With possible tiered data plans looming on Verizon, I'm now in the market for a smartphone. I want to get in with unlimited data. I'm in a 4G area, and want a 4G phone. I'm trying to decide which to get. Currently I'm leaning toward the Charge.
From those who actually own this device, would you get it again, or would you go with something else? Are you happy with the dev work, or other phones are better? Sell me, one way or the other.
alohasurf0007 said:
With possible tiered data plans looming on Verizon, I'm now in the market for a smartphone. I want to get in with unlimited data. I'm in a 4G area, and want a 4G phone. I'm trying to decide which to get. Currently I'm leaning toward the Charge.
From those who actually own this device, would you get it again, or would you go with something else? Are you happy with the dev work, or other phones are better? Sell me, one way or the other.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well..let me help...I love the CHARGE...and I had a Thunderbolt for 6 months.......I happen to like the fact that the CHARGE has kinda a flimsy battery cover..to me..since it is "flimsy" it makes it lighter then the Thunderbolt....
as far as battery life..it never really affected me because I have an extended battery for my Charge and I also had one for more Thunderbolt....so they both lasted me the day...the only con I find with the Charge compared to the TB is that with the Thunderbolt whenever you got new e mail or txt message there was and LCD that flashed on the device....with the Charge...there is no LCD notification.....let me ad..that is not a deal breaker...for me...the charge is a better phone...and yes...I rooted and had custom roms on both.....and I rooted right away so can not give you a comparision stock LOL
I finally took the plunge and got a charge. I was always a sense guy. I loved the incredible, even with its horrific battery (before froyo and rooting). Thus the thunderbolt was the natural pick for me. But i needed a phone for phone calls, and the voice quality on that phone was lacking. A lot. So i finally sold off my thunderbolt and got a charge. I hate Samsung 's touchwiz and the stock apps are nothing compared to the stock sense ones, but there are some great alternatives in the market. My charge works great with launcherpro, the go dialer and handcent.
The orange theme though needs to go. Whichever Samsung or Verizon person thought up the brown and orange theme needs to get his eyes checked. And seriously reconsider his life decisions. Thank goodness for xda !
But i love the hardware. Made the thing worth it. Feels great in hand and i love the little thing.
alohasurf0007 said:
With possible tiered data plans looming on Verizon, I'm now in the market for a smartphone. I want to get in with unlimited data. I'm in a 4G area, and want a 4G phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Word has it that the tired data plans are only for new plans and that existing customers - even those that upgrade after the tired plans are in effect will not be affected. My referance: droid-life.com/2011/06/21/current-verizon-customers-wont-be-affected-by-tiered-data-only-new-customers-and-lines/
As for the charge - I was thinking that I should wait for a dual core phone with the latest and greatest processor but this phone is plenty fast and the network has much more an effect on usability than how fast a quadrant score you get.
"whenever you got new e mail or txt message there was and LCD that flashed on the device....with the Charge...there is no LCD notification"
I use the highly-rated noled, available on the android market, to handle notifications and it works well for me. I don't miss the dedicated led that was on my Droid 1.
frickandfrak said:
The orange theme though needs to go. Whichever Samsung or Verizon person thought up the brown and orange theme needs to get his eyes checked. And seriously reconsider his life decisions. Thank goodness for xda !
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Click to collapse
Don't mean to pick on you... but have you looked at the XDA site???
binglejellsx2 said:
Don't mean to pick on you... but have you looked at the XDA site???
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Wow, did not even realize our stock Droid Charges were xda-themed...
LOL, never really noticed the similarity between xda and Charge's color theme. Clearly similar, but it's much more orange and stark on the Charge. On my MacBook the forum here looks brown and shades of off-white/tan, not dark brown and stark orange.
To the OP, no, in hindsight I would not buy the Charge again, especially at this late date. I bought it because I love SAMOLED screens, and I wanted a second LTE unlimited data phone on the family plan before they went away.
