Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 65 total)
  • One for the geeks: iPhone 3G or N97
  • clubber
    Free Member

    So… I’m at the end of my contract and looking at a replacement for my N95 8GB which is a decent phone but I reckon that the newer ones are better.

    My choice is between an N97 or an iPhone 3G(not the new S version – I don’t reckon it’s got any real advantages for me)

    My thoughts are:
    N97
    Pros: I like Nokias, it runs multiple apps at the same time (eg I often run email, browsers and sportstracker at the same time), it’s got a proper keyboard, plays wma music files (which saves me converting loads of my music), has Nokia Sportstracker, which I’ve found great
    Cons: touch screen/UI won’t be as good as the iPhone, fewer apps
    Unsures: not sure if it does cut and paste

    iPhone 3G
    Pros: Brilliant UI, loads of apps, great browsing
    Cons: Can’t run more than one app at a time, Camera isn’t great, need to run iTunes, won’t play wma music, concerned that my big hands/fingers may find the keyboard tricky, look like a bit of a hipster 🙂
    Unsure: Is there any reason that the 3G S is actually an advantage – from using iPhones in the past, they seem fast enough to me and 16Gb would be enough memory. The compass is a nice to have but not really essential. I guess a 3.2Mb camera might be a good improvement though.

    So, any help in deciding between the two appreciated though I’m not interested in out-and-out Apple-evangelism or Apple-bashing (is that a euphemism?)

    Thanks

    willard
    Full Member

    I’m in the same boat as you. My e61 is out of contract and slowly dying, and the iPhone 3Gs has come along at just the right/wrong time.

    There are a number of sportstracker-esq apps out there though. If you do a search on the App Store for the mapmyrun apps, they have one for just about everything. Running, hillwalking, cycling etc. There are free versions as well as the micropayment type.

    The keyboard is a legit worry. The one on my e61 is fine for using two thumbs on and I rarely make typos, but the iPhone is clumsy for my fingers and, unless I use a single finger, I make mistakes. Maybe I will get used to it, maybe not.

    If it’s any help, the iPhone is very shiny.

    mrmichaelwright
    Free Member

    iphone – shiny, great UI

    N97 – if it’s anything like the rest of the n series then software updates will be appallingly slow to come along. Nokia’s support is truly terrible

    deadlydarcy
    Free Member

    I’ve had the N95 8GB for over a year now and it is truly the worst phone I’ve ever had. Well, I’m sure there have been worse, but this thing was never a joy to use. Mrs deadly’s had iPhones since they came out (Apple fangirl) and I’ve had it now…I’m getting one when my contract’s up.

    dave_aber
    Free Member

    Nokia n series – disappointment on all fronts.

    Nokia e series – Wow, they CAN get it right!

    E71 for me, well pleased.

    Not an iPhone competitor really, but a damn fine phone.

    sootyandjim
    Free Member

    The iPhone is shiny and big, so useful as a weapon if you need to fight off some folk armed with sharpened guava fruit.

    maxray
    Free Member

    I really like my N82, the only issue I have had over a year an da half is that I have cooked my battery but other than that the features gps and camera etc have been brill.

    I would need a homer simpson style dialing wand to use the iphone, when I have tried friends I just dont get on with the keyboard.

    🙂

    mogrim
    Full Member

    Unsures: not sure if it does cut and paste

    The 5800 does cut ‘n paste, it’s the same OS and (I think) screen.

    IanMunro
    Free Member

    It really boils down to if you are a superior being or not.
    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/12/forrester_iphone_survey/

    clubber
    Free Member

    Well that decides it 🙂

    FWIW, I quite like my N95 – can’t say that I’ve any real issues with it other than the screen is relatively small compared to either the N97 or iPhone.

    fisha
    Free Member

    I’ve had the iPhone 3G for about a year now. Its decent enough. The UI for the most part is good, but its limitations such as copy/paste and lack of MMS have had me annoyed quite a lot.

    ( Yes, I know that’s being addressed soon, but it really should have been there from the start. Considering that you can select a phone number on a web page and say dial … that must imply that the data has been copy-pasted to the phone application … so why not across the rest of the OS ? )

    The other things I get frustrated at is being tied to iTunes so much, no sort of file system ( I’d love to stick PDF’s etc onto it for viewing later )

    The web browser is great, no doubt about that.

    but in all honesty, I think i’ll be going back to a Win Mobile device further down the line.

    willard
    Full Member

    Does anyone know if such a thing as an eBook reader exists for it?

    I know there is Stanza, but the comment about the lack of fliesystem is now making me concerned that my pile (?) of ebooks will be redundant if I get an iPhone…

    aphex_2k
    Free Member

    Can’t you convert your ebooks to pdf’s? I’m sure there’s a pdf reading app.

