iPhone or Droid (or something else)?

JasonF · 11-14-09, 08:31 PM

My wife is looking for a new phone. Here are the features she wants:

1. Phone service, of course.
2. Flash-enabled web access (she likes to play some of the Facebook games)
3. She wants it to have an alarm clock, preferably one where she can set one time for weekdays and another for weekends.
4. She wants a dictionary.
5. She wants to be able to play MP3s. We've got everything set up in iTunes, which suggests an iPhone is the way to go ... do other devices have any compatibility issues with Apple's music format?

I will confess that I'm fascinated by the Droid's Google Maps capabilities, so there's a part of me that wants her to get a Droid. But the reality is that we probably only use GPS once or twice a year, so it's not that big a deal.

Another factor -- she's currently a Verizon customer, so Droid means we don't have to deal with the hassle of switching providers.

So what's the right phone for her?

emachine12 · 11-14-09, 08:48 PM

The iPhone does not support Flash

The Droid will support Flash in early 2010.

Your best bet is either the Touch Pro 2 or Imagio. They both support Flash Lite which is not the same as Flash on PCs and Macs but it works.

As for music...

If its a DRM song from iTunes then you won't be able to load it onto anything but an iPhone or iPod. You can do sideloading but you have to manually drag and drop your music on the memory card.

Should you want to make it easier, you can get DoubleTwist for PCs or The Missing Sync for Mac.

Decadance · 11-14-09, 09:29 PM

Winmo supports flash via some of the web browsers out there. The new Opera handles it.

Suprmallet · 11-14-09, 09:38 PM

I never really tested the iPhone's alarm clock capabilities, but the Droid has extensive options for recurring alarms.

al_bundy · 11-14-09, 10:16 PM

iphone has alarm clock apps, downside is you have to run them all night. mafia wars kind of works in the new facebook app. i've read that zyngia or whatever the name is, they are working on iphone app versions of their facebook games that will connect back to facebook. at least they are with mafia wars

i think the droid supports AAC and i think every thing in itunes is DRM free these days. for old purchases you need to pay steve jobs $.30 per song.

Timber · 11-14-09, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suprmallet

I never really tested the iPhone's alarm clock capabilities, but the Droid has extensive options for recurring alarms.

Kind of a stupid thing but I have to wake up very early just one morning a week. On the Droid I'm able to set an alarm for just Friday morning and forget it. You can do multiple alarms and customize them fairly well.

shaun3000 · 11-14-09, 10:46 PM

Unless your wife is real techy, I’d stay way from Windows Mobile phones. I mean, do you really wants your PHONE running Windows?

The iPhone is the most easily integrated into iTunes. BUT, it does not and probably never will do Flash. Many Flash games have been ported to the iPhone and Adobe recently made it dead-easy for developers to export their Flash programming to an iPhone format with, I shit you not, an iPhone export option.

The Android does not integrate with iTunes but putting music on is as easy as drag-and-drop. The drawback is it can’t play protected files, be it music or videos. The Android is a great phone, very easy to use, and can be customized and expanded more than the iPhone can. But, in my opinion, the iPhone is still easier to use and has a more polished user interface.

A little more food for thought, regarding Flash games: Most of those games are designed for a computer mouse and keyboard. I don’t know how well they will work with a touch screen and mobile keyboard setup.

So it comes down to Flash vs. music.

nevermind · 11-15-09, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timber

Kind of a stupid thing but I have to wake up very early just one morning a week. On the Droid I'm able to set an alarm for just Friday morning and forget it. You can do multiple alarms and customize them fairly well.

iPhone does this too. No 3rd party app required (it is the built in Clock) so it does not have to be running to go off. Although I should note for JasonF that it's ringtone wake only. Not sure if that's a big deal for her. The 3rd party alarm clock apps allow you to wake up to full songs, but you have to make sure it's running when you sleep the phone for the night, as Al said.

al_bundy · 11-15-09, 08:24 AM

Does the droid play genius playlists? Everyone can connect to iTunes and play every music file except for ogg

TheKobra · 11-15-09, 12:30 PM

I'm dumping my iPhone and moving back to the Blackberry. The 9700 comes out on Tuesday (on Tmobile) and will support 3g. The iPhone was good, not great.

Baron Of Hell · 11-15-09, 01:02 PM

I just got a droid. I like the facebook app but I look going online to face book a little more. I guess it depends on what I'm doing. The droid seems to have a big learning curve due to not having any instructions on how to do anything. I know it has a pdf reader but I have no idea where it is.

There is a alarm clock that you can set to any day you want and have it repeat.

There are a couple of option for a dictionary. You can bookmark a dictionary web site or download a dictionary app.