My suggestion at this point is if you want to buy an LTE phone for that reason, buy either the Charge or the TB in the next week or two AT COSTCO. You'll lock into the data plan, but Costco gives you 90 days to swap the phone for a different model if you're not happy with it. Hopefully the Bionic or Galaxy S 2 or some LTE phone that actually has a nice screen and decent battery life and non-lagged performance will be out and you can swap for it.
Thanks all for your feedback. And the note about Costco is very interesting. I saw the other day they were selling it for $180, with extras.
I'm looking to find more information about the %20 corp discount change. Currently my wife has that on her line, and it's not something I'd be happy about loosing if that's the case.
I'm digging this phone. Like the screen and its physical buttons. Lte is great and plentiful in my area. Going to root and flash gummycharge when I get home.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
Definitely go with the charge... no boot loader locks, easy odin flashing, plenty of dev work, best looking non iphone screen on the market, great battery life, comes with a 32gb sdcard,
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
I would get it again, but if I were already on a Fascinate (or other SGS phone) and looking to upgrade without the intention of locking in unlimited 4G/data, then I'd stay with what I had. Regardless of what you have now, if you're looking to upgrade to a 4G phone, I'd say the Charge is the one to have.
pH_ said:
Word has it that the tired data plans are only for new plans and that existing customers - even those that upgrade after the tired plans are in effect will not be affected. My referance: droid-life.com/2011/06/21/current-verizon-customers-wont-be-affected-by-tiered-data-only-new-customers-and-lines/
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Click to collapse
This is not entirely correct. Existing smartphone users will not be affected, if you already have unlimited data, you're good. If you don't have it on July 7th, you're not getting it, period.
distortedloop said:
My suggestion at this point is if you want to buy an LTE phone for that reason, buy either the Charge or the TB in the next week or two AT COSTCO. You'll lock into the data plan, but Costco gives you 90 days to swap the phone for a different model if you're not happy with it. Hopefully the Bionic or Galaxy S 2 or some LTE phone that actually has a nice screen and decent battery life and non-lagged performance will be out and you can swap for it.
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Click to collapse
Oh wow nice idea, 90 days is quite some time.
Yeah, I just picked up my Charge yesterday to lock in my lte data. I always buy at costco, I'll be good to pick up any phones that come out until the end of August. By the way, the computers for Verizon code 4g and 3g differently in the system, even if they cost the same. I spoke to the rep there and he showed my fascinate line was a 3g device and the charge said 4g device in Verizon's system on his screen. He said the change happened a month or so ago. I called customer service and she said she couldn't comment on unreleased information, but "hypothetically" if you have a 3g plan and are grandfathered, and then get a 4g phone after unlimited goes away, even though the 4g plans cost the same, you will be seen as having a different data package in Verizon's system and be forced to pay the tiered pricing. Verizon isn't stupid.
Kamar234 said:
Yeah, I just picked up my Charge yesterday to lock in my lte data. I always buy at costco, I'll be good to pick up any phones that come out until the end of August. By the way, the computers for Verizon code 4g and 3g differently in the system, even if they cost the same. I spoke to the rep there and he showed my fascinate line was a 3g device and the charge said 4g device in Verizon's system on his screen. He said the change happened a month or so ago. I called customer service and she said she couldn't comment on unreleased information, but "hypothetically" if you have a 3g plan and are grandfathered, and then get a 4g phone after unlimited goes away, even though the 4g plans cost the same, you will be seen as having a different data package in Verizon's system and be forced to pay the tiered pricing. Verizon isn't stupid.
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Just to clarify.........
I have an SGS (Vibrant), but am going to switch to Verizon soon (before 6 July). I called a Verizon Customer Service rep yesterday and asked about the data info. Long story short, If you have "an unlimited data plan" (3G/4G - doesn't matter), you will be grandfathered in to the unlimited data for $30 until you upgrade your phone or 2 years, whichever is first. If you get a new phone withing the next two years, you will be forced into the new tiered data plan. If you keep the same phone for two years, at the end of that 2 years, you will be forced to switch to the tiered data plan. AT&T is doing the same thing once it acquires T-Mobile. Hope this helps and clarifies info for someone.
