Topic: another cellphone thread: iPhone vs ______ (fill in the blank)

[micah]

So my AT&T contract is up in 2 weeks and, despite my better judgement, I plan on renewing and upgrading my phone.  I like my current sony Ericsson Walkman phone (especailly the built-in FM radio) but it kinda blows for Internet and I'd like to get a qwerty keyboard.

I've seen the iPhone and I think it is very cool.  Everyone I know who has one love its. They're all app whores and, I can't blame them -- its pretty cool how you can install apps to do almost anything.

The downside is 1) I'm not a big fan of the touch-screen. I know everyone says, "once you get used to it its great" but my wife has the iTouch and no, its not great. I hate it and she doesn't really like it either.  2) I HATE iTunes.  I don't want to have to sync to it.

honestly, I don't want to be an apple fan boy.
Also, I don't want a blackberry. 

so I was looking at the Nokia E71x.  It seems to get good reviews (especially for its price of $100 w/ contract) - http://review.zdnet.com/product/smartphones/nokia-e71x-black-at-t/33573216

so far the only downside may be its cramped keypad (I have big fingers) - so I'll have to try it out in the store before I get it.  Otherwise, it looks pretty good. even has flash support in the web browser.

any other thoughts or suggestions?

[ober]

I don't know anything about the Nokia.  I'm just here to say that choosing against the iPhone is probably a bad move.  The keyboard is easy to get used to, and really... unless you're texting constantly or constantly writing emails, is it really that important?  I can type just as fast as my BB counterparts.

What is wrong with iTunes?  The latest version is actually pretty fast.  You don't "have" to sync to it, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better way to transfer music or other items.  And most of my syncs are manual.  I don't have hardly anything set to auto-sync.

[hans]

Palm Pre? It's like an iPhone crossed with a BB. Or maybe a G-phone (or other android phone). At this point, I'd say an Android phone would be a good thing to get into. They should allow for various syncing options.

Are you going to stick with ATT or does it matter what carrier you're on?

[micah]

i'm going to stick with AT&T either way.  I have a second plan with them already (my wife's phone) and we share minutes/texts.  It would cost to much to use separate carriers.

I don't know why I'm fighting this iPod thing.  it doesn't have flash... and its a mac product...  i dunno.  Also, the 3Gs is $100 more then I want to pay plus requires a $30 "iPod Data Plan."   Currently I have "unlimited data" for $15/mo  (which I actually don't see offered anywhere on there site? maybe the price has since gone up?)

[micah]

hmmm... apparently the difference is that if AT&T considers your phone a "Smartphone" then the dataplan costs $30.  Otherwise it only costs $15.

So if I upgrade to a phone with better Internet features, I'm gonna have to pay another $15/mo.  crap.  Does the "Smartphone Data Unlimited" plan come with text messaging?  If so, then its worth it (becasue I'm paying extra for that now anyway)  -- if not, this is really a rip off.  Maybe I'll just keep my current phone.

[micah]

OK - so forget it. I don't want a stupid smartphone.  game over.

also, apparently AT&T now offers a "family unlimied data" plan for $10 a line when you have "family unlimited text messaging" (which is $30 total).

so for $50 total my wife and I both have unlimited data and text messaging on our non-smart phones.

If I get a "smartphone" I'll have to pay that much just for myself.  I can't afford an extra $50 a month right now.

--- NEW TOPIC ----
someone want to recommend me a new "regular" phone? I still want something that works reasonably well on the Internet -- but I guess I don't need bells and whistles and ajax and flash    really I just want something with a qwerty keyboard and decent camera.

[Steve]

They will waive or strongly discount the $30 smartphone data plan if your a customer who pays his bill on time most of the time and has been with them more then 6 months.

iphone = fan boys love them as with everything else. i fucking hate the touchscreen but i use my phone A LOT more then most people who have iphones. I'm over 5,000 minutes a month and over 10,000 txts a month consistently.

edit: wow thats only like 3 hours a day and 350 or so txts a day.....seems low

Blackberry = no real reason not to use one. Does (almost) everything the iphone does, less touch. Better battery life, much more durable, and easy to fix with cheap parts if u dont want to pay for insurance.

as for regular phones anything Motorola or LG is solid. As a general rule:

AT&T: Motorola, LG, RIM

Sprint: Sanyo

Verizon: Motorola, Samsung

Why? Simple those are the companies putting the most money into development and R&D for their phones on that providers network. For those that don't know RIM is Research in Motion ie Blackberry.

[kermi3]

No ideas on a regular - but if you can pull Rod's discount, I love my iPhone...and the syncing - though unlike Ober, I autosync just about everything and even shell out the cash for MobileMe - which I love, it allowed me to have 2 separate calandars and autosynch my contacts over the air...

[Bassy]

everyone and his dog seems to have an iphone at the moment (lots of fun to be had in work in the mornings with everyone in the office showing off their latest very sad app which you have no real need for anyway (why is there a spirit level on the iphone - who the heck is going to use it when building a wall) - yes there is an element of sarcasm here mainly as they are all driving me mad).

I decided not to go down the iphone path but went for an MDA compact iv (t-mobile version of the htc touch diamond), does everything i need, i can get my email during the day, but it has got a touch pad - tbh when i was in the phone shop almost everything was going the "touch pad" route. Part of me wishes I had gone for a Blackberry though but I wanted my phone to be able to fit into a jeans pocket whilst on a night out (i'm not a handbag type of gal)

[Steve]

.......
much more durable
........

So drop #53545534343q did the trick. My curve ate the shit, new one should be here tomorrow. Classic timing

[hans]

That's karma for ya.

[Steve]

That's karma for ya.

Yea. My boss fixed it by smacking the shit out of it until it turned on. I tried that, but it didnt work for me. At least it got me thru till today when the new one gets here.

[Rob]

Ah. Percussive maintenance.

[Steve]

I smacked it on telephone poles, the desk, even slapped it thru the garage with a hockey stick and nadda. And he comes along and smacks it and viola.

[jkim]

cello?