Android vs iPhone: Off-topic discussion forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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April 5, 2010 2:29 p.m. pinchvalve SuperDork
Ok, I have to get a new cellphone. I have a Windows Smartphone on Verizon, and hate everything about the OS, the phone, and the apps. I have narrowed it down to a Motorola Droid on Verizon, or an iPhone on AT&T.

My main criteria are as follows:
1. Must sync with Outlook. Hard to tell if either phone will sync as well as my current phone. The Android seems to sync through Google, so you loose things like notes and recurring appointments and categories. I need those things! iPhones say that I can plug in and sync which would be awesome, but will everything sync?
2. Must use standard stuff: My current phone uses a proprietary plug for everything, so if I want to plug in headphones or perhaps an earpiece, I need to find my Samsung-specific adapter. On the road, at midnight, I want to walk into a 7-11 or Wal Mart and grab a new charger or earpiece for $10. Never had a problem with Motorola in the past, and lord knows iPhones have plenty of accessories.
3. No Stylus!: Windows phones all seem to work better with a stylus. They have not figured out that we have thumbs! iPhones are the gold-standard in tehis regard, how's Android?
4. Decent Camera: My phone has a 5mp camera with a flash that comes in really handy. The iPhone has no flash and less resolution, but pictures that I have seen from friends phones are better than mine already. Droid seems to have the edge here.
The cost of the phone is basically the same at $200. The plans are also about the same. Anyone care to share their iPhone or Droid experience?
April 5, 2010 2:40 p.m. BoxheadTim Dork

Re (2), iPhones definitely use standard headphone sockets if you're looking to listen to music only. I believe you've got to use the supplied headset if you want to listen & talk...

Definitely no stylus on either; I've only played with a friend's Google Nexus phone for a few minutes but that seemed to work nicely without a stylus, too.

Can't help with (1), I sync my iPhone with my Mac.
April 5, 2010 2:51 p.m. turboswede SuperDork

Honestly, unless you have the ability to sync over the air with a Microsoft Exchange environment already, I'd ditch Outlook altogether and use Google's e-mail and Calendar services in the cloud.

Google even has a utility you can install to sync your Outlook Calendar to your Google Calendar.

Oh and neither can sync notes out of the box, that is an Outlook only thing, I believe. If you do some searching on Google you'll come up with some solutions to do notes sync with Exchange Push email and an add-on app for the iPhone.

The iPhone (with the business data plan, can sync Exchange Calendar's over the air along with exchange e-mail with the appropriately configured exchange environment) Otherwise you have to rely on iTunes to synchronize every time you tether your device or when you're connected to the corporate wireless network.

The iPhone has poorly implemented encryption and ActiveSync (of the 32 possible remote security settings Apple paid Microsoft the rights to use, Apple only uses 4 of them, Android uses NONE of them. Security is just something to keep in mind when dealing with your corporate data and possible attack vectors.

Ever left anything on a plane, cab, etc? With a regular phone, a nasty person might run up a huge bill or make nasty calls to people you know. With a smart-phone, possibly carrying corporate login information and other sensitive data, they could do quite a bit more, depending on their skill set.

If you're willing to wait, I might wait to see what the second generation of Android brings along with the iPhone 4.0 OS and of course Windows Mobile 7.

I saw a preview of Windows Mobile 7 and many of the problems with 6.5 has been fixed, provided Microsoft can hold the hardware standards where they want them, which is what bites most smart phone OS's in the butt. That and not letting the carriers mess with the OS, which is something only Apple and Palm has done a good job of so far, Microsoft and Google both have let the carriers dictate changes to the look/feel of their OS, which if we look back in the history of the Desktop OS, we'd see is a bad idea more often than not.
April 5, 2010 3:14 p.m. Chris_V SuperDork

Have you looked into the BlackBerry stuff? I like my Curve, and the Storm isn't too bad these days (though the camera operation in the Storm leaves something to be desired).
April 5, 2010 3:58 p.m. BoxheadTim Dork

One thing I found really annoying about my wife's Blackberry Storm (not Storm 2) is the lack of Wifi.

Also, IME the iPhone UI is much more polished compared to the Blackberry one.
April 5, 2010 4:55 p.m. turboswede SuperDork

The Storm 2 is better (WiFi) but it still sucks (Still clicking with the screen? Really?) and of course their interface reminds me of Palm's, in other words not that great 10 years ago, let alone now.

I have a more or less standard BB for business use (the keyboard is a joke compared to even the iPhone's), and it works great at getting e-mails, Microsoft IM (Communicator) and calendaring, but I wouldn't touch one for personal use.

One thing I don't like on the BB (aside from the chiclet key keyboard) is the lack of a good interpretive interface for writing with the tiny keyboard. On the iPhone and even the older Palms, it would automatically attempt to guess the words you were typing and auto-complete based on what was being typed. The BB does this, just enough to drive you crazy, but not enough to be helpful in reducing keystrokes. So you end up just typing quick replies or spending quite a while typing War and Peace to get a decent paragraph written. Needless to say, I can write much more quickly on my iPhone with less damage to my wrists than I can on the BB.
April 5, 2010 4:57 p.m. ReverendDexter Dork

One thing to add to this conversation is that Android (the OS) is totally open. If the security isn't up to snuff now, someone out there is writing something that will make it better, which you WILL be able to use. With apple, you're stuck with either jailbreaking it, or dealing with those things officially sanctioned by the App Store.
April 5, 2010 5:01 p.m. Chris_V SuperDork

