Phone thread: What phones are you using, and with what plans?

[Pradeep]

WMwifirouter.
Windows Mobile has had this one covered for a while.

I really want my HTC HD2 now. Even if it does have a retarded non-stylus touchscreen.

Screw Windows Mobile. I don't have the patience for them to finally release ver 7.0 next year. BB, Palm, Android, there's plenty of options that aren't built on years of Windows CE.

 

[Mercutio]

Screw Windows Mobile. I don't have the patience for them to finally release ver 7.0 next year. BB, Palm, Android, there's plenty of options that aren't built on years of Windows CE.

Blackberry is god-awful. Wouldn't touch one.

Palm has the wrong idea of what phones should be like. I don't want a tiny screen and a bunch of hard buttons in the way of my mobile web experience.

Android hardware (and network access) to date has been highly lacking. It's going to get the same underlying platform as the HTC HD2 (1GHz Snapdragon CPUs), but there's no assurance that we'll see anything with a 4" touchscreen to go with that.

For the most part I don't care what OS my phone runs. It's a phone. I do want a decent handheld browsing experience and the ability to view my email easily. The iPhone has generally the right idea about form factor, but unfortunately, it's hobbled by being on AT&T's network and some idiosyncratic design decisions.

That puts me back at Windows Mobile. There's certainly nothing wrong with having functional software and a functional interface. Windows Mobile, much like Windows for desktops, gets just enough right to make it the best among all the other ugly compromises for most people, in my opinion.

 

[Santilli]

Merc:

Any suggestions for phones using Windows Mobile?

 

[Pradeep]

Merc:

Any suggestions for phones using Windows Mobile?

Just say no Greg.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/10/29/review_phone_motorola_dext_mb200_android_smartphone/

Coming to Verizon next week.

 

[Mercutio]

Just say no Greg.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/10/29/review_phone_motorola_dext_mb200_android_smartphone/

Coming to Verizon next week.

Things that are wrong with that:

1. It's on Verizon. That means having Verizon's retarded interface forced on it instead of whatever it's supposed to have, and paying to unlock features that should be included with the phone.

2. Made by Motorola. After seeing dozens of crappy RAZRs and at least 8 or 9 people who bought the Q, I'd just say no to anything with their badge on it. That's kind of a shame, since Motorola is a local business around here.

I have a particular form factor and feature set I'm looking for. It's not about the OS so much as those other things. But no upcoming Android phone has what I want and Blackberry and Palm can't even get away from putting hard buttons all over places where there should be screen, so they can go eat a dick.

Greg, what I'm giving serious thought to is either an HTC Touch Diamond 2, or an HTC HD2. I expect I'll wind up paying $400 or so on top of a two year contract renewal to get either one.

The HD2 has a much faster CPU, more RAM and a 4" screen, while the Diamond2 is thinner and lighter with a 3" screen. Both have around twice the practical screen resolution of an iPhone or the Android phone Pradeep linked to. Neither phone has a hard keyboard. I'm completely fine with that.

 

[Santilli]

HTC looks REALLY nice. Somehow carrying around a phone that costs more then my car isn't getting me going.

I've never had anyone steal my phone, but , doing basketball games, I set my phone down on the scorers table. I can see a 600 dollar phone disappearing REAL easy.

Looks like I'm staying with my current phone, or, a walmart plan...

 

[sechs]

Made by Motorola. After seeing dozens of crappy RAZRs and at least 8 or 9 people who bought the Q, I'd just say no to anything with their badge on it.

Some months ago I spoke to a friend of mine who works at Motorola about the general crapitude of their handsets. (He works on chips not design, so the red button being on the left for some handsets and the right for others is not his fault.) He is embarrassed about the phones of that era, and assures me that the guys behind them have been sacked. This is not so much because their designs sucked, but because they couldn't manage to come up with anything popular since.

They're behind the curve, but expect newer handsets from Motorola to be much more sensible.

 

[Santilli]

Both of my work situations are evolving. They use email to assign and offer jobs, and, for emergencies, they email as well, only using a phone when desperate.

So, it comes down to email is vital on the phone.


Here's what I've got so far. Played with a Samsung Inspirion, actually hooked up. It will do what I want, but, it's rather awkward, rather slow, at least compared to the HTC phone I tried at Sprint.

