New Phone advice please!

richVSrich
richVSrich Posts: 527
edited June 2012 in Commuting chat
Dear Hivemind,

I need some suggestions / reviews please...

My phone is dying (an old HTC Hero) - the hero has taken an arrow to the knee... (around 3 years old)

and im looking for a new phone to replace it.

I'm looking at pay as you go, and around £200

I'm currently leaning towards Blackberry 9360 due to bbm connectivity (i need to international message a lot - with other bb users, although i currently use whatsapp, I think it would be easier if im abroad to use it) - around £210

the other possible is a android, currently leading is the desire c which is brand new - around £170

any comments on either, or any other suggestions please??

cheers!
Boardman Hybrid Commuter Workhorse

Comments

  • dhope
    dhope Posts: 6,699
    Brother (die-hard Apple fan) recently got a Windows Phone (Nokia Lumia) and is hugely impressed with it. It has WhatsApp.

    Can't say I'd recommend a Blackberry. They were quite good 10 (okay, 5) years ago but haven't progressed since.
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  • MarksMintness
    MarksMintness Posts: 484
    dhope wrote:
    Brother (die-hard Apple fan) recently got a Windows Phone (Nokia Lumia) and is hugely impressed with it. It has WhatsApp.

    Can't say I'd recommend a Blackberry. They were quite good 10 (okay, 5) years ago but haven't progressed since.
    Agree about Blackberry, unless it's provided by your company I can't see why yuou would want one for personal use. I'd recommend any new HTC unit (I have the Desire S which is mint and should be quite reasonable now) or something in the Samsung range with Android.
    I don't know much about the new Windows Phones.
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  • optimisticbiker
    optimisticbiker Posts: 1,657
    New Windows phones are good, a colleague has the the new Lumina (sp?), but I prefer my HTC X One. Another colleague got the Samsung Galaxy 3 and isnt as happy with it as he expected to be...
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    OptimisticBiker wrote:
    Another colleague got the Samsung Galaxy 3 and isnt as happy with it as he expected to be...
    Do tell!??! Was thinking of getting one.
    _
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    I equally can't see much reason to go for Blackberry for personal use.

    I've had a play with a work college's new nokia with windows and it's okay but not great, ie if it's your money I'd sugest iphone/android.
  • optimisticbiker
    optimisticbiker Posts: 1,657
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    OptimisticBiker wrote:
    Another colleague got the Samsung Galaxy 3 and isnt as happy with it as he expected to be...
    Do tell!??! Was thinking of getting one.
    Mainly, I gather, Samsung's insistence on their 'clunky' UI, the HTC one is cleaner and less intrusive on the native ICS UI. Some of the Galaxy apps, like the SMS editor are (his view) 1980's styled and poor use of screen... Not played with his enough to say, but like all things, definitely a try before you buy. Battery life is the other one, but all big Smartphones are going to have that issue. Tho so far the HTC isn't doing too bad, I get a working day out of it. Turning off the wifi when you know it cant connect to anything useful is a habit to get into...

    I like my HTC and its set up identically to my ASUS Transformer tablet (also ICS) so all the apps etc are exactly where I expect them to be and they all work the same...
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    Surprised the battery problem is worse than say, HTC. My experience of HTC is fine apart from memory and battery!
    _
  • spen666
    spen666 Posts: 17,709
    I've been a Blackberry fan for years now. Last September, I got the new Blackberry Bold 9900. So far I'm onto my 5th phone - 2 died completely, one key pad failed, one speaker failed.

    Not sure if it is tis model or if quality of all Blackberry's has slipped.

    I also possess a Nokia Lumia 710 and like the same. It is a Windows 7 phone.

    In fact, the latest Blackberry is currently still in the box as I am enjoying using the Lumia phone more.

    Blackberry is good for what it does, but the reliability issues make me think I will not get a Blackberry again
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  • optimisticbiker
    optimisticbiker Posts: 1,657
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Surprised the battery problem is worse than say, HTC. My experience of HTC is fine apart from memory and battery!
    Didn't say it was worse... just that all big smartphones will have that issue. According to the reviews the Samsung is better on battery life than the HTC... but in real life, it all depends on the user...
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  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Anything more than this is unneccessary.

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  • notsoblue
    notsoblue Posts: 5,756
    My 2p...

    Battery life is really quite heavily dependant on the user. I have a HTC Desire HD (which I love) and I know three other people who have this phone and we all have different experience with battery life. It depends a great deal on the apps you have installed on it. Some are pretty bad for running in the background when you're not expecting them to and eating up power. Free, ad supported, apps are notorious for this. A virgin Desire HD with nothing installed has a really good battery life.

    Also, I don't know why anyone would want a Blackberry for personal use (or professional for that matter), especially as RIM is on the way out anyway.
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  • NGale
    NGale Posts: 1,866
    I have had Blackberry's in one form of another for the past 15 years, I still like them.

    Blackberry/RIM is going through a rough patch at the moment, mostly from their own doing from from being too up themselves to notice what the likes of Apple, Noika and Google were doing.

    There is nothing that can't be resolved with Blackberry that and android OS or Windows 7 OS couldn't resolve. The hardware is good, it's the OS with Blackberry that's the problem at the moment.

    I also have a Playbook which I love. It's a fantastic bit of kit for out in the field with the cadets for getting photos for the detachment website, bring up lesson plans, playing presentations through a HDMI cable and though mobile wifi getting onto the net. I can also sideload android applications onto it as well

    RIM have a lot of catching up to do, but at the moment I think they are on the right track with the major management changes and the new ideas coming out of the company
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  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Surprised the battery problem is worse than say, HTC. My experience of HTC is fine apart from memory and battery!

    You can get replacement batteries with a higher capacity. I have an Anker battery that replaces the native 1540mAH with a 1920 one (although it has measured at over 2000mAH from fully flat to fully charged)
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  • Initialised
    Initialised Posts: 3,047
    Having recently gone for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus I'd recommend sticking to HTC and wish I'd held out a month for the HTC One X.
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  • richVSrich
    richVSrich Posts: 527
    thanks for the input peeps...i have gone for the Blackberry in this case...it will mainly be used for bbm-ing, and emailing... yes the apps and internet aren't great but at the moment i'm thinking i might cope...all the new top of the range androids are just toooooo big for my liking, i would need a man bag for them ffs...

    the 9360 which i got is a pretty nifty semi budget BB (not contract), thin and very light..seems pretty fast in most things apart from internet perhaps.. this is my first bb so will have to see how i deal with it for a prolonged period :)
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