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so, as my Kaiser gets long in the tooth.... I start the hunt for a new phone. I'm still happy w/ it, it's gotten over a year and a half of use from me (avg is 1 year max). as I peruse the forums for info, this is the first time, in which I'm not so sure what to get.
I'll tell you a little more info so you guys understand.
I live in Hawaii, and use Tmobile w/ the tzones hack.. (i was actually using it as long as I can remember, w/ my unlocked w800) so my phone bill is just under $50 a month. If I switch to att, then my phone bill would do the jump up to about 80 a month.
att has 3g in hawaii, tmo does not, and will not for the near future either. tmo's market share is so high in hawaii, that I guess, they didn't feel the need to upgrade us early.
The reason I like having unlocked phones, is that I have the choice, if I wanted to jump networks (although, I never would to be honest)
I have figured out that the xperia x1i, the touch pro, and the hd don't work on the 3g att network, but the fuze, and x1a do.
do I buy an unlocked fuze? and reflash? an x1a? (most of the available x1's are i, best buy has a few a's for $799)
do i buy an HD, and never use the 3g anyway, since I'm on tmo.
or do I wait.... until the new snapdragon and newer t-mo 3g capable phones come out, and hope that I like them.
a few more things about my prefrences..
I don't like typing on a touch screen, even the iphone screen.
I DO like playing 4pinball (but it sucks juice, and eventually i will get bored w/ it.)
I do lots of texting, and websurfing, listen to podcasts (sports shows), not a lot of video watching (only recently added youtube to the kaiser)
I have odyssey nav on the tilt w/ map for Hawaii(also, livesearch, and google latitude)
obviously, I've read through all the pro's and con's in each individual thread about the respective phones, I would rather have a touch pro and extra coin, but which one of those do I get if I do get it? and back around in a circle again..
one last tidbit, I love the sliding mechanism of the tilt, as oppossed to the cheap looking one of the g-1, and the xperia's sliding seemed only ok.
go and bring forth comments everyone.. thanks in advance.
Fuze or touch hd.... Personally i love 3g but with an hd i think i could live without it
If you do get the fuze make sure you pick up the screen responsiveness hack.... it help ALOT
does htc make a fuze in htc form? i.e. us frequencies. or do i hve to buy an unlocked fuze. it was so much easier w/ the kaiser...
Wait for the 09 HTC devices
They seem to be great!!
orb3000 said:
Wait for the 09 HTC devices
They seem to be great!!
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Click to collapse
I was thinking about it, but at the same time, the trend of HTC seems to 'localize" their phones to europe/asia, or america... The Kaiser seemed to be the last "jack of all trades", which is probably one reason why the thing is so damn heavy.
Honestly, I would buy an xperia x1-a but I've read so many problems w/ cracking cel phones. My kaiser has taken a beating, and it's done well, no wimpy silicone skin, or hard case for me, I am confident that I can drop it 6 feet to the ground, and it will be fine. I'm not so sure about the xperia.
If I could find a touch pro for american frequencies that's NOT a Fuze/att brand, I would be more inclined., but it's either Fuze or TP international branding.
Just because I don't plan to use att, doesn't mean I don't want the choice to switch and take advantage of their 3g network. I mean, for me, that's the whole point in having an unlocked phone... not being 'stuck' to one provider.
even, talking to cel phone experts, no one is ever sure which phone to buy, or what they are even selling.
one last thing about the xperia, their panel selection sucks... seriously, 6 aftermarket panels???? all worthless stuff?
The only benefit of getting the xperia 1a for me, is that it's fully warrantied through best buy, although i can get X1i's for way cheaper, and that take better photo's etc. (but no us 3g, IF I ever switched to ATT..lol)
If I had a better idea of both what is coming down the pipeline from htc, and when hawaii will get t-mo 3g, it would greatly help my decision.
bought an Xperia x1-a.. I figured, that I can always buy the next gen stuff later. I'm actually surprisingly happy w/ it.
Back story - I have a HTC Fuze (Raphael) and it was my first advanced smart phone. Been on those little grey screen nokias until this phone. So I totally got into the whole fuss and fury of hacking the heck of phone. But as time has progressed it seem I may have gotten one of the worst HTC phones made. For a bit I even decided to dislike all HTC's on that basis alone. Anyway, I finally settled on just a basic ROM and a few addon's. The most important for this phone (and AT&T service) was the ability from Advanced Config to lock my phone to Edge. (Yep been on Edge now for 1.5yrs as 3G would never hold on this phone. )
This past weekend I was THIS close to putting this thing into a wall. I have rebooted at least 10 times in last week for lost TOWER (not just signal), non-responsive screen, and complete freezes.
