Okay, here is my dilema..... My current contract is up, so i have the option of 3 ways to go next...
I've had various Windows Mobile based devices for several years now, i've had the SPV E200, then the SPV M1000 (Himalaya), then the O2 XDA Exec (Universal), then the O2 Mini-s (Wizard) then finally the MDA Vario II (Hermes)
I've had loads of fun with these handsets over the years and thanks to xda-devs have hacked and flashed to my hearts content..... but now i think it's time for a chance...
Do i....
A) Get the next update in the Windows Mobile range, the MDA Vario III (Kaiser)
B) Get an Unlocked Iphone...
C) Get a Iphone clone
D) Something else - if so, please specify... i appreciate your time and opinion.
What do you thiink
imho iphone clones are like a dragqueen few people are really fooled
and it's not the same thing
same thing with many other ui mods for wm they got their look but when the user
start a program or open a dir your back to the wm look
so imho iphone skins are just that skins the thing one see before starting to use the device
if the cool of iphone is what one likes and one can make do with the limitations of features of iphone then get an iphone
if one needs the features of various wm devices then imho putting a skin on it which makes people think it's iphone'ish will make it just that
i require the access of many 3th party apps which i cant get on iphone so i will make do with wm even if some parts of iphones gui is better and cooler then wm
i will not try to make my wm device with whatever lacking it have look like an undead ½ iphone
Apples and oranges
By the looks you know what WM can do for you. Are you happy with it? Does it suit your needs?
Or do you prefer eye-candy with a very slick UI?
Work or fun?
You have a lot of WM software that you paid for?
The choice is yours, really........
P.S.: I do like the I-phone UI, the screen etc., but for me the present version just doesn´t cut it........maybe the next generation I-Phone.
Do you want "use" or "decoration" ?
Iphone is like flash-dating: the initial 3 minutes thing. But it sure is a dating agent; it will probably pull a lot of partners if they are the kind easily impressed by money and looks; I've seen a 40-some guy on a plane do just that! And the girl did not look more than 17. Now a WM phone would probably scare her away. Too techy.
But I like tech things and am waiting for a really good linux phone.
Cheers.
one think i love about iphone is the album art flipping one can do like in itunes but personaly i use a sdcard reader to put music on my device so it would not sync
plus iphone cant use sdcards at all so that would be a limitation too
It depends on what you do with the device.
Do you want MS Exchange push mail, with corporate lookup and full sync of contacts and calendar?
Do you want 3G speed where Wifi is not avail?
Do you want to teather to a laptop?
Do you want video capture and camera controls (zoom, light adjust, etc)?
Do you want Stereo Bluetooth headset support for streaming music and be able to take calls?
If you answered yes to most of these, you should stick with a WM device.
Otherwise, the benefits you will get from the iPhone will be well worth the it. I often will use my iPhone on Wifi to browse the internet instead of my laptop or desktop - it's that good. Really you will need to get your hands on an iPhone and decide. Some people have a hard time going from all those buttons to the "soft" keyboard of the iPhone. I was using a Touch before going to the iPhone as my main phone so the keyboard was an improvement for me.
My .02
2manyphones said:
It depends on what you do with the device.
Do you want MS Exchange push mail, with corporate lookup and full sync of contacts and calendar?
Do you want 3G speed where Wifi is not avail?
Do you want to teather to a laptop?
Do you want video capture and camera controls (zoom, light adjust, etc)?
Do you want Stereo Bluetooth headset support for streaming music and be able to take calls?
If you answered yes to most of these, you should stick with a WM device.
Otherwise, the benefits you will get from the iPhone will be well worth the it. I often will use my iPhone on Wifi to browse the internet instead of my laptop or desktop - it's that good. Really you will need to get your hands on an iPhone and decide. Some people have a hard time going from all those buttons to the "soft" keyboard of the iPhone. I was using a Touch before going to the iPhone as my main phone so the keyboard was an improvement for me.
My .02
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Click to collapse
Thanks to everyone who has replied so far, your comments have been very helpful in making up my mind on what to get next.... Iphone, just ordered one !
Now my reasons are this, i've had lots of wm devices as i described in my first post and i think i've ran the course with them in terms of what i can do with them and what they can do for me. PLUS i'm not travelling around alot now for work as i'm more office bound now, so don't need the tomtom anymore. I also think the interface on the iphone is exceptional and after using loads of different themes on the xda, nothing comes close to the polished look and feel. Also, i've got to the point where i don't use any of the added programs i used to on my xda, except from the finger scrolling add ons such as pocketcm, s2sunlock and htc-touchflo cube.....
