[issigonis]

Originally Posted by issigonis

>>>

To all you cell wizards yonder, let me have your views on the following three phones :

1. iPhone 4S
2. Lumia 800
3. Droid 4

on the following set of criteria :-


a. Ease of use
b. Call / reception quality in our overgrown village called Bombay
c. Ruggedness of build
d. text messaging
e. Music player quality
f. Music downloads from the net & transfer from a laptop ( typically stored in vlc)
g. email set up for Lotus Notes & gmail
h. ease of use in accessing facebook & other internet sites
i. battery life (obviously!)

Please note that I am not a techno wizard and do not wish to mod unless absolutely necessary. Also what will be the pros & cons of Windows 8 in a next gen Lumia and Mountain Lion on the iPhone 5? Can the Droid 4 be serviced in India?

If this comparo is already there somewhere, please share the link.


Regards
issigonis

Am adding the jth point :

j. GPS app support ( is it effective on the non -highways in India? For example, will it help me to drive say, from Kolhapur through Anmod to Panjim?

Regards

[joe1980]

I would definitely need to install Tom Tom Navigation maps and Google maps. These two will be the major ones that I would install. Apart from this, I would use other small utility apps. My intuition says to go for the 32 GB. What do you suggest?

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by issigonis

Am adding the jth point :

j. GPS app support ( is it effective on the non -highways in India? For example, will it help me to drive say, from Kolhapur through Anmod to Panjim?

Regards

Sygic software is amazing..better than Google as the maps are stored on the IP instead of being downloaded through your data connection. Sygic use Mapmyindia maps which IMHO are one of the best. I use Sygic on my IP4s and Razr and the maps are more detailed than the Navteq maps in Garmin GPS Navigator. From my experience, MMI is better for inter city travel and Navteq for in city.

Originally Posted by joe1980

I would definitely need to install Tom Tom Navigation maps and Google maps. These two will be the major ones that I would install. Apart from this, I would use other small utility apps. My intuition says to go for the 32 GB. What do you suggest?

What you go in for will depend in your budget and the content you intend loading. If you intend loading videos go in for 32 or 64 GB. There is no difference except storage capacity between different models.
Tom Tom doesn't work with IPs in India. See here:

TomTom App for iPhone/iPad - Mobile Navigation - TomTom

Google Maps comes preloaded but it pulls maps via your data connection. So a 3G connection is recommended. Even better, get Sygic/MMI.

Regards,

[joe1980]

Originally Posted by R2D2

What you go in for will depend in your budget and the content you intend loading. If you intend loading videos go in for 32 or 64 GB. There is no difference except storage capacity between different models.
Tom Tom doesn't work with IPs in India. See here:

TomTom App for iPhone/iPad - Mobile Navigation - TomTom

Google Maps comes preloaded but it pulls maps via your data connection. So a 3G connection is recommended. Even better, get Sygic/MMI.

Regards,

I definitely would not be storing Videos. Only maps and its related content. The hardware should be capable of supporting it. There should be enough hard drive space even after installing a couple of maps and its related content. The rest what I plan to do with iPhone is just the daily stuff, like POP3 emails, text reminders and a bunch of other small utility apps that does not require GB's of memory like the map softwares.

[Newpunter]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

IP4's build quality is excellent. To prove the same, Apple had thrown this phone down from a helicopter in mid air and it worked fine after the impact. I agree that this is an extreme case, but still.

Don't want to troll on an Iphone thread, but this statement is definitely not true, so I had to comment . Forget about a drop from a helicopter, it cannot withstand a drop from 4 feet. The supposed ruggedness of an Iphone is a myth. The Galaxy SII and other some other Android phones come with Gorilla glass on top, which is more stronger than the glass on the Iphones.

iPhone 4S vs. Samsung Galaxy S II Drop Test - YouTube

[vinod332002]

Originally Posted by Newpunter

Don't want to troll on an Iphone thread, but this statement is definitely not true, so I had to comment . Forget about a drop from a helicopter, it cannot withstand a drop from 4 feet. The supposed ruggedness of an Iphone is a myth. The Galaxy SII and other some other Android phones come with Gorilla glass on top, which is more stronger than the glass on the Iphones.

iPhone 4S vs. Samsung Galaxy S II Drop Test - YouTube

iPhone 4 onwards does use gorilla glass. And I speak from experience when issue it's tough. I've dropped my iPhone 4 several times from varying heights and there are no battle scars to show on it.
I'm not sure about the S II. Maybe it's tougher. But the iPhones pretty tough as well.
There were some reports earlier on of the screen cracking but haven't read much about it off late.

[Durango Dude]

Nokia has a long way to go when it comes to touch screen. Was using my old phone an N8 after sometime and was so bad and fidgety as compared to iP4 wanted to mobile upload to my FB a/c a photo taken, which worked only on the third attempt. Retina display will just blow you away, though camera is only 5 MP it works well in HDR mode and mobile uploads are a breeze.

[issigonis]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

Nokia has a long way to go when it comes to touch screen. Was using my old phone an N8 after sometime and was so bad and fidgety as compared to iP4 wanted to mobile upload to my FB a/c a photo taken, which worked only on the third attempt. Retina display will just blow you away, though camera is only 5 MP it works well in HDR mode and mobile uploads are a breeze.

