To do with preflight tasks, I mean.
I normally use a small laptop, which of course does a lot more than any "phone" could.
But I bought my girlfriend a (factory unlocked, SIM free) Iphone 4; £450 from the Apple online shop.
I spent several days with it, working out how it works so I could explain it to her, as well as set up email accounts etc. She has a PhD but little patience for IT stuff which basically doesn't work (which applies to most IT stuff).
It has several hear-tearing-out "features" (I posted in the Computer forum about those) but clearly it has enough capability to do everything that is needed in preflight task terms. With a lot of fiddling when using some websites, but it can do it, and for straight VFR flight, where your weather briefing comprises mostly of picking up tafs/metars, it is pretty straightforward.
I can't see any way to run AFPEx (short of a solution using a Citrix remote desktop) so one would have to use EuroFPL or Homebriefing for FP filing.
Also the only way to do IFR airways routings would be the RocketRoute website.
The same comments would apply to any "smartphone" but the Iphone seems to be quicker on browsing than most, and the 4 model has a very good screen (excellent if you have reading glasses handy
).
Incidentally I installed the £20 Memory Map app on it. This works fine with the old QCT charts; the 1:50k and 1:25k and the CAA ones all work fine, and transfer to the phone via a WIFI map transfer feature. The app is a bit clunky but does the job of running QCT maps. Just avoid trying to set up an account with the MM map shop; that really screws it up. Thus far, I have not had to hexedit any maps (a well known hack to get around the historical MM insistence on the map year matching the app year, on O/S maps). You also get dynamically downloaded UK streetmaps in the price (very very slow to download, and I cannot work out the size/time limits on this feature). It seems to work OK while moving although you have to leave the GSM/3G part switched on to retain the GPS function. MM doesn't reply to any support emails.
On balance I am sticking with my winXP laptop (which does absolutely everything) because I always carry at least a small backpack when travelling, but I can see a possible convergence here to just one gadget, and after all everybody has to be carrying a phone anyway.