Hi M2 here, lost my phone, don't want to get another for 3rd and 4th year. I've never had a blackberry, internet phone, iPhone or anything, so I don't really know what is good or what is needed for 3rd and 4th year. I really just make calls and texts, but there might be some cool apps on other phones that may come in handy. Anyone have a cool phone that they'd like to recommend or advise me on what is needed for rotations? Thanks!
Technology New phone any suggestions?
- Thread starter sarsmon
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I just picked up a refurbished iPhone for $50 from AT&T. Works fine for me and the popularity means there are a lot of apps to do interesting things with. Hell, I think you can get a full copy of Netter's on the thing if for some reason you want that.
The real killer on any of those phones is the extra $30/month data plan, though...
The real killer on any of those phones is the extra $30/month data plan, though...
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I haven't talked to anyone who owns a iPhone but doesn't like it. So, that being said, you can't go wrong with an iPhone.
I must emphasize that I'm not a fan of iPhone personally (and I have made a lot of enemies by saying this 🙂).
I have a BlackBerry 8900 with a third-part leather case, which makes the phone extremely "heavy-duty".
I must emphasize that I'm not a fan of iPhone personally (and I have made a lot of enemies by saying this 🙂).
I have a BlackBerry 8900 with a third-part leather case, which makes the phone extremely "heavy-duty".
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I don't mean to hijack the thread, but like the OP, I'm also looking for recommendations. I've never used any of these smart phones... I have the same old nokia phone i bought 5 years ago, and before that I also used nokia. Is it going to be hard to learn how to use these new phones? Also, how does someone choose what kind of iphone/blackberry they want if they know NOTHING about them? 😳
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I have a palm pre, and like it much better than the iphone. My blackberry was probably better than both.
The blackberry is the most rock-solid phone I have ever owned.
The blackberry is the most rock-solid phone I have ever owned.
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I have the new iphone 3Gs and absolutely love it, Ive owned an iphone since the day they came out and have never been more happy with it. Even been impressed with the return policy at the apple stores. I had my phone stop functioning properly brought it to the store and within 20 minutes I had a brand new one. The apps are amazing and its an ipod too if you ever have to wait inbetween classes like I do in undergrad or on the bus? But then again like someone said earlier you do have to pay 30 dollars for the data plan. Overall if you are looking for a phone with tons of apps and very user friendly I would look into an iphone. oh and the new one even has a videocamera and its a GPS in the palm of your hand. amazing. if you have any questions PM me.
anesthetic
anesthetic
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The biggest question you need to answer in the iPhone vs. Competitor debate is whether or not you'll miss having a true keyboard on your phone. Once you've played around with one at BestBuy/etc. and can determine that then the iPhone will not let you down. However, you should also know that when you compare an iPhone to a Blackberry and other smartphone devices over a 2 year contract period you will spend significantly more to own the iPhone.
See Link: http://www.billshrink.com/blog/mytouch-3g-vs-iphone-vs-palm-pre/
See Link: http://www.billshrink.com/blog/mytouch-3g-vs-iphone-vs-palm-pre/
What about the Palm Pre doesn't match up with your old blackberry? Just curious because I'm interested in the Pre.
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I recently bought the iPhone 3gs and love it. I was super interested in the pre too but Sprint gets awful reception in my city so that ruled it out. The internet is awesome but it doesn't work in all the hospitals so its important to get native apps that will work without internet access. But there are plenty to choose from and many schools have licenses for otherwise expensive apps for free. Getting my email pushed to my phone is amazing and I can't imagine doing third year without that since I only get to my computer once a day or less. It also has great organizational apps available that help me organize my non-med life. ToDo, ical, and evernote are so useful. I'm also playing around with financial apps to keep track of my $$ and there is an app that links to my bank account directly and finds local atms. Not to mention the just fun stuff like games and pandora radio. I haven't owned another smart phone so I can't compare but I have no complaints about my choice.
I'd look at the apps available for each phone and their cost. I'd also ask people about the service in your area since it varies from carrier to carrier. If you can talk to some upperclassmen about what phones if any get service in your hospitals that would be super useful information.
