[nickdalzell1]

iPhone (i had a 3GS--granted it was free!--the guy upgraded to the iPhone 4) seems to be rather stable, multitasks well, (apps can remain loaded in the background without sacrificing life of the battery or causing lags and it reboots from a cold restart rather fast) and for the most part is quite decent. the only issues i had was the SIM Card going out many times (which causes the error 'No SIM' and cripples the wifi connectivity to extremely low speeds only), as well as the infamous 'temperature warning' when it was nowhere hot enough, as well as the aforementioned lack of a SD Card slot, and the most annoying issue, every month on the exact day it was activated (say it was June 1st, you'd have this happen the 1st of every month) the battery would perform a self-discharge which drained it fast and required a recharge cycle even if you just pulled it off the charger an hour prior to it. you would not know it happened because in standby the screen is off so you'd try to wake it up, discover it dead, hit power to attempt to power it on, and get a red battery screen with a plug/lightning bolt icon below that. i would rather perform my OWN discharge cycles not allow Apple to do it for me. i think the iPhone 4 is immune or does not have this behavior, it seems to only happen with the 3GS.

[Tuborgmann]

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.

So many things just plain wrong in that post I don't even know where to start. "Most Android phones have resistive screens" say what? "Even on 3.0 it lags", to my knowledge there are no phones with 3.0, 2.3.x Gingerbread being the latest. "music cutting in and out", sounds more like you have a 2$ class 1 sd card than a problem with Android. Its a bad idea giving "advice" if all of your "facts" are plain wrong.

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[Rootbrian]

I would suggest ipod touch if she would like it besides her current phone, whichever it may be. But if she prefers iphone, it's a good buy. Maybe you could even get an extended battery for it with a custom backing. There might be one available, I just don't know. I sometimes tease my brother, he is just uber-paranoid that apple will kick his buttt. (Novice Brothers, you understand my point lol)

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[voltaire]

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.

My mom is your aunt's exact age and I faced the same question 3 months ago. She ended up getting a white iphone 4 and while she likes it there's a lot she can't do without unlimited data (not possible in Canada with new activations) and it's difficult to offer her any assistance as she lives so far away. In addition, many of the given applications of a blackberry such as a call blocker are not available for iphones unless you jailbreak them. That's something that a 67 year old non techy wouldn't be able to do on their own.
Haven't seen her in 3 months so I don't know if she's tired of her new toy yet or not but I assume eventually she will.

[DanCeeBee]

If I were your aunt I'm pretty sure I'd be happy with any of the above!

[Jaguarandine]

Ok, so I have a couple questions. My aunt's upgrade according to the AT&T website makes her eligible for a refurb 16GB white iPhone 4 for $100 w/ a 2 year contract.

1. Are there any disadvantages to getting a refurb?
2. Any differences with buying in a store or online?
3. Should I wait for the iPhone 5 to come out so the price of the iPhone 4 is lower?

Thanks.

[nickdalzell1]

to the post about me being wrong, i HAVE android. i also have live CDs. i have tested tablets AND phones in store. they are extremely slow. they have even faster processors than RIM BlackBerry and still lag. it lags in my own tablet. and i doubt highly phones use 2.1 still and are sold as new. i have seen ads for phones with 3.0 Honeycomb and tablets too, but still the wifi issue and lags remain. i find it a problem when one has to wait 5 seconds to show the phone dialpad. any other non-Android phone can dial right off no delay.

believe me when i post anything it is after doing my homework. i used many different Android devices both those i own and tested out in store. trial phones, etc. pre-paid. and talked to users who have them, as well as lurk and browse in Android forums. there are quite a few problems but number one is lags and Wifi issues. still....

the low-view i have of Android? that's an opinion. the many hundreds of users, thousands of posts that concur or ask about them, and other things regarding known problems with the Android OS? those are facts. backed up by many, including those who love Android. the fact is Android, much like Windows, tries to pack too much into an embedded OS, make things so graphical that things do in fact lag. Android is a showy and visually packed OS. when any OS tries to be that way, there is more to go wrong. it is like a Model T vs a new Ferrari. the Ferrari has many expensive gadgets known to fail during the car's lifetime. the Model T uses very little and is generally reliable. less to go wrong. some people hate Ferrari and love the Model T. some are vice versa. some people have the means to live with the issues they trade for function. i believe a similar case can be made for Android. Android to me is too slow and too much. but that is just my personal opinion.