-Adam
Well that goes against what Droid-Life is saying, and AC and Engadget are repeating, that existing smartphone customers will be able to keep their existing unlimited plans when they upgrade. That's what most of the data out now suggests, and the fact that some CSR's are repeating it and there seems to be a few documents out now seems to confirm it. There's a pretty huge difference between us being able to upgrade and keep unlimited or not after the 7th, and VZW can't afford to have confusion being spread by their employees. So I would think that if they were not allowing us to upgrade keeping unlimited, they would have made it very clear to their employees from the beginning, rather than leaving it ambiguous, or even suggesting something that wasn't true.
Regardless, if we accept that as true, which most people do at this point, we still don't know what they'll count as a change or not. People who bought smartphones off ebay but never got a smartphone when renewing their contract likely won't be eligible, since they aren't technically smartphone customers in VZW's system. We also don't know if people switching to or from Blackberries and iPhones will be counted as having the same plan as an Android device. And the big question is whether someone with an unlimited 3g plan can get a 4g device and keep that unlimited plan. There doesn't seem to be any difference between the plans, but there definitely is, and they could definitely force you to switch to tiered if upgrading to an LTE phone. They haven't said this will be the case, but there hasn't been any info to suggest it won't be.
For this reason alone I'd definitely buy the Charge again. I had no smartphone before, and was able to buy the best LTE smartphone available before D-Day nearly a month ago for $150. I'm locked in to LTE unlimited at least with this phone, and the only "if" is whether VZW will allow us to upgrade to a similar device and keep the plan, since I'll only be going to another LTE Android in the future I'm sure. It won't matter to me whether they distinguish between 3g and 4g plans.
But yeah, the device itself is great, too! Best screen on the market, awesome camera and the ffc is decent, the shape is quite nice once you get used to it, battery life is quite good considering what it is and how heavily I use it, there's a ton of development with much more likely to come, and the SGS platform is still strong hardware. Sure, its not the most powerful thing around anymore by any means, but it'll hold its own, especially with some help from the awesome devs! So yeah, it'll get old after awhile, but I expect the development will keep me happy for quite some time. And there's nothing out there that would be worth missing out on unlimited 4g data for. I REALLY don't want tiered, even if I have to upgrade at full price from here on out.
alohasurf0007 said:
From those who actually own this device, would you get it again, or would you go with something else? Are you happy with the dev work, or other phones are better? Sell me, one way or the other.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My wife and I were in the same position. We both had blackberries and were able to get new phones in June. I heard about the tiered data BS so I started looking for phones so I could lock in unlimited 4G.
After searching/reading about Verizon's 4G phones, I decided to go with the charge with the TB being a close second. What made the decision for me was the screen and the better battery life. (I just got the phone 2 days ago... wife gets hers today)
What I like about the Charge:
Screen is the best I have seen. Really looks great.
Battery life is reasonable
What I don't like:
Cheap plastic construction. (Although I will be putting mine in a holster w/screen cover... so I guess light plastic is better than metal which would get covered anyway). And when I say cheap... I mean cheap. It seems like it is a very soft plastic between the bezel and the back plate. I already got a small nick in mine and I have been babying it until I get a case. Buttons feel good and screen looks great but the chassis sucks.
Worse-than-usual terrible verizon bloatware. Seriously Verizon. **** YOU. If I want all your crap, I would download it. At least make it deletable you ****ing assholes. Ohhh... and thanks for the non-deletable bookmarks to your ****ty websites. I will be rooting and freezing this PURE UNADULTERATED CRAP asap.
No case included with the phone. Even a cheap slip-on plastic sleeve would be nice to tide you over until you have time to order a case.
I don't have much experience with Android (have a couple month old Transformer) but I am pretty sure I am going to hate touchwiz. A lot of things are just plain weird about it.
Anyway, if you have any specific questions, ask away. One other thing to consider is that the TB will have a lot larger dev community than the charge. Then again, as long as I can root and get a good ROM I don't care that much.
el_brio said:
My wife and I were in the same position. We both had blackberries and were able to get new phones in June. I heard about the tiered data BS so I started looking for phones so I could lock in unlimited 4G.
