What Kind Of Mobile Device Do You Use?

Neil,
Depending on the carrier, i've had good luck with my old ATT 8925 (hermes TYTNII) and am currently using the blackberry 8330 worldphone for international travel. I also have a dell e6500 outfitted with an at&t sim card for onboard mobile phone coverage for connecting wirelessly over the net.

Samsung Instinct (Love the Instinct vs iPhone 3G videos)

iPhone works great for me.

I'd be looking at the Palm Pre coming out in about a week too

I use a bb bold. Not big on browsing online with a tiny screen, iphone is too small too. Guess my eyes are getting old.

But for email, twitter, and messenging, nice. Facebook and myspace on there too. I'd suggest maybe one with a good camera/video capture too, so you can do on the spot pics and post them on your site instantly.

iPhone hands down.

Is there any benefit to using the iPhone over the Blackberry in this case. Is it easier to navigate the web and such? How about traveling abroad, any issues there?

I have the Samsung Glyde and would recommend staying far away from that one.

I've heard the iPhone and Blackberry Bold or Blackberry Curve are great for what you're looking for.

Iphone 3G and Blackberry Storm have been really good for me.

Bryan

I use a Blackberry Storm.

iPhone, but consider a netbook. They're better value . . . . .

I use a good old samsung d600, I know its old but it does its job well!

A laptop. Nothing beats it.

Hook to an internet connection wherever you are staying and get a lot more done faster. Access to skype makes it a great communication device as well.

Connect to your home office with a remote desktop service and you have even more productivity.

I agree with Dan Grossman the Palm Pre looks very exciting

i have a palm treo - its a bit outdated, but its perfect for me.i've programmed it to download all my mails in gmail, its got an sd card slot, that you can put as much as 2gig. i've also put in excell for palm, and it accepts any sim card from all over the world. and its got a big screen.

For browsing and general ease of use, nothing beats the iPhone.

Except the iPhone doesn't record video and, importantly, turn-by-turn navigation.

Other smartphones double as a GPS (save $250 every 2 years, since a lot of GPS's have non-replaceable batteries that don't last, on purpose). I stick mine on the dash and since its database is always up-to-date care of Live.com Local Search, it never brings me to a store that doesn't exist anymore like my Garmin used to.

If I were to apply an IQ score to the browser of an iphone I would have to rate it about an 80.

Not quite low enough to qualify as mental retardation but not high enough to qualify for much more than reading text and static image based content.

Since I own a web development company and deal a lot in multimedia... the iphone's browser is glaringly... stupid.

For all it's portable media glory having a browser that does not support flash content is like giving the web side of the device a lobotomy.

Apple iPhone. Its the best thing ever.. Period

I like the iPhone. Its too cool. But now it has gotten cooler. Now I can have my own iPhone apps for any purpose. There is a site that allows me to select or custom my own apps. They will create what ever I want. The site is called objectdevcorp.

I have a Blackberry Curve 8900 (the newest one from T-Mobile). I advise getting a phone with a keyboard if you do a lot of typing. Touchscreen keypads just don't work all that well for me...

The one exception is the Blackberry Storm. Their keypad is much easier to use than the iPhone, in my opinion.

I think I am leaning toward the Blackberry Bold as it has all the features of the Curve but with 3G so you can use it abroad. I will give the iPhone a closer look but have heard a lot of negatives about the touchscreen and battery life.

Neil,

I used to have a Blackberry Bold. I love Blackberries but when it comes to using the internet, it's the iPhone, hands down.

I can actually control my pc from the my phone using a $30 plugin from logmein. Logmein service is free for individual users that don't need to control everything on their computers. Check it out...it's incredible. I've been using the service for 4 months and I can't say enough good things about it.

I need an affiliate link in here somewhere

The iPhone has a browser that works like a desktop browser, and it works well. I'm not an Apple cheerleader, I just want what works! The Blackberry Browser is clunky...period. You can get the Opera browser, but even that doesn't compare to ease of use of the iphone.

Hope that helps.

Cheers!

Neil,

Noticed a couple people refer to having a physical keyboard. Here's my take on it...as I mentioned in my other post, I had a Bold. RIM actually sent our company two Bolds for evaluation, so I've used one for 6 months.

The physical keyboard is great but, you will get used to the keyboard on the iPhone. It requires a touch to get the typing done correctly but you get used to it quickly and you'll be able to type fast. Apple will soon be releasing 3.0 software for the iPhone that allows landscape typing, which will make typing even faster and easier.

The absolute critical tool you need for IM is a good browser, there is no comparison...the iPhone is what you want.

I've used both the Bold and the iPhone for long time, I know them well.

Cheers!

Ok...one last item.

Flash would be nice to have in the iPhone, however, the lack of flash is not enough to knock the iPhone out of the top spot.

Here's why...for IM...the only time you need flash is view a video made in flash. Now on the face of it it sounds like that would be a deal breaker. It's not for me because the videos I sometimes can't see are promotional videos for products that I'm researching, and they are usually accompanied by text documentation.

I don't know if there's some sort of pissing contest between apple and Adobe but I would be surprised if flash isn't supported soon on the iPhone, perhaps with the release of the 3.0 software at the beginning of July.

Your question really struck a nerve with me because, as you can probably tell, I went through this whole process before I changed to the iPhone. I was reluctant at first but after 4 months with the iPhone....absolutely no regrets.

Cheers!

Hey thanks gotteeth, you may make me reconsider my position. The iPhone is a lot sexier and I have heard that while the touchscreen can be a pain in the neck at first, it does get much easier once you get the hang of it.

