iPhone killer..

[talisman]

One thing to note... I use my smartphone unlocked on my personal carrier's network even if they don't offer my particular phone, therefore I judge devices by their actual quality and software. I've seen it too much everywhere lately that a phone or any other device simply "sucks" only because it is not available on the carrier the user has a contract with already. That's plain stupid.

iPhone is a top notch device and BlackBerry Storm2 looks very promising. I know from experience how the BlackBerry OS is, hence my reasoning that the iPhone and Storm2 look like the best touch screen devices out there. Given the fact that I also tend to change my phone once or even twice a year, I do not really put much value on the warranty. If there's really trouble I'll pay for service. The only stuff that warranty is useful with are devices I'll be using long like a PC (which I upgrade every 3 years or so) or LCD display (which I don't really upgrade ever unless there's an issue with my current one).

No, I'm not rich. thefool's got more money than I do

[utopiomania]

That's plain stupid.

No it isn't if your employer pays your phone bill. Then the N900 is interesting, and besides, it wipes the floor with the
offerings from iphone or blackberry. :roll:

[thefool]

One thing to note... I use my smartphone unlocked on my personal carrier's network even if they don't offer my particular phone, therefore I judge devices by their actual quality and software. I've seen it too much everywhere lately that a phone or any other device simply "sucks" only because it is not available on the carrier the user has a contract with already. That's plain stupid.

iPhone is a top notch device and BlackBerry Storm2 looks very promising. I know from experience how the BlackBerry OS is, hence my reasoning that the iPhone and Storm2 look like the best touch screen devices out there. Given the fact that I also tend to change my phone once or even twice a year, I do not really put much value on the warranty. If there's really trouble I'll pay for service. The only stuff that warranty is useful with are devices I'll be using long like a PC (which I upgrade every 3 years or so) or LCD display (which I don't really upgrade ever unless there's an issue with my current one).

No, I'm not rich. thefool's got more money than I do

Heheh
I'm just a student

I don't change phone twice a year, but probably once a year (or every 1½. I am a student, afterall). Don't care about warranty either, i've had many phones and i've never broken one. I'm not over protective but i am smart enough to take the phone out of the pocket before i go swimming etc.. I got a nice hard transparrent case for the iphone, it looks cool and its taken a few drops on the floor (even screen first heheh, but the hard case helps by making a tiny edge) with no problems at all. As far as i remember, Apple has a nice guarantee on all of their products too, so its not really a problem. And even if what i've done is not covered by them, they'll give me a good offer on a new phone (I know one that has happened for, but Apple sent him a new for a good price).

[talisman]

That's plain stupid.

No it isn't if your employer pays your phone bill. Then the N900 is interesting, and besides, it wipes the floor with the
offerings from iphone or blackberry. :roll:

Are you saying that the iPhone and BlackBerry are bad only because your employer is the one who pays your phone bill and neither of the aforementioned are available on the carrier your company has a contract with? That *is* plain stupid. I don't care what you like or what not, for me it is only important that the bare essentials for communication (phone, SMS) work perfectly on my phone wherever I am. One thing I value even more is that my phone can replace many other devices leaving me with only one to take care of (for instance iPod, GPS/navigation, internet tablet, ebook reader, et cetera).

@thefool: We have so much in common, now tell me you've been to a summer paradise smoking cigars... I know you've done it

[thefool]

@thefool: We have so much in common, now tell me you've been to a summer paradise smoking cigars... I know you've done it

Cuba? Yeah, a few years ago. Lovely place

My router just broke down yesterday so i tried something with the iphone. Enabled "network sharing" under network settings and plugged it in, and now i'm online using it. Couldn't have been simpler to do, i had a lot of trouble getting my Nokia to do that (Though i did manage to make it work in the end). Will get a new router sunday though, this time with N (300 mbit), the old G router wasn't fast enough for my internet connection anyway.

ebook reader

Yeah, its nice browsing pdf's with it. I zoom in/out using the two-finger touch and slide fingers to browse the pages, its pretty comfortable. I read pdf's on it very often because the professors/assistents usually put up slides in PDF format, always great to look through before exersices. And less wasting time because i can do it right out of the pocket

[talisman]

@thefool: We have so much in common, now tell me you've been to a summer paradise smoking cigars... I know you've done it

Cuba? Yeah, a few years ago. Lovely place

My router just broke down yesterday so i tried something with the iphone. Enabled "network sharing" under network settings and plugged it in, and now i'm online using it. Couldn't have been simpler to do, i had a lot of trouble getting my Nokia to do that (Though i did manage to make it work in the end). Will get a new router sunday though, this time with N (300 mbit), the old G router wasn't fast enough for my internet connection anyway.

ebook reader

Yeah, its nice browsing pdf's with it. I zoom in/out using the two-finger touch and slide fingers to browse the pages, its pretty comfortable. I read pdf's on it very often because the professors/assistents usually put up slides in PDF format, always great to look through before exersices. And less wasting time because i can do it right out of the pocket

