Always need a charger to hand
karl

 

[Lorin]

Lorin - what annoyed you about iphone?

Mostly what has been mentioned in these posts. As Jon said not the most intuitive - can get pretty frustrating and the fact it would just drop signal or have none where other phones on the same network did. These were the two things that annoyed me the most especially the signal issue which was ridiculous.

 

[Scott]

I haven't had any signal issues with my 4, have 3G connection almost all the time (Vodaphone), but I do live in the south east.

Ian, you must know someone with an iPhone who'll let you have a play and show you how it operates, to help you make your decision.

Cheers,

Scott.