My two main needs will be email and browsing. I have heard Blackberry is the king of email but it sounds like the iPhone is much easier for browsing the internet.

No doubt about it Neil, the Blackberry does email right.

The most aggravating thing about email on the iPhone for me is that I can't easily delete emails in a batch. In the Blackberry you tell it to delete "previous", and it will delete everything. The iPhone can delete emails in bulk , but not until you've clicked edit, then touched every email you want to delete. It's a pain! I've gotten used to it and it does not bother me anymore.

I think most of the negatives with the iPhone will be resolved with the release of the 3.0 software. Also, I'm pretty sure Apple will be releasing a new iPhone in July. They want to catch all those early adopters that purchased the first iPhone and are coming of the 2 year contracts that came with the purchase. Not to mention they don't want sales going to the Palm Pre. Speaking of the Palm, I would give that phone a little while to percolate. Palm has a habit of releasing half-baked phones. I had a Palm Treo, I wanted to love that phone so bad but it "soft -reset" itself at lest 4-5 times a week, dropped calls, locked up, you name it.

So...if you can wait until July, see if the new iPhone works for you, and there should be some solid reviews of the Pre by then too. If you need something now though, I stand by my iPhone recommendation, I really think it would work great for you. Especially if you use the logmein plugin, and the iPhone is the only phone I know of that will allow you to control your pc, and when I say control...I mean CONTROL! It's awesome.

One last thing, I have a seven year old son, the games and aps for the iPhone are an absolute blast. It's like having a little gaming console.

Cheers!

I recently got the Samsung Omnia and am still going through the learning curve, but so far no complaints. The 5mp camera is nice, and the interesting thing is, this is the first camera I've bought that also has a phone built in!

What I mean is, this is the first phone I've had where the camera reacted somewhat like a regular digital camera. Responsive, less hesitation after pushing the button to take the picture than I have had even from some plain ole digital cameras. (Nothing like taking the shot only to learn that the moment passed about two seconds before the camera actually kicked in and you have a delayed shot that you do not want and have missed the great shot you were looking for!) Of course, nothing's like my Canon XTi, but this is close enough that some days when I know I will want to take pictures I do NOT take my Canon with me if I think it's going to be too much of a hassle, as the Samsung Omnia is a LOT smaller and easier to handle, and the pictures are way more than adequate at 5mp.

Still getting used to some of the PDA functions. But I have read in some places on the internet that it is possible to sync this phone with Lotus Organizer version 6.1, although I haven't tried it yet...older versions don't work so well according to the reviews. Plan to try it soon, as I do have that software. If you are in the US and end up getting the Omnia and connecting to Verizon, be aware the Verizon has a reputation for crippling their phones and that some of the features mentioned on some of the review sites about the Omnia (and many other Samsung phones) are talking about the international version of the phone. It was a bit confusing when I was doing my research before I decided to purchase. The bottom line on the disabling of some features is, they do not allow wireless data transfer over their phones via bluetooth even though the manufacturer built the capability into the phone at the factory. (They are trying to get you to buy the music you may transfer from them...particularly aggravating when they don't offer what it is I am looking for or I am looking to take telecalls with me to listen to on the go! So far I have been taking my microSD card from phone to computer and back to transfer the mp3s and they play well.)

Also, if you're not in the US and can get it, I've been told that the Omnia HD is either out or due out soon. Also referred to as the Omnia 2, it's rumored to have 8mp camera and YouTube video capability so it sounds like it's definitely worth taking a look at if it's available in your area. My local Verizon store manager has heard about it from the Samsung rep but neither one of them have even an estimated availability date for the US.

Oops! Just realized the OP is in LA, CA!

I have noticed a lot of Samsung phones look quite a bit alike but vary slightly from cell phone company to company, several of them with the same basic shape and style as the Omnia but with either different functions for the buttons on the front or with different features available depending on the models.

One thing I DON'T like about the Omnia that I was not aware of until I purchased it is, in order to connect a wired headphone to the phone (comes in the box) you have to plug it into a proprietary interface that plugs into the phone. And that one proprietary connection is the same connection you plug the power cord into to charge the phone, so you cannot listen to it while it is charging to my knowledge...unless you are able to use a bluetooth headset while it charges. Don't know if it's possible as I misplaced my bluetooth a while back. The phone comes with a 2.5mm jack adapter/cable (standard cell phone wired handsfree), a 3.5mm jack adapter/cable (standard mp3 or other headphone adapter), a data cable, and a power cable, as well as the software required. Only cable out there that's not in the box but would be of possible use to those making Offline Gold presentations would be a TV out cable, and they tell me it's $20 at the local Verizon Store. I may have missed something here. But the phone has a built in FM radio and the proprietary 3.5mm adapter/cable doubles as an antenna so that the radio does not work without it connected...cannot just hookup via bluetooth and play the radio, which is a slight disappointment but I didn't buy it for its radio capabilities...although the mp3 playback is great.

All in all I am happy with my purchase but the learning curve is somewhat aggravating, as my previous phone was not a PDA phone so it's a bit overwhelming for me to get used to all of the features. Most are intuitive but some are not.

Web browsing: comes with Opera mobile browser built in, which works great for me as I use Opera on my laptop to surf the web so I am happy. Also has IE and the rest of the WinMobile 6.1 suite as well, including OneNote.

Don't know about others but I find iPhone is the best. Whatever you want to do from music to browsing nothing is better than it and it's apps make it much more interesting that I couldn't think of other phone.

I use an iPhone. It works really nice for me. I can check my email, my websites, my PPC stats, I can do it all from the iPhone. I don't have the problems that a lot of people talk about with the phones. Makes me think it's a myth sometimes.

Kris