Both Apple's iPhone and Google's Android G1 have been out for a while now. We've given you our own takes on each of the devices and how they stack up in an increasingly-competitive marketplace. But we're not the only ones with some strong opinions.

Our great community members in the Mobile Computing Outpust have been pooling their collective thoughts on the devices, and so we thought now would be a good time to bring back Perspectives. In Perspectives, we let the forum community do the talking to see how our knowledgeable readers are responding to today's tech. Let's take a look at what our community members had to say about the iPhone and the G1.

As would be expected, the forums had quite a bit of praise to offer Apple's iPhone. Forum goer Akatombo broke down the positives clearly. "The iPhone is the better consumer product of the two. Better battery life, better usability design, tighter integrated functionality, and intuitive user interface," he said. "The app store is nice and convenient, but doesn't allow for core improvements or modifications by the end user. The iPhone is the clear winner in a consumer sense. It has all the polish and design that makes a great product great. It has an ecosystem developed around it, and has plenty of accessories for any purpose."

Most users didn't even bother to expand on their answers, content to declare overzealously that the iPhone was the be-all, end-all of mobile devices. "It's the best cell phone, probably best pda, that I've ever used," said ctt1wbw. "The iPhone/iPod is a much better music/video player; the apps for the iPhone/iPod Touch are a lot more polished," another user wrote.

But the iPhone certainly isn't perfect. Many forum posters had some fair criticisms of Apple's device. Some users complained about the speed of the unit while others bemoaned being locked in to AT&T. "What iPhone are you using where it feels snappier?" questioned Mordac. "The iPhone 3g I'm using is a pile of poo. It has 2 speeds. Slow and painfully slow."

The unit's keyboard, and its lack of tactility, was another rough patch. "[On the iPhone] it doesn't seem possible to type with more than one finger at a time (index finger/thumb)," rued incandenza, an eight year veteran of the forums. "Plus, you have to constantly watch out that it's not auto-correcting what you type into something you didn't mean (although I suppose you can turn this off; I haven't gotten to that yet)."

Meanwhile, the Android itself has its various pluses and minuses. On the plus side of things, the device can run background processes which makes it quite flexible. "The background issue is a huge deal," incandenza continued. "In fact, I was surprised that it worked this way when I first started using the [iPod Touch]. Basically, apps cannot do anything unless they're running in the foreground. That's a pretty big advantage to the G1."

"The G1 is the better messaging device, simply because it has actual background processes," vherrera0079 said, reinforcing the point. "You can have an IM session and the browser going on at the same time, and you'll be notified of new messages by the clever notification UI. You also have a real keyboard and copy/paste functions."

For those who really like to poke around and customize their device, the G1 is the ideal gadget. "The G1 is good for anyone who likes to have a netbook experience," wrote forum newcomer poorboy. "There will always be new apps coming out to improve and add extra features. I like to think it's like playing around with running Linux, it's all about experimenting with it to enhance your knowledge and enjoyment of the device."

It's not all roses and sunshine with Google's first foray into the mobile world, though; there are some very serious issues with the phone. "The G1 is rough at the edges, has lower battery life, and an OS with a UI needing some polish," wrote Akatombo. "It just isn't as slick as an Apple product."

The web browser was one of the many contentious points of the unit. Though Google's Chrome is an attractive program, the G1 doesn't offer as robust a browsing experience. "The browser sucks," wrote spankalee bluntly. "For being based on the same rendering engine, it sure screws up a whole lot more."

Even those in favor of the device admitted that the browser was lacking. "The browser complaints are very valid, though. The zooming functionality is awkward, and switching between windows is very clunky compared to the iPhone version."

That missing layer of polish is sadly characteristic of the entire device, the forums say. "Android simply isn't as slick or easy to use as mobile OS X, probably because they weren't as brutal about cutting features," spankalee continued. "There are too many hardware buttons, which sometimes have non-obvious functions, or worse, inconsistent functions that depend on the app. Many features aren't easily discoverable, requiring you to dig into menus."

The biggest issue with the G1 that our community identified was the battery life. Universally, almost every poster had something negative to say about the unit's electronic fortitude. "I was thinking of returning my G1 after seeing the abysmal battery life in the first few days," wrote vherrera0079. "I paid money to get a full featured phone so I could do stuff like Locale." Many concede, though, that turning off the 3G and GPS features can do wonders for the battery life, as one would expect.

So how do the two stack up against each other when compared? Although the crowd stands divided, the iPhone is currently winning with a tidy margin. Over 60 percent of those who voted on the threads poll preferred the iPhone. But the G1 had its fair share of fans, too.

The iPhone was praised for its smooth interface, great application support, and accessible features. Plus, while it may not have the robust computing platform and background-processing capabilities of the G1, the battery lasts much longer, and what it lacks in flexibility it makes up for in style and usability.

As a development platform and a tinker toy of sorts, the G1 offers a great playpen that is still very much maturing. "The G1 is great for fiddling and trying to develop code for it. It's an engineer's dream toy, just waiting to be poked around with," one user wrote. But in spite of its positive points, most G1 users, whether happy with the device or not, tended to agree that the hardware of the unit simply lacked the polish of Apple's device.