[a_friend]

Due for an upgrade in about a month or and now I'm after a smart phone, Question is which current or coming soon phones are capable of doing the full Internet.


Also have PDA improved much as i have not had one since the O2 XDA?

[a_friend]

Anything besides the iPhone?

[itsamac]

A lot of phones will give you Internet access. These days you have the choice between UIQ (SE), Series 60 (Nokia), Windows Mobile and flash based properitary operating systems such as the one used by the Viewty and G800. I haven't used a browser on S60v3 for a while so I can't comment on that.

Pocket IE (Windows Mobile) is horrible for all but the most basic site or mobile specific sites such as mobile Google. You can install Opera Mini 4 or join the Skyfire beta, which bother offer experiences closer to the desktop variants.

UIQ uses Opera, which is pretty decent. I have only found one or two sites that didn't render properly (e.g. Outlook Mobile Access) but otherwise it gives a decent experience.

Browsing on the Viewty was ok but it was no better than any of the other devices above.

The answer to your other quesitons, Windows Mobile (or Pocket PC as it was known in the days of the original XDA). Microsoft have improved the operating system, especially the stability and memory management. There are also a lot more developers creating new applications compared with the days of Pocket PC 2003.

At the end of the day, most phones offer PIM functionality and Internet access. Best thing to do is going into an Orange or 3 store to see which one you get along with as both provider's stores have the phones on display for you to play with.

[a_friend]

Arn't the Blackberry's any good at the web

[windfall]

I have used a raft of handsets now and by far the finest for a proper and full internet experience is theiPhone.

I actually dont have one (I do have an Ipod Touch however) and apart from the size of the screen on that compared to my Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices its so much easier to connect to WiFi points.
The messing abot with my O2 Stellar to connect to a WiFi point is a nightmare as I found recently on holiday.

Also the screen size is prohibtive IMHO on the O2 Stellar compared to safari on the Ipod.
I have heard that a 3G iPhone will be released sometime in Q2 so like many would hold on and see what happens.
If you are after a cheaper alternative - for your upgrade then have a play with some of the other HTC devices.

For me Microsoft on the mobile can be so frustrating but I have not used a symbian device now for many years.

I hope this sort of helps - best to go view and use a few, but iPhone gets my vote now. I understand that HTC will be introducing some of the "touch" functionality into their devices.

Tone

[RobM]

There are two things that prevent decent internet browsing on most phones....

A decent browser
and,
A high resolution

You are never, ever going to get a comfortable browsing experience on a screen resolution of 320x240 when websites are coded for at least 1024x768

The iPhone has a very clever way of getting around this. It also has a better, higher resolution that most phones. This makes browsing much more comfortable.

The next best thing would be the Opera browsers, which can scale pages. But even then the phones resolution will be prohibitive. When Sony Ericssons Xperia range is released, that will address the resolution issue very well. Let's just hope other manufacturers follow suit.

[JayCee]

Originally Posted by windfall

The messing abot with my O2 Stellar to connect to a WiFi point is a nightmare as I found recently on holiday.

I had no such problems while on holiday recently in Majorca using my O2 Stellar and Wi-Fi hotspots...with Wi-Fi switched on and a hotspot within range the Stellar detected them and asked if I wanted to connect?...if it was a free and unsecured Wi-Fi hotspot it connected with no problems...if it was secured with WEP it asked for the key...it was just a case of buying a drink and asking the waitress or bar man for the WEP key in those pubs and restaurants that advertised free Wi-Fi to attract punters
I usually just used IE and the PDA versions of websites such as the BBC news to catch up on the news at home and Lotto numbers.
I also used Skype to Skype on the Stellar to family at home and to landlines.

[trailer]

Iv'e had Blackberries and recently got an iPhone.

I wouldn't go back to a Blackberry. The screen size and resolution plus the Safari browser make it the best handheld device I've used.

[a_friend]

I think because of the cost and the length of the iPhone contact I will exclude it from my short list but if one day a 3G version comes out (June 08) I may just change my mind.

I do like the X1 and it's on my short list I also like the HTC Cruise and it's a little old school.