I'd look at the apps available for each phone and their cost. I'd also ask people about the service in your area since it varies from carrier to carrier. If you can talk to some upperclassmen about what phones if any get service in your hospitals that would be super useful information.
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The Pre is a cooler toy. The Blackberry is a much more intuitive and "functional" device. The Blackberry is just so easy to use. Great keyboard. Great interface.
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Yeah significantly more if you choose the highest possible plans as Sprint's simply everything plan is the most competitive out there. Otherwise, the difference is nil. If you add the fact that most of us can save 15% off our voice plan with AT&T premier with our school it takes away any kind of comparison. AT&T has rollover and is competitive with the lower voice plans. If Sprint's reception in your area is no good then there is no cost that would make it worth it. The same goes for AT&T of course.
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Agree with what's been said above so far.
I've never had a smart phone before and just picked up the new iPhone 3GS when I started rotations a couple months ago and I love it.
Some questions you need to ask yourself first that may narrow down your choices:
1) Do you want a specific carrier? I was already on an AT&T family plan so it was actually cheaper for me to go with the iPhone, that link above saying the Pre is "cheaper" assumes an unlimited voice plan on the iphone which is more than what I think most people are getting. If want to stick with AT&T then an iPhone or Blackberry (the new Bold is also a very nice unit) are your options. Verizon --> Blackberry, Tmobile--> maybe one of the new android devices coming out soon, or blackberry Sprint --> Palm Pre or Blackberry
2) Prefer a physical keyboard or not? This makes or breaks the iPhone for some people. You really can't go wrong with the physical keyboards on most blackberries. I haven't used the Pre but assume it's fairly decent as well. For me I don't mind an on-screen keyboard, I quickly got used to it and I love the flexibilty of being able to use the keyboard in either portrait or landscape mode.
Do you have a preference as to operating system?
iPhone: Easy to use, polished interface, TONS of apps available, not as "open" to tweaking as the other devices but if you jailbrake that opens up some of the features that people complain about. Probably one of the best touchscreen interfaces out there. Good for audio/multimedia as well
Palm Pre: Interface-wise probably on par with the iPhone. Good contact management and integration with web/online services, multitasking built in. Not as many apps available, but I'm sure that'll change, and you can also run older Palm software through it's emulator. I'm not a huge Sprint fan but it's a very cool device, and probably the only other phone/pda that I would consider if I didn't get the iPhone.
Blackberry: Good for heavy texting/messaging, good email support. Good if you want a physical keyboard and don't need a big screen. The touchscreen Storm is available but I played with a friend's and I was not impressed at all, that clickable screen is just annoying to me, the next generation (storm version 2?) may help make it a better device, but for now I would stay away. Have heard a handful of friends say they took theirs back after a little while of using it. But the other blackberries are pretty solid, I just preferred having a larger touchscreen.
Android: I think there is HUGE potential for this platform. The G1 hardware leaves some things to be desired and it's just a little early for me to fully adopt that operating system as I'm sure most of the main medical apps haven't been ported over to it yet, but I really like that it's an open platform and there should be cool hardware devices coming out soon that use it. Hopefully some of the more useful medical apps will come out for Android.
Windows Mobile: Pretty stagnant operating system, newest one (6.5 I think?) is supposed to come out fairly soon which will be a welcome release. I still have my old windows mobile HP PDA and the thing with windows mobile is it is a VERY flexible operating system in that there are a ton of applications/utilities available for it and if you love to tinker and tweak your device you can on windows, it's just not the most straight forward system to use, plus you will still be needing a stylus at times.
Really, you can't go wrong with an iPhone, Blackberry, Palm Pre, or even a decent/newer windows mobile device. There are good medical applications available for just about all of those devices (not sure what's available for the Pre?) so it's more of an issue of which carrier would you prefer, do you want a full touchscreen or physical keyboard, and what else are you going to do with the device (listen to music, integration with itunes, running multiple apps at same time, customization, etc....)
I've never had a smart phone before and just picked up the new iPhone 3GS when I started rotations a couple months ago and I love it.