Went window shopping today. Here are the results and hoping to get feedback of all kinds. (I need more than the sales person's comments...) Please talk about service and phone if you feel like.
HTC Aria (AT&T) - Small, well tiny actually. Almost as small a screen as my Fuze. It is Android so that is a plus as I think I am burnt on WinMo. Very nice screen and decent functionality [in store]. Heard a rumor about bad speakers on this.
iPhone 4 (AT&T) - I actually tried the 3G but hated it so much I returned it for the Fuze. This was before the OS release that allowed landscape keyboard and MMS. (No need for nekkid pics of GF to be on AT&T site and me not to be able to download.) The 4 looks interesting, but not sure I like the iPhone premise really. I do not want a zillion aps to waste time. I just need about 4...map/weather/....ok two I can think of... The screen is freeking incredible though and the sales guy was right, you can read a web page without zooming with the letters basically at a 2 font size...that is good.
HD2 (T-Mobile) - HUGE screen and this is one of my top request for next phone. I want lots of real estate. I am 6'1" 240lbs and a power lifter, I have thick fingers and a big head... Small phones are like me on a Vespa. The TMo version of this phone 'sounds' like it is very limited (according to threads here). Also heard stuff about that pink stripe in pics. I like that camera is 5megapixel but really want the pics to look ok. It is still a WinMo phone and that is a bummer, but not a deal killer I guess. (Is it 6.5 or 6.1? The ladies in store were clueless.)
Evo (Sprint) - Again with the giant screen, love it. This is the top of my list for phone choices at moment, but there is one non-phone related issue here. No international coverage for a CDMA phone and I tend to travel once in a while. (Have to find out if worth it to get a second pre-paid or whatever next time I travel.) The Evo is Android and I think it is time for me to try that out. The camera is EIGHT megapixels and I basically use my camera as a back up to my point and shot. Like for real...when on a motorcycle sometimes the camera is out of reach...the phone substitutes when I am not ready to park and dig in saddle bags. 4G is not really a yes/no for me as I probably won't have it in my neighborhood and will most likely go to 3G for most of my use of phone (Dude in store said you can set phone to not use 4G.)
So my wish list is....big screen, good software, great camera, good reception, decent costs. Weighed in that order for me.
Thoughts? Help a confused shopper out.
(ps...I am just guessing this a good forum for this post. Mods let me now if it needs moved.)
Has to be HD2 great pice of kit yes its 6.5 and there are a lot of good roms in the hd2 thread that get the best out of the device IMO
Evo4 and HD2 are basically the same phone with different radio chips. Only issue I have with the Evo is the battery life is supposed to be rated in minutes not hours. LOL being a little sarcastic but I heard its not good at all. I personally think the tmo HD2 is better then the unlock int version. Has more memory and says tmobile on it and all. By far my vote is the HD2. Plays any video I download on the internet thats under 2GB with sound in sync and no dropped frames, touch screen rivals the iphone, they just cracked the linux kernal for it so we should see a usable port of android within months. Plus I'm not sold on winmo7. I think like XP we may see cooked roms taking peices of WINMO7 and cooking them into 6.5. But anyways think back with Winmo first came out and how buggy it was. If WM7 is a true rebuild then all our cool players, and mods won't work on it so even if WM7 comes out in Oct 10 I could see holding off till 2012 to make the switch. At least till the software catches up. I think when WM7 comes out your going to find were actually quite spoiled when it comes to apps and phone stuff. Also I signed up for Tmobile Flex pay plan with 500 daytime minutes, unlimited TXT and unlimited data for $68 total tax included. Service has been great! Faster then Verizon and ATT but doesn't tower hop as well. Occasionally I will run through my buffer before the next tower really takes over. This just results in 5 seconds of silence or blacked out video ,then it comes back.
Ok, so two votes for the HD2. Wanna hear the emotional/silly arguement I am having with self...HD2 already old tech.
Yep, do I want to miss out on 1ghz and 8 megapixels....grrr.
Done....money laid down...sexiest phone I have had is now mine. I couldn't decide. I was even thinking about waiting for the new Samsung or Droid X.
I let fate decided. First one avail I was taking.
I know have the Evo!!!!
All I can say...(and I have)...is Giggidy giggidy!!!
