Need advice for new cell phone - Blu-ray Forum

Kyo28 · 05-13-2009, 12:09 PM

Hi everyone.

I need advice for a new cell phone. I currently own an unlocked Japanese Sharp cell phone, but it's been 5 years now and time to upgrade. I also own a pocket PC and my goal is to merge the two into one, so I just have one item to carry with me.

So far, I've been doubting between getting an Iphone 3G or a Windows Mobile 6.x touch screen cell phone. Here's an overview of my needs, from most important to nice-to-have. As I live in Europe but often go to Japan, you'll see my needs are geared towards that:

1. Absolute necessities (deal-breakers)

Being able to use the phone with a SIM card
Being able to use the phone both in Europe and Japan (3G where available, otherwise being able to use Europe's GSM network and Japan's W-CDMA network, for maximum coverage)
Possibility to sync with MS Outlook 2007 (Calendar and contacts. E-mail and tasks is nice-to-have. E-mail pushing not necessary but also nice-to-have)
Support for both Japanese text as well as English for reading as well as input in SMS, MMS, e-mail and contacts
touch screen

2. Very important (might be a deal-breaker)

Being able to change OS language from English to Japanese and vice-versa, preferably on-the-fly
Being able to consult my DVD and Blu-ray collection:
- DVD is on collectorz.com Movie Collector, which have software to consult both on Windows Mobile and Iphone
- Blu-ray is on DVD Profiler, which is read-only available on Windows Mobile but will be available in the future on Iphone with also editing possibilities
Alarm function
good quality screen
possibility to expand storage capacity (for example, with SD memory card), to store more data such as pictures and so on

3. Like to have (but not a deal-breaker)

Possibility to easily customize look of OS (wallpaper, themes, icons, ringtones, etc)
Widgets (dictionary, weather forecast, exchange rate, etc)
possibility to listen to MP3's
possibility to take & watch pictures

4. Nice-to-have

possibility to watch movie trailers or digital copies of Blu-rays (.mp4)
possibility to consult text-documents (Word or .txt)
possibility to use spreadsheets (XL or other)

I am far from being an expert in the matter, but as you can see, my goal is to merge the functions of my cell phone with those of pocket PC and keep only one device I can carry with me.

From what I've gathered so far, a 2nd generation Iphone (3G) would possibly suit my most important needs but as I'm not tech savvy on these matters, all info or feedback is welcome.

One additional question: my Pocket PC can easily be customized with themes. Is the same true for Windows Mobile cell phones? How about the Iphone?

And finally, if you suggest I get a Windows Mobile cell phone, which brand/model would be a good one?

Thanks in advance for any feedback you can give me!

DonRSD · 05-13-2009, 01:01 PM

iphone

mikejet · 05-13-2009, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DonRSD

iphone

NO.

iPhone does not support ANY CDMA areas. Your phone will be DEAD in Japan.

I would goto a Verizon store and ask them for options or even a Sprint store. Those two companies are the pioneers in offering Tri-band cells that support both GSM and CDMA.

The problem is that 3g here in the US uses different freq. than in the other countries and it will work here but not there.

I know moto makes a Tri Band cell but it's not very feature rich.

Your best bet would be to have an unlocked GSM phone for US/Europe and when you are in Japan purchase a cell from DoCoMo if you want two feature rich phones.

lettucenpico · 05-13-2009, 01:24 PM

Was gonna say the same, especially the part where you put your collection... Iphone would be a great phone for storage using the Iown App

lettucenpico · 05-13-2009, 01:25 PM

You could always go with a trusty reliable NOKIA phone, like the E71s.

mikejet · 05-13-2009, 01:27 PM

mikejet · 05-13-2009, 01:29 PM

The phone I suggest fulfills all 4 requirements. The iPhone doesn't even fulfill the first.

lettucenpico · 05-13-2009, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikejet

I didnt say the Iphone is the be all end all of cell phones. Just that after having the original iphone, then switching to different type of phones after that, then going back to the Iphone but with 3g..it just does everything for you, and if you can't find something on the phone, you can find it on the app. And there always creating new S**t in the app store.

If you were to get the HTC DIamond..might as well get the HTC diamond touch pro, with the full qwerty keyboard. because the touch keyboard isn't as responsive as the Iphone's, well who am I kidding

, no phone's come close yet on that.

