I phone 4

[for those about to rock]

ok guys, just got back from perisher where my phone decided to pack up. i have 2 weeks until my plan expires. so i went down to the shops today to try and get a new plan on an iphone, apparently I would be lucky to find a 3gs in Australia as everywhere has stopped doing them because the iphone 4 is coming in a week. i was told today that the new iphone will probably be on a $79 or even $99 plan, i had kinda expected that. because i dont want to spend that on a phone, im now looking at android phones which look to have advantages over iphones anyway. so i have narrowed it down to, on a $49 either:
the HTC desire or the Samsung galaxy s.
Has anyone used or own one of these phones?
which would you recommend?
whats the go with android apps? are the apps i can get on the samsung the same apps that i can get on the desire?

thanks in advance if you reply.

The HTC Desire seems to be an awesome phone. I don't own one, but I have owned another Android phone. I would go the Desire over the Samsung. Android apps are much like iPhone apps, except there are a lot less of them. The beauty of Android is, if you are technically minded, that you can write your own apps for it. The apps on the Samsung and the Desire will be much the same, but will vary because of hardware and software.

I hope that helps at least a little bit. As I said, I don't own either of the phones, but having owned an Android phone, I'd say go for the Desire. Android, in my opinion, is probably the best OS.

 

[Regan of Gong]

iPhone 4 plans have been released by Optus and Telstra, see here.

Not bad value, though I think I've been swayed by the Samsung Wave. Might be a bit of a gamble on the new bada OS, but for $42/month on Virgin with unlimited messages, $160 worth of calls and 1.5gb of data it's pretty unbeatable.

 

[sawtell]

surprisingly not to bad $$$ wise.. pretty much exact same price, if not almost cheaper then the current pricing for a 3gs!,
My current contract has expired, so i will be upgrading very soon..

its now just to work out what company... as much as i hate optus, if the iphone4 16gb (onyl mentions 32gb price) is free on the 59 dollar plan that will be my new phone..

I would like to go with three/telstra, as have mates, girlfriend etc on those carriers, and woudl get free calls....
But not sure if they offer insurance on the phones, of which i know optus does, and in the past optus' insurance has been super handy! (probaly because its not actualy run by optus!)

 

[3viltoast3r]

Has anyone else heard the 4's battery and reception problems?

 

[sawtell]

well as one would assume, they sold out very quick..

pain in arse, i wanted to put one on order on thursday night but i cbf lining up at 12am!

couldnt get through on the phone on friday!..

and then they were sold out!

and they wont put me on a waiting list due to to many people on it or somthing haha

spose im stuck with my 39 buck nokia untill they get them instock!

 

[niki125]

I got my 4 on friday morning. No reception issues at all. I've tried covering it in a lot of different locations (both on the phone and geographicly) and can't get it to drop one bar. It's actually got better reception than my 3g. The new wireless antenna picks up signal from my router anywhere in my house now when it would only pick it up in the study before.

Aside from the reception being great, it's super fast, great to look at and the screen is amazing!!!

 

[Bodin]

Yep, at least 8 people at my work rocked up with them today and have given me the big green monster. Up until last night, I was perfectly happy with my 3GS, but the decent camera + flash makes me want a 4. That, along with the faster performance and nicer screen...

Bastards.

 

[_tobes_]

Get a HTC Desire.

Best phone on the market, and I am bloody difficult to please. I don't know how good the media/music player component in compared to iPhone (I don't use it - I have an iPod nano for that) but in every other aspect I believe it is better than iPhone. It should be noted that I use it for business use to sync with my company's server & MS Exchange. It works a dream!

 

[Battler]

Just picked mine up and couldnt be happier, not sure what the problems with reception are but have none what so ever. I like the new casing to, alot more durable.

 

[Bodin]

Get a HTC Desire.

Best phone on the market, and I am bloody difficult to please. I don't know how good the media/music player component in compared to iPhone (I don't use it - I have an iPod nano for that) but in every other aspect I believe it is better than iPhone. It should be noted that I use it for business use to sync with my company's server & MS Exchange. It works a dream!

You use a separate device for music. The point is that I don't have to. Because I have an iPhone. And my iPhone works fine with my corporate Exchange account, Gmail and every other account I can throw at it. And it doesn't have a wanky name like "Desire", "Legend" or "I Touch Myself Because I Am The Anti-Apple".

Sent from my iPhone

 

[Ivan]

You use a separate device for music. The point is that I don't have to. Because I have an iPhone. And my iPhone works fine with my corporate Exchange account, Gmail and every other account I can throw at it. And it doesn't have a wanky name like "Desire", "Legend" or "I Touch Myself Because I Am The Anti-Apple".

Sent from my iPhone

Just for what its worth,

I use my "Desire" as an MP3 player, and it's quite good.
It may have a wanky name, but my wife wishes she had it instead of her Iphone.

 

[Tristan23]

Bought myself a nice, second-hand-but-in-pristine-condition 3Gs on Friday thanks to the release of the iPhone 4. $250 and it's unlocked. Stoked!

 

[Bodin]

Just for what its worth,

LOL @ posting up technical comparisons to win subjective arguments.

LOL LOL LOL LOL

 

[Ivan]

LOL @ posting up technical comparisons to win subjective arguments.

LOL LOL LOL LOL

Trying to win a subjective argument in the first place is silly. I wasn't trying to win anything by posting the specs up (the desire doesn't have anything over the iPhone 4 in those specs) it was merely for peoples information.

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL.

 

[Knopey]

Relevant.
<comic about the frequency of iphone upgrades>

At least the intervals between iterations are a lot longer than the competitor's platform's (Andriod's) phones. A new one of them arrives seemingly every week

Telstra's $49/mo plan with $149 up front is surprisingly good value imo.

 

[willsy01]

To be honest, i'm not surprised the reception issue is all but non-existent here. The AT&T network is to mobile phones, what Huffy is to mountain bikes. It's rubbish.....

 

[brisneyland]

Bought myself a nice, second-hand-but-in-pristine-condition 3Gs on Friday thanks to the release of the iPhone 4. $250 and it's unlocked. Stoked!

Not that I'm uh, selling non-mtb products, but I may be coerced into letting my 16gb 3G go next week for a fraction less money than that...

 

[Ivan]

To be honest, i'm not surprised the reception issue is all but non-existent here. The AT&T network is to mobile phones, what Huffy is to mountain bikes. It's rubbish.....

The reception problems were with the handset, not the AT&T network.
I'm amazed that a product with widely publicized problems that effect its core use is still so in demand.

 

[scratchy]

just found on the apple USA page that you can pre-order your i phone 4, for the 14th of July for $199. so what actually stops you buying one in the us and bringing it back?
edit: obviously nothing now that i think of it.

You want to make sure it's triband otherwise it won't work. GSM phones use different frequencies in different countries.

 

[zids]

Not that I'm uh, selling non-mtb products, but I may be coerced into letting my 16gb 3G go next week for a fraction less money than that...

is it unlocked? I may well be interested!