New mobile phone

[Luci]

I thought they were ok. Unlimited texts on the same tariff for me when I already am paying extra for a bolt on and minutes and browsing are plenty too!

[Simon Pieman]

Have you thought about keeping your existing iPhone and switching to a simplicity plan?

[Luci]

No not really as the new one will only cost me 30 quid after I get cash back for my old one!

Plus, I like the idea of a brand new shiny phone hehe

[Simon Pieman]

When are you due to upgrade? Cos those cashback prices will fall, but sounds like an ok deal.

I can't speak from experience about switching from iPhone to Android but I would say it takes some time to set it up, but once you have it's all good. It's not that it's a particularly hard phone to setup, just that there is quite a bit you can customise, you'll be playing around with it in this respect.

As for SMS - if you want iPhone style sms there's an app for this.
Email - doddle, especially if you are on gmail or googlemail as Android is done by google.
Internet - Perfect. Multi-touch, pinch to zoom (or double click which I prefer) and auto-justifies the page you're browsing when zooming. Fast and most flash videos play e.g. those integrated into a bbc page.

I'd probably guess the things which would niggle an iPhone user are finding stuff on the apps market (but if you use appbrain it makes it 100 times easier) and possibly not syncing music to iTunes (you can use DoubleTwist to have easy iTunes-like syncing). You can find most apps for what you want to do for free.

It'd be interesting to hear Lucien's view. I would say an Android phone is more customisable, but may make it less 'pick up and play'. I'm not sure it betters the iPhone4 in terms of capabilities, or vice-versa, so if you're happy with the iPhone and it won't cost you any more then you may just as well stick to the iPhone.

Although you could recycle your old iPhone and keep the money if you went for a different phone I guess. Could be worth having a play with a Desire or similar if you can get your mitts on one.

[jonny72]

I can't speak from experience about switching from iPhone to Android but I would say it takes some time to set it up, but once you have it's all good. It's not that it's a particularly hard phone to setup, just that there is quite a bit you can customise, you'll be playing around with it in this respect.

An iPhone might be more expensive up front than an Android, but what about all the time you have to spend getting an Android up and running and working the way you want? I've got far better things to do than fuck around with a phone, I'd prefer to pay the extra for an iPhone and know I can just plug n play with full integration built in for iTunes and the app store.

It's the same reason why I'm happy to pay a premium for a Mac, it works the way you'd expect it to and you don't have to spend loads of time customising it, maintaining it or trying to figure out how to perform the most basic tasks.

[Simon Pieman]

You've misinterpreted what I meant. For example, there are 7 home screens on the Desire. I can set up all manner of widgets and shortcuts on each of these. I've ended up changing things around to my own requirements, but it's great because I don't have to learn to live with things being in specific places etc.

It took some time to link my contacts to their facebook accounts (you can do the same for flickr and twitter as well). You don't have to do these things to get the phone to function, these are things which the user can play around with if they wish to. It's not like I sat around for an entire week trying to get the thing to do anything.

Email is as simple as typing in your address and password, changing the download settings to what you want (push in my case) and then leaving it be. If I want to transfer music and video I'm not restricted to particular file formats and can even drag and drop as a normal disk drive.

I think the issue is, some people don't want to customise their device, they're happy to take it out of the box and leave it like that and if it has shortcomings they cannot change then they either don't notice them or learn to live with them. I could have got an iPhone and I would have been happy with it, it's a decent bit of kit - but like every single Apple product, it's overpriced and there are alternatives out there which can do similar things. That doesn't mean the alternatives are suitable for everyone though and it doesn't make the iPhone crap.

[shady]

Read a good book.

[Luci]

When are you due to upgrade? Cos those cashback prices will fall, but sounds like an ok deal.

I can't speak from experience about switching from iPhone to Android but I would say it takes some time to set it up, but once you have it's all good. It's not that it's a particularly hard phone to setup, just that there is quite a bit you can customise, you'll be playing around with it in this respect.

As for SMS - if you want iPhone style sms there's an app for this.
Email - doddle, especially if you are on gmail or googlemail as Android is done by google.
Internet - Perfect. Multi-touch, pinch to zoom (or double click which I prefer) and auto-justifies the page you're browsing when zooming. Fast and most flash videos play e.g. those integrated into a bbc page.

I'd probably guess the things which would niggle an iPhone user are finding stuff on the apps market (but if you use appbrain it makes it 100 times easier) and possibly not syncing music to iTunes (you can use DoubleTwist to have easy iTunes-like syncing). You can find most apps for what you want to do for free.

It'd be interesting to hear Lucien's view. I would say an Android phone is more customisable, but may make it less 'pick up and play'. I'm not sure it betters the iPhone4 in terms of capabilities, or vice-versa, so if you're happy with the iPhone and it won't cost you any more then you may just as well stick to the iPhone.

Although you could recycle your old iPhone and keep the money if you went for a different phone I guess. Could be worth having a play with a Desire or similar if you can get your mitts on one.

Thanks Si - useful info.  Was due to upgrade last month but been waiting until more info was released for i phone 4 before deciding.

I think I'll stick with the iphone simply because I know how to use it and set it up myself (after much playing around anyway!). 

If I do see anyone with a desire though, I will look at it just in case!

[Simon Pieman]

You're free to take a gander at mine if you like, though when I don't know.

Despite how it may come across I'm not anti-Apple, just trying to save people a few quid if possible. It sounds like you can get a decent enough deal with the iPhone and like I said, the iPhone will suit some people more than another phone.

[stfcinbmth]

You're free to take a gander at mine if you like, though when I don't know.

Despite how it may come across I'm not anti-Apple, just trying to save people a few quid if possible. It sounds like you can get a decent enough deal with the iPhone and like I said, the iPhone will suit some people more than another phone.

Good news, you can pre order a 4 32gb contract free direct from Apple for only £600

http://tinyurl.com/33fh6eu

[Leggett]

i got a HTC desire 2 weeks ago, love it. i had a G1 previously, so i know my way around the
Android system, its a good piece of kit!

[stfcinbmth]

i got a HTC desire 2 weeks ago, love it. i had a G1 previously, so i know my way around the
Android system, its a good piece of kit!

I'm jealous

[THE FLASH]

Yeah Yeah.......Android - Apps - SMS - Blah Blah..................

Where the fuck can i get my Blackberry Fixed in Swindon?

[Simon Pieman]

A phone shop

[THE FLASH]

A phone shop

You disappoint me.