Opinions on Mobile Phones??

[Preen59]

Hey guys. I lunched my N96 at work yesterday. It was a blessing is disguise really, because it's a heap of crap anyways..

So now i need a new phone! :mad: I've done a little bit of research on what phones i have seen that i would be interested in via the interhighway.. And the one at the top of the list for me as far as functionality and price goes is this one..

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/09/SamsungSGHi900Omnia-1.jpg

The Samsung Omnia SGH-i900

I get on the web a bit and check emails etc etc plus use it for wifi and taking pictures, so it seems like a whizzer. My mate has one and as far as i'm aware he loves it. From what i've read the newer one to this sucks as far as software etc. Plus it's 300 bucks more expensive..


Has anyone got an alternative view or know of another phone similar?

(Not an iphone. Sorry but nooo.)

[The_Hawk]

The father in law has the Omnia and likes it. Running Windows Mobile makes it very similar to pretty much every other WM phone out there, which is to say not all that bad really :P

I used a bunch of different WM phones and liked bits and pieces of all of them, but at the end of the day I wouldn't trade any of them for the iPhone I have now :) Funny when it comes to iPhones there is those that love them and those that hate them.

Right now if I had to give up my phone and get a new one I wouldn't touch any of the Nokia's with a Ford Drivers hand ;) Sony Ericsson phones are nice and all but aren't really "smart" phones. Samsung have made a very good phone in the Omnia, but I have to say I'd be checking out the HTC phones. Had a few of them (friends have the newer ones too) and have always thought they made a quialty device.

There is a lot of good noise around the Palm Pre or the Android Phones (which are also made by HTC).

Have a hunt around at http://www.htc.com/ and pick what you like, chances are it will be good :)

[Treza360]

I just got a HTC Magic through Vodaphone. $59 cap, 500mb of data a million hours worth of calls and several hundred million texts. It uses the Google Android OS so it's freaking quick as well as having pretty much all the same features as an iPhone but without the stupid coupling with iTunes. It also doesn't have the whole iPhone stigma with it.
It's also smaller than an iPhone and you can also get it in black.
http://www.htc.com/www/product/magic/overview.html
Win win win. :D
Cheers,
Trent

Edit: Damn you Aaron... :P

[Preen59]

Ok thanks guys. Looking at that now. I should have mentioned however that i just want to buy a phone outright as i'm already on a business plan.. :)

[Treza360]

Ok thanks guys. Looking at that now. I should have mentioned however that i just want to buy a phone outright as i'm already on a business plan.. :)
Just get on eBay and buy an unlocked HTC Magic or Hero then. :)
Job done.
If you can't get one, than an iPhone is still one of the best options. The latest ones are quite good, my Dad uses his as his business phone and it works well.
His business partner has the Omnia and he likes that as well.
As Aaron said, I've also read good things about the Palm Pre.
Cheers,
Trent

[quozl]

Trent with the HTC phone can you buy it outright from Vodaphone and then use a Telstra NextG sim in it? Reason I ask is I need to use NextG when I'm down in Tassie for the rally as the Vodafone access is limited.
Cheers Al

[Arctra]

I have one of these Omnia's and am very disappointed with it. It's a Windows Mobile device which means it's got tons of apps available for it, it supports activesync over the air (I get my work email from Exchange/Outlook pushed to me), and best of all supports SBP Shell for a great user interface. But it's slow. The lag when you are trying to do things is annoying.

The touchscreen based keyboard is not as easy as the iPhone either. I find I use the Samsung Keypad rather than the keyboard as the "keys" are a better size. The most frustrating part is the delay wehn switching between portrait and landscape.

From a satnav point of view it doesn't come with anything despite having a built in GPS module. iGo8 works perfectly on it and auto detects the GPS. Tomtom does not recognise the inbuilt GPS so you have to use GPSgate to trick Tomtom into thinking the GPS is connected to a com port. It's easier to use a bluetooth GPS reciever to be honest.

The camera takes nice pictures. Video is a bit motion blurred, but then again, it is just a mobile. The web browser is Opera (though Explorer is on the device as well) and it is slow. I'm with 3 and the Planet 3 access isn't great with a lot of the features not available or not working properly.

