8 months is a long time in the mobile world.

Samsung Omnia?!? Piece of rubbish.

The HTC phones on the Android OS are very good lately, and I'd have one, but the OS isn't quite as polished as Apple's quite yet, so I stick with the iPhone. Plus HTC seem to release a new handset every week. What's with that?

The main reason I stick with Apple and the iPhone though, is customer service, and support. If my iPhone breaks, I pop into the genius bar, and they replace it. If it has a software issue that can't be sorted with a restore, they replace it. If the battery gives up, they replace it. If my usb cable breaks, they'll replace that too.

Oh, and there's a new iPhone coming out June/July, and with that, new iPhone OS 4.0. My year old 3GS will get that update. Can't say that about ANY other manufacturer.

Android 2.1 with the HTC Sense UI is slicker. On top of that Android is open unlike Apple which ties you into their proprietary crap.

If the HTC breaks there is a 2 year international warranty and they replace it. If the battery dies, you can also take it out and put another one in. Try doing that with an iPhone.

And the specs for the new iPhone 4G still don't come close to the Desire. Oh and on Android, they do all the OS updates as well and it has real multi-tasking. Try multi-tasking on an iPhone.

I'm in no way an Apple fanboy, I just prefer the iPhone to the HTC handsets at the moment. Mainly due to the OS, not the hardware. That could of course change one day.

Yes I have a few work colleagues with iPhones. And we have an Apple store nearby. If their iPhone packs up, they just take it there, and within just 3 weeks they get a replacement.

Same goes for the battery, my colleague's iPhone battery is dying, and for the bargain price of $80 they'll replace it. In a couple of days, maybe.

He sometimes borrows my Omnia because his iPhone gets no reception

I've got 3 batteries for my Omnia (1 from the previous one I broke and 2 with the new one), I just rotate them. I can change them and recharge them seperately from the phone. A weird concept for an iPhone.

So which would I prefer..... duh

JTL

Sorry, you're either making all that up, or Apple support in Australia is completely different to the UK and US.

I have had 3 iPhones replaced over the years, all within 10 minutes of entering the store. Replace the battery?? They just give you a new handset. Unless your phone is out of Apple care, and that's fair enough to be honest. $80 isn't much.

Why would you possibly need 3 batteries for a phone? Do you not have electric at home? My iPhone will last 2 days with quite a lot of use. I could just charge it every night, and it would never run out. The non removable battery arguement is flawed.

I know two people who have had the Omnia. They have gotten pretty handy at ripping out the battery several times a day as the phone had crashed and locked. I can see why those phones need removable batteries!!

No, not making it up. All the Apple geeks at work got iPhones and then found out that the signal kept dropping out. So they went to our local Apple store and were told it would be 3 weeks to replace them.

Then they got their replacements, ... still the same problem, so see above, another 3 weeks.

Finally they got new ones that didn't have the problem. So then other problems started popping up, but being Apple fans they just accepted them, and the 3 weeks between replacements.

Now after a whole YEAR!!! their batteries are screwed and they need to get new batteries. So another $80 for apple.

Rediculous.

JTL

You musn't take trains, taxis, long haul flights, or watch tons of videos (any format, not just Apple propriety format) on your phone.

I do on my Omnia, so 3 batteries is brilliant. Your loss, but hey you've got an iPhone,

JTL

I think the rumours about the iPhone battery not lasting very long are a bit of a myth to be honest. The battery in the 3GS seems to be improved upon the 3G. I recently took a flight and watched video and used the ipod continuously for 3 hours there, and 3 hours return, and also quite a bit of internet usage, calls, texts, and the battery was at 28% when I got home. If I use it as just a phone (calls and texts) I can get 4 days with it. And I send about 2000 texts a month.

I do agree that a being to replace the battery would be handy. But personally, I wouldn't need it.

Anyway, as soon as the Android OS is glitch free, and as smooth as the Apple OS, I will not hesitate to switch.

I got the HTC Desire today.

So far so good.

I think we are discussing different things.

I'm talking about the iPhone users I know having to get the battery replaced after one year because it is dying.

You are talking about how long the battery lasts on a full charge.

You see with a phone that you can change the battery on, it doesn't matter how long it lasts, changing the battery is an irrelevance, I do it 2 or 3 times a week, I don't bother charging the phone itself.

iPhone users have to scrupulously follow a charging routine to make sure its charged.

JTL

I don't know anyone that changes their battery instead of charging their phone. I don't know anyone that has a spare battery. I think you're alone on that front. If I had a Samsung Omnia, I would have no advantage or more battery life than I would with my iPhone, or my Sony Ericsson dumb phone.

Carrying a spare battery is a little 'old skool'. I can always just plug my iPhone into my macbook or laptop with the usb and charge it if it ever got low? I'm not understanding your methology I'm afraid. There is no need for the user to replace a battery.

If and when the battery malfunctions, Apple will replace the battery for you, or in the UK, give you a new handset. I don't see any issue there.

What plan did you go on with Tel$tra and how much data was included?

Have Tel$tra put a load of their proprietary crap on the phone?

It's a $49 business plan (what I was paying with 3) plus $19 for 1.5Gb data (more than 3 but much more data).

Phone seems pretty standard - but I have nothing to compare it to.

The problem with mobile phone batteries is over time they tend to die and not hold as much power as they do when new. If you can change the battery it's simple. Not with the iPhone; you have to go through all the hassle of sending it back to the manufacturer and once it's out of it's one year waranty...