<p>D is saving her money for an iphone. I get a basic blackberry phone through work for free, but am thinking about upgrading when she does. The iphone is “the” phone to have for the HS crowd. But I’ve also heard that it’s not great as an actual phone.</p>
<p>Do you have a smart phone that is not an iphone that you would recommend?</p>
<p>Or, if you love your iphone, please tell me why.</p>
<p>I just got an iphone on Sunday after much internal debate and driving my family mad with the pros and cons. I’ve been trying to get it set up with the preferences and apps I might want or need. When I ask my H and D questions, they are very impatient, telling me that it is all “intuitive.” There is no instruction manual, apparently you’re just supposed to be able to figure it out. I admit that it is kind of fun to play with and very appealing to look at (especially in my fancy purple case) but it’s also kind of frustrating. I’ve only made a couple of phone calls that weren’t through my car’s Bluetooth and they were okay, sounded a little far away maybe. </p>
<p>The reason I finally went with the Iphone instead of the Droid was that there were a few apps I liked that were only available on Iphone right now. I got the 16 GB version which was “only” $199 because I’m told that videos take up the most space and I can’t imagine that I’ll be storing lots of those.</p>
<p>Do you have Verizon? That is my carrier and I have the droid X and H has the iphone. I do prefer the droid x because the screen is bigger (this may be a turnoff for your D though my kids like the droid x fine) also there are alot of free apps that cost $ for the iphone. It is just preference but I love my Droid X and think the iphone is okay.</p>
<p>I got myself and my DS (HS senior) Droid 2 Globals for Christmas with the By one get one free offer. Not only was the price right but Verizon has better coverage. Also, Iphone wasn’t yet available on Verizon and frankly the talk about Verizon getting it had been going on for over a year and I wasn’t convinced it would happen.</p>
<p>We love the droid. It has great apps and many of them are free (I haven’t paid for an app yet). Iphone has many free apps, but lots of them cost also, and some of the ones on Droid are free but cost money on Iphone. For instance, the very popular game “Angry Birds” is free on Droid, but only an introductory version is free on Iphone–you have to pay for full version on Iphone but full version is free on Droid.</p>
<p>My favorite function is the calendar. I can create my calendar in outlook on my home computer, sync it with my google calendar on my google acct, and then it is automatically updated on my droid. LOVE IT!! I don’t have to update several calendars anymore and always have my calendar with me. I’m not sure if kindle is avalable for Iphone but I have it on my droid and enjoy being able to read a book when I get stuck waiting for appts or kids or whatever.</p>
<p>My son’s favorite is the streaming video. Iphone doesn’t have streaming video, which is better for watching certain things over your phone. </p>
<p>Iphone definitely has a better user interface and touch screen, but I wanted a real keyboard which Droid 2 has. I can choose to use the touch keyboard or the real one and I definitely find myself using the real one more–it’s faster for me.</p>
<p>There are lots of forums out there for answers to the many questions you may have about using the smart phones, so no matter which one you decide on, you can find tips and answers online.</p>
<p>Good luck in making your decision!</p>
<p>The droid feels heavy to me.</p>
<p>Personally, even though I absolutely love gadgets, I have never really wanted an iPhone. I have an Android-based phone, Samsung Vibrant (one of the Galaxy S series phones). What I like about it is that while you still have access to a huge amount of apps, you don’t NEED an app for everything. I can view internet pages in the same format that I would on a computer, if I want. I can play the vast majority of videos directly on the sites, since it has Flash.</p>
<p>If you would like to hear more about the positives and negatives of my specific phone or about the Android system, or if you have any specific questions, I would be happy to expand. </p>
<p>Make sure to get a phone that runs Android 2.2 or above, not 2.1, as it does not have the same web capabilities. </p>
<p>Also, what I hear a lot about the iPhone is that people seem to get it in order to be able to say they have an iPhone, because it’s considered a cool gadget. I am sure that’s not true for everyone…</p>
<p>What about listening to music on the droid? (For D, not for me.)</p>
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<p>So true with the high school crowd.</p>
<p>I would think the iPhone is probably better for music, since that’s what the iPod and the ITouch were heavily geared to. </p>
<p>What I do is I use a program from the market that lets you download YouTube videos (or just the music part of the video, if you prefer). The music player itself is very, VERY basic (no shuffling or repeating the song over automatically), but I have not looked on the market, and I am sure there are more advanced music players, if you are interested… </p>