I can live with all of those positives and negatives, but the one which I find the most disappointing is BATTERY LIFE. It plain sucks. It doesn't last me the whole day. Every opportunity I get I have to plug it in to charge. Getting a second USB cable and charger are not easy as it's not that common a phone. eBay is your best bet.

If I had to do it again I wouldn't get this phone. A mate of mine just got the HD version and seems impressed with it, but I can't comment.

If you're looking for a decent phone I'm told the HTC Magic is pretty good. Very nice interface, but I can't comment much more about it.

[The_Hawk]

After you find what you want, put it's name into here: http://www.staticice.com.au/

Then buy from the cheapest (decent looking) place it spits out. Maybe ask around for the experiences since some of the sites that show up I know I wouldn't touch.

One very good place that I have dealt with a few times is Organiser World in Melbourne. www.ow.com.au

And to Trent: I used to be a hater of iTunes, but then my previous MP3 players software sucked so so so so so so so so so so so much worse (so). Sure you could still choose to drop and drag files, but in the end I found myself trying iTunes, making playlists and dragging them from iTunes to my other non iPod devices... so I bought an iPod... then an iPhone.... Now a MacBook Pro ;) I still have my PC for gaming and still like things about both sides of the fence, but really the iPhone does (nearly) everything I want it to and iTunes is the best alternative available for managing your music.

Still gotta say if I had buckets of cash to throw around I would probably get a WM phone and an Android phone to play with.

[mk3pete]

iv had my htc touch pro for 6 months now and its been great
awesome battery life
decent camera
the keyboards a breeze to use
and iv dropped it about a dozen times (one tough phone:bowdown:)

[evorobin]

Before I bought my second iphone I looked at all the comparos and HTC was worse than iphone. Bought a nokia N95 as always liked them but had to sell it and get another iphone. Hate macs but the phones rock!

[Preen59]

The thing that got me with the samsung was that everyone i spoke to likes them and has no complaints of lag (something my N96 has baaaaaaaaaaaags of), plus i can get one online for around $435 with free shipping, unlocked..

Hmmm decisions decisions. My sister works for the corporate communications side of the Telstra Shop here in town and tells me my phone won't be all that expensive to repair. Maybe i should just get it fixed and hang onto it for a bit longer.. Not really sure. :???:

[Treza360]

Al. Don't know about whether you can buy it outright. You might be able to on a prepaid and then unlock the thing. They will probably charge you to do that. There other ways of doing it though. I wish I'd seen your post earlier, I would've dropped around when I picked up the guard lining from Graeme tonight. Didn't have much time anyway though. If you want to have a play with the phone give us a yell.

Aaron. Don't get me wrong I like the iPhone and I have had an iPod for years, I just hate the fanboyism and hype that surrounds them.

Preeny. I've heard the Omnias can be a bit laggy. One of the big things with the Android OS is its' speed.

Cheers,
Trent

[maca]

If you're coming from a Nokia, stay away from the Samsung UltraTouch.

I had a heap of trouble coming out of an old 6110 Navigator and actually went back to using it.

But better days are ahead!! Should have an N97 arriving in the mail early next week (provided Optus can send it to Toowong in QLD this time, not Towong in VIC). If they cock up I'll be going for the N96 - the one I wanted from the beginning..

I'll second what Trent said about them being laggy. I've heard all Samsungs have that delay to them. Have you considered the iPhone? I wouldn't buy one but they don't seem too bad. Also check out GSM Arena (www.gsmarena.com) for reviews and junk :D

[quozl]

Al. Don't know about whether you can buy it outright. You might be able to on a prepaid and then unlock the thing. They will probably charge you to do that. There other ways of doing it though. I wish I'd seen your post earlier, I would've dropped around when I picked up the guard lining from Graeme tonight. Didn't have much time anyway though. If you want to have a play with the phone give us a yell.

