What type of cell phone/plan do you have (if any)?

[illram]

I'm really not that big on Android, I think any of WinPhone7, WebOS or QNX would be better overall if they had similar marketshare.

I've never really played around with anything other than iOS and Android. I liked iOS to an extent and I think Android is designed in part for iOS castaways. From an interface perspective it is basically the same thing with more customization. What are some positives about those OS's? I never looked into them too much. I do notice that Android suffers from a few glitches now and then such as the need to kill runaway processes and other things you never really encountered on iOS.

But, the marketshare thing is the killer. I also like Google more than Bing, I don't really like any of Microsoft's programs and I assume WinPhone7 wants to tie you into things like messenger, bing, mediaplayer, etc. etc. I like the fact that Android defaults to Google Maps, for instance.

 

[Zelig]

I've never really played around with anything other than iOS and Android. I liked iOS to an extent and I think Android is designed in part for iOS castaways. From an interface perspective it is basically the same thing with more customization. What are some positives about those OS's? I never looked into them too much. I do notice that Android suffers from a few glitches now and then such as the need to kill runaway processes and other things you never really encountered on iOS.

But, the marketshare thing is the killer. I also like Google more than Bing, I don't really like any of Microsoft's programs and I assume WinPhone7 wants to tie you into things like messenger, bing, mediaplayer, etc. etc. I like the fact that Android defaults to Google Maps, for instance.

The WP7 UI is really nice - fast, smooth, consistent - better than iOS (which has the next best smartphone UI), IMO. Integration with MS programs (Zune, Exchange, Office) is really good, on par with iOS integration with Apple products.

For smartphone search use, I don't care much about Google vs Bing either way, they both deliver good results, and I generally don't use stock browsers on smartphones in any case.

Google Maps is one of the biggest things Android has going for it, Bing Maps tries hard, but it's just not as good, overall.

Personally, my biggest annoyance with smartphones is their short battery life. If any good non-huge Android/WP7/BBOS smartphone was released today with better battery life than the iphone, I'd likely jump on it right away.

As a side note, battery life is part of the reason why I find smartphones unacceptable as music players - I get 60 hours out of my actual music player, and I don't want the hassle of worrying about not being able to make calls at the end of the day because I listened to some music on my phone.

 

[Maniacal]

How are those 2 things related if you're off contract?

I assume a newer and slimmer phone will both cost more than $25 a month and the fancy ones usually require a contract. I haven't looked into it though.

EDIT: And yeah they really, really need to vastly improve batteries or the usage there of. For years now the demands of technology have far outpaced the ability of the batteries to supply power for a meaningful length of time.

 

[illram]

The WP7 UI is really nice - fast, smooth, consistent - better than iOS (which has the next best smartphone UI), IMO. Integration with MS programs (Zune, Exchange, Office) is really good, on par with iOS integration with Apple products.

For smartphone search use, I don't care much about Google vs Bing either way, they both deliver good results, and I generally don't use stock browsers on smartphones in any case.

Google Maps is one of the biggest things Android has going for it, Bing Maps tries hard, but it's just not as good, overall.

Personally, my biggest annoyance with smartphones is their short battery life. If any good non-huge Android/WP7/BBOS smartphone was released today with better battery life than the iphone, I'd likely jump on it right away.

As a side note, battery life is part of the reason why I find smartphones unacceptable as music players - I get 60 hours out of my actual music player, and I don't want the hassle of worrying about not being able to make calls at the end of the day because I listened to some music on my phone.

I agree batteries are a huge issue. The EVO stock battery life is awful. Almost unusable. Most folks buy a bigger battery (which makes the phone slightly fatter) which makes it far more usable.

 

[Zelig]

I assume a newer and slimmer phone will both cost more than $25 a month and the fancy ones usually require a contract. I haven't looked into it though.

Phones never require contracts, only phone subsidies require contracts.

PCMobile operates on the regular Bellus HSPA network, if you get a PCMobile sim, you can get any unlocked Robellus/AT&T compatible phone off kijiji/ebay and it will work.

 

[Maniacal]

Phones never require contracts, only phone subsidies require contracts.

Contract, plan, whatever.

PCMobile operates on the regular Bellus HSPA network, if you get a PCMobile sim, you can get any unlocked Robellus/AT&T compatible phone off kijiji/ebay and it will work.

Bellus = Bell/Telus? Robellus Rodgers/Bell/Telus? (Also, screw the telecoms and their UBB). I have no idea where the sim car is in my phone, its an older model that I think I got in 2007, maybe 2008.

 

[Zelig]

Contract, plan, whatever.

Yeah, phones don't require plans either, all of the carriers sell phones you don't have you use with them after you unlock the phone.

Bellus = Bell/Telus? Robellus Rodgers/Bell/Telus? (Also, screw the telecoms and their UBB). I have no idea where the sim car is in my phone, its an older model that I think I got in 2007, maybe 2008.

Bellus = Bell/Telus - For all practical purposes, they share a single network.

Robellus = Rogers/Bell/Telus - Rogers has its own network, but 3G Rogers has the same frequencies with 3G Bellus, so phones are compatible with each other.

HSPA is new for PCMobile, your phone probably doesn't have a SIM, they're $10 on their own.

 

[LucyDuke]

Well, yes.

In which my point is precisely that the US has an absolutely crappy infrastructure, even in their major cities.

We do, although we're rather more horizontally spread out than lots of the rest of the developed world, which accounts for some of it, I think. I have a bigger beef with our market. Choices are very limited and prices are completely stupid.

 

[Cashie]

HTC Legend on Vodafone/Crazy John's $39 month.

