Cell Phone Upgrade time

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I think it's time to upgrade my smart phone, and I thought I'd check in with my resident experts! I am grandfathered into Verizon's unlimited data plan on my original Droid and want to go to a 4G LTE phone. I had planned to wait until the fall when the iPhone 5 (?) would probably come out, just because I've never had an iPhone, but because of the rumored forced migration away from the unlimited data plans, I think it prudent to get the new phone now.

A word about the data plan first - the latest I read this week is that when a grandfathered unlimited data plan customer either goes to either a "shared family data plan" or gets a new "discounted" phone, ie, $199 instead of paying the full price of $699, they'll have to go to a tiered data plan instead of their old unlimited plan. Granted, this is still speculation, but if I get the new phone now, I can get the discounted phone and not have to worry about losing the unlimited plan. Also, in just speaking with a Verizon tech person, he told me that if the phone is not 3G compatible, the person can't keep the "grandfathered plan", so upgrades 2 or 3 years out will probably see most grandfathers .... argh!

So, do I stay with a Motorola phone? The Razor? Razor Maxx? The Bionic (the price on that has dropped to about $60 for an upgrade). What about the HTC Rezolve? It has a faster processor and higher resolution screen, plus a removable battery! I've heard there have been problems with the Samsung Nexus and lots of returns on that phone. I want 4G LTE, especially for using the phone as a wifi hot spot with my net book, so the iPhone 4s is out. All the phones will be faster and have better screen resolution than my original MotoDroid, and have a better camera. I know more/faster/better is nice, but if you're not comparing them side by side in the store, you really can't tell the difference when you're standing outside or sitting in your car using them. I'll do some web surfing, I've never listened to music or watched a tv program on my phone, but can't promise you I won't in the future. The battery lasting a full day with moderate, "normal" use is required. Being able to change the battery to a spare, or to take it out if it locks up, is REALLY nice, and almost a necessity. Especially the reset part of that.