Comments | bitsyboo: phone iz ded -- recommend?

bitsyboo

phone iz ded -- recommend?

Sep 28, 2010 21:38

So I have to run out TOMORROW and buy a new phone. I was hoping this poor sucker would've made it till mid-October, but alas...

Therefore, I have not yet done my research. Time to step up to a smartphone I'm thinking. Opinions on the Palm Pre? The various Blackberries? The HTC Aria? Samsung Captivate?

Help!!!!

Comments 17

taranhero September 29 2010, 02:09:13 UTC

What carrier do you use?

bitsyboo September 29 2010, 02:14:55 UTC

AT&T

taranhero September 29 2010, 02:49:50 UTC

Last I heard, most people at AT&T stores will look at you funny if you don't buy an iPhone. I am a huge fan of the Android phones I've used, but I also have never used an iPhone (shocking!) so I can't really give the most fair comparison. So instead, here is a brief description of Consumer Reports' take on some of the phones you listed!

hilariarex September 29 2010, 02:32:26 UTC

The Blackberry is the choice of most legal professionals because it's considered the most secure, but I've used my mom's blackberry and the web interface totally blows. I found it next to impossible to actually use it to look up even something so simple as "where is the nearest Barnes and Noble, and how late is it open." ymmv, of course, but I'd definitely insist on a test drive of features you expect to use.

bitsyboo September 29 2010, 19:29:02 UTC

Mostly using for work email and finding my way around NYC. iPhones don't work too well in the city, apparently because everyone has them.

I coulda gone either way, but the keyboard won me over.

psychotropek September 29 2010, 03:14:24 UTC

I really like typing on the Blackberries- they are not great for all apps but excellent for email/texting. It depends on what features you want to use, and if you prefer touchscreen to qwerty keyboard. My experience is that BlackBerry plays very well with google, decently with twitter/facespace, but the scrolling interface on the web is not the best.

So yes, test drive the phones, and ask how much the data plans are, they vary from phone to phone.

goldfishsara September 29 2010, 03:45:35 UTC

I played with 2 different phones this weekend - my dad's is some sort of Samsung thingy that runs Android software (I think?), and my bro-in-law has the touch screen blackberry. Both were super cool and seemed to me to be very intuitive. My dad never uses a computer, and now has a gmail account (which mostly consists of his friends sending him lolcats) simply due to his phone. Bro-in-law works in IT, and is fond of his crackberry.

I suggest playing with all of them and taking home the one you like best.

redcrosse September 29 2010, 04:09:20 UTC

It's not an answer to your question, but:
a) cell carriers have already sold more bandwidth than their network can healthily handle with existing smartphones.
b) smartphones are a good bit more money, and will be for the life of the phone, and I hear you work very hard all the time, for money. $30 extra/month (a conservative estimate) for 3 years is about $1K, after-tax. Just sayin'.
c) something about coveting, if applicable. (You might just think they're cool, and not be worried about what other people think of your phone choice at all; if so, disregard this last, but the first two still stand.)
So I vote for whatever just-a-phone lets you call people cheap and with reliable coverage.
(Note: as it's basically refusing the premise of the question, this may be annoying. If so, sorry! I just don't see why we all need the internet in our phones right now. We have lots of internet already, it seems; just lots and lots.)

egowumpus September 29 2010, 09:39:03 UTC

I mean, I don't really concur. I think smartphones are awesome, in the same way I think DNI would be awesome. But I love this. I love the act of saying no to a thing that is more and more taken for granted.

In the words of Thoreau; simplify, simplify, simplify.

bitsyboo September 29 2010, 19:27:20 UTC

Well, I did consider this... but I really do need a blackberry to interface with work emailz...

sad to say.

In 2 years I can upgrade! Or perhaps DOWNGRADE. Wouldn't that be something?

I like the thought and hope one day I will indeed be in the position to say NO!

taranhero September 29 2010, 20:34:50 UTC

This is a thing that I was suddenly wondering about -- I assumed by the urgency of the request that you needed the phone for work. Is work reimbursing you for all or part of that bill? I'm also assuming that you wouldn't really be bothering with a super-fancy phone if not for that need.

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