Smart Phones; or Should I suck it up and get a Blackberry or iPhone?

pwjohnston

So I’ve always been pretty anti-tech I guess when it comes to my cell phone. I *just* had text messaging put on my phone, so I could get nagios alerts for work.

Now everyone at the office has a BB and well, if I have to pay for it, I’m not that inclined to do so. But it might be nice to be able to send mail when out.

On the flip side while I don’t feel like the iPhone is all that revolutionary, seriously it was only a matter of time before someone offered downloadable apps on a cell phone and overall just merge inet and phones. Anyway I was lost in the Bowery(Lower East Side Manhattan) thinking, man I wish I could get on google maps. Of course the iPhone and Android have this option.

So do you have a smart phone? If so what do you have and what do you use it for at work?

I have Sprint, so the BB Curve 8850 and HTC Touch Pro (with Windows Mobile 6.1) are my options. I would also consider changing if the iPhone or Android had significant benefits.

Thoughts?

PC509

I've got a MotoQ9c, which is OK. I also have a Dell Axim PDA, which I used to use a lot, and got spoiled with the touchscreen. So, the MotoQ is kind of a pain without it. So, the HTC would be awesome. You can download Google Maps to it (well, I can with my Axim with WM6.1) and it works fast.

I am wanting to move to the Blackberry myself, though.

The best advice I can give is find out what you are going to use it for, look up what's available (app wise), and go into a store (or find someone that owns one that will let you play) and give it a few minutes of hands on. I like my Q, but it's just not that user friendly and kind of bleh for looks.

iPhone is nice, but nothing spectacular that the others don't offer. Sure, the apps are cool, but if you are a serious user, it's just ho hum. Android, I haven't played with. I am a fan of Windows Mobile (despite all the hate that it's outdated), so I'm somewhat partial with that. And I still want to move to a Blackberry (not the Storm! Overrated!).

Email on the go can be a godsend, or it can be a major pain in the ass. You can't hide from work. If you take your phone on vacation, you're not on vacation. It's hard to tell people "I'm not going to have access to email" when it's on your phone. Convient for you, and for others!

Good luck, and let us know what you get!

skrpune

PC509 wrote: »

Email on the go can be a godsend, or it can be a major pain in the ass. You can't hide from work. If you take your phone on vacation, you're not on vacation. It's hard to tell people "I'm not going to have access to email" when it's on your phone.

BINGO. This is why I have a simple, pay so you go phone. I hate the idea of having a cell phone in the first place, but I realize that it's good for emergencies. Like when your husband drives you 2+ hours from Toronto to the Buffalo airport & drops you off & drives off, and as soon as you get inside you find out that all flights are canceled and you won't be able to get another flight for 2 days...um, yeah, I got us cell phones the next day!

Anywho, I think that outside of emergency usage (or for the occasional call home from the supermarket to find out what groceries we need), cell phones generally fall into the "major pain in the ass" category. My vote would be to get/keep a simple phone and pick up a Tom-Tom or other GPS-type device for directions.

vCole

BB Curve 8230, I love it!

msteinhilber

PC509 wrote: »

Email on the go can be a godsend, or it can be a major pain in the ass. You can't hide from work. If you take your phone on vacation, you're not on vacation. It's hard to tell people "I'm not going to have access to email" when it's on your phone. Convient for you, and for others!

Good luck, and let us know what you get!

This can be a problem, if you allow it to become a problem. My phone comes with me on vacation all the time and if I am on vacation, anybody who e-mails me or phones me is greeted with an auto-response or a voicemail greeting that explains I will be out of the office until a particular day - they know who to reach in my absence. As far as time during the week in which I'm not on vacation but when things come in after hours (nights and weekends) I simply ignore it until I'm in the office and on the clock again, unless it's an emergency of course which I would get stuck with anyways - but in those cases they are not supposed to e-mail or call my usual number, we have a special system in place that sends a text alert to IT staff. So basically, if I'm on vacation or off the clock I can simply ignore the phone and no harm is done.

