The Dink Network

Been planning to buy a new phone. Finally gonna get my first touch-screen. Yeah, I know I'm late by about 6 years, but when you're poor, you're poor. Anyway, I was wondering what phones would you guys suggest? Lumia's pretty much out of the question. I've looked into it and it seems crap. So I guess it's more of a battle between Samsung Galaxy S3 and Apple iPhone. I understand they're both pretty good, with Galaxy S3 being popular for its lower price, but iPhone being popular for actually being dang good.

What do you think, guys? Does anyone have any experience on these phones?

You haven't missed out on anything. Touchscreens suck. And the iPhone isn't popular due to being good, but due to excellent branding.

PS. I'm a bitter old man.

touch screens actually make really annoying phones. I'd recommend not getting a touch screen.

I'm late by about 6 years and I'll probably continue being late for at least several more, so I'm not a good gauge for which phone you should get.

I know touch-screen phones aren't the best. I actually don't really like them. But it's necessary to get one sooner or later, or you'll completely fall out of the sled. Not to mention, soon you will not be able to get regular phones anymore, so it's better to get one now.

Also, I wasn't really asking for opinions on touch-screens in general, but if anybody has any experience on either one of the particular phones I mentioned, what are the positives and negatives in both of them.

If you want to be a part of the closed in environment that is the Apple cult, go for the iPhone. The actual phone is a third of the amount you pay! The rest 2/3 is for the apple logo to go with it. You also must install cheap bloatware on your computer to transfer multimedia to the phone along with a ton of other things you must subscribe and dedicate yourself to.

Apple are only good at marketing and has successfully made all their products some kind of status symbol that goes "OMG I NEED ONE IT'S THE BEST ALL MY FRIENDS HAVE ONE OMG"... Which is a shame.

Soooo... uh, my vote goes to all other "non-i" phones available.

I'd go for the cheaper one if all you're looking for is a phone.

I have an iPhone, and I like it. I got it instead of an Android phone because I didn't want to have to think too much about maintaining it. I've heard it's hard to keep Android up to date, and Apple has a nice, unified ecosystem. I do plan to get some kind of Android device sometime to learn how to program for it.

If you want an Android phone, you might want to wait for the S4, since I've heard it'll be really good, though I don't know when it's coming out in Finland.

I'm not sure why people don't like touchscreens. They're not flawless, but they sure are easier to use than buttons when you're trying to click icons and links.

I have an ipod touch and I love it. I got the second generation soon after it was released and I've had it all this time. My phone however is half touch screen. (Like the outside is the touch screen but you can open it up and have a full keyboard). The touch screen seems to have issues staying locked- and thus has called numbers/sent texts/taken photos/browsed the web/beat my high score for tetris/changed my background/turned up my volume/changed my ringtone/done more on my phone than I have. I think this might be why I have a problem with touch screen phones.

Get an Android phone, Androids rule. Easy to program your own apps for them if you want to, for starters, using VB for Android.

This thread is now about how awful Apple is.

The touch screen seems to have issues staying locked

Oh, okay. I haven't had that problem with my screen. I'm guessing you haven't with your iPod touch either.

Edit:

This thread is now about how awful Apple is.

It should also be about how awful Google is, for killing Reader.

Basically all the big players are bad in some way.

Quiztis, I'm wondering if your opinions are based on any experience or just on things you've heard? Because I honestly doubt it's that bad. I know Apple is a master at marketting their products, but that, as far as I see, doesn't necessarily make their products any worse. People who have had experience on iPhone really seem to like it. Same goes with Galaxy S3, of course. My father used to really hate iPhone, but his girlfriend won one recently in a contest, and his opinions about it completely turned around and now he's praising it pretty much about everything.

So whereas I appreaciate the opinions, Quiztis, I have a feeling yours is based more on a random biased opinion, than real experiential facts.

Apple products are extremely user-friendly.

They like 'em because Apple already got them in their grasp.

Don't get fooled, that's all I have to say, and I know. Go Android.

