Pre vs Iphone vs Storm

[geddiesburg]

Hey all,

So tomorrow I have to go out and get a phone. It's up in the air as to which I should get. Which is best? Iphone has a load of apps, but that's all I know. I used to have a blackberry pearl and hated it... but apparently the storm is good? The Pre is something I know nothing about. Reviews seem to be all over the place with them. Everyone has their own tastes, but I want the best product if I'm going to get off my wallet.

And now I'm reading about the HTC Hero... so many choices... I have no idea what to do

OR is now a good time to get a phone? Should I wait for the nvidia tegra based phones? It seems we are at the start of a revolution in phone technology and how we interact with them. Is now a good time to go with a cheap pay as you go phone and wait a little?



thanks for you help guys

andrew

 

[pm]

Well this likely to net you a lot of opinions.

Personally, I rate the phones in this order from my favorite to my least favorite: iPhone, Pre, MyTouch3G, Storm, Hero. This rating encompasses my personal opinion of usability, OS, stability, battery life and build quality. But that's just my list, and to be completely honest I like them all (haven't actually played with the Hero - just reviews).

I think the iPhone is probably the best thing out there if you don't need a keyboard (if you do, then I'd look to the Blackberries, and the Pre). It works generally well, and there's a lot of apps - almost too many. The Pre is very nice - I like the OS and the general feel of the OS, but not so much the build quality of the phone and there's not a lot of apps.

Personally I would recommend going to each store and then playing with them all in person for 15-30 minutes. If you ask everyone's opinion's you will likely get a lot of different opinions and most people like the phone that they bought.

Also take into account the local network - the iPhone is pretty nice but AT&T seems to suffer from an unusually high number of data outtages and generally long latencies that I've experienced that I've read in the paper. If you get good coverage in your area for Verizon and not so good coverage from T-Mobile then that makes the Storm a better candidate than the G1 - a phone is only useful if it can make and receive calls.

I think it's a decent time to buy a phone. There's likely to be a "Storm 2" in the next couple of months, and there will be an Android OS phone from Motorola as well as a few more from HTC and Samsung. But there will always be something coming soon.

But my advice is to try them all, ask people what service is best in your area, and then choose.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: pm

The Pre is very nice - I like the OS and the general feel of the OS, but not so much the build quality of the phone and there's not a lot of apps.

Yea the Pre's OS is awesome and multitasking is the best thing since sliced bread but it does seem fragile. There are more and more apps coming out for it all the time though. It's still only been out a couple months so give it some time to gather a ton of apps.

Originally posted by: pm

Also take into account the local network - the iPhone is pretty nice but AT&T seems to suffer from an unusually high number of data outtages and generally long latencies that I've experienced that I've read in the paper. If you get good coverage in your area for Verizon and not so good coverage from T-Mobile then that makes the Storm a better candidate than the G1 - a phone is only useful if it can make and receive calls.

This is the biggest complaint about the iPhone is AT&T's horrible network. I'd never go with AT&T cus of this. I know too many people who have this problem in LA which it's LA and it shouldn't be happening here.

 

[Rottie]

I love my iPhone 3GS I know ATT has some issues but I was reading news few months ago ATT is going to add more satilletes to handle large bandwith in 6 largest cities before the end of this year

 

[DivideBYZero]

Big Storm fan here, but I am biased. I have a Storm 1 on a custom OS and I have to say right as it is now it's perfect. It's as it should have been at launch. If you get a Storm 1, you need to update the Carrier supplied OS, as it is NOT good.

Storm 2. I'm going to break cover and tell you all I've had access to one for a couple of months. If you're interested, you should wait and check it out...

 

[ImDonly1]

Out of the phones you listed, I would not get the iPhone as the plans for it are expensive.
I like the Pre a friend of mine has it and it works fine. I would consider getting one. It also has a real keyboard, something none of the other phones have. I think WalMart is selling them for $80?
The Storm I always thought had terrible reviews and problems. I would not consider getting one. There is also a Storm 2 coming out.
The reviews of the Hero are very good. This would probably be my next phone if it had a keyboard.

Of course there are other phones like the HTC Touch Pro2 and Diamond 2. They run Windows Mobile.

If I were you, I would go to store and play with all of the phones. But my 2 picks are Pre or Hero. I myself ordered a Touch Pro 2. If I didn't get the Touch Pro 2 I would have got the HTC Hero, but I am not sure how I would have liked not having a keyboard.

As for new phones coming out by the end of the year, no one really knows. Next year 1 Ghz phones should be out, but no one really knows when. Of course people in Europe are already getting them, but by the time the US gets them, it will be a year later. I don't think we will be getting them any time soon. Google HTC Leo if interested in HTC's next 1 Ghz phone.