I don't write with my BB Curve. Occasionally quick texts, and calender entries, but actual writing is something I'd never do on a phone. I like the Storm's click screen for typing vs the iPhone's touch, as I like the tactile feedback that I've actually clicked something.
April 5, 2010 5:41 p.m. JeepinMatt HalfDork

I'm due for a new phone and, reluctantly, I'll probably end up with something iPod-like. I'm with Verizon and I have the opportunity to grab an HTC Droid Eris for $30. Worth it?
April 5, 2010 5:45 p.m. Timeormoney New Reader

Big heads up on the Droid. You CAN NOT ACCEPT meeting invites from the phone. So if that is important to you, you need a blackberry.
April 5, 2010 7:16 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

I have the Palm Pre... while I have never played with the driod or iPhone.. I do really like the pre
April 5, 2010 7:36 p.m. turboswede SuperDork

Yes, the Pre (actually the Pre Plus also doubles as a WiFi hotspot for up to 5 devices) is very cool and probably the best solution for business use that isn't made with a BB or MicroShaft operating system on it.
April 5, 2010 8:38 p.m. pigeon HalfDork

Wait a few days - Apple today announced that iPhone os 4.0 will be previewed to the media on 4/8, so you'll know then what to expect in the very near future for iphone improvements. I still vote for the iphone - a friend has a Droid on Verizon that he got after his Blackberry bit it and he is constantly telling me he regrets not going iphone instead.

My iphone syncs perfectly with my corporate exchange outlook stuff and my personal gmail and google calendar. The only thing about the mail is there's no common inbox, but that's rumored to be fixed in iphone os 4.0.

The camera works pretty well and the autofocus is a very nice touch, and it will focus and fix white balance/brightness to wherever you touch on the screen before you trip the "shutter" Picture quality is more than acceptable with adequate light, and how many flash pictures do you really take with a phone that you expect to come out?

Apple uses a standard headphone plug and there are accessory headsets and adapters that include a mic and replicate the inline controls so you can use it as a wired phone headset and control your music from the cord with much better sound quality and comfort than the standard apple headphones (which aren't terrible). There's also the option of bluetooth stereo headphones with mic if you want to go all out. The 30 pin doc connector is the only proprietary piece needed to charge the phone, plug into any USB port to charge if you don't have one of Apple's ridiculously overpriced wall outlet adaptors handy. There's a zillion iphone accessories - we have 3 different music docks at home and I have one at work.

The apps available for iphone are great, I don't know that much on Android - though free google nav would be nice for iphone.
April 5, 2010 8:53 p.m. rebelgtp Dork

I will be in the same boat here in about 4 or 5 months and able to upgrade my phone, though I may not at this point. My Storm got fairly wet and started acting a bit weird, lock up from time to time and people couldn't hear me if I had the phone at certain angles. I got it replaced under warranty and the new phone is actually perfect, it even seems better than my first Storm did when it was new. I'm thinking it being a later build it received a few upgrades and tweaks the original did not have.

The down side is I'm stuck reloading all of my freaking apps and some of it I can't find anymore or they are charging for it now.

When it comes time I can upgrade I'm not sure what way I will want to go but at least I have a few months to see what is coming up.
April 5, 2010 11:52 p.m. turboswede SuperDork

racinginc215 wrote:

Android FTW. my 3 biggest complaints about the Iphone. 1 Apple has to replace the battery and they only do it free for a year. so you can't access the battery at all.

Look online, the batteries are cheap and the instructions are readily available and you can buy extended warranties if you're not the handy sort. Also, I've had my 3G for over a year and have not had an issue with the battery.

2 no Micro SD storage.when you want more memory buy a new phone. 4gb 8gb now the 16gb well my Droid runs 32Gb on a micro SD and I can root it so every app I download for free is on the SD Card and I move it to the next phone.

Hmm, the latest phones are up to 32gb, seems like plenty of space to me as it holds my entire music library, plus pictures, apps, e-mail, etc. I will grant you that not being able to slot in an SD card, etc does suck, it isn't the end of the world given the goofy solutions some other vendors have come up with for managing the external connections they sometimes provide.

3 Apple charges for apps that you can't take to your next phone and your locked into one carrier. (unless you have it unlocked) where there is a Droid phone on almost every network and with SD Card you can take all your info with you.

Try again, you can take the apps with you, provided you use the same iTunes account. You can even use the apps on two machines, meaning families with two iphones/ipod touches can share apps. Rebel's issue with the new Storm and needing to buy or find the app again? Doesn't happen with the iPhone (unless it has been pulled from the App store) Just log onto iTunes, plug in the iPhone and load up your apps from your account.

Yes, the one carrier deal does suck and no I don't like AT&T all that much and no, it isn't all their fault as the lack of external antennae hurts the iPhone's capabilities, but Mr. Jobs didn't want one muddying up his pretty form factor.

After Danger was bought by Microsoft and the Sidekick died I had no choice but Android.

My Droid sync flawlessly and wireless to my laptop and uses a micro usb connection and a 3.5 headphone jack. if you go Motorola it will most likely be micro usb where the htc is mini usb and samsung is a pain in the ass.

The best part for me is I can slip in SD cards full of music or pictures I carry 3 32gb cards with my Motorola Cliq so my little Droid has access to almost 100Gb of storage free apps and I can take all my apps, Phone Book, text messages email etc with me to a new phone or carrier with a simple SD Card.

Sounds like a decent solution, though I don't like to carry too much with me, so simplicity is where it is at for me.