    STATO
    Free Member

    I would need a homer simpson style dialing wand to use the iphone, when I have tried friends I just dont get on with the keyboard.

    The main reason people cant do it is they dont realise its touch sensitive not pressure sensitive, you dont need to ‘press’ anything (like you do pressing buttons) you just lightly touch the screen to select a button/letter/number. If you jab the key to type then youll press 3or4 keys with your squished finger, if you just use the tips of your fingers it means you can type really quickly with 1 or 2 hands once your used to it.

    sootyandjim
    Free Member

    STATO – That could be considered a design flaw then that doesn’t take into account real world users.

    Its natural to ‘press’ keys on a keyboard, many of us do it daily on our work/home keyboards, hey I’m even doing it right now.

    If I press down on the keyboard of my 5800 it produces one letter, no more.

    willard
    Full Member

    You may be able to do the conversion… Then I guess it would just be a case of creating a filesystem chunk on the iPod part to store them on.

    I’ll have to see.

    Dougal
    Free Member

    ( Yes, I know that’s being addressed soon, but it really should have been there from the start. Considering that you can select a phone number on a web page and say dial … that must imply that the data has been copy-pasted to the phone application … so why not across the rest of the OS ? )

    What? Do you think that all data in an OS gets from one place to another via copy and paste???

    I think it was possibly more the mechanics of the copy-and-paste UI that were a bit hard to develop. All sorted from this Wednesday though.

    Ewok
    Free Member

    er no, that just daft users not a design flaw. of course you don’t press the screen, its glass. !!!

    spend more than 5 minutes using the keyboard and it becomes a lot easier. I find old 9 key phone texting easier, as I could do that without looking. But hey ho, its a small price to pay for the rest of the functionality.

    Dougal
    Free Member

    Oh, and just for good measure, the phone-number-recognition actually uses a regular expression to find the phone numbers, then makes them into a special kind of hyperlink that dials that number. No copying anything anywhere, unless we want to get into a discussion about memory management and system calls.

    Bimbler
    Free Member

    Haven’t used either but the N97 looks nice

    N97 video

    STATO
    Free Member

    Its natural to ‘press’ keys on a keyboard

    Conventional keyboards maybe, but its a totally different feeling to using a keyboard and touch-screens are hardly a new concept! Anyway, why stick to convention for conventions sake? Apple have always done a good job of bringing something different (not necessarily somthing they developed) into the market. And hey, if my Dad can manage it (hands like shovels, had a brick of a nokia before, could barely string together 1 line of txt in about 5mins!) then 99% of the rest of the public can too.

    varzi
    Free Member

    one thing – you say ’16gb is plenty’ then that you’re unsure about ‘s’. think the 16gb regular has been dropped now so if you want that memory config then whether you want the ‘s’ or not is a bit irrelevant.

    brakes
    Free Member

    I’m in the same predicament and waiting on the N97 prices on O2 to come out before I make a decision
    from the many, MANY reviews I’ve read on the N97, the main gripe appears to be that the processor speed (~500 MHz)is, in theory, too slow and that it may suffer from lag when opening/closing/switching apps – in practice though it seems to be ok unless you overload it.
    I’m not willing to solely judge a phone on its predecessors either (N95/N96/5800).
    I don’t want an iPhone, but I want the best phone I can get – and with the recent upgrades, the iPhone 3G S might be it.

    kimbers
    Full Member

    i would get an iphone if it held as much music as my ipod

    im not too fussed about web browsing just calling people and sending texts

    so i would only be carrying around 1 device instead of 2

    ill only get one when i can get an iphone that holds 60gb of music
    how come apple arent bringing one out is it because this way u buy 2 devices off them rather than one?

    clubber
    Free Member

    varzi,

    Places still seem to be selling (off) the 16Gb model of the 3G so I don’t think availability is an issue – yet at least.

    how come apple arent bringing one out is it because this way u buy 2 devices off them rather than one?

    More likely they can’t fit it all in yet…

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    I am of the fat fingered variety, and have just bought an I phone. I have to say that with one finget I can typre almost as fast as with a full size keboard because the predictive typing is soooooooo good. It just works. Can’t wait for cut ‘n paste though, but that’s meant to be this week isn’t it?

    trailbreak-martin
    Free Member

    Fisha – if you want a file system for your iphone, there’s a free app called Files Lite on the app store that’ll do the job for you.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    New Iphone has horiz keyboard?

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    New Iphone has horiz keyboard?

    trailbreak-martin
    Free Member

    Clubber – the keyboard on the iPhone should be less of an issue from Wednesday when the new software update comes out. As cynica-al says, they are making the landscape keyboard available in all the major apps (it’s presence in third party apps will depend on the developer). I find the keyboard very well implemented and being virtual allows them to make it context sensitive, which is a big plus over tiny physical keyboards. System wide cut and paste is coming in that wednesday update too; well overdue and is going to make a world of difference to my use of the device!

