[Jaguarandine]

My 67 yr old aunt, whom I am very close to, has recently requested that she get a smartphone. We've talked about the advantages of smartphones many times, but this time in particular had her very interested. She's on my AT&T family plan and is eligible for an upgrade.

Here are the things she would like, in no particular order:
-navigation w/ GPS
-web browsing
-movies/TV shows
-Netflix
-music
-calendar/appointments
-good battery life
-email
-ebooks
-touch screen
-bigger screen

Is it wrong that the 1st phone idea to come out of my mouth for her is the iPhone 4? I think it would be the easiest device to use (maybe Galaxy also). With my help, she could do most of this stuff on a BB, but IMO not as easily. Am I wrong?

I've been a diehard BB user since the 850 two-way pager, so I'm pretty loyal. I have no problems recommending Apple or Android phones to other people, but to do so with my own family? And now? At time when RIM needs help the most? I feel conflicted..

Any advice? Thanks.

[ichat]

Everything beats the iPhone except for the following points....
The screen isn't as big but still is great
The movie and tv apps I have no idea about
Recommend it!
Ohh yea btw youtube plays better on 9900

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[luqman24]

Ohh yea btw youtube plays better on 9900

I did not know a phone with a smaller screen and lower screen res would be better than a phone with a bigger screen and higher screen res

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[ichat]

I did not know a phone with a smaller screen and lower screen res would be better than a phone with a bigger screen and higher screen res

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Its actually the lag part iOS lags a bit

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[anon3396357]

Everything beats the iPhone except for the following points....
The screen isn't as big but still is great
The movie and tv apps I have no idea about
Recommend it!
Ohh yea btw youtube plays better on 9900

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

You probably don't use the calendar to its fullest extent.. but there's no way the BB is better at the iPhone at calendar/appointment syncing.

[Jaguarandine]

My aunt would prefer a bigger screen and doesn't mind giving up a keyboard to do it.

Really, iPhone better at calendar/appointment stuff?

[sterling_bandit]

Everyone here is going to be biased against the iphone. I had an iphone 4 and I regret getting rid of it. It is was the best phone I have ever used and given your aunt's age, its ease to use would be highly ideal over any blackberry offering!!!

I love my torch and playbook before you all start bashing but honesty and credit where its due, Jobs did a marvellous job. Get the iphone.

[Chrisy]

My parents (58,59) LOVE their iPhone. Big screen, easy to use and good battery life.

[_StephenBB81]

iPhone all the way

It meets all of your points, for a full screen smart phone out of the box it has one of the best battery lives.

the Advanced Calendar functions missing from the iPhone probably wont matter to a single person.

[Laura Knotek]

An iPhone would be a good choice for her needs.

The only other device I would recommend based on her requirements would be Android. Google Maps offers free voice turn-by-turn navigation on Android devices. A voice turn-by-turn navigation would be a paid app on the iPhone.

[qbnkelt]

Here are the things she would like, in no particular order:
-navigation w/ GPS
-web browsing
-movies/TV shows
-Netflix
-music
-calendar/appointments
-good battery life
-email
-ebooks
-touch screen
-bigger screen

.

Based on those item noted above, I would recommend an iPhone 4...or 5, if you can wait.

My mom rocks the h3ll out of her 9700, but to her it's a communication tool. She doesn't use it for TV shows, music or movies.

In your aunt's instance, I believe an iPhone is a better fit.

One caveat....auto correct can be a pain in the neck, especially if she's not quite as agile with her fingers as she used to be and needs to correct a typo. The pinch and zoom without the help of a trackpad could be frustrating.

[DannyJK]

Im a hardcore Blackberry fan, I love my 9860, However I'm not about to recommend a phone that wont suit the needs of someone else. It's hard for me to say but the iPhone 4 sounds like the best choice. I wish you the best.

