Which smartphone to choose for the Mac?, A phone with advacne PDA capabilities

[linathael]

Let's start a topic about smartphone, those mobile phones aiming to bring us mobility, without becoming gadgets.
I am looking for a mobile phone featuring calendar/schedule/task/agenda, easy to visualize but also to use from the mobile (especially for entries); so utimitaley the phone has to get a real qwerty keyboard of a palm-style pen.
concernign phone functions, it has to be 3G, GPRS, USB2.0, BT2.0

for the time being I have been browsing the web and models, I am currently selecting:
- K800i
- BlackBerry Pearl
- Nokia E61
- Nokia E60/E70
- Nokia N80/N90/N93
- Sony-Ericsson: P990i

A Treo would be really good, but the last model is about 2 years old Treo 650 and I do not trust Palm anymore, especially since they have chosen Miscrosoft Mobile instead of Symbian or Linux.

So any comments, idea or mobile to mention?

[greg57]

Hey... I remember that personal query of you in the mailing list
After all that's what forums are for

[linathael]

Hey... I remember that personal query of you in the mailing list
After all that's what forums are for

yep sharing experience

actually I have been testing quickly this evening a SonyEricsson M600i, and it looks really good... I might not wait for the iPhone to be released in January

[linathael]

update:

so three models are interesting (in addition to the blackberry):
- SonyEricsson M600i (missing WIFI otherwise the perfect tools I was looking for)
- Nokia E61 (Looks good, missing the PDA experience)
- Nokia N95 (not yet released, but looks complete)

in summary with the floating rumor about the iPhone to be released in a near future, I might wait till January...
but can I really resist?

[Dogcow]

As far as I know, the M600i does not wok with iSync (or did I mis an update?)

To add some personal experience: I am very happy with my SE p910i. It does what it should do (calendar, notetaking, TomTom navigation) and works flawlessly with iSync. (Oh yes, and you can actually make phonecalls too.... )

[linathael]

As far as I know, the M600i does not wok with iSync (or did I mis an update?)

To add some personal experience: I am very happy with my SE p910i. It does what it should do (calendar, notetaking, TomTom navigation) and works flawlessly with iSync. (Oh yes, and you can actually make phonecalls too.... )

Oups, I did not know for the iSync compatibility for hte M600i...
I have to investigate this part, I am surprise because it is a Symbian-based smart phone part of the S60 Nokia platform.

the SE P990i looks good, but also maybe too good for what it is needed for. You mention TomTom navigation, does it imply that the P990i has en integrated GPS? I missed that point.

the nokia N95 looks good on paper, will have to wait that websites get it for review.
Thansk for your comments

[cheerful]

i had a chance to play with the N95, in short, don't fancy Symbian OS. A tad too many bugs esp. in the area of sms (not sure about mms), there's a limit which you hit which will cause the sms feature to go weird. the video and photos are pretty good though. but i don't think it is worth the $

[linathael]

i had a chance to play with the N95, in short, don't fancy Symbian OS. A tad too many bugs esp. in the area of sms (not sure about mms), there's a limit which you hit which will cause the sms feature to go weird. the video and photos are pretty good though. but i don't think it is worth the $

you are a lucky guy to be able to test a N95 that will not be available before Q1 2007.
I do not care too much about SMS, I am more interested by the task,agenda/calendar functions and how easy it is to enter text.
the integrated GPS might also be a good argument to wait for its availability.
in which country is ti already available?

[Dogcow]

the SE P990i looks good, but also maybe too good for what it is needed for. You mention TomTom navigation, does it imply that the P990i has en integrated GPS? I missed that point.

Well I don't know about the p990 because I have the older 910, but I use an external bluetooth GPS in my car, which switches on automatically when I start the engine and is automagically recognised by th phone

[linathael]

bouh...

I have started to look around cocnerning iSync compatibility, and immediately both SE M600i and P990i are out
http://mobile.feisar.com/forum/index.cgi?f...c_id=1152642167

this was also confirmed by Apple iSync page (eventhough it is not really up to date)

Novamedia was also giving hte list of supported mobile by their iSync solution, and again M600i and P990i are not supported.

It seems, as usual, that for getting support, Apple needs to make an update of iSync to make its synchronization system compatible with the Symbian 9...

I think I will have to wait

[cheerful]

yep, kinda lucky to have a chance to play with a good deal of phones. pity i'm not too much techy in that area, if not, i'll put forth objective reviews so that more ppl can make an informed decision on phones. just hang in there, Q1 2007 isn't too far.

