Smartphone opinions please

[dodsi]

Hi,

My mobile phone contracts are up for renewal which means... flashy, shiny new phone time.

what is the best phone out there? sort of things i am interested in are...

HTC touch HD, Blackberry Bold

that sort of thing.

Blackberry Storm does not have wifi but has 3G which puts me off it and Blackberry Curve does not have 3G but does have wifi.

anyone got any better suggestions?

thanks in advance

p.s. no iphone, they are shit.

[mooserx]

a mate of mine has the htc touch diamond, so far he says its the mutts nuts he previously had a blackberry and an i-phone and reckons the htc is the better piece of kit.
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TL1000r-handful.

[Pernig]

I have an E90 which is nice but a bit big but rather geeky. It has an absolutely outstanding battry life, and does everything I ask of it and can do it at once. Other Nokias running S60 should be similar.

My driving instructor went through 3 Blackberry Curves in about as many weeks and has now got an E71, which I really like the look of. I'd probably get one of these if I hadn't got the E90.
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H100 Breaking for spares

[Tarmacsurfer]

I'm currently using an X1i and have been for a few months now. Flashed the ROM from the usual Vodafone crap to Itje's Touch-it 4.5 and not looked back, although I do get tempted to sling winmo 6.5 on every so often at the moment.

Great to use (particularly with the Manilla screen system instead of the default SE ui), enough horsepower to allow MP3 playback concurrently with Tomtom 7 (ie music and directions in the helmet) and battery life is jaw dropping. In normal usage I'm seeing 3-5 days between charges depending on how heavy my wifi access is.
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I'm immortal. Well, so far.

[Steve H]

I'm in the same boat as dodsi and have been looking at the Bold, Curve 'n X1i too (discounted the Storm after reports of alleged pants battery life if that's any help dodsi).

I've currently got the w960i and as a dedicated Ericsson fan I'm leaning towards the X1i (thanks for the quick precis TS ) but would be interested to hear more detailed feedback on other smart phones.
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Mellow Yellow
The BCF Top TEN - 2010, 2009, 2008, The Original.

[Tarmacsurfer]

Steve, I had the W960 before the X1 and wouldn't have upgraded if it hadn't been for the fact I lost the phone and couldn't get a new 960 due to the short production run.

I really don't regret having done so.

My only critiques of the X1 are the shite standard UI (well, not shite but nowhere near as fast, intuitive and smooth as the custom ROMs) and the fact that because it's a reasonable media player it's so easy to start something then lose the rest of the afternoon watching family guy ><

Try one in a shop if you can, although I find it great there are a few that don't like the keyboard so that may decide you. For added geek points there are strong rumours of an Android release for the X1 in the near future, I've already seen a homebrew version running but it's strictly beta at the moment.
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I'm immortal. Well, so far.

[dodsi]

I nearly went for the Blackberry storm but also heard the battery life is terrible and the fact it is not wifi compatible.

The HTC Touch HD seems like a good bit of kit but it is not popular at all and a lot of places will not stock it so it is hard to get a demo of one.

I have played about with a friends HTC touch diamond which did feel very good and the touch screen software seemed to work with my big fat numpty fingers.

The blackberry bold does look berry good.... but i am not sure i like having to pay the extra for the blackberry add-ons to make use of it. And some people have said it is unreliable. but then i do like the qwerty keyboard.

I have tried looking at reviews on reevoo but none are really conclusive, they are just along the lines of "i got this phone and I like it".

not sure i am keen on the X1 really, not read too much about it and i am a little too technophobic to be putting a new operating system on it.

what i am looking for is something i can whack BBC iplayer on, plenty of mp3 etc and stream media too the phone and browse the net whilst bored on public transport/at work.

[cal91]

I have a HTC Touch Dual, I know its the older model, but its the most annoying piece of shit ever, so unreliable. The specs are good but windows mobile is crap. I have put up with this for a year and a half now and I wish I could get a new one.

Some problems:
Camera is crap.
It has decided to stop reading a perfectly good mini SD card (it works in other peoples phones, and it will read other peoples memory cards).
It stalls constantly!
It vibrates randomly too, when I get a text it sometimes vibrates once, twice, three times or decides to vibrate constanly untill you pull the battery out.
I get an error on one of my buttons too, everytime I press the contacts button its comes up an error. Then I have to reset it too its factory settings for it to work again.

