Smart Phone Help

]If you're looking for an android smartphone, I'd recommend waiting if possible. Very rarely is it a good idea to wait for "new stuff" because there's always something new and better around the corner. [/B](that's the story on how my desktop took about a year longer to build than first anticipated!) Within the next few months there will be some really great phones coming out.

When it comes down to it, you have to figure out what features are important to you and focus on those. Display? Camera? Service? Battery life? QWERTY vs Touch keyboard, etc. Once those are established it's easier to point you in the right direction.

?? Did you mean not waiting if possible? Usually my rule of thumb, being a tech guy, I don't purchase the latest and greatest cutting edge thing. I like to purchase what has been out long enough in order to gather enough data about the product to make a better decision. Not to mention that smartphones, tablets, computers, etc...all tend to have their bugs that need working out through customer contact.

As far as features go, I would like a phone with a good camera on it, both video and still pictures. I haven't had a touchscreen phone (I don't own a tablet computer as of yet either) and have only had one QWERTY phone, so my thoughts are touchscreen on the next phone to see if I'd like it better than the QWERTY. Certainly I would say battery life is what everybody would like to have in a phone, and I've read excellent reviews about the Razr Maxx in that regard. I hated the idea of my last smartphone (Blackberry Curve) having to be recharged at luch time, and charged again that night. I DO realize, however, this is common among smartphones, and probably more common depending upon what it's used mostly for.

The point is, I can't really say, outside of battery life, that the phone must have this or that, since most of those features were not present in the phone I currently have. I will say, since Verizon is offering double the data with 4G, I don't want to settle for a 3G phone with half the data limit.

I think the Bionic is there for the waiters. IT is 100 bucks has 4g, dual processors and will be outfitted with Ice Cream Sandwich this year. That is a pretty packed phone for $100; should easily get yo uthrough the next two years.

Actually, I can get the Droid Bonic off of Amazon Wireless for $50.

If you're looking for an android smartphone, I'd recommend waiting if possible. Very rarely is it a good idea to wait for "new stuff" because there's always something new and better around the corner. (that's the story on how my desktop took about a year longer to build than first anticipated!) Within the next few months there will be some really great phones coming out.

When it comes down to it, you have to figure out what features are important to you and focus on those. Display? Camera? Service? Battery life? QWERTY vs Touch keyboard, etc. Once those are established it's easier to point you in the right direction.

Problem with waiting is:
IF you are a Geek then the next one is ALWAYS around the corner (Android 5.0 is going to rock your world)

If you are NOT a geek then the upgrades in the next cycle aren't going to mean as much as having a good phone now.

As is most 4g phones now and some 3g are going to go to ice cream sandwich by end of year.

Its the difference between always buying a new off the lot car or one that is a year old. The new may be great but the 1 year old will take you to the store also.


Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using Tapatalk 2

Problem with waiting is:
IF you are a Geek then the next one is ALWAYS around the corner (Android 5.0 is going to rock your world)

If you are NOT a geek then the upgrades in the next cycle aren't going to mean as much as having a good phone now.

As is most 4g phones now and some 3g are going to go to ice cream sandwich by end of year.

Its the difference between always buying a new off the lot car or one that is a year old. The new may be great but the 1 year old will take you to the store also.


Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using Tapatalk 2

Exactly. I like to think of myself as somewhat of a geek, but one who looks more at operating systems that are stable and have been out long enough to research plenty of info on it. A gearhead has to have the latest and greatest and usually has the bank account to do it. If I spend a couple hundred bucks on a smartphone, I want one that I know already has an established reputation, not to mention the most bang for my buck as far as features. Needless to say, whatever phone I do get will not be traded in in a few months. I'll use this phone no less than the two year contract, even if I decided in the end that I didn't like it. I kept my Blackberry for the whole two years, and downgraded at the end of my contract. I figured now, with my job, it's becoming more and more important to have internet access on the go. So hence, the smartphone shopping.

I'm glad someone mentioned Amazonwireless, I can save a few bucks off of the phone from there, although I WISHED I was a new customer as those guys are getting a big savings off of the phone. Anyways, anybody else have the Maxx?

I forgot to add that at the last minute i didnt go with Amazon. They didnt offer my old school text plan so i called verizon to ask if i upgrade with amazon can i change back to my old text plan right aferwards. They said why dont i upgrade with them, and i said because its 50 dollars cheaper on amazon.

