Mobile Phones...what is your favorite and why?

[Kevin Crawmer]

I am in the market for a new phone and was curious as to what everyone else was using. I am currently a Sprint customer and don't plan on changing for several reasons. Mainly affordable voice/data plans, great family plans, 4G in the works, etc etc. I have had the Blackberry Pearl for 2 years and although it has served me well it doesn't come without several headaches. My main complaint is the awful memory leaks causing me to miss emails, texts, etc if I don't do a battery pull every 8-12 hrs. The other major complaint is the browser. Blackberry's browser is just not close to what it should be. I just can't get used to Opera Mini either. Blackberry is good at texting, email, and messaging...which makes it what it is intended to be--a great business phone.

I am looking to upgrade and give me another accessory that can be used on the road for forecasting, radar, messaging, email, etc etc so I don't have to feel like I have to load up my laptop everytime we go into a restraunt, hotel, etc. I think the iPhone is definitely the leader right now with several other phones nipping at its heels. I have done a lot of research and am 90% certain that I am going with the Palm Pre. My wife has one and it has a great browser and OS, but the keyboard is a bit small (but workable) and I have some durability concerns, but I have heard the ones that are being produced right now are much better than the launch ones.

So what's your favorite and why? If you are with Sprint and are using a better one in your opinion, why should I go with it?

 

[Chris Lott]

I am going with the Iphone this year. I have been with AT&T for a long time now, and their plans aren't bad. My stepson got a new iphone for Christmas, so I took over his old one and just put it on my plan. As soon as I got the phone in my hands I purchased the radarscope app, which is a cool little tool. Also, with this app linking up to spotter network, I push the track icon on the radarscope app, and it shows me on the radar and also shows my position on spotter network. No need for a laptop for me this year, unless I decide to start streaming video. I also have another app that shows satellite, dewpoints, temps, fronts, etc. I don't know what I would do without this phone.

 

[Tim Shriver]

I use Blackberrys due to their security features.
But they do not run all the apps that Droids or IPhones run.
I require higher security then 1000s of eye candy apps.

Verizon has the Blackberry Storm 2 and the new Curve. They should work well.

The only app I wish they had was better radar programs. But I made my
own work around by uploading GR3 images and animating them.

You can see what I did at:

www.midwestsstrc.org/mobile

Works good for me.


Tim

 

[N Parker]

Have been running the BB Tour on Sprint for three months now and love it. Have it wrapped up in a Defender series Otterbox. (Im hell on phones and this one takes a hit and keeps working) I use this phone with my company as well as with GPS/Other Apps, so I run her through her paces.

 

[Kevin Crawmer]

Thanks guys. Like some said, the stability and security of the BlackBerry is nice. The web browser is a lot better on the newer BBs than what is on mine. There are several weather websites I like to use that just don't work well on my phone.

The one thing that is attractive to me is the multitasking features of the Pre. I could have a radar app, surface obs from web, RUC on the web, stormtrack of course, and SPC all up in the cards at the same time. All of this plus the emails I get from storm now. It just seems like a great way to follow things if I don't want to have my laptop in hand everywhere I go.

All this said, I'm sure there are several veteran chasers that are laughing at all this because of how far technology has come in the last few years. I have taken a much bigger interest in forecasting and want to do it in even greater detail this year....including do my own surface maps and trying to do more forecasting when I can't chase.

 

[Scott Hammel]

If I were on Sprint I would own a Palm Pre or the HTC Hero...

 

[Jeff Smith]

I have had the Palm Centro--hated it since day 1--even thrown one out of my truck..lol. My son just got a Hero and he loves it. He wanted an Iphone so bad that he could taste it but now he says that the Hero just might be the long awaited Iphone killer. I plan to pick up a hero in April when my contract is up.

 

[Kevin Crawmer]

I may need to spend more time with the HTC Hero. When I played with it before it was hard to type on because the keys on the screen were too small and I just didn't like (wasn't used to) the way everything was laid out. I have heard that it is a good phone though.

 

[markstauss]

I have a Palm Pre and I love it. Granted I haven't had a chance to take it chasing yet but I've had radar, sprint navigation and an app or two running at the same time without any problems. Sprint coverage is a ton better than AT&T's in a large chunk of the plains.

With that being said I have had problems with Sprint, the Pre isn't perfect and is still a work in progress and I haven't had a chance to test tethering yet. But, overall I have been pleasantly surprised with the Pre.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

I would get anything CDMA(Stay away from GSM AT&T and T-mobile) from either Sprint or Verizon. I've got the HTC Touch Pro, and like the phone, except I've had a couple hardware issues. I hear the HTC Touch Pro 2 is better.

Realistically, if you can afford it, get a Droid.

 

[Scott Hammel]

If you can wait a few months another option to consider would be the Google Nexus One. It "should" be available in a CDMA version soon and is not an exclusive to any carrier so Sprint should be able to fire that bad boy up no problem!

 

[Joe Dorn]

This old man just made the jump to a 'smart phone' and I am no where near up to speed on all of the applications available. I have been using mobile internet for several years and thus had a requirement or two.

I have been an Altel user since day one and have had very good coverage on voice and data on our travels and thus I wanted to remain with Verizon. There went the iPhone.

Verizon had a great deal on a Blackberry (free) so I jumped on it. I had seen some of my friends use Google Maps on their iphones so that was the first thing I installed and played with. Gmaps could NOT connect with the GPS in the BB and could only triangulatr with the cell towers. (This is a Verizon problem and does not apply to other networks) I am/was an early adapter to GPS usage and this made me UNHAPPY.

Back to the Verizon store my old pickup went and I came home with a Droid (very not free). I have had it almost a month and have several weather related toys working on it along with the Verizon network so I am now a happy user.

Old eyes and fingers have a little trouble with the keyboard but that is an age problem most of you won't have.

FWIW from deep in the heart of Texas...

 

[Kevin Crawmer]

I have spent more time playing with the Hero and I have to say that I am now sold. Droids are pretty darn cool. I had a lot of little complaints about the Pre and it addressed them all. Things such as a better way to type (keyboard options on the Hero are great), column web browsing if desired, customization, bigger app selection, track ball, etc. Very nice phone.

Droid users: I'd appreciate your input on any weather apps that you like. Also, anyone know if f5app works on it? That is a free online download, right?

Anxious for the weekend...

 

[D. Hayes]

The HTC Hero got the first batch of Adobe Flash beta test. Shouldn't be long till it's widely available for all android phones.

I love my Droid but it did have some issues dropping connection when we was going though SE Missouri especially in the Ozarks on Hwy 60. I'm not much for weather apps on the phone unless I'm just not near a computer. I'm using imap weather, weather bug elite, and radar now.

I didn't know F5data has an app for the android phones. I'm going to try and download and install it now. Well looks likes they are still working on the app so I'll be patiently waiting.

 

[Scott Hammel]

I have spent more time playing with the Hero and I have to say that I am now sold. Droids are pretty darn cool. I had a lot of little complaints about the Pre and it addressed them all. Things such as a better way to type (keyboard options on the Hero are great), column web browsing if desired, customization, bigger app selection, track ball, etc. Very nice phone.

Droid users: I'd appreciate your input on any weather apps that you like. Also, anyone know if f5app works on it? That is a free online download, right?

Anxious for the weekend...

I'm using imap and radar now as well...They will work well enough for a quick radar grab if you don't have your laptop handy