I hope i have many years of fun with this iphone when it arrives and will keep popping in here from time to time to catch up.....
I've used WM since the first SPV and have upgraded every year since. In the last 12 months I've had a Touch, Touch Diamond and now an HD. I also have an Ipod Touch.
As a die hard WM fan I'm wishing I had upgraded to the Iphone. WM is just so outdated and the UI is just so drab in comparison.
There are so many more apps available now fro iphone/ipod touch, They look better and often work better. With a new Iphone model out this year which is rumoured to run aps in the background and will you be tempted away from WM?
mwatson said:
I've used WM since the first SPV and have upgraded every year since. In the last 12 months I've had a Touch, Touch Diamond and now an HD. I also have an Ipod Touch.
As a die hard WM fan I'm wishing I had upgraded to the Iphone. WM is just so outdated and the UI is just so drab in comparison.
There are so many more apps available now fro iphone/ipod touch, They look better and often work better. With a new Iphone model out this year which is rumoured to run aps in the background and will you be tempted away from WM?
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Click to collapse
No way!
I´m aware that MS UI is not as good as should be, but the only idea of getting a "control" Iphone instead of choosing among hundreds of WM devices scares me
I´ll stick to MS with all it´s imperfections...I have hope that wm7 can be something really good.
Just my opinion.
i have had all sorts of devices and i have to say wm is where i will stay. i think that the ui is great actually. and i am sure that wm still has more apps
i dont really care about aesthetics as long as it does the job. which it does
I Love the variety of windows mobile devices and it's just what it's suppose to be a mini PC in the palm of my hand. And WM can do so much more than iphone so yep my next device will be WM
The first criterion for my mobile phone is that it is WinMo.
The second is that it has GPS.
Everything else after that is just icing the cake.
My phone is a mobile first, sat-nav second, stock-tracking PDA third. Why carry three devices when one will do it all?
The iPhone won't run my work stock-track application so it has to be WinMo.
I really want a pocket computer/phone, with a real os like Win XP or OSX that is just like on a desktop or laptop, but I haven't seen one yet, and I'm poor and will not be able to afford one when they come out! haha
But, I will be sticking with my windows mobile pda phones for now. It's the closest to what I need at the moment. Phone, email, spreadsheets, and pdf are my main needs, with gps/mapping close behind that. And from what I see, none of the other phones quite do what I want, except Palm Powered devices, but WM is more customizable, and looks better, so it wins out for me.
The only reason I would switch to an iPhone would be if it's OS can run Skyscape Applications. Otherwise, WM is just perfect for my needs.
WM
I still think WM is the best platform for overall usability and power. With WM 6.5 the UI has been simplified for easy access to important applications. Over all GUI looks a bit smoother. Can't wait to update my Treo 750 to WM 6.5.
Sadly (commercial) developement on WM has dried up. No one takes the platform seriously anymore, and yes I am jealous of the iphones many apps and better polished apps (eg compare facebook and last fm clients). Even basic things such as emails and sms messages look better on iphone.
I am very tempted to jump ship after owning a dozen different WM phones (am using HD at moment) but one thing stops me, freedom. I HATE itunes and dont want to surrender my media to it. I like copy and paste and use it all the time, I love BT file transfer, I love A2DP. iPhone is too controlled. If Apple ease up a bit then maybe id give them a try, but for now I will stick with my HD (hopefully WM 6.5 finds its way to it) for a long time. Unless I start to see some more polish from MS and some freedom from Apple, the HD will last me a long long time
darthbane2k said:
Sadly (commercial) developement on WM has dried up. No one takes the platform seriously anymore, and yes I am jealous of the iphones many apps and better polished apps (eg compare facebook and last fm clients). Even basic things such as emails and sms messages look better on iphone.
I am very tempted to jump ship after owning a dozen different WM phones (am using HD at moment) but one thing stops me, freedom. I HATE itunes and dont want to surrender my media to it. I like copy and paste and use it all the time, I love BT file transfer, I love A2DP. iPhone is too controlled. If Apple ease up a bit then maybe id give them a try, but for now I will stick with my HD (hopefully WM 6.5 finds its way to it) for a long time. Unless I start to see some more polish from MS and some freedom from Apple, the HD will last me a long long time
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Click to collapse
Why not jailbreak the iphone? You can do more then. I've really enjoyed WM over the years. It hasn't really changed though since 2002! Not good is it? They really need to pull something impressive out the bag with WM7 to compete with the iphone.
