iphone, android or windows mob?

[Rob_B]

I'd have to say iPhone, I've been let down with every WM phone I've ever had but not used android a massive amount.

I've worked in the mobile business, used hundreds of handsets over many years and for me the iPhone is my favourite handset ever.

If you want a nice looking phone to play games on, watch vids & don't mind charging the damn thing every day you'll be mnore than happy.

O2 stores all have demo iPhones to play with, Tmob tends to have the G1 to play with so try them out, the problem with this sort of question is 'it depends...'

[DeludedGuy]

I'd have to say iPhone, I've been let down with every WM phone I've ever had but not used android a massive amount.

What has disappointed you about WinMo that a different OS excels at?

[chinny]

I previously had an HTC wizard myself - I loved the idea but the reality wasn't quite so good. I found it slow (even with home-brewed cut-down firmware). Most stuff worked ok except the phone function - that was painful. Ended up shoving it back on ebay in a matter of a week or two.

We've got a Tytn 2 at work - tends only to get used for GPS though. Is good for that mind - TomTom runs smoothly on it. You can just about put up with msn on it if you're away but I find browsing a bit like hard work. The phone functionality is still a bit crap though.

A mate has got a iPhone which I've had a little play on - seems nice - the browsing is ok - not really used it for long enough to properly comment though.

Personally I've got a cheap Nokia now - as a phone it does what it says on the tin - can lob it around no problem. I use a laptop or netbook depending on where I'm off to and how much space I can afford.

I've also had the use of some Blackberry's - I find these very good. I tend to use email (obviously) and a bit of Gmail from time-to-time. Works very well for that. Browsing I've not really used heavily as I've always had a laptop / desktop to hand. It's not so much fun using that though. They've not been the newer (posher) models though.

Don't know if that helps or hinders really......hopefully the former.

[Rob_B]

Speed of input and response, ease of menu access (ie not drilling down more than a few screens to do something), app catalog, look of the os (ie not winmo uglyness!)

for the app store alone I prefer the iPhone over winmo, although it's locked down I never found any apps or games to match the app store. I've had better specced phones but as a complete package and the fact I don't use it for work/heavy email it fits my needs pretty well :-)

[Dogers]

Speed of input and response, ease of menu access (ie not drilling down more than a few screens to do something), app catalog, look of the os (ie not winmo uglyness!)

That's pretty much the (main) exact reason that our company has just moved away from WinMob to iPhones - the winmob phones were universally hated by users for crashing, being ugly, slow and just generally too damn fiddly to use! We were using the HTC Touch, but since changing to Apples "little slab of awesomeness" we've had so few questions/problems! Mail/cal/contact sync'ing just works without prompts (save for when passwords expire..) and using the phone itself is just overall easier, apparently.

Personally, I'm after the new Samsung Galaxy/i7500.. Although there's rumours that there may be an android port coming out for my little Meizu! If that happens, well,

[Al19]

I would say iphone, but only cos it looks so damn nifty

[fiish]

Which mobile OS? I'd just pick the one which happens to work best at the point in time I choose to buy the phone. Admittedly, all the above choices have feature-enchancing updates (iPhone has the best track record in this respect).

I'm using a Symbian phone right now, incidentally....

[jim]

How easy is it to actually go out and test these things, if you want to get a feel for the different operating systems?

Problem is, I've got no intention of taking out a contract in-store, as I'm certain that I'd just get fleeced, and all I've ever seen in shops are pathetic dummy units which are sod all use to anybody.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

How easy is it to actually go out and test these things, if you want to get a feel for the different operating systems?

Problem is, I've got no intention of taking out a contract in-store, as I'm certain that I'd just get fleeced, and all I've ever seen in shops are pathetic dummy units which are sod all use to anybody.

[directhex]

How easy is it to actually go out and test these things, if you want to get a feel for the different operating systems?

Problem is, I've got no intention of taking out a contract in-store, as I'm certain that I'd just get fleeced, and all I've ever seen in shops are pathetic dummy units which are sod all use to anybody.

