Totally motor racing unrelated:

I need to upgrade my phone...

The options:
1. Samsung Omnia,
2. iphone 8gig
3. HTC diamond.

I dunno what the hell to buy. the Samsung is 16gig.

Ive also heard that the Xperia is awesome, but quite a bit more. The above phones are more or less te same bracket. The iphone will be uncracked. Please bare that in mind

dont be a slave to the bastard little things. they are getting more and more evil.
just make do with the old and get a new one when its dead.

Old one is dead, one pissed night out and i woke up without a back cover, now it keeps switching off... id rather replace it than end its life by introducing it to my bedroom wall. We all know the wall will win!

iPhone every time. I looked hard at the HTC when buying mine and there really isn't any contest, Windows Mobile made me sick everywhere.

I'd consider a Nokia N95 or even one of the newer ones N97 I believe they're up to now.

My N95 is excellent in just about every way, haven't yet found a single fault with it. Took a long time to get used to after a Sony Ericsson, but now i'm used to it I can confidently say the N95 is the best phone I've owned.

I've used an iphone before and they're awful! Plus the fact it's made by apple is a huge downside - It'll break as soon as the warrenty expires in traditional apple form. (but I may be biased).

Quote from mr_x :

I'd consider a Nokia N95 or even one of the newer ones N97 I believe they're up to now.

My N95 is excellent in just about every way, haven't yet found a single fault with it. Took a long time to get used to after a Sony Ericsson, but now i'm used to it I can confidently say the N95 is the best phone I've owned.

I've used an iphone before and they're awful! Plus the fact it's made by apple is a huge downside - It'll break as soon as the warrenty expires in traditional apple form. (but I may be biased).

How are they awful exactly?

I used to like Nokia a lot, as in I made sure all my new contract phone were Nokia, however the iPhone just blows them out of the water.

The main problem I can find people complaining about is the touch keyboard, for texting etc. Well, I gave it to my dad to try, who isn't great at texting anyway, within 2 minutes he was bashing out messages faster than ever before. As can I, you can rinse through messages much fast than a non-correcting hardware keypad, the correctional function really is brilliant.

Quote from pb32000 :

How are they awful exactly?

I used to like Nokia a lot, as in I made sure all my new contract phone were Nokia, however the iPhone just blows them out of the water.

The main problem I can find people complaining about is the touch keyboard, for texting etc. Well, I gave it to my dad to try, who isn't great at texting anyway, within 2 minutes he was bashing out messages faster than ever before. As can I, you can rinse through messages much fast than a non-correcting hardware keypad, the correctional function really is brilliant.

I hate touch screen, that's my main problem, much prefer to feel the button i'm pressing! Oh yeah, and it's not good looking at all either, it just looks too common, plain and dull.

Plus I didn't like the menus, things just seemed a bit wrong, the fact that everybody, their dog and their hamster has one is just taking the pi**. I'm sick of seeing them, sick of hearing people say "ooo look at my 3G iphone". And as stated before, I can't stand Apple.

I'm sick of the fact that everything these days has an 'i' infront of its name too... I'm trying my best not to buy anything that's an "iSomething" and so far I'm doing well at it!

haha, quite entertaining, but staying on point. Nokia n95 is amazing phone, but old. and i kinda wanna go for touch screen at the mo. the n97 looks awesome, but isnt gonna be released in south africa for quite a while.

WRT the iphone, is ur phone cracked? because im getting it on contract and its therefore not cracked. Ive heard this makes quite a difference, cause ive gotta now buy everything off itunes instead of being able to just search and download of the net?

No video recording out of the box
No modem capabilities (connect your laptop to the internet)
No a2dp for wireless stereo sound
No true MMS support
No exchangable memory card
No user(-friendly) replacable battery

I wouldn't mind any of those points if the iPhone was cheap. But it isn't.

Anyway, i'm still using my Nokia 3310

Nah mine's not cracked. There are loads of good free apps from the iTunes store, of course there are some better/different ones for the cracked phone, but I don't need or want them.

I don't know if you can access the app store on a cracked phone, but it really is stunningly simple to use, very well thought out.

You don't have to buy music from iTunes to put it on, it can be any music you've got. The only thing I don't like is synchronisation - I much prefer drag and drop for music etc, but that's a smallish disadvantage.

Quote from kingfag :

No video recording out of the box
No modem capabilities (connect your laptop to the internet)
No a2dp for wireless stereo sound
No true MMS support
No exchangable memory card
No user(-friendly) replacable battery

I wouldn't mind any of those points if the iPhone was cheap. But it isn't.