After searching/reading about Verizon's 4G phones, I decided to go with the charge with the TB being a close second. What made the decision for me was the screen and the better battery life. (I just got the phone 2 days ago... wife gets hers today)
What I like about the Charge:
Screen is the best I have seen. Really looks great.
Battery life is reasonable
What I don't like:
Cheap plastic construction. (Although I will be putting mine in a holster w/screen cover... so I guess light plastic is better than metal which would get covered anyway). And when I say cheap... I mean cheap. It seems like it is a very soft plastic between the bezel and the back plate. I already got a small nick in mine and I have been babying it until I get a case. Buttons feel good and screen looks great but the chassis sucks.
/snip/
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I was a proud owner of DROID X and the fact that it is metal, solid and heavy, everyone who tried and held it thought it screamed high quality. Then I bought the latest TPU (google it) cover skin for the DROID X because I had every intention of dumping it once VZW came with 4G phone. With the TPU skin on, my friends' frame of mind was completely changed. Since they can't touch and feel the cold metal surface, their subsequent reaction was that the phone is way too heavy, how could you carry a brick like that in your khaki pants, you're going to kill me with that, aren't ya?, etc., etc. It was comical. Fast forward 11 months, they're touching and feeling my Droid Charge that's also covered with TPU skin. Their first reaction was, "wow what a screen. This thing fits so nicely in the hand and soooo light, and they can fit all that power in a small and extremely light package, and still have similar sized, 4.3" screen as your old Droid X" (paraphrased). I showed them the two phones, side by side, in their TPU skins with the same "Verizon red" color. FYI, the TPU skin has a semi rigid, smooth and shinny skin. It hides the Droid Charge's thin plastic (spelled light) body and gives it a rigid feel to it, not unlike the similarly skinned DROID X. My 2c.
Cruiserdude said:
Regardless, if we accept that as true, which most people do at this point, we still don't know what they'll count as a change or not. People who bought smartphones off ebay but never got a smartphone when renewing their contract likely won't be eligible, since they aren't technically smartphone customers in VZW's system. We also don't know if people switching to or from Blackberries and iPhones will be counted as having the same plan as an Android device. And the big question is whether someone with an unlimited 3g plan can get a 4g device and keep that unlimited plan. There doesn't seem to be any difference between the plans, but there definitely is, and they could definitely force you to switch to tiered if upgrading to an LTE phone. They haven't said this will be the case, but there hasn't been any info to suggest it won't be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. First of all, I have absolutely ZERO trust in anything that Verizon says... and less than zero trust in anything their reps say. My wife and I had 3G unlimited plans for $30 (Blackberry). Personally, I would have waited until the newer phones came out in a couple of months before switching... but at this point all we have is a "promise" (do we even have that really?) that we could get grandfathered in. I am guessing that the new iPhone 5 will have 4G and they will want to get people off the unlimited plans because netflix and the like are going to absolutely hammer their bandwidth otherwise.
In short, my unlimited plan MAY have carried over... but there is nothing in writing saying that it will. With a new contract, I am safe and can cancel if they change my terms after-the-fact. I wouldn't be surprised if on July 7th they issue a clarification on the issue after it is too late.
So, who's still stuck in a contract and when does it end? What are your plans when it does end? Upgrade or leave and go to a prepaid plan?
My contract ends on 12/14/13 and am counting down the days when I can leave Verizon and never look back. It makes me sick to pay $180/month service for two smart phones when I can go with a prepaid service and save $80-$90. So I plan on waiting it out and not even toying with the idea of upgrading and locking myself into a phone that will become obsolete in 6 months and a plan that is overpriced and includes ridiculous fees and charges.
I will be looking to spend around $200-$250 on a phone. I know that I can get a SGS2 or Gnex right now for that but in 9 months I'm thinking that the price of a S3 will come down to where I can afford it. I'm also looking at a RAZR or RAZR Maxx. Used of course. I originally started looking on Craigslist, but am thinking Amazon is the way to go.
