| Non-motoring > A smartphone | Computing Issues |
| Thread Author: Mapmaker | Replies: 140 |
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Wed 29 Aug 12 19:56
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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I'm seriously thinking about it... ... dragging myself into the second decade of the third millennium. Am I going to go crazy with perpetually flat batteries? Am I going to go crazy with making a silly touch screen work? A friend has got rid of the typewriter on a Samsung mobile, and returned to typing texts and emails with the numeric keypad. Is that because Samsungs are rubbish? Android or Apple? Ideally I'd be able to hire one for a week to see if I could be bothered with developing a relationship with it, but I don't think that's possible? Anybody know? Last edited by: Mapmaker on Wed 29 Aug 12 at 19:57
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Wed 29 Aug 12 20:19
A smartphone - Manatee
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I'm probably as unmoved by fashion as you, but having lost the employer owned Blackberry and replaced it with an iPhone I have no intention of switching - taken all round, it's that good. There are probably good Android alternatives, but there seem to be more reports of outstanding 'issues' with Android, probably because the platform and the hardware are not always in step. With Apple, you do it their way or not at all, but it mostly works. You might want to see what, if anything, Apple announces on (IIRC) 12 September - if as speculated its the iPhone 5 then there may be better deals on the 4S. |
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Wed 29 Aug 12 20:21
A smartphone - Pezzer
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You will probably need to charge it every night, depending on use and brand. Capacitive screens are very good, I'm sure you must know someone who will let you have a play. Can't comment on Samsung as I use HTC....... But I doubt it. Apple if you just want it to do what it says on the tin. Android if you want to tweak, change and personalise it. |
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Wed 29 Aug 12 20:25
A smartphone - No FM2R
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>>Ideally I'd be able to hire one for a week to see if I could be bothered with developing a relationship with it, but I don't think that's possible? Anybody know? www.cellhire.co.uk/products/uk/phone As for which phone, they all do tons of stuff, and they all have different advantages and disadvantages. Its better to start the other way around; What do you want to do? Push mail Internet Browsing Video calling Texting Synch with PC Play games Just phone calls Sat navving etc. etc. |
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Wed 29 Aug 12 21:27
A smartphone - MD
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>> What do you want to do? Some days just go back to Red boxes by the roadside. B.S.A. Bantams and Triumph Tiger Cubs. Affordable fuel. Sunshine. No crap 'compliance'. No money making Scameras. Plod who said Sir. Seventies music. 2-stroke. Triumph 2000 automatics. More sunshine. No DMF's Adolescents with muscles and a work ethic. NO Mc.Donalds. Plumbers who turned up. Please and thank you. Border controls. Probation officers. Traffic division. Rover P6's Kawasaki Z1's (NOT 900) 0-60 =3.2 secs on cross plys. Apologies to all, got a drift on for a moment. Quite a pleasant thought though and not to be visited by any know-it-all offering an antidote. I DON'T want it. M. |
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Wed 29 Aug 12 22:30
A smartphone - WillDeBeest
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Some days just go back to Red boxes by the roadside. B.S.A. Bantams and Triumph Tiger Cubs.... Kawasaki Z1's (NOT 900) 0-60 =3.2 secs on cross plys. Shouldn't 'jumpers for goalposts' be in there somewhere? |
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Wed 29 Aug 12 22:33
A smartphone - R.P.
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| Those Brit bikes were crap. Triumph is re-launching a 250cc Tiger Cub....guaranteed to work out of the box and last for years. |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 06:46
A smartphone - MD
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>> Those Brit bikes were crap. Triumph is re-launching a 250cc Tiger Cub....guaranteed to work out >> of the box and last for years. >> Tell me MORE............NOW Rob. NOW I say........... |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 01:11
A smartphone - No FM2R
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BSA Bantam. Had one. Truly, truly, awful. Changed to a Matchless 650 G12. Also on cross ply, but superb. Affordable Fuel - Surprising figures, I thought. 1906 £13.40 (14p) 1966 £9.91 (65p) 1976 £5.09 (77p) 1986 £4.26 (£1.79) 1996 £4.21 (£2.79) 2006 £4.64 (£3.97) (unleaded). |
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Wed 5 Sep 12 18:47
A smartphone - CGNorwich
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| Petrol was never 65p a gallon in 1966 - more like 5/- or 25p |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 01:46
A smartphone - No FM2R
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But then I read your list some more.... >>2 Stroke - My KH250 and Suzuki TS250. Loved them. >>Triumph 2000 (and also 2500). Not. Really really not. Both my Grandfathers had them. Once drove one of them on the back roads (don't ask) from Henley to Ottery St. Mary. Couldn't walk for weeks. >>Kawasaki Z1's (NOT 900) The Z1000? Surely not, the original Z1 was sooo much nicer. >>NO Mc.Donalds. True. Wimpys that gave you real plates and knives and forks. How else could a skint lad furnish his bedsit kitchen? >>No DMF's I'm sure I'm being dense.... Dimethylformamide? >>No money making scameras. I would have changed our local plod for cameras in a second. You always know where the cameras are going to be. The local plod used to take delight lurking in field entrance ways and farm tracks on rural roads they knew as well as we did. They knew were all the good bits were, what time the pubs kicked out and which way we were likely to be going home. >>Rover P6s Always loved them and aspired to one. Until about 2 years ago when I drove one. Oh dear. |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 06:52
A smartphone - MD
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>> >>Rover P6s >> >> Always loved them and aspired to one. Until about 2 years ago when I drove >> one. Oh dear. >> Yes, they say History is for learning from, not re-visiting, but, Memories last longer than dreams. Once took my eye off the ball and got nicked for speeding 300yds from home. P6 Auto nabs yam' RD350 (air cooled). Embarrassed or what and even Dad was running the office in the local nick. Didn't count though as these were Wembley boys (I think) from Traffic. Never got caught after that. Well not on 2 wheels anyway. |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 11:13
A smartphone - No FM2R
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>>RD350 Was that the pear drop tank? Because I think the coffin tank was a 400? Always liked the sound of them. |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 20:39
A smartphone - MD
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| Not sure FM. I think I've heard them described as such and I am also sure that the 400 was the same style tank. They were a hoot in their day and very quick (at the time). Mine was kept on song by a race mechanic somewhere up the Edgware road. What was the name of the main dealer up there?? Anyway it was way and above anything standard, BUT it only stayed in that heightened state for perhaps a hundred miles or so. 1975-76 was my main (Road) bike time. |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 20:44
A smartphone - R.P.
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| If memory serves me right the coffin shaped tanks were on the air-cooled version. The LC (the later Liquid Cooled ones) had the smarter tear drop tank. Nice bikes. Always wanted a 350 version - may treat myself one day. |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 20:47
A smartphone - No FM2R
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I think the coffin tanked one came in about 1977, whereas the pear drop tank was about 2 years earlier than that. My involvement with London mechanics was limited to Hamrax Motors in Ladbroke Grove when I needed bits for my Matchless. |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 20:55
A smartphone - R.P.
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| The LC came out in around 1980. |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 21:13
A smartphone - No FM2R
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| Indeed, so that would make the coffin RD 1977 I think. |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 21:29
A smartphone - Kevin
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A fellow student had a new RD, late 1976 or so. Orange and white so that would make it the RD350B according to it's Wiki page. It definitely had the peardrop tank. |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 21:52
A smartphone - swiss tony
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>> A fellow student had a new RD, late 1976 or so. Orange and white so that would make it the RD350B according to it's Wiki page. >> >> It definitely had the peardrop tank. >> If memory serves me well, the early RD's had the rounded tank, the coffin tank would have been on bikes around 77- (when most Jap bikes had gone to 'Euro styling' That was also when the 350 became a 400...... Again I seem to recollect that like Honda's 250/400's the quick way to tell the difference was that the 250's had a single front disc, where as the 400 (and probably the earlier RD350's) had twin front disc's. Then of course in the early 80's the RD's became water cooled... the LC's. Little known fact, the LC and aircooled engines were VERY similar... in fact the LC lump could be fitted into a aircooled frame ;-) Last edited by: swiss tony on Thu 30 Aug 12 at 21:53
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Thu 30 Aug 12 22:04
A smartphone - R.P.
