Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

My current mobile is coming to end of life so I'm thinking about changing.

I've been looking at a Blackberry but my eldest says I should go for an Android phone?

Basically I use the mobile as a business tool for calls and rarely text and/or use internet on mobile so the question is what should I go for?

All input gratefully received.

Paul

I've got an iPhone for work and personal. It can do all you want/need and as little as a just use it as a phone. You can merge calls too, so very usefull for work when we need to confrence call. I can't see me getting any other phone ever again. You might only rarely use it for tinterweb/emails, but when you do you want it to be good. Nice big screen and very good camera.

Sold yet?

Hi Paul,

Here's a perspective from a long-time iPhone user, who has recently had a Blackberry foisted on them by new employer.

The iPhone is a superb mobile internet device (the best in fact) so not perfect for your needs. However the ability to keep adding functions from hundreds of thousands of well-written apps means it can do anything you want really (I have a lovely Porsche Archive app on mine) and you never really need another phone. Elegant, intuitive. Ther's an app which records your acceleration and g-forces!

Blackberry is like going back to the 80s. A good email engine (albeit a silly, fiddly keyboard) but a dreadful user interface. No wonder RIM is losing market share in corporate segment to iPhone. Blackberry AppWorld is a joke.

Android is building developer support, and outsells iPhone in the US. But if all you want to do is voice calls then any of iPhone, Blackberry or Android is way more than you need but as I said once you discover apps then you won't look back. The developer support for iPhone makes it a sure winner in the same way that VHS trumped Betamax because more movies were available.

Blackberry and Android user interface is astonishingly ugly and dated next to iPhone OS.

People who root for Android (often the same geeky types who think PCs are superior to Macs because they are so frustrating for ordinary mortals to use) often think it's clever not to go with the iPhone mainstream, but there's a reason it's mainstream.

I know you're not an Apple fan but really you should get an iPhone.

Umm interesting. I've struggled to get any Bluetooth phone to work with the Jag inbuilt BT at all. This included Motorola, Sony Ericson etc. I'd avoided the BlackBerry option from work for a while & then decided (assisted by them withdrawing 3G in our laptops) to give one a try. The Company standard is BB Curve 8300, I jumped in the car & it instantly paired, never drops calls etc. So I now have a personal one as well.
I cannot fault it, the keyboard is OK but I've little fingers! My colleagues struggle a bit though. The few apps we are allowed to load all work well especially Google maps. In fact I've bought a separate GPS module for Google maps which works well.

Several of my colleagues have iPhones, the phone bit is OK, some of the apps are toylike & they really struggle to pair them with handsfree kits in cars, one of the greatest iPhone lovers has a Golf & it won't pair with that at all. Our company would never ever issue iPhones because they are the competition & we're told we'll get Androids next year as we now make one.

Jim I think there can always be bluetooth pairing problems with certain phones and certain car systems.

As Paul has a Jag it us useful for him to know about your iPhone probs.

For the record though, when I test drove an Audi I pressed the button to link to the car's computer out of curiosity, and my iPhone address book appeared on the display before the salesman got in on the other side (despite this I didn't buy the A4 - dead feeling controls and no room in the back!).

I have one of those little Jabra hands-free that clips to sun visor, and it never fails to work with the iPhone. Shouldn't use that really as hands-free or not phone calls are a dangerous distraction (I only initiate them, and then usually park up so not sure why I have the gadget anyway!).

In the end it's down to what you need the phone for. I do far more texts, email and web browsing than calls (no-one seems to use the phone to call nowadays), and the web browser alone on the iPhone makes the one on Blackberry (pretty much unusable I'd say, unless you install Opera instead) look like something out of the ark or the dim and distant days of WAP. There are half a million apps for iPhone now, so no shortage of choice. Browsing on iPhone is a lovely experience - like desktop but better because of the touch screen.

To be fair to Blackberry mine is a Curve too which is their consumer-oriented version. The keyboard on the Bold is a little wider and feels nicer.

Over to you for decision Paul!

It sounds like your needs are virtually identical to mine. My contract came to an end earlier this year and I switched to an HTC Desire android phone. It looks great, does lots of whizzy clever things and is very fast to do them on it's big screen. However after the first fortnight I never use them as I only need it to make and receive calls on. The trouble is it's so big compared to my old Nokia that it feels really bulky, does not fit in a pocket very well and I end up taking it out and putting it down wherever I go. As a consequence I end up missing calls and ultimately losing business because of that.

I've gone back to my old mobile phone because that's what I need - a phone that is mobile. If I want to do anything else then I simply use my laptop or PC because it has a huuuuge screen that I can actually see things on and a proper keyboard with keys I can hit.

Smartphones are for dummies (tongue firmly in cheek)

just use mine for calls and texting, have a samsung slider type phone cost me about 50 quid 4 years ago, perfect for me, not intrested in spending all day glued to a silly mobile, horses for courses ! why waste money on features you will not use. My mate is in his 3rd iphone, loves it cos he is playing with it all day, but he says just as a phone its poor.

Adrian just a little concerned about your comment above!!

BTW I use an HTC Desire (android) brilliant phone.... but then that’s just my opinion – will not necessarily suit everyone.

Hi Andrew,

Tis true - the steering of the A4 lacked feel, and there was less rear room than in the 3 series I was driving at the time. The Beemer spoilt me for a nice daily driver (it was the 328) but in the end went fro Saab Aero which is a lovely car to drive, has crappy interior quality, but does have the virtue of being neither an Audi or BMW!

My Daughter got a new Samsung Galaxy S the other month and for doing things kids want it is brilliant, also great email text and games, however I would not want if for work due to the delicate screen and relatively short batery life, the Android phones have a short (in comparison) battery life and I sometimes spend over an hour in conference calls when travelling so for me I use a Nokia 6303, it does all I need for work including email, calendar syncronisation, internet (if a little slow not 3G) but the battery lasts forever and the bluetooth links quickly and easily to any car I get into.

I also agree about the Blackberry my company is trying to force them on us as company phones but I cant seem to get away with the keyboard, I do like the HTC phones but again battery life is more important than looks to me.