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Smartphones - advice needed |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,489
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Smartphones - advice needed
Hi, hoping someone can offer some advice!
As my sister's taken herself to the far side of the world the entire family have installed whatsapp and viber on our phones to keep in touch cheaply. However, we need to get my dad a new phone so he can do the same. I've already ruled out a touchscreen as he couldn't work an iphone, xperia, galaxy or htc when we got him to do a trial run on our phones. I was thinking a blackberry might be the answer, but i'm not sure if the keypad would be too fiddly for him to manage - he's not exactly a natural typist, and finds using a computer keyboard difficult enough! I don't know anything really about blackberries, or windows phones for that matter; Android and iOS i can manage! Can anyone recommend a phone for him? I'm going to take him to carphone warehouse and o2 during the week so he can play around with a few handsets and get a feel for them, but as I'm shopping for him instead of myself I'm pretty much going in blind! |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: London, UK
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Have a look at the ASHA range from Nokia.
Use the filters at the top to get rid of the touch screen ones. http://www.nokia.com/gb-en/phones/asha |
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#3 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,020
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The BlackBerry Q10 and Q5, both with keypads, have WhatsApp and Viber on their app stores. Think your Dad should just have a play around instore and see what he prefers.
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#4 |
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Join Date: Oct 2008
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Great, thanks. I'd done some browsing online earlier and was thinking the Q5/Q10, so good to hear it from someone else!
The ASHA look pretty much like the Nokia version of a Blackberry - will they host the likes of Whatsapp or Viber, do you know? |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,665
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Quote:
Great, thanks. I'd done some browsing online earlier and was thinking the Q5/Q10, so good to hear it from someone else!
The ASHA look pretty much like the Nokia version of a Blackberry - will they host the likes of Whatsapp or Viber, do you know? http://www.whatsapp.com/faq/ http://www.viber.com/#blackberry http://conversations.nokia.com/2013/...touch-devices/ http://helpme.viber.com/Knowledgebas...m-requirements |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 370
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What about a android tablet for your dad? both the apps you want him to use work on android tablets and the larger screen he may find much easier. something else to try if you dont find a suitable phone.
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#7 |
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 2,127
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Quote:
What about a android tablet for your dad? both the apps you want him to use work on android tablets and the larger screen he may find much easier. something else to try if you dont find a suitable phone.
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#8 |
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Join Date: Oct 2008
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Quote:
What about a android tablet for your dad? both the apps you want him to use work on android tablets and the larger screen he may find much easier. something else to try if you dont find a suitable phone.
Quote:
The ASHA 300 looks like it might be perfect (assuming we can track one down somewhere) - I'd searched earlier for things like this but no joy. Thanks a million!
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#9 |
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Join Date: Dec 2002
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#10 |
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Join Date: Jun 2009
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Quote:
oh wow - sorry - my bad. that must be new!
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#11 |
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Join Date: Aug 2004
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Quote:
oh wow - sorry - my bad. that must be new!
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#12 |
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Join Date: Jun 2009
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Quote:
oh wow - sorry - my bad. that must be new! doesn't seem to be compatible with my nexus 7 tho! |
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#13 |
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Join Date: Apr 2008
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More importantly why would you want to spend extra money on an Android tablet, when you could buy a Nokia Asha for under £100 SIM free, and still achieve the same result.
With the greatest respect, if the OP's dad is a bit of luddite and can't cope with a touch screen, giving him the cheapest, simplest phone option possible would be the best idea, because you're not wasting much money on something he might not use, and the less complex the phone is, the more likely he is to use it! |
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#14 |
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Join Date: Jan 2010
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Quote:
With the greatest respect, if the OP's dad is a bit of luddite..
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#15 |
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: The City and County of Bristol
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Quote:
I have tried the Whatsapp app on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 six months ago as it’s an easy enough procedure to side load the app but can say unless you have got the 3G version of the tablet, it does not work.Unless something has changed the past 6 months.
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#16 |
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,489
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Quote:
More importantly why would you want to spend extra money on an Android tablet, when you could buy a Nokia Asha for under £100 SIM free, and still achieve the same result.
With the greatest respect, if the OP's dad is a bit of luddite and can't cope with a touch screen, giving him the cheapest, simplest phone option possible would be the best idea, because you're not wasting much money on something he might not use, and the less complex the phone is, the more likely he is to use it!
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#17 |
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Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 4,185
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Not specifically what you asked for, so I'll give advanced warning that this is a fairly tangential response, but does your dad have a PC? If so, it could be worth moving using Google Hangouts, since this works across most platforms (not Blackberry yet, though) but more importantly, a bit like Skype, works from a PC too. I've started to move my family onto this as, whilst we're not exactly half a world away from each other, it does make for convenient staying in touch.
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#18 |
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Join Date: Apr 2008
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Quote:
Not much respect there.
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#19 |
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,489
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Luddite isn't an insult. It's a perfectly valid word to describe someone who doesn't like or choose to use technology. Plenty of people prefer not to embrace technology in their lives. It was not meant as an insult, but purely to point out that getting someone to embrace technology who isn't really interested is easier said than done.
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#20 |
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,636
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Quote:
He likes the idea of embracing new technology, and enjoys poking away at new things. He just doesn't learn to use them properly because he can't be bothered taking the time to.......(not so much an active choice not to learn/use, but rather a can't-be-bothered choice!)
Can't be bothered to learn things properly - check! Doesn't read manuals (I'm presuming) - check! Ok, he's not a luddite, he's a man.
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