MArooned: Phone Bleg...

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Phone Bleg...

I think I've mentioned we're heading back to FLA to play homage to the mouse. One of the things I want to do before we head down is upgrade my phone. I've had the same crappy LG phone for about 4-5 years now; it's been replaced once (or is it twice, I forget) and already burned through one battery (with the second battery salvaged from a recycling center!).

So it's time for a new phone. We're staying with Verizon, as they've got the best coverage of the available plans in our area (we have good friends who have tried them all, and they keep coming back to Verizon). This means that I can't join all the cool kids and get an iPhone, but I would like to at least look into getting a 'net capable phone. I know Unc swears by his Droid; others like the Crackberry; there's simply a dizzing array of phones and plans out there.

What I'm looking for is simple. I'd like to be able to check e-mail, maybe toss up a quick blog post, or chat on IRC once in a while. I'm sticking with Verizon, so it would have to be something in their lineup. I'll have to check out the data plans - $30 a month extra is pretty steep just to be able to play around - but if there's a phone out there that can do everything I want I'd consider it.

So, my Verizon peeps, what's a good phone?

That is all.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...: Android OS. Hands down. HTC and Droid get good reviews. I love the droid.

-SayUncle; April 1, 2010 at 12:11 PM
Anonymous said...: Here's a little secret that VzW won't tell you.

Blackberrys get priority on the VzW network.

Go with a Storm 2; April 1, 2010 at 12:23 PM
PISSED said...: Jay, I have good luck with the gzone rock.

http://www.casiogzone.com/rock/

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=5089

See if you can find the 2 pc rubberized cover that snaps on.

Nice phone.; April 1, 2010 at 12:23 PM
Anonymous said...: Moto droid.; April 1, 2010 at 1:02 PM
Phillip said...: My wife has the HTC Touch Pro 2 and loves it.* It does full web, e-mail, and just about everything she needs as a computer technician.

I've had the opportunity to experiment with the Droid OS, which is nifty to me. It also seems to do most of what the Touch Pro 2 can do, and some other things it can't.

Either one of these should get you what you want, and they appear to be about $80 with a two year contract right now.

* Happy, except the service here sucks.

WV: loginfl... How'd they know I was logging in from Florida? That's just creepy.; April 1, 2010 at 1:15 PM
Lokidude said...: Blackberries are decent, but leave a lot to be desired. And nobody I know can get IRC to run reliably on one. The web browser is alright, for a phone. Processing speed on my curve is severely lacking. I'm getting a Droid tomorrow, I'll share my thoughts on it after the weekend.; April 1, 2010 at 1:30 PM
zeeke42 said...: Check out the Palm Pre Plus. It's an excellent device. I have the regular Pre on sprint and love it.

The droid is also very good. The advantages to the Pre are the seamless integration of all your info sources (gmail, exchange, IMAP, google calendar, facebook, etc) and the wonderful multitasking and notifications interface. Also, it's a good size to be easily pocketable.

The advantages of the Droid are the incredible screen and larger keyboard. However, you pay for this in its brick like form factor.

The Pre Plus now has free mobile hotspot. Basically, it turns in to a wifi router that routes via the cell network. You can get your netbook online anywhere at no extra cost.; April 1, 2010 at 1:37 PM
CyBuzz said...: I have to agree with Uncle and say go with the Droid. I am all geek though and I have it rooted and new ROMs on it. I am pushing it to its limits. That being said, they are great bone stock. I finally talked the accountant(wife) into letting me get one. Had it for a week and she needed one.

Get the Moto Droid.; April 1, 2010 at 1:40 PM
Nate said...: I had a crackberry and just got the Droid HTC. Unbelievable phone. The apps are so useful it makes me wonder how it did it before.

Apps to check out.

1. Mobile Defense - Find your lost/stolen phone anywhere.

2. Opentable. Neat app that takes your location and finds open tables at loacl resturants.

3. Bank of America app. Transfer/Pay bills, etc.

4. Locale. Location based profile changer. Get close to work and it automatically changes your ringtone to something professional. Changes to silent near your theatre.

