Need a new mobile phone

[HappinessNow]

i need a new phone, i'm not upto date on what phones are good (my knowledge is from circa 2001#)

any suggestions. if its somewhat linux compatible that would be a bonus but i'm not expecting miracles.

edit: oh yeah, away and boil yer heid to anybody who suggests an iphone.

HTC Hero uses Linux as it's OS specifically the Google Android OS, it is completely Linux compatible and not the horrid iPhone!

[Colonel Kilkenny]

n900 or Droid (con = droid no multitouch)

Droid isn't available anywhere outside US (or at least not in Europe because there are no CDMA-networks here, probably not anywhere else either as US is pretty much the only place with CDMA-networks...) because it is a CDMA-phone. GSM-version of the Droid is called Milestone and it has multitouch. I would still choose N900. Android might be "sexy" thing (especially in the US) atm. but it really doesn't have any features that would make it better platform than Maemo (unless you're a Google fan and want to have Google all over your phone).

And Android has Linux kernel yes, but even the kernel developers have apparently said that from the kernel point of view it'd totally same if Android would have Windows kernel i.e. it doesn't benefit the kernel in any way. Maemo on the other hand is basically normal Linux distribution and ~all work in Maemo can go upstream. So basically by buying Maemo phone you're also giving money to Linux/Gnome/KDE/PulseAudio/GStreamer/X.org/etc. development.

[ssam]

if you want it to run linux so that you can have complete control of the phone, and install anything you want on it, then it should probably be an openmoko.

make sure you get an A7 revision, and the older ones had some hardware issues. when you get it you will probably want to flash a newer firmware onto it, eg SHR.

[3rdalbum]

If price is a concern, then look at the Nokia E63. It runs Symbian which is now open-source I believe, and although the interface is clunky the phone is cheap, has an excellent keyboard and a lot of features that you otherwise don't get for the price (3G, Wifi, Opera Mini available, Bluetooth, push e-mail, 3.5mm headphone jack, audio/video playback and applications store).

I paid $249 (Australian money) for mine, including a 1 gig Micro-SD card. It's locked to the carrier I use, but unlocked versions are available for less than $50 more.

The E71 is the same phone but thinner, lighter, has a video conferencing camera and GPS; a bit more expensive though and not as easy to come by. By many accounts it's a Blackberry-killer.

[renzokuken]

i've had my HTC Magic for a few weeks now and i'm in love with it......sexy white and Android is brilliant

[treesurf]

I'm very happy with my HTC Hero. I recommend it.

[PhoenixMaster00]

n900 or Droid (con = droid no multitouch)

Apparently the European version will have multi-touch and be called the Milestone

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/11...ilestone_near/

[insane_alien]

so i ended up with a samsung s something or other. the ones suggested either required a contract or were pretty pricy.

seems to work fine anyway.

[t0p]

so i ended up with a samsung s something or other. the ones suggested either required a contract or were pretty pricy.

seems to work fine anyway.

Probably the best bet at the moment. To anyone else who'd like advice: I'd advise buying a "dumbphone" for now, and wait for the good smartphones to come down in price.

Right now I'm using a 3G "dumbphone" - the Sony Ericsson K800i. I can use it as a modem at 3G speeds, I can transfer files to/from Ubuntu just fine. So it's an excellent short term solution.

In the long term, I'm going to wait for the current HTC Android phones to come down in price. I think the Hero is massively overpriced at the moment. But next year it will be available for less than half its current price; at which point it will represent good value.

[gn2]

Samsung E1100, £5 at Carphonewarehouse.