Team-BHP - The Mobile Phone Thread - Queries, decisions, discussions all here

Hi guys

I'm in a dilemma - whether to buy a smartphone or not. I already have a basic phone (Samsung Guru 1410) which can play music.

Here's a few details about my usage profile.

I'm from Punjab, going to IIIT-Hyderabad, as a student. I'll be studying Computer Science there, so a laptop will be critical and I'll be buying a Dell XPS 15 in a few months.

The GPS feature in the cellphone would be very helpful as we'll be going to a totally new city. Apart from that, I can't think of many uses a smartphone would have to me, apart from the convenience of surfing internet while I don't have a laptop.

I'd prefer to spend as little as required to get the job done.

I'm thinking of HTC Desire (Android) or HTC 7 Mozart (WP7), both of while I was able to find for Rs. 15,500 on a website online.

I have two questions:

1. Do you think that buying a smartphone would be a worthy investment for me if I'm buying a laptop in a few months, and I'll have the laptop with me for most of the time?

2. If yes, which is the cheapest smartphone you'd recommend me? I know GPS phones can be had for 10k, but with Android (and WP7, I guess), I'll get good maps, and a good app store to rely on. So, please recommend me a phone on what do you think is a proper amount of money to invest in a phone, the cheaper the better. Like Wildfire is an Android phone I can get for cheap, and it matches all my requirements, but if the user experience is not that good, I'm willing to shell 2k bucks more and get a better phone.

I know it's a strange and complex query, but I'm really confused right now (primarily about the utility of a smartphone, except GPS capability), and I'd appreciate any kind of advice.

Thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anku94 (Post 2427283)

Let me tell you one thing. In IIIT in the first year major portion of the time you will be in classes or labs sitting in front of computers. I do not think that you will be using net on your phone a lot in IIIT. As far as Navigation is concerned its a handy feature wherever you go. You phone will mainly be used for talking, SMS and Apps. I would suggest you go for a smartphone in the range of 12-15k if your budget permits. Samsung Galaxy Ace is a nice option. Do check that out before buying.

Cell Gurus...NEED HELP !!!

I am not a mobile freak. Till now I have mostly used Nokias mainly b'coz of their simple and user friendly OS. Right now using N79, but cell phone gets hanged as soon as I start using its censored navigation wheel. I searched on google abt this issue. The issue seems to be with IC that facilitates this button to be functional. This IC is ill-known to go kaput and needs to be removed. I went to mobile repair guys to remove it but none of them were ready to remove it. Google says that nothing is gonna happen to normal functioing if this IC is removed and cell usually goes well after this surgical operation.

Need Help !!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by shapath (Post 2424898)

My friends parent is looking for basic phone for about 2 -2.5k.
Priority 1 ease of use with good keypad 2 screen readability in day light 3 good volume. 4. Fm.
Looking for 2-3 option so that he could choose at the store .TIA

Unable to use even slightly old suggestion for basic phone in this thread, as that aged person is Looking for the current/latest model that is why i posted here .

Check iBall Aasaan - Mobile for senior citizens. Remember seeing the ad on TV and it costs around 1.2K.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Latheesh (Post 2421030)

Colleague is looking for a new phone. His requirements are call quality, good camera, email, easy to use and compact size.

So this phone covers it well. Nokia always had good call quality, camera is 8MP, has a qwerty keyboard, nokia's should be easy to use, size may be a bit big. But shouldn't be an issue. I could recommend it.

Are you using the reliance coupon on letsbuy?

Sorry for the late reply somehow missed visiting this thread.

What is the best bet for a phone fitting the foll. bills -
1) up to 30k
2) no Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony.. not Nokia if Symbian - absolutely hate the snail's pace on them
3) camera, min. 3.2MP
4) GPS, wi-fi, 3G, bluetooth
5) should have a fast OS
6) decent web browser
7) space for music/music capabilities need not be advanced
8) shouldn't be bulky
9) touch or QWERTY

I thought about Blackberry but don't require push-mail so won't do justice to it. Being offered a iPhone but somehow it doesn't appeal to me and lack of Bluetooth connectivity with other phones is a big turn off.

Have a week or so to decide. Help!

Haven't "decided" on a phone ever yet; first phone was a Nokia 1108 and the next one has been Razr2.

Quote:

Originally Posted by libranof1987 (Post 2430261)

That’s indeed a big list of requirements :)

I really liked iPhone 4 (wifey using it), I am not sure of its Bluetooth capabilities though.

Not sure if HTC sensation is out yet. I read some pretty good reviews about it online. HTC wildfire S is also good and not so expensive as well.

I am currently using a WP7 phone HTC HD7 (HTC Mozart is another WP7 option). Buying windows phone was a gamble, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Got an excellent interface, great camera, internet explorer etc. And it got 16GB of internal storage (no micro SD card slot).

If you want to do some feature comparisons, checkout this website Mobile Phones & Smartphones - CNET Asia. Ignore the prices as it may be in SGD, but their reviews are quite spot on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by libranof1987 (Post 2430261)

Not only do you have a long list of requirement, but you have also ruled out all the major brands. The only brands on your list seem to be Sony Erricson and HTC.

You can check out two site for some research, gsmarena.com for reviews and feature comparisions and fonrarena.com for availability in India along with indicative prices.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vb-san (Post 2430330)

I really liked iPhone 4 (wifey using it), I am not sure of its Bluetooth capabilities though.

I am currently using a WP7 phone HTC HD7 (HTC Mozart is another WP7 option). Buying windows phone was a gamble, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Got an excellent interface, great camera, internet explorer etc. And it got 16GB of internal storage (no micro SD card slot).

Well, the problem with iPhone is that the Bluetooth cannot be used to pair with Headsets/other phones.

Plus, the ones available in India are from Singapore; and from what I was told, no warranty.

My mum uses HD7 and has offered to give me that but again, Bluetooth on that cannot be used with other phones. Also, the Marketplace ain't available in India so many apps can't be used. Using Zune for every file transfer is like using iTunes for iPod!

Quote:

Originally Posted by julupani (Post 2430417)

Actually, most of my requirements are standard features of most phones! I just don't want symbian Nokia.

Any idea on android Nokia?