Great phone, cruddy battery.

 

[Quintillus]

In the US I had brought my Sony Ericsson w580i from Norway, and got a terrible subscription and text-plan from TMobile. Also, mobile networks in the US sucks! How anyone can brag about "having the least dropped calls in your area" and still stay in business is insane!! Just being in my university's basement and I lost reception! That's unheard of in Norway and Japan, and here I can even drive in 4 km long tunnels underwater and still keep the signal!

My w580i, that I put some smart place not to forget where I put it...

That's what I have, too, same color even. I bought it in the U.S. secondhand and used it on AT&T, where it worked perfectly well, and then had them unlock it (which was surprisingly easy, I figured they'd give me a hard time) and now use it in Sweden, where it has performed just as well.

I buy prepaid cards with 75 SEK each on them, which I approximately to $11 when I got here but is now more like $12 thanks to the dollar's plummeting value. I've bought 3 or 4 in four months, it's pretty cheap. I can text very cheaply in Sweden and at good rates internationally, and also have good phone service and Internet access. The latter I don't use much, as it's fairly slow and not anywhere near a desktop experience. I can also receive international calls for free, which is nice.

I'll probably go back on my family's plan when I return to the U.S. since it's the only similarly cheap option, despite the loss of texts and Internet access. If I could keep doing what I've been doing here, though, I would.

The battery life isn't as good as my previous Sony Ericsson, but is still several days.

 

[holy king]

5 cent a minute, contract. i pay 10-15€ a month. not planning to change to that.

 

[Mise]

I agree batteries are a huge issue. The EVO stock battery life is awful. Almost unusable. Most folks buy a bigger battery (which makes the phone slightly fatter) which makes it far more usable.

There are a lot of apps that will try to take care of battery life for you. I don't use any of them, though, because it's pretty easy to take care of it yourself - just turn off wifi, GPS, etc when you're not using them. I use a widget on my homescreen to control all that. Also, turn the brightness down to minimum, unless you're outside and there's too much glare (again, the widget controls this) -- the display is the biggest battery killer IME. Task killers also help to kill apps that run in the background, wasting CPU and battery life.

I use my phone as a music player, and use it for 2 hours on the train reading the interwebs every day, and it still has 30% by the time I get home. If I also turn 3G/data off when I'm not using it, it lasts about 2 full days without a charge.

 

[Grisu]

my cell phone plan atm costs 50.-- which includes 50.-- credit for calls or text messages.

the plan is too much for me but in combination with DSL and landline, the DSL is free, so I still save some money.

phone's some nokia or other

 

[Zelig]

There are a lot of apps that will try to take care of battery life for you. I don't use any of them, though, because it's pretty easy to take care of it yourself - just turn off wifi, GPS, etc when you're not using them. I use a widget on my homescreen to control all that. Also, turn the brightness down to minimum, unless you're outside and there's too much glare (again, the widget controls this) -- the display is the biggest battery killer IME. Task killers also help to kill apps that run in the background, wasting CPU and battery life.

I use my phone as a music player, and use it for 2 hours on the train reading the interwebs every day, and it still has 30% by the time I get home. If I also turn 3G/data off when I'm not using it, it lasts about 2 full days without a charge.

Iphones still get better battery life than any Android phones for the same usage, which is something I want fixed.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

Had it for 4 years. It's a great phone. Had no problems with it whatsoever until recently. The speakers are starting to sound fuzzy and not as loud as before.

I don't pay a monthly fee - but i pay, on average, 4euro per month in vodafone with no free messages/minutes whatever. My phone usage did increase a lot recently - i'll probably get one of those fancy monthly pay plans next month.

I'm planning on buying this phone next month:

Spoiler :

I hope it'll be good.

 

[Godwynn]

$10 per month land line, so I can call people from home.

My city has these neat pay phones on street corners, so why would I ever have to carry a phone on me?

 

[Glassfan]

$10 per month land line, so I can call people from home.

My city has these neat pay phones on street corners, so why would I ever have to carry a phone on me?

This.

What do you think a lifetime of intimate, ionizing radiation is going to do to your brains?

 

[bhsup]

Nothing. Nothing at all.

Or, more relevantly, I should say a hell of a lot less than my pack a day of camels.


Anyhoo, I have a Blackberry Style flip with Sprint. 400 min/mo with unlimited data, text, web. $79/mo.

 

[Glassfan]

Nothing. Nothing at all.

Or, more relevantly, I should say a hell of a lot less than my pack a day of camels.

Well. at least you're smoking good cigarettes.

 

[illram]

There are a lot of apps that will try to take care of battery life for you. I don't use any of them, though, because it's pretty easy to take care of it yourself - just turn off wifi, GPS, etc when you're not using them. I use a widget on my homescreen to control all that. Also, turn the brightness down to minimum, unless you're outside and there's too much glare (again, the widget controls this) -- the display is the biggest battery killer IME. Task killers also help to kill apps that run in the background, wasting CPU and battery life.

I use my phone as a music player, and use it for 2 hours on the train reading the interwebs every day, and it still has 30% by the time I get home. If I also turn 3G/data off when I'm not using it, it lasts about 2 full days without a charge.

Yep, I do a lot of that. I turn off 4G and wifi but keep GPS on because I use maps a lot. My screen brightness dims after 3 seconds automatically and shuts off every 10-15 seconds (can't remember) so I do try to squeeze as much as I can. All my relevant settings widgets are on the last page when I skip left. I don't mess with task killers and I probably should. I suspect no matter what I did, however, it would still perform poorly compared to other phones for battery life because it's an EVO. What type of phone do you have?