Made of Stars wrote:So, I'm looking at getting one of these. Should I go with the hype, or is there another machine that just as good (or better) and that doesn't carry the premium?

So, have you made a decision, MoS? If so, we can just ramble on about other stuff . I feel another iPad discussion coming on

Xeno wrote:
So, have you made a decision, MoS? If so, we can just ramble on about other stuff . I feel another iPad discussion coming on

It's a giant ass iPhone, but it does less, costs more and you can't carry it around in your pocket.

That sums up my views of the iPad

And a load of people are saying it will 'save' the newspaper industry, seriously who is going to subscribe to an app when they have a web browser and about 10,000 other sources of free news?

Mojzu wrote:

Xeno wrote:
So, have you made a decision, MoS? If so, we can just ramble on about other stuff . I feel another iPad discussion coming on

It's a giant ass iPhone, but it does less, costs more and you can't carry it around in your pocket.

That sums up my views of the iPad

And a load of people are saying it will 'save' the newspaper industry, seriously who is going to subscribe to an app when they have a web browser and about 10,000 other sources of free news?

Me, because there's NEWS and there's news. I subscribe to The Guardian app for a one off price of £2.99. Weekly cost of The Guardian almost £7.00. Plus the app gives extras: audio debates and reviews (I've just finished listening to the Jewish Book Week special); the ability to save articles; search articles; display articles according to topic; copy paste articles; read music reviews and Listen to music; read offline.

aspire1670 wrote:

Me, because there's NEWS and there's news. I subscribe to The Guardian app for a one off price of £2.99. Weekly cost of The Guardian almost £7.00. Plus the app gives extras: audio debates and reviews (I've just finished listening to the Jewish Book Week special); the ability to save articles; search articles; display articles according to topic; copy paste articles; read music reviews and Listen to music; read offline.

But the Guardian has provided you with extra content, ease of use, a reason to subscribe. Would you be so willing if they just put all their news content behind a paywall? I certainly wouldn't, and I read the Guardian.co.uk regularly.

iPhones are definitely a safe option to go for. I was looking at the HTC HD2 personally, and it looks slick on paper. The software's apparently bollocks (it runs Windows Mobile 6.5), which is a real shame. I have decided to just wait for now. If they brought out the HTC HD2 with a better OS then I'd get that. If they brought out a decent iPhone contract then I'd consider that.

I turn on the telly and watch SKy or CNN for a couple of hours to get my daily news fix. I'm too old to care about more than that, so an IPad wouldn't be for news. I want it because of having music, books and photos all in one place that I can carry around in my hand luggage without having to carry a handbag and a whole lot of other gadgets as well. A camera on the iPad would be nice, then Skype would work, and I wouldn't need a phone. Hmm!

Mojzu wrote:

aspire1670 wrote:

Me, because there's NEWS and there's news. I subscribe to The Guardian app for a one off price of £2.99. Weekly cost of The Guardian almost £7.00. Plus the app gives extras: audio debates and reviews (I've just finished listening to the Jewish Book Week special); the ability to save articles; search articles; display articles according to topic; copy paste articles; read music reviews and Listen to music; read offline.

But the Guardian has provided you with extra content, ease of use, a reason to subscribe. Would you be so willing if they just put all their news content behind a paywall? I certainly wouldn't, and I read the Guardian.co.uk regularly.

Well there you go then. You pays yer money and yer makes yer choice.

My husband gets a paper every day, for me it's more about doing the crosswords than reading the news, after a couple of hours of Eamonn and Co, I've had enough for the day, then at night I watch the local news for a half hour.

Xeno wrote:

Made of Stars wrote:So, I'm looking at getting one of these. Should I go with the hype, or is there another machine that just as good (or better) and that doesn't carry the premium?

So, have you made a decision, MoS? If so, we can just ramble on about other stuff . I feel another iPad discussion coming on

I'd like one but need to sort out the corporate email thing (email, meetings etc). I'm meeting with a colleague next week who's got it sorted out. Have got an iPod Touch, but it would be great to have the phone functionality all in one...

Well, I've bitten the bullet and decided to buy the i-phone 16gb 3gs (hopefully) today.

