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What makes it worthwhile?

How do you use your smartphone?

I think my current phone contract is up, but I don't mind my monthly bill. If my monthly
bill were to increase, I'd be sad that I couldn't buy more minis.

Well, its useful for some and not others. They are really only as worthwhile as you are using them to their fullest. For example, say I have an iPhone and I really only use it for listening to music and calling my girlfriend, it's not really worth the it because I'm not using all of its functionality. If, however, I use it for web browsing, editing spreadsheets on the fly, and organizing my ever growing list of contacts (while playing music and even still calling my girlfriend), I have made far better use of its functionality and can begin to justify the extraordinary cost of a smartphone.

I'll give an example.

I went on a business trip to Liverpool recently and we were invited to a pub which I had not visited before so I didn't know where it was.

My colleague had his iPhone. He was able to look up the location of the pub, get a review, and a map, within a minute or two.

I just grabbed a complimentary map off the hotel reception, looked up the road and marked the location of the pub with a pen, which took about the same amount of time.

He got more information than me, (ironically, as he is Muslim it was of no use to him) but he has to pay a much larger bill and carry around a phone about four times the size and weight of mine.

I know several people with iPhones. I think they are worth if if you make use of the functions and don't want to bother with old-fashioned ideas like looking up the A to Z when you are planning to go somewhere.

That said, it's as much expense and weight that stops me from having one as anything. I am pretty mean with my mobile and only spend £50 or so a year on pay as you go. The handset only cost £30 and doesn't need insurance.

If you have to ask then its probably not worth it. Personally I'm waiting a few more generations so that they can hopefully reach a more affordable price (did the same thing with HDTV's) since I'm not in a position to really make most of the features (so its more of a want than a need thing) - you'll also definitely want a good internet plan if you have something like an iPhone.

Army Builder and other table top related stuff I think are also being made into Apps and currently you can already put codices and rulebooks on there to satisfy your wargaming craves where you may be.

I have a desktop, a laptop, and a blackberry. The desktop is my primary computer, while the laptop is something I use when I expect to be in one place for a significant period of time (library, meeting, professional conference, et al). The blackberry is what I use in every other mobile situation as I like to avoid carrying large bags with valuable contents when moving around the city a lot. The value to me is in the ability to take notes on the fly, quickly update drafts should I get a sudden burst of inspiration (I've written multi-page essays almost exclusively through the blackberry email function), keep my client constantly at hand, schedule efficiently, the list goes on for some time.

However, this was back when I was a trainer who roved the city all day in order to meet clients at their gym of choice. Now that I'm working desk the blackberry has lost a lot of functionality for me.

If you spend a lot of time running around, but need access to some of the basic functionality of a computer, then I think the smart phone makes sense. As KK said, the convenience functions aren't all that superior to a map, and many can be found (GPS and stuff like that) on cheaper plans/phones.

I certainly don't have a use for them. I used to have a PDA and after the novelty wore off, I found that all the little programs and tools aren't nearly as indispensable as they're made out to be. The only thing I want in my phone is an mp3 player so I don't have to lug around an extra gadget.

My industry requires massive flexibility and fast-reation times. The GPS nav function on my phone has saved my ASS on a number of occassions. Beyond that, I use it to track email and facebook. The email is pretty handy. The facebook not so much, just a toy. I listen to ebooks and musice through my wireless headphones. The battery life is pretty good considering what all it does. I use it to update documents, and the PDA function is amazing.

Honestly, if you don't travel about the city or country much, and can use it to assist there, then I am not sure it's for you. My data package is 30 + 10 for the GPS nav/ oper month. That's a lot of money for doing any one or two of the tasks I have outlined here; the only way I can justify it is by looking at all of them.

I bought an iPhone two months ago and TBH I don't know where I'd be without it. I use every single function on it and it just kicks ass!!!

I fully recommend the Jesus phone.

Thanks. You're probably right. I'd never get the full use out of any of those things.

I have an ipod touch, which is everything short of an iphone. From my experience, they are extremely useful. I would love to be able to use its features independent of a wifi network.

malfred wrote:Thanks. You're probably right. I'd never get the full use out of any of those things.

Have a look at something like the Samsung Alias. You still have access to some of the cooler gizmos (rudimentary web browsing, gps) but at a much lower price than something with a full data plan. Before I got my B-Berry I had an Alias.

The only reason my wife keeps her Blackberry is for the mobile banking. She realized she doesn't really use the other non-phone features at all.

ShumaGorath wrote:I have an ipod touch, which is everything short of an iphone. From my experience, they are extremely useful. I would love to be able to use its features independent of a wifi network.

My brother mentioned the mifi, but that's also a separate monthly charge.


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dogma wrote:

malfred wrote:Thanks. You're probably right. I'd never get the full use out of any of those things.

Have a look at something like the Samsung Alias. You still have access to some of the cooler gizmos (rudimentary web browsing, gps) but at a much lower price than something with a full data plan. Before I got my B-Berry I had an Alias.

Thanks, I'll look into this.

