Smartphone, I'm suddenly ready

Cone_Junky wrote: My logic for picking the iPhone is obsoletion.

That's a good point. The other point that's not been mentioned is that not all Android phone manufacturers and providers are good with keeping the phones updated to a reasonably recent version of Android.

My iPhone 3GS is over two years old and I still get the updates from Apple. The Droid is little over a year old, but Verizon and/or Motorola so far haven't supplied the update to Android 2.3. Yes, I know that I could hack the phone and install mods with later Android OSs but TBH I don't have the time or nerve for that.

BoxheadTim wrote: The Droid is little over a year old, but Verizon and/or Motorola so far haven't supplied the update to Android 2.3. Yes, I know that I could hack the phone and install mods with later Android OSs but TBH I don't have the time or nerve for that.

Thats odd. I got the 2.3.3 update over a month ago on my Droid X from Verizon.

Don't kid yourselves on the obsolete thing... they are all obsolete in 2-3yrs. I had the original iPhone which just had to be updated to the new GS iPhone... then after that it was going to be the iPhone4 (I never updated... but ATT was trying really hard). I smashed one in the fan on the truck... and instead I went with a Droid X because it was on sale - and ya know what? After a little while I didn't miss a single thing about the iPhone and got some neat stuff in the bargain. But... guess what... there is a new Droid X2 out they would like to shove down my throat.

Try them all on for size - then take the best deal you can find on the last, best phone.

I'll keep this one until it breaks.

Don't buy anything yet droid bionic comes out in 7 days and will blow everything you know about phones out of the water and the new I phone is coming out in what 15 days or so. Buying anything now will be last years tech in 7 days. I have been rocking my freaking OG droid for what seems like eternity waiting for the bionic to get FCC approval.
Kinda sucks that you are just now getting a smart phone Verizon just went to stupid expensive data plans.

I can't imagine going back to an iPhone based solely on price.

Two iphones with work discount, $220. Two HTC EVO 4G on Sprint, $135 month.

In reality, its like sportbikes, they are all pretty close its just personal preference.

But I do like Android much better as an OS.

As for the obsolete thing, I guess that would matter if you buy a new $500 phone every three months? I don't have that kind of scratch.

I recommend an Android through Virgin Mobile.

$35 a month is hard to beat.

I've had a Droid (HTC Thunderbolt) for about 3 months now. I like it. This post was done on it. I don't have internet access at home and the Droid keeps me from needing it anytime soon.

There are so many apps it's crazy. I only use a handful.

I use it more for work than I anticipated. Having better remote email access is nice.

I'm still trying to get a feel for how much it will cost. I've gotten two bills so far with drastically different amounts, although within expectations.

Virgin Droid phone owner and very happy. I get all the data and web and text but only 300 min talk time for $35 a month. It's also the credit card swipe machine for the business (the main reason I got it.). Virgin runs on the Sprint network so service is good.

neckromacr wrote: ATT sets it so your Android can only get apps through the market place. So if you find a neat app and even accept the risks inherit to that you can't without some massively complicated work around I've yet to dicipher.

I know shortly after the amazon market place dropped att did an update for the inspire 4g to be able to side load apps without jumping though hoops (but for some reason not all the phones got it... 5 min with tech on chat fixed that... but with the gingerbread update it's built right in... still can't remove all the ATT crap... but you can fairly easily root the phone to do that lol...

if you are looking for more info on an android phone check out androidforums.com LOTS of info...

RealMiniDriver wrote: As for providers, we're on Verizon. We've got unlimited data.

Verizon changed their data services about a month ago to offer tiered data pacakges with restrictions. If you already had a contract before that with an unlimited data plan, you are grandfathered in as long as you continue to stay with Verizon

That said, we are also on Verizon in my household, 2 smart phones w/ unlimited data. No internet at home so we use the phones a lot for surfing the net. I just looked at my usage yesterday (end of the month). I had only used 450 megabytes. Even with rumors that the unlimited package really does have some sort of ambiguous cap on it, I am definately nowhere close to hitting it. Probably because my signal sort of sucks at home. But think about it, if you have high speed internet at home, are you really going to do A LOT of surfing on your phone when you can just use your computer?

