My friend Jimmy has gotten himself into quite a dilemma with switching jobs. But he brings up an interesting question and could use some help with an answer. Is March the worst time to buy a new mobile phone?
I'm getting ready to return my Blackberry Tour to the man (AKA my old employer), and I find myself in need of a new phone. After researching there are countless options for current and upcoming SmartPhones.  I realize this decision is IMPOSSIBLE!
I use my phone for everything!
- Music player (at work, in car, at gym, etc)
- Web Browsing
- GPS
- Work and Personal email
- instant messaging both tradition and Blackberry Pin-to-Pin
- ebooks
From time to time I actually use it for its primary purpose, to make calls. So whatever device I pick needs to do all the things above well.! I don't care much about social networking because, unlike 90% of the world I am just not into it.
Options Available:
- iPhone 3GS (which means moving from Verizon to poor AT&T quality)
- Motorola Droid
- HTC Nexus One (even worse then AT&T, TMobile)
- Palm Pre
- HTC Touch Pro 2 (No upgrade to Windows Phone 7)
Two years ago, I wouldn't even be considering anything but a Windows Phone device. I've been a Microsoft/Windows Phone guy for years, but my recent purchase of a MacBook has rocked me to my fanboy-core. There are so many pros and cons for each device that a perfect decision is very difficult. But to make this difficult decision impossible, I have to consider all the new phones set to come out too. I'm really considering going back to a "New Jack City"-era giant flip phone (with antenna) and just waiting it out.
Options Coming Soon
- iPhone "4g" (yes, I know it won't be called that)
- Nexus On on Verizon (I believe that is March 23)
- LG VS750
- Motorola Devour
- Windows Phone 7 (Back to my roots)
I'm thinking Nino Brown's flip-phone is the way to go. Thoughts?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Firstly, I wouldn’t go for anything that doesn’t have a seperate qwerty keyboard [as in, don't go for ones with the keyboard on the screen]. They’re irritating, and make it very difficult to multi-task, like txting whilst you walk. One brush of your thumb across the screen and you’ve written a nonsense essay.
I used to have the HTC Touch diamond, and realised the hard way about touch-screen keyboards. I ended up selling it to cashconverters and buying a recycled Motorola V3 [simply due to the fact that it was heavy duty and simple]. But obviously this new phone didn’t really meet any of my needs.
Last week I got the LG GW620. It is a highly useful and easy to use phone. The keyboard is lovely, the phone is quite slim, and you have social networking, email and even a google search bar, and the tap of your thumb. It has GPS and boasts a fast internet speed [although I can't really compare internet speed as before I haven't used the internet that much].
I’m amused by the music player. As someone who hates people playing their music outloud on the bus, I have never been that attracted to phones that boast amazing music applications. Apart from noticing that the music player didn’t distort any of my music, it seems simply enough.
the only problem I’ve found so far [and this is just me being me] is the lack of wallpapers. It has an unusual sized screen [as you can scroll left and right on your main screen, so its like three main screens really] and even the internet isn’t overly stocked with images that size, but as long as you aren’t a technophobe, its not bad.
I am battling with the same issue.
At this point, I’m settling for the HD2 on T-mobile at the end of March. With its superior voice command structure and easy to use email clients, coupled with HTC Sense, it should be a good business phone. I am hoping it will support Win Mobile 7 either via XDA Developers or HTC (if they get a waiver from Microsoft) directly. The HD2 also has the Swype Keyboard and some other neat features.
If it doesn’t work out in a few months, it’ll go on craigslist/ebay and I’ll pick up the next gen iPhone with video conferencing and a 5MP camera around the holidays.
I’ve used T-mobile for over 10 years, and Sprint before that. While I’m sure AT&T and Verizon have more robust networks, T-mobile is pushing 21mbps across its network this year. They’re still the most economical carrier and i’m a fan of the recent Even More Plus plans.
Good luck in whichever direction you go!
I like the HD2 as well. I am suprised to see that you would not wait untill Phone 7 comes out instead of the next iPhone. Why is that?