Cheers,
Trent

Bugger thought you were coming over in the morning we were gong to install it for you :)

Re the phone: I think I'll see if Telstra have a basic prepaid phone package that I can use on the NextG network when we are down there as I was comparing the coverage maps between Vodafone and Telstra and I would be without coverage on 60% of the stages if I stick with Vodafone.

Cheers Al

[EUS GTIMK5]

Preen,
looking at upgrading too. There are few phones that are interesting -
Nokia N97. Crap firmware at the moment. Upgrade shortly should improve this. Like most Nokias takes them 12 months to iron out the bugs. Thing I like is the physical qwerty key board.
HTC Hero - I'd put this as first at the moment. Would need to buy overseas look at smoothmobiles or similar. No physical keyboard but virtual is better than iPhone's.
iPhone - looks good but tried the virtual keyboard and did not like it very much. Some other points like cannot replace batery, apple locking it and itunes only sync.
SonyE - new satio model coming out which is supposed to be very good. SE usually do good UIs, I had a P910i which was at the time an excellent phone.
Nokia N900 - runs linux, no MMS more of a tablet device with a phone integrated. However, looks very impressive.
Palm Pre - looks very impressive. Would also have to get from OS.

One thing is if you are on Telstra next G should check that phone will work. Some models are only available on certain bands.

I'd be interested on what you choose. I'm holding out until early next year to see if any of the above are released in Aus.

[SoVeReIgN]

The iPhone is by far the best mobile phone on the market today. (IMO)

It may not have all the features of some of it's competitors, but everything it does, it does flawlessly.

I test these for work, I wouldn't recommend Windows Mobile in any of it's past or current iterations to anybody, Nokia's symbian is absolute rubbish (N97 has to be one of the worst smart phones ever made, they were really onto something with the N95 but N97 is terrible) and from what I hear Android is getting there - I haven't had a real chance to test any Android phones for more than a few hours.

I don't know anyone that has sat down and played with an iphone for a decent length of time and not loved it. Try it out, like most things that become popular, people naturally seem to form a bias against it. 30 million people can't be all stupid.

[Peter Jones]

Might be a bit OTT for you but my phone of the moment is a Sony Ericsson Xperia X1.

It's a WM phone and one of the better spec'ed ones out there. I couldn't survive without the full hardware keyboard.

Perfect for catching up on the forum on the train ride in and one of the best screens going for watching movies on. (800x480).

Push syncing 4 different e-mail addresses to it I still get 2 days battery life out of it.

Pete

[Arctra]

Preen,
One thing is if you are on Telstra next G should check that phone will work. Some models are only available on certain bands.


I think I can help you here. What you are looking for is a mobile that supports UMTS 850MHz to work on NextG. Most (all) carriers use UMTS 2100MHz in the major cities so it'll probably support that too. Voda/Optus use UMTS 900MHz outside of the major cities.

Please note, just because a phone is "Quad band" doesn't mean it'll support those 4 bands in 3G (UMTS)... quad band phones are usually referring to the 2G (GSM) frequencies they support which are irrelevant for 3G networks.

[Preen59]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I like good honest feedback. :cool:

I'm not getting an iphone. That's out of the question. I'd really like a better camera in it than what the iphone has. I dislike the fact you can't replace the battery and the fact that you can't send MMS really pushed it away for me. :)

I like the sound of the HTC phones. They seem like a good no nonsense sort of a deal. The HTC Hero sounds like it's not bad.

All the reviews on the LG take of the iphone say that it's a heap of slow junk. My mate with the Samsung told me last night that he likes it but if he could do it again would get something with a keyboard aswell because the touchscreen novelty wears off pretty quick..

[AUC-05L]

i got a nokia N97 a few weeks ago and love it. has a full keyboard as well as full touch screen, 5mp camera with twin LED flash, good internet browsing, and 32 GB memory with another 16GB in a card slot if you need it, not bad at all.

so far my only complaint is the lack of cool applications and games like you get in an iphone. but aside from that i love it......

[SoVeReIgN]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I like good honest feedback. :cool:

I'm not getting an iphone. That's out of the question. I'd really like a better camera in it than what the iphone has. I dislike the fact you can't replace the battery and the fact that you can't send MMS really pushed it away for me. :)


All phone cameras are rubbish, regardless of what MP rating they pretend to be, the iphone can send MMS with the latest software update and well the battery - Well you can but it's difficult and not for everybody.

