So I'm not very excited by the iphone5 news.... What should I buy instead?

[Tobermory]

Im an apple fan.
I have a mac. And an iPad. And have had an iPhone since the beginning.
But the love affair is over.... At least with the phone.... I think!

I've been waiting for the 5 to arrive, in order to replace my dying iPhone, for the best part of a year. But now wondering if there's a better alternative.

I like to take photos, mumsnet surf the net, text/call.....the usual.

My brother was talking about a new Nokia. Or the most recent Samsung?

What else could I buy?

EE is a new customer brand, which will deliver 4G mobile services to 98% of the UK by 2014. Be aware that you will HAVE to switch to EE in order for 4G to work ? EVEN when the other networks get 4G. So, if you care about 4G blazing speeds and stable connections on your new phone make sure you are out of contract and/or ready to switch operators.

This is because the iPhone 5 launching here will not support the bands that are up for Auction next year. An iPhone bought now on any other network will not support the future O2/Voda 4G.

I'd wait!

I've just seen the pricing for the iphone 5 on 2 year contracts. OUCH.

Why anyone would buy one on a contract is now clearly beyond me.

Interesting thread, I'm an Apple fan and have been for many years. I have iMac, iPad, iphone4 etc but I'm just about to buy a Samsung Note, my main concern is losing all my iTunes and not having home sharing from my phone but I'm intrigued by the Note and I 'need' one

I am a little bit in love with my sg3 that I bought today.

I just got the Samsung galaxy s3 as upgrade from my personal iPhone 4 I love it so much easier to use. As someone said above I transferred my music, photos and contacts using easy phone sync app. It's free for Samsung users and really easy to do. Back up your iPhone/iPod to make sure iTunes is up to date and then follow the app.

I've still got an iPhone and will be a5 on 21st September as its works one, but I'm not fussed and tried to get boss to change phones to Samsung or new Nokia.

I've also got the iPad 3 but got a google nexus 7 and it's loads better than the iPad!

can someone tell me about the notes? are there two? one is the 'I'M ON THE PHONE' giant one, and is the other basically an ipad?

my contract's up, can you tell? i've had an htc desire, the bog-standard one, for the last 18 months and i've been really impressed with it.

thinking of going samsung this time, though.

The phone I'm 99% sure I'm going to buy is called the Samsung Galaxy Note, that's the huge phone type small tablet thingy. I'm a samsung virgin so I can't offer any further info about Samsung tablets etc.

Think there is just one note aitch. I was in tmob in Clydebank today and only saw one. It is a bit bigger than the gs3 which I bought (4.8 inches) but smaller than the galaxy tablet that I have seen that nettosuperstar has, which is smaller than the ipad. It has a pen thing to write on it with. It does look quite good, but I was happy with the gs3 as a happy medium. Mind you I overheard the man in shop saying they don't do tablets so if there is another one then perhaps they don't stock it.

I was tempted by the note, but its maybe just a wee bit big for the amount I use it for calls.

Funny how we started off with huge phones...then went to tiny phones and now are going back to huge ones again!

see my netbook has just gone kaput, and i use it for work, so the giant note plus keyboard might be fun. but would it make, ya know, phonecalls? and how much of a bell-end would i look?

ah, right, giraffes. i think there is a 10.1 now but it's expensive and i'm not even sure it's out here yet.
has anyone got the keyboard for the Dom Joly-phone? is it actually decent?

you know i really, really MOURN my handspring treo with accompanying fold-out keyboard. everything about that phone worked, except that it never took off in the UK.

netto has the keyboard for hers. she got it for when she is in hosp. Will tell her to come and tell you about it on here.

cheers!

Hey!
I have the Galaxy Tab, the 7 inch one, bigger than the note, smaller than an IPad, and I have the keyboard for it.
I only use the keyboard when I'm in hospital but it's great, I love it and wouldn't be without it.
It is a phone, but I don't really use it as one, because it's too big for that really.
I think the note is better, but then it's newer.
I want the sg3 to use as a phone, along with the tab I have, though my friend is arriving from Aberdeen tomorrow, and he has a nexus so I'll be having a good look at that.

does that mean that you would have two sim cards for it, netto?

i mean one for phone and one for note thing. would i be able to write articles etc using the keyboard, do you think? it looks quite fiddly.

HTC One X is my next phone I reckon. Also have HTC Desire bog std and need to upgrade now. Less bells and whistles than Samsung Galaxy but more functional apparently.

Am hearing v bad things about battery life though - any reports?

Wilf
I know someone who is very unhappy about the battery life on her HTC One. She says it doesn't always last the day and dies on the way home.
One thing that it misses (and apparently the new iPhone does as well) is the clever face detector on the Samsung 3 that stops the screen timing out while you are watching it.

i have the desire and love it, find it fine for battery but Just Unbelievably Shit for memory.

I just have one sim card.
Do you mean could you have two devices and swap the sim?
If so, I have no idea.
Definitely able to write articles with the keyboard, you wouldn't use it as your main writing tool, but totally doable.
Look at the sizes.
I think the tab I have is too big to use as a phone, ditto the note, but I think the note is too small if you are using it to write on.
I like the size of mine, it fits in even a small handbag, is easy to fit in my car as a sat nav, can be whipped out in the doctors waiting room without looking silly, but is a decent size for watching TV on when I'm in hospital.

I really do love it.

i suppose i mean that unless it's a good size to use as a phone, it might be a bit useless for me... i'm going to go and have a good look at a carphone warehouse or something, thanks for the advice.

ooooooooooooooh microsoft are coming BACK

no way will they be able to sell that for under £200.

out in the US on Oct 26, god knows when in the UK but it's what i want.

Church I think tablet smaller than i pad be too small for you writing on. Net book maybe? Do you have something else in the house?