Phone Upgrade

[Stoat]

If you're buying a new phone now, the Galaxy Nexus doesn't appear to be an option.

[ProfHawking]

The galaxy S2 is still good in the mean time, and some of its features are better than the nexus i heard. Also its apparently rather on the large side.

I've just got my hands on a blackberry 9900. Its awesome. crackcrackcrack

[deject]

The galaxy S2 is still good in the mean time, and some of its features are better than the nexus i heard. Also its apparently rather on the large side.

I've just got my hands on a blackberry 9900. Its awesome. crackcrackcrack

How can anyone be excited by anything Blackberry? They're just so shitty compared to iOS, Android, and WP7. There is a reason that RIM is circling the drain.

The Galaxy S II is a good phone, but I've said before and maintain that if you're getting an Android phone, you should stick to the Nexus line because you're not going to be in upgrade limbo every time a new version of Android comes out. ICS seems pretty awesome from what I've seen.

[eRabbit]

If you're buying a new phone now, the Galaxy Nexus doesn't appear to be an option.

That's a fair point. Alright, I'll adjust my statement to... buy whichever phone you want to play with the most!

[ProfHawking]

How can anyone be excited by anything Blackberry? They're just so shitty compared to iOS, Android, and WP7. There is a reason that RIM is circling the drain.

Meh, they may be out of fashion, but they still make great phones. I love this 9900. It's so fast! Browser is great, email is great, and dont say apps because i have everything useful already. A hundred fart machines can get stuffed.

stick to the Nexus line because you're not going to be in upgrade limbo every time a new version of Android comes out.

True, that would be annoying. Why do the phone makers insist on installing shite!

[Wiggy]

Right, so I kind of threw myself a bit of a curveball and got an HTC Sensation. Looks and feels damn good so far, I'm glad I got it over the 4S now! The spell checker is a bit wierd though.

Posted from my new SmugDevice (tm)

Edit: Edited for spelling

[Lateralus]

It took me quite a while to get properly used to my Desire S, but the more I use it the more I like it. The main issue was that it was my first capacitive touch-screen, but typing is now pretty quick for me.

Just had the upgrade to Android 2.3.5 and Sense 3.0 last week and now I like it even more.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

If you use Android I strongly suggest getting Swype, as it makes typing much faster.

[eRabbit]

Just sticking this in here in case anyone comes along for phone opinions. Due to my brother's connections with Nokia he got a new Lumia 800 sent to him and did not want, so I grabbed it, trimmed my SIM card down to micro-sim size and wacked it in.

This is easily the best phone I have ever had, WP7 is incredibly smooth, and everything integrates and works very well. The only downside could be the smaller marketplace, but it's growing very quickly, and the apps I have used are of a higher quality than the ones I used on the Android side of things.

Anyway, don't mind me, just gushing over my new toy...

[Stoat]

Ah the Lumia 800. Also known as the ill-fated N9. Meego got good reviews, but it never had a chance when Nokia signed up with Microsoft. Still kind-of-want.

[eRabbit]

Ah the Lumia 800. Also known as the ill-fated N9. Meego got good reviews, but it never had a chance when Nokia signed up with Microsoft. Still kind-of-want.

Yea, my brother had close ties with Maemo, and then following on Meego, so he got an N9 from Nokia and then they are trying to pimp WP7 so sent a Lumia 800 out as well. The N9 is very nice, and very snazzy.

[Wifeyberk]

My turn now pls!

Ok phone needed has to have:

Emails, internet.
Good movie capability.
Music! (normally have lots of on my mobile)
camera (kinda optional on it's decency as I have a decent one anyway)

But I'm new to contracts etc and wouldn't mind you're opinions on the best ones around. Sadly it would have to be either Orange or T-mobile as others don't get signal in this area so would be pointless. Was looking at the Iphone 4s because I've always liked the look of the Iphone, and it's gadgets. Had a BB before and I don't want to go there again, plus, it's more businessy than what I need. Been looking at reviews on the samsung Galaxy S3, most reviews are good, but the main issues seem to be a lag on the home screen and the battery life is apparently still dodgy but much better than previous models.

Any help will be gratefully recieved

[Joose]

Ive had an iPhone for years now, and they have always done well for me. Piss easy to use, decent battery, rarely had any software issues and ive never had one go wrong for hardware reasons. In fact, the only time I have had one get glitchy it was easily fixed by just doing a restore from itunes. Course, I may just be lucky, but I can only speak for my own experiences.