I have an LG Ally. It was cool at first (my first smart phone), but in retrospect it kind of sucks, there are a number of things I dont like so much about it now. My wife has a Droid X and I like that phone a lot better.

I'm running a HTC G2 through T-mobile and love it. It just updated to Android 2.3.4 the other day. Call quality is outstanding, internet is fast. The only place I don't have phone service is at CMP, but with wifi calling, I can use the track wifi so that isn't a problem anymore.

SupraWes wrote: Apple will be announcing the next iPhone this coming Wednesday, it should be available for sale sometime in late September early October. I would wait and see what that is going to be.

I'm the idiot that didn't know that and just ordered an iPhone4.

iPhones feel fully realized while Android phones feel like they've got more growth potential.

If you're going to spend a bunch of time futzing around with different ROMs or digging into the system itself, obviously go with Android. If you need to use Google Voice, Android is your only real choice. If customizing the UI more than just changing the background image is important, Android. If you want to set the phone up to call mom when you clap 3 times, but only on Tuesday? Android.

Apple makes stuff that disappears in use. They have complete control over every aspect the design and they throw out stuff that they deem extraneous or confusing. iOS has tighter integration with the hardware. The UI completely consistent across all four phones and from OS version to version. The power management is great (in 3 years of iPhone ownership I've only drained the battery a couple times). You're guaranteed that every app in the app store is going to work as intended. I think Apple's touch screens and interfaces are generally a bit more responsive feeling, but that's hard to quantify.

App-wise, most of the 'must have' apps/features exist on both platforms. That said, there are differences.

Things that really push the hardware to its limits are usually better on iOS (games and multimedia to some extent). Developers can extract every last frame-per-second on the iPhone/iPad because they're optimizing performance for what basically amounts to 2-3 very similar devices, and there are some games for iOS that are among the most innovative on any gaming platform.

But things that only work when they have complete OS and hardware control are only doable on Android (or a jailbroken iPhone). Plus, there's tons of stuff that Apple won't allow simply because the App Store is run by jackbooted (and black turtlenecked) thugs. There's a reason people still jailbreak.

Wife and I are close to biting the smartphone bullet... useful info.

ransom wrote: When I had AT&T, the coverage was okay (This was before the iPhone system stress test). But it wasn't very good near my house, with artery-bursting results if I needed to actually contact them. Interactive Voice Response: "Please say one of these three things" Me: "Thing one" IVR: "I couldn't understand you. Please try again." Me: "Thing one" IVR: "I'm sorry you're having problems. Try again later." *click* No fetching an operator. No "press zero for help". Just two tries and it blames you and hangs up. I wish I was back on T-Mobile. Sprint by way of Credo right now, and the coverage around here isn't very good.

This is exactly why i'm hesitant to drop T-Mobile.

I have ATT U-verse right now, and their customer service is the WORST i have ever encountered in my entire life. I have never genuinely wished that "The Matrix" was not science FICTION so hard in my entire life, as i would jump through that phone and strangle every person i've ever tried to talk to over there.

Those of you who stream pandora in high volumes.... how much data are you going through a month?

Pandora is one of the main reasons i personally want a smartphone, i'll be streaming it at LEAST 50 hours a month. Would that likely push me into the 4gig plan on ATT for example?

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Those of you who stream pandora in high volumes.... how much data are you going through a month? Pandora is one of the main reasons i personally want a smartphone, i'll be streaming it at LEAST 50 hours a month. Would that likely push me into the 4gig plan on ATT for example?

Lemme check.

At about the halfway point in. our billing cycle, I've used 1.5g. That's from streaming radio station 4-5 hrs in the morning and at least 5hrs of Pandora for the rest if day, 5 days a week. Not write as much on the weekend, but still listen to Pandora.

My lappy went crappy, so my smartphone gets to do a lot of web surfing, too.

regarding Pandora I asked a friend who uses it a lot at work.

"Out of the five day work week, I use it probably constantly for 3 eight hour days, maybe more than that. I can tell you that my usage period started 7 days ago and so far, I have used .7568 GB’s so far. There is also an option to have higher quality audio via Pandora and I have that turned on."