Very easy. Go in, point to a specific model, and ask to try it out - your "get out of store free" card is to say "do you have anything I can take away, like a brochure?" when you're done trying out some models.

Oh, and don't bother with places like Carphone Warehouse. They usually only have non-smartphones in the storeroom - network-specific shops like the Orange shop or T-Mobile shop should be better equipped to help you.

[jim]

Eh? *Hunts for stupid mistake, concludes it is probably self*

Very easy. Go in, point to a specific model, and ask to try it out - your "get out of store free" card is to say "do you have anything I can take away, like a brochure?" when you're done trying out some models.

Oh, and don't bother with places like Carphone Warehouse. They usually only have non-smartphones in the storeroom - network-specific shops like the Orange shop or T-Mobile shop should be better equipped to help you.

Ah fair enough... I've never actually been into a phone shop, always got them over the net, so I wasn't aware that they had a set of working models behind the scenes. Kinda assumed that the heap of rubbish attached to the walls with elastic was the best you'd get.

To be honest until the whole "Phone OS" nonsense became such a big deal it wasn't an issue - after you'd considered specs, the GUIs never really differed sufficiently to worry about it, so I never needed to see one in the flesh before I bought. That and the fact that I trusted Sony Ericsson implicitly to come up with something easy to use.

Probably seems obvious, but if you've never done it/seen it it's not always the case, so cheers for the advice. I'll probably give O2 a go, seeing as Orange seem to be more adept at dropping smartphones from their line-up than gaining them.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

Eh? *Hunts for stupid mistake, concludes it is probably self*
.

LOL na no mistake. i fully agreed about the lack of opportunities to test devices in the shops

[j.o.s.h.1408]

Very easy. Go in, point to a specific model, and ask to try it out - your "get out of store free" card is to say "do you have anything I can take away, like a brochure?" when you're done trying out some models.

Oh, and don't bother with places like Carphone Warehouse. They usually only have non-smartphones in the storeroom - network-specific shops like the Orange shop or T-Mobile shop should be better equipped to help you.

what store is that? i went into a o2 store to ask to try some devices but because most if not all o2 devices are inside a box with a special security sealed tag that can only be broken once bought, doesn't allow people to just try the device

[shaffaaf27]

You should be considering the Palm Pre if they can improve the battery life.

Deffinately this! the battery life is beign improved on, but it is kind of bad.

but the homebrew community for this (precentral.net) is fantastic! seriously, as is the homebrew app store. jsut take a look on the forums and see how it is progressing.

in oct, (roumered month for o2 release) itll be mine

[zoomee]

<Background - Normal phones (i.e. motorola's) up until I got my Touch HD for personal use. Now running the iphone 3GS. Work phones are all HTC based winmo devices.

ok - iphone is what I would call an overglorified phone - it works, simple interface but bored of it already as its not very customisable.

winmo devices are awesomely customisable but a jack of all trades makes it fail at the easy stuff. and what pee'd me off for personal use is the lack of 3D acceleration thanks to HTC not providing us with hardware drivers for the gfx.

Entirely down to you - I wouldnt want anything other than a winmo device for business use (Developer apps, MS communicator, exchange, security etc).

Iphone is awesome for personal use but 'geeks' like me will get bored quickly.

Battery life is pants on both winmo and iphone - no doubt about that - I guess its down to what you will use it for most....

Now android I aint used so reserve judgement

hope this helps mate.

[DeludedGuy]

Battery life is pants on both winmo and iphone - no doubt about that - I guess its down to what you will use it for most....

Now android I aint used so reserve judgement

hope this helps mate.

How on earth is battery life pants on WinMo? Have you ever used the Xperia X1? It has arguably the best battery life of any phone ever made.

My old XDA Orbit II goes 3 days without charging with heavy use. Let’s stop the misinformation.

The new Iphone has pretty good battery life too, a big improvment over the last one.