"Galaxy S3 being popular for its lower price, but iPhone being popular for actually being dang good"

You imply the S3 is only an option because it's cheaper... From all accounts I've heard it's a dang good phone in its own right.

I don't have a touchscreen phone but have always been interested in getting one. Currently drooling over the Google Nexus 4

I never knew that Android apps could be created with VB - I thought it was only Java. Good to know! Another excuse to get one, heh.

I miss my w880i. A snowball killed it.

You imply the S3 is only an option because it's cheaper...

From what I understand, S3 is an excellent phone, but the iPhone is a bit better. However, Galaxy S3 is much cheaper, which make them both rather equal. So looking into it, I'd say Galaxy S3 is like a poor man's version of iPhone. For once, I was actually thinking about going with the better option, and not necessarily the cheaper one. I guess I was trying to figure out if iPhone really was worth the extra money. And it seems that way, since nobody before Sparrowhawk even mentioned anything about the S3, in this thread. There was either positive or negative remarks about the iPhone, and I think those negative ones were more about Apple itself.

I have both an iPhone 3GS and a Samsung Galaxy S3. I bought the Samsung on release day because I wanted to graduate from Apple's closed system

I would say the Galaxy S3 (the S4 is coming out soon, which means the price on the S3 will go down a lot) is a very, VERY good phone. The screen quality and contrast is godlike, the features that you'd consider gimmicks actually do prove useful once you get used to them, which is rare for any device.

As for keeping Android up to date, it's all done automatically, just like on the iPhone.

But really, the ONE gigantic reason not to go with an Apple product is to not be chained to iTunes for content management. It's slow, bloated and a pain in the ass to use. After working with that for two years, you can't believe how happy I was when I could just copy/paste my songs straight onto the phone in Windows explorer on the Galaxy S3. Same counts for video files, that I didn't have to convert anymore.

In my opinion the only reason to stick with Apple is to get a superior Appstore. People say Android is catching up, but I think they still have a LONG way to go. It doesn't help that the Android app platforms are divided. I only use Google Play, but I'm sure I'm missing out on some apps that way. Just can't be bothered to use more than one Appstore.

So yeah, in my opinion as someone who's been on both sides, go with th Samsung hands down.

I don't own either but based on what people who actually own them say, Android phones are much better. Much better apps and Operating System in general. The iPhones aren't bad but, apparently iPhone 5 isn't much different than 4. So, you should get 4 if you're going for an Apple phone because it's probably much cheaper.

This is my phone. It's awesome.

I think galaxy 4 is about to come out. You can wait a little. Anyway, retro style rules.

Kyle, you make the S3 very tempting!

Is scratcher really an old man, and my brother would be better in this discussion, or he says hes an expert in scooters and phones.

Google Nexus 4, it's cheaper and faster than the S3. Also runs core Android so you get updates as soon as Google release them.

http://www.google.com.au/nexus/4/

The Nexus 4 is definitely not a bad phone either, though the screen isn't as impressive in its contrast.

Windows Phone is superior to all

I'm pretty satisfied with my Lumia 920. It got a few downsides (like the media controls and the lack of apps) but I think it's the best phone I've had anyway.

I think you should go with the S3 if you're choosing between that and an iPhone.

Everywhere I look, it's people picking S3 over iPhone. But also everywhere I look, it's people regretting they bought an S3 over iPhone, afterwards. I'm still kinda stumped which one to go for, to be honest.

Thanks for the suggestion, Geraldsummer, but I'm definitely not going for anything with Google's name on it. Trusting that company is a major risk, because of their tendency to always screw their products up.

It's a matter of preferences. But if you really dislike google you shouldn't go with any Android phone.

IPhone 5 is a great phone, so is the cheaper alternatives like iPhone 4 as well. If you want to dive in to the Apple sphere, you should definitely buy an iPhone. I get the feeling you're somewhat more interested in the iPhone option (some influence from your father's experience?). Just go for it. It's a great phone and I think you wouldn't regret it.