I obviously want the most for my money and something unlocked or unlockable and plenty of support available for the phone.
What other options will I have in that price range?
HTC?
Samsung?
Motorola?
Sent from my CM10 Droid X2 using Tapatalk 2
I did the same thing last November. I saw how much Sprint wanted monthly for a smartphone and now I have a smartphone for less than I was paying them for just minutes and texting with no data.
I was looking around to buy a phone and I personally felt it was better to spend a bit more money and get the GS3 (which was about $400 when I got it) so that it would last me longer and not already feel very dated. I put it on a card and I've already paid it off - very minimal interest accrued.
If I were you, I'd get the S4 or something if you're looking to buy at the very end of this year - that way they'll be on the market for a while and you can likely find one used at a decent-enough discount over buying new. I feel like it pays to spend more on something better.
Or you could buy an N4 new if you don't care about removable battery and sd card.
You could also just buy a really cheap phone or flash whatever you have now to a pre-paid service - and save the money you were paying to Verizon and put it aside to buy a better phone.
You have a long time. Ultimately, I wouldn't worry about it yet. See what you can save up between now and then, just wait and see where prices will go by then (The Nexus phones aren't much more to save up for you and I'd bet a new one will be released between now and then - a great value if the hardware is right).
Pennycake said:
I did the same thing last November. I saw how much Sprint wanted monthly for a smartphone and now I have a smartphone for less than I was paying them for just minutes and texting with no data.
I was looking around to buy a phone and I personally felt it was better to spend a bit more money and get the GS3 (which was about $400 when I got it) so that it would last me longer and not already feel very dated. I put it on a card and I've already paid it off - very minimal interest accrued.
If I were you, I'd get the S4 or something if you're looking to buy at the very end of this year - that way they'll be on the market for a while and you can likely find one used at a decent-enough discount over buying new. I feel like it pays to spend more on something better.
Or you could buy an N4 new if you don't care about removable battery and sd card.
You could also just buy a really cheap phone or flash whatever you have now to a pre-paid service - and save the money you were paying to Verizon and put it aside to buy a better phone.
You have a long time. Ultimately, I wouldn't worry about it yet. See what you can save up between now and then, just wait and see where prices will go by then (The Nexus phones aren't much more to save up for you and I'd bet a new one will be released between now and then - a great value if the hardware is right).
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If you're looking for a phone, you're not going to find much for around $200-250 besides well used S2s right now, and S3s aren't going to come down as dramatically as the GNex did when the N4 was announced. The S3 is still a solid powerhouse that will command at least $300 at minimum for a well used one when all is said and done after the S4 drops. If you're just looking to expand your functionality of your phone, but not have to pay the insane carrier prices/payment schemes for equipment, or worse, MSRP, then you may be in the market for a cheap N7 like myself. I was originally looking for a Note or N7, if I could get the Note, that would be the end of it, but since I found a brand spanking new N7 I've been very happy overall with my pair of Androids. I can still upgrade my phone later, but because I'm not relying on my phone to do anything other than handle my data connection and provide me with a physical handheld to use for calls, I'm not quite as concerned about upgrading it anytime soon. I had already anticipated when I upgraded from a beat up Optimus 3D to the S2 that I would have to stick with whatever I got at $250 (I got super lucky, it was only 2 weeks old) for the better part of at least a year before I could even think about upgrading my phone again. I got that itch shortly after when I found myself semi-limited by the phone as far as certain gaming capability. I then eyed a Note or N7 in order to get my gaming fix. The N7 I ended up getting has since been a VERY handy tool for not just getting my mobile gaming fix, but for remote troubleshooting, home network/pc management when I get calls from my roommates for broken services.
Before you make ANY purchase, ask yourself a couple questions about what you really want. Do you want a device to game on? An accessory/toy? An internet connected tool? A better communications platform? I found that I was already satisfied with my phone and only wanted to get a bigger screen, longer battery life, and better gaming support, which made the Note and N7 perfect options. Note if I chose to drop $400 on a used one and have a phablet, or an N7 for $200 and just never take my phone out of my pocket.