<p>Also, the popularity of the iPhone is not just a factor with the high school crowd. I am out of college and working (my screen name is from when I was still in college), and people in their thirties and older talk about the ‘cool’ factor, which I don’t really understand, but to each his own.</p>
<p>Oh, and if memory is an issue my Samsung Vibrant came with 16 gb of expandable memory plus the ability to add an SD card of up to 32 gb</p>
<p>Missypie, I have an HTC Incredible … I’ve installed an app that works with Itunes, so you can easily sync your music to your non-iphone phone. There are several music player apps that you can choose from. Also you can install Pandora and the like. You can install a larger memory card to accommodate larger music libraries.</p>
<p>My only complaint so far with my dInc is battery life. And I hear that’s a common complaint. But, I’ve learned how to handle it.</p>
<p>I do love how it works seamlessly with Google/Gmail. Calendar, email, contacts are all integrated. You can even back up your text messages to your gmail account.</p>
<p>I am sorry, I meant to say 16GB built-in memory and you can also put in an SD card with up to an additional 32GB.</p>
<p>And following alon with JustaMom, using the video camer and uploading the videos on YouTube is also very easy and seamless.</p>
<p>My DH has a motorola backflip droid adn I have a blackberry torch. We both wanted the option of both a touch screen and a keyboard. They require a bit of a learning curve, but its doable. I was frustrated but am getting the hang of mine, sorta.</p>
<p>We got the Nexus One. (No longer available.) I’ve had no trouble finding plenty of apps. Some of the free ones work better than others. Good photos, everything syncs with google mail and calendar. I can listen to Pandora or load up my own music. My son reads books on his. I love the GPS and access to google maps. It’s lighter than the original iphone. I plug it in every night, but am usually fine if I forget. Only the GPS really drains the phone in my experience. Our son managed to crack the screen on his Nexus and replaced it with the Incredible S I believe. He seems happy.</p>
<p>I am not in love with the touch screen, but when I had a keyboard I found I never ever used it - however that phone (a Treo) had a stylus which meant I didn’t have the hitting the wrong letter on the screen problem.</p>
<p>I have the Samsung Fascinate and love it. It is designed to be very similar to the IPhone but has even better graphics. It is slim and light and very fast.</p>
<p>I also have the Samsung Fascinate with Verizon and am very happy with it. The battery life seems to be better than most. I get more than 24 hours on a charge with moderate use most days.</p>
<p>I just checked and I can upgrade to a Blackberry Torch for free. Any other torch users besides jym out there?</p>
<p>Well I know you are looking for more/other torch users, but since you are considering it, I’ll tell you a bit more about my experience. Also, read the reviews and the forum on phonescoop.com </p>
<p>I have had the “cheek pushes buttons” (usually its the mute button) problem that mathmom talked about (in fact, it happened just yesterday when I was talking to an architect 
) and I have yet to figure out consistently how to put one caller on hold and retrieve another call, and then get back to the first call. I usually end up accidentally hanging up on someone. But thats probably operator error/ignorance. I also really wish that there was a paper manual rather than an on-line one, but there isnt much I can do about that. I have also had some problems with the battery (have had one just die, and the other seems to occasionally overheat, but I havent had a chance to get back to the repair store) and the batteries are ridiculously expensive if you have to buy one (no cheap alternative out there yet that I can find). Also, it has frozen up a few times, but I have to wonder if I was trying to open too many things too fast and it locked up. Also, big frustration is that many apps are for Iphone and droid only, but not for blackberry. Why is that??? So, do I love my torch? No. But all things considered, I like it ok, and it was not too hard to learn since I previously had a b’by curve. I have no idea how to even turn my DH’s droid on.
Hope that helps</p>
<p>I have a Samsung Fascinate that I have like very much. But Samsung and Verizon pushed an update and now it is not recognized by my computer. I have spent hours on the phone and there is no fix. They are offering me another model.</p>
<p>We’re on Verizon. I have an LG Vortex (Android) that I like a lot (former Blackberry user at previous job). Small, simple, light, lots of apps that I’m actually interested in. Our whole family upgraded to Android at Christmas; H got the Droid Pro (still getting used to it after his Blackberry Curve), D got LG Ally.</p>