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| I had a 250N - built quite well, but a slug. (with a single disc) |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 22:14
A smartphone - swiss tony
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>> I had a 250N - built quite well, but a slug. (with a single disc) >> I know... I had a mate with one, I had a Kawa Z250 twin. one day we swapped bikes and well.... I had no chance of keeping with him... But.. before that, I (on the Z250) had a dice on a local country lane with a Super Dream, great fun - we kept together all the way (6 miles or so) It was only when we hit town and we stopped at a junction, I noticed the twin disc's on his....... |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 22:19
A smartphone - No FM2R
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A Z250 was a bit gutless, but nce enough. The Superdream was awful. [spit]. And to be fair I had a Z500 which was quite fun. I loved the KH250, especially the noise. Lying flat on the tank down the Fairmile and swearing down the pub that you'd got 105 out of it and could have got more. Now I don't know what the hell it was indicating, because flat on the tank then your eyes tended to be streaming and your head vibrating, but I'm fairly sure it wasn't anything like 105. In fact, subtract speedo error and teenage male BS, and I'm surprised the thing was breaking the speed limit. (which was 70mph, on that bit). Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 5 Sep 12 at 01:37
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Thu 30 Aug 12 22:40
A smartphone - swiss tony
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>> A Z250 was a bit gutless, ???? mine was anything but! Ridden hard, it would keep up with 250 2 stroke machines - they would gain on the straights, but I was never far behind, catching up on the bends. The Z250 twin was regarded as the best 250 4 stroke in its time. |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 22:43
A smartphone - rtj70
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| Is this Android Gingerbread or Ice Cream Sandwich in this discussion. Or phones in general? |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 23:12
A smartphone - R.P.
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| I had a z250 Scorpion. Superb brakes - Sintered pads and drilled discs. Mine was a stolen recovered one and suffered a number of problems. I sold it on to a copper who rode it years as a commute. It was a much lighter, finer bike than the 250N, much more nimble.. |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 23:16
A smartphone - rtj70
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| Did the Z250 run Android (which version? ICS) or was it not a Smartphone. A motorcycle might be easily confused I assume? |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 00:08
A smartphone - No FM2R
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Z250.. To be fair I didn't have one for long, but yes I'm sure I remember it being tromped in straight lines; although as you say, it was better in the corners than the lightweight two strokes. Even the Z500 had to be wound up pretty hard before it'd go. |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 00:09
A smartphone - No FM2R
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| I always liked the Suzuki GT250 Ram Air. I'm not sure it was a great bike, I just liked it. |
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Wed 29 Aug 12 20:36
A smartphone - WillDeBeest
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...of the third millennium ...of the current era; there were quite a few millennia before that, some of them involving very smart capacitive cave walls. Typed on a ageing iPhone 3G that, despite three years of training from me, still wants to add unwanted capitals to the words Walls, Market, and White. See? One warning: great as it is for all sorts of tasks, mine is a bit rubbish at making phone calls. Not a huge problem as I don't make that many, but my very basic corporate Nokia is a better device for just talking. I can also afford to miss an opportunity to plug it in since the battery lasts all week; not so with the iPhone. No direct Android experience, although one friend has a Samsung (a word missing from the Apple dictionary, I notice) whose camera is much better than the one in this. |
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Wed 29 Aug 12 20:44
A smartphone - swiss tony
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>> Typed on a ageing iPhone 3G that, despite three years of training from me, still wants to add unwanted capitals to the words Walls, Market, and White. See? >> >> One warning: great as it is for all sorts of tasks, mine is a bit rubbish at making phone calls. Not a huge problem as I don't make that many, but my very basic corporate Nokia is a better device for just talking. I can also afford to miss an opportunity to plug it in since the battery lasts all week; not so with the iPhone. Standard iphone from what I've seen. If you want a smart phone that lasts more than 12 hours, that you can make phone calls on, and has a working spell checker - it has to be Android.... (or maybe a Windows phone, although I have no experience of those.... ) |
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Wed 29 Aug 12 21:28
A smartphone - VxFan
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>> If you want a smart phone that lasts more than 12 hours, that you can >> make phone calls on, and has a working spell checker - it has to be >> Android My iPhone4 lasts all day without a recharge. I must surf the net a couple of hours a day on it, numerous emails, play a few games, send a few txt, etc. I even occasionally use it as a phone. Most of the time there is over 20 or 30% battery life remaining. But is it such an issue if the battery runs down? Just give it a top up at some point through the day from any USB socket. It's not as if they're as rare as rocking horse poo. |
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Wed 29 Aug 12 21:45
A smartphone - Stuartli
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I started with an HTC Wildfire S and was so fascinated with it that I eventually decided to buy the new HTC One X when it came out a few weeks ago (there are some things or apps that the Wildfire S cannot handle). The One X is a great phone, terrific screen, superb camera/camcorder and the battery lasts around 36 to 48 hours depending on use. In combination with the monthly PAYG £10 GiffGaff Goodybag (250 minutes and unlimited texts and data) it's also economical to use. See: www.giffgaff.com Last edited by: Stuartli on Wed 29 Aug 12 at 21:48
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Wed 29 Aug 12 23:19
A smartphone - Roger.
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Over three hundred quid for a PHONE? The words "made" "of" & "money" come to mind! |
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Wed 29 Aug 12 23:37
A smartphone - CGNorwich
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About the last thing a smartphone is is a phone. It's an incredibly small and versatile computer. Considering the development and ingenuity that is involved in making something that a few years ago would have been a piece of science fiction £300 is cheap. Until you own one you cannot really appreciate what an extraordinary device a smartphone is. |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 11:56
A smartphone - movilogo
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>> Over three hundred quid for a PHONE? To rephrase the question, OP is buying a Personal Digital Assistant with phone capability :-) There are some good smartphone deals currently (CPW or P4U) Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 - £220 HTC Mozart, Nokia Lumia 710 - £100 Just select one according to your taste. But mind you, you won't discover flaws of a particular handset/operating system until you have used it for few months. |
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Wed 29 Aug 12 23:42
A smartphone - Stuartli
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>>One warning: great as it is for all sorts of tasks, mine is a bit rubbish at making phone calls. Not a huge problem as I don't make that many, but my very basic corporate Nokia is a better device for just talking. I can also afford to miss an opportunity to plug it in since the battery lasts all week; not so with the iPhone. >> I used to have a Nokia 3310 (superb little phone which served me well for eight years!) that had first class sound quality. However, I have a friend who has to wear two hearing aids and, as a result, got a special Panasonic mobile phone for such users. Ironically one night whilst we at the club bar when I phoned another friend, he eventually asked if he could speak to him on my phone (the Wildfire S mentioned in another post). Amazingly he was able to hold a normal phone conversation despite his hearing impairment and that was despite the general noise around the bar area...:-) |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 00:53
A smartphone - VxFan
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>> However, I have a friend who has to wear two hearing aids >> Amazingly he was able to hold a normal phone conversation despite his hearing impairment and that was despite the general noise around the bar area...:-) I work with someone who wears 2 hearing aids. Using a landline phone in the workplace, he has to turn the volume right up to hear anyone. Annoying if you answer the phone next time as you get your eardrums perforated by the volume of the handset. Anyway, I digress. I was once on my iPhone in the next room making a private phone call to someone, and he told me afterwards that he could hear every word of the person I was talking to but couldn't hear me at all. |
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Wed 29 Aug 12 22:39
A smartphone - John H
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>> I'm seriously thinking about it... >> ... dragging myself into the second decade of the third millennium. >> >> It's not for you, as summed up here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeDiNfb2KAY Last edited by: John H on Wed 29 Aug 12 at 22:42
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Thu 30 Aug 12 10:35
