[BrianGoldsmith]

Personally, I use my phone's multitasking abilities all the time and I consider the ability to have one or more applications open in the background an absolute necessity. I use my phone like a computer.

In fact, my phone is so competent that I often use it instead of my computer when I don't have any heavy duty stuff to do, even when I am at home. I can open up an MSN client and leave that in the background while I do some light browsing or e-mail or do almost anything else I want, and I can listen to music or stream it off the web at the same time if I want. When I get an MSN message, I get an unobtrusive notification in the corner of my screen and I can address it at my leisure.

Having the ability to multitask just makes sense. You can do without it, but why should you have to? Insofar as the iPhone is concerned, the OS has the ability to multitask. I cannot fathom why it's not being capitalized upon when every other smartphone can do it - obviously the battery life explanation is bunk.

[Pasy]

I am currently looking at the Palm Pre, Nokia N97, HTC magic and iPhone 3 GS.


Is there any one that I've missed? Motorola, Samsung and LG are companies I won't buy from.

[exettybele]

Mmm, blackberry?

[Clesylafabada]

I have an HTC Magic. Got it last Tuesday when it was released here in Canada. Love it. [thumbup] I'll be happy to answer any questions you have about it to the best of my ability.

[KernJetenue]

I am currently looking at the Palm Pre, Nokia N97, HTC magic and iPhone 3 GS.


Is there any one that I've missed? Motorola, Samsung and LG are companies I won't buy from.

Stop looking. Get the iPhone 3GS, and don't look back.

I've had smartphones from Palm, HTC, Samsung... none of them hold a candle to my iPhone 3G. Yes, it won't do EVERYTHING you want, but what it does, it does WELL... and that is enough.

With GPS and WiFi off, but 3G on, I've gotten up to 3 days (!) on a single charge. That's 2X longer than the Samsung blackjack with a new battery.

The Safari browser is fantastic, the apps are many and useful... and it really does just work.

[gghrdfffhfyj]

My Treo Pro is awesome, better than any iphone or blackberry I have used here, and where I live people are BB nuts, got all the latest models.

I would get a Pre once its unlocked

[Anypeny]

I am currently looking at the Palm Pre, Nokia N97, HTC magic and iPhone 3 GS.


Is there any one that I've missed? Motorola, Samsung and LG are companies I won't buy from.

Its interesting you say iphone yet state you wont buy LG? They make the km900 arena which is far better than the iphone and based on it.
My other half had an ipieceofcrap and it was just that, the arena phone shes got now is far better!
I myself am waiting for the N86

[Pasy]

Its interesting you say iphone yet state you wont buy LG? They make the km900 arena which is far better than the iphone and based on it.

quality issues with past phones

[Gulauur]

Its interesting you say iphone yet state you wont buy LG? They make the km900 arena which is far better than the iphone and based on it.
My other half had an ipieceofcrap and it was just that, the arena phone shes got now is far better!
I myself am waiting for the N86

I'm sorry but to call the iPhone crap just makes you look silly. Yes it has faults but it's acknowledged by pretty much the entire universe that it is the benchmark in usability. The arena is a cool phone but the touchscreen responses are not as good as the iPhone.

The Arena has much better multimedia capabilities than the iPhone but really, have you ever met anyone that wants to do video editing on their phone? The iPhone counters with the app store and iPhone OS and the best touchscreen around.

[Nurba]

How are you going to get a Pre if you're in Europe on a GSM network?

[Wxrxnhar]

I am currently looking at the Palm Pre, Nokia N97, HTC magic and iPhone 3 GS.


Is there any one that I've missed? Motorola, Samsung and LG are companies I won't buy from.

I'll let you know about the n97 on monday. It will be here soon!
Also going to order a TP2 (HTC touch pro 2) and looking for a good price on a Magic. I have tested the magic and it is great but I say hold off until the new Android comes out. It's not like you can't upgrade the current android phones but just saying wait because it might lower the prices on the current android phones.
the Pre so far I have only heard (no experience with it) that is VERY buggy, more buggy and the iPhone (at release, although i still think iPhone is buggy).