The last year and a half, I've owned the Sidekick 3, Blackberry Pearl, one of those fake iphone, tmobile shadow, then motorola W490, then the blackberry curve, then the iphone, then the Tmobile Dash, then the Razr2, then went to AT&T and my first phone was the HTC Fuze (touch pro), then the Iphone 3g, then now the BB Bold. So yeah I've been through a lot of cell phones the last year and so. Overrall, the Iphone is overrall my favorite phone, and 2nd of course are the blackberries. Now I think im gonna try the Nokia E71 now that finally its on the AT&T.

mikejet · 05-13-2009, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lettucenpico

I didnt say the Iphone is the be all end all of cell phones.

I know and I didn't mean to make it seem like I was pointing at you. But I get tired of all the love people have for a phone that's not all that great.

And you're right, it's the touch pro he needs.

BTW, I use an old BB 8700g. I swear this thing could probably survive a fall down a flight of stairs and keep going.

xtop · 05-13-2009, 02:02 PM

touch pro 2 and touch diamond 2 should be hitting our shores here pretty soon. if you're gonna go windows mobile, those 2 are your best bets for the very near future

lettucenpico · 05-13-2009, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikejet

I know and I didn't mean to make it seem like I was pointing at you. But I get tired of all the love people have for a phone that's not all that great.

And you're right, it's the touch pro he needs.

BTW, I use an old BB 8700g. I swear this thing could probably survive a fall down a flight of stairs and keep going.

Blackberries are a good phone, RIM did a good job with these phones. I know what you mean about the iphones, but being an owner of one or two i should say, it is hard to put down that phone and try to use something else w/out going back to it. I myself personally, a phone junkie. I'll try any phone, flip, sidebars, sliders, touch..whatever. But the Iphones and the BBs are the best phones out there IMO. They've came out with multiple phones now that does both touch screen and full qwerty keys, and the closest they've ever got to feel like an iphone with a full keys, probably would have to go with the G1

lettucenpico · 05-13-2009, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xtop

touch pro 2 and touch diamond 2 should be hitting our shores here pretty soon. if you're gonna go windows mobile, those 2 are your best bets for the very near future

Didn't care much for the touch pro as I thought I would, touchscreen wasn't very responsive, the response to the slide wasn't great. I was very excited to hear about the Touch Pro til I finally got it.

Haven't read much about the Touch Pro 2, just saw pics on there website. What's new to it?

Kyo28 · 05-13-2009, 02:10 PM

Wow, a lot of useful feedback already. Thanks a lot, guys!

A few additional questions in regard to the suggestions you gave:

Iphone: I'm a bit surprised it doesn't support W-CDMA. Does that mean the Iphones sold in Japan differ from those sold in Europe? Same question regarding the SIM-card: it seems in certain countries, the Iphone works with a SIM-card. Is this a matter of various SKU's hitting the market, depending on the region?

I was also considering certain smart phones and one of these was indeed the HTC Touch Pro. A question in that regard:

Is it possible to change the OS language of a smart phone? Or can you at least switch to a different IME (Input Method Editor)?

Finally, regarding customization, it seems you can only change the theme of an Iphone if you hack it. Does the same hold true for a WM6.x smart phone?

Thanks for all the help, guys!

xtop · 05-13-2009, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lettucenpico

Didn't care much for the touch pro as I thought I would, touchscreen wasn't very responsive, the response to the slide wasn't great. I was very excited to hear about the Touch Pro til I finally got it.

Haven't read much about the Touch Pro 2, just saw pics on there website. What's new to it?

yeah it needs a custom rom to run fast. touch pro 2 has a bigger screen. i can't remember if its the touch or the diamond that uses the same cpu (or both maybe). but the screen is the big upgrade

lettucenpico · 05-13-2009, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kyo28

Wow, a lot of useful feedback already. Thanks a lot, guys!

A few additional questions in regard to the suggestions you gave:

Iphone: I'm a bit surprised it doesn't support W-CDMA. Does that mean the Iphones sold in Japan differ from those sold in Europe? Same question regarding the SIM-card: it seems in certain countries, the Iphone works with a SIM-card. Is this a matter of various SKU's hitting the market, depending on the region?