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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Thanks, John H. I was expecting this from you, actually. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI In answer to Mark's question, what do I want it for? Why do I want it? Modern life is becoming almost impossible without a smartphone, much as in 2000 it had become almost impossible without a mobile phone - when I got one. (People stopped making plans in advance.) Without a smartphone, a Boris bike is an unreliable form of hoping for the best; with one it becomes a winged charger. Lost? Bring up a map like everybody else does. Hungry? Book a restaurant with a Toptable deal and go in; alternatively go through the front door and pay full (i.e. inflated) price - a tax on the disorganised. Need to know something? Just ask Siri like everybody else does. (Actually, I haven't seen anybody doing that for nearly a year; was Siri a one-minute wonder? Why don't I want one: the constant intrusion into ones life of emails arriving. I know you can turn it off, but would you? They're quite addictive; just read Damian Thompson's The Fix (I've only read the bits that were serialised in the Telegraph). |
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Thu 30 Aug 12 11:06
A smartphone - TeeCee
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I have just recently purchased a Sony-Ericsson Xperia Arc S and bunged the available Android ICS release onto it. It's an end-of-life product (due to the Sony split with Ericsson) and thus available quite cheaply. Seems quick, stable (as stable as Android devices get) and handles everything I throw at it. Decent screen and best of all, a three day(!) battery life in normal use. Heavy use gets it down to two, but I've been unable to get it drop beneath a day without doing something stupid (e.g. continually running video on loop). Touch screen text entry is good with the "Swype" keyboard when you get the hang of it, better if I turn it to landscape orientation first. Downsides: The voice dialling function is truly awful. It's recognition is abysmal, it lacks readback confirmation and the prompts given are inaudibly quiet. However this is generic to Android and if vitally important to you, you should definately avoid Android devices. Also the problems here are still not fixed in Jellybean. Has a habit of going through phases of rebooting when things are connected / disconnected. As far as I can make out, this is heavily dependant on what's been updated recently. Perfectly stable right now, but for how long? This is Android's greatest Achilles heel, lack of testing / quality control, coupled with the ability of applications to destabilise the device. Alternative: For an alternative view, my son has a Windows Phone device. Pluses are a genuinely excellent UI (a cut above both Android and iOS for ease of use in my opinion), completely stable (I'd say bulletproof), excellent voice recog and long battery life. Also, WinPho seems to be infinitely better at making do on fairly low-end hardware than its competitors. The subscription Zune music service is not to be sneezed at either. Minuses are that you get what you're given, there's nothing you can do to tweak it. Onscreen touch keyboard entry is not quite as good as the Android version, although still very usable. I've moved from recommending Android for the technically literate and iOS to "I just want it to work" users to Android and WinPho.... |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 05:41
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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Well, I went into the Orange shop (on Oxford St, so of course it was heaving) yesterday evening. And a fat load of good that did me, really. The guy showed me a Samsung Siii which I could even play with for a few minutes, and I was most impressed by the keyboard on it. But do I really want a phone the size of a house brick? He then went to find an iPhone 4s. But it was flat. And that was it. A shop with fifty(?) different smartphones in it, and absolutely no way of trying any of them. Is there anything else on which you are expected to spend nearly a cool £1,000 (over a two year contract) that you can't try first? Surely not. He did try quite hard to sell me a Blackberry Curve 9320. But really I don't fancy that poxy little keyboard. But then 100,000,000 business users cannot be wrong. |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 10:32
A smartphone - VxFan
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>> Is there anything else on which you are expected to spend nearly a cool £1,000 >> (over a two year contract) Tesco mobile (who use the O2 network) are one of the few phone networks who offer a 12 month contract. That's what I did with my iPhone4 32G £300 to purchase the phone (ok, the initial purchase of the phone was more, but that was offset by only being tied to a 12 month contract then switching to SIM only) 12 months @ £40 Then I went to a SIM only contract @ £12.50 / month. Prices are obviously different now, but should give you a few pointers. tinyurl.com/79swv7c - then click on the 12 months tab Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 31 Aug 12 at 10:33
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Fri 31 Aug 12 10:42
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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| So you spent £924. Still without being able to test drive the thing first...! |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 11:02
A smartphone - VxFan
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I was paying O2 (at the time) £20 a month to run an old Nokia N70, so it wasn't £930 (that's what my maths work it out to be, not £924). So in effect it wasn't £40 a month for the 1st 12 months, it was an additional £20 on top of what I was previously paying. I work it out to be £690 for 24 months (£300 for the phone, £20 a month for 12 months, then £12.50 a month for 12 months) I also had the benefit of trying a colleagues iPhone beforehand. |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 11:16
A smartphone - Pezzer
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Im sure that some of the high street shops/re-sellers have working examples of the top end phones on display that you can at least have a play with. So you should be able to get a feel for the iPhone 4S, SGS3, HTC One and Windows phone. I note that you went into an Orange shop - I think they have an 'exclusive' Android phone running an Intel processor .... San Diego I think. Its probably not high end but priced pretty well and i have seen some positive reviews. |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 14:18
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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| Well, the whole world seems to be pushing the Samsung Siii. Personally I think it's rather BIG, and I cannot imagine its lasting a full 24 months unscathed. But then £62 will buy insurance to cover it. |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 14:36
A smartphone - Zero
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My two pence worth. A new Iphone 5 (due in September) is a no no for any current Iphone user. It wont be sufficiently special over the 4S to justify the extra expense, and you will have to replace or convert all your existing Ihone docks you have as the new one wont fit. (it is rumoured it even has the capability to "reject" unaproved accessories plugged into it) For a first time smart phone user, especially the not so savvy technical user, it would probably be a good, albeit expensive, choice. For less money so would an Iphone 4S. Battery life is good on the later iphone, as is the ability to get a signal. Android is good, BUT, its splintering into various guises rapidly, with all the instability such divergence brings. Samsungs recent loss to apple in the courts (justified - and that comment from an Apple hater) means this divergence will increase. The windows phone, much poo pooed by me at the start. I am really warming to this phone, the Nokia Lumia is a lovely device to hold and use, but its tied up tighter than a ducks ass, far more restricted than even the iphone. If you like it out of the box, and you don't want to muck about with it, its very good indeed. Nicole is getting a new phone, she wants an iPhone, she needs a Windows phone. I shall ensure she knows she made the wrong choice at every chance i get. I think mappy would do well with an Iphone 4s. |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 14:44
A smartphone - Alanovich
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>> The windows phone, much poo pooed by me at the start. I am really warming >> to this phone, the Nokia Lumia is a lovely device to hold and use, but >> its tied up tighter than a ducks ass, far more restricted than even the iphone. >> If you like it out of the box, and you don't want to muck about >> with it, its very good indeed. Indeed. The Nokia N8 was actually a superior device to the Lumia in my humble, but banjaxed by being tied to Symbian. I use an N8 though, and I have a brand new Lumia in a box at home, but I refuse to change it. The hardware is so, so good (12MP camera and video quality particularly, with HDMI output to plug straight in to an HD TV), that I can overlook the rotten OS. Why they've taken the HDMI output off the Lumia, lord knows. Criminal. Perhaps the rumours around the imminent death of Nokia are unfounded, given the wobbling of the Android system. I reckon you're right and most people want something out of the box which works, and works well. They could finally be on to a winner. I hope so. |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 14:52
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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>>she wants an iPhone, she needs a Windows phone. I shall ensure she knows she made the >>wrong choice at every chance i get. >>I think mappy would do well with an Iphone 4s Why the difference between the two of us? In carphonewarehouse at lunchtime. Hapless assistant, but got chatting to a chap from Motorola head office in the States (as you do in W1). He reckoned there was no choice other than the Galaxy Siii. Most stable system, good battery life. He thought that I would love all the gadgets that I didn't know I needed on the phone, so there was no point in something cheaper. He may be right, he may be wrong. I bought my current Nokia because it had a radio; maybe because it only came with one earphone I've barely ever used it over the last five years. |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 15:04
