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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Watching carolina Go To HELL!

    Cell Phone Upgrade time

    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.
    Last edited by OZZIE4DUKE; 05-24-2012 at 01:20 PM. Reason: more info about grandfathers
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
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  2. #2
    I have the Samsung Galaxy SII for ATT and it is phenomenal. I would recomend the Verizon equivalent.
    My Quick Smells Like French Toast.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    California
    How much data do you use per month? You might want to check your historical usage on your MyVerizon account page. If you're not streaming videos and music, it can be pretty tough to even get to the 2 GB threshold for Verizon's current lowest data plan, so you might not really need that unlimited data...especially if you have a wireless network to piggy-back onto from time to time (which doesn't count against your data plan at all and which can be used to download big files or watch videos). So the discounted Droid/iPhone options might actually be worth the new data limits, if you have been looking to make the jump.

    Sorry, I have an iPhone, so I can't personally speak to the other options you mentioned.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Watching carolina Go To HELL!
    I rarely exceed 1 GB of data per month currently (677 kb last month) and when I tether with my current phone to my net book, it's for reading the DBR and crazietalk.net, some other surfing and listening to Yankee games when I'm at my mother's house (no internet available) on mlb.com game day audio, still be best deal available at $19.95/year for every major league game broadcast all year, both home and away radio broadcast!). When I was there for a week last month I used under 1 GB of the 2 GB's I'm allowed /month for the $20 they charge, and I "turn it off" when I'm not going down there (and turn it back on when I am). But with a 4G phone both of those figures might go up a bit, especially over time. I have XM radio in my car, so I can listen to baseball games while I drive, and I've never seen the need to "double clutch" and sign up for the mlb ap on my phone as well as on my computer (on my old phone, I can get the graphics but not the sound when I sign in to the web site and try to listen to the game on wcbs radio, but that was last year. I'll try it again tomorrow, if I haven't gotten a new phone by then!)
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
    9F 9F 9F
    https://ecogreen.greentechaffiliate.com

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    California
    Quote Originally Posted by OZZIE4DUKE View Post
    I rarely exceed 1 GB of data per month currently (677 kb last month) and when I tether with my current phone to my net book, it's for reading the DBR and crazietalk.net, some other surfing and listening to Yankee games when I'm at my mother's house (no internet available) on mlb.com game day audio, still be best deal available at $19.95/year for every major league game broadcast all year, both home and away radio broadcast!). When I was there for a week last month I used under 1 GB of the 2 GB's I'm allowed /month for the $20 they charge, and I "turn it off" when I'm not going down there (and turn it back on when I am). But with a 4G phone both of those figures might go up a bit, especially over time. I have XM radio in my car, so I can listen to baseball games while I drive, and I've never seen the need to "double clutch" and sign up for the mlb ap on my phone as well as on my computer (on my old phone, I can get the graphics but not the sound when I sign in to the web site and try to listen to the game on wcbs radio, but that was last year. I'll try it again tomorrow, if I haven't gotten a new phone by then!)
    Hmmm...how much are you paying for your current unlimited data plan? $40/month was what it used to be if I remember correctly. If it's more than $30/month, then you would actually be better off just switching to Verizon's 2 GB for $30/month (unless you can envision your data usage going up dramatically in the future...in which case you could always switch to the 5 GB plan for $50/month). Depends on how enticing you find the siren song of the Droids/iPhones.

  6. #6
    There's no rush. The plan changes with VZW won't happen until later this year (IMO it'll be right before the new iPhone comes out) and you'll have ample time to get something beforehand. Also note that you can keep your current unlimited data plan with a new phone, like the iPhone 5, if you pay the unsubsidized price. The iPhone 4S is currently $650 at full retail price.

    I switched to an iPhone 4S from an OG Droid and haven't looked back (except that I really miss Google Maps). I don't know if I'd be comfortable going back to Android.

    You'll be able to burn through data faster with 4G, but that doesn't necessarily mean you will. Also, it's possible that the 2GB thresehold will change with the new plans, maybe it'll be 3GB. I have zero inside knowledge on that.

    From what I've read in publicly (again, no inside knowledge) the idea is to create a bucket of data (let's say 5GB) that a household would use monthly. I could then link two smartphones, my iPad, my PC, my car, or whatever "device" to that data plan. The bits would be shared. That's the idea anyways. It might not happen for awhile.

