The time has come... [Archive] - Armageddon Games Forums

Anthus

02-18-2011, 10:27 PM

To buy a new phone. The only problem is, I don't really know what to get exactly. I know I want a phone that uses the Android OS (read: Not an iPhone), and maybe I'll even go with Motorola's Droid phone. I've also been looking at some HTC phones. No blackberries, please.

I want a sweet ass phone, that still makes calls, but does all that other unnecessary shit. I have a contract with Verizon, and I know I need a data plan which I don't currently have. If I want a phone with, say, 1000-1500 minutes, and 500 texts a months, plus whatever the data plan required for internet and stuff, how much am I looking at each month after the initial several hundred dollar commitment?

I am aware that I can go on Verizon's site, and look this stuff up, to an extent, but I'd like to here from some more savvy smart phone users, and get some good advice on getting a phone that seems right for me. I'd be willing to spend up to 60 a month.

AtmaWeapon

02-19-2011, 12:06 PM

Is it even possible to get a smartphone for $60/month? Maybe my view's messed up because any plan I get has to have 2 lines and unlimited text.

I'm no big help because after surveying the landscape I came to these conclusions:
iPhone

I've wanted an iPhone for years and every time I buy the "better" thing when I really want the "worse" thing any imperfection in the "better" thing makes me all "I wish I bought the other one".
I know plenty of people with iPhones in the area and no troubles.
My wife likes iPhone better than the Android phones she's played with.
Developers haven't quite committed to doing their big grand openings on Android; neat apps my friends use tend to pop up on iPhone first, then Android.
I don't like having to pay for an SDK, but Objective C is outside my comfort zone and I'm interested in iPhone development.
When the new iOS comes out you can always install it on your Apple device and the only limitations tend to be "if it requires hardware you don't have you can't use it", which is fair.
iPhone has an easy to understand "good, better, best" hierarchy. 3GS is good, and can be picked up for dirt cheap. iPhone 4 16GB is better, and costs more. iPhone 4 32GB is best, and costs the most. Instead of hem-hawing over feature sets, I can decide if I want to optimize budget or storage space.
New iPhone model every year, every 2nd model is a major upgrade. Like clockwork. If you're on a 2-year contract, you'll never be more than 2 generations behind, and you'll never be unable to use the iOS version that comes out (at least historically.)

Android

Lots of friends have Android and love it. I'm intrigued by its inherent geekiness.
My wife isn't really intrigued by Android.
Apps are starting to reach a good mass.
I really hate Java, but at least I'd be able to develop for free. Java's not really outside my comfort zone though.
I can't make heads or tails of the OS and feature set on any device. 2.2's out and most people can get it. 2.3's out but carriers and manufacturers are in a pissing match and you can't use it without rooting your phone. 3.0's near but will only be for tablets? And 2.4 is going to be after 3.0? Will I even be able to download 2.4 to my phone or will the pissing match still be going on? Will my provider even support my phone by the time a new OS comes out?
There is no "flagship" Android phone that represents the pinnacle of what it can do and nothing resembling a "good, better, best" model. If I want to buy an Android phone I have to research a handful of models with similar price points but sometimes vastly different features. I then have to correlate feature set with available plans and carrier satisfaction. Tons of marketing research indicates giving people too many similar choices is a good way to increase buyer's remorse and lower repeat sales. I *hate* when I have to choose between two "goods". No matter which phone I pick in this scenario, I'll wish it had some feature the ones I didn't pick had.
Android's product cycle tends to be 6 months. Google dropped support for their own phone before I was even done reading reviews. Odds are high that I'll buy what I think is the best phone and in 4 months a new version will be out. 6 months later I'll be 2 generations behind. At 12 months it'll start getting hard to find accessories for my phone. Probably around 18 months I'll find I don't want to upgrade the OS (if I'm even able) due to performance concerns, and apps won't work as well. I don't like holding obsolete tech in my hands.

Blackberry
These guys aren't losing, they're playing a different game. You know how Nintendo is in really bad shape according to hardcore gamers but swimming in money because they're tapping the casual gamer market that MS and Sony neglected until recently? RIM is milking the enterprise market and woefully ignorant of what the consumer market wants. If you're an executive under heavy IT restrictions, RIM's got the sysadmin's blessing. Avoid.

Windows Phone 7
I sure would like to develop some apps for it seeing as I'm already proficient in Silverlight, but I think they've got at least 1 hardware revision to go. They're moving to the "good, good, good, good, good, good, good..." model that Android's using. Nokia might bring some really cheap ones to the market, but that'll take months. With better hardware and a good developer ecosystem this could take off. Keywords: "could" and "later".

I'm not going to say you shouldn't buy an Android, nor do I want to get into a flamewar over which platform is better. If you like Android, use it. I don't like the way the ecosystem works, and wanted to relate those points in case you hadn't seen them made.