One thing to bear in mind is that with app purchases being platform specific, you do kind of get locked in to either Apple, Android or Windows after a while. When I next look to upgrade my phone, I would still get an iPhone even if there was a slightly better Android phone available, just because the idea of having to buy all of my apps again is mildly horrifying. Thats not something Apple specific of course, if I had been on Android for years I would now have a big pile of android apps, and wouldnt want to switch to Apple without a really damn good reason.

[deject]

Honestly, the iPhone is still the best phone you can buy. Unless you cannot use an Apple product (whether because of weird personal requirements, Apple hate, or any other reason) It's really the best choice. If you don't want an iPhone, I'd say get either a Samsung Galaxy S III (Android) or a Nokia Lumia 800 or 900 (Windows Phone 7).

The Android phone market is a mess, with something like only 7% of Android devices running v4.0 (a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich) and no guarantee that your Android device will ever see a software update. Windows Phone 7 is great, but the whole experience is very hit or miss for people, and being 3 years late to the party makes things like the app market pale in comparison to iOS and Android.

For what it's worth, I've had an iPhone 4s since last October and the only real complaint is that iTunes is pathetically bad, especially on Windows. It shouldn't be a deal breaker but it is really annoying.


Also, the point about being tied in to an ecosystem is absolutely true. Unless you have the best willpower in history, you will end up spending a not insignificant amount of money on apps that you can't use on other devices. That sunk cost is definitely something to consider before buying in.

[Joose]

iTunes

Fuck iTunes. Fuck it in the eyeholes.

Thankfully, if it is causing you horrorstress, you really don't need it any more. Most things can be done directly on the phone itself, including doing backups to the apple cloud thingy, and if you do need to transfer stuff to the phone I thoroughly recommend DiskAid. Its a little more fiddly to use than iTunes, but only a little, and oh good god it is so much faster and more stable. Of course, there are one legged stilt walkers more stable than iTunes.

I still use iTunes for podcasts and basic app management, just because its easy and tends not to shit itself doing that. Anything more complex than "plug in phone, auto-update, unplug phone" I do with DiskAid. For example, copying comics on to my iPad is almost unworkable with iTunes. With DiskAid its just like copying them on to a USB stick or something.

[Dog Pants]

Avoid Win 7 Phone like the Bad AIDS. MS have said they won't be supporting it when Win 8 is released, so it's a white elephant. I'll be going for iOS or Android next, since there are fortunately barely any apps on Windows for me to lose.

[Roman Totale]

Our work phones are HTCs with Windows 7 and they are Fucking Awful™. You can have full signal and it won't make a call, doesn't notify you there's voicemail and is just generally crap.

[Wifeyberk]

Our work phones are HTCs with Windows 7 and they are Fucking Awful™.

Berk has a HTC desire HD and i think it is in permanent PMT mode. In my opinion HTC battery life on those phones isn't amazing, the camera dies randomly and then works when it feels like it. But it's just too much of a brick.

[TezzRexx]

Nearly all smart phone batteries only last about 24 hours, less if you use it more throughout the day (internet, vidya).

[deject]

iTunes

Fuck iTunes. Fuck it in the eyeholes.

Thankfully, if it is causing you horrorstress, you really don't need it any more. Most things can be done directly on the phone itself, including doing backups to the apple cloud thingy, and if you do need to transfer stuff to the phone I thoroughly recommend DiskAid. Its a little more fiddly to use than iTunes, but only a little, and oh good god it is so much faster and more stable. Of course, there are one legged stilt walkers more stable than iTunes.

I still use iTunes for podcasts and basic app management, just because its easy and tends not to shit itself doing that. Anything more complex than "plug in phone, auto-update, unplug phone" I do with DiskAid. For example, copying comics on to my iPad is almost unworkable with iTunes. With DiskAid its just like copying them on to a USB stick or something.

I use iTunes to manage music, podcasts, and apps. I constantly get error messages about not being able to sync my phone. I like to keep iTunes running all the time so that the latest podcasts are downloaded automatically for me, but it's so goddamn flaky I am very seriously considering spending money for one of those podcast apps (even though none of them are all that great) instead. I absolutely refuse to buy music on the phone itself, and I'm not spending money on an app to put songs on my phone, so I'm pretty much stuck with iTunes. It is without any doubt the worst part of the Apple experience. I just wish I could use Winamp or manually copy files over instead.