My brother mentioned the mifi, but that's also a separate monthly charge.

Not really, most actual smartphones (rather than simply mediaphones, don't mix the two) require dataplans as part of their coverage. There is no way to actually avoid such costs with smart phones. It's inherent to the product and services that they render. I used to sell smartphones and there was no way for me to sell a phone+contract without the minimum level of network service required. The networks don't want those phones being used on their networks unless they are being payed for dataplans. You could probably get an unlocked one, but thats going to cost in the realm of 600$.

If all you want to do is surf the web and maybe use GPS any mediaphone should have the capability, but those typically won't have the same multimedia networking ability (IM, email, conference messaging, etc) and they typically won't have any sort of app catalogue available to them.

I think the biggest thing for the prospective Smart Phone buyer is - Will you use all of the Apps or functions?

I use all of mine, thus making it worth the £45 a month rental.

If you are not going to use all or even a high percentage of the functions then I don't think a smart phone is for you.

If I needed one, I would have one. The ease of use for such a tool is pretty self-evident, as others have said though, you need to make use of it for it to make any sense as an investment.

I have my laptop, and a goddam tank of a phone that just keeps kicking, which is all I care about. On several occasions, my little tank has been used by people that had fancy but broken phones. With the iPhone, I would not worry too much about it, but I have most definitely heard stories about pretty much any fancy phone having problems.

It would be nice to see them work on the cases for some of these cheaper phones, even though the design mine has had for several generations has hardly changed at all. Hits the ground, falls apart, gets put back together, and I can go ahead and make my call.

My recent phone history:
Dec 2005 - Sep 2007: Motorola RAZR on contract
Sep 2007 - April 2008: 1st-gen iPhone. Unlocked it myself, continued using my RAZR's AT&T contract
lost iPhone in bout of drunken stupidity
April 2008- Sep? 2008: cheapo T-Mobile prepaid phone
Sep 2008-Mar 2009: unlocked old RAZR and loaded custom software, using my T-Mobile prepaid account
Mar 2009-present: T-Mobile G1 (bought cheap on Ebay, again unlocked it myself, and continue to use my prepaid account)


The point is, I've run the gamut of high and low-end phones. I love my G1 and the Android platform and will never go back to anything else (including an iPhone) if I can avoid it.

Here are some of the more eclectic uses I've found:

-Can quickly and easily jot down notes without needing pen/paper. 10x easier with the QWERTY keyboard than using a touchscreen-only smartphone, or a normal phone's numpad. The iPhone's notepad app was better but the lack of a keyboard was a huge handicap.

-Can take and view decent-resolution pictures, due to combination of okay camera + big screen. Snap a picture of a price listing in a store so you remember the model #/price in case you come back later/shop elsewhere. My prepaid didn't have a camera *at all* and the RAZR took terrible pictures. The iPhone took mediocre pictures but had no video capability.

-"Real" Internet browsers are a Godsend. The other day I needed a part for my car and they asked for the VIN to confirm they were ordering the right thing. I didn't write it down before-hand, and I was in a different vehicle so I couldn't go outside and check. Fortunately the dealership had free Wifi, so I went to the lobby, hopped on their Wifi, went out to my insurance company's website, looked at my auto policy and pulled the VIN #. No way I could have done that with the RAZR or prepaid.


The Cons:
-Not having a data plan is a serious handicap. Internet and mapping functions are nerfed unless I'm near Wifi. As soon as I get an income this is a top priority. Oddly enough my iPhone seemed to retain full functionality on my RAZR contract though.

-Sucks for playing music due to limited storage. I like to have my entire ~90GB collection in my car so my iPod is still mandatory.


Overall though, I'd say the benefit of a smartphone is the ability to take advantage of situations and SNAFUs without any prior preparation due to the inherent flexibility of the hardware + software platform. You can get a G1 on Ebay for ~$250 pretty easily. Unlock it, slap in a SIM card, an you're good 2 go.

Currently using G1 (android).
5 different flavors of text, full data plan, streaming music, GPS, and silly numbers of tools. Still no *good* macro zoom add on to the onboard camera though.
and for me - SSH client. I can talk to routers from pretty much anywhere so I head into work less after hours.

Screen is *huge* for the cost of the hardware.

I use the hell out of it, but i'm a bit of a power user.

ShumaGorath wrote:

My brother mentioned the mifi, but that's also a separate monthly charge.

Not really, most actual smartphones (rather than simply mediaphones, don't mix the two) require dataplans as part of their coverage. m.

I was referring to mifi + ipod touch.

Looking at getting one, be it an Iphone or not. Driving a Taxi for a living leads to periods of inactivity, and I would quite like to web browse in the cab. Plus, having access to Google Maps etc would be a blessing when my work SatNav decides it's time for another attempt on my life.

Add in being able to call up rules and regulations should I ever have the misfortune to be clamped again would be incredibly handy. And seeing as I'd get it on contract, all is good.

So yeah, horses for courses. Too expensive for posing, but well priced when needed.