I was also considering certain smart phones and one of these was indeed the HTC Touch Pro. A question in that regard:

Is it possible to change the OS language of a smart phone? Or can you at least switch to a different IME (Input Method Editor)?

Finally, regarding customization, it seems you can only change the theme of an Iphone if you hack it. Does the same hold true for a WM6.x smart phone?

Thanks for all the help, guys!

Iphone is a GSM phone. As far as I know, so it uses sim cards. Hence you can unlock it for T-Mo

Beefbowl · 05-13-2009, 04:31 PM

I'm looking for a new phone as well since i'm moving to the UK at the end of themonth. More than likely, I'll be going with the iphone.

Beefbowl · 05-13-2009, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikejet

NO.

iPhone does not support ANY CDMA areas. Your phone will be DEAD in Japan.

I would goto a Verizon store and ask them for options or even a Sprint store. Those two companies are the pioneers in offering Tri-band cells that support both GSM and CDMA.

The problem is that 3g here in the US uses different freq. than in the other countries and it will work here but not there.

I know moto makes a Tri Band cell but it's not very feature rich.

Your best bet would be to have an unlocked GSM phone for US/Europe and when you are in Japan purchase a cell from DoCoMo if you want two feature rich phones.

found this on cnet

http://reviews.cnet.com/4321-6454_7-...CarouselArea.3

says the iphone supports cdma.

mikejet · 05-13-2009, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beefbowl

found this on cnet

http://reviews.cnet.com/4321-6454_7-...CarouselArea.3

says the iphone supports cdma.

And GSM at the same time? He's looking for an all in one device.

mikejet · 05-13-2009, 05:29 PM

The iPhone 3g supports:
WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900
For US 3g UMTS.

WCDMA in Japan is 800 and 2100 mHz.

Won't work.

Beefbowl · 05-13-2009, 05:58 PM

Sorry, don't know anything about that stuff, just reading off what it said on the website.

05-13-2009, 12:09 PM	#1
Kyo28 Power Member Member since:Jun 2008 Blu-ray collection:446 Blu-ray reviews:12	Need advice for new cell phone (Iphone or WM6.X cell phone) Hi everyone. I need advice for a new cell phone. I currently own an unlocked Japanese Sharp cell phone, but it's been 5 years now and time to upgrade. I also own a pocket PC and my goal is to merge the two into one, so I just have one item to carry with me. So far, I've been doubting between getting an Iphone 3G or a Windows Mobile 6.x touch screen cell phone. Here's an overview of my needs, from most important to nice-to-have. As I live in Europe but often go to Japan, you'll see my needs are geared towards that: 1. Absolute necessities (deal-breakers) Being able to use the phone with a SIM card Being able to use the phone both in Europe and Japan (3G where available, otherwise being able to use Europe's GSM network and Japan's W-CDMA network, for maximum coverage) Possibility to sync with MS Outlook 2007 (Calendar and contacts. E-mail and tasks is nice-to-have. E-mail pushing not necessary but also nice-to-have) Support for both Japanese text as well as English for reading as well as input in SMS, MMS, e-mail and contacts touch screen 2. Very important (might be a deal-breaker) Being able to change OS language from English to Japanese and vice-versa, preferably on-the-fly Being able to consult my DVD and Blu-ray collection: DVD is on collectorz.com Movie Collector, which have software to consult both on Windows Mobile and Iphone Blu-ray is on DVD Profiler, which is read-only available on Windows Mobile but will be available in the future on Iphone with also editing possibilities Alarm function good quality screen possibility to expand storage capacity (for example, with SD memory card), to store more data such as pictures and so on 3. Like to have (but not a deal-breaker) Possibility to easily customize look of OS (wallpaper, themes, icons, ringtones, etc) Widgets (dictionary, weather forecast, exchange rate, etc) possibility to listen to MP3's possibility to take & watch pictures 4. Nice-to-have possibility to watch movie trailers or digital copies of Blu-rays (.mp4) possibility to consult text-documents (Word or .txt) possibility to use spreadsheets (XL or other) I am far from being an expert in the matter, but as you can see, my goal is to merge the functions of my cell phone with those of pocket PC and keep only one device I can carry with me. From what I've gathered so far, a 2nd generation Iphone (3G) would possibly suit my most important needs but as I'm not tech savvy on these matters, all info or feedback is welcome. One additional question: my Pocket PC can easily be customized with themes. Is the same true for Windows Mobile cell phones? How about the Iphone? And finally, if you suggest I get a Windows Mobile cell phone, which brand/model would be a good one? Thanks in advance for any feedback you can give me! Last edited by Kyo28; 05-13-2009 at 12:18 PM.