3 votes for Leo
Leo is a great device, super screen and fast enough to run smoothly WM6.5.3
I am sure Chefs and Devs @XDA will manage some how to port WP7 on it
For what its worth I heard the Evo4 is BA! Only gripe I've heard is battery life and this can be minimized by settings and an extended pack. You'll enjoy it. Hell its the same phone as the HD2 but different radio.
Go with the Samsung Galaxy S on T-Mobile.
Leaked pictures have shown that it will be sold at retail for 329.99 USD.
Super AMOLED + a kickass GPU that blows (currently) the GPU used in the iPad and the iPhone4.
With the 1 Ghz hummingbird chip currently besting the Snapdragon (until Qualcomm releases their dual-core update later this year through Project Emerald?), it is the best bang for your buck money can buy right now.
However, the HD2 has the sexiest shell-design you'll ever see in a phone. The Galaxy S will feel a little plasticky and cheap compared to the HD2. Even the EVO looks subpar against the HD2. That's how much love we're talking here with regards to the HD2's shell design.
i wish i had the freedom to change networks whenever i wanted, the evo looks like a beast of a phone and the epic 4g looks pretty sweet as well.
I've been without a phone for about 3 months now. My Curve 8320 was very dear to me, and I happened to buy it before a smartphone data plan was required on that device. The phone unfortunately will not hold a charge (I've tried multiple batteries) and only turns on--without the radio signal, mind you--when plugged in.
I have been frequenting engadget for weeks and weeks doing research on which smartphone should be my next. Do you have any opinions on which Android device is the best that AT&T has to offer? I've discounted the Inspire, I don't really want it, and the Atrix 4G looks pricey and I've heard bad things about MotoBlur. So far I've been looking at the Captivate, Infuse, and the ever so mysterious SGS2.
Which AT&T device should I choose, or will the Galaxy S2 be out soon enough to warrant a wait?
PS. I'll only be getting a 200MB data plan, but I'm on WiFi 90% of the time.
I use the Nexus One and with Gingerbread on it it runs very nice.
Unfortunately I have to get a subsidized phone on contract, or else I would have already gotten a phone.
If you can live without custom roms (and even that may be possible soon), I would highly recommend the Atrix. You can put an alternative launcher from the market on it and not have to deal with motoblur at all.
I'm using mine on a 200mb/month plan as well, without issues. As long as you dont do something stupid like stream video/audio over your data plan, you should be fine if your around wifi a lot.
So if I get an Atrix for $150 from Amazon that would probably be a more worthwhile investment than a Captivate or an Infuse? Also, would it be wise to wait until the 24th to see if the SGS2 is announced, or does the vast majority believe it'll be a Galaxy Tab announcement/something else?
I would second waiting till may 24th....
There is something even more juicy
HTC - Holiday
http://pocketnow.com/android/htc-holiday-for-att-reveals-monster-specs
drgopoos said:
I would second waiting till may 24th....
There is something even more juicy
HTC - Holiday
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Click to collapse
Wow, that's one monster of a phone. Sense isn't my favorite, and the 4.5 inch screen is a bit too big (see: Infuse), but it looks really promising. I wish AT&T would cool it with the borderline tablet sized displays. 4-4.3 is a better size, imo.
I have a dell streak ( 5 inch screen ) and absolutely love the screen estate.
I am trying to move to another phone becoz the development is kind of stagnant but just cant find anything that would give me the same screen as streak.
5 inch screen does look big but with a few days of use , u wont want to leave it .
So i guess my next phone would be htc holiday but really wish many developers going for it .
Don't listen to drgopoos... Dell streak is WAY behind. It was late when it came out and it's a dinosaur now. Wait till the 24th to see if the SGSII is coming to AT&T. If it doesn't get the Atrix. Yeah, motoblur is not the best thing ever, but the hardware is worth it. Plus Motorola wants to open the bootloader for custom roms, and AT&T seems like they would give them the Go-Ahead to do so given their new "we love android" status.
BananaPhone69 said:
Don't listen to drgopoos... Dell streak is WAY behind. It was late when it came out and it's a dinosaur now. Wait till the 24th to see if the SGSII is coming to AT&T. If it doesn't get the Atrix. Yeah, motoblur is not the best thing ever, but the hardware is worth it. Plus Motorola wants to open the bootloader for custom roms, and AT&T seems like they would give them the Go-Ahead to do so given their new "we love android" status.
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I am trying to not listen to myself
That is why i am looking for something new
I'd agree, wait. Once the SGS II is on the market, read some reviews of it and if you can check one out in person (and the other phones mentioned as well for comparison purposes). Then make a decision.
