Verizon Smartphones? (1 Viewer)

[Mr. Ected]

So, I have reached the end of my "new every two" contract with Verizon; and I am looking to get a new setup.

I have just purchased an iPad, so one of my main goals is tethering, either threw rooting or not. I do have a 3G iPad, but Verizon is 5g/month (vs 2g for At&t) for the same amount of $$$, and I can still turn on the 3G if I need to.

Since I am cheap (don't run on an FBG budget) here are the phones that I am thinking about, since I can get a good deal on them...

Palm pre: Verizon is waiving the $40/month "hot-spot" fee with this phone, which makes it attractive.

Droid2: Can get one for $40.

Droid HTC Incredible: Can get one for $50, not sure about the tethering with this one.

Any thoughts?

 

[Kirby]

Might want to wait and see what's going on with 4G.

 

[PatriotJohn]

Google DROID PRO....A Droid touchscreen 3.1" with a blackberry keyboard. VERY tempting! Will be coming out in early November.

 

[The Z Machine]

Any and all android phones can tether for free if you root them. You can do both wifi hotspot and USB tether.

 

[Novice2]

If you live where sprint had coverage id sure get one of those Virgin MIFI's with unlimited data for 40 bucks a month and get a prepaid or strait talk phone. That would save about 30 a month compared to a smartphone plan on verizon.

 

[littletank]

Palm pre + has the best operating system and is better for gaming then the other options.

and you can tether a Pre + for free as well.

 

[Abraham]

Google DROID PRO....A Droid touchscreen 3.1" with a blackberry keyboard. VERY tempting! Will be coming out in early November.

THis phone looks AWE#SOME.

 

[Wrigley]

just picked up the fascinate on buy one get one free deal(wife got the droid X)

Love it

 

[PatriotJohn]

Google DROID PRO....A Droid touchscreen 3.1" with a blackberry keyboard. VERY tempting! Will be coming out in early November.

THis phone looks AWE#SOME.

Tell me about it. The screen looks like it has about 1 less inch of up/down real estate than the Droid X, plus I get to keep my blackberry keyboard. Wife got the Droid X two days ago and is loving it, even though she loves the tactile keyboard (she went from a TREO). I may have her turn the X back within the 30 days and get the PRO.

 

[Abraham]

Google DROID PRO....A Droid touchscreen 3.1" with a blackberry keyboard. VERY tempting! Will be coming out in early November.

THis phone looks AWE#SOME.

Tell me about it. The screen looks like it has about 1 less inch of up/down real estate than the Droid X, plus I get to keep my blackberry keyboard. Wife got the Droid X two days ago and is loving it, even though she loves the tactile keyboard (she went from a TREO). I may have her turn the X back within the 30 days and get the PRO.

It looks like the Blackberry I was waiting for before ditching my Bold and going to an EVO. I love my EVO, but from the looks of it I would GLADLY jump to the Pro if it came to Sprint.

 

[CrossEyed]

just picked up the fascinate on buy one get one free deal(wife got the droid X)Love it

Mrs CE picked up the Fascinate and I have the X. Both are great phones.

 

[Abraham]

My Dad has the X and I like it a lot. The "skin" is different then the EVO skin (icons look different, lock screen is different, etc.). But for the most part its very similar and I recommend it highly.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

HTC Incredible. You will not be disappointed. Fantastic phone.

 

[snellman]

I have the Incredible and love it. Probably the best phone I have ever owned. The only down fall is occasional weak signal but in my location I have had that with every smart phone I have had.

 

[Rodeojones]

Droid X owner and couldn't be happier.

 

[Mr. Ected]

Any and all android phones can tether for free if you root them. You can do both wifi hotspot and USB tether.

Correct me if I am wrong, but if I am doing a wifi tether to an iPad, that won't look all that different than the regular use of the phone, or do I need to worry about that?

 

[Dexter]

Droid X owner and couldn't be happier.

+1 Rooted my phone the other day. Even better now!

 

[Mr. Ected]

Stupid-### question: with any of these Android, Bluetooth phones can I have them recognize a gps receiver for their mapping? I hate having to pay extra for that, and have a couple from days long ago when I used to use a laptop as a GPS device.

 

[CrossEyed]

Stupid-### question: with any of these Android, Bluetooth phones can I have them recognize a gps receiver for their mapping? I hate having to pay extra for that, and have a couple from days long ago when I used to use a laptop as a GPS device.

You don't have to pay extra to use your phone as a GPS device.