[pkcable]

It's almost a no brainer! iphone would be easier for her to use, PLUS give her all that she is looking for, there's really nothing much to it. BlackBerry and Android, both have their pluses, BUT in this case, it's pretty clear, the iphone would suit the user best. IMHO

[Jaguarandine]

Thanks for all your advice so far.

I asked my aunt to rank the most important things:

1-Netflix
2-movies/TV shows
3-web browsing
4-music
5-good battery life
6-ebooks
7-calendar/appointments
8-email/messaging
9-navigation w/ GPS
10-big screen

How about Android phones? Maybe the Galaxy? How do they compare?

[sterling_bandit]

poor battery life on android devices..its simply a case of the iphone being the best! just get her the phone and you'll soon know it was the only decision.

[pkcable]

I'd still go iphone, up to number 4 you would be ok with either an iphone OR a Droid, BUT the iphone would probably be easier for a 67 year old to use. HOWEVER, when you get to number 5 is the difference maker, iphones have a good battery life, Droids do not. I really think iphone is the right choice for her.

[Jaguarandine]

Not sure if I can justify the cost of an iphone 5. Does the iphone 4 have any downfalls I am not seeing?

[ichat]

Not sure if I can justify the cost of an iphone 5. Does the iphone 4 have any downfalls I am not seeing?

As in........

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[Jaguarandine]

Not sure I get what you're implying here..

[chuckh0308]

I don't think there are really any downfalls, it just depends on what she needs/wants, and it seems the iPhone is probably the best option for her.

That said, I think she should go look at them and make sure the screen is to her liking, she's OK with the way the iPhone feels to hold, and things like that.

Also, the iPhone doesn't have the strongest radio reception (AT&T or VZW) compared to a Blackberry, so make sure it will work where she will be using it.

[nickdalzell1]

choosing between Android and iOS i would go for the iPhone. the iPhone has a horrid battery life in my experience though if you use features such as the GPS and other services. autocorrect can be a pain too. i recommend disabling it

the iPhone has a capacitive touch screen which makes it easier to type with and does not interpret non-finger touches as commands so having one left on in your pocket does not trigger loading anything. most Androids have resistive touch screens that have a bad habit of interpreting a swipe as a tap.

Android still has not yet tackled their wifi connect issue and it still lags even 3.0 lags. if she wants to multitask, i would not use Android, for i can not even play an MP3 and browse without music playback cutting in and out while pages load. the devices are still even now a bit unstable and take a little more time to do things than i would want in a smartphone (even delays in bringing up the dialpad to call out) if she loves eye candy and 3D, she may love an Android, but if she loves speed, stability, and app availability i would say iPhone. keep in mind though that the iPhone lacks a memory card slot so if you want to load music onto it iTunes is not an easy task for a novice. heck i have issues getting songs to sync with it. and since i now use Linux i cannot even use iTunes.

[SCrid2000]

We got my grandma an iPhone. Great phone for people who don't want to have to learn to do much. Gotta give apple props, IOS is virtually ***** proof.

Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk

[Jaguarandine]

Thanks again for the advice! I'll be getting my aunt an iPhone 4. Based on what everyone has said, I'm sure she'll love it.

[pittpanthersfan]

Thanks again for the advice! I'll be getting my aunt an iPhone 4. Based on what everyone has said, I'm sure she'll love it.

You should wait about a month though. The next iPhone is widely rumored to have a larger screen. Even if it doesn't, the iPhone 4 will be about $100 cheaper.

[snowindec9]

easy.go with the iphone for your aunt.bb has too small of a screen.old people don't have the best eyesight as they aged.android is super high tech and advanced.i don't think your aunt could handle the complicated android operating system.ios is an easy learning system.a 10 year old can get the basics down in minutes.iphone also gives your aunt the netflix,movies,tv shows she desires on a full touchscreen viewing pleasure.web browsing on safari is just amazing.battery life is good for a full one day usage.you won't get the battery of 2-3 days you could get from a blackberry 9700/9780.androids have just poor battery life.so the iphone completes your aunt's checklist.its the correct buy.