[maca]

All phone cameras are rubbish, regardless of what MP rating they pretend to be, the iphone can send MMS with the latest software update and well the battery - Well you can but it's difficult and not for everybody.
The only downside I found to the iPhone was that I couldn't get a clear, focused photo. Even on the 3Gs they came out blurry.. Is the 3Gs still 2mp?

[Preen59]

All phone cameras are rubbish, regardless of what MP rating they pretend to be, the iphone can send MMS with the latest software update and well the battery - Well you can but it's difficult and not for everybody.

Yes but some are more rubbish than others. In good light my N96 takes a pretty good photo (compared with your average point and shoot).

[alex g]

i have a 5800, crazy bit of phone, especially if you like music as you get free 12months of unlimeted downloads from nokia music, 8 gb of memory (which i have about 6 1/2 gb of music already)and heaps and heaps of quirky apps and games, really user friendly and quik to use

very happy with mine, there is even a paint app that you can drawn and paint on photos and so on

it got me back into music again too as i plug it in stereos everywhere and run it through the car, it is really an impressive bit of tech

[SoVeReIgN]

The only downside I found to the iPhone was that I couldn't get a clear, focused photo. Even on the 3Gs they came out blurry.. Is the 3Gs still 2mp?

3GS is 3.2mp, I find the camera better than the 3G (I've had both), touching the screen to tell the camera where to focus works very well IMO.

But again, all these cameras use tiny CMOS sensors, even the 'Carl Zeiss' Nokias, they are all useless compared to even the most basic point and shoot standalone.

[Treza360]

Didn't Samsung or Sony (can't remember which) have a phone/camera with a camera/phone in it? Ie. A real image processor and a real lens with real zoom and focus etc.
Cheers,
Trent

[maca]

Nah it was Nokia
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/09/Untitled2-1.jpg

[Treza360]

Nah it was Nokia
http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv30/maca2710/Untitled-2.jpg
I really hope you found that on google and didn't do that yourself... :P
Cheers,
Trent

[Greg Roles]

Whatever you do mate, have a real decent go of the virtual keyboard. In my limited opinion they are never anywhere near as good as a standard button. It's oh so easy to miss the actual virtual key and start something else loading, and then you have to wait for windows or other OS to load it, shut it down, and then go back and try to get what you want. Sure you can load the big buttons, but agin, it's not always convienient to do so. Depends on the phone.

I have lived with a HTC touch for almost three years now, and if it wasn't for the PDA facility I'd go back to an old school button phone in a heartbeat. There's much better options now, but still, I think it's something major to look seriously at. You have to live with it!

[Preen59]

Whatever you do mate, have a real decent go of the virtual keyboard. In my limited opinion they are never anywhere near as good as a standard button. It's oh so easy to miss the actual virtual key and start something else loading, and then you have to wait for windows or other OS to load it, shut it down, and then go back and try to get what you want. Sure you can load the big buttons, but agin, it's not always convienient to do so. Depends on the phone.

I have lived with a HTC touch for almost three years now, and if it wasn't for the PDA facility I'd go back to an old school button phone in a heartbeat. There's much better options now, but still, I think it's something major to look seriously at. You have to live with it!

Yeah i've been thinking as much...

I dropped the N96 off at the telstra shop yesterday. The (rather cute) chick there said it would be about 100 bucks to repair (i was thinking it would be much more than that). She also noted on the form to have the latest software installed on it for me. I asked if that would make a difference to the speed of the OS and she said the later software is usually an improvement.

I had a look at some of the phones they had on display and asked her some questions about the ones that interested me. She said she has the Samsung i was looking at before and that she doesn't mind the touch screen now that she has gotten used to it, but of course that comes down to personal preference.

I should get my phone back in roughly a week or a little bit more. I think i'll just suck it and see. If it's better i'll just stick with it. At the moment i can't find a phone that really tickles me as they are all a compromise for price/OS/ergonomics etc etc etc.

