The Samsung Galaxy S III vs Iphone 5...which will I buy next.

[Eskimo]

Holy crap, look at the display on the HTC Droid DNA. Kind of pointless given the eye can't detect the difference, but it sort of highlights that we're reaching a technology point on smart phones where the technological improvements are sometimes ... well, meaningless.

This is the problem that I have right now with the valuation of Apple as a company. If the smartphones have already reached near commoditization stage already can they continue to get large margins for their products which is the basis for their high valuation. People will talk about Apple being cheap on a P/E ratio basis or EV/EBITDA basis but they are not cheap at all on a P/S or P/B basis and I think that has to give you pause as an investor. Further pause will come from the fact that Steve Jobs is dead and the new guy looks like he is not a Jobs like visionary. They can't maintain their margins without ongoing innovation and new product development. I know Apple wants to crack TV but that has been commoditized long ago and most of the strength really lies with the content makers and not the content displayers or the content distributors. With Apple, Google, Amazon and Netflix all working on this one it is hard to believe there will be high margins on the end products.

If I were a major Apple shareholder (I own some but not a lot) I'd be wanting money back from them as dividends before they waste it on something.

As disclosure I own Apple stock but buy Samsung products.

 

[theogt]

This is the problem that I have right now with the valuation of Apple as a company. If the smartphones have already reached near commoditization stage already can they continue to get large margins for their products which is the basis for their high valuation. People will talk about Apple being cheap on a P/E ratio basis or EV/EBITDA basis but they are not cheap at all on a P/S or P/B basis and I think that has to give you pause as an investor. Further pause will come from the fact that Steve Jobs is dead and the new guy looks like he is not a Jobs like visionary. They can't maintain their margins without ongoing innovation and new product development. I know Apple wants to crack TV but that has been commoditized long ago and most of the strength really lies with the content makers and not the content displayers or the content distributors. With Apple, Google, Amazon and Netflix all working on this one it is hard to believe there will be high margins on the end products.

If I were a major Apple shareholder (I own some but not a lot) I'd be wanting money back from them as dividends before they waste it on something.

As disclosure I own Apple stock but buy Samsung products.

Agree completely. Smart phone tech seems to have reached a plateau. Apple's only real growth route is enterprise, which they're doing quite well.

Unless, like you say, they manage to cut a deal with cable companies for content. I think TV is ripe for revolution. I'm constantly shocked at how all the 20 somethings that intern at my firm no longer subscribe to cable. With Hulu, Netflix and iTunes they don't need it. But someone could come along and really bridge that gap with a product that would have very broad appeal.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Hopefully I won't get docked for bumping an old thread in the OT zone, but was curious how the SIII was doing.... I had been thinking of getting a Windows 8 phone, but it may not be worth it to break my contract, which I'd have to do. I'm seeing good holiday deals on the S3, so maybe I should just do that.

Also, if Muhast sees this, I'd be curious about what you ended up doing. If I did break my Sprint contract, I'd probably try T-Mobile. Don't know anyone who has used them, though.

(FTR I'm not interested in Apple. )

 

[trickblue]

Hopefully I won't get docked for bumping an old thread in the OT zone, but was curious how the SIII was doing.... I had been thinking of getting a Windows 8 phone, but it may not be worth it to break my contract, which I'd have to do. I'm seeing good holiday deals on the S3, so maybe I should just do that.

Also, if Muhast sees this, I'd be curious about what you ended up doing. If I did break my Sprint contract, I'd probably try T-Mobile. Don't know anyone who has used them, though.

(FTR I'm not interested in Apple. )

The ATT rep REALLY tried to talk me into a Windows phone... she said the OS is amazing...

 

[Yeagermeister]

The ATT rep REALLY tried to talk me into a Windows phone... she said the OS is amazing...

I have one for work that's about a year old and wish I had asked for an iphone....if that tells you anything. :laugh1:

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Hopefully I won't get docked for bumping an old thread in the OT zone, but was curious how the SIII was doing.... I had been thinking of getting a Windows 8 phone, but it may not be worth it to break my contract, which I'd have to do. I'm seeing good holiday deals on the S3, so maybe I should just do that.

Also, if Muhast sees this, I'd be curious about what you ended up doing. If I did break my Sprint contract, I'd probably try T-Mobile. Don't know anyone who has used them, though.

(FTR I'm not interested in Apple. )

Still loving the phone.

Nice to mess with the widgets and settings when I am bored.

Have made a few different screen backgrounds with different clocks and icons...here is the current one...

http://i18.***BLOCKED***/albums/b133/BrAinPaiNt/background101.png

I miss a couple games from my iphone but other than that I am very happy with my phone and glad I made the change.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

If you haven't downloaded it, try "easy battery saver" and "easy task Killer". They'll both greatly extend your battery life if you need it.

 

[trickblue]

I have one for work that's about a year old and wish I had asked for an iphone....if that tells you anything. :laugh1:

This is the brand new OS that interfaces with Windows 8...

 

[Yeagermeister]

This is the brand new OS that interfaces with Windows 8...

Is that supposed to make it better? Windows 8 sucks also.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

This is the brand new OS that interfaces with Windows 8...

Word is that they are not selling all that well nor the Surface tab/lap either...even after the extensive ad campaign that they have been pushing.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Thanks, guys...