[linathael]

yep, kinda lucky to have a chance to play with a good deal of phones. pity i'm not too much techy in that area, if not, i'll put forth objective reviews so that more ppl can make an informed decision on phones. just hang in there, Q1 2007 isn't too far.

By that time the iPhone will be there.
I am really looking for a real keyboard-equipped phone, the M600i keyboard system is nice.
Apple might come up with a entire touch screen-based entry system

[cheerful]

yep. i've been holding a long time for the rumored "iPhone" too. i really am hoping that there's the entire touchscreen-based phone which possesses the likes of the vPod and new fuel-cell or whatever new technologies they have in the field. haha greedy ain't i? these days, no products will be perfect, they are intentionally built with certain flaws so that we are forced to get a newer one after the warranty expires. (omg, i'm rattling on again ... pardon me, btw, i wrote the below before i wrote this top)

still holding onto my SE T610 (paid abt 65 Euro then, aprox. 3 yrs ago). The other free phones which I use at times for quick photos is the NEC 600i (acquired this 1 year ago, early Oct 2005). there's also 2 other phones (also free ones, as i don't believe in spending on phones that i don't fancy that much) --- V3 and o2 Atom.

[linathael]

yep. i've been holding a long time for the rumored "iPhone" too. i really am hoping that there's the entire touchscreen-based phone which possesses the likes of the vPod and new fuel-cell or whatever new technologies they have in the field. haha greedy ain't i? these days, no products will be perfect, they are intentionally built with certain flaws so that we are forced to get a newer one after the warranty expires. (omg, i'm rattling on again ... pardon me, btw, i wrote the below before i wrote this top)

still holding onto my SE T610 (paid abt 65 Euro then, aprox. 3 yrs ago). The other free phones which I use at times for quick photos is the NEC 600i (acquired this 1 year ago, early Oct 2005). there's also 2 other phones (also free ones, as i don't believe in spending on phones that i don't fancy that much) --- V3 and o2 Atom.

my current Motorola V550 is 2 and a half years old, and still serving me perfectly.
at that time I had a palm, so I did not need a smartphone; now, my Palm is dead, and I really would liek to get a PDA feature-enable mobile phone.
I can wait till January, except if Apple updates iSync, making the M600i compatible with Macs...

[cheerful]

moto has some really nice designs too, but like SE, their UI takes some getting used to. i still pretty much love the nokia UI (the older ones such as the N8120 or the slightly newer but also considered old now --- N6100)

samsung on the other hand wins in the camera section. if i'm not mistaken, they have been leading from the first 3MP 5MP 7MP and now 10MP phone! manz, its so crazy. though most if not all are using cmos, but quality is so much better than the o2 (a really expensive pda phone) thing about Samsung is that most of their flip phones don't last long ... requires almost constant servicing ... sigh.

palm has been pretty reliable but now, after sales service (where i am at) totally suxs compared to other brands.

LG is also making waves with their choco. series. as for panasonic ... no comments, cause not much interested in their models yet.

as for the slim cat. Samsung and moto seems to be fighting haha. from the slimmest slide, slimless candy bar and the flip etc ... lol

all in all, consumers are really spoilt for choice. i myself would just list what i really want in a phone and i go for the one that suits me which most likely be SE hehe, i'm pretty much a sucker for design and SE just grows on me (not all the models, but most)

[linathael]

UP

well the reason being that I did not make my choice yet, but it becomes urgent...
my current Motorola V550, serving me for now almost 3 years, feature a battery with a max 1.5 days lifespan while it was used to 5 days at the beginning.
since the cost of a replacing battery is worse than buying a new mobile+subscription I went back to my favorite websites for reviewing models of phone

I am really in love with the M600i, and the only down side its incompatibility with iSync, well impossible to sync with any third party applications too, same is true for the P990i (well not really as Thierry Gerard has worked out a script for syncing ical), but it remains not complete
I just discovered the W950i, another potential device for me

on Nokia side, the N95 and the N800 look brilliant but again no real information concerning compatibility with iSync, N95 should be compatible... but nothing is 100% sure.

last but not least, after discovering MacPocket and themissingSync I realized that it might be easier to get a Windows Mobile - based pocket PC to get it Sync with my Mac than having another smartphone to directly sync it with iSync.

Hey Apple could you just DO SOMETHING useful, or is it on purpose that you prevent user to get other smartphone to push them waiting for the iphone?? For me it is impossible as I will have to wait for about 10 months... at that time the battery of my V550 will only last 6 hours...