05-13-2009, 02:10 PM	#13
Kyo28 Power Member Member since:Jun 2008 Blu-ray collection:446 Blu-ray reviews:12	Wow, a lot of useful feedback already. Thanks a lot, guys! A few additional questions in regard to the suggestions you gave: Iphone: I'm a bit surprised it doesn't support W-CDMA. Does that mean the Iphones sold in Japan differ from those sold in Europe? Same question regarding the SIM-card: it seems in certain countries, the Iphone works with a SIM-card. Is this a matter of various SKU's hitting the market, depending on the region? I was also considering certain smart phones and one of these was indeed the HTC Touch Pro. A question in that regard: Is it possible to change the OS language of a smart phone? Or can you at least switch to a different IME (Input Method Editor)? Finally, regarding customization, it seems you can only change the theme of an Iphone if you hack it. Does the same hold true for a WM6.x smart phone? Thanks for all the help, guys!

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05-13-2009, 01:01 PM	#2
DonRSD Blu-ray Knight Member since:Jan 2009 Location:South Florida Home Theater Gallery:24 Blu-ray collection:254 Blu-ray reviews: 3 Trading Score:129	iphone

05-13-2009, 01:24 PM	#4
lettucenpico Power Member Member since:May 2008 Location:O-town FL Home Theater Gallery:4 Blu-ray collection:45 Trading Score:3	Was gonna say the same, especially the part where you put your collection... Iphone would be a great phone for storage using the Iown App

05-13-2009, 01:25 PM	#5
lettucenpico Power Member Member since:May 2008 Location:O-town FL Home Theater Gallery:4 Blu-ray collection:45 Trading Score:3	You could always go with a trusty reliable NOKIA phone, like the E71s.

05-13-2009, 01:27 PM	#6
mikejet Banned Member since:Sep 2008 Location:Los Angeles, CA Blu-ray reviews:5 Trading Score:29	Get this phone unlocked: HTC Touch Diamond Smart Phone Features: Accelerometer \| Auto-focus \| Call Log \| FM Radio - With RDS, stereo \| Game - Motion-based \| GPS - A-GPS ready \| Handwriting Recognition \| Java - MIDP 2.0 \| Music Player \| TouchFLO 3D \| Video - Record \| Video Call \| Voice Memo \| Web Browser Tri-band: GSM 1800 \| GSM 1900 \| GSM 800 \| WCDMA 1900 \| WCDMA 850 EDGE - 236.8Kbps \| GPRS - 48Kbps \| HSDPA - 7.2Mbps I don't know why people always think the iPhone is the be all end all of cell phones.

05-13-2009, 01:29 PM	#7
mikejet Banned Member since:Sep 2008 Location:Los Angeles, CA Blu-ray reviews:5 Trading Score:29	The phone I suggest fulfills all 4 requirements. The iPhone doesn't even fulfill the first.

05-13-2009, 02:02 PM	#10
xtop Blu-ray Count Member since:Oct 2007 Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Digital collection:- Trading Score:3	touch pro 2 and touch diamond 2 should be hitting our shores here pretty soon. if you're gonna go windows mobile, those 2 are your best bets for the very near future

05-13-2009, 04:31 PM	#16
Beefbowl Blu-ray Count Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Dec 2007 Location:Guam Home Theater Gallery:20 Blu-ray collection:749 Trading Score:20	I'm looking for a new phone as well since i'm moving to the UK at the end of themonth. More than likely, I'll be going with the iphone.

05-13-2009, 05:29 PM	#19
mikejet Banned Member since:Sep 2008 Location:Los Angeles, CA Blu-ray reviews:5 Trading Score:29	The iPhone 3g supports: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 For US 3g UMTS. WCDMA in Japan is 800 and 2100 mHz. Won't work.

05-13-2009, 05:58 PM	#20
Beefbowl Blu-ray Count Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Dec 2007 Location:Guam Home Theater Gallery:20 Blu-ray collection:749 Trading Score:20	Sorry, don't know anything about that stuff, just reading off what it said on the website.

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