Either way, I would recommend looking into Swappa.com, the Marketplace replacement as this is where I found my N7, and Craigslist (though be VERY CAREFUL here) for the S2.
What I mean by be VERY CAREFUL with transactions on Craigslist is that I've heard of people buying a lightly used phone from somebody for decent money on there, only to find the phone doesn't work anymore and rejects the carrier a month or two down the road. This is typically because the original seller bought the phone on a payment plan and have since either stopped making payments, or have dropped the carrier altogether, and the carrier has responded well within the contract and blacklisted the device on the network. Swappa is a lot more reliable for not dealing in possibly abused/misrepresented items, but you'll pay a premium for this peace of mind. Good luck!
I use my phone now primarily for streaming spotify while at work, email, texting and browsing the web. My WiFi connection at work is sometimes unreliable so I rely heavily on my 3g connection. I'm not as concerned about having the latest tech either. I would probably be fine for a couple of years using a gnex or s3. Although I probably would go for the s3 simply because of the removable battery and SD card slot.
Sent from my CM10 Droid X2 using Tapatalk 2
Cynagen makes some very good points. I am mainly interested in changing carriers and lowering my contract price, and was looking at buying something new and unlocked. Tethering to a full-featured, higher spec tablet makes a lot of sense if the main use case is data. I rarely use my phone for voice, and most times am within wi-fi coverage.
=RV=
redvelociraptor said:
Cynagen makes some very good points. I am mainly interested in changing carriers and lowering my contract price, and was looking at buying something new and unlocked. Tethering to a full-featured, higher spec tablet makes a lot of sense if the main use case is data. I rarely use my phone for voice, and most times am within wi-fi coverage.
=RV=
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It's an okay idea, but the phone's battery is going to drain FAST if it's constantly tethering. And unless you're paying for tethering, there might not always be a reliable work-around to get it to work anyway.
My S3 lasted about 4 hours of continuous tethering and it was pretty warm. Instead of it being able to manage going to "sleep", you'd have to do that manually - turn your tethering on whenever you want to use your tablet. Which may work depending on patience and usage.
Another idea might be a data-only SIM in a tablet and make calls over VOIP or just keep a spare phone for the minutes if that's what you want.
I have a phone and a tablet and I use my phone more often on a daily basis - it would not be practical to bring my tablet where I most often use my phone - the size difference is big enough to go from "kind of bulky" to "full on leg shield if you can even get it in your pocket".
I'm not knocking the idea, just saying you need to consider the downsides, too. I almost went for it, myself, but with the $30/mo T-Mobile plan I decided just to get the S3. It's a good size for carrying in a pocket, and I have a 10" tablet that's a great size for watching movies, too (bought it from a friend). I'd recommend going to a store and comparing sizes. For me, 7" just didn't fit in - it was too small for what I wanted to use a tablet for and too big to carry around all day - but if you have to carry a bag or something, it might be a better fit.
Pennycake said:
It's an okay idea, but the phone's battery is going to drain FAST if it's constantly tethering. And unless you're paying for tethering, there might not always be a reliable work-around to get it to work anyway.
My S3 lasted about 4 hours of continuous tethering and it was pretty warm. Instead of it being able to manage going to "sleep", you'd have to do that manually - turn your tethering on whenever you want to use your tablet. Which may work depending on patience and usage.
Another idea might be a data-only SIM in a tablet and make calls over VOIP or just keep a spare phone for the minutes if that's what you want.
I have a phone and a tablet and I use my phone more often on a daily basis - it would not be practical to bring my tablet where I most often use my phone - the size difference is big enough to go from "kind of bulky" to "full on leg shield if you can even get it in your pocket".
I'm not knocking the idea, just saying you need to consider the downsides, too. I almost went for it, myself, but with the $30/mo T-Mobile plan I decided just to get the S3. It's a good size for carrying in a pocket, and I have a 10" tablet that's a great size for watching movies, too (bought it from a friend). I'd recommend going to a store and comparing sizes. For me, 7" just didn't fit in - it was too small for what I wanted to use a tablet for and too big to carry around all day - but if you have to carry a bag or something, it might be a better fit.