Some questions you need to ask yourself first that may narrow down your choices:
1) Do you want a specific carrier? I was already on an AT&T family plan so it was actually cheaper for me to go with the iPhone, that link above saying the Pre is "cheaper" assumes an unlimited voice plan on the iphone which is more than what I think most people are getting. If want to stick with AT&T then an iPhone or Blackberry (the new Bold is also a very nice unit) are your options. Verizon --> Blackberry, Tmobile--> maybe one of the new android devices coming out soon, or blackberry Sprint --> Palm Pre or Blackberry
2) Prefer a physical keyboard or not? This makes or breaks the iPhone for some people. You really can't go wrong with the physical keyboards on most blackberries. I haven't used the Pre but assume it's fairly decent as well. For me I don't mind an on-screen keyboard, I quickly got used to it and I love the flexibilty of being able to use the keyboard in either portrait or landscape mode.
Do you have a preference as to operating system?
iPhone: Easy to use, polished interface, TONS of apps available, not as "open" to tweaking as the other devices but if you jailbrake that opens up some of the features that people complain about. Probably one of the best touchscreen interfaces out there. Good for audio/multimedia as well
Palm Pre: Interface-wise probably on par with the iPhone. Good contact management and integration with web/online services, multitasking built in. Not as many apps available, but I'm sure that'll change, and you can also run older Palm software through it's emulator. I'm not a huge Sprint fan but it's a very cool device, and probably the only other phone/pda that I would consider if I didn't get the iPhone.
Blackberry: Good for heavy texting/messaging, good email support. Good if you want a physical keyboard and don't need a big screen. The touchscreen Storm is available but I played with a friend's and I was not impressed at all, that clickable screen is just annoying to me, the next generation (storm version 2?) may help make it a better device, but for now I would stay away. Have heard a handful of friends say they took theirs back after a little while of using it. But the other blackberries are pretty solid, I just preferred having a larger touchscreen.
Android: I think there is HUGE potential for this platform. The G1 hardware leaves some things to be desired and it's just a little early for me to fully adopt that operating system as I'm sure most of the main medical apps haven't been ported over to it yet, but I really like that it's an open platform and there should be cool hardware devices coming out soon that use it. Hopefully some of the more useful medical apps will come out for Android.
Windows Mobile: Pretty stagnant operating system, newest one (6.5 I think?) is supposed to come out fairly soon which will be a welcome release. I still have my old windows mobile HP PDA and the thing with windows mobile is it is a VERY flexible operating system in that there are a ton of applications/utilities available for it and if you love to tinker and tweak your device you can on windows, it's just not the most straight forward system to use, plus you will still be needing a stylus at times.
Really, you can't go wrong with an iPhone, Blackberry, Palm Pre, or even a decent/newer windows mobile device. There are good medical applications available for just about all of those devices (not sure what's available for the Pre?) so it's more of an issue of which carrier would you prefer, do you want a full touchscreen or physical keyboard, and what else are you going to do with the device (listen to music, integration with itunes, running multiple apps at same time, customization, etc....)
Just picked up my new iphone GS yesterday (took the plunge) and I think that I may marry it as well. It's pretty flipping great. At first I thought I was going to have a hard time with the keyboard, but you definitely get used to it, especially if you turn it sideways. Love it! As another poster echoed, I have never met a person who doesn't like the iphone.
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I suggest an Apple iPhone. If you're very familiar with Microsoft Windows, then you may be glad to know that there are some great new phones coming out this fall. HTC Touch Pro 2, Samsung Omnia 2, etc.
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anyone have any thoughts on tmobile's mytouch 3g? i've been reading a little bit about it and i'm liking it a little more than the iphone...esp w/ this stuff going on
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/technology/personaltech/06pogue-email.html?8cir&emc=cir
nlax30 mentioned a couple things about android being promising...if the med apps definitely make the port then i would probably choose it over the iphone.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/technology/personaltech/06pogue-email.html?8cir&emc=cir
nlax30 mentioned a couple things about android being promising...if the med apps definitely make the port then i would probably choose it over the iphone.
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If you get a phone running Google Android, you're going to have difficulty finding much medical software for it. You'll rely primarily on web-based information and some titles from Unbound Medicine. The folks at Epocrates don't seem to know when they'll be releasing software for Android.
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