It plays music but I use my touch. I don't have any drm music or music files in a format that can't be read by most devices. If that isn't the case for you the music part might not be a option. I don't think it can do genius playlist but haven't tried. I wouldn't know how to get them on the phone.

nickdawgy · 11-15-09, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baron Of Hell

I just got a droid. I like the facebook app but I look going online to face book a little more. I guess it depends on what I'm doing. The droid seems to have a big learning curve due to not having any instructions on how to do anything. I know it has a pdf reader but I have no idea where it is.

There is a alarm clock that you can set to any day you want and have it repeat.

There are a couple of option for a dictionary. You can bookmark a dictionary web site or download a dictionary app.

It plays music but I use my touch. I don't have any drm music or music files in a format that can't be read by most devices. If that isn't the case for you the music part might not be a option. I don't think it can do genius playlist but haven't tried. I wouldn't know how to get them on the phone.

The Droid's Facebook app isn't as good as say the iPhone's Facebook. It is a bit frustrating to navigate.

SonOfAStu · 11-15-09, 04:35 PM

Don't forget to take into consideration the network. Ask around to friends that have AT&T and see how their service is. Nothing would be more frustrating than switching for an iPhone and then not being able to use it.

FWIW, I love my Droid and everyone that sees it is amazed. Even my friends with iPhones. The most admired parts are the Google Navigation, and the gorgeous screen.

JasonF · 11-15-09, 08:15 PM

Good point about the network. My office just witched me from T-Mobile to AT&T and apparently, my house is in a dead zone for AT&T. My blackberry gets one or two bars in my living room and zero or one in my bedroom. I keep meaning to buy a signal booster ... Meanwhile, her Verizon phone always has had great reception in the house and elsewhere.

As for the songs, does it make a difference that all of our music is stuff we bought on CD and ripped via iTunes, as opposed to stuff bought in soft copy in the first instance?

shaun3000 · 11-15-09, 09:21 PM

Deftones · 11-15-09, 09:37 PM

as someone who is married and has a wife that's a tech-tard, i wouldn't recommend the Droid for a woman.

BigDaddy · 11-15-09, 11:26 PM

I think the iPhone is a perfect wife phone. My wife likes hers.

Suprmallet · 11-16-09, 03:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickdawgy

The Droid's Facebook app isn't as good as say the iPhone's Facebook. It is a bit frustrating to navigate.

The navigation itself isn't that big of a problem, but it's not as smooth as the iPhone's, which pretty much replicates every aspect of the web version. The real problem are the things that the Android Facebook app won't do. For example, if you want to look at someone's photos, it sends you to the web. It doesn't even have an event section, as far as I can tell. It's one of the few places the iPhone is clearly superior. I'm surprised Facebook hasn't made their app more robust on Android.

Michael Corvin · 11-16-09, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suprmallet

The navigation itself isn't that big of a problem, but it's not as smooth as the iPhone's, which pretty much replicates every aspect of the web version. The real problem are the things that the Android Facebook app won't do. For example, if you want to look at someone's photos, it sends you to the web. It doesn't even have an event section, as far as I can tell. It's one of the few places the iPhone is clearly superior. I'm surprised Facebook hasn't made their app more robust on Android.

I thought "doesn't" wasn't in their dictionary.

To be fair to Facebook though, it was pretty limited on the iPhone until the update a month or two back.

SonOfAStu · 11-16-09, 10:12 AM

And Joe Hewitt, who developed the Facebook app for iPhone, has been VERY vocally displeased with the iPhone application process. He still works for Facebook, so I don't see why he wouldn't work on an Android app.

guess we'll have to wait and see...

SonOfAStu · 11-16-09, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JasonF

Good point about the network. My office just witched me from T-Mobile to AT&T and apparently, my house is in a dead zone for AT&T. My blackberry gets one or two bars in my living room and zero or one in my bedroom. I keep meaning to buy a signal booster ... Meanwhile, her Verizon phone always has had great reception in the house and elsewhere.

As for the songs, does it make a difference that all of our music is stuff we bought on CD and ripped via iTunes, as opposed to stuff bought in soft copy in the first instance?

You'll have absolutely no problem using your music on any phone. yay!

My wife has Sprint and has thrown her Palm Centro against the wall on more than one occasion when it drops important calls in our house. She now leaves it next to the deck door and goes out there whenever it rings. She desperately wants to switch to Verizon before it gets any colder here.

SonOfAStu · 11-16-09, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suprmallet

I never really tested the iPhone's alarm clock capabilities, but the Droid has extensive options for recurring alarms.