Anyway, i'm still using my Nokia 3310

now thats the sort of stuff i needed to know. mainly the modem capabilities because i dial up off my phone all the time using my laptop!

Any comments on the other 2 phones that i mentioned?

Well, depends what you want from your phone mate.

If you want good all round user-ness, then something like the iPhone would be good. If you just want a phone with small things such as an MP3 player, camera and video with basic net functionality, then something like a RazrV2 (I have one, best phone ever - Very durable, I've dropped it, kicked it, etc etc and only a few scratches that are hard to even notice!), and has about 350mb memory - I've got around 60 songs with room to spare - enough for normal usage. It's pretty cheap now as well. Touch screen MP3 controls, user freindly menus, etc etc.

There is only one question that needs to be asked when thinking about getting a phone.

Do you need it for work? Does it need to be able to sync with your work exchange server and let you know when you've got meetings or if you have recieved a new email as soon as it arrives??

If the answer is no to the above, do not under any circumstances get a Windows Mobile device !!!! I can't stress that enough. WiMo is utter crap !! (unless of course you like all the junk/issues associated with running a microsoft OS on your phone). I don't know about you but I want a phone that is small, light, has long battery life, (and no I don't consider 3-5 days a long life), can send and receive texts and is simple to navigate and use those functions and that's it and I can tell you now none of the Windows Mobile devices fit that bill. They are all, bar none, a windows OS first and a phone a very distant second, (and yes I include so called smartphones) , no matter how hard the likes of Samsung try to cover up the fact its WiMo underneath.

If you must have other junk like a camera, music player etc on your phone, (though heaven knows why they're all nothing more than gimmics), then there are plenty of models from the likes of Nokia, SonyEricsson etc to choose from. The iPhone looks alright, but I'd only get one if I really had to have an iPod, (which I already have so it would be pointless for me), as they are actually quite bulky/heavy phones with not very good battery life. Although I must admit I do really like the interface so it has to be the size it is I guess.

Quote from gezmoor :

The iPhone looks alright, but I'd only get one if I really had to have an iPod, (which I already have so it would be pointless for me), as they are actually quite bulky/heavy phones with not very good battery life. Although I must admit I do really like the interface so it has to be the size it is I guess.

True about the battery life, it's wank TBH. My old N73 used to get a good week or so on a charge, more under light usage. I'm only getting a couple of days from the iPhone, more often than not having to charge it every day. But then I guess I do use it more, for more battery draining things

Hang on until Wednesday and I will give you a review of the HTC Diamond...
My last 3 phones have all been HTC's, and I have always found them to be reliable, easy to use, and more than enough features to keep me happy until I get to upgrade it.. Which, as it happens, is this coming Wednesday

I do use my phone for work quite a bit, in terms of syncing emails and contacts, calendars etc. Due to the nature of the job, we also spend quite alot of time at clients with no internet connection, and instead of getting a 3g card, i use the phones modem to dial up thru my laptop so all of the above are pretty important.

I would be too interested in a blackberry though, cause syncing email is only to have offline access, i wouldnt want people getting hold of me via email 24/7.

In addition, i do have an 8gig ipod touch and in a way, that is convincing me to both get the iphone, but also not get it (because i love the features, but i have the ipod already if you know what i mean).

anyone with any opinions on the Omnia, I hear its brilliant, cept that its screen is poorly lit in sunlight and its a tad slow. but it is rated higher than the iphone and the diamond on just about every site ive been on...

Quote from Dizzydarryn :

anyone with any opinions on the Omnia, I hear its brilliant, cept that its screen is poorly lit in sunlight and its a tad slow. but it is rated higher than the iphone and the diamond on just about every site ive been on...

I have never owned an Omnia but someone I know did. I was thinking of getting one until I had a go on a live one. After that I changed my mind because:

a) We couldn't work out how to make the "iPod looking" menu page be the default homepage. The adverts seem to give the impression that it can be but we spent a good 20 minutes trying to find the config to allow it but it isn't there. This would have been a selling point for me so that was one nail in it's coffin.

b) That stylus thing is unfortunately pretty much essential to use the phone in practice. Given that it's on a stupid laynard separate from the phone that was another nail.

c) I was hoping it wouldn't be neccessary to get involved with any of the WiMo parts of the phone in everyday use, (maybe for just initial config), but just playing with the phone for an hour or two you quickly realise there just isn't any getting away from the horrible WiMo interface and all it's fiddly little Microsoft foibles, such as insisting on thinking you must have mistyped when using predictive texting and presenting you with word options that have letters in you never even typed instead of the option to spell a new word which is what every other phone in the world does. Or insisting you put the contact in first when writing a text rather than letting you write the text first and then enter whom you want to send it to like every other phone on the planet does ! Not being able to keep your "phone book" separate, (and integrated with the phone function), from your contacts list, (which is full of other junk eg work contacts). It's little things like this that drive me up the wall about WiMo devices. It's the usual Microsoft knows better than you what you want to do that I really hate about WiMo devices.