You know Malf, I totally forgot to mention how much I use the scheduling features on my phone through Outlook. I schedule stuff WAYYYY in advance, reminders, the bit. It's a hell of a great tool in that regard. Outlook Calendar is very easy and intuitive to use.

I also load pornos onto my phone for when I dont want to be bothered firing up the laptop when I am shipboard.

grizgrin wrote:You know Malf, I totally forgot to mention how much I use the scheduling features on my phone through Outlook. I schedule stuff WAYYYY in advance, reminders, the bit. It's a hell of a great tool in that regard. Outlook Calendar is very easy and intuitive to use.

I also load pornos onto my phone for when I dont want to be bothered firing up the laptop when I am shipboard.

Necro-posting, yeah, but I had a similar re-post and I just wanted to ask this question:

How many of you with phones are on dakka with your monstrosities?

I have a Droid now, and I use it occasionally to check News and Rumors, but posting anything worthwhile is difficult.

Is it because of the interface or the connection?

Interface. Also, I tend towards verbosity in my posting, so my understanding of 'worthwhile' may not align with yours. Its not a problem to post short statements.

dogma wrote:Interface. Also, I tend towards verbosity in my posting, so my understanding of 'worthwhile' may not align with yours. Its not a problem to post short statements.

Cool.

when apple did their latest iphones I was all psyched and wanted one. then I looked into it and found out I'd be paying $400 for a gadget that will suck in 2 years like they all do, on top of almost $100 a month because unlimited mobile internet access is required. I was upgrading from a motorola razor and what I hated the most was texting with the number pad even though I only send like 5 texts a month it's enough to annoy the crap outta me. So, instead of an iPhone I got a samsung wannabe called the impression or inspiration or something dumb that starts with an I. The texting keyboard is nice, but it's otherwise a pile of crap. I dropped it twice. The first time the battery fell out, the second time the keyboard and the screen came detached but I was able to snap it back together and it still works. I had to to spend an extra $30 to buy special earphones so I could use it as a mp3 player which it does pretty well, and then I bought my new PC and I can't connect my phone to it because Samsung hasn't and won't be making 64 bit drivers for it. Oh and I also had to spend like $60 buying a flash memory card thingy for it to hold all of my music, it's a 16 gb card, which is moot now because I can't connect to my pc to add any new music.

So as soon as this contract is up (in 1.5 years :( ) I'm going back to having just a regular cellphone. no bells & whistles, just a phone. probably just whatever free phone I can get at the time. And I'll just buy a separate iPod that will have more space than an iphone and cost less. I'm even tempted sometimes to just switch back to my old razor till then. I know I'll never buy a samsung phone again unless it's basic...

personally imo i wouldn't spend the extra cash on a "smart" phone unless you're the kind of person that really needs to have the internet with you everywhere you go and you like to send 1000 texts a month.

Add me, Necros. We can send texts.

Phone update. My Samsung is a thing of the past. It still works, but my gf gave me a BB Tour. Very nice. Doesnt have wifi, but browses platy fast over broadband. Cruise dakka on it, no issues. I havey I was leery about going away from a Windows base just because of having compatability issues, but I so far have been stupidly impressed with how well thought-out some of the apps and interfacing for the BB are. It's just fething nice. best part is I am now a texting maven (also upgraded to the unlimited plan) again. The touchscreen keyboard on my samsung omnia was a PITA. Having actual keys is SO much better for it. Have tried the Droid, and while the keyboard I finally got used to after a couple of goes, the on-screen keyboard sucks almost as bad as my omnia's did. Apparently I have fingers that are too friggin wide for the keys; which is ironic becay hands are not ALL that big. For a 6'3" guy.
The web browsing on the BB Tour is excellent, the layout and usage is great; I am sticking with the BB's unless they go strictly onscreen kboard. Not sure what my next phone will be, but have a while before I will find out. And the Tour will do me for now. Ridiculous number of apps to cruise. GPS maps powered by goodccuracy on them is not great as Verizon doesnt enable the better service for their devices except the droids. Slacker radio is fuckin awesome; NEVER enjoyed a radio station so much;not even pandora. Trackball works very well (althought there are some known issues with it on the Tour, mine works quite well.), future BB's going ot optical mouse. Use a case/sideclip by bodyglove that is the dogs danglies. The ting is responsive. You hit a button to switch functions and it goes; it doenst think about it. Flashing LED to alert for SMS, IM, pushed email, missed call; whatever. Camera is solid 3.2 Mpix, but is a step down from the 5.0 Mpix I had on the omnia. Takes up to a 16 Gb micro SD card. I just have a 2 Gb in right now that I have had forever. Having some issues with video formats; not all my pornos that I moved over from the omnia will play.

You get a new phone yet derflam, or still finking?


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3 months? gak. anyone interested PM me when they lock this thread. Although, I must admit; there is a TON of new, relevant info in my post. That should stand for something, unless dakka has become a place of simply management, not leadership since I was a regular.


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dakka runs quite well on the tour, too.