A smartphone - Alanovich
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| Ah yes. There's another reason I like my N8 over the Lumia. The N8 has a DAB radio app. Lumia does not. I use it on Saturday mornings for listening to Danny Baker whilst I watch my son's football training sessions. Radio 5 Live is not available if your phone only has an FM radio. Why in God's name did phones never have an AM band? |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 15:06
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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| What about a LW band too? |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 15:09
A smartphone - Alanovich
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| Indeed. |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 15:08
A smartphone - Zero
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>> Ah yes. There's another reason I like my N8 over the Lumia. The N8 has >> a DAB radio app. Lumia does not. I use it on Saturday mornings for listening >> to Danny Baker whilst I watch my son's football training sessions. Radio 5 Live is >> not available if your phone only has an FM radio. Why in God's name did >> phones never have an AM band? Antenna, tuner, power, and co-interference issues. Danny baker would be constant BUUZZ BUZZZ BUZZZ Mind you thats better than Danny Baker to be sure. |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 16:09
A smartphone - Pezzer
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| Internet radio APP ? Eg TuneIn on iPhone or Android |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 15:06
A smartphone - Zero
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>> Why the difference between the two of us? She needs social media type apps. Facebook, twitter, messaging, and web. You indicated you need much more in the way of "around me" and "tools" type apps, both of which the Iphone excels in. >> In carphonewarehouse at lunchtime. Hapless assistant, but got chatting to a chap from Motorola head >> office in the States (as you do in W1). He reckoned there was no choice >> other than the Galaxy Siii. Most stable system, good battery life. He has no money in Iphone or Windows phone, "he would say that wouldn't he" |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 15:56
A smartphone - rtj70
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Android itself at version 4.0.x (or even 4.1) is very good and stable. The problem with most Android phones is the phone makers feel they need to tweak the interface and make theirs different. Samsung has Touchwhiz and HTC Sense. I really disliked Touchwiz on the SGS and replaced it - you couldn't even sort the applications drawer! But although the latest version of Touchwhiz on the SGS III is less intrusive I still don't like it. But Sense 4.x is much better in my opinion and is one reason I got an HTC One X recently. Another is it might only be slightly smaller than the SGS III but it looks quite a lot smaller. The SGS III is just too big. One annoyance on the HTC One X was there is no menu button. So in apps not rewritten to have an onscreen menu button the phone would display a bit menu button at the bottom. So a large chunk of display would be unusable - kind of makes a 4.7" screen pointless if you get the drift. But an update to HTC Sense 4.1 has meant the recent app button can be altered to make it into a menu button. I nearly rooted the phone to fix this but then my Barclays app would stop working.... So now I can read books without an annoying on screen button. Or watch videos full screen in VLC. But Apple would never have let a phone out with that 'issue'. And it's not a Google Android problem because Google don't even want real button - just on screen ones. I agree that Samsung deserved to lose. The SGS was an iPhone rip off. Other Android phones didn't look so similar. But I don't think Android is really a rip off of Apple ideas because it's not. Apple just brought together technology and design to come up with the iPhone. The ideas they have tried to patent were already available. They just brought them together. |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 16:10
A smartphone - John H
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>> slightly smaller than the SGS III but it looks quite a lot smaller. The SGS >> III is just too big. >> A lot of buyers go for the even bigger Samsung Galaxy Note and are quite happy with it. I am going to try the Note II announced yesterday and may buy it if the price is right when it goes on sale in a few weeks time. www.itproportal.com/2012/08/30/samsung-galaxy-note-2-vs-samsung-galaxy-note-specs-comparison/ |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 18:45
A smartphone - Fursty Ferret
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£250 (ish) gets you the Samsung Galaxy Nexus sim-free, which is a decent phone running Android as Google designed it to run. You also have the advantage of being the first to get updates, too. Quite a big fan of mine - sure, it has its minor issues and it's coming up to a year old, but does a perfectly reasonable job for me and regularly gets 2-3 days without being charged. |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 16:01
A smartphone - John H
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Since Zero thought a WinPho is good, how about this one for Mapmaker? www.carphonewarehouse.com/buy/NOKIA-LUMIA-710-KM009-FCON It is £5.50 a month for 24 months (allowing for £50 cashback from TCB or Quidco if you buy before end of tomorrow). details here: www.hotukdeals.com/deals/nokia-lumia-710-with-a-24month-talkmobile-contract-7-5-pm-250-mins-5000-txts-500-1295938 The Lumia will give you free world mapping & nav which will work disconencted from the network - i.e. even when there is no phone or wi-fi signal, so you won't get lost in the Death Valley. If you want a Samsung SIII for £26 a month over 24 months (again allowing for £50 cashback), this might suit if your minutes/MB/text use is not a deal breaker: www.carphonewarehouse.com/buy/SAMSUNG-GALAXY-S-3-KM008-TTS3 and you get 12 months free Broadband if you qualify for it. Last edited by: John H on Fri 31 Aug 12 at 16:05
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Fri 31 Aug 12 18:37
A smartphone - Manatee
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| At the end of May I got unlimited calls ands texts, plus 1GB data, from O2 on an iPhone 4s for £100 down and £36 a month ona 24 month contract. I'm happy with that as it caps my call costs. |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 18:58
A smartphone - John H
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>> At the end of May I got unlimited calls ands texts, plus 1GB data, from >> O2 on an iPhone 4s for £100 down and £36 a month ona 24 month >> contract. I'm happy with that as it caps my call costs. >> That's £34 a month now, with "free" no upfront cost phone (again after £50 cashback) and has "unlimited" wi-fi: www.carphonewarehouse.com/buy/APPLE-IPHONE-4S-16GB-RG005-FCON Last edited by: John H on Fri 31 Aug 12 at 19:00
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Fri 31 Aug 12 20:32
A smartphone - MD
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| ooooh! my head hurts with all these 'phones. Can we go back to Motorbikes now please. (0;_;0) |
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Fri 31 Aug 12 22:54
A smartphone - Badwolf
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>> The windows phone, much poo pooed by me at the start. I am really warming >> to this phone, the Nokia Lumia is a lovely device to hold and use, but >> its tied up tighter than a ducks ass, far more restricted than even the iphone. >> If you like it out of the box, and you don't want to muck about >> with it, its very good indeed. I agree wholeheartedly. I had an iPhone 3gs and did not like it at all. As a PDA, and as a means to surf the interweb it was top class. But as a phone it was terrible. I swapped it for an 'old-school' Nokia E51 but missed some of the features of a true smartphone so a couple of months ago I went in to the Vodafone store at the Trafford centre and came out with a Nokia Lumia 800. It is a superb piece of kit, and I love the simplicity of it. It is so intuitive to use and whilst I agree that you cannot muck about with it too much, I see this as a plus. As an aside, the sales assistant who dealt with me could not have been more helpful. She narrowed the range of phones down to the ones available to me at the price I wanted to pay and then fetched fully working examples of each one for me to have a fiddle about with. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Lumia 800. |
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Sun 2 Sep 12 22:52
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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>> If you like it out of the box, and you don't want to muck about >> with it, its very good indeed. What does this mean? I don't see any point in having a smartphone with 100 minutes, 100 texts and 250GB monthly (for £28 when £36 less £120 cashback through quidco(? can't remember which) i.e. £31 will give you unlimited, unlimited, 1GB and unlimited wifi). What's the point in a crippled smartphone..!? Zero, I expect to use Facebook, email, >>You indicated you need much more in the way of "around me" and "tools" type apps, both of >>which the Iphone excels in. What on earth does that mean? (Google is no help - partly as I've no idea what I'm looking for...) |
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Sun 2 Sep 12 23:00
A smartphone - Zero
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| Mappy, you are being deliberately obtuse. |
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Mon 3 Sep 12 23:24
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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RF>> Mappy, you are being deliberately obtuse. Mark>>Ignoring your sudden inabiltiy to understand others comments, I suggest an iPhone. Utterly bemused. I have no idea what an "around me" app is, nor a "tool" app; these are both examples of jargon. And I have no idea what "If you like it out of the box, and you don't want to muck about with it, its very good indeed" means. Actually, I can work out that 'out of the box' means as delivered from the factory, but why would I want to - or how would I - "muck about with it." Again, pure jargon that means nothing to a speaker of the English language. |