 

[Dragons]

Stupid-### question: with any of these Android, Bluetooth phones can I have them recognize a gps receiver for their mapping? I hate having to pay extra for that, and have a couple from days long ago when I used to use a laptop as a GPS device.

I don't know the answer, but I'm pretty sure all android phones come with a GPS receiver. Why do you need an external?

 

[PatriotJohn]

Stupid-### question: with any of these Android, Bluetooth phones can I have them recognize a gps receiver for their mapping? I hate having to pay extra for that, and have a couple from days long ago when I used to use a laptop as a GPS device.

You don't have to pay extra to use your phone as a GPS device.

The Droid X has a built in voice GPS system using Google maps. Works really well too. I am sure most if not all Droid phones have this. Was going to buy the wife a new GPS, but now I dont have to.

 

[Mr. Ected]

Stupid-### question: with any of these Android, Bluetooth phones can I have them recognize a gps receiver for their mapping? I hate having to pay extra for that, and have a couple from days long ago when I used to use a laptop as a GPS device.

You don't have to pay extra to use your phone as a GPS device.

The Droid X has a built in voice GPS system using Google maps. Works really well too. I am sure most if not all Droid phones have this. Was going to buy the wife a new GPS, but now I dont have to.

I thought most of the phones use cell towers as reference points for mapping, and some of them say this (Palm Pre):"GPS navigation capabilities via VZ Navigator service" which is an additional charge. What the droids do I am not sure.

 

[Dragons]

Stupid-### question: with any of these Android, Bluetooth phones can I have them recognize a gps receiver for their mapping? I hate having to pay extra for that, and have a couple from days long ago when I used to use a laptop as a GPS device.

You don't have to pay extra to use your phone as a GPS device.

The Droid X has a built in voice GPS system using Google maps. Works really well too. I am sure most if not all Droid phones have this. Was going to buy the wife a new GPS, but now I dont have to.

I thought most of the phones use cell towers as reference points for mapping, and some of them say this (Palm Pre):"GPS navigation capabilities via VZ Navigator service" which is an additional charge. What the droids do I am not sure.

Most android phones have a built in GPS. I don't know how to say it any clearer.The Palm Pre is not an android phone.

 

[17seconds]

Stupid-### question: with any of these Android, Bluetooth phones can I have them recognize a gps receiver for their mapping? I hate having to pay extra for that, and have a couple from days long ago when I used to use a laptop as a GPS device.

You don't have to pay extra to use your phone as a GPS device.

The Droid X has a built in voice GPS system using Google maps. Works really well too. I am sure most if not all Droid phones have this. Was going to buy the wife a new GPS, but now I dont have to.

I thought most of the phones use cell towers as reference points for mapping, and some of them say this (Palm Pre):"GPS navigation capabilities via VZ Navigator service" which is an additional charge. What the droids do I am not sure.

There are different ways to get location. One is with cell towers only, which is not very accurate. Then there's assisted GPS where the towers plus real satellite GPS are used together. I imagine some phones have true GPS receivers and some do not. Most new ones probably do.

 

[Dexter]

Stupid-### question: with any of these Android, Bluetooth phones can I have them recognize a gps receiver for their mapping? I hate having to pay extra for that, and have a couple from days long ago when I used to use a laptop as a GPS device.

The Droid X and most android phones have a built in GPS chip. For example when I click the GPS button I have 3 options1. Use wireless network - not very accurate2. Enable Assisted GPS - uses cell towers and checks with GPS satellites every once in a while3. Use GPS satellites - This takes you to street level view.The google maps app is as good as any garmin out there. Why do you think Garmin tried to get in the cell phone market? Their days are numbered. Also I find the google latitude traffic addition is really acurate. I check it before I hit any freeway.

 

[Dragons]

Stupid-### question: with any of these Android, Bluetooth phones can I have them recognize a gps receiver for their mapping? I hate having to pay extra for that, and have a couple from days long ago when I used to use a laptop as a GPS device.

The Droid X and most android phones have a built in GPS chip. For example when I click the GPS button I have 3 options1. Use wireless network - not very accurate2. Enable Assisted GPS - uses cell towers and checks with GPS satellites every once in a while3. Use GPS satellites - This takes you to street level view.The google maps app is as good as any garmin out there. Why do you think Garmin tried to get in the cell phone market? Their days are numbered. Also I find the google latitude traffic addition is really acurate. I check it before I hit any freeway.

I won't ditch my Garmin any time soon (larger screen, far superior mounting options, more intuitive UI built strictly for GPS use), but Google has put together an extremely good product for basically free. The street level view blows my Garmin away. I probably wouldn't buy a new GPS if I had the android first.