Nexus S
Once I got over the subsidy "free free" thing and went with an unlocked Nexus S on ATT, things just "worked".
Took only a few seconds to pull the SIM from my old phone and shove it into the new. The i9020A instantly signed into the ATT network, also locked on to the 3G data just fine.
It's the size and shape of a regular phone, fits my hand, fits my pocket.
Sparse is a word I would use for the apps installed.. but thats a good thing.. the only apps on it now are the apps I want on it.. its clean.
I know its a dev phone, but "really" do all the other phones "add" anything to the reference? Most seem to remove, block, break, reduce and charge you extra for everything.. that's not what I'd call a bargain.
And I've yet to see a "full featured" phone app from one of the big three I actually wanted to "pay for" with the 2 year contract.
The Samsung event on 5/24/11 has been postponed..... An Atrix is slowly looking like my new phone. I may wait a week or so before I set a decision in stone though.
Anyone have anything to say about the Atrix before I buy one, root it, and pop GingerBlur on it? It's either that or wait for the white AT&T Nexus S if it is coming out any time soon. Seems like it would be the perfect time.
Im on Sprint and have been phoneless since my epic broke (for the 800th time lol)....and am waiting on the evo3d wich comes out friday to use my early upgrade. However Im not so sure i want to switch over to htc and am just mesmerized by the infuse (seems to be the closest thing to the sgs2 IMO)......would it be worth it to switch over to att and skip the evo? I see its on sale at best buy for only $99 as well. This might seem a little illogical as i cant find anything on the infuse vs the evo3d lol.
I have been on ATT for 8 years. Signal coverage in my area is excellent (Western Washington). I have had zero problems with customer service. As of today, all dealings with CS has been very enjoyable.
The phone is outstanding. The only issue was long waits for GPS to lock. A few setting changes (No hacks) and now 2-3 sec GPS locks. A 4.5 inch screen seems like it would make a large phone, but it fits well in the hand and feels good while talking.
Hope this helps.
The Pinhead said:
I have been on ATT for 8 years. Signal coverage in my area is excellent (Western Washington). I have had zero problems with customer service. As of today, all dealings with CS has been very enjoyable.
The phone is outstanding. The only issue was long waits for GPS to lock. A few setting changes (No hacks) and now 2-3 sec GPS locks. A 4.5 inch screen seems like it would make a large phone, but it fits well in the hand and feels good while talking.
Hope this helps.
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May I ask what setting changes you did for GPS?
That question has a couple of varying factors in it:
The most important, IMO-
1) Does AT&T work the same (or better) than Sprint where you live?
If it does, then...
2) Do you have a problem paying more, for less? I have had AT&T for 8 years now, and the coverage is great where I live (we just got 4G, as well), but my bill is about $210 a month, for 5 lines (2 smartphones), with 450 minutes to share between all 5, 5000 N&W, and unlimited mobile to mobile, text, and 4GB data with my Infuse (with tethering) and 2GB for my wifes iphone 4. The 3 other lines are my "rotating upgrades", so I pay $30 extra a month for the right upgrade essentially whenever I want, so you can say you'd be paying about $180 for the same exact plan as I have. If you're on your own, I think Sprint is about $70 for 450 anytime minutes, unlimited M2M, text, and UNLIMITED data... IIRC. I know you have Sprint now, so you know how much you pay.. I'm just stating for comparison purposes.
If both of those aren't an issue...
I would determine what you want to do on your phone, and whether or not 3D is important to you. For me, I use my phone for light gaming (some emulators/Let's Golf! 2 HD/etc, watching flash videos, taking pictures, Pandora about 3-5 hours a day, occasional email, about 100 texts a day, and occasionally watching a movie. The Infuse has never, once, prevented me from doing any of the above. Flash video (especially on a custom rom) plays 100% fine with no stutter, it has a great camera, big screen, and the battery is more than enough to power me through a whole day and come out with 30%+ left.
If you "need" the power that a DC phone provides, then by all means, touch it out and go for the Evo 3D. For me, the Infuse has provided everything I need and then some. Will I eventually jump to a dual core phone? Most certainly. I'll get AT&T's first LTE phone that comes to market (which i'm assuming will probably have a dual core processor in it)..but for now, this is the best phone i've had in the past 4 years.
angieutc said:
May I ask what setting changes you did for GPS?
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Click to collapse
Just followed these directions
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1107860
timmillah said:
but for now, this is the best phone i've had in the past 4 years.
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I agree 100%. This is the best phone ATT has had in a long time.
The Pinhead said:
I agree 100%. This is the best phone ATT has had in a long time.