It's a matter of preferences. But if you really dislike google you shouldn't go with any Android phone.

Yeah heh, but I don't necessarily think of it like that. I just feel like anything with Google on its name is bound to turn into crap.

To be honest, yeah, I think I'm leaning a bit towards the iPhone, at the moment. It still seems somewhat superior, at this point and time. As I said earlier in the thread, S3 is cheaper, so that automatically sparks my interest. The reason I asked whether I should pick iPhone or the S3, is because I mainly wanted to know if the price was really telling the truth in this case, but looking around the Internet and asking here, has only seemed to make my decision that much harder.

From what I've read, Kyle is the only one that actually has an S3 so far in this thread. I'll go ahead and pop in and say that I also have an S3, and while I've never owned an iPhone, I am in high school and phones get passed around enough to give me experience with them. Overall I prefer the S3; for me it was an easier phone to just pick up and go, and it's been easy to customize.

If anybody's interested, I finally got around to buying the new phone and ended up with Samsung Galaxy S4. I'd still probably have preferred iPhone for some of its qualities, but the S4 was much cheaper. Especially when you think about how new it is.

Let us know how you like it!

Here's just a semi-related rant.

I'd still probably have preferred iPhone for some of its qualities

If you value the quality of being the owner of the device even a tiny little bit, you've made the right choice. Apple doesn't even allow you to run your own programs on your own phone unless you get an expensive license. And if you do, you still can't send your program to anyone else; it will only run on your personal phone. Either you must get a really expensive license, or all your friends must get a developer's license as well.

And if you want to write free software (which people are allowed to study and redistribute), you're out of luck. Apple explicitly forbids that, and doesn't even offer a license which would allow it.

So if you might want to go into programming, or you have any friends who do and whose programs you might want to try out, stay away from Apple.

Oh, and from Windows Phone, too. They're not quite as extreme as apple, from what I heard, but they have similar policies.

For Android, AFAIK, anyone can write programs. You only have to pay to get them in Google's official distribution (Google Play), but you can test things without them being in there, and your friends can, too. Personally I'd be worried about Google tracking your every move, but there isn't really a way around that anyway.

Well, there are a few complaints about it. For one, it does seem to be a bit too Google-oriented. Anything you do, or try to learn to do, constantly there's some note from Google popping up or something. Then there are a few things which are a bit too overcomplicated and actually worked better on an old, normal cellphone. Getting the contacts right was a major she dog, and the reminder seems to suck. I don't know if there's a way to change it into better, but it only beeps once with a very quiet sound, so unless you constantly keep the phone in your pocket, you're not gonna hear the reminder. Then there's some other small annoyances.

Other than that, once I get used to it, I think it'll turn out to be an okay phone, with lots of good qualities as well.

I think you made the right choice going with the S4 though, compared to other products on the market
I'm sure you can adjust many of the things you find annoying, but I'll be the first to admit I also don't really bother looking through option menus all the time

You should try to get into the habit of using some of the features of the phone you couldn't use on your old one though. Watch a show on it in full HD, take some nice video footage in 1080p, take a panorama photo, use S-Voice (for the lulz), get into the Google Play store and grab some free games, ... It's only then that you start to realize that you really did buy a next gen product

Apple doesn't even allow you to run your own programs on your own phone unless you get an expensive license.

Unless it's an HTML5 app.

take a panorama photo

Kyle, I read that as "paranormal." Quite a phone!

Congrats Skull.

You bought the best phone out there in the market. Ignore the iDiots.

BTW, if you dont mind me asking, how much did it actually cost?

This is amazing.

BTW, if you dont mind me asking, how much did it actually cost?

Around 450€. The iPhone would've been closer to 700€ plus a few days of waiting, cause the stores over here don't have permission to actually possess them.

By my beard, that's a lot for something that breaks in one and a half years.

You have a beard? also why not get a nokia they never break and you don't need high tech stuff to call people.