They said we will give you 25 off, i said why not 50? They said its easy to give 25 off upgrades, but managers have to approve anything more than that.

Basically anyone who upgrades should get at a minium 25 off the "sticker" price.

So, I went with the Bionic. Looking around, it seemed to be the best bang for the buck. Verizon has good coverage and, well, it just seemed like 4G was the way to go even if it isn't that big a deal RIGHT now. I'm gonna have the phone for the next 2 years so, given technology, it'll be outmoded fast enough.

The kids will just have to wear the same shoes for an extra couple of months.

Thanks for all the help everyone. It really is great to get advice from the wide range of users on the forum. I mean, you have the folks who really know their sh** and are heavy users all the way down to firstdown (who is booting up his IBM PS/2 as we speak). I got a pretty good idea of where I fit in on the spectrum and what made sense for me (I'm not a complete dinosaur, more of a neolithic/bronze age user).

Problem with waiting is:
IF you are a Geek then the next one is ALWAYS around the corner (Android 5.0 is going to rock your world)

If you are NOT a geek then the upgrades in the next cycle aren't going to mean as much as having a good phone now.

As is most 4g phones now and some 3g are going to go to ice cream sandwich by end of year.

Its the difference between always buying a new off the lot car or one that is a year old. The new may be great but the 1 year old will take you to the store also.


Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using Tapatalk 2

Software and hardware are two different beasts. Typically, I avoid many of the first gen OSes and let them get a bit stable. That said, any reasonable device can handle an updated OS. If you root/etc ROMS like CM that are built from the ground up will give you those new OSes.

The phones I'm talking about are hardware based. None of the individual technologies are that much different. They're bringing together a lot of components. Quick processors, quite a bit more RAM, beautiful displays -- but most importantly, they're improving battery life and unlocking bootloaders (well, not unlocking, but making it trivial).

Typically I say buy something established, but these are known technologies so they've hit their bumps, but they're coming together in a single device.

If battery life is the most important to you, I'd suggest staying away from 4G. It's a drain. I have a 4G phone and toggle it off a majority of the time.

Software and hardware are two different beasts. Typically, I avoid many of the first gen OSes and let them get a bit stable. That said, any reasonable device can handle an updated OS. If you root/etc ROMS like CM that are built from the ground up will give you those new OSes.

The phones I'm talking about are hardware based. None of the individual technologies are that much different. They're bringing together a lot of components. Quick processors, quite a bit more RAM, beautiful displays -- but most importantly, they're improving battery life and unlocking bootloaders (well, not unlocking, but making it trivial).

Typically I say buy something established, but these are known technologies so they've hit their bumps, but they're coming together in a single device.

If battery life is the most important to you, I'd suggest staying away from 4G. It's a drain. I have a 4G phone and toggle it off a majority of the time.

Which seems to point me back to the Droid Razr Maxx. Out of several reviews I've read on this phone and some of the others, the DRM seems to have outstanding battery life even with the 4G. But aside from that, I love the idea of being able to hook the thing up to my TV, stream stuff to the computer, basically have all the tablet features I'd need all rolled up in a smartphone. The BIGGEST thing I haven't heard yet is the how the clarity of the phone conversations are. When I had my Blackberry Curve, I could barely hear people at times, and at times, people couldn't hear me at all. I am hoping that was just a fluke problem with the Blackberry and not smartphone wide.

Which seems to point me back to the Droid Razr Maxx. Out of several reviews I've read on this phone and some of the others, the DRM seems to have outstanding battery life even with the 4G. But aside from that, I love the idea of being able to hook the thing up to my TV, stream stuff to the computer, basically have all the tablet features I'd need all rolled up in a smartphone. The BIGGEST thing I haven't heard yet is the how the clarity of the phone conversations are. When I had my Blackberry Curve, I could barely hear people at times, and at times, people couldn't hear me at all. I am hoping that was just a fluke problem with the Blackberry and not smartphone wide.

Bionic can do all that as well and you can remove the battery

i'll soon be making the jump from barbaric flip phone to smart phone. i usually use about 200 minutes/month, text a lot, and plan to use a lot of data. anyone know of any good plans? i'm looking for something cheaper/better than:

$35/month for 300min, unlimited text, unlimited data