New Email Phone

[dchaddah]

Ok Im confused and need some recomendations:

I am in the process of setting up a outsourced IT support Company for the SME market and need a email phone, as well as the ability to access the internet on the move.
Ideally need:
Imap Support
HTML Emails
Large colour screen

I have been toying with the idea of either the Iphone or the Nokia E71

My concern with the iphone is battery life and being tied into a 18mth contract whereas the E71 is only 12mth contract.

Does anyone have real life experience of both phones? Is the Iphone good enough not to worry about the 18mth contract.

Thanks
Dinesh

 

[whitenemesis]

Not sure about either of those phones, probably the E71 over the iPhone in terms of business use and data ecurity.

How about a Blackberry?

 

[Faz Choudhury]

has to be a Blackberry!

i have one for sale in the sale section

 

[WLeg]

Sp!ke has made some very informative comments about the Iphone - whilst it may look good to some, it is not a corporate handset, as their is little centrally administered control. Touch-screen is also not the best for anything more that single worded messages. I would suggest a more professional handset and image would be a BB Bold running off a BES Express/ Professional server based installation.

 

[comports]

totally agree here. Have had the BB storm for a few weeks and although it has it's drawbacks (ie getting used to the touch screen) it is a very good corporate tool. great email and voice and very good screen for web browsing.

 

[Peterdon]

Blackberry

No contest! best by far for business use.

 

[itjustworks]

the iphone is very good but not as good at the blackberry for e-mails.

I think the touch screen of the iphone is better than the BB storm - just my opinion.

If I was recommending a BB i would say the Bold is a very good one- screen quality is amazing.

 

[Muppetz]

I have the E71, having replaced the e61i which I used previously. I also work in IT outsourcing - perhaps we could do business

I find the E71 ideal, it works as a phone when needed but also gives me access to email and my outlook calendar - I tried blackberries but didn't like them, I found the method of syncing (when a small company without blackberry servers).

If it helps, I use Fasthosts internet and pay them for an Exchange mailbox (4.99 per month) which then allows me to to use outlook and have a synchronised calendar and email across all my laptops, desktop, and E71, and of course there is web access to the exchange box as well.

For a business environment, busy person using the phone all day I would personally steer clear of Iphone / or any other touchscreen device - I've tried a few and I find them all so frustrating when you just want to pick it up and make a call..

 

[Dryce]

Ok Im confused and need some recomendations:

I am in the process of setting up a outsourced IT support Company for the SME market and need a email phone, as well as the ability to access the internet on the move.
Ideally need:
Imap Support
HTML Emails
Large colour screen

We've had really jaded experience with IMAP and POP3 on phones over the years. Users screw up. The phones screw up.

Blackberry have this all pretty well sorted. It just works.

In principle if you're outsourcing the mail using a shared Exchange Server you can setup the Blackberry Enterprise Server along side and that is it pretty well sorted. If users want IMAP/POP3/Webmail access then they can get that through the server as well.

 

[Nik_Endeavour]

XDA Touch from O2 or the new HTC Touch HD (same really) do all of them

 

[peterg1965]

I have an HTC TyTynII - effectively a PDA phone - slide out keyboard, stylus and touchscreen running Windows mobile. Not sure if it has a POP3 capability but it is a very useful phone.

 

[davidjpowell]

I have an HTC TyTynII - effectively a PDA phone - slide out keyboard, stylus and touchscreen running Windows mobile. Not sure if it has a POP3 capability but it is a very useful phone.

Second with this. It can do POP3 although I have never tried it. The fasthosts exchange account mentioned above is in my view the way to go.

 

[andrewcliffe]

I used the T-Mobile Vario 3 which is basically the HTC TyTn. Very pleased with it - 3G and wi-fi with internet and pop email.

The HTC Touch Pro with integrated keyboard is the latest version.

Sony have also launched the eXperion X1 (I think) which is a liason between HTC and SE.

 

[dchaddah]

Thanks for the opinons. I didnt mention BB as I wanted to see if there is anything else out there from a users perspective. But I think BB prob the way forward. So next question is:

Bold or Storm?

 

[comports]

Well - Having had the storm for a few weeks now I can say it's real nice as a piece of kit. If you want use it however, not so great.

GPS and other toys along with web browsing is nice but the touch screen takes a lot of getting used to. Not entirely good if you really want to send emails etc...

I may well switch back and get the bold. Much easier to use for what you really want it for. (If emailing is what you need it for).

 

[laf]

iPhone for me and also slowly for others at work, I've converted 3 out of 7 BB users so far...

 

[whizzkid11]

IMO - Its a choice of two only:

1. iPhone

2. Blackberry STORM

Maybe run poll...

 

[Sp!ke]

If its for html/imap emails use only without a requirement for the back-end functionality of a BES, then it would be an E71 for me.

The symbian platform offers so many applications and tools without any of the proprietary lock-ins of the Blackberry or iPhone.

The iPhone is a really nice toy but the touch screen coupled with the short battery life rules it out for corporate email. Get an iPod touch instead for the fun stuff.

The Blackberry is a very good tool for enterprise email but as a phone its not so good and application wise it is very restrictive.

The E71 is a good mix of the two. Small and compact, good keyboard, legendary Nokia phone capabilities and reliability, a flexible browser and will run a myriad of apps including tom tom.

I have all three devices in use daily.

 

[Deadhead]

My employer provides a BlackBerry Curve because they're easy for the IT Dept to provision, set up and support corporately.

But my personal device is an iPhone. There is no comparison - I would never use the BlackBerry if I didn't have to! On the iPhone I like the touch screen, the downloadable applications and the soft keyboard - which after a little running in I now find easier to use than the fixed one on the BlackBerry.

Just my 2p-worth...

 

[timskemp]

Blackberry have it all covered. The new curve has a good camera and looks cool, the Bold (I have this) is slim and works well as a 3G modem too. The Storm has a brilliant screen, the pearl is compact.

Mail client works with everything and handles multiple email accounts perfectly, even the Gmail client is good (and handy for those of us that archive to Gmail and need to find mail from three years ago on the move)