Apart from the Grauniad, which I was going to go for anyway, and "Stanza" which sounds worthwhile, any other recommendations for apps worth getting. I keep seeing adverts that offer me crap I'd never want, like Tesco shopping or "customise your Nikes".

Oh, hello, by the way.

i am considering getting nokia n900.

anyone had any experience with it?

rJD wrote:Well, I've bitten the bullet and decided to buy the i-phone 16gb 3gs (hopefully) today.

Apart from the Grauniad, which I was going to go for anyway, and "Stanza" which sounds worthwhile, any other recommendations for apps worth getting. I keep seeing adverts that offer me crap I'd never want, like Tesco shopping or "customise your Nikes".

Oh, hello, by the way.

What do you want to do? Trawling the top free and paid apps in the store is a good way of discovering things although there is much else that is good but buried deeper.

and hello

Xeno wrote:What do you want to do? Trawling the top free and paid apps in the store is a good way of discovering things although there is much else that is good but buried deeper

That's a really good question - I wanted the ability to check the web & email, & I want to be able to make basic notes & spreadsheets (of a very limited nature) but I've got intrigued by the app store & I'm curious as to what goodies might be buried out of plain view.

I suppose I'm looking to see what it can do.

Gidday rJD. Please go and say hi in New Members - others will be happy to see that you made it here too.

I went through many full featured cel phones and they were all crap. I got an iphone in Oct 2007 and still have it. It's awesome.

rJD wrote:... I wanted the ability to check the web & email, & I want to be able to make basic notes & spreadsheets (of a very limited nature) but I've got intrigued by the app store & I'm curious as to what goodies might be buried out of plain view.

I suppose I'm looking to see what it can do.

For ideas, here is an incomplete list of apps or categories I have:
News & finance, options, probability, weather
TV programs, music, remote control, book reader
Browsing, wikipedia, maps, navigation, restaurants, ATMs, GPS (you can get one for toilets in Oz, too!)
To do, shopping, mail, double-entry accounting, expenses, timesheets, timers
Astronomy, moon phase, tides, sun, Google Earth
Games & sports access
Calculators including financial (I prefer RPN), conversions
Measure length, angle, sound, wind speed
Skype and VOIP phones
Terminal for SSH access to hosts
Notes, mind-mapping, sketching and visualisation
First aid, dictionary, knots, flashlight, crossword and scrabble solvers, translators

Some of these are now little used since retirement and there are some I have never used, more that are rarely used, and should delete soon. There are about twenty of eighty that I use frequently and half a dozen or so every day.

These are mostly drawn from the App Store categories Business, Finance, Productivity, Navigation, Utilities, Weather. There are thirteen more categories I rarely or never touch.

I read recently, though, that Apple have taken down BoobsFree, so that may be a show-stopper for some.

Xeno, thanks for the suggestions - I've already added a first aid app (I'm a first aider at work) and a dictionary to my apps.

I have the Guardian and BBC news sites, Quick Office, Wikipedia, WordMaster crossword helper, thetrainline, google, facebook (signed up but never used on the desktop), IMDb, thetrainline, Cinema listings, a couple of Astronomy sites, Sky Sports football update, Amazon and Epicurious. This is in addition to the pre-loaded things like weather, compass, youtube etc.

I'll calm down soon enough (when I run out of memory, I suppose)

The weather app on the phone uses NOAA data, not local. You will do better to look for one which sources data from the British Meteorological office. In this country, Oz Weather and Pkt Weather both do the trick very well.

If the reviews I read are to be trusted, there are many better and cheaper options out there. I just read a review on Google Nexus One and they say it's much better. It costs half of what you would pay for an iPhone (in my country, 'cause iPhone here is ridiculously pricey). But, I dont have either, so I can't really say I agree.

Dalmat wrote:If the reviews I read are to be trusted, there are many better and cheaper options out there. I just read a review on Google Nexus One and they say it's much better. It costs half of what you would pay for an iPhone (in my country, 'cause iPhone here is ridiculously pricey). But, I dont have either, so I can't really say I agree.

I quoted a view from someone who has both, by qualification and role an expert in software and interfaces. Your criteria may not be the same as theirs.