Apple Iphone?

[The Great Wallsendo]

Are they really that good?

...going to upgrade my handset and this is in the mix...so is it worth a look?

 

[greggthe1]

IMO Tony you should get the most expensive handset you can and flog it!! I've been through loads recently and you know which 1 i'm using now bud!!

Nokia N96 you can get £400+ for on ebay.

Nokia N95 8Gb are still fetching £200+.

If you still want to get a new phone then make sure you get the new model iphone. But remember it will be gettin taken out on the beach with you getting wet and fishy fingers all over it

You can't go wrong with the phone you have bud. Maybe just buy a new 1 if it's starting to look tatty.

As with most of the new phones the iphone is very overrated and not very practical for the beach!!!!

 

[mark]

Are they really that good?

...going to upgrade my handset and this is in the mix...so is it worth a look?

yup!

its not until you use one for a bit that you realise just how many leagues ahead they are for doing stuff.

as for the beach... they're pretty damn robust. having no buttons is a huge plus for iffy environments, mines had many soakings, from sea,tea,coffee beer and jam... just wipes off

the number of apps available for it already is huge

 

[KeithB]

Chuffed to bits with my N95, 5 million pix camera, TomTom, MP3 player, WiFi, plays Mame so galaxian, moon cresta etc etc, hell you can even make a phone call with it.

I heard the new N96's are a bit slower.

 

[Charlie_Thompson]

I get my phone free off of North Tyneside Council - it's got buttons on it, a 10 pin bowling game and an alarm clock (or alrm c^=ock). It even works indoors

 

[The Great Wallsendo]

Now you see I'm torn...do I go all singing all dancing? or do I stick with Sony Ericcson which has enough wizardry to keep you happy?

I like the idea of the N95 and it's TomTom capabilities but I understand you have to subscribe if you want its full GPS directions package

The iphone appeals because of it's "complete" capabilities but I've been told the data charges are extortionate...and then I'm not going to check emails on the move, coz frankly I'm not that important so the only thing I'd prob use it for is the Web/Camera and mebbes the MP3...but then I have an MP3 already with 1800+ songs

soooo many things to take into account

 

[KeithB]

I like the idea of the N95 and it's TomTom capabilities but I understand you have to subscribe if you want its full GPS directions package

You do have to pay for the Nokia maps thats come with the phone. TomTom is free although the version I have doesn't work with the internal receiver, a BT external receiver seems to locate the sats quicker anyway. There is a newer version of TomTom that uses the internal receiver but aint tried it yet.

 

[SIXFOOTSTEVE]

Yep I'm canny happy with my N95 as well ,only thing I can find to mildly winge about is its size ....it does narf dig in ye naa.

 

[The Great Wallsendo]

So TomTom is an add-on or does it come with it pre-installed?

what about web-browsing on the N95?

 

[KeithB]

It's an add-on.

Web browsing is pretty good, built in Wi-fi works well.

 

[mark]

Now you see I'm torn...do I go all singing all dancing? or do I stick with Sony Ericcson which has enough wizardry to keep you happy?

I like the idea of the N95 and it's TomTom capabilities but I understand you have to subscribe if you want its full GPS directions package

The iphone appeals because of it's "complete" capabilities but I've been told the data charges are extortionate...and then I'm not going to check emails on the move, coz frankly I'm not that important so the only thing I'd prob use it for is the Web/Camera and mebbes the MP3...but then I have an MP3 already with 1800+ songs

soooo many things to take into account

not so.

the contract includes unlimited data use/bandwidth, via gprs, 3G or wifi (wifi roaming included with tons of providers) so surf the net or whatever all day long and it costs no extra, there's a full google earth built in which hooks up to the gps if you need directions, if you're a bit boaty, this gps package is awesome: iNavX™ - Marine Navigation App for iPhone we've got the desktop version on pansy. built in you tube, but that does nowt for me, the ipod is cool (well it is an ipod!), bang a load of movies on to watch while you're catching nowt

for me it changed the way I work, I can FTP to web servers directly, create and edit stuff anywhere with the free data access, do proper email stuff, I even send texts now on account of having a proper keyboard, I used to hate all the multiple key presses to do anything, proper browser for webby stuff, yet to find a web site that doesn't work/loo exactly how it does on a pc, got some create dynamic tide tables on it, one press tells me exactly what the tide/currents are doing, ditto weather. there's a VNC built in, so I can control any of my macs from anywhere in the world, and it even works as a remote control for them as well!