Ive had it back to orange loads, yet they have replaced it and its still the same, so it is so flawed. My dad has one too and his has just died, it wont even turn on.

But its not the phone, its just windows mobile.
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We are the Patriots! Love your country.

[MinhDinh]

My boss and friend have the bold. Highly rate it. One is geeky and the other has liek 100 emails a day.

My girlfriend has the i phone and thinks it's good. She has the samgsung omnia and hates it.

I have the nokia 5800 and it's good for me. You can download setting etc. it has bbc i player, music store, inbuilt gps. Nokia are always good. I also have the samsung tocoo which is ok but basic.

My friend has the sony experia and wanted to trade it for a blackberry bold. I'm no longer a fan of sony because they don't make a good phone with the technology out there.

Check out the nokia 5800 reviews yourself. I like it
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Hit the G spot.

[JonB]

I'm liking the idea of the X1. My contract is eligible for upgrade on the 20th May and I was thinking of the iPhone, however I am not sure on a 24 month contract at £35 a month. I'm not adverse to a 24 month contract, but being tied in at £35 I am.
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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[TomR6]

Had a bold, really liked it, the keyboard is really quick to use once you've used it a bit, however if you're fat fingered you might struggle as the keys are fairly small.

The screen is brilliant, really vibrant. Love the trackball as well, which kind of makes up for the lack of touch screen as it's so quick to use. Couple of small things like the LED indicator on the phone, shows different colours for different status's.

One thing I don't like about it is the internet browsing, it has a tendency to hang on pages and can be generally slow, on wifi or otherwise. The camera isn't great either.

Workmate had recently bought an E71, and think he was a little disappointed that it wasn't as good as the bold. Think I prefer the looks of the E71 though.


Sold mine as I needed funds, however I'm due an upgrade soon and it's between getting another Bold or going for something else.
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2005 Yamaha R6

[map]

[Robby]

I'm not sure if the N96 counts as a smartphone, what with the lack of a keyboard or touch screen.

Anyway, it's like an N95 but a bit quicker (once you get rid of the operator branded shit and use basic nokia ROM), excellent video playback (I watch episodes of lost on the train), decent GPS with garmin.

But.

The digital TV doesn't work, because there is no DVB-H signal here.
The battery life is absolutely shocking - I'm lucky to get 24 hours between charges.
The camera doesn't seem as good as the N95, despite being the same. The shutter button is a harder press, which causes blurring easily.

[TomR6]

[SlimRick]

A thunbs up here for the Nokia 5800. I've had mine a few weeks and it really is a decent and slick phone. I compared it with the Iphone, and a blackberry but the Nokia won hands down

[JonB]

Three are doing an amazing deal on the Nokia E71 at the moment. £20 a month, 18 months contract, 200 minutes, unlimited text, unlimited internet browsing, unlimited 3 to 3 calls and a free Nokia E71.

Now Three are shit, but if you are due an upgrade like me, you can use this to get your current provider to match the offer.

The E71 actually looks a very nice phone, saw it in the flesh today.
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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[dodsi]

A friend of my girlfriend has a E71, it's ok but not a patch on the HTC touch HD which I think I shall go for.

[Steve H]

Tried my shortlist (which is coincidentally dodsi's too ) over the weekend and it's gonna be either the X1 or the Curve for me.

For my personal use they seem pretty much similar however there are compromises for both (no 3G function on the Curve, questionable keyboard/asthetics on the X1), still undecided - be interested to hear how you get on with the HTC dodsi (and what sort of deal you get ).

EDIT...

Just an update for those that are vaguely interested in getting an idea of cost - I phoned O2 today who are my current service providers and after a bit of negotiation was offered the Curve with the following...

600 mins any network talk time
1000 texts
Blackberry unlimited (basically unlimited web surfing/email retrieval using up to 10 accounts)

...for 29 quid p/m - that's on an 18 month contract.

Still undecided
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Mellow Yellow
The BCF Top TEN - 2010, 2009, 2008, The Original.

[dodsi]

Well I got the HTC Touch HD through orange on a dolphin £30 package. (18 month)

unlimited texts, 400 mins, Free "magic number" and some free evening and weekend internets for 2 months and the phone was free.

this was through phones 4 u.

