The frustrating search for my perfect phone

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#316726 10-Apr-2010 09:53

Yep for under $500 I would take a punt on this regardless of it being a no name brand. I think people are insane to pay $1000 for a mobile phone.

timbosan

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#316749 10-Apr-2010 12:06

tchart: Yep for under $500 I would take a punt on this regardless of it being a no name brand. I think people are insane to pay $1000 for a mobile phone.

Actually, I don't totally agree; you (usually) are spending $1000 on a well known brand and on something that you would have done your homework on, and at this price is more of a palmtop/PDA/Phone/Music/Video convergence device, and would 99% of the time be more powerful (from a user viewpoint, i.e. not waiting for things to happen) than a low powered tablet. That is from an unknown vendor.

But the flipside would be at $500 it could well be worth a punt, I think there's still a risk and it could be hard to flick on if you dont like it. High end phones tend to keep their value for a while after they are released (and then plumet!).

But back to the original problem, I am a firm believer that a device has to solve a given problem, in this case a phone that can act as a PDA as well, and at 5" I think this tablet is too big. There comes a point where the portability of a unit becomes a limiting factor in its usefullness; if it it too large to take with you all the time, then you might as well have a laptop/desktop computer. For a device like this to be truely useful (and yes, this is something I have been through for many years, and even studied about) it needs to be available all the time, and from where every you are (ubiquitous), plus be easy to use, powerful enough and cost effective.

Unfortunatley as the OP found there is no such unit (yet) but there are some that are very close. As well as the ones I listed before, I think the Nokia Communicator series was a very close fit, and the E90 in particular was great, just a bit bulky.

Personally my choice has come down to the Touch Pro 2, Milestone and N900, in order of preference. The fact the Touch Pro 2 can run Android and Linux makes it a great device, and the software on it suits my requirements better than the others.

[End of rant, sorry if it was bit long!!!]

Paulthagerous

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#316785 10-Apr-2010 13:52

tchart: I think people are insane to pay $1000 for a mobile phone.

I guess there are a lot of 'insane' people on Geekzone then!

old3eyes

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#316788 10-Apr-2010 14:03

Paulthagerous:
tchart: I think people are insane to pay $1000 for a mobile phone.

I guess there are a lot of 'insane' people on Geekzone then!

You can say that again. Judging buy the "What I just bought" comments here about fones and computer gear there must be allot of Lotto winners in this group or people without mortgages or wives..

Regards,

Old3eyes

timbosan

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#316951 11-Apr-2010 09:22

Edwood: Hey folks,

I've been searching for years, and never finding... my perfect PDA/Phone. I can't believe nobody has filled this void yet... HELP!

Perhaps the closest thing to what i want is my old iPaq... by old, I mean like 10 years ago.
I've had Nokia N900 / N95 / iPhone but I want a very large sized phone / PDA that I can take notes on in meetings, and use as a phone.
I'm currently using a tablet, but it's too big and cumbersome in meetings / cafes etc...

I will use it as a phone / PDA, take notes in meetings, and as a mobile PDA.

Must Haves:
- Large screen (3.5 - 5 inch)
- Stylus & Handwriting Recognition
- GSM Phone functionality
- Bluetooth / wifi /

Please Haves:
- Decent speed...
- Interoperability with Outlook / exchange / sync / etc
- 5 inch screen (eg. upper end of 'large screen'
- Ability to add 3rd party apps

Would be nice (not at all essential):
- Hardware keyboard for touch typing (text messages / short emails)
- Reasonable battery
- Native interoperability with Outlook
- Native interoperability with OneNote / other common files - MSOffice / OpenOffice
- Media Player
- 3.5m headphone jack
- Quad band

The Dell Mini 5 looks fantastic, but it has no Stylus so it's off the list :(
The Microsoft Courier looks interesting, but is too big...I think
The Readius is really interesting idea in foldable screens... but again, no stylus.

Have you seen anything like this?

Hi again, thinking about this more and more, and re-reading your requirements, I think as another poster said, why not go with two devies instead of trying to find the 'ultimate' convergence device? If you went with a high end phone like a series 60 with the Office tools, or maybe an Android phone. And they also get a UMPC, something small, resistive screen for stylus use, and less than 6-7". Check out http://www.dynamism.com/, they have a good selection. Plus nothing is as compatiable than Windows itself, and XP runs on an amazing range of hardware (due to its age and low hardware requirements).