[Satanstoenail]

I have a Nokia N97 and love it. It does everything an iphone can but it is smaller and it has a real keyboard.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/09/nokian97inblack01-1.jpg

[mikepologti]

was seriously looking at a n97 as my next phone , i currently have a perfectly good n95 8 gig so i couldn't justify getting one. ive had many differant phones from many differant companies, theres only 3 companies that ill go any where near. nokia , apple (iphone), and the later model black berries.

[mscabrio]

I have always had Samsung phones and have never had a single problem with them ..... I bought an iPhone and loved it, that was until yesterday when the return home button ceased to function. One day out of warranty. Without that ability the phone can't be used without turning it off and then on again and for those iPhone users out there you will know what I mean when I say it is a pain in the butt! This seems to be a common prob with iPhones doing this just outside of warranty, also common for iPods, especially the iPod touch.

Saying that however, the iPhone was an awesome phone, really easy to use and navigate. As for the camera not being the best, Don't let the MP fool you. Yes it may have a 2 MP camera but mine actually printed clearer pictures than my husbands 5MP Nokia, especially when anti vibrate software was downloaded from the apple applications store. Also the new iPhone the 3GS has the MMS function preloaded or if you do buy the 3G (like mine) then you can download the version 3 software straight from itunes which gives you this function. This is what I did and was able to send and recieve MMS without an issue.

Just be careful when buying a phone outright and adding it to an existing plan. Make sure that your existing plan has data useage as part of the plan or it will cost you an arm and a leg when using surfing the net. You may say now that you won't but trust me having the net on your phone becomes highly addictive!!!

[maca]

I have always had Samsung phones and have never had a single problem with them ..... I bought an iPhone and loved it, that was until yesterday when the return home button ceased to function. One day out of warranty. Without that ability the phone can't be used without turning it off and then on again and for those iPhone users out there you will know what I mean when I say it is a pain in the butt! This seems to be a common prob with iPhones doing this just outside of warranty, also common for iPods, especially the iPod touch.

Saying that however, the iPhone was an awesome phone, really easy to use and navigate. As for the camera not being the best, Don't let the MP fool you. Yes it may have a 2 MP camera but mine actually printed clearer pictures than my husbands 5MP Nokia, especially when anti vibrate software was downloaded from the apple applications store. Also the new iPhone the 3GS has the MMS function preloaded or if you do buy the 3G (like mine) then you can download the version 3 software straight from itunes which gives you this function. This is what I did and was able to send and recieve MMS without an issue.

Just be careful when buying a phone outright and adding it to an existing plan. Make sure that your existing plan has data useage as part of the plan or it will cost you an arm and a leg when using surfing the net. You may say now that you won't but trust me having the net on your phone becomes highly addictive!!!
I swear Apple has a ticking time bomb for when their products fall out of warranty (or when they want you to spend money on upgrading software). I have an iPod Touch and ss soon as the new software was released, it began lagging, freezing and loosing WiFi signals..

Coincidence? :ninja:

[SoVeReIgN]

I have always had Samsung phones and have never had a single problem with them ..... I bought an iPhone and loved it, that was until yesterday when the return home button ceased to function. One day out of warranty. Without that ability the phone can't be used without turning it off and then on again and for those iPhone users out there you will know what I mean when I say it is a pain in the butt! This seems to be a common prob with iPhones doing this just outside of warranty, also common for iPods, especially the iPod touch.

Saying that however, the iPhone was an awesome phone, really easy to use and navigate. As for the camera not being the best, Don't let the MP fool you. Yes it may have a 2 MP camera but mine actually printed clearer pictures than my husbands 5MP Nokia, especially when anti vibrate software was downloaded from the apple applications store. Also the new iPhone the 3GS has the MMS function preloaded or if you do buy the 3G (like mine) then you can download the version 3 software straight from itunes which gives you this function. This is what I did and was able to send and recieve MMS without an issue.

Just be careful when buying a phone outright and adding it to an existing plan. Make sure that your existing plan has data useage as part of the plan or it will cost you an arm and a leg when using surfing the net. You may say now that you won't but trust me having the net on your phone becomes highly addictive!!!

