Mac OS X(for the iPhone) vs Palm OS vs Windows Mobile

[zap2]

So I had planned on buying an iPhone, but after playing around w/ a Palm Treo as a Verizon "Booth" I'm not sure about it. The Treo I used was running Windows Mobile, but it kept dieing on me,so I never got a chance to ''really" use it.


So I was wondering what the people here think about the Treo vs iPhone. I'd love to be able to editing documents from Pages(I'd export them into Word format if I got a Treo), but the Treo lacks Wi-Fi, and Verizon's internet for the Treo is 45 for unlimted Internet, which is to much for me. If there anyword on Pages for iPhone


As for the keypads, I don't like the touchpad use of the Chocolate, anyone think I'll feel the same way about the iPhone? My hands are on the bigger side, and with the chocolate I'd end up "pressing" 2 buttons at the same time. With the Treo I feel the pressing down, so its easyer for me to use.

I have about 40Gbs of Media, so even if I get the iPhone I'll still need to carry my iPod most of the time. So the whole, Cell Phone as an iPod wouldn't always cut it(sometime I use my Nano which is smaller then the iPhone so I'd guess I'd use the iPhone alone sometimes)

All the battery life of the iPhone has me thinking...16hrs of music, 5 of Vidoe and talking. I don't want to have to think about "can I watch this movie, and still have power on my phone"


So what do you guy think, would I be better off going w/ the Treo(Palm OS or Windows Mobile) or should I get the iPhone OR another SmartPhone(Wi-Fi would be loved!)

 

[zimtheinvader]

No contest amongst casual consumers

having upgraded from a VX6700 (htc, WM/PPC 5.0) to a Palm 700p (Palm OS5, tricked out w/ lots of media apps) I think the iPhone will blow both of them away, no contest. Palm OS 5 is quite out-dated. It works great as a simple organizer, but it shows its age terribly in terms of glam appeal, (ie. no cool extras.) Windows mobile is cool in terms of compatibility, but I found it to be somewhat shaky (occasional freezing, ect.) and really not to offer the desktop experience at all.

Also, my Treo 700 while a great media player lacks, much to my dissapointment, Video-Out!!! iphone will rock if it features this (it must!) like the 5G ipod.

NEITHER WM5 nor OS5 offer anything like desktop-functionality, or ipod-like stability, (ok maybe Palm...) which is where the iPhone can really shine. BOTH of them are functionally inferior to the Newton, whose only competitor is the UMPC/"origami", which offers TabletPC2005. For me it will be a UMPC vs. iPhone debate, personally, since I want something more than just a "sexed up" Razr or glorified Palm M100 and I have wifi access virtually 100% of the time (ie. skype, ect.)

I hope there will be stronger apps for it too, like a word processor perhaps, or USB host functionality, but I doubt it, since this would greatly detract from the ipod-simplicity model, and they are competing as a media-lifestyle device, not a strict buisness tool. I think it will work great to check email, make a quick call, snap a quick pic, ect. normal 21st century phone functions.

 

[johnmartin78]

Haven't had my hands on "mobile OSX" or w/e were calling it yet.But Windows mobile 5 is horrible so I can't see how it would be hard to make a better mobile OS.In my opinion,the reason the Blackberry owns the smartphone market,is obviously 1) the e-mail superiority,and 2) every so called "Blackberry killer" that has come out recently has used mobile 5.

 

[clevin]

i don't think its a legitimate question sine nobody has a clue about how this so called OSX would be really like. and Its obviously useless to compare computer version osx to a mobile OS.

But palm and WM already have large amount of 3rd party apps. so on this point, iPhone obviously is not in good position.

 

[Yoursh]

I think the main thing is, people need to wait untill the iphone is out and people can get their hands on it. Features and functionality can change in the next 3+ months till release. That's what I'm waiting on. I want to see some reviews for the iphone before I decide on one.

My main concern with a phone is how well it connects with desktop apps. I currently have a SMT5600 running Windows mobile 2003. When I first started using it, it was nice being able to sync my calendar and address book on my pc. Since then I have converted all my systems over to macs. I haven't found a 'seemless' utility to keep my phone sync'd with ical or my address book. There are some out there, but all have some issue or another that keeps me from using it. It's a pain to manually enter calendar events into both my mac and phone seperately. That's the main reason I'm looking at getting an iphone. If it can sync as well as they're saying, then I will most likely get one.

I'll still keep my ipod though. The main reason I got one was to have all my music on one device(12GB+). The iphone doesn't have that much space, so I'll just get the 4GB version.

As I said in the begining though, I'll wait till I can see the final product.

 

[question fear]

1) Palm OS as it currently stands needs to get taken out back and SHOT. I say this as a (relatively) happy Treo 650 owner. Palm OS cannot handle multitasking or 3G speeds on GSM. No 3G support sucks, but the bigger issue is the multitasking. For example, I can't open a web page, and while it's loading check my calendar. Leaving the Web application stops the ****ing download, and I have to start ALL OVER AGAIN. Same goes if I get a phone call midway through a download as well.

2) Don't compare WinMob 5 to the iphone, look at WinMob 6 and then WinMob 7 or whatever they plan on calling "Photon", their big upgrade.

3) Go into a cingy store in July and compare the phones then...right now it's all internet chatter and no real specs on ANYTHING that's going to be spankin new in June.