If you work for an organization that once you have that communication ability anywhere that expect you to be reachable 24/7... then I would bring that up to management unless your job description or salary dictates that you will be the go to guy and if they so choose to say it is your responsibility to handle issues during off hours, get a clear plan drawn up as to what issues fall into what you have to deal with and strictly adhere to it.

dynamik

I'm holding off until later this year. I'll consider a 3rd gen (copy/paste) iPhone, a new Android model, or a Blackberry (if all else fails). My contract was up in January, so I'm looking at things more closely now.

laidbackfreak

hmmm tough choice :-

Rock vs iphone vs touch hd (UPDATED 3rd time -Radio-,-Send Bluetooth files-)) - xda-developers

roflmao....

btw I have a htc touch HD for my personal phone... fantastic piece of kit the iphone probably beats on the touch interface but for functionality the THD wins hands down

I have another phone supplied for work etc, I use that for work emails\calls etc and outside of work hours I may check emails but I do that online anyways, phone makes it easier to glance at as I'm passing

jnwdmb

My contract on my phone ran out last month and I was with Sprint. I considered every option since I was able to switch to whatever carrier I chose. I shopped for over a month and played with an iphone, storm, bold.....basically every pda/smartphone I could get my hands on.....I settled on the BB 8330 Curve and I looooooooooooooooooooooooooove it. Because both sprint and verizon offered that model I was able to weigh their offers against each other and went with verizon because the they practically gave me the phone for free and have better coverage in my area. Love the phone and all its capabilities....i would recommend it to anyone who wants a sensible, reliable phone with email and lots of extras, but not "all the fancy app's to impress your friends". Be warned though, I have only had this thing for 5 weeks and I don't think I will ever be satisfied with a "standard" phone again.

pwjohnston

laidbackfreak wrote: »

hmmm tough choice :-

Rock vs iphone vs touch hd (UPDATED 3rd time -Radio-,-Send Bluetooth files-)) - xda-developers

roflmao....

WTF, the iPhone doesn't have a changeable battery or changeable memory card? Lemmie guess, I have to pay a * genius * to change a battery for me. NO THANK YOU!

See this is the kind of BS that apple pulls. Like the ipod where you pay for the FM tuner because they're NEVER going to put on in it. The first iPhone wasn't even 3g.

That's why I don't want an iPhone, but I fear that because it's cool it's just going to take over and be the standard, like the iPod.

RTmarc

Does anyone actually consider the iPhone a business phone? Seems to be a great toy but not meant to be a true business device.

carboncopy

I currently have an Iphone 3G and a Blackberry Bold. Both are my personal phones but mainly use the BB for business. I love them both, but I think I have become way more dependent of my iphone. If I had to choose, I would pick Iphone for everyday use and BB more for business.

BTW, you can install google maps on the Blackberry.

ULWiz

I like my iphone as well.

msteinhilber

I like how you can interact with the iPhone, but I've had to setup e-mail (POP3) on about a dozen or so co-workers that purchased iPhones and each and every one of them was a royal PITA to actually get it to work. Obviously had to use the AT&T outgoing, and even doing so it would randomly decide to add the account after querying the server after a half dozen or more attempts. I also really dislike how you have to sync Outlook with the iPhone, IMO that should be a separate application instead of iTunes.

manny355

I use a palm treo smartphone myself and its pretty cool

My company just opened up our policy to include all Windows Mobile capable phones recently.

We still frown upon the blackberry software manager though so not alot of users have it for business, and those who do we don't support.

Most all others are free game though.

My treo is about 2 yrs old and my contract is up so i'm thinking about upgrading mine as well...I haven't decided on the model yet, ive checked with our purchasing dept to make sure that they will cover the cost and any windows mobile will do.

Now as far as the features...I love the touch screen...I often just use my thumb or finger instead of the styllus. Is a smart phone so it has word and excel and powerpoint...I use word alot. I'm always getting emails but another user already mentioned that if your not oncall then just ignore...a side note on the email thing is i'm apart of the general IT distribution group and its good to be kept in the loop sometimes so you know when something big has happened. I can't tell you how many times i've been talking with some big wig and they ask about something that your not in charge of but it just looks better if your able to give a status "as far as you know".

as for google maps, I have gps software that i've installed on my phone so that its a gps device itself. Displays the turn by turn directions and the whole nine. Best money i've spend.

carboncopy

msteinhilber wrote: »

I like how you can interact with the iPhone, but I've had to setup e-mail (POP3) on about a dozen or so co-workers that purchased iPhones and each and every one of them was a royal PITA to actually get it to work. Obviously had to use the AT&T outgoing, and even doing so it would randomly decide to add the account after querying the server after a half dozen or more attempts. I also really dislike how you have to sync Outlook with the iPhone, IMO that should be a separate application instead of iTunes.

You don't have to use the AT&T outgoing. You just have to set the one from your email provider and re-enter the credentials.

the_Grinch

Since you already have Sprint why not holdout for the Palm Pre? Palm Pre Phone - Features, Details, Reviews : Palm USA My contract with Verizon is up and I am thinking of switching to Sprint for this Phone. Plus unlimited everything for $99 a month is a pretty sweet deal! GPS and all that fun stuff will be on the Pre! Good luck!

msteinhilber

carboncopy wrote: »

You don't have to use the AT&T outgoing. You just have to set the one from your email provider and re-enter the credentials.

