Touch screen phones with video calling

[Graham N]

Hi,

I have always been on PAYG and don't spend a lot. I was thinking of getting a contract and adding internet etc.

I don't see much mentioned about video calling. Do any of the nice touch screen phones have this capability or is this feature not in demand much. I was looking at iphone, HTC Hero or Nokia X6 but these don't seem to have a front camera.

I have a Nokia N73 which has a forward facing camera and my wife has a 6500 slide which I believe has one. I tried it but it said not supported by network.

I did some checking and it said something about a umts sim card. I searched but couldn't find out how to check whether I have one or not.

So anyone got any useful info on a decent touchscreen phone with video calling and is it worth while and how do I tell if my sim card is umts.

Many thanks,

Graham

 

[NicolasB]

My HTC Touch Pro2 certainly supports this.

 

[Graham N]

Thanks Nicolas,

Anybody else got any thoughts on Video calliing. Is it worth considering or not. It seems like the top of the range phones don't have it at all such as iphone and HTC Hero which were top of my wanted list.

Others I am considering are Nokia X6, Blackberry Storm, LG Arena, LG Renoir, Lg Viewty Smart and Samsung Piqon. A main consideration is ease of text input (due to chubby fingers and bad eyes)

Cheers,

Graham

 

[NicolasB]

If ease of text input is a priority then you might want to consider getting something with a physical keyboard. The one on the HTC Touch Pro2 is lovely. I've read one or two good reports of the Samsung B7610 (a.k.a. OmniaPRO) as well (which should be faster than the TP2 and has an OLED screen). SE Xperia X2 might be worth a look too.

If you want a pure touch-screen phone (with no keyboard) that isn't too annoying to type on then I suggest you get one with a capacitive screen: Samsung i8910 HD (a.k.a. Omnia HD), iPhone 3GS, or the forthcoming HTC Touch HD2 (a.k.a Leo) might be good candidates. The Leo definitely doesn't have a forward-facing camera - not sure about the others.

I can't stand the Blackberry Storm, myself. Horrible clicky screen!

 

[Graham N]

Hi Nicolas,

I have read reviews on some of the phones you mentioned, but as I have gone over them so many times I will have to have another look. I did see some info on the Leo as well. The capacitance screen on some of the models is appealling compared to the resistive type.

Will keep looking and maybe wait until a couple of the new models are out.

Thanks again for your feedback.

Graham

 

[NicolasB]

It may be worth saying that (IMO) the whole capacitive vs resistive thing isn't quite as simple as some people make out. There are plenty of resistive screens that are very responsive - enough so that the supposed response-advantage of a capacitive screen is really negligible. For practical purposes you won't find a resistive screen that supports multi-touch (like the iPhone's pinch-zoom feature) but not all capacitive devices support multitouch (I don't think the Nokia N97 or the Samsung i8910 HD do) and even the ones that do may support it only for a small number of built-in applications and nothing else (e.g. HTC Hero, or HTC Leo).

For practical purposes you can't use a stylus with a capacitive screen. In fact, you can't use anything other than skin. That means a resistive screen allows much more precise targeting of smaller on-screen features in a way that doesn't make the screen greasy. You can also use a fingernail for precision work. With a capacitive screen you can't use it wearing gloves, and you have to depend on the software not requiring you to press anything smaller than the end of your finger.

 

[Graham N]

It may be worth saying that (IMO) the whole capacitive vs resistive thing isn't quite as simple as some people make out. There are plenty of resistive screens that are very responsive - enough so that the supposed response-advantage of a capacitive screen is really negligible. For practical purposes you won't find a resistive screen that supports multi-touch (like the iPhone's pinch-zoom feature) but not all capacitive devices support multitouch (I don't think the Nokia N97 or the Samsung i8910 HD do) and even the ones that do may support it only for a small number of built-in applications and nothing else (e.g. HTC Hero, or HTC Leo).

For practical purposes you can't use a stylus with a capacitive screen. In fact, you can't use anything other than skin. That means a resistive screen allows much more precise targeting of smaller on-screen features in a way that doesn't make the screen greasy. You can also use a fingernail for precision work. With a capacitive screen you can't use it wearing gloves, and you have to depend on the software not requiring you to press anything smaller than the end of your finger.

Does this mean you can't put screen protectors on this type of screen as well?

I think I may wait until nearer Xmas when some of the new phones that I am interested in become available. I may then get a new model or perhaps a better deal on a current model. I know that this is always the case but I have been PAYG for years so another couple of months won't matter.

Thanks for your reply again,

Graham

 

[NicolasB]

I think you can use screen protectors, yes - I'm sure I've seen a screen protector on an iPhone.

I've also heard rumours that HTC is working on a stylus that works with capacitive screens, but I'm not aware that any such thing is yet on sale.