I say forget the pre and iPhone 3g and add a windows mobile phone instead. Unless you are willing to wait for the Palm Pre to work out issues and watch out for the 3rd party support/programs.
The iPhone 3g is a terrible smartphone but thats my opinion. I expect a smartphone to be more than just a music/internet device AKA iPod.
Plus if you like to be able to change your OS or cook your own OS/ROM to customize it the way you want with a large number of 3rd party programs then forget the iPhone. The iPhone will make you feel like your trapped.

[Gulauur]

The iPhone 3g is a terrible smartphone but thats my opinion. I expect a smartphone to be more than just a music/internet device AKA iPod.

I'm curious to what you expect your phone to do? It is after all, a telephone.

I can check and send my exchange email and keep it synchronised, read office documents and pdf files, get travel information, surf pretty much any website I would need to for business, send texts, my contacts are synchronised to my outlook in the office, I can take a picture with reasonable quality for attaching to an email.....I can't think of any other business tool I actually need when I am not in my office and if I want to do something like write a letter I get my laptop out as it is designed for that.

The ability to count to a million in chinese or measure how level a surface are gimmicks that people who don't understand what smartphones are designed for seem to measure their performance by.

If you can give me a single legitimate, non gimmick piece of functionality that the iPhone doesn't have (compared to it;s rivals) then I will sincerely apologise.

[KernJetenue]

(at release, although i still think iPhone is buggy).

The number of times my iPhone has done something buggy or unexpected in the last 6 months:
0
The number of times my Windows Mobile did the same in a 6-month period: 3-4
The number of times my Treo would crash/hang, etc... in 6-months: >50

The iPhone 3g is a terrible smartphone but thats my opinion.

You have yet to give us a reason for that.

My iPhone is the best phone of any smartphones I've tried, by a HUGE margin. It's got the best reception, the best battery life, and the only things I am missing are available on the GS: tethering and voice dialing.

The iPhone will make you feel like your trapped.

No it won't, and my WinVista desktop and my Ubuntu laptop are customized to nearly beyond recognition... as were my WinMobile and Treo phones.

I don't want to fiddle with the thing. I want it to work. Do I want the home screen to contain my calendar? Yes... but I'd trade the home screen for a phone that works... and I have.

[Gulauur]

I don't want to fiddle with the thing. I want it to work. Do I want the home screen to contain my calendar? Yes... but I'd trade the home screen for a phone that works... and I have.

This brings up an excellent point. Stability is foremost on a business tool, as soon as you start allowing layers of customisation you are going to introduce more possible bugs. Plus IT managers who look after 1000 iPhones don't want to have to learn their way around each customisation.

OS X is perceived as being far more stable than Windows. It isn't at all. Windows on it's own is generally completely stable, it's third party software that generally causes problems - Microsoft take a lot of stick for this when they could reasonably pass the blame onto adobe or whoever. OS X crashes a LOT when office 2008 is used in my experience. The same thing would happen on the iPhone if Apple allowed full access control to the OS.

[exettybele]

If you can give me a single legitimate, non gimmick piece of functionality that the iPhone doesn't have (compared to it;s rivals) then I will sincerely apologise.

I doubt it but here are some off the top of the head:
-The ability to multi-task (which imo doesn't even make iphone a smartphone)
-Proper Bluetooth support
-Keyboard (The iphone's virtual keyboard is crap. Why have a virtual keyboard if you can't even use it in landscape mode?)
-One button access (to anything, calls, programs) OR voice activated calling

Also the iphones I've worked with have horrible stability problems including one where it freezes and doesn't respond until you're able to locate a charger and plug it in. Though it's still better the windows mobile.

