Another cell phone thread

Ramblings
1

Is there anybody that has had experience with an Iphone and/or an Android and/or Blackberry. I am up for renewal and only have experience with an Android. Not looking for extreme homers of one platform. Just curious if somebody has had 2 or 3 of the platforms and can suggest some legitimate pros and cons.

Some of my minimalists takes:
Iphone - still has the most apps, new iphone 4 has a front and rear facing camera
Android - some of the newer ones have larger screens than either the iphone or blackberry, apps are in a more open market
Blackberry - still the best for work applications and settings

2

My personal prediction is that Android is the way to go. I’m not an open-source zealot by any means, but in the (personal) phone arena, makes a lot of sense.

  • If it it does not have the most apps available yet, it will.
  • Free apps
  • Almost as easy to use as iphone
  • Varying hardware formats for your personal taste.
  • Varying carriers for your personal taste.

I am a Microsoft mobile fan of over a decade, but am now so put-off by their product that I will be going Android for my next phone, whenever I can afford it.

3

I have a Blackberry but am thinking about going to an Android. One big plus for the BB is battery life. I can go several days between charges. Mrs. Nugget’s HTC Incredible often doesn’t make it through a whole day. The BB browser is slow and not nearly as good as a Droid’s.

4

iPhone and Droid are fairly comparable. iPhone is smoother in use (nice transitions, fully baked, the same for everyone) - I agree with others, Droid will have more available.

Security and managability are the primary draws to the BlackBerry - neither of which sounds like it’s of great importance to you.

*The single greatest drawdown to the iPhone is AT&T - that network suuuuucks.

I have a BB Curve that is up for replacement in May - I will likely be getting a Droid. Also, I do have an iPhone now too and I think if I had to pick iPhone or Droid for personal use, I would most likely go with a Droid (newer model, not one of the original bricks).

One more thought - battery life on some of the newer droids is atrocious! Tested the HTC Evo(?) for a couple of weeks and it could barely handle 20 hours of light use (no calls).

5

Don’t get a cheap phone if you go with Android, they’re installing old versions of the OS on phones that are, basically, pieces of crap.

The Droid X, HTC Incredible, and Droid 2 are all excellent.

I have an HTC Eris and I love it. Battery life is basically 1 day. Worse if you’re spending time in an area with bad service.

6

I’ve had an HTC Aria (at&t’s android) for about 2.5 months and I’ve been generally pretty pleased with it so far. There are few bugs, especially with messaging that can be kind of annoying but not to the point that I want to can the phone. There really are so many free apps that are both useful and great time killers, although a good number of them are poorly designed or buggy as hell (as with any open source market). The Aria is one of the smallest android phones which I like because some of the others like the EVO or Droid 2 are just massive em-effers that aren’t comfortable in your hand or pocket IMO. I would definitely recommend android, but a lot of it comes down to personal taste. Go to the stores and play with them and see what you like.

edit: Battery life sucks pretty bad if you’re more than a light user. One thing that will help greatly is an app called Advanced Task Killer which is free in the market. Whenever you are about to stop using your phone, just open the app (I keep mine on the home screen) and Kill all the apps and processes you aren’t using (which tends to be everything for me when I’m about to put my phone in my pocket, except maybe the music player). Also, disable wifi when you aren’t using it, because the phone will continuously search for wifi networks if you have it enabled which also kills battery life.

7

I recently upgraded from a BB Curve to a iPhone and it’s great. I have the 3GS and have zero complaints about the switch. I have quite a few apps and have not purchased one yet.

8

I have the iPhone (3Gs also), and haven’t had any issues. I don’t seem to travel to places with poor AT&T service coverage, but I know they’re out there.

The battery life on my iPhone is acceptable - not great, but will probably get me through a couple of days of moderate use without recharging. It would be on empty at the end of the couple of days, but it would probably get there.

I haven’t used Droid much, but the iPhone seems easier to operate to me. Probably just familiarity.

9

clt is confused by this post. does clt need an upgrade?

clt’s phone:

10

I was kind of leaning towards this one. I’m the same way about liking the size. But I am a little a hesitant for fear of the keyboard being cluttered with texting/emailing, etc.

I have played with them in the stores, a few times. I just think you can only tell but so much from playing with it for 5 minutes or so. The best way to tell is to actually have the different platforms for awhile. I figured there might be a few people who have had the different platforms. But it may still be too soon.

11

So…easier to use? More apps? Quicker? Better battery life?

12

[quote=“C49erMoose, post:4, topic:23953”]iPhone and Droid are fairly comparable. iPhone is smoother in use (nice transitions, fully baked, the same for everyone) - I agree with others, Droid will have more available.

Security and managability are the primary draws to the BlackBerry - neither of which sounds like it’s of great importance to you.

*The single greatest drawdown to the iPhone is AT&T - that network suuuuucks.

I have a BB Curve that is up for replacement in May - I will likely be getting a Droid. Also, I do have an iPhone now too and I think if I had to pick iPhone or Droid for personal use, I would most likely go with a Droid (newer model, not one of the original bricks).

One more thought - battery life on some of the newer droids is atrocious! Tested the HTC Evo(?) for a couple of weeks and it could barely handle 20 hours of light use (no calls).[/quote]

Thanks. Yeah, I’m not looking to get it as a work phone, so some of the Blackberry features are irrelevant for me. All of the platforms do seem fairly comparable now. It might come down to something as basic as the battery life.

I will mostly likely stick with AT&T, some I’m stuck with the reception. I just wish they would open up the phones to be used as a wireless hub. That would be a feature I’d be interested in.