What about a netbook? I had a Dell Mini 9 for a while, and whilst it didn't have a touchscreen, it was amazingly portable, and has 3G built in.

It also means you can write/type/surf and still use the phone at the same time!

NZtechfreak

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#316953 11-Apr-2010 09:34

I'm certifiable if buying $1000 cellphones makes someone insane.

But then, lets take a closer look at that shall we? How do I manage it? Buy from overseas cheap, sell and make either nearly my money back, or a profit, all of which goes back into my technology spending fund (which has a small amount deposited each payday). All up its not so expensive as it might look from the outside.

$1000 for a music player, GPS unit, point n shoot camera, FM/internet radio device, WiFi hotspot, PDA, mobile internet and gaming device, spirit level, etc etc and a cellphone doesn't seem that outrageous to me to be honest. But then I'm insane, so what would I know :)

Twitter: @nztechfreak
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lxsw20

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#317006 11-Apr-2010 14:02

With reguards to a hardware keyboard, you could always look at carrying something like a dinovo mini, its one more device i know, but proably better than any built in soultion.

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kyhwana2

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#317047 11-Apr-2010 17:22

What about the HTC HD2?

BlueToothKiwi

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#317181 12-Apr-2010 04:55

old3eyes:
tchart: I think people are insane to pay $1000 for a mobile phone.

.... there must be allot of Lotto winners in this group or people without mortgages or wives..

Ha ha... There are a lot of people here who have both (and like in my case) also four high maintenance kids.

But if you are like me, who has lots of meetings around the city and need to manage lots of communications from the road (email / voice / text), and need to look at the odd Word / PDF attachment and don't want to have a Personal Assistant back in the office controlling your diary, then investing on a high end device that make you more efficient is a nobrainer. You should get your return on your investment within weeks.

But returning back to the post - my point of the earlier post (which was echoed above by Timbosan) - is that there comes a time when the increase in form factor size start getting in your way. I love my new E72 I got from Vodafone. However, my old phone (Nokia E-90 Communicator) was the 'best' Smartphone I had (in terms of call clarity on the handset /phone performance going through low reception areas around Auckland / and the big secondary display). But it was heavy and big. It made my pocket looks bulky and was uncomfortable. It has also fallen out of my pocket a couple of times when I was cycling or fooling around with the kids.

Now I am happy to walk around with a high end but SMALL smartphone. I also carry my Tablet in my laptop bag during the day - and when necessary, I fire it up. That way I dont compromise either on the Smartphone or mobile computer. Sometimes it makes sense to deviate away from what the rest of the mainstream population is doing (i.e. buying into the convergence of device dream): You have a Smartphone with camera - that does not mean you cant also have a cool Digital SLR; You have a smarphone with cut down MS Office - that does not mean you don't have to have a Tablet as well when you want to edit a more complex document that does not make sense to edit on a 320x240 display.

Tim

Tim M, Auckland
Blog: http://paddler.co.nz

gadgetmannz

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#317183 12-Apr-2010 05:50

kyhwana2: What about the HTC HD2?

Yeah I was also thinking that. It apparently supports hand writing recognition from what I've read.

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Edwood

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#317224 12-Apr-2010 09:16

I'm rushing around, so I will answer a couple of things quickly, and make time for a more thorough reply tonight...

So just quickly...

The Convergence of Device Dream
This is my whole point and intent in the OP... more-or-less.
The convergence i'm after imo is not that hard. I had an iPaq 15 years ago, and it would almost suit my current requirements - just needs to be a bit bigger, and have a phone integrated.
I currently use an iPhone (or N95) and a tablet. <-- this combination is what I'm trying to get away from.
I do not need a keyboard - I just need to be able to write notes in meeting where pulling out, and powering up, and using my tablet is annoying and distracting. The reason I want a big screen is simply to give me more real estate to write notes.
Capactive smartphone screens / Capacitive stylus technology does not work yet for anyone wanting to take notes. Ive done the research, and it's like writing with your finger - or like writing with a crayon on a post-it note.
If I'm travelling and on a plane or in a hotel or something, I will just use a traditional laptop.
If I am forced to go to a two device solution, I will use a smartphone and a paper notebook!

