Smartphones to replace computers soon

[SaltyDawg]

You stll ignore things such as form factor, usability, target audience, tasks performed, multi-tasking, etc. All of these point to needing something larger and more powerful than a phone can be. I am not talking about gaming PC's, I am talking about my father's Pentium 4 computer (8 years old or so) that he still uses. He like the screen size because his eyes can't read such a small screen, and even with a docking station to get a bigger screen he still uses programs like CorelDRAW and Word and Excel, whcih cannot run in full functionality on a cell phone, even what is projected for processing power. And even being that old that pentium 4 is still more powerful than the best smartphone chipset yet.

Fully functional Excel and Word require more processing power than a phone can provide at this point in time. When was the last time you had Word, Excel, and Explorer open all at the same time on your phone? You would be surprised how much you really need for a fully functioning PC just for basic programs people use with regularity and for multi-tasking. My father is anything but a computer nerd but even he at over 70 usually has a couple windows open at one time. Phones just cannot support that.

Maybe all you ever do is browse the internet, but that is still ancillary to the computing that most people need a computer for. It won't happend any time soon, I would dare say any time in our lifetimes, but you never know when that next jump of a breakthrough will be. But until then, phones are just phones. Cool, fun, functional sure. but I could never do what I need to for business or pleasure on a phone alone.

I couldn't make it through more than about half of the first paragraph.

Go read the links in the first post. Watch the video too.

You will see, the phone is exactly the same as a desktop computer, exactly the same as a laptop computer, running an office suite, multitasking, simple to use, etc. Basically everything you said is shown to be totally false in the first post.

And the next gen will be running full blown windows with the same office suite your parents are running on their windows computer right now.


Sent from my HTC Evo using Tapatalk.

 

[honz]

Wimax (what Sprint uses) is real 4G. Not as fast as LTE, but still real 4G and comparable to home cable or dsl.

If you know people that have the Evo and don't use 4G, then no offense but you know some morons. Sprint's 4G is way faster than 3G, and you have to pay extra for the Evo plan because of the 4G (whether you use it or not). Plus, it lets you use voice and data at the same time.

So they have awesome 4G data, they pay extra for it every month, and they don't use it?

Let me guess, they also bought Cadillacs that just sit in the garage?

While you would rather wait for LTE, I'd rather get Wimax a year earlier, use the heck out of it, and then get LTE when it hits SLC if it is that much better. Plus Sprint 4G data plans are actually unlimited. There is no extra charge for using more than my plan allows (Verizon has already announced a $10 per gig overage fee for their 4G plans).

There is no law that says I can't get a Bionic (or whatever) when SLC gets LTE in a year just because I got an Evo 6 months ago.

There is always something better on the horizon. If you are waiting for a final device/service that will never be topped, then you will be waiting forever.

BTW, T-Mobile already has their fake 4G in SLC and have announced they will double the speed in early 2011. That means it will be faster than Verizon's LTE before Verizon even launches the service in SLC.


Sent from my HTC Evo using Tapatalk.

The only time I use 4G is at Jazz games, because the 3G signal gets overloaded or something sometimes. It doesn't mean I'm a moron though, it simply means I'm not on my phone all damn day long and when I am on my phone I don't mind waiting the extra 2 seconds it takes to load a page using 3G vs. 4G. Sprint's 3G is pretty damn fast. I love having the 4G option for when I actually need to do something important on my phone, but it simply isn't necessary for most of what I do...check scores, check forums, tweeter, heck even music and videos stream well most of the time if I forget to flip on the 4G before watching. Oh yeah, and I got a discount on my plan which makes it cheaper than paying for AT&T's or Verizon's 3G limited data plans. But alas, I'm an idiot.

 

[David Stern]

I have an Evo that is rooted, so I use it to tether. Sprint's 4G is more consistent than my old comcast was, so i'm pretty happy with it. But tethering is the only time that I really use the 4G, everything else is more than fast enough on 3G like honz said.

 

[porqsmith]

Verizon Android LTE phones will be available first quarter 2011, the iPhone will also be available first quarter and will be LTE capable, and several first gen LTE phones are dual core.

All of that is subject to change, but that is how things sit at this moment.


Sent from my HTC Evo using Tapatalk.

Thanks for the info.

 

[SaltyDawg]

There is more to 4G than just speed. You can use data and voice at the same time, get higher quality video and audio streams, way better video chats, slingbox, navigation loads better, tethering, remote desktop, and if I'm (you're) already paying for it, might as well use it.

Even though the plan is cheaper than Verizon out AT&T, it is still $10 more per month than a Sprint plan that doesn't include 4G.

Yes, it is way faster than 3G (my 3G is typically around 500 k download, 100 k upload, 4G is typically around 4 meg download and 1 meg upload). But there is a lot more to it than just getting a web page 2 seconds faster.

Sent from my HTC Evo using Tapatalk.

 

[honz]

There is more to 4G speed. You can use data and voice at the same time, get higher quality video and audio streams, and way better video chats.

Yes, it is way faster than 3G (my 3G is typically around 500 k download, 100 k upload, 4G is typically around 4 meg download and 1 meg upload). But there is a lot more to it than just getting a web page 2 seconds faster.

Sent from my HTC Evo using Tapatalk.

Yes, but if you would have read my post you would have learned that I don't do all that stuff on my phone...and I'm guessing there are a lot of people like me in that respect.

 

[SaltyDawg]

Yes, but if you would have read my post you would have learned that I don't do all that stuff on my phone...and I'm guessing there are a lot of people like me in that respect.

If you don't use 4G, then why pay extra for it? There are tons of phones that do everything a 3G only Evo can do.


Sent from my HTC Evo using Tapatalk.

 

[TroutBum]

Clearly.

 

[honz]

Just read my original post, it will answer all your questions. 4G drains battery as well. Just because you don't use 4G all the time or even every day doesn't mean it isn't nice to have...especially when many 3G plans are comparable in price (without discount) anyways.

 

[SaltyDawg]

Just read my original post, it will answer all your questions. 4G drains battery as well. Just because you don't use 4G all the time or even every day doesn't mean it isn't nice to have...especially when many 3G plans are comparable in price (without discount) anyways.

My point is, Sprint charges an extra $10 per month for 4G, whether you use it or not. They (Sprint) have plenty of phones that don't have 4G but do everything else the Evo does. Whatever discount you have on your 4G plan would also apply to the cheaper 3G plan.

It does drain the battery, no question about that. I keep spares in my car and backpack. You can get them 2 for $10 on ebay and they come with a charger.


Sent from my HTC Evo using Tapatalk.

 

[Gyp Rosetti]

Still waiting for the laptop to become obsolete.

Any day now.

 

[unluckyseventeen]

I don't even own a cell phone and I program web sites and business tools for a living. In fact, I meet with various clients around the valley for meetings to gather business. Sounds like not having a cell phone is really slowing me down...

People act as if having a beacon for people to call and annoy you at all times is something to be proud of. But, dude! I need to be able to text somebody at any given minute and tell them about my day!

Cue the ignorant "go back to your cave" comments, as if having a phone is going to aid me in any way, or that you're cooler for wasting money on something you don't need.


And anybody saying computers will be obsolete clearly does not know what they are talking about. When people can use immensely powerful software, program, harness and control employees at a desk and secure their work environment with phones rather than computers, then hell will have frozen over. In reality, it won't happen.

Wasn't e-mail supposed to make paper obsolete?