5. Free google gps navigator.
6. Movies ticket/theater finder.
7. Stock apps.

The best thing is the web interface. I could not go to half of the webpages on my crackberry but the droid handles 99% of them.

Hope that helps.

Nate; April 1, 2010 at 1:41 PM
Jake (formerly Riposte3) said...: I'll second zeeke42's recommendation for the Palm Pre Plus. I also have the original Pre on Sprint, and love it. The app catalog is growing, the homebrew app list is growing, and even the hacks and patches are easy to install.

The biggest advantage I think the Pre has over the Droid is that the Pre has a multi-touch screen (pinch to zoom, etc.). I understand you can add that to the Droid, but it's a hack and may have some issues.; April 1, 2010 at 2:03 PM
Eseell said...: I love Android OS. If you're staying on Verizon, get the Droid. I have read that Verizon blocks IRC connections on its wireless network. Can anyone verify that?; April 1, 2010 at 5:36 PM
Eseell said...: Also, Jake, Droid got official multitouch this week. No more hacking involved.; April 1, 2010 at 5:37 PM
Anonymous said...: DROID (In the super-cool synthesizer voice)...

Was my first "smart" phone, took me a bit to get up to speed. Some things (like calling people) is a bit different. I still can't find the speed dial function.

But overall, it is an amazing gadget. Glad I got it...

Tanner; April 1, 2010 at 6:29 PM
Colin said...: Prices have been dropped on the Palms, and they can be used as a hotspot:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2010/04/verizon-palm-pre-pixi-price-reduction-.html; April 1, 2010 at 6:52 PM
RW said...: Can't help you, I'm AT&T (live in an area where I have excellent coverage!). Hijacking this post because I want to remind your readers that tomorrow, 4/2, is Autism awareness day in the USA. Please wear a blue shirt! I hate so many of the "awareness" campaigns, I mean who less than the age of, say, 12, doesn't know about AIDS and how it's transferred?

But, we're still horribly ignorant when it comes to autism. I should know, I was an idiot until I learned that my son was autistic (extremely, off the charts, high functioning).

Wear blue on Friday, folks, for autism!; April 1, 2010 at 8:40 PM
Anonymous said...: The google Nexux One is coming out on verizon's network soon, no more then a few weeks. I am waiting for that one.; April 1, 2010 at 8:55 PM
Anonymous said...: Nexus One, sorry. Here is a link:

http://www.google.com/phone; April 1, 2010 at 8:57 PM
Hecate said...: I'm typing this comment on my Droid. 'Nuff said.

I got sick and tired of waiting for Verizon and loaded Android 2.1 manually. The Vzw/MotoDroid build is missing a few features. Don't know whether Google, Motorola, or Verizon is responsible.

If you absolutely must have true, fully hands-free Bluetooth dialing, don't hold your breath on Android.; April 1, 2010 at 10:13 PM
Gay_Cynic said...: Former Verizon sort here. Latest gossip is iphone on Verizon.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/032910-new-iphone-coming-plus-a.html; April 2, 2010 at 12:54 AM
Borepatch said...: I really didn't like the Blackberry's browser. Its keyboard is excellent, so email's best on it, but I'm spoiled by Safari on the iPhone. But you need AT&T for that.; April 2, 2010 at 8:17 AM
Anonymous said...: I agree that the BlackBerry browser isn't that great, but you can download the Opera Mini browser for it which rocks. Sending this from my Storm 2 right now.; April 2, 2010 at 8:46 AM
TOTWTYTR said...: I don't have any specific phone recommendations, but people who have the Droid like it.

Keep in mind that what they offer on line is different from what they offer in stores in many cases. Huh? Yeah, that makes no sense. If in doubt, ask to speak the manager. The REAL manager, not the nitwit that says he's the manager when the REAL manager is on break.

Last time we did an upgrade, we were getting some BS from the "manager" who as it turns out wasn't the REAL manager. In my best "I'm going to create a scene" voice I asked for "The REAL manager, not the idiot that says he's the manager when the REAL manager is on break." Since I was talking to the idiot in question, the REAL manager came over.

If all else fails, tell who ever you are dealing with that you want a phone so you can call customer retention. They will sometimes do what the store staff told you is impossible and make you a good deal.