When they first came out I was a bit, 'yeah so what' but couldn't function without it now

 

[The Great Wallsendo]

I like your style mate and your entrepeneurial flair but I actually was going to keep the Sony for the beach/boat and just have a flash one for "best" LOL - a bit like new trainers when you were a bairn

IMO Tony you should get the most expensive handset you can and flog it!! I've been through loads recently and you know which 1 i'm using now bud!!

Nokia N96 you can get £400+ for on ebay.

Nokia N95 8Gb are still fetching £200+.

If you still want to get a new phone then make sure you get the new model iphone. But remember it will be gettin taken out on the beach with you getting wet and fishy fingers all over it

You can't go wrong with the phone you have bud. Maybe just buy a new 1 if it's starting to look tatty.

As with most of the new phones the iphone is very overrated and not very practical for the beach!!!!

 

[mark]

the unlimited data useage is a real killer feature IMHO having been stung with various contracts over the years when I've used it on t'interweb, and I honestly think I'd take the 'pepsi challenge' on robustness - no buttons to get screwed by water etc

the plastic on the display is apparently made from the same stuff they make HUD's out of in fighter planes.

I'll try find a link, but there was a vid youtube of someone attacking the screen with a ballpoint pen... didn't leave a mark on it.

they've also got clever with the gps as far as battery life goes. heard some horrors over the battery life of some phones with built in gps, haven't noticed it make any difference to mine at all - have left the gps running for several hours at a time in the car and the battery hardly drops

 

[greggthe1]

That was my plan but swoping sims all the time and loosing your messages gets on your t..s a bit lol.

I watched the gadget shop when they tested the Iphone against the N95 and the Nokia won hands down. They put them to very extreme tests aswell like bundgie jumping and seeing who could make a call and send a txt quickest. The fact that the nokia has buttons helped a load and it won by a mile. (not that you are going to find yourself in that situation much)

The Iphone was also tested on nights out and i was very suprised that a phone this expensive didn't have a video camera

It did finish best on looks and had the wow factor.

Neither of these phones i would class as a smart phone though and if you are looking for something like that you want a HTC Touch Diamond!! The bees knees

 

[mark]

The Iphone was also tested on nights out and i was very suprised that a phone this expensive didn't have a video camera

not sure where they got that one from can record as .av1 .mov or .mpg

 

[greggthe1]

Is that the new model or the old one mate? Does it have video playback?

Why the IPhone Doesn't Record Video | Listening Post from Wired.com

 

[mark]

both. Both will play vids, movies etc, and both had video cameras. I've ripped a few DVD's onto mine to watch

the thing with the iphone is that what you buy is really a base to do whatever you want with. The operating system is pretty much the same OS that runs on apple desktop machines, when you get the phone, it has a heap of stuff already on it, some useful some pointless IMHO, but when connect to the app store at apple (via your pc or just straight from the phone) has thousands of extra apps to download and install. a lot are free, some are just coppers, and there's a few that are a few quid to buy. So if you want a video camera, just install one

several different options of video camera apps available, and the quality is pretty good, it records at full resolution, and you've got at least 8gig of memory to store em on in the base model

they're by no means perfect, there's a few things that are just plain 'missing', but they update the software regularly and are filling those holes. still can't send pictures with text messages for example, I guess they assume you'd want to email them instead

for me though, unlimited data useage, FTP, browsers, TELNET, etc, all the calendar/diary syncing stuff, then the tide table apps and chartplotter apps make it invaluable. even bbc iPlayer works on it

I used to carry a phone, a filofax and an ipod, not looked at my filofax since

 

[The Great Wallsendo]

Sooooo very tempted by the iphone...boils down to patience as well...I can upgrade (early) now with Orange and have an N95 by prob no later than a weeks time...or I wait until the new year when current contract runs out and then move to O2


Had looked at the Samsung Omnia (as an iphone alternative)...but Orange have now stopped doing them over "problems" with Oranges "criteria" apparently...

Just had to haggle with Virgin Media tonight as well...they upped my monthly charges of £47.50 to £60.50 ...XL Tv, Phone, 2mb Broadband and Full Sky Sports/Setanta now for £52.75...I'll take that unless anyone can come up with a better deal for me?

 

[The Great Wallsendo]

Does the GPS on the iPhone work through the internal receiver or do you have to have a bluetooth GPS gubbins in tandem?

It seems the N95 does work with some software packages via the internal flip flop...

 

[mark]

It just works!

all from an internal doodah

one thing that apple do with software for the phone, which is the same as software for the mac is they have a huge set of guidelines for programmers and apple vet and approve each app. so if the app doesn't meet apples criteria, you can't sell it - or even give it away!

the big plus of that is that no single app will screw up anything else that is installed, or that you might install at a later date

so any gps apps that you use will just work, no fannying about