Smartphone advice

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Madmya
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by Madmya »

My two housemates both have a Galaxy S. It definitely out performs my phone (Desire) but I still prefer the Desire's interface. The Desire HD is bigger but I don't find that to be a problem, I wish I had one. Does anyone know how the Desire HD's performance stacks up against the SGS?
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by selfish »

Cardsy wrote:I think a 3DS with pictochat is the only real answer here.
yesssssss
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by Cletus »

All the smartphones are pretty much the same. The only difference is that as they progress they add sucky features that you don't need and remove features I need. I could tell you about calendars too, ask me, I'll tell you. I personally wouldn't touch an iPhone but my needs are far different to yours, Patrick. The only draw for the iPhone is the 47 jillion Apps that you won't need. For me, it comes down to WP7 or Droid and if the next WP7 update is what I hope it will be, my hand will be forced. But after fiddling with Nicole's iPhone4 I can honestly say it's not for me. Cannot understand why so many people run around with half a hard on for the iPhone.

Plus, HTC make phones for both Droid and WP7 and regardless of what iPhone fanbois will tell you, HTC make excellent phones.
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Pat
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by Pat »

Well no smartphone really jumps out at me, hence the query. Every smartphone I have seen to date follows one of two templates: touch screen as per the iphone archetype or slider + keypad as per the blackberry keypad. Neither are ideal in form factor and as I said earlier, touch screen is less than ideal for text input on fake virtual keayboards when input accuracy is off. However its also a marked improvement over my current phone which is a w995 and is excellent for developing carpal tunnel syndrome.

Nice to see certain zealots have also seen fit to display their hypocrisy, exactly as expected.

Also nice to see (yet again) genuine thoughtful input from talez. :)
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General Chaos
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by General Chaos »

btw onscreen KB sucks for all of about a week.

Megs raged out hardcore when she got her new phone and I told her to deal with it and come back to me in a week. Sure enough after around a week it wasn't a problem anymore.

Slide keyboards FTML. More components to wear out (and they do), and an obese phone for no real benefit.
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by Pat »

Maybe Ill see how long I can get on the demo models. Lots of stores these days seem to have plastic non functional setups and limited number of working ones.
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by Cletus »

Yeah I agree with Chaos. Slide out KB is not a good idea. On screen keyboards in my experience (again I use a stylus and have for about 7 years) are more than accurate enough to work perfectly well. I've used them for a long time. The WM standard FULL keyboard with numbers is tiny. Only good for a stylus but the accuracy has to be good enough that I can work quickly taking information from a current phone call and type out the details into the calendar or on notes without any issues. The keys are 5mmx5mm on screen. So the bigger the on screen keyboard is, surely it's just a matter of adjusting to the way it works. I know stylus use isn't completely natural but you get used to it. All I'm getting at is that you need to look at touchscreen differently. The keyboards work. For each OS there are keyboard apps that might suit you better, giving more options again over a slide out KB.
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by Peppermint Lounge »

Based on recent convos I recommend the Blackberry 9700 from that list for you. It's a superior actual phone, battery life is comparable with conventional mobile phones, it's fast, it's directed more towards a business crowd and has far less of the time wasting shit marketed to iPhone and Android users. It also has a physical keyboard. UI is not as elegant as the other two but that's only evident if you're using for example an iPhone and Blackberry in tandem. Email, syncing, browsing and content support all good.
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by GeneraL CyberFunK »

The galaxy s doesn't have a camera flash.... If you take lots of pics in dark places... That rules it out. The HTC Desire HD would be my pick at present.
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by GreyWizzard »

selfish wrote:
Cardsy wrote:I think a 3DS with pictochat is the only real answer here.
yesssssss
PictoChat.jpg
Fixed!
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by Pat »

:laugh: balls.

I wonder, itd be nice if sms carriers would support simple text input like that via the same network. Sub-19kb scribbles could convey some useful information outside of twig-n-berries combinations.

