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GeneralRe: Is it just me, or is the iPhone not the most gleefully received iGadget? Pin
Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter11-Sep-16 21:15
professionalKornfeld Eliyahu Peter11-Sep-16 21:15 
GeneralRe: Is it just me, or is the iPhone not the most gleefully received iGadget? Pin
Wastedtalent11-Sep-16 21:26
professionalWastedtalent11-Sep-16 21:26 
GeneralRe: Is it just me, or is the iPhone not the most gleefully received iGadget? Pin
Mark_Wallace12-Sep-16 0:09
Mark_Wallace12-Sep-16 0:09 
GeneralRe: Is it just me, or is the iPhone not the most gleefully received iGadget? Pin
Jörgen Andersson12-Sep-16 2:11
professionalJörgen Andersson12-Sep-16 2:11 
GeneralRe: Is it just me, or is the iPhone not the most gleefully received iGadget? Pin
User 842012-Sep-16 2:30
User 842012-Sep-16 2:30 
GeneralRe: Is it just me, or is the iPhone not the most gleefully received iGadget? Pin
Jeremy Falcon12-Sep-16 10:23
professionalJeremy Falcon12-Sep-16 10:23 
GeneralRe: Is it just me, or is the iPhone not the most gleefully received iGadget? Pin
Member 419459313-Sep-16 8:36
Member 419459313-Sep-16 8:36 
GeneralNewbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
swampwiz11-Sep-16 15:07
swampwiz11-Sep-16 15:07 
I've finally decided to stop relying on the super cheapo dumbphone for my mobile phone needs, and get a real smart phone. I am a world traveler, so it needs to be compatible all over the world, or at least in Europe (all, from Russia to Iceland) and Anglo North America (USA & Canada). I think this means that it has to be "unlocked", which is important with some phones in the USA, as they tend to be "locked", which sounds incredibly ridiculous to me, but then again the USA corporations have far too much power over the consumer, so I can see how the smartphone market is as ridiculous as the Rx market. If it matters for Europe vs. USA, I'd prefer to have the compatibility with Europe, and I'll just continue using my dumbphone in the USA.

I want to be able to use it for minimal websites, most notably Uber & Lyft and Skype, perhaps Yahoo! Mail & Google Maps. I also want it to be able to take a photo and play audio/video (FLAC, MP3, MP4, FLV, etc.), with the standard audio out jack, and have a slot for a micro SDHC. As for other apps, I'd like to be able to view & scroll a PDF or DJVU file, and play chess.

I understand that it is better to have a real keyboard instead of a touchboard since I've heard that the latter typically doesn't work well, so I'd like to have that. So far, I have only owned mobile phones with keys, LOL, so I don't know how bad they are.

As for the operating system, I'm open, although *true* compatibility with Windows 10 would be helpful, although if I were limited to Windows 8, I'd rather not go Windows at all, as that is a horrid OS. At the very least I want to be able to move files between my Windows 10 notebook system and the smartphone. I guess Android is pretty much the open default of smartphones, but I've heard a lot of bad things about its security.

As for battery charging, it's been my unfortunate experience with mobile phones that they all seem to have a proprietary charge specs and it's difficult to find a replacement charging adapter; of course, this could be because I keep using a mobile phone for years, well past its commercial obsolesence.

As for the size, I'd like for it to be as large as possible (to make the video & PDF app resolution as high possible) that could still comfortable fit in a jeans front pocket. I have no idea how big this should be, although I guess I will play around with some cardboard to figure out what is the optimal size. I'd also like it to be a standard enough size that it will be easy to buy a case for it.

Aside from all this, I'd like to be as rugged as possible. Also important would be ease & cost of simple repair like changing the screen or battery (which seem to be the 2 things I have been mostly fixing with my notebooks), including being able to buy such replacement parts at a typical electronics store in a major city. Oh, and most importantly, not too expensive! If there is a good model that is a lot less expensive than another model that is easier to fix, well then simply buying a new cheap one would be preferable.

I've been looking around Amazon for smartphones, and I am totally lost as to what to look for, and completely overwhelmed by the amount of choice in the market. For some reason, the notebook & tablet market seems to much easier to discern - or at least I've been comfortable buying hardware that tends toward a good value, and generally have been pleased. For Wintel notebooks, there doesn't seem to be a very high price differential between the top of the line and the cheapest, once the specs have been normalized. However, it seems that this is not the case for smartphones as the price differential is much larger. I'd hate to pay too much for a phone simply because of FUD.

So I think I've covered everything. Any good website or newbs would be helpful as well.
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
Ravi Bhavnani11-Sep-16 16:00
professionalRavi Bhavnani11-Sep-16 16:00 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
Member 1273352311-Sep-16 17:16
Member 1273352311-Sep-16 17:16 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
Rajesh R Subramanian11-Sep-16 17:49
professionalRajesh R Subramanian11-Sep-16 17:49 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
Member 1273352311-Sep-16 19:10
Member 1273352311-Sep-16 19:10 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
OriginalGriff11-Sep-16 20:09
mveOriginalGriff11-Sep-16 20:09 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
User 274316211-Sep-16 23:11
User 274316211-Sep-16 23:11 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
Nelek12-Sep-16 1:30
protectorNelek12-Sep-16 1:30 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter11-Sep-16 21:13
professionalKornfeld Eliyahu Peter11-Sep-16 21:13 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
OriginalGriff11-Sep-16 21:41
mveOriginalGriff11-Sep-16 21:41 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter11-Sep-16 21:51
professionalKornfeld Eliyahu Peter11-Sep-16 21:51 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
OriginalGriff11-Sep-16 22:30
mveOriginalGriff11-Sep-16 22:30 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
User 274316211-Sep-16 23:08
User 274316211-Sep-16 23:08 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter11-Sep-16 21:10
professionalKornfeld Eliyahu Peter11-Sep-16 21:10 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
Nathan Minier12-Sep-16 1:28
professionalNathan Minier12-Sep-16 1:28 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
Jörgen Andersson11-Sep-16 21:36
professionalJörgen Andersson11-Sep-16 21:36 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
Joan M11-Sep-16 22:48
professionalJoan M11-Sep-16 22:48 
GeneralRe: Newbie needs help buying first smartphone Pin
Rage11-Sep-16 23:00
professionalRage11-Sep-16 23:00 

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