Non-motoring > Smart phone suggestions (again?)	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Boxsterboy	Replies: 36

Tue 3 May 11 23:13   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Boxsterboy

I think the time is coming where I would benefit from a smart phone, mainly to enable me to deal with emails when I'm out of the office (via a simple push to a google account). I don't want to integrate a music player to it. I'll keep my iPod separate from my phone, I think. Need a reasonable camera (circa 5mp). Don't need/want large selection of apps to choose from. Do want the ability to run private and work emails from it and good web browsing. Absolutely do not want/need any twitter/face book baloney! The smaller the better, to fit my pocket. And a robust phone would be useful. Any recommendations out there? The Motorola Defy looks quite appealing. Wife has iPhone 4, so I know the pros and cons of these. Don't think I really want to go to the expense of an iPhone, although it is very quick ... Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 4 May 11 at 00:29 Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 3 May 11 23:24   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - rtj70

Options come down to iPhone vs. any old Android phone (there are lots). Get down to somewhere like Carphone Warehouse for a look? iPhone is not the most powerful/fast smart phone. Latest Android phones better. But the slick experience of having an iPhone might suit you/most better. Questions: - Keeping existing SIM/provider? - Budget - Lock in for a new contract to cut cost of new phone vs. cash buyer of an unlocked phone Depending on what you opt for you won't use the iPod so can offload it. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 05:12   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Hard Cheese

I am getting on pretty well with a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10i. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 06:59   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Duncan

Is there a website where you can enter your requirements - camera, email, qwerty keyboard - or whatever and a list of suitable phones will be displayed? Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 07:39   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Iffy

"The smaller the better to fit in my pocket", and "good web browsing" are mutually exclusive. Add emails as the OP has, and the solution is an iPad. Which has the added benefit of long battery life. My understanding is a lot of the smartphones conk out by mid-afternoon. To me, all the smaller devices are severely compromised by their screen size and the difficulties of entering text from a tiny keypad. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 09:11   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Zero

>> "The smaller the better to fit in my pocket", and "good web browsing" are mutually >> exclusive. >> >> Add emails as the OP has, and the solution is an iPad. No its not - he wants a PHONE DOH The solution is of course as described, one of the droids or an Iphone. My preference for Iphone is of course well known on here, but if price is a criteria then the hammer falls on the many choices (and hence cheaper) versions of droid. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 09:17   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - R.P.

What about a Blackberry ?- there seem to be good deals on them now....in particular from Supermarkets. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 09:20   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Zero

Nasty things to web browse on, hate to have to be on this forum on one. Camera not great. Good for text based email and phone. Last edited by: Zero on Wed 4 May 11 at 09:21 Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 09:36   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - R.P.

Blackberry felt it was better at e-mail than an iPhone but the iPhone is better at most everything else...:-) But I would go back to Blackberry no problems if it was a budget thing... Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 09:50   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Iffy

...No its not - he wants a PHONE... Fair point, but he's already got one. You only have to see the scruffy posts on here from people using smartphones to realise they are at best very severely compromised for web/email use. In my opinion, they are almost useless. The OP will make up his own mind. But if he's not keen on an iPhone for cost and other reasons, then keeping his existing phone and buying a cheap 7" web browser might be the answer. Oh, and he'll need a new jacket with a poacher's pocket to put it in. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 10:13   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Boxsterboy

Thanks for the advice. Popped into the local (tiny) Carphone Warehouse and the girl steered me to Blackberries, but as mentioned above I think the screen is too small for web-browsing. And my fingers are a bit chubby for the teeny weeny buttons. Don't have big (or deep) enough pockets for an iPad, and this will be the only 'device' that I carry. One of the points against the iPhone is its size, but I see some of the holders double as mini wallets, which means I could go for that and dump my small credit card holder/wallet? Tempting ... It looks like a choice between an Android or iPhone at the moment. Any further opinions/observations most welcome. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 10:26   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Focusless

FWIW Mrs F is very happy with her (Android) HTC Desire - does at lot of browsing at home on the wifi connection. Leaves it charging overnight. Last edited by: Focus on Wed 4 May 11 at 10:27 Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 10:29   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - VxFan

If your main requirement is for emails, then why bother with a smart phone? With my old Nokia N70 I could do emails. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 19:44   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Pezzer

+1 for the Desire. Slightly updated models have just been released so i would expect a decent deal is there to be had. Had mine for a year and I'm still very pleased with it. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 11:04   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - BobbyG

>>but I see some of the holders double as mini wallets, which means I could go for that and dump my small credit card holder/wallet? Tempting ... depends where you use it but I would not like to be sitting with my credit cards out every time I use my phone??? Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 13:03   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Statistical Outlier

If you want to use the phone for web browsing, I would say the iPhone is at the small end of acceptable. Any smaller and it would be a pain to use. A friend got a HTC Desire HD recently and she seems very happy with it for pretty much exactly your described use profile. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 21:20   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - swiss tony

>> It looks like a choice between an Android or iPhone at the moment. Any further >> opinions/observations most welcome. >> How is the signal coverage in your area(s) of use? The Iphone, not withstanding how easy to use, user friendly etc it is, does suffer from poor signal, worse than most other phones. I do understand that later versions of Iphone 4 are slightly better then the early ones, but they are still not the best.... Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 21:26   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Zero

They are vastly improved with a bumper, makes it comparable with a lot of phones, but a signal grabbing Nokia 6310i it most certainly aint. Reply to this message | Report message       1

Wed 4 May 11 21:35   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Boxsterboy

