"Smart" cell phone recommendations?

[WingsToRotors]

I'm in the market for a new cell phone and could use some recommendations. I realize this is not the normal type of subject matter on this forum, but considering that I want to use some of the features for flying related purposes I thought I'd get some opinions here rather than on a more mainstream forum.

 

I suppose I should start with my requirements. Since I use a few Excel spreadsheets for weight & balance and flight planning purposes, I definitely want to be able to download spreadsheets from my laptop to my phone. Checking weather websites before a flight is also important as I may not always be at an airport. A jack so I could plug the phone into my headset (to call Flight Services while on the ground) would be nice. I'd also like a full keyboard and it must have keys that are big enough for a person with normal sized fingers to use. Since I'll be outside it will help if the display can actually be seen when the sun is shining. An MP3 player would be nice for cross countries in my airplane - I don't need any distractions in a helicopter yet! Battery life (or the ability to swap batteries easily) is also important as remote locations without electricity are a possibility. I don't care anything at all about how "cool" the phone looks, how "rad" the games are, or anything having to do with text messaging. I intend to use it, not impress teenagers with it. Oh BTW, I'll need to be able to make calls. Isn't that a wild concept for a phone?

 

I'm sure there are other requirements that I haven't considered so if I've missed anything important, please let me know.

 

I'm looking forward to hearing your opinions, suggestions, peeves, complaints, and horror stories.

 

Thanks in advance. This is the best forum community on the 'net!

[TheLorax]

check out the palm treos. you can get a palm OS or windows OS. it has everything on it that you've described. i have a blackjack and it's probably too cool for you. as for the switching of the batteries, i dont know if the treo comes with a spare or not. the blackjack did, which is nice. battery life on the treo is probably average, if not better than average. just make sure you get the latest version of the treo and personally, i would recommend the windows OS (for excel).

[Fiasco]

check out the palm treos. you can get a palm OS or windows OS. it has everything on it that you've described. i have a blackjack and it's probably too cool for you. as for the switching of the batteries, i dont know if the treo comes with a spare or not. the blackjack did, which is nice. battery life on the treo is probably average, if not better than average. just make sure you get the latest version of the treo and personally, i would recommend the windows OS (for excel).

 

Make sure that whatever phone you choose has 3G (broadband wireless) and you get some opinions on battery life as manufacturers often vastly overstate the battery duration.

 

www.howardforums.com is all about cellphones and would be a good place to ask your question.

[FinR]

3 letters: HTC

[rjl2001]

I don't know about specific aviation uses, but can give you some general ideas.

First, knowing which carrier you are going to use your phone with will make a difference (gsm vs. cdma). Then choose a form factor you want (slide out qwerty keyboard,flip,touch screen, treo style, etc.). Finally choose an operating system you want to go with, and that should only leave you with a couple choices. Every phone has compromises somewhere, so just figure out which features are most important to you.

 

One option is a Blackberry, but the software to run excel is very expensive, as is the blackberry specific data plan. The other popular OS's are Windows Mobile, Symbian(Nokia), and Palm. I'm with ATT and out of their smartphones I would recommend: Motorola Q9h for non-touchscreen, and either Treo 750 or Tilt for touch screen. They all can run mobile versions of excel, internet explorer(3G speeds), windows media player, 3.5mm headphone via an adapter, and full qwerty keyboard. My personal pick would be the Q9 if you can live without a touchscreen. It has good battery life, comes with regular and extended battery pack, bright screen, loud speaker, documents to go, etc.

[WingsToRotors]

I should have mentioned that my cell service is with AT&T.

 

I appreciate the suggestions I've received so far. Obviously I need to do a lot more research before making a decision, but the Motorola Q9h and the Treo 750 look pretty good so far. I'm still debating the merits of a touch screen. They just seem kind of soft and vulnerable. I wouldn't want to tear it up right away.