I will never move away from WM now. I will also stay with HTC devices.......one reason is the fantastic support and apps available fom this site!!!
WM hands down! ive loved it since i got my first WM phone - The I-mate Jam which had WM5 on it right the way up until my Touch Diamond.
It is in every essence of the words a "pocket pc".
1. almost limitless customisation
2. abundance of apps and games
3. ability to have cooked ROM's
4. use it as a mobile/music&video player/camera/internet browser/GPS/gaming device/ dictation machine/personal organiser/office mobile/... the list goes on and on.
4. Freedom of choice unlike the iphone. which locks you down to using i(crappy)tunes to put any content on it.
I've become quite a fan of Windows Mobile (as many may know by my tweets). I had a very long history of the PalmOS (a small taste of Blackberry) before I jumped and I've never looked back even though I was concerned at the time.
If you really listen to the Microsoft vision (See Balmer's keynote for CES for example), they really have the best overall picture of how to take mobile smartphones to the next level. Also due to them being Microsoft, they have the best leverage to achieve that vision with the vast array of products they produce. This is where Android and Blackberry (and Pre) fail, no leverage of interoperability.
Now onto the iPhone. I have such a love/hate for Apple. They make beautiful (overpriced) products on the surface but when you dig deeper they are quite lacking for the money. The iPod clearly lacks features of many MP3 players (FM, Bluetooth, etc), the iPhone does this as well. The major flaw is the current OS they've released does not allow multiple apps to run, this is why simple features like cut-and-paste are missing. As a WinMob user, this is essential to have a solid smartphone OS.
My biggest hate for Apple throughout the 80s to now is the lock-in philosophy. Apple simply has control freak mentality in its culture. You have to buy everything in their stores (jailbreaking is illegal), the hardware has to be created by us, the software needs to be approved by us, etc. They really are the Anti to the Open Source philosophy. They really make Microsoft look like saints to the open source world.
So the question was whether my next device will be WM? I'm not sure. I just got the Samsung Saga i770 back in December so it will likely be at least a year before I switch phones again. By then version 6.5 will be out and until I actually play with the Honeycomb interface, I'm not exactly warm on the Zune-like UI. I have a Zune (I won) and don't really care for the UI. If I can keep the Today screen and customize it with 3rd party apps like I do today then I'd be cool in that area. That said, I try to keep an open mind and I'm not opposed to switching but I don't see Apple changing its philosophy anytime soon, RIM has improved but I'm still not sold, so I guess Android and the Palm Pre may be those options.
I also kind of like the concept of a watch phone if it was waterproof and could tether to any device around me which would free us from always carrying a specific form factor (sometimes you may want a pda, a netbook, tablet, a laptop or carry nothing).
--Mark
twitter.com/manielse
I have been thinking about this a lot - I might switch to a palm pre if the feedback is good from early adopters or might want to see what the next generation of android devices are like.
My next device will PROBABLY be WM, but I can't make a guarantee on that.
I love WM's flexibility, customizeability, and power, but I loathe its sluggishness, blandness, and lack of fun/stylish/interesting apps.
Hopefully, MS launching an official app store will help with the last part. Unfortunately, I think the iPhone still has a big advantage here, since devs only have a single resolution and configuration to program for so they can make more "controlled" apps. I'm hoping MS helps on this by encouraging fullscreen WVGA development for 6.5 / 7.
If Android had actually been what I'd hoped (a mobile frontend to Google's whole web ecosystem, including integrated apps and picasa support), I'd probably be aching to jump ships. We'll see how both Android and WM develop in the next year or so before I get ready to make any switches.
WM is to stay with me (I mean HTC, because of the XDA-developers) for a long time
Cheers
Hmm. Well I am with Verizon and always get a new phone with NE2 deal. At the end of the year I get the deal. I won't ever switch to another carrier so as much as I like what I see in Palm Pre, I will not get it. Nor will I get an iphone for the same reason (and even more because you have to jail break it to get it working) or G1. Anyway, I think I will just wait until 2010 to get a new phone. I really wish WM7 was released sometime in 2010 because I know for sure I would wait to get it. But anyway, right now I am loving my XV6800 I got last year and will not give it up anytime soon.
I think what I might do is get an Ipod Touch HD (hoping Apple finally releases a widescreen version and higher res) when it ever releases. This way I will not miss out on all the cool apps (well the free ones at least). I connected one to my phone which was fun and will definetly do that if I get one.