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Mon 3 Sep 12 23:33
A smartphone - Zero
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YOU NEED AN IPHONE There, is that clear? |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 05:10
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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>> YOU NEED AN IPHONE >> >> There, is that clear? >> OK, that's pretty clear. Not a Lumia 710? For £120 for 2 years, not nearly ten times that? Is it worth waiting for the iPhone 5 in October? Or does madness lie that way as there's always the next deal just round the corner? |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 06:30
A smartphone - Focusless
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>> Is it worth waiting for the iPhone 5 in October? Sneak peak (allegedly): www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2197756/iPhone-5-New-leak-claims-new-phone-switched-bigger-screen.html |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 06:23
A smartphone - swiss tony
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>> YOU NEED AN IPHONE >> >> There, is that clear? >> Like I keep saying, with an iphone you need to shout a lot....... ;-) |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 06:39
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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| No more dithering. iPhone on its way. Phew! It'd better be good otherwise Zero is for the high jump... |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 06:44
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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| Just thought... can I synch it with outlook as I can with my elderly Nokia? Or is that a REALLY stupid question as apples and MS don't mix? |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 08:47
A smartphone - Zero
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>> Just thought... can I synch it with outlook as I can with my elderly Nokia? >> Or is that a REALLY stupid question as apples and MS don't mix? www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL-ULmB0FZU |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 08:44
A smartphone - Zero
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>> No more dithering. iPhone on its way. Phew! It'd better be good otherwise Zero is >> for the high jump... what deal did you get? I hope you paid nothing up front for the phone? The imminent arrival of the Iphone 5 means some good deals about on 4's |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 09:12
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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£36 for 1G, unlimited texts and talk. £50 for phone, £100 cashback, so I think the answer is 'yes'? Cheapest deal I could find (thro' topcashback, and frankly I was finally sick of wasting any more time on it). Orange - so I get the benefit of my remaining credit and the Phone Fund. Yes, I was on PAYG... |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 09:17
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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It has to be said, coming with the recommendation of Zero and NFM2R was the deciding factor. Now, time to drag the rest of me into the second decade of the 21st century. I've got a fair number of CDs. I think I need to buy myself a separate CD drive for my NC10, and then just get listening and uploading into iTunes? Does it pretty much do it for me? And then... I need to buy one of those stereos like Zero bought himself earlier this year that does CDs as well as MP3s, and then I can dock the phone and play off the phone? Or will that just be irritating? |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 09:45
A smartphone - Pezzer
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| Another reason for an iPhone as the peripherals/docking options will be far more prevalent. |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 09:47
A smartphone - Zero
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>> Another reason for an iPhone as the peripherals/docking options will be far more prevalent. As long as you dont buy the new Iphone 5, |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 10:28
A smartphone - Pezzer
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| Understand the point but he hasnt ! ........ how long before a new to old adapter emerges ? |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 10:32
A smartphone - Zero
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>> Understand the point but he hasnt ! ........ how long before a new to old >> adapter emerges ? Going to be difficult, any adaptor is going to raise the phone way out of most docks and will have no mechanical support. Its going to be a much bigger problem than most people have cottoned on to. |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 10:43
A smartphone - Pezzer
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| Perhaps a cradle arrangement with or without an extending cable depending on the physical limitations. |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 10:57
A smartphone - rtj70
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Zero is right that many have not cottoned on to why the new 9-oin connector going to cause problems. The old 30-pin connector had line-out/line-in in analogue form. And it hadn't gone via any amplifier circuit like the headphone jack. The new connector does not have any analogue out (or in) so most of the ports simply won't work. You need a DAC to take a digital signal from the new iPhone. Then there's the issue of it being a bit unstable like Zero alludes to. Apple will be pushing AirPlay and there's always Bluetooth audio streaming. Apple will know this move would annoy many people - but it's Apple so the gullible will accept the change and even hail Apple for it. ;-) Last edited by: rtj70 on Tue 4 Sep 12 at 10:58
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Tue 4 Sep 12 09:50
A smartphone - Zero
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>> I've got a fair number of CDs. I think I need to buy myself a >> separate CD drive for my NC10, and then just get listening and uploading into iTunes? >> Does it pretty much do it for me? Yes and yes, but how many cds have you got? how big is the hard drive on your NC10? >> >> And then... I need to buy one of those stereos like Zero bought himself earlier >> this year that does CDs as well as MP3s, and then I can dock the >> phone and play off the phone? Or will that just be irritating? No it won't, its Über convenient. |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 10:05
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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100ish. No idea. Wikipedia says 160GB. Recommendation for an external CD drive? Can ripping be done at 16x speed? Last edited by: Mapmaker on Tue 4 Sep 12 at 10:06
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Tue 4 Sep 12 10:20
A smartphone - rtj70
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Any USB external drive will work but audio CD's won't rip at full speed all the time - it will vary depending on the part of the disk being read. Well that's what iTunes will report. Note if this is a slim external USB CD drive (and you'll probably be better off getting a DVD writer to be honest as it will have other uses then) then it might need two USB cables plugged into the laptop to power it - or plug into a powered USB hub. |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 10:25
A smartphone - Zero
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100 cds will be about 30gb, depending on what compression ratio you use. I use the Samsung SE-208 www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-SE-208AB-Portable-External-Writer/dp/B005N2UE2O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346750527&sr=8-1 |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 18:51
A smartphone - No FM2R
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>>coming with the recommendation of Zero and NFM2R was the deciding factor. Oh crap. I hope it works out ok. Re: CDs - did you think this was going to be easy? iTunes is very easy. And if you're only ever going to play your music through an iPod then it'll be absolutely fine. Its pretty painless. Its kinda slow, but that's about it. But there are issues; It is a compressed format. What that means is that it cuts off the high stuff you can't hear, cuts off the low stuff you can't here, and compresses the gaps in the rest. That's how it fits in a small place. If you think about it a CD can hold 600mb or thereabouts and an mp3 album is massively less. However, that "loss" represents a loss in quality which some people maintain they can hear, and which high quality equipment can make obvious. I can tell if I play one type after another, but in isolation it all sounds the same to me. Uncompressed formats are called "loss less". However, you wouldn't get many CDs onto an iPod at that size. If you intend to keep the CDs then perhaps it doesn't matter. Other than the pain of having to rip them all again, if you ever want a higher bitrate or different format, you still retain the source. However, if you will not keep the CDs, or if you can't bear the thought of ripping them all again, then you should store them in a lossless format on a hard disk. Once that is done, you can import them into anything you want at any bitrate you want, because you can always do it again without manual effort. If you are primarily an ipod man, then rip them all into itunes, and just keep the CDs somewher safe in a cupboard in case (when) you need them. If you are nor primarily an ipod man, then rip them lossless. Despite all the stuff you hear Media Player is a good way of doing this and you can set it to name the actual files quite sensibly and to sort them into directories. Then drag and drop the ones you want on your iphone or ipod into Itunes. Set iTunes so that it moves everything in the itunes catalogue into the itunes library to keep it seperate from the main directories. I hold everything in an open and lossless format and whilst i have probably kept the CDs, then goodness knos where. So to be clear; Ipod/phone only - rip to iTunes and retain CDs Not iPod//Phone only - set Media Player to rip lossless into main directory, drag and dsrop required tunes to itunes. I hope that's clear enough and absent of jargon this time. |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 20:13