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Those of you who stream pandora in high volumes.... how much data are you going through a month? Pandora is one of the main reasons i personally want a smartphone, i'll be streaming it at LEAST 50 hours a month. Would that likely push me into the 4gig plan on ATT for example?

i'd double check on that but i'm pretty sure the 4gb plan isn't straight 4gig to the phone but 2 seperate plans... 2gb for the phone itself then another 2 for tethering data... which you have to get if you want to tether... :-/... could be wrong but thats what it was when I got mine 6 months back or so... and if you go droid and don't mind tweaking a little you can get tethering without the extra bit of plan... but 2 gig isn't much if you are a power user (and "4g" is still pretty slow compared to home interwebz)

failboat wrote: regarding Pandora I asked a friend who uses it a lot at work. "Out of the five day work week, I use it probably constantly for 3 eight hour days, maybe more than that. I can tell you that my usage period started 7 days ago and so far, I have used .7568 GB’s so far. There is also an option to have higher quality audio via Pandora and I have that turned on."

Ouch.

So, the wife has an iPhone and I have an Android (Galaxy S).

Here's the really, really super digest version:

*If you just want the damn thing to work and you don't want to futz with it, get an iPhone.

*If you want the damn thing to do what YOU want, the way YOU want it done, get an Android.

Also, it's a PITA, but "Android" is the operating system, and is used on many phones. "Droid" is the line of Motorola phones that use the Android OS.

The iPhone to me is like discovering the wheel, or fire, or sliced bread. Its just that good and works that well. Sure, you have to use everything else from Apple, but it all works so well and works together so well, I couldn't care less. And when you want apps, speakers, chargers, etc. you know it will work with your iPhone. Never had a problem with bandwidth or throttling or anything else, in fact, I often use my iPhone as a personal hotspot. Keep in mind, my employer pays the bill, so I can't say how much all this awesomeness sets you back per month.

Never used anything Android, so all I can tell you is how great the iPhone is. I can tell you however to run away from any phone related to Windows. Run fast and run far. Then throw something at the phone. Then drop it down a hole and run some more.

My main issue is you cannot get an extended battery for an iPhone and AT&T plan pricing is completely insane not to mention every iPhone user I encounter reports crap service in general.

I have an HTC EVO with Sprint. I also have an extended battery (purchased on Amazon for $12) that lets me charge the phone every 2 days. It would last longer if the building I work in didn't drain all cell signal. I'm on a family plan where I pay $50 a month for unlimited everything. Most of my friends use Sprint and also have EVOs. Every last one of them is happy.

If I were on my own(no family plan) I would be all over Virgin and their $35 plan.

OH! I should also add that you can get such awesome apps for Android phones Example: you can get an emulator for old videogames and via Bluetooth use a Wiimote to play them!

A complete goober here when it comes to smartphones. I do not play games etc on a phone, come to think of it I don't play them on the computer either. so what would a technological Luddite such as myself use? FWIW, the Curmudgeonling has a Samsung phone through Verizon that's up for renewal shortly after my T Mobile contract expires at the end of September. So it would be nice if it were something Verizon offers.

I have an HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1) that I bought off Kijiji for $100. It's not as powerful as the modern crop of phones (I think it's 600 MHz) but holy crap can it do a lot of neat stuff. I don't even have the latest version of Android on it, it's running a dev copy of 1.6 (so it's rooted and unlocked.) It has a mini-trackball and a physical keyboard which I didn't think would be too useful at first, but now they are indispensable to the way I use the phone.

I absolutely love it and honestly couldn't see going back to a 'dumb phone', ever. I don't even have a data plan right now, I just get internet via wi-fi everywhere. I can't wait to get it back to Europe and go nuts with my unlimited data plan over there.

My only complaints are that it doesn't have a real headphone jack, which a lot of the new ones do, or a stylus (my previous HTC Windows Mobile phone had one.) Considering how anal I can be with the touchscreen I would have liked to have had that but it's not really necessary thanks to the keyboard.

The best thing about it (and other Android devices) is, when you plug it into your computer via any standard USB cable, the computer can mount it as a flash drive. No software, no drivers, nothing necessary! Can't do that with an iphone.

If I were going to upgrade it would be to the HTC Desire Z, which also has the little flip-out keyboard.

Oh yeah, plus, it can do this:

...which is really all I wanted in a smartphone in the first place.