The ATT rep REALLY tried to talk me into a Windows phone... she said the OS is amazing...

Yeah, I really liked the one I played with in the store. It seemed very fast and smooth, and that was even the last gen. Of course they all do basically the same thing, but I like how this has a different look from iOS and Android.

I have one for work that's about a year old and wish I had asked for an iphone....if that tells you anything. :laugh1:

Really, which one do you have, and what don't you like about it?

Still loving the phone.

Nice to mess with the widgets and settings when I am bored.

Have made a few different screen backgrounds with different clocks and icons...here is the current one...

I miss a couple games from my iphone but other than that I am very happy with my phone and glad I made the change.

Cool, thanks. Durability okay so far? I've had Samsung phones in the past and liked most of them, but a couple felt a little flimsy (though they actually held up okay).

I like the idea of a bigger phone because I almost use it in place of a tablet, mainly to surf and read books on.

 

[trickblue]

Is that supposed to make it better? Windows 8 sucks also.

Yeah it does given reviews, but it's supposedly great on a smartphone...

Word is that they are not selling all that well nor the Surface tab/lap either...even after the extensive ad campaign that they have been pushing.

The reviews for Surface is pretty good although they apparently left a few features off...

Windows has been coming to the party too late for some time now...

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Thanks, guys...

Yeah, I really liked the one I played with in the store. It seemed very fast and smooth, and that was even the last gen. Of course they all do basically the same thing, but I like how this has a different look from iOS and Android.

Really, which one do you have, and what don't you like about it?

Cool, thanks. Durability okay so far? I've had Samsung phones in the past and liked most of them, but a couple felt a little flimsy (though they actually held up okay).

I like the idea of a bigger phone because I almost use it in place of a tablet, mainly to surf and read books on.

The plastic case one the phone feels weak but a bought an UAG case and it makes the phone solid. I think they put the cheap plastic back on to lessen weight but also to make it easy to get the back on and off to swap batteries and get to the micro sd card.

 

[03EBZ06]

Well, I got the Galaxy S3 about a week ago for .99 cent deal from the Sprint. This phone replaced brand new HTC Evo 4G LTE because I dropped it and cracked the screen.

I had S3 rooted 3 days ago but I'm still learning the phone but so far, I like it very much. I have yet to get Iphone and have no desire to get it anytime soon.

 

[JBond]

If you haven't downloaded it, try "easy battery saver" and "easy task Killer". They'll both greatly extend your battery life if you need it.

I would recomend against any task killer app. Typically they waste more battery becasue the app wil restart on their own and then the cycle continues, kill - start, kill - start.

Juice Defender is an alright app, but the app I like the best to help save battery is Smart Wifi Toggle. It turns your wifi on and off automatically based on your location. I leave my house it turns of the wifi. I get to work it turn it back on and logs in. Completely automatic. Very nice.

The other way to save battery is to upgrade to a better kernel that supports underclocking. The GS3 is very powerful, but 95% of the time that power is not needed. I underclock mine to 1080. I have a widget that kicks it up to full power for games etc. I can get 2 days from my battery with 3-4 hours of on screen time.

 

[Dallas]

Still loving the phone.

Nice to mess with the widgets and settings when I am bored.

Have made a few different screen backgrounds with different clocks and icons...here is the current one...



I miss a couple games from my iphone but other than that I am very happy with my phone and glad I made the change.

What an alcoholic we have here! ^^^^



P.S. I knew you would like the phone.

I am getting a Surface for enterprise testing here in the department. I will let you guys know how things go as far as a business laptop. Honestly I expect it to be great outside of learning the touch interface.

Printing from a tablet is a cluster in a domain. CIFS works great. I can map my filers and get access to data, but there is so much more the user wants when mobile around the campus.

 

[CliffnDallas]

Just ordered a White Galaxy S III. Can't wait.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

I like both. Apple products and Android devices.

In my opinion, the iPhone 5 is a FAIL. Even Apple fan boys have told me so. Called it silly to simply elongate the phone. Some have gone to 4s and the ones who left went for S3 and Galaxy Note 2.


I have the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. It is really what a smart phone should be. FAST, VERY FAST. Split screen. Big enough to use as a tablet. I need cross functionality in my phone so its perfect.

It is big, but the trade off is worth it.

 

[Aikmaniac]

Has anyone had experiences with the HTC OneX?

I love my HTC Inspire right now, but it's time for an upgrade. Otherwise I am aiming for the Galaxy.

 

[Eskimo]

I really like my Galaxy S3. No issues so far. I carry mine without a case. The screen seems to be unscratchable. It has had a couple of falls onto tile without any issues.

You do have to be careful with battery life and I have bought a car adapter to charge it when I am driving and for on the road.

I have had no problems with "Google Play" (the Google version of itunes). I have done some subscriptions to electronic magazines and that works well. It is really nice to have the sd card. The sharing of content with those nearby is quite a cool feature. I laughed at how much a colleague had to pay after they lost their charge wire for their iphone4 because I could just use a spare one that I had from another non-Samsung device if it happened to me.

I also have switched to using Chrome as a browser which is available for the Android phone, too. There is really good integration between your computer browsing and browsing on your smartphone with chrome.