[fawaz]

I'm due for an upgrade on my O2 contract. I have narrowed down my phone selection to these two. The Nokia E72 is out soon apparently but I'm guessing I'd have to pay for the phone too, which I don't fancy.

I can either get:
18 months
iPhone 3GS on O2 @ £35.... 600mins, 500texts, 'Unlimited' Data/Wifi
£185 for the phone

or
18 months
Nokia E71 on 3 @ £20... 200mins, 'Unlimited' texts, 'Unlimited' data, free 3 to 3 calls + skype calls
£0 for the phone

I tend to use about 400-650 mins a month and 300 texts (but about 200-300mins are to people on the 3 network and I'd text more often if I got the Nokia E71)

I'm looking for a phone that has web browsing abilities, GPS (for a car), word document and tethering.
The reason for wanting an iphone is for the aps mainly and the browsing. The Tom Tom ap and cradle would be great, and being a student doctor, being able to get some of my core books on the iphone is a bonus. I'd like to have tethering for when I'm on a placement that's far away (have an 8 week placement where I'm staying in hospital accomodation).
Also I'm on O2 home broadband, so being on an O2 contract is saving me £5 a month.

I think I'd prefer the iPhone but i don't know if the cost is worth it.

[NicolasB]

I can't comment on the Nokia, I'm afraid, but I've been quite impressed by the iPhone. I've been a professional software developer for a long time, and a technology geek for even longer, and the iPhone is possibility the finest piece of user-interface design that I've ever seen: it's beautifully designed around the touch-screen, and wonderfully intuitive.

[RobM]

The Nokia is a great, great phone. It really is very good and very hard to criticise.

But for the use you have listed - i.e. browsing, TomTom etc the iPhone beats it. The larger, higher resolution screen along is enough to win in these areas.

With the new 3.0 software come the landscape keyboard, which really improves text entry which is one of the Nokias key strong points.

If you said you just wanted a good phone with good messaging, I'd say go for the Nokia. But for your use, the iPhone is the right choice.

With regards to cost, if you're going to use it for TomTom factor in the cost of a TomTom - which arguably you would buy separately if you didn't get it on the iPhone - and the price difference isn't so great.

[Member 280751]

I have a (work-provided) Nokia E71 and think it's great. I also have an iPod Touch (didn't get the iPhone as I already have the work-provided E71) and that's great too.

It really depends on your own personal preference (and budget, given the info in your original post).

I really like having the real keyboard on my Nokia E71 and it's used mainly for phone calls, email and texting. I also use it for web-browsing when out and about, although I've added Opera Mini (which is free) as I prefer that browser to the one that's built-in to the E71.

However, when at home (or near wi-fi) I use the iPod Touch for any web browsing, as the bigger screen and user interface is much better IMHO.

I find the real keyboard on the E71 fantastic for text entry, although some people really like the touch-screen keyboard on the iPhone/iPod Touch too. I suggest you head down to your local O2 store and try out the interface on the iPhone (make sure you try out the touch-screen keyboard too) ... although I suspect that once you've seen and used the interface you'll decide that £185 is well worth paying

Added benefit of the iPhone is that there are thousands of apps available for it too (some even free, and others for relatively low cost), as well as it being great for playing music and videos (the E71 can play music too, but I find the iPod Touch much better for that, which I'd expect to be the same on the iPhone).

I guess the bottom line is that if you find the touch-screen keyboard good, and as long as you can afford the £185, then there are plenty of other good reasons to buy the iPhone.

[yant]

Well, the difference is not just the £185, it's £455.

IPhone: 18 x 35 + 185 = £815
E71: 18 x 20 = £360
(the comparison is not quite fair due to the discrepencies in the minutes but the OP seems to feel that either contract would fullfil his needs due to the free 3-to-3 minutes)

Personally, I think the IPhone 3GS is a great phone, better than the E71. However is it worth £455 more, that's a good question.

I am in a similar situation myself. Due to loyalty discounts, I am currently on a £10 a month contract for 750min + 250 text. I can add a £5/month add-on for data. I think that's a rather good price for a contract. So although I am tempted by an IPhone, I find it difficult to justify the price especially if moving to O2 and getting stuck on their overpriced IPhone-tax contracts.

[Member 280751]

Well spotted yant ... I should have looked more closely before giving my view

As usual, it comes down to the money then. However, the difference will be slightly less as I presume if fawaz switches to 3 they'll lose the £5 a month reduction in their home broadband costs (although there may be other deals out there to compensate for that, depending on their current broadband contract and situation) ... so, this could cost £90 over the 18 months.

I found the E71 to be a great phone, but the only time I use the GPS is with Google Maps to find somewhere when I'm on foot (as I've already got sat nav in the car). I'd say the screen on the E71 is probably a little on the small side for use as a full sat nav whilst driving, and a colleague at work tells me that he's had a couple of times where it's lost the signal when driving in built-up areas.

If you offset the price of a separate sat nav unit, and losing out on the £5 a month saving on the broadband, then it starts to reduce the price difference a little more. If you'd ever want an iPod for music and/or video (might be handy whilst on placement), then that's another potential difference too ... I guess it depends how much you want the iPhone

I also just noticed you mentioned tethering ... the E71 works really well as a modem (either via USB cable or via bluetooth) with a Windows laptop. It also works with MacOS too, although I don't seem to be able to get the same fast data rates with the Mac as I can with Windows.

I also suggest you check the terms of any mobile contract for the "unlimited" data, as most contracts have a fair usage clause and it's very easy to exceed this if you tether a laptop to the phone.

[fawaz]

Thanks for the replies, I'm still mulling it over....

[Uridium]

Originally Posted by RobM83

The Nokia is a great, great phone. It really is very good and very hard to criticise.

But for the use you have listed - i.e. browsing, TomTom etc the iPhone beats it. The larger, higher resolution screen along is enough to win in these areas.

With the new 3.0 software come the landscape keyboard, which really improves text entry which is one of the Nokias key strong points.

If you said you just wanted a good phone with good messaging, I'd say go for the Nokia. But for your use, the iPhone is the right choice.

With regards to cost, if you're going to use it for TomTom factor in the cost of a TomTom - which arguably you would buy separately if you didn't get it on the iPhone - and the price difference isn't so great.

Agree with your comments there on the E71. Web browsing is probably the E71's weakest point. it is a little slow and clunky for Browsing.

But for a messaging device it really is stunning. especially paired with a good push mail app and Mail for Exchange.

The build quality is incredibly good and thankfully it doesn't suffer with the N-Series bugs of memory or battery weakness.