I want a phone not a portable PC, that's what PDAs are for !!


If you need connectivity have you considered a Symbian device?

The Nokia E51 gets good reviews, (it's what I really wanted for work but we weren't allowed anything but WiMo).

http://mea.nokia.com/link?cid=PLAIN_TEXT_503142

Quote from mr_x :

I'd consider a Nokia N95 or even one of the newer ones N97 I believe they're up to now.

My N95 is excellent in just about every way, haven't yet found a single fault with it. Took a long time to get used to after a Sony Ericsson, but now i'm used to it I can confidently say the N95 is the best phone I've owned.

I've used an iphone before and they're awful! Plus the fact it's made by apple is a huge downside - It'll break as soon as the warrenty expires in traditional apple form. (but I may be biased).

The Symbian OS isn't really userfriendly. Sure is has a nice camera and all the things on board but then i prefer Windows mobile. I've just ordered the HTC S740 what is more a phone then the PDA style Windows Mobile phones (windows mobile standard instead of proffesional and normal phonekeys instead of touch screen).

From what i've seen of the iPhones it are great phones (good usability, but i geus that's not something you look for in a phone). I don't want it because i want to run normal GPS software instead of some Google maps application for what you need a data-abo.

IMO WiMo is too "smart" for a phone and makes it much much harder to make calls / texts than on a "dumb" phone - in fact that is pretty much my only issue with my Sony w960i (besides the slowness, which is sort of for the same reason).

Have to disagree there Jack..I can text (in REAL English..not "txtspk") faster using my smartphone ..currently a HTC S710 (=Orange SPV E650).. faster than Emmy (my TEENAGE daughter) can text using txtspk. This is thanks to the slide out qwerty keyboard..no hunting for buttons and tapping 4 times just to type a letter "s". Never forget, if you dont like predictive texting, you can always turn it off.
As for calls..I just hit ONE button..scroll down the list and hit call....all done!

WiMo phones CAN be good, you just have to learn how to use them.

Added to the fact that I have had HTC phones for the last 4 years and have never found them to be difficult to use or unreliable, this is the main reason that I am looking no further than the Diamond for my next phone (TOMORROW!!! W00T!)

I got the original iPhone when it was new because i'm a mug. I love it. Although I mostly use it as an mp3 player as I never haved liked mobile phones, I do like the way I can make a call or send text messages on it when I want too.

I know there's a contract fee associated with that, but I tend to shut my eyes and ignore anything relating to money whilst singing "lalala" very loudly with my fingers in my ears.

I guess that makes me prime candidate to buy an iPhone. Some people would mock that, but I don't mind spending money on things I like, and I like my iPhone.

So far i've had 2 PDA's (Dell X51v & FSC Loox 720), borrowed a smart-phone (O2 XDA something - aka an HTC Magician I think?) and used my Sony w960i and for most stuff I'd actually rather use my old w810i...

Bump...The Diamond is great...just love it!!
The touch screen scrolling is a bit weird until you get used to it, by once you get the hang of it, everything becomes very easy indeed!
Selecting a call from your contacts list is easy, as is texting. The supplied game is a b*st*rd... very simple, VERY addictive, and well, you just have to try it, mere words cannot describe the FORCE FEEDBACK (!!!1!!1!!!) that is incorporated in it!

Just finished installing the PDA/WinMo version of Tomtom UK...works a treat, especially with Homer Simpsons voice!! Might give Ozzy Osbourne a try tomorrow...can you imagine it? "Turn f**king left here you c**t!!!!"

Quote from Bladerunner :

Bump...The Diamond is great...just love it!!
The touch screen scrolling is a bit weird until you get used to it, by once you get the hang of it, everything becomes very easy indeed!

Have they sorted out the massive interface lag now? One thing that put me right off when I was looking at them.

Quote from pb32000 :

Have they sorted out the massive interface lag now? One thing that put me right off when I was looking at them.

What lag?? Never noticed anything...was pretty quick zapping from one thing to another.