Going to try out a variety of models at jbs and telstra shops this weekend. :up:
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by Cletus »

Isn't there a known issue with the antenna in iPhone4 that requires you use a cover and only hold it in your left hand or something? I remember hearing that.
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by Madmya »

GeneraL CyberFunK wrote:The galaxy s doesn't have a camera flash.... If you take lots of pics in dark places... That rules it out. The HTC Desire HD would be my pick at present.
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by Peppermint Lounge »

Cletus wrote:Isn't there a known issue with the antenna in iPhone4 that requires you use a cover and only hold it in your left hand or something? I remember hearing that.
I have no cover on mine. I'm sure the issue can be replicated under controlled circumstances but I've never had a prob day to day. That story was a beat up.
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by Cletus »

Ahh...I thought Apple were giving away free bumpers to help remedy the issue. Nicole's seems to be ok but she uses a cover we bought.
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by Peppermint Lounge »

The time of free bumpers has passed. If you get an iPhone 4 PM me and I'll send you mine.
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by Talez »

Madmya wrote:Yet you think a handset being superseded is relevant? It's like telling someone to buy a Mac over a PC because if you bought a PC someone else will have a better one in a minute's time.
The Android ecosystem has a long history of incremental feature/spec/base OS revision boosts over its lifetime. There is a hodge podge of OS revisions, update schedules that differ by region and carrier and sometimes you can't even get out of the clusterfuck by buying a phone outright. I hesitate to recommend any non-Google phone because it seems like every other brand you have an uphill battle to get such a basic thing like OS updates on a phone more than a year old.

Compared to Apple where they leapfrog the current market a bit, the rest catch up, the iPhone looks a bit long in the tooth and Apple brings out a new one in June. Meanwhile your old phone still gets the updates. The iPhone 2G was discontinued in February 2010 after a staggering 31 months of OS updates. You don't have to worry whether your just released phone with an OS three revisions behind being upgraded to the newest version of the OS that's already six months old.

I honestly feel sorry for X10 owners. And any other poor sucker that has a 2.1 phone that's not going to be updated to 2.2. Especially if your phone is less than a year old (i.e. Galaxy Beam owners).
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by selfish »

GreyWizzard wrote:
selfish wrote:
Cardsy wrote:I think a 3DS with pictochat is the only real answer here.
yesssssss
PictoChat.jpg
Fixed!
that made me laugh a lot more than it should've

but really, were they imagining that pictochat was online or something? REALLY PEOPLE REALLY

letus: you can copy from the iphone calendar, i just used that exact function. go into the details screen and then hold down on what you want to copy. hey presto!
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by Burnzoire »

Cletus wrote:Ahh...I thought Apple were giving away free bumpers to help remedy the issue. Nicole's seems to be ok but she uses a cover we bought.
Never used a cover. With telstra it's been very solid without a single dropout. My old 3G on optus was a fucking nightmare, on the other hand.
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Smartphone advice

Post by Vzzzbx »

Yeah I've never needed a cover with Telstra. I do use the free bumper that came with the free dealio though, just so it doesn't smash when I inevitably drop it on the road again.
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General Chaos
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by General Chaos »

I can vericate that the iphone 4 is down on reception. It is still great on Next G but it isn't a patch on an iphone 3G or 3GS.

Several people in my office have one (4) and where they struggle to pick up reception I have nearly full (3G).
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by Vzzzbx »

On Telstra? Telstra's got two 3G networks going at once. Telstra Mobile (850 MHz) is great but 3TELSTRA (2100 MHz) is shithouse. I leave mine manually set to Telstra Mobile now.
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by General Chaos »

"Next G" Both devices on Telstra. The iPhone 3G is just all round better at picking up reception. It will do it further from town and better in big concrete buildings. The iPhone 4 isn't bad, it's just not as good. There has been a downward trend in iPhones antenna abilities since the iPhone 3G. Hopefully they reverse the trend with the next release.

Anyhow it's not a big deal I've seen various Droid devices that have worse antenna performance than iPhone 3G's too and Next G "generally" is more than strong enough to make up for the difference.
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by mech »

I'm pretty sure my reception got better with the iPhone 4. And I definitely loved having 900Mhz 3G access.
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Re: Smartphone advice

Post by General Chaos »

"goggles" :D

NFI then... Net result is they are no worse than current offerings from other brands and are still excellent on the Telstra network.
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