Phone Dilema

[Michelle]

Ok, time to get a new phone because the one I have has amazingly survived all of the death threats made by me.

I have Verizon, so I'm trying to decide between the Droid Incredible and the Blackberry Storm.

Any comments? Pros or cons on either? It's maddening trying to sort thru all of the info online, I want some comments from real people!

[kieran]

i've got an HTC Desire, which is next-to-useless for your comparison. however, i think android is nicer than blackberry. ;)

[Arclite]

I have the samsung moment, which runs on android (which is what the droid runs on) and I love it.

I've heard crap stories about the storm, and I've tried to use my friend's storm and it's a migraine waiting to happen.

Android can really compete with the iphone in my opinion

[kieran]

if you're hooked on the idea of a physical keyboard, the htc touch pro2 is also available on verizon.

[BobD]

I recently used a Best Buy mobile phone center. It was the best mobile phone buying experience I've had. The staff are not on commission, so are not pushing any promotions. The guy even spent nearly an hour trimming and installing generic screen protectors on three phones for us, because it saved us $20 over the pre cut ones.

[Arclite]

if you're hooked on the idea of a physical keyboard, the htc touch pro2 is also available on verizon.

Windows Mobile - Epic fail of design and computer engineering.

[skatha]

The Droid has a crappy camera compared to the Storm 2, even though it has more megapixels on the resolution scale. I spent about 2 hours last October in the Verizon store trying to decide between the 2. I have a BB Storm 2 and I LOVE IT!

The Storm 1 just has 1 touch screen sensor-the Storm 2 has 4 and also WiFi.

My S-I-L has the Droid and she loves hers, but I take pics with my phone fairly frequently and the camera is what sold me on the BB.

You can see my wall photos taken with my BB if you are on FB and "friend" me.

My FB name is Cynthia Almy Savage

[nekdut]

Wait a week and the new Blackberry Bold 9650 will come out with Verizon. I'll be picking up one of those then. Physical kb ftw.

[Michelle]

Wow, thanks guys! I'm so out of the loop I don't know what HTC, Android, Sense UI, or any of that stuff is. I've never had a blackberry and my current phone is scheite - most days I want to run over it with my car. I have a couple of friends with a Storm and they have great things to say about it, but I've heard many many good things about the HTC Droid Incredible. Downside = no GSM so it's only good in the US but the $$ are so expensive, why bother using your phone internationally? Upside = newest latest technology.

Ok, Kieran so why is Android better than blackberry?

BobD - I've used those Best Buy Centers before, but it's a drive for me. 1.5 hrs to the nearest anything...plus the fact I have to go to Denver blech. However, i agree they are nice. However, it's hard for me to look at phones when they are not mine, and active. I can hold them, but that's about it until I play around with it.

Arclite - why do you say that about Windows Mobile? The phone I am looking at is actually the HTC Droid Incredible, NOT the MOtorola Droid. It probably runs on the same system??

Skatha - the Droid Incredible has an 8MP camera, and I've seen some photos and video taken with it (online reviews). Looks pretty good, but have you had other experience? Or is this the Motorola Droid you are referring to?

nekdut - What is so great about the Bold 9650? Just curious if I should wait.

[skatha]

Yes, it was the Motorola Droid...maybe they upgraded the phone camera. I know that all the intial reviews on CNet dogged the Droid because of the camera

BTW, if you haven't heard of CNet-it's a great site for tech reviews. You may want to check them out

[kieran]

Ok, Kieran so why is Android better than blackberry?

personal preference, mostly. similar to what arclite said, trying to use a blackberry is a smashed phone waiting to happen, for me. i'm also very anti-apple, so that means an iphone is out.

android is nice, and on this generation of hardware, very fast. the HTC sense stuff is great. 7 'areas' that you can flick between really quickly, and each can run an app widget, for stuff like weather, news, email, sms' etc.

you can also have varying 'scenes' for work, home, etc.

i cant really comment about pics, music or video. i haven't been using it for that yet. it does my email and laptop internet connection just fine though.

gps too, though i wonder about its accuracy .. apparently i was sliding much faster than it felt on saturday.

seems to like the incredible. and how.

[skatha]

Hmmmm...I mastered the BB in a couple of days without opening the instruction book......

in fact, I'm watching the Eddie Izzard bit about technojoy and computers right now. On my BB Storm 'cuz the place I'm working now won't let me watch youtube

or get on my email

or check out Huffpost

but let's me on bomber:biggthump

[Michelle]

skatha = I haven't checked out CNet but am familiar with the site. I've been looking at reviews on ZDnet. And lucky girl not even having to read the manual! I think someone could make a ton of money teaching classes on "how to work your new cell phone". Remember when we were saying that about VCRs? HA HA Just when I think I've got kind of a handle on it, a new better more powerful smarter phone comes out, everyone catches up, and it's only been 2 years and i'm completely lost. ~sigh~

kieran = the link took me to the guy on phonedog.com, which was one of the reviews I had looked at previously. Funny, all of the reviews that I see are a big thumbs up! They are all very enthusiastic about this phone. This guy also likes the speed and smoothness of everything on the phone. And i'm starting to understand the "HTC sense" part of it.

