Which Phone?

[oracle]

Yesterday for example I did the following on my iPhone:
Checked the weather forecast.
Used a satellite navigation program to get me from A to B.
Browsed Somersoft on the train.
Did some internet banking.
Ran detailed calculations for the feasibility of an IP using a free application called My Home Calculator (very handy BTW.)
Checked my email
Checked Facebook
Played Angry Birds

I do all of the above plus
- Listen to music
- Take photos and videos as and when I see the opportunity
- Keep track of my stocks


Cheers,
Oracle.

 

[Rockstar]

Go for the Android phones. (No iphone on your list)

Stay away from Nokia. No matter how Nokia dress up their phones, the Symbian operating system is antiquated, inadequate with inferior / little third party software.

I have just decided on a new Nokia N8 after much research. Being a tradie I am after a solid stable phone which the Nokia seems to be with metal casing and Gorilla glass - and good reviews from users who have owned the phone for a while. Excellent GPS, 12mp camera, and great media options are just a bonus. Been on a few phone user forums and come across quotes like this which have swayed me over to the belief that Symbian is everything I require.

i really don't buy this "symbian is outdated" and "android is in" crap

what is so special about Android? i had a HTC Desire and XT720 - there is nothing special about the operating system. All you have are a bunch of homescreens, and then a menu which is so long its pointless.

How is this any different to the N8's homescreens and menu system? too many layers for you? Create a folder called Andriod and put EVERYTHING into that folder and create a shortcut for it. Done. You have Android.

I think people really need to wake up, they are confused- Symbian^3 is not outdate - its familiar

Android is not amazing, its just new and unfamiliar.

ok, Andriod phones have great internet browsers, i'll give you that, but these are stupid phones, phones with massive screens, stupidly fast processors and average batteries. The Desire was so bad it may as well have been a desktop computer, awful

I am loving the N8, it takes the mess that was S60v5 and has added some real thought into it, its the small things that really make the difference. And its stable. Look at the hardware, the Camera is out of this world.

The N8 is as close to a perfect phone for me as i've found, no doubt about it, and trust me, i've been through ALOT of phones in the last 12 months

 

[vbplease]

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to buy a smartphone on no plan and use a sat nav app without using download data??

I'm pretty tight and don't really use the phone much, so happy to stay on pre-paid. But would really like google maps or a sat nav app.. does this require a plan? Thanks

 

[Melbournian]

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to buy a smartphone on no plan and use a sat nav app without using download data??

I'm pretty tight and don't really use the phone much, so happy to stay on pre-paid. But would really like google maps or a sat nav app.. does this require a plan? Thanks

to use google maps would require internet access so without data access why even have a smartphone?

it doesn't make sense to buy a phone nowadays with no plan say samsung galaxy $700 and iphone $650 when you can get it free on a plan paying $49 with $500 of included calls which you can call international as well + 2G of data.

if you work it out over 18 months - you would be paying more buying outright.

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to buy a smartphone on no plan and use a sat nav app without using download data??

I'm pretty tight and don't really use the phone much, so happy to stay on pre-paid. But would really like google maps or a sat nav app.. does this require a plan? Thanks

There's a few sat nav applications which you can purchase that have the maps pre-installed. Essentially the same way your car GPS navigator works. You could take a look at Tom Tom or Nav Man.

 

[vbplease]

There's a few sat nav applications which you can purchase that have the maps pre-installed. Essentially the same way your car GPS navigator works. You could take a look at Tom Tom or Nav Man.

That's pretty much what I was thinking.
Ebay a cheap smartphone (with android) download a free app that works as sat nav without downloading data. Insert pre-paid sim and text call on the cheap. Hopefully that works

 

[Melbournian]

u better off getting a tom tom, Mio etc

getting a smartphone is essentially for the purchase of doing things more conveniently like checking your credit card balance, checking ur email, ebay listing sales, paypal accounts, gobox files etc etc.

if you just looking for prepaid function to save a buck that a smartphone is probably not the way to go.

 

[Newbieatlife]

it is far cheaper over 24 months if you buy a phone outright and purchase monthly plans from companies like amaysim or liveconnected


I use my mobile phone heaps and recently picked up a samsung galaxy S3 16gb for under $500 from Kogan and I am on Live Connected XXL plan which gives me $3000 worth of calls every month, unlimited text and 4gb of data for $34.95 a month

Assuming I stay on this plan for 24 months it will cost me a total of $1338.80, whereas, if I was with Optus' equivalent mobile plans, I would be paying $99 per month which equals $2376 a month

Whats more is I am not locked into anything if telco companies decide to dramatically reduce their rates or increase the value of their plans which usually happens within 24 months anyway

Food for thought...

 

[jacbmw]

another to the long list of Galaxy recommends

 

[Melbournian]

it is far cheaper over 24 months if you buy a phone outright and purchase monthly plans from companies like amaysim or liveconnected

I use my mobile phone heaps and recently picked up a samsung galaxy S3 16gb for under $500 from Kogan and I am on Live Connected XXL plan which gives me $3000 worth of calls every month, unlimited text and 4gb of data for $34.95 a month

Assuming I stay on this plan for 24 months it will cost me a total of $1338.80, whereas, if I was with Optus' equivalent mobile plans, I would be paying $99 per month which equals $2376 a month

Whats more is I am not locked into anything if telco companies decide to dramatically reduce their rates or increase the value of their plans which usually happens within 24 months anyway

Food for thought...

Maybe you are talking about S2 - i'm looking at S3 - and it retails for $559 from kogan plus delivery so not sure where you go the under $500 from kogan.

http://www.kogan.com/au/buy/samsung-galaxy-s3-16gb-white/

Also - if you work out $49 X 20 months with 0 dollars (which is the offer i got and you renew the phone at 20 months) with vodaphone = $980

as oppose to buying outright

$559 + (assuming you go the 24 month at 34.95) -$162 = $1397.

The limits may not be as big but is sufficient for moderate to high use for me.

 

[Newbieatlife]

hello,

i bought mine from kogan when they had a special deal on a few days back http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/78132 which has now expired...$478 for a white galaxy s3 delivered to your door

also i think it is fair to compare apples to apples as the vodafone $49 plan is equivalent to live connected M plan = $11.99 a month with $500 talk/text and 1.5gb data per month (vodafone only gives you 1 gb)

http://www.liveconnected.com.au/mobile-plans

so assuming you got your S3 at $559 + $11.99 x 20 months = $798.80 which is still considerably cheaper than what vodafone is offering you now ....I am also assuming that they are waiving the $10 a month extra for the S3 on a $49 cap

ps. I don't have any affiliation with Live Connected nor do I have any affiliation with any telco related organisations....just sick to death of people getting ripped off on their mobile plans and finding out 12 months into their plan that they can get what they are on for half the price but can't move anywhere for the next 12 months. Likewise if your phone breaks after 13 months....

 

[Melbournian]

exactly right to compare apples with apples but it does state in the plan that it covers international calls which in my circumstances is the bulk of my calls on the plan.

in btw - they gave me 2Gb on the wifi but that's more than what i use as i normally am on a PC anyway.

 

[Newbieatlife]

yep each to their own...vodafone has merit i guess if you make a lot of expensive international calls on the run and don't want to use $10 call cards which give you ~3 hrs international talk time anyway


all my international calls are free using VOIP ....if all else fails theres always skype

 

[Melbournian]

10 dollar calls cards - hmmm with the amount of numbers you have to press and the clarity of the connnection.

Agree skype is useful but some calls i make could be some remote place in china or indonesia - which doesn't really help much

but thanks for info on that plan - i honestly did not know much about it.