[feroiodpiop]

I doubt it but here are some off the top of the head:
-The ability to multi-task (which imo doesn't even make iphone a smartphone)
-Proper Bluetooth support
-Keyboard (The iphone's virtual keyboard is crap. Why have a virtual keyboard if you can't even use it in landscape mode?)
-One button access (to anything, calls, programs) OR voice activated calling

Also the iphones I've worked with have horrible stability problems including one where it freezes and doesn't respond until you're able to locate a charger and plug it in. Though it's still better the windows mobile.

That's been fixed, or it will be in the next update.

[11Woxsepmoomo]

My buddy has a palm pre and it is bad ass. I would get it over an iphone.

[Gulauur]

I doubt it but here are some off the top of the head:
-The ability to multi-task (which imo doesn't even make iphone a smartphone)
-Proper Bluetooth support
-Keyboard (The iphone's virtual keyboard is crap. Why have a virtual keyboard if you can't even use it in landscape mode?)
-One button access (to anything, calls, programs) OR voice activated calling

Also the iphones I've worked with have horrible stability problems including one where it freezes and doesn't respond until you're able to locate a charger and plug it in. Though it's still better the windows mobile.

Do you actually have an iPhone or have you used one or are you just quoting the specs? I ask because apart from having the iPod playing at the same time as a text or surfing the web (which works fine) I have never once, on a single occassion thought gosh, I wish I could have my email open at the same time my web browser while my compass is also working in the background. Apps generally remember where you were when you quit so it's a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. The trade off in battery life would be far too great.

Bluetooth support is added in 3.0 but again, it's not something I have missed. It already supports headsets and that's the only thing I have wanted it for.

The keyboard was an issue that has now been fixed.

One button access...phones require you to at least go into a menu. The iPhone lets you click "phone" on the home screen and then "calls"...it's hardly a chore and a gripe made up to find a gripe really. Again, it sounds like the opinion of an iPhone theorist than an iPhone user.

Voice activated dialling has also now been added with 3.0 (I can't remember if you need the 3G-S phone for it to work though but I'm surprised they bothered as out of all the things my friends, colleagues and myself wish worked differently, or at all, that is not one of them.

Plus, it should be pointed out that anyone who wants most features the iPhone doesn't have will know how to jailbreak. A 10 minute reversible process that unlocks the walled garden pretty much.

[Finanziamento]

I have an Android G1 and think it's great, the phone itself isn't the best looking or the fastest around, but it has a proper keyboard, a decent sized screen and the Android OS itself is superb.

But I would say an iPhone 3GS, Omnia HD, Palm Pre all look pretty good also.

[exettybele]

Do you actually have an iPhone or have you used one or are you just quoting the specs? I ask because apart from having the iPod playing at the same time as a text or surfing the web (which works fine) I have never once, on a single occassion thought gosh, I wish I could have my email open at the same time my web browser while my compass is also working in the background. Apps generally remember where you were when you quit so it's a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. The trade off in battery life would be far too great.

Bluetooth support is added in 3.0 but again, it's not something I have missed. It already supports headsets and that's the only thing I have wanted it for.

The keyboard was an issue that has now been fixed.

One button access...phones require you to at least go into a menu. The iPhone lets you click "phone" on the home screen and then "calls"...it's hardly a chore and a gripe made up to find a gripe really. Again, it sounds like the opinion of an iPhone theorist than an iPhone user.

Voice activated dialling has also now been added with 3.0 (I can't remember if you need the 3G-S phone for it to work though but I'm surprised they bothered as out of all the things my friends, colleagues and myself wish worked differently, or at all, that is not one of them.

Plus, it should be pointed out that anyone who wants most features the iPhone doesn't have will know how to jailbreak. A 10 minute reversible process that unlocks the walled garden pretty much.

It's nice that you don't need the ability to multi-task, but others do including me, and no you don't have to "at least go into a menu" for one button access unless you mean the one button to activate the voice feature?
Good to know they fixed features that should have been there from the beginning with 3.0, but it still lacks an actual keyboard.


Obviously I don't own an iphone, it's bad enough having to work with them.