Grr... my G router is actually faster than my 24Mbps ADSL (but that'll change once I upgrade to 100Mbps fiber ). Cuba you say? Beautiful, I've never been to Cuba but sounds like a delicious place to visit. I've been to Maui a couple of years ago... it was magical times (and just between us men, that was the place where I became a man... you know cigars and stuff )

By the way, my friend has an iPhone and lately I've been playing around with it ("lending")... You really must check out DataViz Documents to Go. It is a mobile office suite, which comes standard with BlackBerry and is now available for the iPhone. It is relatively cheap (I think it was around 5 EUR) and currently supports Microsoft Word and Excel editing (PowerPoint to come I guess). It does use the iPhone's built-in viewer for opening documents, but if you need a solid application for editing your Microsoft Word documents, 5 EUR is definitely worth it. I use Documents to Go all the time, all professors here share the PowerPoint presentation itself so I have all slides stored nicely on my BlackBerry and it is just funny to see when the professor asks something, I only need to use the find option in Documents to Go, but other students hastily start browsing the pages they've printed... and I learn much better because I store all the keywords so exams are no problem! haha n00bs

[thefool]

Oh.. THAT sort of cigars

I'll check out DataViz, could actually use it

[talisman]

Just checked the App Store and it is now 8 EUR or 12 EUR if you purchase the version with Microsoft Exchange support (which I believe you don't need).

[thefool]

Ah alright, i'll check it out. 5 or 8€ doesn't really make a difference

[talisman]

If you haven't checked their website, head over to http://www.dataviz.com/

DataViz is not just a random name in the business, it's big and I mean REALLY big. They have a special contract with Research in Motion and if the company behind BlackBerry, which initially was designed for the professional market, rely on DataViz' products, that can only mean that the people behind DataViz have solid code that is mature enough to get the stamp of approval from RIM.

Documents to Go is cross-platform, supporting Android, Palm webOS and WinMo too. It would be awesome if one license covered all platforms, but maybe that's a bit too much to ask. A great feature of Documents to Go is InTact Technology, which really works. Say you have a special font and formatting in your Word document, but edit it using your iPhone and Documents to Go, which doesn't happen to have that particular font and can't render the special formatting, no matter what changes you do if you save the file and synch back to your PC, the very special font and formatting will be there intact.

[thefool]

sounds nice
I'll defiently give it a look. I use LaTeX a lot these days (Mostly when co-operating with others, then its a gift from above (nah i'm an atheist, but if i was religious, thats what it would be)), but the rest of the time i use office (eg for the data structure course i use word with embedded Visio objects for the exersices so i can draw structures etc.). And i could use a spreadsheet "to go" once in a while. Tell me, can you insert drawings in the word documents and do them with the touch screen?

[talisman]

I am pretty certain it is not possible to add own drawings, but either way Documents to Go is awesome. Maybe Evernote is something you'll want to look into? I use Evernote all the time.

So what is Evernote anyway? Imagine you could create notes, record audio clips, take snapshots or even upload files and have all of them accessible at anytime anywhere with synchronization between your computer and mobile phone. Sounds great, no? Evernote supports iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm Pre and soon Android. Sounds good now? Definitely! With dedicated software for Windows and Mac OS X as well as a simple yet intuitive Web interface, you can have all your data out there in a cloud with Evernote and access that cloud from school, home or work. Did I say it's free too? With 40MB monthly quota you can have your productivity set at the maximum and still have your life organized.

Say you are in class, open Evernote on your iPhone and start taking notes with it while you're listening to the professor. After class you have the opportunity to use a computer with Internet access. Head over to the Evernote Web client and edit your notes you took with the iPhone; maybe you want to write some details of the quick notes you took while in class. No software required, you can access the Web client on shared computers too. Once you save your note, it will be automatically synchronized over the air and you can see the changes instantly on your iPhone. There are many possibilities. If you're a power user and 40MB isn't enough, for as low as 5 USD monthly you'll get much more monthly quota (500MB) and additional features such as upload of files of any type and format.

Sounds great, no? Combine Evernote with Documents to Go, you'll have a very solid and powerful combination that's definitely helpful for success with your studies!

http://www.evernote.com/

[utopiomania]

talisman wrote

Are you saying that the iPhone and BlackBerry are bad only because your employer is the one who pays your phone bill and neither of the aforementioned are available on the carrier your company has a contract with?

You know I didn't say that, so why ask? What I say is that I can buy a N900 and use it with my current carrier without
problems.

As I understand it, I can't buy a blackberry or an iphone without signing up for another contract. These phones suck as a DEAL because of that, at least over here.

But again, technically and softwarewise speaking, the blackberry and the iphone suck big time compared to the N900 in my opinion.

Another thing, reliabilty and warranty is very important to fans of the iphone, unless they skip it for another phone in a short time, and I don't think the fans want to do that, so.. This reliability issue is no minor problem.

[talisman]

Ok fair point. Best of luck with the N900, either way you have something great to brag with
(but no DataViz, Evernote, Shazam, or any other good 3rd party love for you )

[thefool]

I'll give evernote a look!