 

[Pliablemoose]

My choices would be, in order:

iPhone-just buy one and if you don't like it, return it during the grace period. The 3GS is stable, fast, and has a ton of support out there. ATT is working on it's infrastructure, everyone has dropped calls, if you're in a congested area, all carriers will have dropped calls.

The Pre, maybe... Build quality seems to be an issue, and I don't like how Palm is counting unsold phones in the retail channel as sold phones to boost their sales numbers. I also don;t like their hacking into iTunes, and Apple modifying iTunes so they can't, this si going to go on forever, I can't see Palm paying for the privilege or Apple willing to give up market share.

Don't bother with a BB, you've had one, everyone I know with a Storm says they wish they had an iPhone, or that Verizon should carry iPhones. BB is losing market share and is going down for the count, in another year or so, they'll be in serious trouble. If you like half baked phones and bad OS's, go for it...



I'm an Android user and have a G1, but only because I'm a TMobile customer for the foreseeable future.

 

[bucwylde23]

Out of those I'd choose the Storm 2. I'm a huge blackberry fan and the Storm 2 looks like it's shaping up to be a MUCH better phone than the storm 1.

If I didn't ahve a Tour I might consider one myself..

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
My choices would be, in order:

iPhone-just buy one and if you don't like it, return it during the grace period. The 3GS is stable, fast, and has a ton of support out there. ATT is working on it's infrastructure, everyone has dropped calls, if you're in a congested area, all carriers will have dropped calls.

The Pre, maybe... Build quality seems to be an issue, and I don't like how Palm is counting unsold phones in the retail channel as sold phones to boost their sales numbers. I also don;t like their hacking into iTunes, and Apple modifying iTunes so they can't, this si going to go on forever, I can't see Palm paying for the privilege or Apple willing to give up market share.

Don't bother with a BB, you've had one, everyone I know with a Storm says they wish they had an iPhone, or that Verizon should carry iPhones. BB is losing market share and is going down for the count, in another year or so, they'll be in serious trouble. If you like half baked phones and bad OS's, go for it...



I'm an Android user and have a G1, but only because I'm a TMobile customer for the foreseeable future.

This is a blatant lie, moose and you know it. BB out sell, by millions, any of your 'better' choices. and are still growing share qtr on qtr, but you keep on trolling, I like owning you.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
My choices would be, in order:

iPhone-just buy one and if you don't like it, return it during the grace period. The 3GS is stable, fast, and has a ton of support out there. ATT is working on it's infrastructure, everyone has dropped calls, if you're in a congested area, all carriers will have dropped calls.

AT&T is just a sorry ass carrier. No excuses for them. They've always had issues and more issues than any other carrier. I know too many people and read too many reviews and comparisons of the different carriers to take AT&T seriously. Yes all carriers will have dropped calls but AT&T will have infinitely more than the others. There's a reason why people hate on AT&T so much. No phone is worth going to AT&T.

 

[TheWart]

Originally posted by: zerocool84

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
My choices would be, in order:

iPhone-just buy one and if you don't like it, return it during the grace period. The 3GS is stable, fast, and has a ton of support out there. ATT is working on it's infrastructure, everyone has dropped calls, if you're in a congested area, all carriers will have dropped calls.

AT&T is just a sorry ass carrier. No excuses for them. They've always had issues and more issues than any other carrier. I know too many people and read too many reviews and comparisons of the different carriers to take AT&T seriously. Yes all carriers will have dropped calls but AT&T will have infinitely more than the others. There's a reason why people hate on AT&T so much. No phone is worth going to AT&T.

It all depends on where you live. In TN, Verizon used to be quite atrocious, but they were great in CA. Here in the DC/VA area, ATT has never been an issue for me, and even when I was in NYC last year it was great. To simply say the one carrier is worse in every single spot than another is really silly. If you use your phone within a fairly contained radius, all you need is a carrier that services that area well.

FWIW, I have the iPhone 3G and it is the best phone out there imo (barring the 3GS I guess)....that doesn't mean it is for everyone (if you need a keyboard, etc).

 

[luv2liv]

im using Pre now. quite possibly the best phone i've used so far! Pandora and Youtube over Sprint's evdo network work superbly wherever i drove in PA, DE, NJ. emails, both personal and work, are sync nicely. i always have the phone plugged in for juice. if not, the phone dies by 5pm with the way i use it.
friends r often amazed how Pre can handle so many taks simultaneously. off course, multitasking on a phone is nothing new. my 5 year old blackberry could swith back n forth many opened apps.

if you game a lot, get the iphone, without a doubt. though i wouldnt support apple myself. i hate how apple squeezes money outta people slowly. the phone is amazing but severely crippled. everyone knows the iphone OS can easily handles multitasking. but thats been disabled due to "battery life." give me a break! wouldnt surprise me when iphone 6g will have multitasking with some "special" hardware. so if you have 5g n want to do multitasking, you gotta upgrade to 6g, for example.