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I can confirm that it does drain the battery fast! To address this issue I bought a USB-OTG adapter, and just carry one of my 3 microUSB cables with me at all times. When my phone runs low while I'm on the train or bus or something, I use the USB-OTG cable from the tablet to my phone to keep my phone alive, and while it'll drain the tablet faster, I actually get about a 1.25% charge per 1% drained on the tablet (idle), so it's actually pretty efficient (this surprised me). When I'm in the office, I'll let the phone drain down to warning levels <15% and then use the USB cable to connect it to my desk computer in order to charge up, usually towards the end of the day. The tablet I only really charge at home each night when it's practically dead itself. (I practice stretching the batteries out as far as you can stomach (normally <5%) as you're supposed to with Li-Ion.)
I thought about getting a GSM N7, but when I saw it was an extra $100, plus another $30/mo for a data-only SIM card with unlimited service, when I could tether to my cellphone for free, I chose the $200 one-time & free/mo because T-Mobile just sees Android devices and doesn't care.
Evaluate your end goal, and review all possible avenues towards that goal, I chose the cheapest easiest way for myself, and while you may not have these same avenues available, make sure you do all your research to see if you can get anywhere close.
@Pennycake: I don't know how you only got 4 hours of continuous tethering, I get at least 6 straight on my S2. Check what OTHER processes you have running and see about getting a kernel you can undervolt as well as drop to a super bare minimum speed. (My S2 when WiFi tethering to my N7 sits active @ 192Mhz as that's all that's needed to maintain connection, otherwise it hits deep sleep.)
I don't tether all that often, so it's not a big issue to me (it was on a train ride and I probably won't be travelling again for another year).
Another idea is to use the $30/mo data only and use Google Voice + a VOIP service (like Groove IP) - turning the tablet itself into a phone that way. I read an article about someone who did it and really considered it for a while (in my case, I'm glad I didn't because I don't have the data coverage to make calls everywhere I normally am - sometimes I'm getting only GPRS where I can easily make a call, but not so much over data).
After reading a comparison on S3 compared to One X, it seems as though overall the S3 looks better. Has better battery life, SD card slot, better camera. Now that HTC is out of the picture, I will look into comparing the RAZR phones to the S3. I have heard that Motorola phones have better reception than Samsung. Is this true or just a few people's experience?
Sent from my MB870 using Tapatalk 2
To op. You can talk about early cancelation. Sometimes it doesn't cost as much as you'd think. I did that with at&t thank god for it. That was the worst and so over priced. I'm with Verizon and love it but you sound like you're paying way to much. I pay 99 a month unlimited text and data (my plan started before this family shared data thing) and 500 anytime min but I use Skype anyway.
I think I might switch depending on the shared data thing since there are 2 users on my plan.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
5imp7y said:
To op. You can talk about early cancelation. Sometimes it doesn't cost as much as you'd think. I did that with at&t thank god for it. That was the worst and so over priced. I'm with Verizon and love it but you sound like you're paying way to much. I pay 99 a month unlimited text and data (my plan started before this family shared data thing) and 500 anytime min but I use Skype anyway.
I think I might switch depending on the shared data thing since there are 2 users on my plan.
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Early termination would be too much for us. We currently have three lines, two of which have data plans, the third just an extra line that we added almost two years ago to use it for an upgrade. Our two main lines would cost about 200 each and we would then have to buy two phones.
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I've seen them go around that much on eBay regularly now, and I'm wondering if it's worth it. Currently have a gaming laptop, but I'll be selling jt for about $600 and want something with a bigger screen than my Note 2 for movies and web browsing in bed, and something with a nice keyboard dock available (the one for the Tab Plus is only $30 on Amazon now).
Anyway, I can get 2GB of web with T-Mobile for $10/month, which is fine since I'll use it on Wifi mostly anyway, but I'm wondering if there are any flaws with the T-Mobile version (or Tab Plus in general) I should be aware of. I'll probably be sticking to stock ICS due to IR and keyboard support, if that matters, and I'm fine with ICS.