A smartphone - Zero
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| I doubt he has enough hard disk space for all his cds stored once in Lossless format |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 20:22
A smartphone - No FM2R
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Well that would be cheap enough to solve. I have about 0.5Tb of music and that is 000s of CDs, not 00s A CD holds 600mb or thereabouts, maximum? 100 CDs is therefore a maximum 60Gb. And in truth music CDs are rarely, if ever, anything like that large. So 100 CDs would be what? less than 10 - 20 Gb? I have memory sticks significantly larger than that. |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 23:11
A smartphone - smokie
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| Does iTunes cope with lossless formats? I hve a recollection it converts it all on the import... |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 23:26
A smartphone - rtj70
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| I thought it did Lossless now. I use Android so my music is not via iTunes these days. I know it's possible to sync. But my car doesn't sync either ;-) |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 23:48
A smartphone - No FM2R
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>>I hve a recollection it converts it all on the import... I don't know that much about it. I only use it for the kids' ipods. however, its always converted when I use it, but that may not be compulsory, that might be just me. EDIT: I wrote two lines. I have to edit it to correct 5 mistakes. Its sad really. Last edited by: No FM2R on Tue 4 Sep 12 at 23:49
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Wed 5 Sep 12 08:38
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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It's fairly clear, thank you. Perhaps I won't bother. CDs have been good enough for the last 20 years... |
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Wed 5 Sep 12 08:46
A smartphone - Zero
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| Oh dear, sounds like your assigned technical advocate has put you off. You will need to install Itunes to get the phone to work anyway so you may as well try and rip a cd with it set to its defaults, put it on the phone, and see if you like it. |
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Wed 5 Sep 12 14:28
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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| iTunes already installed, CD drive in the post. (Zero-recommended drive.) So I'll have to give it a go at least. |
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Sun 2 Sep 12 23:12
A smartphone - No FM2R
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Ignoring your sudden inabiltiy to understand others comments, I suggest an iPhone. Its not the best for me, becasue I want to fiddle around and have things work my way. Its also not very good at dealing with exceptions, like my need to text or email in more than one language. Also, I dislike apple's approach to life in general. Nonetheless, it does all the social networking stuff, it takes pictures, does email and sends messages. It can open most attachements and browse most of the stuff on the internet. Your only limitation is that you can only do it Apple's way. There are no workarounds or customisations. The second part is cost; minutes of phones calls to tohers om the same network, on other networks, internationally, premium lines. number of messages, SMS or multimedia amount of data, etc. etc. Those are a question of trying to understand how you will use it, and getting the best deal for that. I would guess something around 200 unrestricted minutes, 200 texts and 5Gb would be enough for most people on a phone. Be careful of the imposed rates whenever a limit is passed. |
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Sun 2 Sep 12 23:27
A smartphone - rtj70
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Do remember the fair use policy for unlimited data plans usually means they actually meant 1GB. But don't like saying that to clearly. I might come nowhere near 1GB most months on my data plan. But the phone often uses close to 1GB and often more over wifi. I work from home a lot so that's not an issue. EDIT: And for people wanting a phone that works a certain way and they get to know the way and eventually like it... get an iPhone. I know a lot of non-technical people also use Android based phones and even Windows Phone 7.5. Android is my preference and I've done a lot less messing with this HTC One X because I rather like Sense 4.1. But I was close to rooting it to sort out a menu button... and then Barclays came out with their app (very good) which won't work on rooted phone. But HTC's interim ICS upgrade has the ability to remap the recent app button to menu! Yeh. Jelly Bean will be out at some point but not desperate for those upgrades. Last edited by: rtj70 on Sun 2 Sep 12 at 23:30
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Sun 2 Sep 12 23:33
A smartphone - No FM2R
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>>ICS upgrade has the ability to remap the recent app button to menu Does it? How, pray tell. Interestingly I use an HTC, but by chance I was given a Samsung Galaxy the other day. Its new, so presumably got all the modern stuff. But I have to say that the HTC is much nicer to use. |
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Sun 2 Sep 12 23:37
A smartphone - rtj70
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If you've got the recent HTC One upgrade to ICS 4.0.4 which comes with Sense 4.1 then if you go to setting you will notice what was once Display and Gestures is now: "Display, Gestures and Buttons'. You will find a Buttons sub-section with Recent apps button it there which lets you choose between: - Always open recent apps - Press for menu, press and hold for recent apps - Press for recent apps, press and hold for menu Enabling either of the latter two options gets rid of that horrible onscreen menu button. |
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Sun 2 Sep 12 23:43
A smartphone - No FM2R
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| Thanks, I shall try that later. |
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Sun 2 Sep 12 23:30
A smartphone - No FM2R
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| By the way, WiFi should be free, and if it isn't it is almost certainly out of the control of your network operator. |
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Sun 2 Sep 12 23:41
A smartphone - Zero
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> >> I would guess something around 200 unrestricted minutes, 200 texts and 5Gb would be enough >> for most people on a phone. I am a heavy Iphone user, as demonstrated by my time on here. 300 mins, unlimited texts, and a mere 500mb of data / month is ample for me. |
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Sun 2 Sep 12 23:43
A smartphone - No FM2R
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| Photos to dropbox, streaming Jack FM and sat nav kills my data. |
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Sun 2 Sep 12 23:48
A smartphone - Zero
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Smartphones are rubbish for sat nav. Only use mine for that in emergency, and then it has no network overhead itunes.apple.com/gb/app/navfree-gps-live-uk-roi/id391334793?mt=8 |
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Mon 3 Sep 12 00:03
A smartphone - John H
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>> Smartphones are rubbish for sat nav. >> Have you tried this one? conversations.nokia.com/2012/03/20/nokia-maps-drive-and-transport-updated-for-lumia/ (As long as you have a satellite fix, it will work even without a network or wi-fi connection, as the maps reside in the phone.) |
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Mon 3 Sep 12 00:06
A smartphone - rtj70
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| Zero has an app with local maps. You're missing the many reasons why he says they are rubbish. |
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Mon 3 Sep 12 06:57
A smartphone - swiss tony
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>> >> Smartphones are rubbish for sat nav. >> Have you tried this one? >> conversations.nokia.com/2012/03/20/nokia-maps-drive-and-transport-updated-for-lumia/ (As long as you have a satellite fix, it will work even without a network >> or wi-fi connection, as the maps reside in the phone.) Nokia sat-nav is very good - I'd say better the Merc's comand, and many other types I've used. My Android phone isn't so good. So... I still use the Nokia as a sat-nav/back up phone (with PAYG sim) another plus point is i'm not soaking the Androids battery life... |
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Mon 3 Sep 12 00:05
A smartphone - No FM2R
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>>Smartphones are rubbish for sat nav I wouldnt use it as a matter of course, but I find it quite helpful. Mostly in cities where I haven't got my orientation correct yet and struggle to know whether a destination is north, south, east or west from me. And indeed which direction is any of them. But rubbish is a bit too far. |
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Mon 3 Sep 12 00:07
A smartphone - rtj70
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| Sounds like even the compass on the phone is useful. |
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Mon 3 Sep 12 00:18
A smartphone - No FM2R
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>> Sounds like even the compass on the phone is useful. It is, especially in the mountains. There is one part I go to where there are not even any tracks, never mind roads, and one has to negotiate across valleys and between mountains. The compass is genius for that. Also either when up in the mountains or out in the desert, Google Sky Map is superb fun. Highly recommended. I'm sure it'll be just as much fun in the Midlands. |