[cheerful]

... ... my current Motorola V550, serving me for now almost 3 years, feature a battery with a max 1.5 days lifespan while it was used to 5 days at the beginning ... ...
I am really in love with the M600i, and the only down side its incompatibility with iSync, well impossible to sync with any third party applications too, same is true for the P990i (well not really as Thierry Gerard has worked out a script for syncing ical), but it remains not complete
I just discovered the W950i, another potential device for me
... ...

it really depends very much on how you want to use it. for me, if the current one serves me well, i would just bite the bullet and get the battery (provided that phone doesn't decide to give up on me the time i get a new battery).

the W950i is nice indeed. however, surfing on all these mobile devices is much to be desired. i've tried a few and i've never really love them. the closes i've come to using is actually (sad to say, Windows ...) o2 mini and the current o2 atom. i would think the dopod might be good too.

one of the most recently advertised/promoted phone in sg is currently the N80i. marketed as an internet phone, but if i compare it to the likes of o2, dopod and etc i just would say they don't suit me at all.

base on the keynote presentations and the "reviews" of Apple's Phone, it seems more workable for me.
1) enjoy the use! haha
2) seemless

back to your concerns on incompabilities with iSync ... i'm not sure about most of the phones, but will u be able to find some not so seemless way to do the Sync-ing? definitely a big minus factor, but @least there's still away to do it (hopefully).

that said, i personally would still suggest that u bite the bullet, get that batt, stick to something familiar and hold on tight for the pretty high-cost Apple Phone.

[linathael]

what i want is a perfect sync
I want quad band wifi and BT
I would love a stylus based/touchscreen as Palm used to be.
and a phone function.
I do not really care about other features such as applications, web surfing, even camera is not a required feature for me.

[cheerful]

i can sum it up by saying you just need an organizer (semi-basic one + calling abilities) that syncs perfectly well with a mac. i'm not sure if this solution might be better, 2 items, 1 phone and 1 organizer. the weight of both should be lighter than a combined item. in addition, battery life should be way better.

do you recall the Rex-3,4 and 5? Rex-5 was really nice an suited for most if not all ppl. but those things did not come cheap then. battery life was great too. pity that couldn't work on a mac (@least not that i know of). syncing via VPC was pretty much a hassle too.

[linathael]

i can sum it up by saying you just need an organizer (semi-basic one + calling abilities) that syncs perfectly well with a mac. i'm not sure if this solution might be better, 2 items, 1 phone and 1 organizer. the weight of both should be lighter than a combined item. in addition, battery life should be way better.

do you recall the Rex-3,4 and 5? Rex-5 was really nice an suited for most if not all ppl. but those things did not come cheap then. battery life was great too. pity that couldn't work on a mac (@least not that i know of). syncing via VPC was pretty much a hassle too.

git it right
problem being that the best solution for having a perfect synchronizing solution with Mac would currently be having a phone/PDA comnied running Windows Mobile 5.0 !!
Apple stopped support for Synbiam-based mobile from IUQ1.0... and the latest, and top-banana models (M600i, P990i, W950i, are all IUQ3.0)...
great Cupertino, well done... you know what I will not get an iPhone, as it comes only too late in Europe, and it is far too much expensive... could get a K800i+2 years subscription for 69euros +(32 euros/months)

[dallas]

I would skip Nokia. When you'll fill them with messages, vcards and other items they're getting slow.

[linathael]

I would skip Nokia. When you'll fill them with messages, vcards and other items they're getting slow.

I will see
my wife just got a Nokia E61
looks great actually, smooth, fast, responsive, quite customizable.

EDIT 15/02/2007:
after 2 weeks of use, my wife loves her E61, it syncs with iSync, iCal and contacts are transfered correctly. The battery lifetime is quite amazing with such handheld, while using it moderately, it lasts for one week

[cheerful]

Will the Apple Phone be the natural choice now? p.s. Apple Phone considered a smartphone?

[linathael]

Will the Apple Phone be the natural choice now? p.s. Apple Phone considered a smartphone?

I do not know yet
I have seen hte price of hte N95 in France... 799euro

[rhod123]

Blackberry smart phones not only can sync your iTunes or Windows Media® Player music, but if you’ use a PC, you can sync your favorite photos too to Carry your albums with you on your BlackBerry smartphone and share with your acquaintances.

Blackberry smart phones not only can sync your iTunes or Windows Media® Player music, but if you’ use a PC, you can sync your favorite photos too to Carry your albums with you on your BlackBerry smartphone and share with your acquaintances.