13

So…easier to use? More apps? Quicker? Better battery life?[/quote]my curve had great battery life, the iPhone’s is OK. It normally lasts be about 1 1/2 days, I’m on it a good bit. The curve I used had very little web-functionality and not may apps would function on it.

I can do almost anything I want on the iphone, zero complaints about the phone.

14

So…easier to use? More apps? Quicker? Better battery life?[/quote]my curve had great battery life, the iPhone’s is OK. It normally lasts be about 1 1/2 days, I’m on it a good bit. The curve I used had very little web-functionality and not may apps would function on it.

I can do almost anything I want on the iphone, zero complaints about the phone.[/quote]

Cool, thanks. The battery life is just something we have to live with I guess. Seems like my battery life has actually gotten worse with every upgrade. My old Ericsson (pre Sony Ericsson) would last at least a week.

15

So…easier to use? More apps? Quicker? Better battery life?[/quote]my curve had great battery life, the iPhone’s is OK. It normally lasts be about 1 1/2 days, I’m on it a good bit. The curve I used had very little web-functionality and not may apps would function on it.

I can do almost anything I want on the iphone, zero complaints about the phone.[/quote]

Cool, thanks. The battery life is just something we have to live with I guess. Seems like my battery life has actually gotten worse with every upgrade. My old Ericsson (pre Sony Ericsson) would last at least a week.[/quote]Yeah, we technically are carrying around handsize computers that dial out now. Fair tradeoff in my opinion.

16

The Mrs. and I just bought new phones. I picked up the Samsung Captivate (a Droid, closest thing to an Incredible you will find on AT&T) and she got the iPhone 4.

I’ve mostly been using mine, but have messed with her iPhone too, here is what I’ve noticed:

iPhone:
Pros -

[ul][li]It just works[/li]
[li]Better app selection right now[/li]
[li]Smaller phone, but still a nice sized screen[/li]
[li]Safari is great[/li][/ul]

Cons -

[ul][li]Limited customization options as far as display goes (I love some droid widgets!)[/li]
[li]The built in e-mail app doesn’t push Gmail for her. I haven’t spent time trying to fix this, but if you just do the default e-mail setup and tie in your Gmail account, it only updates when you open your inbox[/li][/ul]

Droid:
Pros -

[ul][li]Customization is huge, I like mixing widgets and app links so I can create my own desktops. One for sports, one for news/weather, one for work stuff, etc…[/li]
[li]Did I mention widgets?[/li]
[li]Notification toolbar, anytime something happens (e-mail, text, calendar appointment, etc…), it all shows up in one place that is on the top of all of your desktops, very nice setup[/li]
[li]Flash[/li][/ul]

Cons -

[ul][li]Default browser is good most of the time, but not as good as Safari (go in the store and load the full version of CNNSI.com for a good comparison).[/li]
[li]I’ve had a few forced app closings[/li]
[li]Battery life is awful under heavy usage. Probably won’t be a big issue once the newness wears off a bit and I’m not using it all day, but at this point it seems like a nightly recharge is a must[/li][/ul]

I went with the Droid because I knew it would motivate me to spend some time learning and writing Droid apps (no OSX for me, so I couldn’t do that with an iPhone). I think the biggest selling point for a Droid right now is customization, from the screen look/setup down to the open source OS, you can do pretty much anything you want. If you just want a phone with a lot of cool apps that just plain works, get an iPhone. If you want to customize it (either through apps/widgets or by writing code) then go with a Droid.

And I would not consider a BB right now unless you are looking for a phone exclusively used for work. They still do that very well, but there are too many extras on iPhones/Droids to pass up.

17

I walked by a cell phone “exhibit” the other day and they had my exact phone in a nice little clear plastic box marked " relic ". I laughed so hard I couldn’t feel sorry for myself.

18

[quote=“Normmm, post:12, topic:23953”][quote=“C49erMoose, post:4, topic:23953”]iPhone and Droid are fairly comparable. iPhone is smoother in use (nice transitions, fully baked, the same for everyone) - I agree with others, Droid will have more available.

Security and managability are the primary draws to the BlackBerry - neither of which sounds like it’s of great importance to you.

*The single greatest drawdown to the iPhone is AT&T - that network suuuuucks.

I have a BB Curve that is up for replacement in May - I will likely be getting a Droid. Also, I do have an iPhone now too and I think if I had to pick iPhone or Droid for personal use, I would most likely go with a Droid (newer model, not one of the original bricks).

One more thought - battery life on some of the newer droids is atrocious! Tested the HTC Evo(?) for a couple of weeks and it could barely handle 20 hours of light use (no calls).[/quote]

Thanks. Yeah, I’m not looking to get it as a work phone, so some of the Blackberry features are irrelevant for me. All of the platforms do seem fairly comparable now. It might come down to something as basic as the battery life.

I will mostly likely stick with AT&T, some I’m stuck with the reception. I just wish they would open up the phones to be used as a wireless hub. That would be a feature I’d be interested in.[/quote]

If you’re sticking with AT&T, you’d be hard to go wrong with an iPhone. I just think AT&T in general sucks.

Best of luck either way you go.

19

my complaint with AT&T is that I don’t have 3G at my house, it ends literally a few miles from where I live. That being said, they are investing quite a bit of $$$ into our region. I like just southwest of Winston in Davie County.

20

[quote=“cltniners, post:9, topic:23953”]clt is confused by this post. does clt need an upgrade?

clt’s phone: [/quote]

Wow, thats old. Its time to upgrade to…

and don’t forget the handsfree for your busy lifestyle!