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Mon 3 Sep 12 08:43
A smartphone - Zero
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>> But rubbish is a bit too far. let me qualify that. For use as a car sat nav they are rubbish. The screen is too small and cluttered, the sound is too muted, the interface is too clumsy for fat finger poking (usually too sensitive with small target areas) and most are a bit slow with current location at car speeds. If you need a compass, or are on foot in city streets, or hiking on the wilds of clapham common, spartphones are ideal. |
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Mon 3 Sep 12 00:09
A smartphone - John H
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>> 300 mins, unlimited texts, and a mere 500mb of data / month is ample for >> me. >> Pity you can't do with just 250 minutes. The "free" Lumia 710 deal, at under £5.50 a month, would have met your needs otherwise: www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=11734&m=261071&v=e |
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Mon 3 Sep 12 14:13
A smartphone - movilogo
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I bought my first android phone (Samsung Galaxy Ace from CPW for £100). Earlier I was using Nokia 5800 so not a novice to touch screen phones. However, I think Android requires too much fiddling to get a desired result. In my Nokia, I had 3 physical buttons. It was easy to dial a specific number (say my wife's phone) by pressing the physical call button twice. This was handy when I had to dial the number without looking at a phone (eg. while driving - well I never looked at phone to dial a number, I just dialled it using a single key and then turned it to speaker phone. So at pedantic level it was not risky). This is not possible in touchscreen phones with no (or just one to go to home screen) physical button. I understand an elegant solution would be using a bluetooth headset to voice dial. But I'm just showing an inconvenience of pure touchscreen device. Next the process of calling/answering. You need to swipe screen to answer rather than pressing a key. Now if any reminder appears the call "app" goes background. I need to swipe top of screen to get this process back (like Windows task manager) so that I can hang up the call. Now I discovered a hidden menu in setting which allows to use power button to end call. Totally non-intuitive!! Today morning I was using the Navigation (Sat Nav) option. It was working fine. Then a profile switcher application became active (which I installed myself) and turned off the voice of sat nav! With so many apps, you never know which one is going to interfere with the required one in wrong time! I installed Skype. After that when I tried to make a phone call, a dialog box asked Which app do you want to use for making phone call? Dialler or Skype? @%$&¬ At least it gave me the option "remember my answer next time". Battery life is diabolic. I admit being a new device I was playing around it too often. But now I installed Juice Defender app and will see how it improves. I can't figure out how to end an app! Some apps close itself when I switch from it. Some starts to run in the background. In fact once started, you can't exit from Skype! You need to invoke task manager to force close it. My verdict (yours may differ) * Android tries to do everything so that's why it delivers nothing particularly well. * As a phone, traditional phones are much better. * Being able to do too many things is not necessarily a good thing. It wastes time more often than not. If it is a dumb phone, I know it can only make phone calls. Because it is a mini computer, I am tempted to check whether it can do this or that (yes my stupidity but that's how psychology works :-/ ) Are competitors any better? Depends on personal taste. iPhones are definitely easier to use (never owned iPhone but have an iPad) but that comes at a cost (typically 3 times for similar spec Android phones). Windows phones are probably better if you don't like to fiddle with it endlessly (only thing I want in them is ability use micro SD cards). Shame Nokia gave up on Symbian. Latest Symbian firmware were quite stable and fast. |
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Tue 4 Sep 12 11:03
A smartphone - rtj70
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I think some of your comments relates to the Samsung Touchwizz layer on top of their phones. For example the Swype to answer a call. When I got a new Samsung Galaxy S in 2010 I took a few seconds to work out that's what you did :-) But my current HTC One X has two big buttons to answer/reject respectively. If you configure the option, the Samsung will hang up when you press the power button. A downside is if the screens gets locked when you're on the phone (e.g. phone app in the background), if you press the power button to get the unlock screen back up it will also hang up the phone call. To close most apps on the Samsung press the back button. There's always task manager. To prolong battery life consider installing a task killer like Advanced Task Killer |
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Fri 14 Sep 12 08:51
A smartphone - John H
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>> Android or Apple? >> You must see this - you made the right choice: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdIWKytq_q4 |
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Fri 14 Sep 12 09:25
A smartphone - Manatee
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| Excellent. |
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Fri 14 Sep 12 09:30
A smartphone - Zero
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| Looks staged to me. |
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Mon 17 Sep 12 09:34
A smartphone - Zero
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| So, Mappy, how you getting on with the EyePhone? |
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Mon 17 Sep 12 11:30
A smartphone - Meldrew
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A phone case like this tinyurl.com/8or623v gives about 10 hours use before the phone's own battery starts being used |
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Mon 17 Sep 12 12:11
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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Reasonably impressed. Can anybody help on the following: 1. Depending on what I am doing, I want my iPhone to operate differently. Three situations spring to mind: (a) At home/office/wandering around aimlessly. Mobile internet turned off (except wifi); phone on vibrate/silent ring. (b) What Nokia call “outdoor” mode – as (a) but with phone on loud ring. (c) Using the phone as a mobile computer, so the display does not turn itself off, and mobile internet is turned on. Surely there is a simple way of changing these settings without having to scrabble about in several parts of the ‘settings’ menu each time. 2. The ‘Network’ menu has three settings, which I cannot work out the difference between: (a) Enable 3G “Using 3G loads data faster, but may decrease battery life.” (b) Mobile Data “Turn off mobile data to restrict all data to wifi, including email, web browsing and push notifications.” (c) Data Roaming “Turn off data roaming when travelling to avoid charges when web browsing and using email, MMS and other data services.” What is the difference between (b) and (c)? 3. Orange advertise free BT wifi. How is this enabled? 4. It clicks annoyingly when I press the ‘off’ button on the top of the phone. How do I disable this? 5. It seems incapable of having the alarm clock on noisy whilst the ringer is on silent. How do I sort this? |
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Mon 17 Sep 12 12:19
A smartphone - Manatee
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I can answer one of those off the top of my head - there's a "lock sounds" option in settings, under sounds. You can stop it making the locking/unlocking noises. How are you silencing the ringer? If I'm in a meeting I move the little switch top left side to silent. The ring goes to vibrate ('cos it's set to) but the alarm still sounds. Roaming means "going foreign". Last edited by: Manatee on Mon 17 Sep 12 at 12:22
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Mon 17 Sep 12 12:29
A smartphone - Manatee
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Incidentally - the only network switching I usually bother with is to turn off wifi sometimes to force the phone to use 3G/mobile data. If at home, it will prefer wifi anyway. If you happen to be in one of those places where your phone connects to a hotspsot but you need a login which you haven't got or don't want to pay for, you get annoying 'page not available' type messages as the phone tries to use wifi but can't get access to anything but the login page. Turning off wifi makes it use mobile data and fixes it. Last edited by: Manatee on Mon 17 Sep 12 at 12:30
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Mon 17 Sep 12 12:40
A smartphone - Zero
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| I have wifi off all the time unless I know I am in a wifi spot I have access to. It wont do networky data things and wont tell you why unless you do. |
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Mon 17 Sep 12 12:23
A smartphone - rtj70
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1. If the same sort of apps exist on iOS as does on Android (and I assume they do) then you can change config based on where you are. This could be based on the phone cells you're connected to - so it needs to be set to know about a few because you'll always be near a few base stations. Another option might be based on time of day. So options are: (a) Change based on time of day or based on cell phone mast you're connected to. Not sure if wandering aimlessly is indoor or outdoor - if outdoor that conflicts with (b) (b) Possibly change ring tone when outside of the areas defined for (a) (c) If for (a) you want to turn off mobile Internet then how are you going to use mobile Internet without turning it back on manually? 2. I've answered some of this higher up but here goes again (a) The 3G option turns on/off 3G for the phone. When it's off the phone will stick to 2G (aka GSM). GSM and the data extensions that it supports are a lot slower than 3G. But 2G uses less power and so less battery. When it's on the phone will use 3G by preference but will fall back onto 2G if there is no 3G signal. (b) This turns off all mobile data over the telephone network. It's independent of whether you're saying use 2G/3G or just 2G. (c) The data roaming is when you're overseas. If you want to use data (not wifi but 2G/3G data) when outside the UK then this needs turning on. But data overseas can be expensive but there are options to limit costs. e.g. Vodafone have Euro Data Traveller which costs £3/day when you use it and that gives you access to your tariff overseas in Europe. Otherwise it's about 70p/MB which can soon add up. Difference between (b) and (c) is the former turns off data full stop. The latter turns it off when you're outside your own country. 3. Don't know how you logon - you'll need a login to the BT Openreach hotspots. Ask Orange. 4. No idea - I don't have one. 5. No idea - I don't have one. I'd have thought this is possible. |