[blackberry-unlocking710]

I would say get the 9860...

[Jaguarandine]

I'm getting the 9860 for myself pretty soon (whenever AT&T decides to release). With the large screen, it's probably the best BB for media and games. But unless you're adept at downloading videos from various internet sites, or ripping DVDs, I think the iPhone is still the better choice. Can't wait to get it for myself though.

[qbnkelt]

For what it's worth, I've had mixed luck with refurbs from AT&T. I once had a Motorola Sliver which I had to keep exchanging and finally gave up on. But the second Torch I had after crushing my first was a refurb and that thing was rock solid.

[nickdalzell1]

comparing the dated Sliver Motorola to a Torch is not logical. the Sliver is a very old phone to today's standards and i had its flip-cousin the Razr and it was not very sturdy either, granted though it was a V3 not the real first edition Razr

[middbrew]

Ok, so I have a couple questions. My aunt's upgrade according to the AT&T website makes her eligible for a refurb 16GB white iPhone 4 for $100 w/ a 2 year contract.

1. Are there any disadvantages to getting a refurb?
2. Any differences with buying in a store or online?
3. Should I wait for the iPhone 5 to come out so the price of the iPhone 4 is lower?

Thanks.

1. Usually refurbs can be better than first run models as they have been inspected to make sure they work well. New phones are inspected randomly.

2. Shouldn't be any difference.

3. For what your grandmother is needed I would get the iPhone4 save the extra cash for some accessories.

[i7guy]

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.

A more false statement was never posted in bold. I have an ipad with 3 viphones in the family plus my ipad. I do not want an iphone 4 as my phone, I just don't like it as much as my blackberry.

However, for the 67 year old aunt, because of the lack of customization an iphone is a great phone because it's basically fool proof. Although using any phone ui, whether it's droid, bb or iphone, is confusing at first.

So I say go with the iphone. But good luck on the free nav apps you won't find any except mapquest.

[lssanjose]

A more false statement was never posted in bold. I have an ipad with 3 viphones in the family plus my ipad. I do not want an iphone 4 as my phone, I just don't like it as much as my blackberry.

However, for the 67 year old aunt, because of the lack of customization an iphone is a great phone because it's basically fool proof. Although using any phone ui, whether it's droid, bb or iphone, is confusing at first.

So I say go with the iphone. But good luck on the free nav apps you won't find any except mapquest.

You may not like the iPhone 4, as a phone; but, there are others who do. . That, or they just can tolerate any imperfections, therein. I'm not an iPhone user, but I'm just saying

[i7guy]

You may not like the iPhone 4, as a phone; but, there are others who do. . That, or they just can tolerate any imperfections, therein. I'm not an iPhone user, but I'm just saying

Totally get your point. There are many, many others who like it.

I also get the reason a lot of people like the iphone is the variety in the apps. However, I'm very wary of installing apps from the apple app store because I am leery of how the information on my ipad is used or misused. that is why I have only a handful apps after a few months.

That said, for a smartphone newbie where there is no history, an iphone is a good bet.

[Laura Knotek]

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

I would say get the 9860...

The OP's aunt's number one priority is Netflix, so the 9860 will not meet her needs at all.

[i7guy]

The OP's aunt's number one priority is Netflix, so the 9860 will not meet her needs at all.

The issue is going to the bandwidth cap. New phones on both att and verizon are subject to a bandwidth cap.

You are going to need an expensive data plan if the first priority is netflix.

[chuckh0308]

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.

I've got three Android devices (the TB and two Toshiba Thrives), two iPhones, and 5 iPods. ALL the touch devices have capacitive screens, none have any delay or lag, all the phones have dialers that pop right up, none have music that cuts out, none have WiFi connection problems, all have 3000 times more apps that I will ever need in my lifetime, and all are equally stable. In fact, if anything, I would say my Android devices are slightly MORE stable. In any case, in terms of performance, reliability, and all that, they are all virtually the same. The differences just come down to preferences.

