Cell phones forum: Iphone 4s or Droid Razr Maxx?

I still think the Tom Tom GPS app is once of the best, but it's not free on iOS. Navigon is good too (and also paid), but Google Navigation for Android is free AFAIK. Maps, which is built into iPhone, does not offer turn by turn directions.

Our office had Windows Mobile apps that we authored and sadly, Microsoft in their haste buried us in their rush to WP7.

We tried WP7 and the OS's restrictions meant we had to look at the other offerings for the next platform. I wish MSFT good luck, but we can't use this model. And we write apps!
Bob

If you look at say, Outlook and it's groups, calendar and more you discover that it is far from seamless where there is so much that was not done that well? Let's call it a disaster.

Even the Windows Phone seems to choke on this. No one is sure why.
Bob

If it can't work with Outlook, then can it work with some other program or combination of programs - pc or mac?

Here we creek along with busted apps. While I do write apps, I have no incentive to tackle this one as not one person seems to want to pay for such. I think that's why this system is broke. Lowest cost apps?
Bob

In my Office, we use both Google Calendar and Outlook. I have a Hotmail email (personal) as well as my company supplied Go Daddy email. I have no problems syncing with any of these systems on my HTC Arrive WP7 device. I understand Bob's frustrations from the dev's POV, as I too wrote apps for and used WinMo from 2004 through 2011. That being said, I found the transition to WP7 a breath of fresh air on both fronts, and I'm very much looking forward to the platform transitioning on Windows 8/Windows Phone 8 on. I'm by no means a "homer" for MSFT, as there are a number of things I do for and use on the iOS platform. I find there are advantages and limitations to both, as a user and a dev. I just think that, in limiting your view of the smartphone category to Apple vs. Google, only serves to limit exposure to and consideration of another growing, feature rich platform.

More specifics for infomaniac might be helpful so they can see how it's done in the real world. I haven't ruled out obtained a Windows Phone device as an upgrade via ATT, but what I've come to expect feature wise thanks to Apple makes it a tough sell IMO.

My wife's company uses MS Exchange, and I'm still amazed at how few problems her large group of employees have reported using their iPhones for almost everything. OTOH, my friends who own businesses that do *not* use exchange seem to be the ones with various problems (IMAP, etc.) if an iPhone instead of a BB is involved in the mix. Is running exchange on the back end the real fix?

This is Droid-biased, but it's only because it's the only real experience I have, and meets my needs a little more seemlessly than an iPhone could, but the iPhone seems to be a good phone too.

I crossed over to Droid from Windows Mobile a couple of years ago and have been pleased. I love my Droid X, but wanted to step up to 4G Intenet bandwidth. The X makes a great alarm clock and media player though, so it lives on.

I use Google for personal email, calendar, docs, etc. I use Outlook on Exchange at my main job. Since Google is native, it all works perfectly on the Razr Maxx. For Exchange, I run an app on my PC called "Google Calendar Sync" which synchronizes my Exchange Calendar with my Google Calendar. Because I also work remotely, my PC is never shut down (needs to be up so I can remote control it...whenever), so the app can always sync. Then, because I also have unlimited texting, I've set up my Google calendar to send text alerts for upcoming calendar items, so no matter where I am, my phone alerts me about upcoming appointments. I've also got a Google calendar feature set which sends me an email listing of all the days appointments which arrives at about 5:00 AM which is really cool - gives me an early heads-up so I can be sure to wear business attire (as opposed to the usual jeans & t-shirt) to the more important client meetings.

The Droid Razr Maxx also has an app called Corporate Sync which sync's my Exchange email directly, which has really helped me to stay well-connected & responsive to my customers' needs. Utilizing this stuff has truly given me a favorable edge, and has saved me a number of times, when my memory has failed. Gotta love that!

I'm still getting used to the speed and media quality of this phone. 3G wasn't really very viable for viewing videos and such. 4G makes it a totally different experience. Navigation works well too, especially on the Maxx's brighter screen.

Finally, I've never had a bad Motorola mobile phone.

The only things I preferred about my Droid X were the aluminum case with the rubberized coating, and that fact that I could remove the battery, which occasionally came in handy when the OS would hang up, and I wanted a super quick hard reboot. The phone just felt bullet proof, and I never needed a protective cover for it. The Maxx seems to be plastic - not sure, but it feels a little more vulnerable. The battery is not removeable, but that might now matter. In the two-year life of my Droid X, I never actually needed to replace the battery. The Maxx's battery is supposed to be much better, and so far, so good. Those quick reboots were seldomly needed on the X...let's hope that the OS is even more fault tolerant on the Maxx.

There are folks at work who also successfully synchronize iPhone's with Exchange. I didn't go that way because I was already leveraging Google's gmail, docs, & calendar...and because I already have an iPod which doesn't need a service contract. I know that people who have them are happy with them as well. My son has a MacBook & probably went with the iPhone for that reason. But, he's a high school senior who has very little demand for calendar sync'ing, and had lost his iPod.

Hope that helped.