Symbian or WM

barry181091

Hey Guys,

Thinking of buying the N96 when it comes out soon, but ive seen some HTC phones that have even better specs (Apart from DVB-H) but are on Windows Mobile.(Which I have never used)

I've only ever had one s60 phone and that was the N-Gage, and I totally loved it because of the huge amount of cool third-party s60 applications that were out (And that was years ago! ).. I assume its the same now with s60 (?) but I was wondering, Does WM have the same diverse range of applications that s60 would have ? Oh and the new N-Gage service is also attracting me, does WM have many games going for it ?

Thanks

mkennedy

barry181091 wrote: »

Hey Guys,

Thinking of buying the N96 when it comes out soon, but ive seen some HTC phones that have even better specs (Apart from DVB-H) but are on Windows Mobile.(Which I have never used)

I've only ever had one s60 phone and that was the N-Gage, and I totally loved it because of the huge amount of cool third-party s60 applications that were out (And that was years ago! ).. I assume its the same now with s60 (?) but I was wondering, Does WM have the same diverse range of applications that s60 would have ? Oh and the new N-Gage service is also attracting me, does WM have many games going for it ?

Thanks

I think the consensus is:
Symbian: more user-friendly (more like a phone).
Windows Mobile: more powerful but not the easiest to use (more like a PC).

IIRC WM has more apps.

mkennedy

BTW what HTC phones have you seen with better specs than the N96.
The N96 is packed with technology.

There can't be too many tbh- maybe the Touch Pro but that's about it i'd say.

barry181091

Yeah the touch pro Although im not really gone ona touch screen tbh, but it looks cool.


Still wondering about my original query guys

long_b

Which has better range of apps ? it's difficult to say really. I'd say Symbian would, but there's plenty out there for WM. You'll find there's quite a lot of crossover - YouTube, GoogleMaps, vTap etc...
You can download a Java client for WM so you can run the Java J2ME apps on both (Opera Mini, Widsets).
I'd say the hardware would be the area that would swing it for you.
Unless you can get both
+1 on the Ngage love, got one for €99 back in the day. First S60 and one of my all time favourites.

barry181091

long_b wrote: »

Which has better range of apps ? it's difficult to say really. I'd say Symbian would, but there's plenty out there for WM. You'll find there's quite a lot of crossover - YouTube, GoogleMaps, vTap etc...
You can download a Java client for WM so you can run the Java J2ME apps on both (Opera Mini, Widsets).
I'd say the hardware would be the area that would swing it for you.
Unless you can get both
+1 on the Ngage love, got one for €99 back in the day. First S60 and one of my all time favourites.

You couldn't of lied and just said Symbian has more, huh !? Now your making this much more difficult :D

The touch pro has better specs but only a 3.2mpx cam, no n-gage games, no dvb-h reciever (Though is useless here for now) ... lol, im just clutching at straws here me thinks

... ahh that taco shaped side-talkin' bundle of joy

Cyrus

mkennedy wrote: »

BTW what HTC phones have you seen with better specs than the N96.
The N96 is packed with technology.

There can't be too many tbh- maybe the Touch Pro but that's about it i'd say.

er omnia

strecker

A lot more apps for wm, actually, and that's not even including java apps that you run inside a jvm on your wm device... And though wm is not the most user-friendly UI for phones, the main phone features like calls, sms, email are as simple as on any phone; in fact, in my experience email accounts, e.g., are easier to set up on a wm device than on most "ordinary" phones; also, imho, many wm freeware apps are a lot more useful, than the many java and s60 apps that are just gadgety for 10 mins or so... (I love my s60 e61, btw... i'm by no means a wm "fanboy"...)...
However, a wm phone that comes even close to the features, speed and stability of an n95/96? Doesn't exist Omnia could be it, but it's not out, yet, not properly reviewed, has no keyboard...
WM devices, imho, are a whole lot better than the reputation suggests, but as a newb to wm, you may wanna try before you buy! You do not wanna jump into the cold water, without an option to return the phone for sth more "user-friendly"/familiar! But if you pick a decently specced wm, and you give it time, and work with it, you will be rewarded

Cyrus

strecker wrote: »

