Do the touch screen phones have any advantage over a regular flip, push-button phone?

With a non flip phone, you don’t have to worry about breaking the hinges on the phone.

b) What’s the difference? Wouldn’t it take about the same amount of time to open the phone and to swipe to unlock the phone?

No @erichw1504. It would take less time to simply open the phone, rather than enter two key strokes to unlock it. (don’t know what you mean by swipe.) You can do that with your eyes closed, too. Also…can you one touch dial with the touch screen or does it require two or more touches? I’ve only played around with them, never really used them.

@noelleptc It probably does have a bigger screen, but the fonts on my new phone are a very nice size…plus I can SUPERSIZE them even more if wanted to. The only advantage of the bigger screen would be for picture viewing….which I don’t take that many pics with my phone anyway. That’s what I have my camera for.

@Seaofclouds I’ve never had a problem with the hinges on my phones breaking. The original flip phone, the old Star Tacs, back in the 90’s, had that problem, but I haven’t heard of any problems since then. Not saying it never happens, just saying I’ve never heard of it.
Also, to counterpoint, the screen on a touch screen is totally unprotected and more vulnerable to damage than a flip.

@Dutchess_III Well, it does depend on what touch screen phone we’re talking about. But, generally you just have to swipe on the screen a certain way to unlock it. Don’t know which ones require two key strokes though.

The one I looked at required pressing unlock and then…something. Just like the old Nokia straight phones.
I use my phone as my alarm. It’s nice to just be able to flip it open and then close it,( with my eyes closed,) to shut off the alarm rather than having to peer at the screen (half asleep) to find the one certain place I need to press to turn it off.

It’s a lot easier to get to things – you don’t have to scroll one click at a time, you can just point.

@Dutchess_III I don’t have to open my eyes to stop my alarm on my touchscreen. I know it is at the bottom and just reach over to swipe it.

@noelleptc I was just thinking that same thing….but I don’t use the internet on my phone (costs $30 more a month, bleh.) So, you’re right…it depends on what your needs are.

@MyNewtBoobs I can see that too. But I don’t have that much to look at on my phone. Plus I have the hot keys set up for the stuff I use a lot, like texting, calculator, alarms, etc.

@erichw1504 If I gave you a quarter would you come and turn off my alarms for me? Puleeese? And make me some toast?

This is a matter of personal preference, but I find it way easier to type on a touch screen phone than a flip phone. It takes me ages to compose a short text message on my older brother’s keyboard (and it is especially annoying to access certain characters), while I could type a significantly longer message using a touch screen. Since I need to change the interface of my virtual keyboard often (and between langauges since I often write in French) it is much more convenient for me to have a touch screen.

@Dutchess_III If you gave me a thousand dollars I still wouldn’t, because you smell of burnt seal hair and Rosie O’Donnell’s sweaty socks.

I just took a shower ding dong!! .... burnt seal hair?? lol!!

@Dutchess_III You don’t really need hot keys with a touchscreen

I hate touch anythings, personally so I’ll stick with phones that flip or ones where I can push the buttons.

I think its just a matter of personal preference, I perfer the larger screen to view my pictures and take pictures that my touch phone offers. Its all in what you like in a phone really.

I used to think I’d always love flip over touch. Now, I can’t imagine going back (assuming I had a choice).

@erichw1504 The last two “candy bar” phones I had required two button presses to unlock; a Nokia 2126 and a Motorola C260.

My Droid X has a keyboard about four inches wide without any hinges or slides to wear out or wires between the parts to break. It’s thinner than a slider or flip-phone, and the Swype™ keyboard is faster to type on.

Moving stuff around is easier, as is surfing the ’ net.

I had a few qualms about the exposed screen myself, but the fact that I haven’t busted or even scratched mine yet despite having it in my front pocket at work in a machine shop tells me that they are pretty tough. If you managed to not break a hinge on a flip-phone then you should be able to keep a touchscreen intact.

At the end of the day, it’s all about personal preference. I prefer one-piece phones with buttons big enough for me to press and screens big enough to read. The fact that I can surf Fluther on my breaks and no longer need a GPS, Game Boy, or MP3 player are just bonuses.

@jerv It also contributes quite a bit to Fluther’s crack-like addictiveness

I just replaced my flip-phone of four years, and though I do miss the little guy, my new touchscreen phone does every thing I could pretty much imagine, right there. My flip phone is a fantastic phone, the LG VX8300, but my new smartphone is also fantastic. But as fantastic as it is, I miss the old keypad, with actual keys, and my new-age Bohemianism..

@ddude1116 There are many smartphones that have both a touchscreen and a QWERTY keyboard that either slides or flips out. A lot of Android phones are like that.

Angry Birds

@GladysMensch that’s what i was gonna say ;)