    BTW, if you need to move now, check out the newest Droid Incredible coming out. It looks nice.
    "Something in my vicinity is Carolina blue and this offends me." - HPR

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Watching carolina Go To HELL!
    I went ahead and got the Moto Droid Bionic at Costco for $60. Their "bonus pack" that the provide with every new phone includes a car charger, a couple of cases, and with the Bionic an extra battery and a charger station for it, which I like. The new Razor was $90 more and has a slightly faster processor (1.2 GHz vs. 1.0 GHz, but will I ever be able to tell a significant difference???) Both have Corning's Gorilla Glass, but the Razor's battery is like the iPhone's - not removable. If I don't like it, I have 14 days to take it back, or in ~650 days I'll be able to get the iPhone 8 or 9
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
    9F 9F 9F
    https://ecogreen.greentechaffiliate.com

  8. #8
    I wouldn't say the processor speed is much different between the Bionic and Droid Razr Maxx, but the battery life and size differences are significant. My wife has the Bionic and I just got the Razr Maxx. Since I put the phone in my pocket, the Bionic was too bulky for me and not having to charge the battery for over two days is really nice. The Bionic has a 1735 mAh battery, while the Razr Maxx has a 330 mAh battery. I don't like the fact that the battery is not removable on the Razr Maxx, but haven't had any problems and with such a large battery, there's no need for a backup. I also wish there were high end Android phones that were smaller from a height/width standpoint, but I guess the 4G radio requires the phone to be very long (the new iPhone is supposedly going to have to increase in size a bit). I may have gone the HTC route with their 4" screens, but those phones are so much thicker/heavier and I really needed the slimness. If the Bionic fits in your pocket and you don't have battery issues/charge it on a daily basis without issue, then it should be a great phone for you. And you got a really good deal. I will say that the camera on the Bionic seems to take pretty poor pictures for some reason. The Razr Maxx's camera is better, but still not amazing. I don't know why Motorola's 8 MP cameras just simply don't have the sharpness in their images as they should.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Watching carolina Go To HELL!
    Quote Originally Posted by Bluedog View Post
    I wouldn't say the processor speed is much different between the Bionic and Droid Razr Maxx, but the battery life and size differences are significant. My wife has the Bionic and I just got the Razr Maxx. Since I put the phone in my pocket, the Bionic was too bulky for me and not having to charge the battery for over two days is really nice. The Bionic has a 1735 mAh battery, while the Razr Maxx has a 330 mAh battery. I don't like the fact that the battery is not removable on the Razr Maxx, but haven't had any problems and with such a large battery, there's no need for a backup. I also wish there were high end Android phones that were smaller from a height/width standpoint, but I guess the 4G radio requires the phone to be very long (the new iPhone is supposedly going to have to increase in size a bit). I may have gone the HTC route with their 4" screens, but those phones are so much thicker/heavier and I really needed the slimness. If the Bionic fits in your pocket and you don't have battery issues/charge it on a daily basis without issue, then it should be a great phone for you. And you got a really good deal. I will say that the camera on the Bionic seems to take pretty poor pictures for some reason. The Razr Maxx's camera is better, but still not amazing. I don't know why Motorola's 8 MP cameras just simply don't have the sharpness in their images as they should.
    I'm in the habit of charging the battery nightly, and I have had a car charger (and got another one in my bonus pack from Costco) and don't mind charging during the day while driving. And once I get the extra battery in the mail (it'll take 6 to 8 weeks, the fulfillment company waits to make sure I don't return the phone within the 14 day return period before they even start processing the shipment) I'll carry the extra charged battery "somewhere" if/when I think I might need it.

    I'll be mindful of what you say about the 8 MP camera. Would be nice if it works well, but I just got a new Fuji Finepix F310 with 14 megapixels and a 10X zoom that's pretty small that I was planning to use for most family and business pics, although it means carrying and extra piece of gear. I never liked using the camera in the old Droid.
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
    9F 9F 9F
    https://ecogreen.greentechaffiliate.com

  10. #10
    $60 is hard to beat, but did you look at the Galaxy Nexus? I'm in the opinion that the extra skins that the handset makers place on top of Android (Motoblur, HTC Sense, etc) are annoying and distracting. Galaxy Nexus is just Android as Google meant it to be.
    "Something in my vicinity is Carolina blue and this offends me." - HPR

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Watching carolina Go To HELL!
    Quote Originally Posted by HaveFunExpectToWin View Post
    $60 is hard to beat, but did you look at the Galaxy Nexus? I'm in the opinion that the extra skins that the handset makers place on top of Android (Motoblur, HTC Sense, etc) are annoying and distracting. Galaxy Nexus is just Android as Google meant it to be.
    I did about a month or 6 weeks ago when at Costco before I was serious about upgrading, and it was impressive. But Costco no longer carries it because they had so many returns because of problems they dropped it nationwide. The salesman I was dealing with really liked the HTC Rezound phone they had and told me about the HTC One that he expects will be coming out in a couple of weeks (currently available for T-Mobile and AT&T customers?). I was mildly tempted by the Rezound and its 1.5 GHz processor and better camera ($200), but not for long.
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
    9F 9F 9F
    https://ecogreen.greentechaffiliate.com