The HTC plan is, IIRC, 1680 for two years, plus 200 hundred for the phone.

The Samsung Inspirion is 1320 plus about 100 for the phone.

My current plan is about 1000 for two years, and, I own the phone.

When you look at the % increases, its' 42% vs. about 90%. Dollars are a less daunting way of looking at it...

Better check Walmart. I also wonder how much work it would really garner...

 

[Fushigi]

Don't forget to compare the carriers/plans. Make sure the carrier's coverage is good, including data, where you anticipate being most of the time. And compare plan features. Sprint's Simpley Everything, for instance, includes unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls regardless of the other party's carrier so you probably won't need as many day/anytime minutes as you might on a different carrier (they also include unlimited data, messaging, etc.). To contrast, AT&T gives the rollover minutes. Verizon just doubled their early termination fee. I really don't know much about Tmobile & other carrier plans.

Sprint & Verizon are CDMA so their phones aren't very good at international roaming. T-mobile & AT&T are GSM so crossing the borders isn't as much of a hardship (assuming you are willing to pay for int'l usage). For me, int'l travel is a non-issue for work (I'd rent a global phone for the duration) and for pleasure I can live without.

And examining the cost is a good way to do it. A free phone is no good deal if the service plans cost more. Look at the overall cost over the term of the contract (2 years).

Back to the phones. You need email support. From what kinds of hosts? Exchange, Gmail, Yahoo, Lotus Domino? Most phones will do POP & IMAP but not all phones will have ActiveSync for Exchange and relatively few talk natively to Domino (relying on POP/IMAP instead).

 

[Santilli]

I'm using gmail, and, I would like to be able to sync the phone with Outlook.
This time of year, I'm getting calls all the time from cells to mine, not knowing what plan they have. Thanks for the information about Sprint.

 

[Fushigi]

Gmail does both POP & IMAP; IMAP is preferred. Make sure the email client supports POP/IMAP via SSL as well. AFAIK all of them do, but then my knowledge beyond a small handful of handsets is minimal.

For Exchange/Outlook, you really want ActiveSync (EAS) if your Exchange host & phone support it. POP for Exchange is adequate but ActiveSync provides far greater functionality, including things like calendar sync. The other thing with EAS is policy support. Exchange supports over 30 different policy settings. So while a phone may support EAS it may not support all of the policy settings. I've not had a problem with this and I suspect most companies don't tighten down the EAS policy settings that much. I actually only became aware of it when it was revealed that the Apple email client was lying to Exchange and saying it supported on-device encryption when it did not.

 

[Mercutio]

Gmail will also do ActiveSync for Windows Mobile and for iPhone, under some conditions.

 

[Fushigi]

If you liked the Pre's capabilities but want something a little less expensive, the Pixi comes out on Sunday.

 

[Fushigi]

If you liked the Pre's capabilities but want something a little less expensive, the Pixi comes out on Sunday.

And Pixi, which should run $100 after rebate at most places, will only cost $30 @ Walmart. While I generally avoid Wally World like the plague that price would make it worthwhile to visit.

 

[Will Rickards]

Damn sprint is more tempting now, get my wife the pixi and me the pre. But as my verizon contract isn't up till feb, I won't make a move until then. Maybe the next gen pre hardware will be out then or at least some details on it. I want the one with the SD card slot at least.

 

[Santilli]

I've NEVER had a mail-in rebate worth anything come back.
So for me, I'd be looking at that plan as 1550 for two years. NOT such a great deal.
I also like the touch screens, but, I've never really been able to email, or check email on my phone, so I'm not sure the hard keyboard is bad or good for that?

 

[Fushigi]

Opinions vary on real v. virtual keyboards. I won't go virtual myself but they do have an advantage in being able to rotate portrait to landscape. Try before you buy is my best advice. Type a sample email or text message on the display units to get a feel for the devices before commiting to purchase one.

The Sprint rebate check comes quick enough (6-8 weeks) and is reliable. But some places like Best Buy turn the MIR into an instant rebate so there's no paperwork to complete & you get the post-rebate price right away. The Walmart thing looks like there's no rebate to futz with either.

 

[Mercutio]

I don't like hard keyboards because I'm almost never doing text input longer than a URL or search term. If I am, I'll go do that on a computer. I'd rather have more screen.