A lot more apps for wm, actually, and that's not even including java apps that you run inside a jvm on your wm device... And though wm is not the most user-friendly UI for phones, the main phone features like calls, sms, email are as simple as on any phone; in fact, in my experience email accounts, e.g., are easier to set up on a wm device than on most "ordinary" phones; also, imho, many wm freeware apps are a lot more useful, than the many java and s60 apps that are just gadgety for 10 mins or so... (I love my s60 e61, btw... i'm by no means a wm "fanboy"...)...
However, a wm phone that comes even close to the features, speed and stability of an n95/96? Doesn't exist Omnia could be it, but it's not out, yet, not properly reviewed, has no keyboard...
WM devices, imho, are a whole lot better than the reputation suggests, but as a newb to wm, you may wanna try before you buy! You do not wanna jump into the cold water, without an option to return the phone for sth more "user-friendly"/familiar! But if you pick a decently specced wm, and you give it time, and work with it, you will be rewarded

er omnia is out? can get one for 500 quid on the bay now

heres a review versus the diamond and the iphone, its more out than the n96 is it not?

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_touch_diamond_vs_samsung_i900_omnia-review-262.php

towel401

don't like WM

Way, way too integrated with other MS products and services.

CivilEx

barry181091 wrote: »

Hey Guys,

Thinking of buying the N96 when it comes out soon, but ive seen some HTC phones that have even better specs (Apart from DVB-H) but are on Windows Mobile.(Which I have never used)

I've only ever had one s60 phone and that was the N-Gage, and I totally loved it because of the huge amount of cool third-party s60 applications that were out (And that was years ago! ).. I assume its the same now with s60 (?) but I was wondering, Does WM have the same diverse range of applications that s60 would have ? Oh and the new N-Gage service is also attracting me, does WM have many games going for it ?

Thanks

If your new purchase is for work / exchange e-mail etc. then I'd say a WM device...otherwise Symbian

_Kaiser_

I had a HTC Touch Cruise a while back and got rid of it 2 months later

- The touch screen, even after tweaking the settings/registry, wasn't sensitive enough.
- The interface was slow and a bit cumbersome, even after loading a 3rd party UI
- When in a call the screen would go dark and I'd be unable to get it to come back on until hanging up - not great if you want to put someone on hold, or get another number etc
- Txting on it was a nightmare

I've since moved to a N95 8GB (via a 6233, E65, and E51) and am MUCH happier but I guess it depends what you need your phone/device for.

barry181091

Thanks for all the replies guys...

I wont be using it for work, No document editing or anything, I dont think. I will be sending some email. Tbh, I really am iffy about the whole touch screen biz, Ive used the Ipod touch, have the ds and I can't see calling to be too easy..and ive never used a mobile keyboard before, Whats it like ?
One thing I don't like about the Nseries is the lack of Divx playback, but with the low mhz cpu's I can see why.

The omnia looks cool but at a high premium, 590 for the 8gb version at expansys....

WM looks much more advanced and miles ahead of Symbian but since ive been browsing different forums the impression im getting is that many many people hate WM compared to Symbian. Hmm . . . I really think I need to try-out WM somewhere before anything, Because on videos it looks really cool (Basically like a laptop in your pocket) but ''looks can be deceiving''.

_Kaiser_

It really does depend on what you want.

For example, my N95 lets me use MSN Messenger, send email (using Exchange if I like), and surf the web all while retaining the practical functional side of a mobile - ie: big screen and real buttons

It has 8GB for storage and you can download 3rd party players like DivX or Coreplayer for video - although yes, AVIs do seem to stutter a bit when playing

Overall though I'm happy. Touch screen is a gimmick but too awkward for any serious use I think.

barry181091

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

It really does depend on what you want.

For example, my N95 lets me use MSN Messenger, send email (using Exchange if I like), and surf the web all while retaining the practical functional side of a mobile - ie: big screen and real buttons

It has 8GB for storage and you can download 3rd party players like DivX or Coreplayer for video - although yes, AVIs do seem to stutter a bit when playing

Overall though I'm happy. Touch screen is a gimmick but too awkward for any serious use I think.

Yeah, I like the idea of Divx mobile, but as the N96's processor is downgraded from 324mhz to 296 + no HW graphics acceleration, I doubt the stuttering will go away

Now another candidate is the Samsung INNOV8, Which seems to be even better than the N96(Apart from the lack of DVB-H) and it has Divx certification ! But Samsung isint as followed online as Nokia....

Tom Dunne

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

It really does depend on what you want.

And there is they key to this discussion.

What is important for you? I've had all manner of smartphones, including Windows Mobile.

Here's what I wanted:

A phone
A media player (i.e. not just mp3, but video too)
An decent internet browser

Everything else was superfluous.