 

The spare battery on the Blackjack sounds good. Too bad I'm not cool enough for one! When I read the post from TheLorax, I laughed so hard my dentures flew across the room and I tripped over my cane!

[goromadgo]

My two cents...

 

Battery life IS important, but instead of worrying about that two much just check to make sure that the phone has a compatible 3rd party charger. Almost all phones thesedays can be charged by a 2xAA charger or something similar. Google is your best friend!

 

I've been eyeing the iPhone personally just because it's about time for a new iPod and that thing is sweet. Pretty pricey, not 3G (yet) and it is missing some of the features you are looking for. Still a sexy phone though And I HATE my Razor...gone through 3 of them and still have some big software glitches

Edited February 19, 2008 by goromadgo

[Wally]

I'm in the market for a new cell phone and could use some recommendations. I realize this is not the normal type of subject matter on this forum, but considering that I want to use some of the features for flying related purposes I thought I'd get some opinions here rather than on a more mainstream forum.

 

I suppose I should start with my requirements. Since I use a few Excel spreadsheets for weight & balance and flight planning purposes, I definitely want to be able to download spreadsheets from my laptop to my phone. Checking weather websites before a flight is also important as I may not always be at an airport. A jack so I could plug the phone into my headset (to call Flight Services while on the ground) would be nice. I'd also like a full keyboard and it must have keys that are big enough for a person with normal sized fingers to use. Since I'll be outside it will help if the display can actually be seen when the sun is shining. An MP3 player would be nice for cross countries in my airplane - I don't need any distractions in a helicopter yet! Battery life (or the ability to swap batteries easily) is also important as remote locations without electricity are a possibility. I don't care anything at all about how "cool" the phone looks, how "rad" the games are, or anything having to do with text messaging. I intend to use it, not impress teenagers with it. Oh BTW, I'll need to be able to make calls. Isn't that a wild concept for a phone?

 

I'm sure there are other requirements that I haven't considered so if I've missed anything important, please let me know.

 

I'm looking forward to hearing your opinions, suggestions, peeves, complaints, and horror stories.

 

Thanks in advance. This is the best forum community on the 'net!

 

I'm not yet convinced of an all-in-one anything for two reasons: A good phone is a compromise anything else, although Bluetooth takes the sting out of that one, it adds to the other issue- battery life. It seems less hassle to carry two or three ergonomically efficient devices than an extra battery that I will have to change/charge during a hard day's use. I don't use my phone or personal computer for music. Ipods, etc., seem to me to better single purpose devices for that use. My computer and cell commonly go days before charging.

Next, keyboards are not optimum in anything small enough to drop in a pocket. If you're going to do more than tap out a URL, you'll want an accessory keyboard. A touchscreen keyboard is better than alpha-numeric phone keypads. Touchscreens are tough enough that they're generally not an issue, the last one I had to replace, I replaced because I stepped on it and broke it. Use replaceable touchscreen protection.

I like a “jog” wheel for one-handed use.

My preference in operating systems:

1. Symbian- Symbian's interface with your big box computer is magnitudes better than the others. It's also a solid, simple, adaptable OS, and rarer than hen's teeth this wide of the Atlantic.

…

10.& 11. Tied. Palm and Windows Mobile.

Palm is a marginal second choice unless your emphasis is spreadsheets, which Windows Mobile does better. Palm OS, developed and used only on PDAs, is optimized for that. Palm does documents much better than Windows Mobile once I got used to Documents to Go.

Windows Mobile is (sigh) Microsoft, Windows, and Mobile... It does literally everything in every device, just no single app that's generally brilliant. Except Excel, which runs better here than on anything else. I use Excel a lot, a little internet, Outlook and some other stuff, so I mostly use a Windows Mobile Dell Axim.

 

The Treo doesn’t have wifi capability, so it’s a non-starter for me.My wife’s brother-in-law uses his Treo a lot and prefers it to all the rest. There are periods when he goes through them like candy and based on that I’d get replacement insurance.

