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Thursday, December 16, 2010

FSK Asks - New Cell Phone, Android or Blackberry?

I got a "special offer" from Verizon. Even though my contract hasn't expired, I may get a new phone before December 24. I'm going to the Verizon store on Sunday with my sister to get a new phone.

I'm still undecided between getting an Android or a Blackberry. My sister wants Android, so it'll probably be Android. It's "buy one get one free", so I save $100-$200 if I get the same phone as her. We're on the "family share" plan.

My LG envTouch is a POS. I was considering calling Verizon and asking for an early upgrade. It's a moot point now. It seems they made that offer to all customers, and not just LG envTouch users. If you didn't upgrade within the last 6 months, you're eligible, according to the mail flyer.

I'd have to upgrade from the $10/month data package to the $30/month data package. I'd have to get a new 2 year contract, a 1.3 year extension. I've been whining about my current phone, so of course I'm getting a new phone.

My sister and mother want to stick with Verizon, so I'm definitely staying with Verizon. I really would like a Nokia Maemo/Meego phone, but those aren't available on Verizon.

Even if I do get an Android phone, what kind of Android should I get? LG is out. What are the other choices?

Here's what I want from a phone:

  1. Write blog drafts on the subway and upload them to my PC and then to Blogger.
  2. Use it as a phone.
Every Android model should be able to do that.

I'm also considering Blackberry. I probably won't get a Blackberry. My sister wants Android and I'm undecided between Android and Blackberry.

The main Android choices, based on the offer, are Sansung Continuum Galaxy ($200), Motorola Droid Pro ($180), or Motorola Droid X ($200). I'm not getting another LG phone. The Blackberry choices are the Curve 9330 ($50) or the bold 9650 ($100). It seems that only the Droid Pro and Blackberries have a real keyboard. The virtual keyboard seems like a bad idea because I plan on doing a lot of typing.

What kind of phone do you think I should get? Android or Blackberry? I'm definitely upgrading this Sunday.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Droid X. I hate my BB Bold.

Anonymous said...

I've got an old Blackberry model and I'm quite happy with it. I downloaded the free Opera mini browser which is much better than the built-in one, although as I have an old model, I am told new Blackberries have, by default, better web browsers.

The Blackberry feels quite tough as well and it has good power consumption.

I have not used an Android phone yet. How heavily based on Java are they? Are they fast enough?

Anonymous said...

Well, I'd take the Android system since it is programmed in Java (and not with J2ME).
But since you don't care about its programming interfaces, this may not be an important factor for you.

On my workplace many leaders (bosses) use Blackberry. It has now more business-related applications than Android ones. But its browser is not as up-to-date as the Android ones.

Since I don't like touch screens and virtual keyboards, I wouldn't take a such device.

Anonymous said...

I just exercised my offer yesterday, upgrading from an old "dumb phone" to an Android phone. I opted for the HTC Incredible. Mostly because I carry my phone in my front pocket and the HTC is pretty small. The Droid X is very similar in specs to the HTC, but is considerably larger - bigger than an iPhone I'd say.

There is also the Droid 2. I think it has the better processor of the available models and has a slide-out keyboard (the X and Incredible are touch screen only). Of course, that makes it thicker, and I believe it has a poorer camera - not that that is a huge consideration. In the end, I opted for the Incredible mostly because of the size advantage for me.

If you plan on typing a lot on your phone, then I might go with the Droid 2 because of the physical keyboard.

Anonymous said...

Definitely Droid X. Do NOT get the Galaxy.

FSK said...

I'm leaning towards the Droid Pro (not X). I like having a real keyboard rather than a virtual keyboard, since I plan on doing a lot of typing.

I can't stand the LG envTouch. I'm taking Verizon's offer on Sunday. It's going to cost me $40/month on my bill for 2 years, because I'm getting my sister a new phone also.

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