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Click to collapse
Not just on AT&T, I've had unlocked phones, everywhere from the HTC Touch HD, the Nokia N95/e71/e75/N8, SE Xperia X1/Arc... It's THE best phone i've used. I had the Inspire, and while I liked it, the battery life was a huge downer for me.
I just can't wait for more devs to come on board and get some CM7 or MIUI love! (love the work the devs that are here are doing, though!)
well it depends, are you a talker? unlimited everything on att will be much more expensive. but if you csn use a minimum talk plan or you have a family plan with many lines its not too bad. check for work discounts as well.
other than price the service is really good lately. my area was weird but recently I wouldn't have anything else, not even Verizon. the data speeds are better than sprint, and though t-mo can be faster and lte is way faster t-mo has crappy coverage and lte is in a limited number of markets. with att you get good 3g speeds almost anywhere. 3g on Verizon is agivatingly slow in most places so you either have crazy speed in a big city, or you want throw the phone in frustation.
if cost isn't an issue att is probably not a bad idea, unfortunately there is no unlimited data unless you had the old iphone plan, that could be the deal breaker for many smartphone users.
timmillah said:
That question has a couple of varying factors in it:
The most important, IMO-
1) Does AT&T work the same (or better) than Sprint where you live?
If it does, then...
2) Do you have a problem paying more, for less? I have had AT&T for 8 years now, and the coverage is great where I live (we just got 4G, as well), but my bill is about $210 a month, for 5 lines (2 smartphones), with 450 minutes to share between all 5, 5000 N&W, and unlimited mobile to mobile, text, and 4GB data with my Infuse (with tethering) and 2GB for my wifes iphone 4. The 3 other lines are my "rotating upgrades", so I pay $30 extra a month for the right upgrade essentially whenever I want, so you can say you'd be paying about $180 for the same exact plan as I have. If you're on your own, I think Sprint is about $70 for 450 anytime minutes, unlimited M2M, text, and UNLIMITED data... IIRC. I know you have Sprint now, so you know how much you pay.. I'm just stating for comparison purposes.
If both of those aren't an issue...
I would determine what you want to do on your phone, and whether or not 3D is important to you. For me, I use my phone for light gaming (some emulators/Let's Golf! 2 HD/etc, watching flash videos, taking pictures, Pandora about 3-5 hours a day, occasional email, about 100 texts a day, and occasionally watching a movie. The Infuse has never, once, prevented me from doing any of the above. Flash video (especially on a custom rom) plays 100% fine with no stutter, it has a great camera, big screen, and the battery is more than enough to power me through a whole day and come out with 30%+ left.
If you "need" the power that a DC phone provides, then by all means, touch it out and go for the Evo 3D. For me, the Infuse has provided everything I need and then some. Will I eventually jump to a dual core phone? Most certainly. I'll get AT&T's first LTE phone that comes to market (which i'm assuming will probably have a dual core processor in it)..but for now, this is the best phone i've had in the past 4 years.
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I do beleive att would work better in my area. Im in upstate NY. And the everything data plan for sprint is 79.99 but all in all ends up costing me about 96$ with all the otehr charges a month so $120 doesent seem that much more steep. Im actually pretty impressed with everything on the evo3d EXCEPT the camera.....and i dont mean 3d , could care less about that......just the camera in general seems to suck.
my girl and i are both sprint/htc eve 4g lte and are both up for renewal. both phones are on the way out - hers cracked screen, mine cracked screen and dying a slow death (bad speaker, may or many not get texts/vm's, often the screen stays blank when receiving a call, etc). my youngest son needs a phone, as well.
me - open to a number of phones: htc one, lg g2, samsung s4, etc.
her - non-techie, she's thinking the same phone (htc eve 4g lte), htc one or iPhone (knows nothing else, really)
son wants an iPhone 5s since his mom and older brother are on iPhones, but it's really up to me.
needs: great service in atl (mostly) and western nc at a minimum (the latter screams verizon) due to bing in sales/local travel/on the phone ALL day long (both); unlimited everything (again, hers and mine are also work phones...); hot spot-capable; root.
i'm an htc fan, but def open to other ideas. i've looked at myrateplan,com, so i have a basic idea about what's out there, but i don't see anything about the service quality of the smaller companies specific to our area.
now, the questions:
1. where can i find current info on the service quality for our area of the no-contract companies (i have no idea whose towers metrics or virgin mobile, for example, use)?
2. if you're in/have recently been in the same situation, what would/did you do?
a lot to consider. thanks in advance!