This is defiitely helping, thanks!

So, do you think it's worth $199? The Storm is much cheaper.

[kieran]

So, do you think it's worth $199?

probably. depends what contract you take and what comes bundled though.

my desire was free on a 2-year ~$28/month contract, which has unlimited internet/sms and 600 mins of calls per month.

[Michelle]

it'd be a 2 yr contract. right now I have the "full package" with verizon and pay about $75/mn. I don't know if I would need extra with a smart phone? I also don't think it comes with headset, or charger for that matter. not sure though.

[nekdut]

I suggested the Bold because I thought you may have already had a Blackberry background from your Storm inquiries. I want the new Bold because I like a physical keyboard and am used to the BB OS. If you're not set on the BB route, then the Incredible is an awesome phone. Very fast and slick, great hardware and software. Your best bet is to just go and play with each of these to see which one you find the most comfortable to you.

[bobdea]

Ok, time to get a new phone because the one I have has amazingly survived all of the death threats made by me.

I have Verizon, so I'm trying to decide between the Droid Incredible and the Blackberry Storm.

Any comments? Pros or cons on either? It's maddening trying to sort thru all of the info online, I want some comments from real people!

wait a couple months if you can, there's better phones coming out from some of the big name players this summer.

might be a verizon iphone this summer too.........

IMO blackberries work really effing well if you're more concerned with productivity. I played with a palm pre for awhile, as far as UI goes I like that better than everything other than the iphone.

if you'd like to travel with your phone samsung and nokia make dual band phones for that purpose, so it could work on verizon as well as if you want to use a sim card when you go international.

[Arclite]

Arclite - why do you say that about Windows Mobile? The phone I am looking at is actually the HTC Droid Incredible, NOT the MOtorola Droid. It probably runs on the same system??

I'm pretty sure it runs on Android too.

But the reason I say that about Windows, is that they've had more problems with software than hardware in every windows based phone I've had.

I've had to replace 4 windows phones so far.

2 just stopped working. Battery wouldn't hold a charge, wouldn't turn on when plugged in.

1 disconnected with the screen.

And the last one got disconnected to the keyboard (only two months after I bought it! ) and I upgraded to my current android OS phone.

For all the windows phones I've had, every single one had serious flaws in the OS.

first, it was extremely slow, in general.

the texting system wouldn't always work right.

a lot of times, things just moved randomly from one folder to another.

I highly don't recommend it.

But there are people who swear by windows.

I guess they just bear with the problems. :p

[Michelle]

wait a couple months if you can, there's better phones coming out from some of the big name players this summer.

might be a verizon iphone this summer too..........

I've actually heard Apple nnow has a 5 yr contract with AT&T, so don't think the iphone will come to Verizon. How much more can they put into a phone? Guess I shouldn't even ask that seeing how far we've come in just a few years.

IMO blackberries work really effing well if you're more concerned with productivity. I played with a palm pre for awhile, as far as UI goes I like that better than everything other than the iphone.

When I read UI, I think of some kind of infection. What's a UI?

if you'd like to travel with your phone samsung and nokia make dual band phones for that purpose, so it could work on verizon as well as if you want to use a sim card when you go international.

I have a Samsung now, and it's the one that I want to stomp on most days. I hate it. For as much traveling as I do, I don't use my phone internationally mostly because it costs too much $$. I suffered through Brazil 3 weeks without texting anyone and survived :) so I don't think that is as important. It would be nice, but i don't think it's a deal breaker.

I was leaning more toward the HTC Incredible this morning because the price difference between the Blackberry Storm and the HTC is only $20 ($99 vs $79). You guys have been so helpful giving me things to consider and think about. Thank you!

[Michelle]

Just remember Michelle, with the amount of texting you do, touch screens make it somewhat more cumbersome.

My buddy picked up the BB Tour a few months ago and that thing is awesome. Plus, it has buttons!

Jim, what are you trying to say?:rolleyes:

[Neil Gendzwill]

UI = User Interface

[Michelle]

Thanks Neil - I'm starting to get it now.

[ursle]

We used US Cellular for a few years and it was always an accident waiting to happen, always dropped calls, never got text messages, finally switched to ATT, had to pay 150$ to get out of the US Cellular contract but it was well worth it.

Hardware wise the 3GS works OK, turn it sideways to text and everything is large enough.

I'm saying it might be time to switch carriers, 150$+ to get into a usable situation may be worth it.

[Michelle]

unfortunately there are only a few carriers that work here in the mtns. Verizon, AT&T, and Qwest work the best. I heard Tmobile is catching up. Qwest - no. AT&T been there done that. Verizon is the best choice.

[Willow 15]

Hi Michelle, I am in the same boat. But I think I have narrowed it down to a Desire. The reason being I have been looking for a gadget that does everything and this phone is nearly fitting the bill. What I want is a sports tracker/gps/heart rate monitor, aswell as all the rest of the normal smart phone gubbings. I am not an iphone hater(love my ipod) but that phone is to insular. Check some of these sites out....

http://www.sportstracklive.com/

http://www.androidpit.com/en/anroid/market/apps

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/htc-desire-679515/review

I have also heard that the touch screen keyboard is eerily, scary good.