    The only significant advantages of the 3G S are the camera improvements and video as far as I can see, and only you know whether those are worth the extra dosh to you. I think I’m due a free upgrade in my contract after a while, but if that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t be bothered about upgrading. All the rest of the good new stuff is the software update and will be available to the 3G.

    I haven’t tried the Nokia so can’t compare, but the sheer variety of apps available is becoming a very compelling argument for the iPhone. It’s getting to the stage where, whatever you see as a limitation with the thing can be rectified freely or very cheaply following a quick search. I was just looking for something to sort out your issue with WMA files and have found Simplify Music 2, which streams music from your PC to your device over a wifi or cell connection. It works with a variety of files and systems other than iTunes, so theoretically not only solves compatibility issues, but storage too, as you’re streaming rather than storing. £3.49 and has some good reviews; I might even give that a go!

    Chevin
    Free Member

    I have had an iphone 3g for about 6 weeks. Bloody fantastic! Can’t fault it. Not had a problem with the keyboard. Does everything and more. (at least it will come the 17th). Very happy.

    Also when I couldn’t work out how to get it do something 02 iphone help desk sorted me out straight away.

    Biggest problem is not playing with it all the time! 😀

    Matthew

    fisha
    Free Member

    What? Do you think that all data in an OS gets from one place to another via copy and paste???

    I think it was possibly more the mechanics of the copy-and-paste UI that were a bit hard to develop. All sorted from this Wednesday though.

    No I dont think it goes via a plain copy-paste, but it does show an ability to pass data between 2 seperate apps within the OS … i.e. its written a chunk of data into memory to then be re-used elsewhere outwith the process that stuck the data into the memory in the first place … a bit like a copy/paste behind the scenes. Or is it just passed as a parameter when calling the phone app ? ( I don’t know the iPhone SDK language/syntax )

    I do think you’re point on the mechanics is fair though it probably did take a while to sort it out … but 2 years since the release of the original ? Surely not that long.

    Trailbreak-Martin: I’ll have a look at that … cheers !

    CountZero
    Full Member

    kimbers, you’re gonna have to wait ’til next June. This year’s upgrade, apart from increased battery life, proper digital compass to improve navigation, faster processor, double the RAM, video, improved camera with user select autofocus, doubles storage to 32Gb. The next iPod Touch will be 64Gb, so next June, when my current contract ends, the new iPhone will have 64Gb, so your wish will come true. FWIW, my current 16Gb iPhone, which is truly a stunning piece of kit, has around 1100 songs on it, at 320Kb. I also have several dozen ebooks on it from Stanza, and as I understand it, if you have already paid for the books on another device, then you can download them again onto the iPhone free. When you sync with iTunes, everything then gets backed up, so if you have a disaster you can restore a new iPhone from the backup. The camera, even on the current iPhone still knocks spots off of the one on my previous N95, which sucked bigtime. Twenty minutes trying to take one pic in focus of a stationary bike? Crap.

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    i’m in the middle of updating my iphone to the 3.0 OS. I’ll tell you how good it is in about 20 mins hopefully….

    clubber
    Free Member

    So? 🙂

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    yup. its pretty good so far.

    although its just let me send a MMS, but 02 have sent me the usual notification that I’ve recieved an MMS rather than sent it to me.

    guessing its something on their network they wont activate until wednesday

    cut/paste works well, spotlight is pretty cool and i’ll test the AD2P tomorrow to see how well it works with the headunit in my car.

    dave_rudabar
    Free Member

    I had a Touch Diamond for a couple of weeks, and wasn’t sure about the whole touchscreen thing, of which it had one.
    I tend to do quite a few things from finger-memory on the buttons of a normal keypad, so having to use the touchscreen meant having to look at it & concentrate on what i was doing. Whereas before I could chuck out an email or text message quickly without really having to look at the screen to see what i was doing.

    Did put me off changing over for a little while, until I can check out the N97 at least…

    clubber
    Free Member

    Well I’ve used a touchscreen previously (LG Viewty) which was ok but not as easy to use as my N95. I do think that a proper keyboard is easier than a touch screen in general but the iphone’s one is done very well.

    kimbers
    Full Member

    64gb iphone

    im sold!!!

    that gives me plenty of time to get saving, i doubt they will be cheap, how easy will it be to use with voodafone as ive gota wicked deal with them at the moment that costs me peanuts !!

    willard
    Full Member

    Kimbers, I think you might end up being out of luck wrt Voda… O2 have exclusivity and they are likely to milk it for all they are worth.

    My best guess is that you might have to bite the bullet and transfer to O2 if you want the latet iPhone toys.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 65 total)

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