I hope you hit Apple up, they're usually pretty good - 1 day out of warranty surely they would just sort it out.

[Satanstoenail]

I have always had Samsung phones and have never had a single problem with them .....

My last phone was a Samsung flip top (first Samsung I'd owned) and the outer screen somehow cracked while it was in my pocket one night, and then it completely died within 8 months of owning it. And I'm very good at being careful with phones.

[Manaz]

Re the phone: I think I'll see if Telstra have a basic prepaid phone package that I can use on the NextG network when we are down there as I was comparing the coverage maps between Vodafone and Telstra and I would be without coverage on 60% of the stages if I stick with Vodafone.

Cheers Al

NextG uses a non-standard frequency - you need to be careful that any phone you get will work on this non-standard frequency.

For instance, the Sony X1a will work on NextG, whereas the X1i will not - and they're the same phone other than the extra frequency being available on the X1a (it will work on all networks).

[team_v]

I have a HTC Dream (G1) from ebay USA.
It came unlocked and delivered for $400 AUD.

Lovely phone, everything works really well.
All the options/apps that an iPhone has but it runs on google android and has replaceable parts (battery etc)
The main reason i bought it was the real slide out keyboard as i have found touch-screen keyboards to be a bother.

I am exceptionally happy with my purchase and i have it on a monthly plan with Optus that undercut their price for the phone by $25 per month.


Best bet would be to look at the whirlpool forums mobile phone section, it was most helpful to me when i was looking at a new phone.
Also look here: http://reviews.cnet.com/best-cell-phones

[mscabrio]

I swear Apple has a ticking time bomb for when their products fall out of warranty (or when they want you to spend money on upgrading software). I have an iPod Touch and ss soon as the new software was released, it began lagging, freezing and loosing WiFi signals..

Coincidence? :ninja:

Did you install the software on you touch? If not, do so it will stop the freezing. I had the similar prob with my iPhone once version 3 was released but the freezing stopped once I updated the software

[Gravey]

One thing that really bugs me about the touchscreen phones is the battery life.

I've tried the iPhone, HTC Touch Pro and have talked to many other touchscreen-phone users who all tell me the best they get is 2 days, especially if using corporate email. It was also cheap, we got it given to us by our provider on a corporate plan, an iPhone or HTC would have had handset costs associated with it.

That's why I opted for the Nokia E71....awesome battery life and it has all of the core functionality I need. Email, GPS, Internet, Modem...oh and it works great as a phone too, lol.

[maca]

Ahh got my N97 yesterday and I thought there was something wrong with the speaker...
.
.
.
.
.
Until I realised I put the screen protector over it! :duh:

[STV4SYT]

Ive had pretty much Nokias for 15 years, had an occasional company phone, blackerries etc. It was with a heavy heart that after reading the reviews of the N97 and them being less than favourable that i got the iPhone (to replace an n95 8gb). It wasnt an uninformed decision as i already had a Touch that id been using for a couple of months and liked the interface.


The problem as i see it is this.

Every Phone is trying to be the iPhone beater, and to be honest they fail miserably at it, some worse than others. I have stopped looking at it as a pohone and more of a mobile internet device that also does calls and SMS.

I've changed the way io do things, i send less SMS's as it is a bit of a pain, but TBH i was not using my full cap anyway so i just call instead. Anyway, after 3 months i am now reasonably adept at messaging up to about 5 pints of beer, then it becomes too hard, which is maybe a good side effect.

The email functionality is flawless with having had up to 5 or 6 accounts syncing at one time and the apps are the icing on the cake. Some are really crap, but i have found some very useful ones, like tracking fuel economy, abc news app, tram tracker, skype, VNC, Speedometer to name but a few of the ones i use regularly.

Battery llife is surprisingly OK, i always charge my phone overnight (N95 taught me this) and ive not been let down yet.

Id find it really hard to live without it now, which to me is the sign of a good device. recently i have had to go back to my N95 (2nd SIM card) and it was painful, how i ever used it is beyond me now.