Device Recommendations:
The HTC Advantage X7510 is my ideal device! I would buy one today if I could walk into a store and fiddle with it first. The only thing I'm slightly concerned with is wether it is actually technically possible to use as a handheld phone (ie. It possibly just does speakerphone and bluetooth).
It's kinda fun watching a guy talk about it in Russian
...or you could watch atrully english version...

The HTC Touch HD is a distant second on my list. I just wish the screen could be a bit bigger. It's basically the same size as my iPhone.

The HTC Touch Pro 2 got taken off my list when I originally compared it to the Touch HD, and decided that the Touch HD was better. Touch HD has a slightly bigger screen, which from memory, was my primary rationale. I must admit, the idea of being able to put Androin on the Touch Pro2 (assuming it can't be done with the Touch HD) is quiet appealing, and I might have another look at the comparison.

The Nokia N900 gets a look-in, but offers me no real advantage over the HTC Touch HD. I'm an old time Nokia boy, but I'm not convinced they have the whole 'transcriber' thing sorted properly yet, and HTC just seems so so much more experienced in producing PDAs. (Again, keyboard offers no real value to me).

The HTC Touch HD2 got written off earlier in the post... a couple of times (I think).
Here is a couple of links to show you the Stylus experience on this device. It just does not work for writing notes in meetings etc, where speed of writing, and the ability to write as much a possible on a screen is paramaount.
Capactivive Stylus on HD2 and this one Capacitive Stylus on a Hero

OK, this was supposed to be a quick post from a guy who didn't have time to write a full one... somehow I need to shower, iron, don my suit, eat, travel to the office... to be there in 15mins. Well, thats not going to happen is it! :)

timbosan

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#317238 12-Apr-2010 09:54

Good to see that I am not the only one with the same problem of trying to find a 'perfect' mobile device!

I did have another google, didn't find too much, it seem by the time devices reach the 5" plus screen size, they are no longer considered phones.

I did see some news about a possible Archos 5" phone, running Android (http://nexus404.com/Blog/2010/01/27/archos-preparing-phone-tablet-archos-phone-tablet-to-be-modified-archos-5-tablet-3-5g-gsm-connection-4-3-inch-touchscreen/ )

Other than that, there is an OQO model 2 on Trademe right now; doesn't give phone but it is an amazing device.

And yeah, capacitive screens are NO GOOD for handwriting; they are desgined for a finger, which as your rightly point out is no good for writing with! Plus they don't work in cold or hot environments (not sure if that affects you, but cold like refrigerated environments stop capacitive screens from working, and of course they don't work if you have to wear gloves).

I did have great fun over the weekend watching jkkmobile videos on YouTube, and the vast collection of devices he seems to have aquired over time to achieve a similar goal. Definately worth a watch, and his reviews are quite good.

Hey, you could always go with a 3G iPad!!! LOL!

Good luck, and let us know what you decide.

Asmodeus

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#317256 12-Apr-2010 10:46

My Samsung i8910 fits most of your important criteria. 3.7" AMOLED screen, wifi, bluetooth, GSM, handwriting recognition, office apps, etc. It's definitely more of a multimedia/"lifestyle" phone than a strict PDA but fits most of your criteria. No hardware keyboard though

Edwood

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#317264 12-Apr-2010 11:27

I had a quick look at the Omnia, but i stopped as soon as I saw that it had a capacitive screen.

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=2525&idPhone2=2691

I'll clarify my non-negotiable must haves with the bold text:
Must Haves:
- Large screen (3.5 - 5 inch)
- Stylus & Handwriting Recognition (ie. RESISTIVE touch screen)
- GSM Phone functionality
- Bluetooth / wifi /

The Archos 5 smartphonisation looked interesting, but from what I can tell, plans were announced in Sep 2009, and the project has since died.

Edit: Question... Where can I get my hands on an HTC Touch Pro2 or a HTC Touch HD? I want to have a fiddle... maybe Parallel Imported in Newmarket (Auckland).

NZtechfreak

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#317265 12-Apr-2010 11:32

The HD2 supports handwriting recognition and is capacitive, just thought I would point that out again...

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