>>>

Thank you for the user experience inputs re. iP4S. However, I will expect Nokia to not only fight back and provide a user friendly experience in the Windows 8 smartphones, which might be launched in 2012 and beyond.

Just think, Apple is a one phone wonder in that they stand or fall on their smartphone business on the one phone. It is another matter that their success (primarily in the rich West) lies in great user friendliness, lots of applications and simplicity - attributes which are not impossible to replicate by others. On the other hand Apple products are tweak -unfriendly, unlike android products. So both have their pros & cons. I expect Nokia to straddle these two ends of the spectrum.

I will expect the Sinic to copy the Apple concept and other concepts, and flood the world with cheap smartphones to bury the competition - that has been their strategy in some industry verticals and they have been extremely successful in that.

However, I am digressing; back to my iPhone 4S (and the Lumia 800 and the Droid 4) comparo.

Regards

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by Newpunter

Don't want to troll on an Iphone thread, but this statement is definitely not true, so I had to comment . Forget about a drop from a helicopter, it cannot withstand a drop from 4 feet. The supposed ruggedness of an Iphone is a myth. The Galaxy SII and other some other Android phones come with Gorilla glass on top, which is more stronger than the glass on the Iphones.

iPhone 4S vs. Samsung Galaxy S II Drop Test - YouTube

LOL. If ever there was a Samsung fanboy video then thats it. Can't believe you fell for it. Its pretty obvious from the breaks in the video that the iphone they are showing up close is not the one they are dropping. My iphone 3GS has fallen from a moving bus and you'll notice a scratch only if I point it out to you. And its not on the glass either.

[Durango Dude]

Originally Posted by issigonis

>>>

Thank you for the user experience inputs re. iP4S. However, I will expect Nokia to not only fight back and provide a user friendly experience in the Windows 8 smartphones, which might be launched in 2012 and beyond.

I have been a Nokia fanboy for a long time, but ever since I started using iP4 I knew what it's was all about. I have owned Nokia touch phones like 5800 & N8, I don't see any great improvement in user experience. Get hold of one and use it for a week and then sure you'll fall for it. I have typed this out from my iP4 and am enjoying it.

[IronH4WK]

^^ I can vouch for that. I usually use the Capdase case for my iP4 only when I'm out of my home; when at home I remove the cover. Due to the slippery nature of the phone it some times slips off my hand; heck it slips off the cushion if it isn't stable. Two days back while I was figuring out the Media Remote for Bravia, the phone slipped from my hand and had a 3.5ft drop on the marble floor, screen side down! Thankfully nothing happened

My HD2 had a similar fall and the 4.3" screen cracked.

[AbhiJ]

Originally Posted by amitoj

My iphone 3GS has fallen from a moving bus and you'll notice a scratch only if I point it out to you. And its not on the glass either.

The 3GS was actually more fall resistant than the IP4 / IP4S. Why?

1) In your 3GS the screen is flush with the phone body and is surrounded by a metal chrome frame. This frame absorbs impacts.
2) The rear of the 3gs is plastic. Plastic gets scratches, it doesnt shatter.

In the Iphone 4 / 4s .. the front and back both are glass. And the glass on both sides is actually is jutting out of the metal frame with the edges fully exposed.

This glass is extremely tough. But it can break if the edge of the glass takes the impact of the fall. Falling flat on a smooth surface with usually never break the glass.

In the SGS2, the edges are protected like your 3gs. Furthermore the screen is actually recessed inside the plastic bezel, by maybe about 0.5 mm. So the screen with never take direct any impact unless it falls on an irregular surface (stone chips etc).

That said, if you simply put on a well designed bumper on the iphone, it become much tougher, since then the edge of the glass is protected.

I can confidently comment on the same because me /my immediate family are using:

1) Iphone 3gs
2) Iphone 4
3) Iphone 4s x 2
4) Samsung S2

[issigonis]

Originally Posted by issigonis

>>>



I have been told by Imagine ( an authorised dealer for Apple products in India) that I have to first convert all my audio files into mp3 and all my Youtube video files into mpeg4 before they will help me transfer these from my Windows XP Professional environment to the Apple iOS5 environment. The proof will be in the pudding when they actually do that.

Why is iTunes awful?

>>>

Which vlc to mp3 converter should I use to convert all my audio files in order to upload them using iTunes onto the iP4S? Ditto for my video files which are also in the superlative vlc format.

Regards

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by AbhiJ

The 3GS was actually more fall resistant than the IP4 / IP4S.

Originally Posted by IronH4WK

Due to the slippery nature of the phone it some times slips off my hand; heck it slips off the cushion if it isn't stable. Two days back while I was figuring out the Media Remote for Bravia, the phone slipped from my hand and had a 3.5ft drop on the marble floor, screen side down! Thankfully nothing happened

What say Mr Hawk? Do you want to exchange your less fall resistant IPhone 4 with my more fall resistant IPhone 3GS?

[IronH4WK]

Originally Posted by amitoj

What say Mr Hawk? Do you want to exchange your less fall resistant IPhone 4 with my more fall resistant IPhone 3GS?

no thanks! I'm very happy with my iPhone 4, thank you

the HD2 is available for exchange though