 

[Rodeojones]

Droid X owner and couldn't be happier.

+1 Rooted my phone the other day. Even better now!

I have thought about this but it scares me. Simple or no??Edit: Did some digging around and found a "one click root" program that successfully rooted my phone. Still can't get the bloat apps like Kindle and Amazon off my phone.

 

[PIK95]

I think I'm going to go upgrade from my Storm now. Not sure what to get though.

I want a nice camera on it and I want to get to fbg's really fast on it. Thats the main thing. Facebook and emails is second.

 

[CrossEyed]

I think I'm going to go upgrade from my Storm now. Not sure what to get though.

I want a nice camera on it and I want to get to fbg's really fast on it. Thats the main thing. Facebook and emails is second.

I'm probably pickier than most, but I have yet to see a camera on a phone that I would call "nice". In close to ideal settings I can get a decent picture with my Droid X, but I certainly wouldn't want to rely on it being my camera.

 

[bmetz]

the droid x and the droid incredible both have 8mp cameras, and both shoot HD video. + a nice facebook app & widget. + email.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Anyone own an Incredible 2? I think my wife might like it.

Sounds like the Bionic might be out sometime next month. That might be my phone of choice since they're dragging their feet so bad with the Samsung Galaxy S2.

 

[Abraham]

1SaleADay is offering an unlocked (CDMA) Blackberry 8830 world edition for $30 today. Even though it's 3 year old technology, this is a really good deal for those of you on Verizon that need a backup device. It's only 2G, but it works globally and is built like a sherman tank.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

More confirmation to the rumors of tiered data pricing.

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

I'll probably go with the Thunderbolt. Big screen, 4G, 8 mp camera, Android. Not sure what it's missing that I'd want.

 

[Abraham]

NOt to be a wet blanket on all of this, but I was a die-hard ANdroid guy. I bought an EVO, hooked my Dad up with an X, got my reps Incredibles....and I'm here to tell you that an IPhone is better. I switched two weeks ago and am glad I didn't wait a day longer. The iphone does everythind ANdroid does, but it does it without a hitch and is much easier to use.

Just a comment from an Android devotee turned fanboy.

 

[TLEF316]

My new every 2 came up on Sunday and i was trying to make a decision between the Iphone4 and the Droid Charge.

Most of the reviews I've read say the droid charge has awesome battery life, and i like the possibility of tethering. (been thinking of picking up an ipad for my living room and don't feel like getting a wireless router and opening up my home network).

But the Charge has several drawbacks that I'm not crazy about, so I was debating waiting for the Galaxy S2.

Now this possible tiered data plan stuff throws a big monkey wrench in the proceedings. I don't use a lot of data (about 259 MB per month) which comes mostly from browsing FBG's on my phone at work (don't want to use my work computer for message boards) and checking email, twitter and facebook. But I think that if i got a more media friendly phone (and the tethering capability) my usage would go way up. Not sure if it would be enough to push me above 2Gigs, but there's no way to be sure.

 

[3 out of 5]

This new tiered pricing plan is a joke. Verizon is going to lose a ton of customers so long as Sprint keeps an unlimited data plan available. It's also crazy how they are promoting this as a value to the consumer. They are basically giving everybody the lowest level of data for what the unlimited plans were before, and charging more and more if you go any higher.

This, combined with all of the 4G phones and services that are available is just setting traps for the average consumer to be hit with huge unexpected bills in the future. Nobody knows how many GB they would typically use with a 4G phone. In a down economy, this comes across as one of the worst marketing and pricing decisions I have ever seen.

I've been sitting on a Blackberry Storm 1 waiting for the Galaxy S2 to come out. Because it doesn't look like it will be out before July 7, I'm thinking about jumping ship to Sprint. That's over 10 years of loyalty Verizon is flushing. I'm not willing to risk a $80 a month data plan just because I want to take full advantage of the technology of the phone.

 

[belljr]

More confirmation to the rumors of tiered data pricing.

And I will be shopping around for service after this.I use about 4-5 GB only because I can, I'll lose my Sirius streaming app since that's what I listen too most of the time. BUT I STILL GET 700 MINUTES!!!!!!

AT&T you have to pay for texts???

Sprint I'm coming your way if you keep unlimited...

 

[Abraham]

More confirmation to the rumors of tiered data pricing.

And I will be shopping around for service after this.I use about 4-5 GB only because I can, I'll lose my Sirius streaming app since that's what I listen too most of the time. BUT I STILL GET 700 MINUTES!!!!!!

AT&T you have to pay for texts???

Sprint I'm coming your way if you keep unlimited...