When I spoke to orange about a direct upgrade on my current dolphin 35 contract they wanted just short of £300 per handset (bearing in mind I wanted 2 of these phones) this was because i am only on month 15 of my contract and don't have "full loyalty" yet i.e. month 17.

I asked about if i was on month 17... It would then have been £107 per handset plus the £35 contract and even though I explained that phones4u will give me the above deal and they said they could not do that... stupid really as the new phones are with orange too.

The buyout for both of my contracts worked out at about £90 for the remaining 3 months (got a really cheap deal and a good trade in at the start making it about £45 per month for 2 £35 contracts).

So either way, orange directly would have been more expensive than a third party.

Steve...

If you are going to get a blackberry... get the Bold...the curve simply does not have 3g where the bold has 3g and wifi... to make connectivity simpler.

I have played with a friends HTC Touch diamond and I thought it was fantastic, also in reviews the Touch HD has come out better than the Iphone. Will have to give you some more info once I have recieved it though.

[JonB]

Hmm, Was gonna do the upgrade thing with Orange as well, after your efforts Dodsi, it doesn't look worth the bother, so after the 20th think i'll buy out my contract and possibly move to Three and go on their £20 a month jobby with the E71.
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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[dodsi]

Just spoken to phones4u and when yesterday I was told the phones were in stock and would be dispatched I was told that the order was pending and the person didn't know why... after about ten minutes on hold I was told they were not in stock... and the guy could not help me anymore.

Of course I was not pleased with this so asked to speak to someone who could help me, got through to someone who works in a customer relations sort of department (cannot remember what they called it) but means I will now get an extra £60 per handset (£120 cheque sent with the phones) for the inconvenience and he will call me tomorrow to confirm when I will get the phones.

So 2x Free HTC touch HD's on 2X £30 contracts plus £120 cashback... the deal get's better.

[JonB]

Why do you want two contracts?! LOL.
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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[dainesefreak]

I'm fortunate to get a hold of pre-release BlackBerry handsets and I'd have to say that I can't understand why anyone would buy one as a personal handset. The Storm is shocking, I played with the pre-pre-release and the final version still isn't much better.

The Bold is ok, nice screen and keyboard but the battery life with 3G turned on is poor, 1-1.5 days for BES usage and that's email, no multimedia or web. The older Curve had better battery life but no 3G and the new Curve (Javelin) has a similar screen and look to the Bold but no 3G. RIM have made some advances and tried to capture more of the market by making the handsets more consumer based but they are still 12 months behind the game in my opinion. Unless you need business email of course.

I've used plenty of HTC's over the years too and they tend to be quite poorly put together. The plastics scratch, the sliver bits rub off and they generally look worn quite quickly. The X1 looks to be better put together although it's an SE spec'd HTC.

Saying that it's all a bit 50/50 at the minute. They all have their good and bad points. There really isn't anything that shines doing everything outstandingly well. You just need to pick the phone that does the bits you want as well as it can and take the rest as a bit of a compromise.

Personally I bought the 16Gb Omnia when they came out last year. I used to have a separate MP3/Divx/Xvid player, GPS, and phone. Now I've got a single handset that does it all but is fairly shit at messaging; but I've got the luxury of having a Bold to message on too. I think it's going to be the Omina HD in the next couple of months.

[Steve H]

Dodsi - I disregarded the Bold as it’s just too big, I’m prepared to make compromises with the 8900 and its’ lack of 3g (it’s also got EDGE which O2 utilises pretty well apparently) purely ‘cos the 8900 is a nifty little unit and will do all of the things that I want it to - hopefully

So (obviously) I’ve gone with the 8900 and have knocked O2 down to 27 quid per month for the same deal that I mentioned previously – If the lack of 3g really noticeable then I’ve got 14 days to send it back and have a rethink.

As an aside I had a month remaining on my (12 month) contract and O2 were more than happy to overlook the last month as I was renewing with them. I'm not naive enough to think that they've done it as a favour to me but as I was intending to renew anyway it's saved me paying that extra month - worth thinking about if usually you let your contract run to its' end date
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Mellow Yellow
The BCF Top TEN - 2010, 2009, 2008, The Original.

[JonB]

I think i've made a decision as well, gonna go for the Nokia E71 on Three. I've been with Three before, just got to be patient with their customer services.
____________________
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.