This depends on how your e-mail server is configured, in our case the way our department has SMTP configured it is required to use AT&T's.

JDMurray

I traded in my MotoRazr V3 for a BlackBerry Storm (9530) and I'd do it again in a second. Email, Gmail messaging, Twitter, Google Maps, Web browser, turn-by-turn GPS, a tolerable touchscreen, and I can write Java software apps for it. Rapture!!

BlackBerry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

JDMurray

pwjohnston wrote: »

WTF, the iPhone doesn't have a changeable battery or changeable memory card? Lemmie guess, I have to pay a * genius * to change a battery for me. NO THANK YOU!

This is exactly the same reason that I never considered buying an iPod. Only disposable goods have batteries that consumers can't change, and that's how Apple is hoping people will regard its buy-the-newer-model-in-18-months-when-the-battery-in-your-old-one-dies products.

carboncopy

JDMurray wrote: »

This is exactly the same reason that I never considered buying an iPod. Only disposable goods have batteries that consumers can't change, and that's how Apple is hoping people will regard its buy-the-newer-model-in-18-months-when-the-battery-in-your-old-one-dies products.

Went to apple because the battery on my Ipod mini was defective and they told me that it would cost me almost the same for them to repair it as if I was to buy one of the new Ipod nanos

tiersten

carboncopy wrote: »

Went to apple because the battery on my Ipod mini was defective and they told me that it would cost me almost the same for them to repair it as if I was to buy one of the new Ipod nanos

Making gear that has no visible screws or attachments looks good but its a PITA to repair.

As JDMurray said, it isn't in their interest to make it easy for you to prolong the life of your equipment. They can only do it because they're Apple. If anybody else turned around and did this then people would freak out.

excalibur1814

We have a Rim Server with a 'couple' of old Blackberries for directors, the MD has an iphone and everyone else has a WinMobile. The MD simply wanted an iPhone to fit in with the buzz of it all, but still complained that he couldn't forward or copy/paste on the thing.

I use a HD Touch HD, with the Diamond Pro, Diamond, Touch, various other mobiles, being used over the years. The majority of 'Smartphones' arn't bad, but a few HP devices have been quite poor. Personally speaking, there's nothing 'really' wrong with any of them aside from a few niggles, so I'd suggest getting the one that interests you the most.

The Touch HD has, so far, been the best device but, the lack of a directional pad or buttons means that most of the games out there won't work Also, the resolution does confuse the heck out of a few apps... So just because I find the HD fantastic, it's nice to know that there are niggles and not just, 'Get this phone, it's the best!'

laidbackfreak

excalibur1814 wrote: »

The Touch HD has, so far, been the best device but, the lack of a directional pad or buttons means that most of the games out there won't work Also, the resolution does confuse the heck out of a few apps... So just because I find the HD fantastic, it's nice to know that there are niggles and not just, 'Get this phone, it's the best!'

yep id agree with most of that, I'm still getting used to it and tweaking it for my needs.
I'm struggling with playing wmv files on it at the mo! so cant watch my training videos on the tube at the mo... but ill work it out eventually

I wouldnt want an iphone as a business model either but fun yep
BB I've used and supported over the years and never really been a fan of them, tho tbh the later ones do seem a lot better than the older models which were great for email buts thats pretty much it....

arwes

I guess I'm happy with my old Motorola Slvr L7 GoPhone. I don't talk on the cell phone often so $25 worth of airtime lasts me around a month or so. I can't justify the cheapest plan plus unlimited data on top of that. I did try the Sprint SERO (Sprint Employee Referral Offer) which was pretty cool (I think it was 500 minutes, unlimited text and data for $30 a month) but Sprint's coverage is horrible around here especially if you live out in the suburbs. I'll probably look at it again once rates start looking a bit more attractive.

Lee H

TYTN II, had mine for 14 months now and have no intention of changing it, does everything I want it to and more

laidbackfreak

Lee H wrote: »

TYTN II, had mine for 14 months now and have no intention of changing it, does everything I want it to and more

yep good phone.... i had the tytn I (lost that one on a drunken night out) replaced it with the tytnII and guess what.... yep lost that one on a drunken night out... but got stung with some F*%k ringing up 60quids worth of international calls before I had a chance to block it...

so I've replaced it with the HD and more than pleased with it