I love Windows Mobile (so flexable, love tweaking it, all the apps, xda! and hope WM7 is released sooner then later. I might upgrade my XV6800 to WM6.5 but either way I hope to continue to be on Windows Mobile and my next phone will hopfully be a WM7 phone.
palm pre for me
How many phones are knobbled when it comes to trying to write a program to run on it. WM will take a fair amount of effort to learn how to do it, but it can be done. .NET for starters or Win32 C++ if you want to take a look round the engine room. Embedded C++ 3.0 and 4.0 are still available gratis from Microsoft's Web site. .NET requires Visual studio, but not the gratis versions. Not quite as wizzo as the finger flicking Touch interfaces, but what the hell. Have a go and see what you can come up with.
I have recently been getting really irritated at WM and how difficult such easy tasks are. I have been getting irritated at the stability, lack of features, difficulty to use among other things.
Other OS's seem just so far ahead of WM even with 6.5 and 7, by the time 7 comes out ill probably have another 3 phones anyways.
Just wondering everyone elses opinions.
Well, 6.5 is coming out soon, May 11 to be precise. I'll stick with WM, and if for some strange reason probably involving torture I get tired of WM, I'll go with Symbian, since the Omnia HD runs it and the Omnia HD is AWESOME!
icewhitenewyear said:
I have recently been getting really irritated at WM and how difficult such easy tasks are. I have been getting irritated at the stability, lack of features, difficulty to use among other things.
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Click to collapse
Same here man!
I won't stick von Windows Mobile, I will sell my Xperia and buy an iPhone. Maybe I will sell my iPhone when WM 7 will be released, but untill this day, the iPhone experiance is something special. Windows mobile interface looks like the ones, from the first Pocket PCs from 1999!
Especially the landscape mode in WM sucks because of this windows task bar, it kills half of the screen in landscape mode!!
And the videos are bucking in the first seconds, forwarding mp3 has got deceleration and so one. That's not what I expect from my phone.
Even when WM has a lot of things which are great (torrent, mms, possibilties to modify it, business stuff), the iPhone has a lot of thing which are even greater (multitouch, smooth and easy interface, fingerfriendly menus, nice mp3 and video function).
Just like I said, right now the iPhone is the ultimate touch experiance.
I hope WM 7 will change it, so that I can buy a Xperia again, because I love the hardware and the look of this phone.
I said a lot about that in a other thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=3660089&postcount=43
@ Kafro
Yes, Idou will be great too
http://www.viddler.com/explore/engadget/videos/256/
Andriod or Symbian.
That means Get G1 or wait for Idou..
i am running android on my vogue and its great
but i really want to try out webos cuz im blown away with the vids
Would DEFINITELY go to the new iPhone in June hands down.
Who's going Android phone when the new ones start hitting AT&T? I was thinking about giving up on my Fuze and hitting up the next Android phone how about anyone else?
I couldnt... i have had 4 friends with the G1 and i gotta say the fuze beats it hands down... and with the SPB mobile shell its not even a competition with UI... although its open source and i believe android will be great in years to come... i just think its still not developed enough
jd885 said:
I couldnt... i have had 4 friends with the G1 and i gotta say the fuze beats it hands down... and with the SPB mobile shell its not even a competition with UI... although its open source and i believe android will be great in years to come... i just think its still not developed enough
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Click to collapse
since its open ui , its also open for ports to fuze , so i might try it if it gets ported .
I have a Sprint Touch Pro and my best friend has the G1, I personally prefer my Touch Pro. All around in my opinion Windows Mobile is just better than Android. I am running Energy ROM 3.0 and the ability to flash to different ROM's is mandatory. I can also run Android on my Pro (I only run it just to prove to my bestfriend that it can be done) so I really wouldn't need the G1 anyway, especially when the developers get all the kinks out.
I think you should really stick with your Fuze because you might be disappointed in the end.
Heya, thanks for reading.
I've got a Jade with Manilla 2D, but after using it for almost a year now I'm beginning to get tired of manilla. It works well and looks nice, but I'm looking for something new and refreshing.
I've got SPB Mobile Shell's 15-day trial, but before purchasing a license I'd like to know which alternatives there are.
So far I've seen TF2D, and messed around a bit with SPB MS 3.
How is PointUI Home 2 compared to them?
And are there any other 'today-replacers' I should look into?
Thanks in advance!