I love this alarm clock app... $.99

http://www.androlib.com/android.appl...-mac-jiiw.aspx

Quote:

Get the Best Reviewed Alarm Clock!

Optionally requires you solve math equation(s)(4 difficulty levels) to snooze/dismiss the alarm. Power naps. Many options: Snoozes before math, Number of problems, Multiple choice, Random Song Alarm, more.. 21 Options!!

(11/2) 2.2.2 - Percentage Difficulty Fixed.

Math Alarm Clock was developed for Android by AV Productions

Brian Shannon · 11-16-09, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigDaddy

I think the iPhone is a perfect wife phone. My wife likes hers.

As does my wife

nickdawgy · 11-16-09, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigDaddy

I think the iPhone is a perfect wife phone. My wife likes hers.

My wife liked the iPhone for games, but she wasn't impressed otherwise. She would carry around a black and white screen rotary phone if she could. Technology isn't important to her.

nickdawgy · 11-16-09, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suprmallet

The navigation itself isn't that big of a problem, but it's not as smooth as the iPhone's, which pretty much replicates every aspect of the web version. The real problem are the things that the Android Facebook app won't do. For example, if you want to look at someone's photos, it sends you to the web. It doesn't even have an event section, as far as I can tell. It's one of the few places the iPhone is clearly superior. I'm surprised Facebook hasn't made their app more robust on Android.

There's no Facebook chat on Android either. On iPhone, it works flawlessly.

11-14-09, 08:31 PM	#1
JasonF DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 24,751	iPhone or Droid (or something else)? My wife is looking for a new phone. Here are the features she wants: 1. Phone service, of course. 2. Flash-enabled web access (she likes to play some of the Facebook games) 3. She wants it to have an alarm clock, preferably one where she can set one time for weekdays and another for weekends. 4. She wants a dictionary. 5. She wants to be able to play MP3s. We've got everything set up in iTunes, which suggests an iPhone is the way to go ... do other devices have any compatibility issues with Apple's music format? I will confess that I'm fascinated by the Droid's Google Maps capabilities, so there's a part of me that wants her to get a Droid. But the reality is that we probably only use GPS once or twice a year, so it's not that big a deal. Another factor -- she's currently a Verizon customer, so Droid means we don't have to deal with the hassle of switching providers. So what's the right phone for her? __________________ These are my DVDs ۞ GamerTag: William T Bunny It all breaks down at the first rehearsal Last edited by JasonF; 11-14-09 at 08:36 PM.

11-14-09, 08:48 PM	#2
emachine12 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 997	Re: iPhone or Droid (or something else)? The iPhone does not support Flash The Droid will support Flash in early 2010. Your best bet is either the Touch Pro 2 or Imagio. They both support Flash Lite which is not the same as Flash on PCs and Macs but it works. As for music... If its a DRM song from iTunes then you won't be able to load it onto anything but an iPhone or iPod. You can do sideloading but you have to manually drag and drop your music on the memory card. Should you want to make it easier, you can get DoubleTwist for PCs or The Missing Sync for Mac.

11-14-09, 09:29 PM	#3
Decadance DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Kalamazoo, MI Posts: 1,038	Re: iPhone or Droid (or something else)? Winmo supports flash via some of the web browsers out there. The new Opera handles it. __________________ Testing Peoples Apathy

11-14-09, 09:38 PM	#4
Suprmallet Moderator Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: USS Enterprise Posts: 22,916	Re: iPhone or Droid (or something else)? I never really tested the iPhone's alarm clock capabilities, but the Droid has extensive options for recurring alarms. __________________ Living Dead: So what you're saying is... no one died in the middle of your store when you told them they couldn't have a $10 plasma TV? I find that a little hard to swallow.

11-14-09, 10:16 PM	#5
al_bundy DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Transfatfreeville Posts: 22,662	Re: iPhone or Droid (or something else)? iphone has alarm clock apps, downside is you have to run them all night. mafia wars kind of works in the new facebook app. i've read that zyngia or whatever the name is, they are working on iphone app versions of their facebook games that will connect back to facebook. at least they are with mafia wars i think the droid supports AAC and i think every thing in itunes is DRM free these days. for old purchases you need to pay steve jobs $.30 per song.