For me, WM did all of that, but was, quite frankly, a pain in the ass to set up. I am a techie, I got it working the way I wanted, but not without pain. Pocket Internet Explorer was borderline useless, getting the various pieces of software and associated codecs to play media was frustrating at best.

My epiphany came during the rubgy world cup. I had to text my Better Half, saying I was drunk and would be late , and I had to whip out the stylus, in the middle of a crowded pub, after a few pints, and tap out a message. It was a pain in the behind.

A few days later, I decided that WM was not for me and sold the device.

I had my heart set on the N95, until of course I saw the iPhone. But this thread is not about the iPhone, it is about what you want to do with your phone.

Get it clear in your mind what is important to you. Things such as a full or numeric keyboard? Stylus or touchscreen? Is a full featured phone important, or a media device that can make phonecalls important? Is expandability important? It sounds like third-party apps are important - I personally believe there are more available for WM, but that's just my opinion.

There is no perfect phone out there (yet). Generally speaking, it's a compromise between what you really want and what you would like.

barry181091

Thanks tom , good post.

You post was my epiphany ,haha A simple of list what I want and then its simple to see which side to go on.

Symbian it is :rolleyes: :P Tom's gettin it if I made the wrong choice :pac:

strecker

Good post, Tom...
In addition though it's important to point out or make clear to the wm newb that wm-phones differ hugely, and that not all devices would have given you the stylus-pub-problem a treo 750 is as easy to use for texting as an e61 or BB! A touch dual or one of the other wm's with a traditional 3x4 keypad even more so!
And yes, windows media player mobile is sh*t, but at least mort and core are freely available and solve most problems (try setting up a flash video player on n95 - no easy task, either)... Pocket IE: you're right, it's a disaster browser, and though PIE plus makes it pretty useable, there are still the slow-downs and freezes, but actually, I think nokia's "safari" browser is the biggest stinker - a great looker, but soooo slow and clunmsy imho... I hardly use it, neither on my e61 nor on n95/8, n73... Again, that's me, and though I think the n95 is a great achievement in "convergence" the cra*py keypad and softkey layout make it a 6/10 if you rely on text-input a lot....
so, opinions vary, and need differ, but it's not a complete comparison, without including formfactor (3x4, qwerty, slideout, all-touch)...
And though I'd overall choose s60 any day over wm, I like the endless number of ways in which you can make wm "just right" for you assuming you picked the right device (hardware/processor/ram)...
But if you don't want to do that for whatever reasons: take an S60 device... (btw: the title of the thread is "symbian v. wm" - I'm glad so far no one's brought up THAT OTHER symbian: UIQ yuck!)

Tom Dunne

barry181091 wrote: »

Thanks tom , good post.

You post was my epiphany ,haha A simple of list what I want and then its simple to see which side to go on.

Symbian it is :rolleyes: :P Tom's gettin it if I made the wrong choice :pac:

Hang on. If really wanted to give my opinion, I'd tell you to get an iPhone.

*runs for cover*

mik_da_man

I'd say have a look at the new WM devices.
I have a Touch diamond and it's great.
No need for a stylus as it has a great on screen keyboard and uses Opera 9, which is a mile better than PIE.
Alos it's got a decent music player, similar to a i-pod.
Dont knock it till you tried it

h57xiucj2z946q

I like my old Nokia N73 (Symbian S60v3 OS 9.1).

with it I can:

take photo's,
play media/mp3
sat-nav with gps module
use as a remote control for tv
web server
download torrents
push email
Instant messaging

The list is huge due to the wide variety of software for this platform.

Jonathan

Henrik Embarrassed Selflessness wrote: »

I like my old Nokia N73 (Symbian S60v3 OS 9.1).

with it I can:

take photo's,
play media/mp3
sat-nav with gps module
use as a remote control for tv
web server
download torrents
push email
Instant messaging

The list is huge due to the wide variety of software for this platform.

Plus one on the Symbian front. Can do all the above on my E51

You left out two other things though damo, FTP and SSH

strecker

jmccrohan wrote: »

Plus one on the Symbian front. Can do all the above on my E51

You left out two other things though damo, FTP and SSH

e51 is great, but everything on that N73-feature-list is easily possible with wm

h57xiucj2z946q

jmccrohan, vnc, perl, python. can also get a wrapper to run wm apps :-)

Jonathan

Henrik Embarrassed Selflessness wrote: »

can also get a wrapper to run wm apps :-)

linkeh?

h57xiucj2z946q

jmccrohan wrote: »

linkeh?

http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&q=+.NET+Compact+Framework+s60v3&btnG=Search&meta=