YEs, you pay for texts on ATT but if you get the $20 unlimited text plan, you also get unlimited mobile to mobile to any carrier. I think that pound for pound Sprint has the best prices if you have a single device. But my experience is that ATT is very competitive if you have multiple lines.

 

[ClownCausedChaos]

I'll probably go with the Thunderbolt. Big screen, 4G, 8 mp camera, Android. Not sure what it's missing that I'd want.

My wife and I have had them for about a month. Last week, 4G LTE just hit the area. Couldn't be happier. Best phone I've ever had.

 

[3 out of 5]

I'll probably go with the Thunderbolt. Big screen, 4G, 8 mp camera, Android. Not sure what it's missing that I'd want.

My wife and I have had them for about a month. Last week, 4G LTE just hit the area. Couldn't be happier. Best phone I've ever had.

I've heard the battery does not last through a day. Thoughts?

 

[ClownCausedChaos]

I'll probably go with the Thunderbolt. Big screen, 4G, 8 mp camera, Android. Not sure what it's missing that I'd want.

My wife and I have had them for about a month. Last week, 4G LTE just hit the area. Couldn't be happier. Best phone I've ever had.

I've heard the battery does not last through a day. Thoughts?

Yes, the thing is a battery hog. That's the only complaint that I have. But, I keep it on a charger overnight and keep it on the charger when at work, and that seems to do a decent job of keeping the phone working.

 

[3 out of 5]

Current Verizon customers keep unlimited data for life?

 

[ClownCausedChaos]

Current Verizon customers keep unlimited data for life?

Pretty smart. I would think this would cause an existing customer to stop before leaving to try AT&T's service for a year.

 

[dnurk]

NOt to be a wet blanket on all of this, but I was a die-hard ANdroid guy. I bought an EVO, hooked my Dad up with an X, got my reps Incredibles....and I'm here to tell you that an IPhone is better. I switched two weeks ago and am glad I didn't wait a day longer. The iphone does everythind ANdroid does, but it does it without a hitch and is much easier to use.Just a comment from an Android devotee turned fanboy.

I'd really be curious to know why you feel this way? Is it simply how smoothly everything works (scrolling, browsing, etc)? I've been on a Blackberry for the past 8 years and am looking to move. Strongly considering an Android but not opposed to iPhone. I do have an iPad 1st gen and love it. might be nice to have one app collection.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Was already heavily leaning towards moving to Boost Mobile in August. The new data tiers at Verizon pretty much insure it.

If you're looking at Sprint and not TOO obsessed with getting the latest cutting edge phone, Boost looks like a great option. You can currently get an Android 2.2 phone with unlimited everything for $50 a month. And your bill goes down by $5 a month every 6 months down to $35 a month if you pay your bill on time. So after a year and a half, you're paying $35 for unlimited minutes, texts and data. And it's all on Sprint's network.

 

[ACE]

Current Verizon customers keep unlimited data for life?

We'll see how long this lasts, but I'll remain cautiously optimistic for now as a longtime Verizon subscriber.

 

[Sheriff66]

So, I have reached the end of my "new every two" contract with Verizon; and I am looking to get a new setup.

I have just purchased an iPad, so one of my main goals is tethering, either threw rooting or not. I do have a 3G iPad, but Verizon is 5g/month (vs 2g for At&t) for the same amount of $$$, and I can still turn on the 3G if I need to.

Since I am cheap (don't run on an FBG budget) here are the phones that I am thinking about, since I can get a good deal on them...

Palm pre: Verizon is waiving the $40/month "hot-spot" fee with this phone, which makes it attractive.

Droid2: Can get one for $40.

Droid HTC Incredible: Can get one for $50, not sure about the tethering with this one.

Any thoughts?

GREAT PHONE

 

[belljr]

Current Verizon customers keep unlimited data for life?

Pretty smart. I would think this would cause an existing customer to stop before leaving to try AT&T's service for a year.

Well I won't be as angry. it says you can upgrade and still keep unlimited. I doubt that will hold true. I was forced to get a data plan with my recent upgrade of my sons phone. But hopefully this will be true. Freaking been with Verizon for probably 10 years. I really don't know the exact year but it's been a long time... I got "screwed" when we upgraded phones and they "no longer" offered the plan we were on. I wanted to keep the plan they said no - this was when "mobile web" was their crappy little web.But will be cautiously optimistic

 

[Sheriff66]

Current Verizon customers keep unlimited data for life?

We'll see how long this lasts, but I'll remain cautiously optimistic for now as a longtime Verizon subscriber.