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Watching carolina Go To HELL!
    Quote Originally Posted by OZZIE4DUKE View Post
    I went ahead and got the Moto Droid Bionic
    Overall, the phone has been fine, except for the wireless "wifi hot spot", which was nothing but frustration and trouble since I turned it on last week while on vacation. My netbook, sitting 6 inches from the phone, would lose the data connection from the phone repeatedly and often, even though the signal strength was 5 bars and rated "excellent". Sometimes the phone showed 4G/LTE, sometimes it switched to 3G, and on occasion it lost the data connection entirely. It was almost like 1996 and losing your dial-up connection on AOL... I spent a couple of hours on the phone with Verizon tech support that night and the next day changing settings and reloading software into the phone (just what I wanted to do on vacation), but the problems continued. So the next day they had me go to a local Verizon store, which was an independent dealer, and they put in a new SIM card for me. This seemed to help some, but problems continued over the weekend. We had from 1 to 3 computers trying to use the connection, and they'd all lose the connection at the same time when it happened, yet at times it was solid for over an hour. Sunday I drove to Ft. Lauderdale and the problem continued here, so again talking with tech support, they decided the problem was a hardware problem with the phone and sent me a certified replacement (repaired) phone, which I got today. I must say, for the hour I've been online, the connection has been rock solid and I haven't been dropped yet! If this continues, I'm a happy camper!
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
    9F 9F 9F
    https://ecogreen.greentechaffiliate.com

  13. #13
    I just pre-ordered a Samsung Galaxy S3 today. I have never seen the phone, but Thursday is the deadline to get a subsidized phone under my old unlimited plan. The new plans would have cost me $30 more per month and subjected me to potential overage penalties. I would have ordered the HTC Incredible 4G LTE if it had been in the system. A friend of my has the HTC EVO 4G on Sprint and it is spectacular.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Watching carolina Go To HELL!
    One other thing of note on wifi hot spots on Verizon phones. On 4G/LTE plans, for $30 month you get unlimited data, and you can turn them on and off at will when you need them. On my old 3G phone, I got 2 GB of data for $20/month (again, could turn it on and off as needed.) So if you go on vacation for a week and need it, it'll cost you $7.50 for the week to use it, if you remember to go online into your account and turn the feature off (or call Verizon and ask them to do it). You can also turn it on online when needed. With 3 computers using it last week (for 5 days, even with the interrupted service) and my listening to several ballgames online, I've used ~1.6 GB in 7 days. It says so on my phone - there is a widget displaying the usage.
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
    9F 9F 9F
    https://ecogreen.greentechaffiliate.com

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Back in Vegas... again.
    Quote Originally Posted by Schwarz View Post
    I just pre-ordered a Samsung Galaxy S3 today. I have never seen the phone, but Thursday is the deadline to get a subsidized phone under my old unlimited plan. The new plans would have cost me $30 more per month and subjected me to potential overage penalties. I would have ordered the HTC Incredible 4G LTE if it had been in the system. A friend of my has the HTC EVO 4G on Sprint and it is spectacular.
    If the Incredible becomes available within 30 days, can you return the Samsung and get the Incredible?

  16. #16

    ??????

    Have spent most of tonight surfing about phones/plans. Have just now read this thread.

    Am so confused re my needs/possibilities.

    My guess is that's how the cell phone providers want us to feel? ;-)

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by sue71 View Post
    If the Incredible becomes available within 30 days, can you return the Samsung and get the Incredible?
    That is a very good question. I wonder if I would even have 30 days from when the S3 shows up. Thanks for the suggestion.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Watching carolina Go To HELL!
    Quote Originally Posted by Schwarz View Post
    That is a very good question. I wonder if I would even have 30 days from when the S3 shows up. Thanks for the suggestion.
    I think you have 14 days to return the phone. I know Costco gave me 14 days to void the transaction/upgrade/return the phone.
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
    9F 9F 9F
    https://ecogreen.greentechaffiliate.com

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Summerville ,S.C.
    I took a chance and got my htc off of eBay.my wifes htc was a refurbished phone. Both worked very well .I to didn't want to renew my plan.I would trade them for a I phone .buying your phones they way I did gives you options. As for the two gb limit t Mobile gives .I can surf the net .watch two duke games not including the halftimes .i max out in fifteen days.

  20. #20
    Hey everybody. I've got a couple questions and didn't think there was a need to start a new thread. I've got AT&T and am upgrading next week. I am trying to decide between the HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy s3. I was just curious if any of you guys have either of these phones and what your impressions of them are. Thanks in advance!

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