How do you get 2GB for $10? http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/mobile-broadband-plans.aspx
You can add data to your voice plan for $10, but tethering costs extra ($15/mo., I think). And a phone sim won't work in a data device.
I have a GT-P6210 wi-fi I use at home, and a 4G broadband modem for when I go on the road - just buy a pass when I need to. My wife tethers her iPad too when she's along. The combination is more versatile than a tablet dedicated to a single carrier - I can upgrade (to a Nexus 7) any time,
Edit: Seems they now have a new "Simple Choice" set of plans - higher price, but include tethering.
SaurusM3 said:
How do you get 2GB for $10? http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/mobile-broadband-plans.aspx
You can add data to your voice plan for $10, but tethering costs extra ($15/mo., I think). And a phone sim won't work in a data device.
I have a GT-P6210 wi-fi I use at home, and a 4G broadband modem for when I go on the road - just buy a pass when I need to. My wife tethers her iPad too when she's along. The combination is more versatile than a tablet dedicated to a single carrier - I can upgrade (to a Nexus 7) any time,
Edit: Seems they now have a new "Simple Choice" set of plans - higher price, but include tethering.
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I get it through a friend at T-Mobile, that's not a concern.
And having the 4G built in is just much easier for me, as that's one less device to carry around and worry about battery life with, and I don't even have any other Wifi-only devices that I can't just use hotspost on my phone for in the rare chance I'd need it. And running hotspot every time I want data on the tablet rather than just using it immediately is too much hassle for me personally.
I mean, if the P6210 is considerably cheaper than the T-Mobile version at the time I buy it, I'll get that, but if not then I'll get the T-Mobole version.
But anyway, can you think of any drawbacks or flaws with the P6210 I should be aware, or have you heard of anything with the T-Mobile version? I know the Tab 2 gets more support at this point, but I'd be using stock firmware in this case (for full functionality), and the fact that it will grt Jelly Bean at some point is fine with me (even just ICS is fine).
Only complaint I've heard is that US carriers don't allow voice calls on tablets. Not sure why; they allow it in the civilized world.
My only complaint of the Samsung tabs is the donkey 30-pin connector they use for charge & data. Everybody else but Apple gets by with micro USB. HDMI takes maybe 4 more pins, don't know what the rest are for.
There aren't many SGH-T869 models on eBay atm. Don't mess with the unlocked ones (GT-P6200). They'll only work at 2G speeds on TMo, at least where they haven't converted the 1900MHz band over to 4G data yet.
SaurusM3 said:
Only complaint I've heard is that US carriers don't allow voice calls on tablets. Not sure why; they allow it in the civilized world.
My only complaint of the Samsung tabs is the donkey 30-pin connector they use for charge & data. Everybody else but Apple gets by with micro USB. HDMI takes maybe 4 more pins, don't know what the rest are for.
There aren't many SGH-T869 models on eBay atm. Don't mess with the unlocked ones (GT-P6200). They'll only work at 2G speeds on TMo, at least where they haven't converted the 1900MHz band over to 4G data yet.
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Well even if, the P6200 is crazy expensive in comparison. I'm not in a hurry to get it, so I'd be scouting for a good deal anyway. Connector is annoying but I can deal. And I'm not concerned about not voice calls, while its a nice feature, I already hate using my Note 2 as a phone without a headset, I can't imagine how much of a pain it'd be with a full tablet.
Check out Amazon, I remember there being a bunch of them for $200. I bought mine for the same amount off swappa and really like it. I believe it's HSPA 21; even in a good area for TMobile I never really get fast speeds on it, averaging around 7-9 down I think. Netflix works fine though. I like mine but I wouldn't mind a slightly better rear camera and a non-stupid charging port.
I bought an unlocked i717 to replace it and my S2 but I'm probably going back to the S2 and 7.0+ combo. I don't use data often but would for $10/2gigs!
Edit- word is the 869 is fully capable on AT&T when unlocked.