Torn for phones

[Fenrir]

Ok so I'm torn.

I can afford an iPhone, and I played around with one and loved it to pieces. However, a friend of mine has the LG Viewty, which is , although LG won't admit it, their 'iPhone killer'.
I'm just wondering what other people think about them, which would be better. I don't need a GPS unit, nor do I need a brilliantly uber camera. If I'm doing photography, I'll use my D40.
Both of them look the part and both are basically on the same contract, bar the iPhone costing the money it does to buy the handset.
The iPhone lacks a few features I know, but according to my friend the LG can be fiddly and the battery runs out within a day or so.

And please, for god's sake don't turn this thread into an Apple/iPhone bashing thread. If I want to see how crap Steve Job's brand is, I'll search on Google/Youtube.

[otispunkmeyer]

i think id go for the iphone.... it just works so beautifully. my mate has one and it really is a pleasure to use. yeah its got all those glitzy animations and an orientation sensor and you'd probably think that at times it might chug or stutter but it just doesnt.... its completely fluid.

the screen is wonderful, its sharp and the colours are splendid. i know it doesnt really matter but the viewing angle is nigh on +/- 180 on it as well. navigating by use of gestures is soooo easy and really intuitive

itunes is a brilliant addition and again its so easy to use to play music and videos. the 8gb version seems to be plenty really. my friend has a good mix of music and video on it.

its really well built as well, and much slimmer than i first imagined.

the two main problems with it really are the signal strength....it doesnt like holding on to a signal and will just lose/gain signal strength all on its own even if its sat in the same spot.

cameras not brilliant either, but then again cameras on phones never are. the headphone jack is sat in a huge recess so using your own headphones is almost impossible without using some kind of adapter.

battery life isnt especially amazing either, that screen eats juice, but the same can be said for the viewt as well because it also has pretty naff battery life. dont quote me on this but i dont think it has 3G (which may or may not be useful) and i think it does have edge which to my knowledge maybes isnt too useful in the UK. i havent heard much about edge anyway.

ive seen the viewty in action as well, although not first hand. i have to say from demo's that its operation is not as smooth as the iphones. however i think its responsive input (ie vibrates when you tap the screen to let you know you have pressed something) is a good idea and it seems that all the icons on the display are nice and large so you shouldnt have trouble touching them

not sure on the onboard memory but id imagine it has a fair amount and i presume its expandable with sd micro cards or something.

for me, both phones are great, perhaps the LG packs a little more in with connectivity including 3g and HSDPA or whatever it is, and the iphone being just being so stunning to use.

if i could afford it...... id take the iphone without question.

but i cant, so ill be going for the next best thing.... the viewty.

i know LG dont want it to be known as an Iphone rival...but lets face it is and its really just shy of the mark. its a very good 2nd choice if you cant have the iphone though.

[IceBone]

HTC

[poptya]

check out the Verizon Voyager as well, it's what I'll be getting

[Viper007Bond]

I my iPod Touch, and it and the iPhone are leaps and bounds ahead of everything else if you jailbreak it.

[Gman333-X-ferrari]

Originally Posted by IceBone

HTC

The Viewty's a worth competitor for the iPhone, but the iPhone is just so much slicker. And since you've got a D40 for your photo needs, the 5-megapixel camera on the Viewty will be useless for you. And if you jailbreak your iPhone you have so many more features. Oh and don't forget the iPhone's an iPod as well. That takes care of entertainment.

[IceBone]

What? The guy asked for an opinion. I didn't bash apple once, i just suggested a company he should investigate and then form his own opinion.

[marcos_eirik]

Then I'd like to champion the Sony Ericsson W960i, does everything the iPhone does, at half the price... I have had mine for a week now, and I love it to bits...

[Gman333-X-ferrari]

Originally Posted by IceBone

What? The guy asked for an opinion. I didn't bash apple once, i just suggested a company he should investigate and then form his own opinion.

No, no, I was merely observing, and you are right to suggested a company he should investigate then form his own opinions upon.

[ahpadt]

Originally Posted by Gman333-X-ferrari

No, no, I was merely observing, and you are right to suggested a company he should investigate then form his own opinions upon.

In which way(s) is an iPhone better than lets say, HTC TyTn II?

[IceBone]

I just discovered HTC Touch Cruise. Windows Mobile 6 based, has EVERYTHING, including GPS and apparently Navigon (which i prefer) runs better on it than TomTom which it comes with.

It's gonna be my next phone.

[hajj]

dimensions and weight?

[IceBone]

Processor: Qualcomm® MSM7200™, 400MHz
Operating System: Windows Mobile® 6 Professional
Memory: ROM: 256MB ; RAM: 128MB DDR SDRAM
Dimensions: 110 mm (L) X 58 mm (W) X 15.5 mm (T)
Weight: 130g with battery
Display: 2.8-inch TFT-LCD with backlight LEDs, touch-sensitive screen
Network: HSDPA/UMTS: 2100 MHz (Europe), 850/1900 MHz (USA); HSDPA: Up to 384kbps for upload and 3.6Mbps for download; UMTS: Up to 384kbps for upload and download; GSM/GPRS/EDGE: Quad-band 850, 900, 1800, and 1900 MHz (The device will operate on frequencies available from the cellular network)
Device Control: HTC TouchFLO™; 4-Way Navigation Wheel with Enter button
Connectivity: Bluetooth® 2.0; Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g; HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB and audio jack in one), full-speed USB 2.0
Camera: Main camera: 3 megapixel color CMOS camera with auto focus; Second camera: VGA CMOS color camera
Audio: Built-in microphone and speaker
Ring tone supported formats:

• MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, WAV, and AMR-NB
  
• 40 polyphonic and standard MIDI format 0 and 1(SMF)/SP MIDI

Battery: 1350 mAh rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
Standby time:

• Up to 450 hours for UMTS
  
• Up to 400 hours for GSM

Talk time:

• Up to 4 hours for UMTS
  
• Up to 7 hours for GSM
  
• Up to 2.3 hours for video call (The above are subject to network and phone usage) Expansion Slot microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)

AC Adapter: Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60Hz, DC output: 5V and 1A

[otispunkmeyer]

also have a look at the samsung F700

details on its OS are sketchy, well for me at least as i have not found anything on it, but the phone itself is rather nice. bit smaller than the iPhone, its got a 2.8inch touch screen with that vibration feedback similar to the viewty's, it can play all the media the iphone can + more, and it has a slide out QWERTY keyboard to boot.

i seen it in the shop and the design is pretty smart, if a little uninteresting, also its well built (naturally being a samsung) though the materials and material "effects" are bit cheap looking. camera is a bout as much cop as the iphones, but it does have autofocus.

again the unknown OS could spoil the party perhaps when it comes to 3rd party support. it has a document viewer, which is useful and its possible that it could become an editor as well.

seriously, google Samsung F700

http://www.trustedreviews.com/mobile...iPhone-Butt/p1

it is however, only available on Vodafone in the UK

[hajj]

It's a bit to wide and heavy for me. I carry two phones, so I usually have small ones. My U700 however isnt that small and my E900 needs to get replaced. I have thought about the Viewty, but this seems like a good alternative...