Smart phone questions?

Rico · October 12, 2009, 02:18:05 PM

Found this little chart. Things vary a bit depending on the model, but it's a decent baseline to start with. Those monthly costs are nuts - for all of them! Maybe I'll just get a tin can and some long string.

Bromptonboy · October 12, 2009, 02:22:07 PM

Ugggh - I just got a crack on my iPhone screen. Phone and display working, but this ugly crack runs diagonally across from right top to bottom left. :(

I am toying with the idea of paying around $120 US for one of those self repair kits (which void the warranty).

Rico · October 12, 2009, 02:23:46 PM

A crack? Ugh!

Found this review of many of them here too:

http://www.consumersearch.com/best-smartphones

Feathers · October 12, 2009, 02:29:15 PM

Wow! The monthly costs look huge!

I gave in for the iPhone but until then I was a devout 'Pay as you go' customer. I still grit my teeth every month when paying the fees. At the end of my plan I'll probably drop back to PAYG...but I will retain the data plan. I rely on it too much ;)

X · October 12, 2009, 03:00:25 PM

Quote from: Rico on October 12, 2009, 02:18:05 PM
Found this little chart. Things vary a bit depending on the model, but it's a decent baseline to start with. Those monthly costs are nuts - for all of them! Maybe I'll just get a tin can and some long string.

The 99 plan for Sprint everything is probably the best you're going to find in the market. It's the best value for the money in many cases.

jedijeff · October 12, 2009, 03:27:08 PM

I just recently got a Palm Pre for both myself and one for my Wife. I am quite liking it. I did some searching around and they have some some more apps then what is listed in their app catalog that they call them Homebrew. Also they have custom themes, so can change the look of your phone, similar to a Windows Theme. A friend of mine has a HTC, and really likes that as well, it has a slide out keyboard, and plenty of apps.

Rico · October 12, 2009, 03:43:26 PM

Another round up of phone comparison reviews:

http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/palm-pre-sprint/4540-6452_7-33490473-4.html

sheldor · October 12, 2009, 04:03:31 PM

Quote from: Rico on October 12, 2009, 02:18:05 PM
Found this little chart. Things vary a bit depending on the model, but it's a decent baseline to start with. Those monthly costs are nuts - for all of them! Maybe I'll just get a tin can and some long string.

How about we get the fish in the net first before planning the dinner? :)

Rico · October 17, 2009, 09:00:10 AM

I think I'm not going the smart phone route for now. $100 a month (give or take) is too much and just not needed for me currently. I'm almost always near a computer anyway. I can add a nice phone to our Sprint plan for only $10 a month. Voice and text. Don't really need anything more - for now.

alanp · October 17, 2009, 10:32:46 AM

I have an iPhone and I wouldn't pay the extra 20 for messaging. And I just have the 40 dollar voice plan which is more than enough minutes for me. I still have the original iphone and only pay 20 for edge internet + 200 messages. After I've gone through the 200, I use my email app to email people text messages. With the 3G, the data is 30 with no messaging. So whenever I upgrade I'll just use the sms gateway workaround for all my texts.

Here's the formatting on how to do that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_carriers_providing_SMS_transit

Feathers · October 17, 2009, 12:12:16 PM

Somehing tells me that US mobile rates are somewhat higher than those in Europe.

I was staggered when I found out that you guys have to pay to receive text messages with some (all?) networks. There'd be a revolution if they tried that over here!

alanp · October 17, 2009, 01:52:12 PM

Americans have a problem of being willing to pay way to much for things. The problem is if we like something enough, we will be willing to pay whatever it costs to get it. If we would just say we are only willing to pay 5-10 dollars for messaging at most, that's what it would cost.

I hate the double dipping of charging for data and messaging separately. Messages are data. They make a ton of profit selling the same thing twice.

Rico · October 17, 2009, 01:58:43 PM

Well, picked up a Samsung Exclaim phone today. Seems like a really nice phone and for only $10 more a month. Nice screen, dual-slides, full keyboard, 2.0 camera w/video etc. I'm happy with it. Got the silver/white version. A few pics below (the blue version is just to show the slide functions).

Bromptonboy · October 18, 2009, 11:00:22 AM

Looks pretty good! I like the dual keyboard layout

Feathers · October 18, 2009, 12:19:55 PM

Is that a bespoke OS?