Oh, there are also smart phones that allow you to do email, for a $9.95 a month data plan. No browsing to the best of my knowledge, but you can do email.

Let me know how you make out as contract renewal is coming up for two of our phones and I want to get an idea of how desperate the are.; April 2, 2010 at 9:07 AM
Phillip said...: One thing I don't think has been mentioned is that with the Droid, the data plan is necessary. It integrates with your Google account and uses that for e-mail, contacts, calendar, etc. At least the model I played with did. From everything I saw, the phone would lose a lot of its functionality if it didn't have a web connection.; April 2, 2010 at 10:01 AM
aczarnowski said...: Droid.

If you can wait until the Nexus One appears on Verizon (who knows how long that will really be?) then get that.

My personal thinking is that iPhone, Android and RIM will win the phone space. Windows has never really got it done and Palm, as much as this old PalmPilot user hates to admit it, has been off in la la land for too long. Palm is making a hell of a push right now though...

As for Droid without a data plan, well, sure. We're talking about smart phones here. But the Droid also does WiFi. You can shut off the cell signals, enable WiFi and essentially have an iTouch. My impression is that PalmOS suffers more when unconnected than Android.; April 2, 2010 at 11:48 AM
aczarnowski said...: Oh, and a note about the Google "requirement" on the Android phones.

Yes, you need to have a Google account for things like the app market to work. You do not have to sell your soul to Google much past that. Generic IMAP/SMTP is supported so any email account is fine. You can also use a company Exchange server which will also support your calendaring on the phone.

Or go Google if you're already part of the collective. They do have some nice tools. ;); April 2, 2010 at 11:53 AM
Jake (formerly Riposte3) said...: Essell: Thanks. Obviously, I don't really keep up with Droid, but I do remember hearing something about that now that you mention it.

The Palm Pre will integrate with Google as well - email, calendars, contacts, etc. It will also do the same with Yahoo, which I don't know if the Droid does (since Google owns the Android OS). It will also work with generic IMAP/SMTP and POP3 (though I don't think you get push with POP). You can even have Google and Yahoo accounts on the phone at the same time.

I don't know if Verizon has an equivalent, but on Sprint the Pre has free Sprint Navigation already installed.

The Pre uses the same browser base as the Droid and the iPhone. A quick hack (available as a patch) makes it identify itself to websites as an iPhone so you will be automatically redirected to the WebKit-based mobile site (for sites that do that), instead of the desktop site or a generic mobile site. I assume the same thing can be done with a Droid.

As far as the Nexus One, it looks great, but the Pre and Droid both have a physical keyboard - a feature I find extremely important. YMMV of course.

The Palm Pre also has the Touchstone inductive charger available - no need to fool with plugging the phone in, just set it on the Touchstone and it will start charging.

I've played with a Blackberry Storm (my Dad has one, and one of the attorneys I work for has one) and I think they're horrible. The "click-screen" absolutely sucks, and I don't think the interface is very intuitive at all - but, again, YMMV.

If Verizon gets the iPhone as rumored, I would stay away from it. Either the Droid or the Pre give you the advantages of multi-tasking, a physical keyboard, and the ability to change the battery yourself (very important with a cell phone). Also, if they do it like with the iPod Touch, you have to pay for software updates, which I find particularly infuriating. Especially when it automatically removes applications because the update for the app requires "a newer version" of the OS if you choose not to buy the update. (Yes, I'm bitter. I just got forced to buy the upgrade for my iPod Touch because I lost an app I use frequently, and there's no way to re-install the version that works with the un-updated OS.); April 2, 2010 at 3:29 PM
zeeke42 said...: @Jake: I agree with almost everything you say, but want to point out that you don't have to pay for software updates on the iphone like you do on the touch.

There's some sort of accounting policy reason for this, I forget exactly what the story is.; April 2, 2010 at 3:43 PM
Lokidude said...: Jay, having played with my Droid for about 24 hours, I can highly recommend it. Anything with Android is cool, but the physical elements of the Droid make it nice to me. Full first impressions at my blog.; April 4, 2010 at 1:53 PM