Never used an HTC. Sorta, kinda, considering the ATT Tilt(?), one of the people I work with has an 8525 and it seems to work very well.

Edited February 19, 2008 by Wally

[DerekM]

I am a Wireless Consultant for a Company that sells AT&T products...that being said I woud have to say the best device for your needs would be the HTC Tilt.....This device has most of the features that your asking for and with the windows operating system you wont have to learn a whole new system just to use your phone.

 

The tilt will have a bright screen for you to see, has wifi capabilities, touch screen and will sync with your computer via Bluetooth or the data cable that comes with the device. Battery life on all PDA devices is going to be limited to a day or a day and half at most....you have to remember these devices are much more than a phone and use allot of power. I carried the 8525 (prevouis model of tilt) over the summer and it would be dead by 10pm everynight with heavy use. The Tilt will come with excel on it as part of the windows mobile system.....

 

As far as the other devices go I personally carry a Palm Treo 680 but only because I'm also a Real Estate Broker and the Treo supports a huge number of 3rd party applications, for instance with just my phone I can open houses listed and give clients details on other properties so my Treo takes the place of my electronic key and laptop....course I have never looked but there could be aviation programs availible for the Treo as well that would allow for Weight/balance and other things....

 

BlackBerries are there own creature..you might call them the Brantley of phones...different, some people love them and are very loyal to them and other hate them....

[TheLorax]

haha! that was good. maybe this old dog can learn some new tricks??

[nicepants]

BlackBerries are there own creature..you might call them the Brantley of phones...different, some people love them and are very loyal to them and other hate them....

 

I do remote tech support and I think the Blackberry is a great choice. (Depending on your provider & models available)

 

I used to have the T-mobile Dash (Windows mobile device by HTC)...I'm not a fan of the windows-based devices for a few reasons...mainly battery life and the slow/manual e-mail synchronization.

 

I'm with T-mobile and have the 8320 (Curve). The curve has a full keyboard, plays mp3s (and videos, if that's your thing), internet access, e-mail, google maps, the whole shebang. Supports bluetooth and wi-fi. Also has a regular full-sized headphone jack. Battery life is OUTSTANDING. I usually get 2-3 days between charges.

 

Currently it doesn't support excel files...BUT....RIM has a new software update coming out this year that will support excel/word files, and give you other options like sharing calendars between users, etc etc. It will also support real time streaming with the new update.

 

There are lots of options...I would say go into your provider's store and play with the different phones to see which one you like best. Remember that windows mobile is still windows...and has to be rebooted as such ;-)

[tattooed]

I just got the HP h6300. It's older, I bought it on eBay. I have the same requirements you do (or similar).

I also MUST have Windows Mobile, so I went with the HP since the screen is HUGE, and it already has Excel, Word, and Outlook. Syncs with my laptop nicely.

 

Look at the HP's.

You'll need to have Cingular or T Mobile for HP Smartphones.

[HeloJunkie]

We used to use the Treo for everyone at our company (windows version) but had a lot of sporadic problems with the phones over a couple of years - lots of reboots, but a lot of available applications.

 

We then switched to the World Edition Blackberry 8830. I love the phone, has great support for everything we do with it at work, but I was a little dismayed that the Pilot MyCast service was not supported using the 8830 and Verizon. Hopefully that will change soon, but its really the only program that I cannot run at this time that I would like to run.

[WingsToRotors]

I want to thank you all for your comments and advice. I know some of your remarks about software glitches and repeated reboots will save me a great deal of trouble.

 

Using your comments, I've re-ordered several of my priorities and made up a list of desirable features and things to watch out for. Now it's time to head to the store and actually get a little hands-on experience. Now I think I'm armed with enough knowledge to know when a salesman is trying to put something over on me.

 

Again, I appreciate you taking the time to give me advice even though the topic didn't directly relate to helicopters.