 

[swbsam]

Former user of the iphone 3g and current owner of the pre.

I like the pre, my wife hates it. I think she misses apps, but I never got into the whole app thing. my problem with the pre is that it always seems to die on me .. I Have a charger in my car and a charger at home and now will need a charger at work - I charge it overnight and for during my ride into work - 8 hours later and the battery is nearly dead. it's pretty annoying that I have to basically charge it all the time.

the spring network is much better than at&ts. iPhone wins for build quality as well. I scratched up my first pre but wised up and bought a screen protector for my second one (my first pre would power down whenever I slid the keyboard down - lose battery, I'm guessing).

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: swbsam
Former user of the iphone 3g and current owner of the pre.

I like the pre, my wife hates it. I think she misses apps, but I never got into the whole app thing. my problem with the pre is that it always seems to die on me .. I Have a charger in my car and a charger at home and now will need a charger at work - I charge it overnight and for during my ride into work - 8 hours later and the battery is nearly dead. it's pretty annoying that I have to basically charge it all the time.

the spring network is much better than at&ts. iPhone wins for build quality as well. I scratched up my first pre but wised up and bought a screen protector for my second one (my first pre would power down whenever I slid the keyboard down - lose battery, I'm guessing).

Turn off blutooth, gps, and all those extras you don't need when using it. I can make mine last much longer.

 

[Ghouler]

OT:

Originally posted by: pm
I think the iPhone is probably the best thing out there if you don't need a keyboard (if you do, then I'd look to the Blackberries, and the Pre).

What about nokias e71 and e63? Are these anyhow inferior to blackberries?

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: Ghouler
OT:

Originally posted by: pm
I think the iPhone is probably the best thing out there if you don't need a keyboard (if you do, then I'd look to the Blackberries, and the Pre).

What about nokias e71 and e63? Are these anyhow inferior to blackberries?

Yes.

The keyboards are bitch to use. And I have small hands so it should not be a big hassle, but it is. The screen isnt as big and you cant customize the desktop easily, at least not on the AT&T branded e71x.
If you wanna go that route you should get an unlocked E71. You can do more with it and it doesnt have annoying shit installed.

 

[QueBert]

my .02 cents, I had a Pearl, and the 2nd day I had in my pocket with my loose keys the screen had a gouge on it, not just a little scratch but an actual deep gouge in one of the corners. It was a good 1/2 an inch long. My iPhone, same pocket, same keys. 2 years and the screen still looks brand new. Most amazing cell phone I've ever owned for this reason alone. Even the ones that didn't end up with a gouge, I've never had a cell phone outside of the iPhone that didn't get a scratched up screen from being in my pocket. The back, well that's a different story lol. But the glass they use is simply mind blowing.

iPhone also has a totally kick ass LogMeIn client, and easily the best selection of quality apps. It's not even close.

iPhone > * cell phone.

 

[pm]

Originally posted by: Ghouler
OT:

Originally posted by: pm
I think the iPhone is probably the best thing out there if you don't need a keyboard (if you do, then I'd look to the Blackberries, and the Pre).

What about nokias e71 and e63? Are these anyhow inferior to blackberries?

I have a brand-new, in-box Nokia E71X sitting around at my house waiting for Ebay. When we signed up with AT&T at the start of the summer, I got an iPhone and my wife got an E71X. She used it for about a month and eventually decided she really didn't like it and it's been gathering dust ever since. I think the summary of why she didn't like it comes down to her finding the interface confusing.

I realize that lots and lots of people like the Nokia E71, but it's not on my list because of our experience with it.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
My choices would be, in order:

iPhone-just buy one and if you don't like it, return it during the grace period. The 3GS is stable, fast, and has a ton of support out there. ATT is working on it's infrastructure, everyone has dropped calls, if you're in a congested area, all carriers will have dropped calls.

The Pre, maybe... Build quality seems to be an issue, and I don't like how Palm is counting unsold phones in the retail channel as sold phones to boost their sales numbers. I also don;t like their hacking into iTunes, and Apple modifying iTunes so they can't, this si going to go on forever, I can't see Palm paying for the privilege or Apple willing to give up market share.