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Mon 17 Sep 12 12:38
A smartphone - Zero
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>> Reasonably impressed. Can anybody help on the following: >> >> 1. Depending on what I am doing, I want my iPhone to operate differently. Three >> situations spring to mind: >> (a) At home/office/wandering around aimlessly. Mobile internet turned off (except wifi); phone on vibrate/silent ring. >> (b) What Nokia call “outdoor” mode – as (a) but with phone on loud ring. >> (c) Using the phone as a mobile computer, so the display does not turn itself >> off, and mobile internet is turned on. >> >> Surely there is a simple way of changing these settings without having to scrabble about >> in several parts of the ‘settings’ menu each time. No, It can all be done, but it all requires scrabbling around in the settings to set it all up each time. >> 2. The ‘Network’ menu has three settings, which I cannot work out the difference between: >> (a) Enable 3G “Using 3G loads data faster, but may decrease battery life.” >> (b) Mobile Data “Turn off mobile data to restrict all data to wifi, including email, >> web browsing and push notifications.” >> (c) Data Roaming “Turn off data roaming when travelling to avoid charges when web browsing >> and using email, MMS and other data services.” >> >> What is the difference between (b) and (c)? A: 3G is 3G, you need it to do B: faster, you can turn off 3G to step down to just voice and text and slow (very slow) data if it feels like it. B: turn off all data, 3G or not C: data roaming is when you are not on your home network, ie you are abroad, unless you have a suitable price plan you want this off when abroad. >> 3. Orange advertise free BT wifi. How is this enabled? You need to find a Wifi BT hot spot, try to do web browsing, the BT page will come up and you use your mobile number on one of the pages to register. >> >> 4. It clicks annoyingly when I press the ‘off’ button on the top of the >> phone. How do I disable this? Answered I think >> >> 5. It seems incapable of having the alarm clock on noisy whilst the ringer is >> on silent. How do I sort this? you don't, silent is silent its an all or nothing switch >> |
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Mon 17 Sep 12 12:59
A smartphone - Manatee
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>> >> 5. It seems incapable of having the alarm clock on noisy whilst the ringer >> is >> >> on silent. How do I sort this? >> >> you don't, silent is silent its an all or nothing switch Not on mine it isn't. Just tested it to make sure. Silent switch set to orange, phone vibrates rather than rings, alarm still goes off audibly with usual tone. iOS 5.1.1. |
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Mon 17 Sep 12 13:08
A smartphone - VxFan
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>> Not on mine it isn't. Nor mine. >> Just tested it to make sure. Same here. However, if I turn the volume right down with the button near the silence switch (or in the settings menu), then the alarm can hardly be heard. I suspect Mappy is muting his iPhone by lowering the volume instead of using the silence switch. |
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Mon 17 Sep 12 13:14
A smartphone - Zero
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OOoo, never used to to, but you are right it does now. Ios 5.1.1, - we have 6.0 coming this week. Last edited by: Zero on Mon 17 Sep 12 at 13:16
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Mon 17 Sep 12 13:33
A smartphone - swiss tony
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>> Reasonably impressed. Can anybody help on the following: >> 1. Depending on what I am doing, I want my iPhone to operate differently. 4. It clicks annoyingly when I press the ‘off’ button on the top of the phone. How do I disable this? 5. It seems incapable of having the alarm clock on noisy whilst the ringer is on silent. How do I sort this? >> Its an Apple product. It will work the way Apple wants it to work - which may or may not be the way the user wants.... Good luck in changing settings..... |
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Mon 17 Sep 12 13:35
A smartphone - Zero
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| Its a phone, no phone does all the things any one person wants in a particular way. |
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Mon 17 Sep 12 13:38
A smartphone - swiss tony
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>> Its a phone, no phone does all the things any one person wants in a particular way. >> Agreed. Some are however more flexible than others.... |
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Mon 17 Sep 12 15:17
A smartphone - rtj70
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Mapmaker is not a techie so getting an Android phone which lets you tinker more would not be right for him. But you could achieve most of what he wants, probably automatically or via quick shortcuts. Apps on Android that could help: - Timerific (change settings like volume, ring/vibrate, brightness, Wifi, Bluetooth, Data, etc.) - Tasker (overlaps with what can be done with Timerific - but Timerific is simple) You could also turn on/off Wifi easily via a button/widget on the screen. I have a row of icons on the HTC One X that allows me to turn on/off Wifi, Bluetooth, GPS, alter screen brightness (backlight off, low, high or auto). But most of this sort of thing is possible on the iPhone too. You just need to set it up. Or just use the standard GUI which you're doing now. I know Zero doesn't like widgets like this though. |
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Tue 18 Sep 12 11:09
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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Thanks. Pointing out the location of the ringer-silencer switch is very helpful! There appears to be no iPhone equivalent of Timerific or Tasker. |
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Tue 18 Sep 12 22:38
A smartphone - Stuartli
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>>You could also turn on/off Wifi easily via a button/widget on the screen. I have a row of icons on the HTC One X that allows me to turn on/off Wifi, Bluetooth, GPS, alter screen brightness (backlight off, low, high or auto).>> I also have the One X - the Power Control widget is available by default whereas my previous Wildfire S needed it installing. Mapmaker should have a look at: support.google.com/android/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2524698 if interested. Last edited by: Stuartli on Tue 18 Sep 12 at 22:39
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Tue 18 Sep 12 22:52
A smartphone - Zero
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| wont do him much good, he has an Iphone. |
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Wed 19 Sep 12 12:20
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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>> wont do him much good, he has an Iphone. because Zero made him buy it... ;) Last edited by: Mapmaker on Wed 19 Sep 12 at 12:20
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Wed 19 Sep 12 12:58
A smartphone - rtj70
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So far in this thread you have come across as someone that's not that technical. So the best phone was probably and still is the iPhone. Now it seems you want to automate changes or access them without going through the menus. Basically you want to mess around and configure the phone to work how you want it. And for that Android is better - but time is needed to achieve anything and this is not something most people want to get into. Take that Tasker app on Android I mention. You can setup tasks to run when all sort of events happen. An event could be a location, an app running, time of day etc. You can even program in loops and all sorts. It takes time and a bit of a computer type person to make it do some of the stuff it can. Does that sound like you? If it does you should have got an Android phone ;-) |
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Wed 19 Sep 12 17:41
A smartphone - Mapmaker
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Bit late to ask that now... I can be as techy as you like, if the reward is worth it. Once upon a time I could even program a bit in Fortran 77. There was never any reward, other than an exam to pass, so I never did... |
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Wed 19 Sep 12 18:29
A smartphone - rtj70
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Sorry to say it but you might have got on well with some Android phones. But you got convinced otherwise. There is so much you could tweak on Android if you chose. Most will not and might as well get an iPhone apart from cost. A pure Android experience means you need either a Google phone like a Google Nexus or to install a vanilla Android install. I am happy with the layer on top of Android 4.0.x from HTC. I never liked Samsung's Touchwiz on the previous phones. The latest is better but I still did't like it. Hence a HTC One X. |
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Wed 19 Sep 12 16:54
A smartphone - Zero
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>> >> wont do him much good, he has an Iphone. >> >> because Zero made him buy it... >> >> ;) Ah, revenge is oh so sweet. |
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