Phones that you can go on the internet with (1 Viewer)

[Denny Oubidoux]

my phone is shit and i ought to get a new one so was wondering about blackberries and other internetty phones. do they work with any wireless network or do you have to use some outrageously priced network provider service to get online? are they any good or does the small screen make them too useless? if i bought a new phone in singapore or kuala lumpur or somewhere would it be most likely a shitty fake that would stop working after a week and would it work in ireland? i tried a few today with my o2 sim card but they didnt seem to work.

tanks

 

[Froog]

think you can get packages where you pay a set fee every month for unlimited access, like 20 a month or something?

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

can you get ones where you can just use whatever wireless is available?

 

[wageslave]

I have the N95 from nokia and think its great. Biggest downside would have been the lack of something like the iphones App Store. They're orted that out now and if i was buying a new phone i'd get the N97 - great camera, internet ready, etc etc

 

[ratmonkey]

can you get ones where you can just use whatever wireless is available?

You can. Not that I know which ones actually do, but I do know some do.

 

[Lefty Frizzell]

Most of the latest crop of smartphones do the same things but its how well they do them that sets them apart.

 

[Theseus Mock]

The iPhone wins hands down in mobile phone website browsing. The zoom/swiping functionality in safari makes it effortlessly to scan full webpages. The dataplan o2 gives with iphones is 1GB, it's not a huge amount but you'd want to be watching a helluva lot of youtube videos to go over the cap in a month. the iphone app store makes the iphone so much more awesome - you hardly have to look for a free app that doesn't mimic some webservice (twitter, flickr, facebook, etc)

 

[Mormon Nailer]

The iPhone wins hands down in mobile phone website browsing. The zoom/swiping functionality in safari makes it effortlessly to scan full webpages. The dataplan o2 gives with iphones is 1GB, it's not a huge amount but you'd want to be watching a helluva lot of youtube videos to go over the cap in a month. the iphone app store makes the iphone so much more awesome - you hardly have to look for a free app that doesn't mimic some webservice (twitter, flickr, facebook, etc)

If you get the Blackberry Internet Service on O2 - it's 20 a month AFAIK - you have unlimited browsing - (and you don't actually have to have a blackberry)

I don't know how official that it but it worked for me.

 

[Mormon Nailer]

This is my current baby. I'm very happy with it. Has wi-fi so I can use that for interweb and skype when at home or at work. The browser is good. - not as good as for iPhone though.

Has GPS too

I cant imagine not having GPS on my phone now that I've had it for a while.

 

[Lefty Frizzell]

Stephen Fry isn't impressed with the Nokia n97. I see he's also lost a ton of weight.

 

[Stan Bowles]

If you get the Blackberry Internet Service on O2 - it's 20 a month AFAIK - you have unlimited browsing - (and you don't actually have to have a blackberry)

I don't know how official that it but it worked for me.

I don't think it's unlimited, I think there is a 1GB cap. If you're just browsing you won't go anywhere near that a month though.

It also costs an absolute fortune is you use it abrod too. Bloke at work didn't turn his data services off when he went on holiday to the Sates and came back with a 500 euro bill.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

i just went for a regular phone, a nokia xpress music one. it has opera mini browser which ive been using since i got the phone yesterday and my credit hasnt gone down a cent. how does that work? im afraid to ask in the shop in case they turn it off or block it or something

 

[Mormon Nailer]

I cracked the screen on my baby last week. I'm completely lost without it being around to remember everything for me.

2 questions:

Anyone know what's up with O2 and upgrades. I was eligible for a diamond upgrade last week and nothing now?

Anyone know whether it's feasible to have the screen glass repaired and who would do such a thing?

 

[ann post]

i used to phone them and give out shit for about 20 minutes about how shit my service was, they'd usally give me an upgrade to make me go away.

 

[flashback]

So work gave me a BlackBerry. I got the normal, cheapest plan from Verizon (who I hate due to them being cunts) and its unlimited access. I have tested this when I was travelling somewhere I had Internet radio streaming on for a few days one month so it is genuinely uncapped.

Basically I see three options, but I know fuck all about this.
BBerry, iPhone and the Nokia.
I'd say, despite what Maddox says, the Nokia n95 is the least of the bunch. Its not great at anything I think. Although, the old man has it and I havent used it a huge amount. I think I get it, and I think it gets its ass kicked by the iPhone and the BBerry.

The iPhone has the best browsing. No questions. It has the best GPS, and it has plenty of cool little gizmos, which can be great. Its made by Apple, so it slightly annoys me but I can get over that.
The iPhone phone seems like an afterthought. Its not actually a great phone. The touch screen is really annoying cause it touches your cheekbone or something and hangs up, and basically the phone is meh.
The battery life on the iPhone is shit. Absolutely shit. Same for the Nokia.
For emailing, the Nokia is shit. And the iPhone is not very good in my opinion. I dont really like this touching screen thing, I much prefer the buttons of the blackberry. I can batter away on my blackberry after about two days, and leave the iPhoners for dead on their touch thing. On the berry you know where the keys are cause you can feel them there.
The battery life of the Berry is amazing. I will use mine fairly frequently, read the paper, emailing and so on, and I can get a week out of a single charge. No bother. It hates electricty.
And the plan? Em. The plan is the nail in the iPhones coffin for me. Its extortionate. Absurdly expensive. The BBerry plan is completely reasonable, $30 a month.

So there you go.
I would say if your phone is your computer, and your browser, and you are loaded, then get the iPhone. If you are not loaded, or if you want the phone for its email and phone mainly get the berry, and put up with its browser (which is fine, its just not as nice as Apple's), you get a better phone, you get a much better emailing thing.

The genius thing about the bberry is way it organises stuff for you, it has this list thing that is a stack of every call in, call out, email in out / text / meeting / appointment, its all just there meshed together. I'm not really explaining it right though, everything that happens is there, in order, in a lovely stack. The iPhone just does not have this. Its a really good feature.
Also the bberry has these handy shortcut keys on the side there which are programmable and very useful.
In almost all respects the bberry is handier for me. The screen is smaller, and the browser is not as great, but I dont mind. I'll take all that in a second if it means never running out of battery alone.

 

[Lefty Frizzell]

Its made by Apple, so it slightly annoys me but I can get over that.

Ah you shouldn't have let that slip out mr impartial reviewer.

I find the actual phone on the iphone is fine but you're right about the battery. Its really shit. I'm happy with the touchscreen but it does take time to get used to.

The internet browser, apps and ipod/video are so good on the iphone that I really not tempted by anything else out at the moment.