11-14-09, 10:46 PM	#7
shaun3000 DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Jul 1999 Location: Dallas, Texas Posts: 7,525	Re: iPhone or Droid (or something else)? Unless your wife is real techy, I’d stay way from Windows Mobile phones. I mean, do you really wants your PHONE running Windows? The iPhone is the most easily integrated into iTunes. BUT, it does not and probably never will do Flash. Many Flash games have been ported to the iPhone and Adobe recently made it dead-easy for developers to export their Flash programming to an iPhone format with, I shit you not, an iPhone export option. The Android does not integrate with iTunes but putting music on is as easy as drag-and-drop. The drawback is it can’t play protected files, be it music or videos. The Android is a great phone, very easy to use, and can be customized and expanded more than the iPhone can. But, in my opinion, the iPhone is still easier to use and has a more polished user interface. A little more food for thought, regarding Flash games: Most of those games are designed for a computer mouse and keyboard. I don’t know how well they will work with a touch screen and mobile keyboard setup. So it comes down to Flash vs. music.

11-15-09, 08:24 AM	#9
al_bundy DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Transfatfreeville Posts: 22,662	Re: iPhone or Droid (or something else)? Does the droid play genius playlists? Everyone can connect to iTunes and play every music file except for ogg

11-15-09, 12:30 PM	#10
TheKobra DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Nov 1999 Location: Stuck doing T.P.S. repots for Lumbergh!!!! Posts: 2,440	Re: iPhone or Droid (or something else)? I'm dumping my iPhone and moving back to the Blackberry. The 9700 comes out on Tuesday (on Tmobile) and will support 3g. The iPhone was good, not great.

11-15-09, 01:02 PM	#11
Baron Of Hell DVD Talk Platinum Edition Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Seattle and sometimes hell Posts: 3,340	Re: iPhone or Droid (or something else)? I just got a droid. I like the facebook app but I look going online to face book a little more. I guess it depends on what I'm doing. The droid seems to have a big learning curve due to not having any instructions on how to do anything. I know it has a pdf reader but I have no idea where it is. There is a alarm clock that you can set to any day you want and have it repeat. There are a couple of option for a dictionary. You can bookmark a dictionary web site or download a dictionary app. It plays music but I use my touch. I don't have any drm music or music files in a format that can't be read by most devices. If that isn't the case for you the music part might not be a option. I don't think it can do genius playlist but haven't tried. I wouldn't know how to get them on the phone. __________________ "Truth has become unacceptable and dissent unpatriotic" PS3 Tag: Baron-Of-Hell Steam: Baron_Of_Hell SSBB: 4425-3985-1734 TWITTER: BaronOfHell

11-15-09, 04:35 PM	#13
SonOfAStu DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saint Paul Posts: 2,577	Re: iPhone or Droid (or something else)? Don't forget to take into consideration the network. Ask around to friends that have AT&T and see how their service is. Nothing would be more frustrating than switching for an iPhone and then not being able to use it. FWIW, I love my Droid and everyone that sees it is amazed. Even my friends with iPhones. The most admired parts are the Google Navigation, and the gorgeous screen.

11-15-09, 08:15 PM	#14
JasonF DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 24,751	Re: iPhone or Droid (or something else)? Good point about the network. My office just witched me from T-Mobile to AT&T and apparently, my house is in a dead zone for AT&T. My blackberry gets one or two bars in my living room and zero or one in my bedroom. I keep meaning to buy a signal booster ... Meanwhile, her Verizon phone always has had great reception in the house and elsewhere. As for the songs, does it make a difference that all of our music is stuff we bought on CD and ripped via iTunes, as opposed to stuff bought in soft copy in the first instance? __________________ These are my DVDs ۞ GamerTag: William T Bunny It all breaks down at the first rehearsal

11-15-09, 09:21 PM	#15
shaun3000 DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Jul 1999 Location: Dallas, Texas Posts: 7,525	Re: iPhone or Droid (or something else)? No.

11-15-09, 09:37 PM	#16
Deftones DVD Talk Hero Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: Arizona Posts: 45,608	Re: iPhone or Droid (or something else)? as someone who is married and has a wife that's a tech-tard, i wouldn't recommend the Droid for a woman. __________________ John Henson: McDonald's has dumped Kobe Bryant as their spokesperson and have replaced him with Yao Ming. Apparently McDonald's prefers Yao because he is a bigger international star, and he doesn't rape so much. "You are everything that's wrong with this forum".---SleepyW

11-15-09, 11:26 PM	#17
BigDaddy DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 9,753	Re: iPhone or Droid (or something else)? I think the iPhone is a perfect wife phone. My wife likes hers. __________________ Michael facebook XBOX Gamertag Hudsonpf

11-16-09, 10:12 AM	#20
SonOfAStu DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saint Paul Posts: 2,577	Re: iPhone or Droid (or something else)? And Joe Hewitt, who developed the Facebook app for iPhone, has been VERY vocally displeased with the iPhone application process. He still works for Facebook, so I don't see why he wouldn't work on an Android app. guess we'll have to wait and see...