>> They are vastly improved with a bumper, makes it comparable with a lot of phones, >> but a signal grabbing Nokia 6310i it most certainly aint. >> Wife's iPhone 4 with bumper isn't as good as my Nokia 3720, at home or anywhere really. One reason why I'm warry of an iPhone. My Nokia took 2 dunkings in the Thames today (me learning to paddleboard!) and is still working 100%, so I really think I should be looking for another rugged phone - such as the Motorola Defy. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 20:07   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Zero

>> You only have to see the scruffy posts on here from people using smartphones to >> realise they are at best very severely compromised for web/email use. Is this reply made with a smart phone or a standard Web browser on a PC? Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 10:33   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Alanovich

Nokia E7 may be the bomb here. Looks like an N8, but has slide out keyboard for that emailing requirement. 8mp camera too. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 11:04   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - teabelly

As the E7 has the same shoddy operating system as the N8 you don't want it until at least the 3rd firmware update. Slide out keyboard will be useless unless you're a pixie. I'd say get the iphone as it is the least awful of all the smart phones and with the iphone 5 imminent there will be some cheaper 4s around. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 11:08   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - R.P.

There's only one case for an iPhone - an Otterbox Defender. Big and ugly it may be but it will protect your iPhone from drops, dust and minor spills... Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 12:50   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - movilogo

Depending on your budget get either HTC Wildfire or HTC Desire. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 18:43   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Alastairw

I have the Wildfire (good deal for Virgin Media customers). The screen is perhaps a little small, but I find it perfectly ok for web-browsing/email. If it wasnt't so cheap I wouldn't have bothered, but I have found it much more useful than I expected. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 19:16   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - mikeyb

I have an HTC Desire HD. May not be for you as its quite big, but the upside is the 4.3" screen is easy to use. 1Ghz processor so very quick and decent camera / HD video. Downside is that the battery life is carp - guess thats the price you pay for a big screen. I plug mine in each night at bedtime and would say that more often than not the battery has gone down to 25% by then. Web browsing is good plus as its not an iphone it has flash and you can open pdf files. Also far cheaper than an iphone. My Mrs is a bit of a technophobe and she likes it and can use it! Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 21:37   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Zero

>> that more often than not the battery has gone down to 25% by then. Web >> browsing is good plus as its not an iphone it has flash and you can >> open pdf files. The iphone opens PDF files, and most web sites render video in something other than Flash on the iphone, I thought Iphone would be a problem with flash, but its proven to be a non issue. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 19:22   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - spamcan61

Depends how important the camera is to the OP, my Widlfire has the crappiest phone camera I've had for a while; my 'ancient' SE K750i with it 2MP camera gives far better pictures. As I point out regularly, I can get 3+ days battery life out of the Wildfire by turning stuff I'm not using off i.e. Bluetooth, GPS, wifi. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 21:26   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - BobbyG

Might just be my age but since I got my Samsung Galaxy S, I have noticed a difference in my eyesight. Now I have been short sighted for many years but now I find I am heading on the road towards needing bifocals, sometimes I find it easier to lift my glasses to read text on my phone. Might just be an age thing and nothing to do with the phone.. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 21:32   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Runfer D'Hills

I know what you mean Bobby. I've had to try to memorise some of the key positions on my BlackBerry. I'm alright with the numbers and the main letters but the punctuation marks and symbols have become pot luck! Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Wed 4 May 11 at 21:36 Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 21:59   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - spamcan61

>> I know what you mean Bobby. I've had to try to memorise some of the >> key positions on my BlackBerry. I'm alright with the numbers and the main letters but >> the punctuation marks and symbols have become pot luck! >> One reason I bought the Wildfire is that the display is fairly low resolution for its size, hence the text is bigger. Mail/web browsing on previous E70 was a nightmare the display was small and very high resolution (over 300 pixels per inch) with tiny text. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 22:01   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - rtj70

>> display was small and very high resolution (over 300 pixels per inch) with tiny text On an iPhone 4 the fact it has such high resolution that you cannot see all the dots is said to be a bonus. My slightly lower resolution Galaxy S screen is also physically larger than the iPhone 4 display. And being AMOLED is very very good. If I were the OP I'd head somewhere like Carphone Warehouse and get them to demo and try to sell the phones. Last edited by: rtj70 on Wed 4 May 11 at 22:02 Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 22:04   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - spamcan61

>> >> On an iPhone 4 the fact it has such high resolution that you cannot see >> all the dots is said to be a bonus. >> Yeah, it could be argued that on a higher resolution display the text is sharper, hence should be easier to read. Trouble is the default text sizes (in pixels) tend to be a bit small for me on these higher resolution displays, and it can be a faff to permanently change them. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 22:29   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Zero

The screen on the iphone is superb, stunning. Then I hid it behind a matt screen protector. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 4 May 11 23:34   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - BobbyG

ah, I have one of them on my phone as well. In fact, have recently ordered more from ebay as the current one has a scratch on it, hopefully just the screen protector and not the screen itself. When I change it over I will deliberately look to see how much it dulls the screen and text now. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 5 May 11 08:36   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Zero

>> There's only one case for an iPhone - an Otterbox Defender. Big and ugly it >> may be but it will protect your iPhone from drops, dust and minor spills... No that's not the case for an Iphone PU, big and ugly completely defeats the object of having a sexy slim iphone. There are plenty of other ways of caring for your iphone without making it look like a salad dodger or sticking it in a glass vault! Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 5 May 11 13:41   Smart phone suggestions (again?) - Boxsterboy

Tried to see a physical Motorola Defy at 3 Carphone Warehouses - they had none. Popped in to Phones4u, and got free upgrade, cheaper tarrif and £50 for any old phone. Job done (although the salesman did live up to the stereotype 100% - painful!). Reply to this message | Report message