Droid or Iphone

[Detroit47]

My wife wants a new phone she says she wants an Iphone or a Droid. So which is better I don’t have a clue. I want some input our provider is Verizon.  I personally hate my cell phone "electronic leash".

73 N8QPC

[W4AAB]

As far as Droids go, I like R2D2 and C3PO, but they don't do cell calls  .

[K6JEK]

Latest reviews go like this:  Droid very cool and maybe the OS is better but the list of available applications is short compared to the iPhone.

[Steve - K4HX]

The other thing about Droid is applications are not universal - they may not run on all Droid machines.

[Mike/W8BAC]

As a Droid ( Samsung Fascinate GS) and I Phone (4) user, The I Phone is far better in my opinion. The screen is sharper. It's easier to use. App's really work. My list is long and harsh when it comes to Google's Droid OS. If it wasn't an office tool the Samsung would be in the trash.

[longle SWL]

Neither, just get a phone, a plain old ordinary cell phone. No bells and whistles, no apps, no data capabilities and no dead batteries every time you turn around. Apps schmapps, I do not understand the fascination with these toys. Just my $.02. 

[K6JEK]

Neither, just get a phone, a plain old ordinary cell phone. No bells and whistles, no apps, no data capabilities and no dead batteries every time you turn around. Apps schmapps, I do not understand the fascination with these toys. Just my $.02. 

I suggest you stop thinking of it as a phone.  Think of it as a very portable computer that happens to have a phone. I use the web browser on my iPhone more than I use the phone.  I can Google up something no matter where I am.

[W1RC]

I prefer the iPhone but there are those who prefer the Droid platform.  It's all a matter of taste.  Both are good.

They both are essentially toys.

73,

MrMike

[K3ZS]

I have an Archos 70, with a 250 gb drive.   It is a 7" droid.   It is a big smartphone without the phone or gps part.  Got it to use on trips, less of a hassle with the TSA compared to laptops.

[W1UJR]

Chocolate or Vanilla.
It's a personal choice.

I use the iPhone and all things Apple.

[W3GMS]

Rotary phones are the way to go!  I was curious if they would work with Verizon FIOS that we now have to the house.  Sure enough, I plugged them in and the old rotary dial phone works fine with the fiber interface.  Those Bakelite phones have a solid feel.  Take about legacy support!  You can even pulse the hook switch and get people .   It's like calling CQ when you tap the hook switch since you always get a different person on the other end

Joe, W3GMS

[WB2EMS]

I re-upped recently and settled on the DroidX and am fairly pleased with it. While I generally like Apple gear and they do a good job of managing the customer experience, sometimes that comes with a mindset of control and restriction that I'm generally not up for. I have found Android apps that seem to mirror all the cool iPhone apps I've seen, and the rate of increase in the android world seems to be faster than in the more controlled apple side. There seems to be some support for rooting the droids as well should I get interested in that.

The phone itself seems to be fairly rugged and offer a lot of features, some of which I don't use. But some of the capabilities are game changing. The mobile hot spot feature (also available on the iPhone) has proved very handy. Last week we were chugging our way through some busy waters on a sailboat at night and I was able to download an android app to see marine traffic that was carrying transponders (AIS - marinetraffic.com) to enhance our ability to see what was going on and moving around us. Very cool.

APRSdroid let me leave an APRS breadcrumb trail via the cellular network instead of carrying a dedicated radio for it on 2 meters, and let our friends and family keep track of our progress (wb2ems-8). Not sure if there's an iPhone app for that.

For all it's cool capabilities, it does make me wonder if google is *really* my friend. It sure knows a lot about me, where I am, and what I am doing. And what was that about a cooperative deal with the NSA? Then today I read about numerous apps that are watching and listening via the cam and mic in the various flavors of smartphones to gather 'marketing data'. Uh huh. Methinks all the smartphones might be double edged swords in that regard.

Apple IOS or Android. It's nice to have choices.

[WD5JKO]

I would make the choice such that I avoid a contract, and a high monthly bill. To me it is insane what families spend on cellphones per month. Myself and two kids (ages 15 and 23) use IPHONES, unlocked with T-Mobile. None of us talk a lot, so pre-pay minutes $91 for 1000 minutes with 12 month expiration works for us. I did have to relent with the daughter though to get unlimited text for $15/mo (no contract). For data it is free with WIFI, and Tmobile provides ABC News, MLB.com, and some other sites for free on the 2G network. Using the Opera Mini browser with some tweaks, I get everything else although its slow....but free. A tweaked IPHONE is a little complicated to set up, but I enjoy it everyday while telling ATT or Verizon to shove their contracts and high monthly fees.

Jim
WD5JKO

[longle SWL]

I wanted the wife to have an emergency cell phone so I bought an ATT&T Go Phone. We put a $100 card on it once a year. Gives her more than 1K minutes. No contract.

[Ott]

Interesting and perhaps timely read on the drudge this morning regarding smart phones...

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/34/3458.asp

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20055431-1.html