Don't bother with a BB, you've had one, everyone I know with a Storm says they wish they had an iPhone, or that Verizon should carry iPhones. BB is losing market share and is going down for the count, in another year or so, they'll be in serious trouble. If you like half baked phones and bad OS's, go for it...



I'm an Android user and have a G1, but only because I'm a TMobile customer for the foreseeable future.

This is a blatant lie, moose and you know it. BB out sell, by millions, any of your 'better' choices. and are still growing share qtr on qtr, but you keep on trolling, I like owning you.

Perhaps but that's because you're a blatant BB fanboy. BB is huge in the US but in the rest of the world it's barely a blip on the radar.

The fact of the matter is the iPhone took the US by storm and it stormed into Europe easily. Even with most of Asia NOT offering the iPhone (China is barely getting in now), you can see that is the one phone capable of penetrating the 90% Symbian OS marketshare there. Windows Mobile is only alive because HTC is in Asia. Where the hell is RIM? Nowhere.

 

[pm]

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
My choices would be, in order:

iPhone-just buy one and if you don't like it, return it during the grace period. The 3GS is stable, fast, and has a ton of support out there. ATT is working on it's infrastructure, everyone has dropped calls, if you're in a congested area, all carriers will have dropped calls.

The Pre, maybe... Build quality seems to be an issue, and I don't like how Palm is counting unsold phones in the retail channel as sold phones to boost their sales numbers. I also don;t like their hacking into iTunes, and Apple modifying iTunes so they can't, this si going to go on forever, I can't see Palm paying for the privilege or Apple willing to give up market share.

Don't bother with a BB, you've had one, everyone I know with a Storm says they wish they had an iPhone, or that Verizon should carry iPhones. BB is losing market share and is going down for the count, in another year or so, they'll be in serious trouble. If you like half baked phones and bad OS's, go for it...



I'm an Android user and have a G1, but only because I'm a TMobile customer for the foreseeable future.

This is a blatant lie, moose and you know it. BB out sell, by millions, any of your 'better' choices. and are still growing share qtr on qtr, but you keep on trolling, I like owning you.

Perhaps but that's because you're a blatant BB fanboy. BB is huge in the US but in the rest of the world it's barely a blip on the radar.

The fact of the matter is the iPhone took the US by storm and it stormed into Europe easily. Even with most of Asia NOT offering the iPhone (China is barely getting in now), you can see that is the one phone capable of penetrating the 90% Symbian OS marketshare there. Windows Mobile is only alive because HTC is in Asia. Where the hell is RIM? Nowhere.

Where are you getting your numbers? Those numbers don't match with what I've read.

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/...obal-smartphone-share/

And specifically this table:
http://images.appleinsider.com...8wwsalessmartphone.jpg

Which shows RIM with ~20% worldwide smartphone marketshare, well ahead of Apple with ~11% and moving up on Nokia (@ ~40%) with a strong 85% year-on-year growth rate.

On a similar note, check out the pie charts on the right-hand side of this link:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/1...tion.fortune/index.htm

Both sets of numbers are from Gartner. But numbers from Canalys are pretty close as well:
http://www.canalys.com/pr/2008/r2008112.htm

Although Canalys has the RIM and Apple spots swapped around, and show RIM a bit lower than Gartner does, the general trend for RIM and Apple are strongly upward and this idea that RIM has limited and declining worldwide smartphone marketshare are not supported by either of these analyst companies.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Thanks, PM. You saved me some easy work.

I don't deny being a BB fanboy, but I don't deny the success of the iPhone, either. However to state that RIM is 'dead in the water', 'crippled' or 'half baked' is barely worth responding to.

Anyhow, I'll just go back to playing with the Storm 2 sitting on my couch...

 

[Deeko]

I don't understand why people attack RIM and claim Backberry is dead or dying. Are you just ignorant to cell phones in the pre-iPhone era? Up until the Pearl/Curve, Blackberry was mired in the "good for corporate/bad for consumer" category - even more so than Windows Mobile is now. And while WM has taken years to start moving towards more consumer-based devices, Blackberry has made huge strides in that direction. Is BBOS as modern as iPhone/Android/WebOS? No - but look at how far they've come in the past couple of years, combined with their rising sales & strong hold on the corporate sector.

Blackberry is certainly not going anywhere.

 

[Deeko]

Anyway, to the OP - this question can't be answered without more context, and in the end, its personal preference. There is NO phone that is hands down #1, no matter what certain posters in here claim.

I've used all the phones mentioned here, along with quite a few others. For me, the G1 is still the best. I would never buy an iPhone or a Storm because I do a lot of typing on my phone, and I despise on screen keyboards. If I were getting a Blackberry, it would be a Tour. The Pre is a great phone, but the battery life is pretty bad for a lot of people.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Apologies, I was thinking of RIMMls last quarter when stock price got hammered.