 

[ddrueding]

I prefer hard keyboards because I can type stuff without looking (eg meetings).

 

[time]

You can use one of those teeny weeny QWERTY keyboards by touch?

Do you have very thin fingers?

 

[MaxBurn]

Yes, pretty much. It is strange but for some reason my brain adapted pretty well to thumb typing on a little blackberry qwerty keyboard.

 

[ddrueding]

Do you have very thin fingers?

Nope. Big hands, big-ish fingers. The keyboard does really well, even if you slightly depress the buttons around the one you want.

Even if you aren't writing an e-mail, listening to voicemail and being able to next/delete without taking the phone from your ear is useful.

 

[Santilli]

You can use one of those teeny weeny QWERTY keyboards by touch?

Do you have very thin fingers?

+1

I find that amazing.

 

[Stereodude]

I've NEVER had a mail-in rebate worth anything come back.

Do you do your own taxes?

 

[Handruin]

A couple years ago I filled out a Canon triple rebate after buying a bunch of photo gear and got a single rebate check worth $550...

 

[mubs]

Do you do your own taxes?

That was a killer, SD ...... :rofl:

Damn you, you made coffee spurt out of my nose.

 

[mubs]

A couple years ago I filled out a Canon triple rebate after buying a bunch of photo gear and got a single rebate check worth $550...

I got all rebates I've ever sent in as well. Years ago, when they were a problem, I had to call in for a couple and resend (I always keep copies), and did get the rebates finally.

Expecting $200 from Sandisk for some Extreme IV compactflash.

My understanding is that the Extreme IV series is being discontinued. They've got the even higher speed ones out for an even higher price. Several places are already out of stock. If anybody needs some, now is the time.

 

[Fushigi]

• Palm is actively updating it. The released version of webOS was 1.01. Since then we've gotten 1.02, 1.10, 1.20, and 1.2.1. I might have missed a minor update. There have been fixes and enhancements added. Updates are free and pushed to the device OTA (sort of like automatic Windows updates).

1.3.1 just came out. :cat:

 

[Stereodude]

I got all rebates I've ever sent in as well. Years ago, when they were a problem, I had to call in for a couple and resend (I always keep copies), and did get the rebates finally.

Same for me. I do keep meticulous copies though. I photograph everything I send in down to the stamped envelope with the address on it. I've only had to call and yell at OCZ a few times. Their rebate processor is pretty slimy and will straight up lie to you sending you a postcard rejecting your rebate.

Expecting $200 from Sandisk for some Extreme IV compactflash.

I got my $200 VISA cards rebate from them for the Ex IV CF's, and a $90 VISA cards rebate for Ex III SD's a few weeks ago.

 

[Stereodude]

That was a killer, SD ...... :rofl:

Damn you, you made coffee spurt out of my nose.

It's a valid question. If you can do your own taxes and can properly fill out the tax forms a rebate form should be a piece of cake. Maybe Greg is ripe for some IRS attention too. :rofl:

 

[LunarMist]

I've been ripped off too many times by rebates, especially SanDick. I don't bother to fill them out any more. Vehicle rebates are different.

 

[time]

I prefer hard keyboards because I can type stuff without looking (eg meetings).

You can use one of those teeny weeny QWERTY keyboards by touch?

Yes, pretty much. It is strange but for some reason my brain adapted pretty well to thumb typing on a little blackberry qwerty keyboard.

The Blackberry Bold keyboard seems noticeably better than the equivalent product from Nokia or Samsung. I still don't believe I could use one by touch alone though.

On the other hand, I had always assumed that the 5-column keyboard on a Blackberry Pearl was a gimmick. Having now bought one, I think I prefer its 'SureType' system to the full keyboard on the Bold. I find the much larger keys easier to use accurately, helped by the impressive text prediction.

 

[Sol]

For people who like keyboards and live in the US I think Sprints version of the Samsung Galaxy S looks pretty drool worthy. A landscape slide out keyboard on a 4" phone has got to be pretty spacious compared to most phone keyboards.

I'll probably be grabbing a regular, keyboardless, Galaxy S this weekend but if I was in the US I think I'd being lusting after that one for its 4G capabilities.