Smart Phones

D

davidjohnson

At the Start
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Jun 29, 2007
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Having been saddled with something Dom Jolly would be embarassed to get out of his pocket for 2 years because I'm tight and wanted the cheapest possible contract, I'm now coming to the stage where I qualify for an upgrade and want some advice as what to get.

Like the idea of an iphone, but really don't need the music player facility, I have an ipod for that FFS. Basically I want something that will be handy for facebook/twitter etc, accessing betfair, other mobile betting sites etc.

Lke I say, I know a bit about the iphones and Blackberrys but what other options are available and what would you recommend?
 
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I've had a HTC but wouldn't recommend.

My current is a Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo - best phone I've had. Classy looking, decent battery life and a great camera.
 
The iPhone is different class on all levels IMO. Anyone who says one of the Android phones is better is talking nonsense. You'll soon find yourself migrating to using it for music too I found. My iPod just sits in a drawer now.

My only gripe with the iPhone is the battery life, if you hammer Twitter/Facebook or any other heavy usage apps then it won't last the day.
 
To be fair the battery life can't be any worse than on my Android GS - regularly get through 2 batteries in a working day or 3 when out at the races.
 
Im in the same boat DJ. People ask whats wrong with me when they see me with my phone. Getting an iphone 4 Tuesday.
 
I do love my blackberry but my next upgrade in a few months im getting an iphone, hopefully iphone5 will be out by then so the 4 will be more affordable.
 
SlimChance said:
Im in the same boat DJ. People ask whats wrong with me when they see me with my phone. Getting an iphone 4 Tuesday.
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I sold one for 200 last week -fresh from the box.I am happy with the iphone3 -couldn't be without it.
Got an ipad2 at the start of the month- absolutely love it.
 
I suppose it's lifestyle dependent, but I'd be happier with a phone for phone calls and texts, maybe a radio and basic mp3. I'd happily trade other functionality for extra battery life, and I hate touchscreen.
 
Cheers folks. Follow up question, what about data usage? Like I say will mostly be using it for browsing betting sites and then moaning about jockeys on twitter, probably with listening to some radio as well (no more than on average 5/6 hours a week. Is the recommended 500mb likely to be enough or should I pay the extra £4 and get 1GB.

Leaning towards an iphone seeing as going to end up on another two-year contact.
 
I hammer it and get through 500mb some months. Depends how much time you are within the vicinity of Wifi too, that cuts your network data usage down.

The iPhone 5 will be unveiled on October 4th, not sure when it will be in shops but could be worth the wait? Surely will be this side of Christmas.
 
Gamla Stan said:
I hammer it and get through 500mb some months. Depends how much time you are within the vicinity of Wifi too, that cuts your network data usage down.
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WiFi definitely makes a huge difference. I'd be a fairly heavy data user but because I'm using WiFi at home and at work, I've used less than 4GB over the network in 2 years.
 
One tip for battery conservation with the iphone - if you use it to "fetch" emails then set to fetch less frequently or only manually, I was amazed how much difference this can make to the battery life. Music seems to use little, but the internet will drain it, especially apps like the radio etc.

An excellent piece of equipment though.
 
I have a Nokia N97 and am looking to change it as the touchscreen is starting to get flakey. The Symbian OS is not great for Betting sites either. I have an unreasonable adversion to buying Apple products (IT nerd :rolleyes: ) so can anyone recommend an Android phone that will be primarily used for betting?
 
If you use Google's services a lot: i.e. Gmail, maps, navigation, calendar, shopping, youtube etc. then I wouldn't hesitate to recommend an Android phone. The integration is simply superb.

If you like mobile applications then they are usually cheaper on Android, with a far higher proportion of the applications available for free in the Android Market than the Apple store.

An android phone isn't tied to the godawful iTunes.

The hardware specification in the latest high-end phones is usually superior to iPhones - particularly cameras.

As Android is open-source, manufacturers can offer their products to networks at lower costs, meaning there are usually better deals to be had on android. Resulting in overall lower costs.

Being an open platform allows developers to develop apps with much tighter integration to the OS than on iOS. Apple will more often than not force you to use its (admittedly very good) native functionality.

Whilst Apple previously held a significant edge in form-factor and design, recent models from the top android manufacturers (Samsung and HTC) have significantly narrowed this gap (witness the number of panic lawsuits Apple is filing).

I'm not sure how good the voice control/speech-to-text is on iPhones, but on the latest version of android it is quite remarkable.

I'm typing this from a Mac and its superiority to the Windows laptop six inches to my right is painfully obvious. I couldn't say the same about an iPhone versus the top-end android competition though.
 
Cheers betsmate

I suspect my choice comes down to shelling out £25-30 a month for a Samsung Galaxy which will do all and more that I want it to, or £40-45 a month for an iphone which will do the same. Well done apple marketing department!
 
Sick of having crappy internet access on my current phone.

Have just ordered a Samsung Galaxy S2 from three (£27 per month offer on 24 month contract until the end of this week) having had a nightmare trying to get one from Tesco's.

500 minutes (more than enough for me)
5000 texts (do people seriously use that many?)
1GB Internet (mainly for using when I travel home and have days out at the races so hopefully it will be enough).

I dread to think how many apps I'll download onto it once I receive it though.
 
Can anyone advise me which is the best operator to go with in Ireland?

I'm currently with O2 but they want €300 to upgrade to an I phone4 after being with them 18 months! I can get it for free with Meteor or with Three.ie. I don't understand the plans to be honest. Three.ie have €60 a month for 650 units and free texts and "all you can eat data" whereas meteor is €60 a month for 400 minutes and 400 texts with 5GB data.

How much data will I need for just general surfing of the usual sites seven days of the week?

Yours
Confused in Dublin
 
Three's customer service is beyond awful, they nearly drove my girlfriend to a breakdown a few years ago and I've heard bad things from a few other friends too.
 
Really don't like the idea of a 24 month contract. I would hardly sign a commitment to myself for that long...
 
davidjohnson said:
Cheers betsmate

I suspect my choice comes down to shelling out £25-30 a month for a Samsung Galaxy which will do all and more that I want it to,
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Acquired a Samsung Galaxy S six months ago; I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. Marvellous phone.
 
Gamla Stan said:
Three's customer service is beyond awful, they nearly drove my girlfriend to a breakdown a few years ago and I've heard bad things from a few other friends too.
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Oh my God, how right were you. Did the order online. Paid €19 to get a new 32 I phone 4. Customer service rang to confirm a few things. Fine, done and dusted. She rings back a minute later looking for me to fax on my passports and a bank statement. Told her I had no means to do so and asked could I do so in one of their stores. Was told yes but I would need to do the whole order over.

I said well done shove the phone up your....

Got a phone with Meteor instead
 
Meteor left me sign up etc than they send me an email looking for a €450 deposit to finalise the deal! I would not mind but I've never missed a bill in two years with O2, it's just I'm too miserable to give a company x hundred euro for the pleasure of charging me 800 to use their network. It's the principal don't you know!
 
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