For some reason I assumed that related to market share

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: pm

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
My choices would be, in order:

iPhone-just buy one and if you don't like it, return it during the grace period. The 3GS is stable, fast, and has a ton of support out there. ATT is working on it's infrastructure, everyone has dropped calls, if you're in a congested area, all carriers will have dropped calls.

The Pre, maybe... Build quality seems to be an issue, and I don't like how Palm is counting unsold phones in the retail channel as sold phones to boost their sales numbers. I also don;t like their hacking into iTunes, and Apple modifying iTunes so they can't, this si going to go on forever, I can't see Palm paying for the privilege or Apple willing to give up market share.

Don't bother with a BB, you've had one, everyone I know with a Storm says they wish they had an iPhone, or that Verizon should carry iPhones. BB is losing market share and is going down for the count, in another year or so, they'll be in serious trouble. If you like half baked phones and bad OS's, go for it...



I'm an Android user and have a G1, but only because I'm a TMobile customer for the foreseeable future.

This is a blatant lie, moose and you know it. BB out sell, by millions, any of your 'better' choices. and are still growing share qtr on qtr, but you keep on trolling, I like owning you.

Perhaps but that's because you're a blatant BB fanboy. BB is huge in the US but in the rest of the world it's barely a blip on the radar.

The fact of the matter is the iPhone took the US by storm and it stormed into Europe easily. Even with most of Asia NOT offering the iPhone (China is barely getting in now), you can see that is the one phone capable of penetrating the 90% Symbian OS marketshare there. Windows Mobile is only alive because HTC is in Asia. Where the hell is RIM? Nowhere.

Where are you getting your numbers? Those numbers don't match with what I've read.

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/...obal-smartphone-share/

And specifically this table:
http://images.appleinsider.com...8wwsalessmartphone.jpg

Which shows RIM with ~20% worldwide smartphone marketshare, well ahead of Apple with ~11% and moving up on Nokia (@ ~40%) with a strong 85% year-on-year growth rate.

On a similar note, check out the pie charts on the right-hand side of this link:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/1...tion.fortune/index.htm

Both sets of numbers are from Gartner. But numbers from Canalys are pretty close as well:
http://www.canalys.com/pr/2008/r2008112.htm

Although Canalys has the RIM and Apple spots swapped around, and show RIM a bit lower than Gartner does, the general trend for RIM and Apple are strongly upward and this idea that RIM has limited and declining worldwide smartphone marketshare are not supported by either of these analyst companies.

I'm getting my numbers from Admob which breaks down a lot of things. You're looking at quarter by quarter or year by year sales which is a good look, but for example the data you show fails to recognize that a lot of the WinMo sales are coming from overseas. HTC's done unbelievably well in Asia and if you look around there a LOT of people are carrying Touch Diamonds or Touch Diamond 2s or the Touch Pros. Here in the US, it's a lot less. The iPhone sales are remarkable in the US and Europe, but they were slow to adopt in Asia. BB's sales have been huge in the US and have recently pushed into Western Europe, although slowly just like the iPhone pushed into Asia.

What I'm trying to say is that BB isn't as big as we make it to be. The rest of the world doesn't really give a shit about what RIM's next device is, but you can bet people were drooling for news about the HTC HD2. I follow a lot of the cell phone rumors and news and forums. The HTC HD2 has made a lot of noise. Engadget's got heavy US influence so you can see a bunch of BB articles spring up left and right. I scroll past those usually when I read through Google Reader, and I won't deny that they're huge in the US. In the rest of the sites I read dedicated to phones, the BB news barely makes a blip on the radar. If you look at Admobs metrics, BB doesn't make much of the market.

Yes BlackBerry is huge in the US and in parts of Europe because RIM has successfully worked with these carriers to negotiate great contract prices. This is something HTC has begun working on too. But when the cell phone itself is a free market purchase device in many other parts of the world, you can see why Nokia's N95 was such a big hit. Because they weren't working with AT&T and Verizon or whatever, 99% of the people here do not know what an N95 is, but in the rest of the world it's like a top 5 cell phone (look at AdMobs once again).

No I never did believe or think that BB is going down the drain. I just don't think they're as great as people in the US think they are. Essentially, getting a Blackberry was what everyone thought was "going online" with their cell phone and the "industry standard" for e-mail, and texting. But in fact WinMo has been around for a long time and so has Symbian. And now the iPhone does all that just fine with a lot of other features. It's just that other brands lack proper penetration into the US market.