AND...the iPhone 4 actually has pretty good battery life.

You seem to have everything mixed up...lol!

[i7guy]

I've got three Android devices (the TB and two Toshiba Thrives), two iPhones, and 5 iPods. ALL the touch devices have capacitive screens, none have any delay or lag, all the phones have dialers that pop right up, none have music that cuts out, none have WiFi connection problems, all have 3000 times more apps that I will ever need in my lifetime, and all are equally stable. In fact, if anything, I would say my Android devices are slightly MORE stable. In any case, in terms of performance, reliability, and all that, they are all virtually the same. The differences just come down to preferences.

AND...the iPhone 4 actually has pretty good battery life.

You seem to have everything mixed up...lol!

The battery life on the iPhone is inversely tied to it's usage. You are right its good if you just use it to make phone calls. Have those bandwidth sucking battery hog apps like netflix? Better be wifi plugged in.

[Laura Knotek]

The battery life on the iPhone is inversely tied to it's usage. You are right its good if you just use it to make phone calls. Have those bandwidth sucking battery hog apps like netflix? Better be wifi plugged in.

I have a friend who has an iPhone4. There are no battery issues with browsing, watching YouTube, email, IM. Streaming Netflix or audio is not terrible on the battery, but it does use a lot of data. My friend is grandfathered on the unlimited data plan.

Sometimes the picture quality of Netflix is poor or buffers when streaming Netflix over the mobile network, but it works fine the majority of the time. This is on AT&T's 3G network, which is faster than VZW's 3G network. AT&T's 3G coverage is good here.

[Accidental Post]

The battery life on the iPhone is inversely tied to it's usage. You are right its good if you just use it to make phone calls. Have those bandwidth sucking battery hog apps like netflix? Better be wifi plugged in.

Ahhhh NO. I watched my church service for 2 hours over 3g via ustream and I lost 9 % battery life.........

YMMV

And wouldn't the battery life of ANY device be tied to it's usage or does the almighty never have any issues runs on nuclear power BB run forever without battery drain.

Oh that's right the BB has no apps to use battery.

[i7guy]

Ahhhh NO. I watched my church service for 2 hours over 3g via ustream and I lost 9 % battery life.........

YMMV

And wouldn't the battery life of ANY device be tied to it's usage or does the almighty never have any issues runs on nuclear power BB run forever without battery drain.

Oh that's right the BB has no apps to use battery.

That battery life reflects your usage. You probably plug it in after watching the service.

However, it's not a good bet that streaming a few hour movie on netflix on wifi, remember no more unlimited bandwidth plans, will yield good battery life, based on my experience with the 3 iphones in the family.

Also using the gps, as on every other phone, will kill the battery faster than you can say iphone 5.

[i7guy]

I have a friend who has an iPhone4. There are no battery issues with browsing, watching YouTube, email, IM. Streaming Netflix or audio is not terrible on the battery, but it does use a lot of data. My friend is grandfathered on the unlimited data plan.

Sometimes the picture quality of Netflix is poor or buffers when streaming Netflix over the mobile network, but it works fine the majority of the time. This is on AT&T's 3G network, which is faster than VZW's 3G network. AT&T's 3G coverage is good here.

See post above. Aunty is however, not grandfathered on any unlimited data plan. As always YMMV, I can only speak from my personal observations as well as you speak from yours.

[Accidental Post]

That battery life reflects your usage. You probably plug it in after watching the service.

However, it's not a good bet that streaming a few hour movie on netflix on wifi, remember no more unlimited bandwidth plans, will yield good battery life, based on my experience with the 3 iphones in the family.

Also using the gps, as on every other phone, will kill the battery faster than you can say iphone 5.

Well since I run the stream of our service I use my iPhone to check and make sure it runs as expected usually get to church with about 85-90 battery life and walk out the door between 70-75...grandfathered data plan which obviously is nice.

[i7guy]

Well since I run the stream of our service I use my iPhone to check and make sure it runs as expected usually get to church with about 85-90 battery life and walk out the door between 70-75...grandfathered data plan which obviously is nice.

Got it. All I know is the frequency(frequently) at which the chargers come out here. As always, based on a myriad of external conditions and usage...YMMV.