Smart Phones.... Need to Pick one

[jiarby]

Currently on T-Mobile (out of contract) with two lines on a Business Shared Plan 2000 minutes, Unlimited Nights/Weekends ($99.99), Unlimited SMS/Text($9.99)... with tax & such I am about $120-125/mo. We do not have a data plan.

Now, though, I am spending more time away from my PC (and email) and want to be able to check messages. My current device & plan does not allow that.

I am willing to change carriers.

So far I have looked at these:

1. TMO - Samsung Behold-2 (Google Android 1.5 + TMO Touch)
2. TMO - HTC TouchPro 2 (Windows Mobile)
3. Verizon - Motorola Droid (Google Android 2.0)
4. Verizon - Blackberry Storm 2 (Blackberry OS)

How I have broken them down so far:
1. Behold2: Like the form factor, Hate the interface (spinning cube). Out of date o/s. NO slide out KBD. TMO G3 network not quite there. $230...maybe overpriced
2. TouchPro: Runs WinMobile, Nice slide out kbd. Very pricey....$350
3. Droid: Great full size display, turn by turn GPS, Google Voice/Maps/GMAIL, but the slide kbd is pretty lame. I dont like the form factor design as much as the others. Android 2 is the mamba jamba. 1st gen phone... always risky.
4. Storm 2: Great blackberry email, bad blackberry browser. I like the look. much improved over storm1...more memory, storage.


So,

Any of you guys use one of these??

I do not want ATT, so that kills the iPhone. I do not want to pay $4-500 for an unlocked one either.

 

[jgolo]

I've got the Droid , had a Storm (1), have an iPhone and have had other Blackberries.

So far I do not "trust" the email on the Droid, sometimes you have to restart the phone so it will "re-connect" to the network.

I love the iPhone - hate AT&T service, both on the phone and the connection.

Dont know much about the second version of the Storm, but, as you may know, it's hard to beat blackberry email and if you have an exchange server, it's great.

So, for business only I would go Storm, iPhone, Droid - 1,2,3

good luck!

 

[signs2trade]

My first pick would be the iphone. I have had the storm...hated it....the my touch....ok....Ive read a lot about the droid ..looks pretty good. Loved my blackberry pearl. In my opinion nothing can outdo the iphone at this time...if you cant get good service than it does not matter. I try new phones all the time, in fact I have a Nokia e 71 unlocked smart phone for sale now on ebay. Beautiful phone but just to complicated for me after having used the iphone for a couple of years. If I had to change phones I would probably go with the droid until blackberry has a better interface for apps like facebook....

 

[TheSnowman]

I have the BB Curve on Nextel's network. I love my coverage w/ Nextel around here, love my push to talk, but hate Nextel's data network. The phone isn't bad...but my parents both just did the iPhone thing...and those blow me away. It's a shame which company you have to be with to get it, but either way, still amazing phones.

 

[rcook99]

I had the original BB Storm when it first came out and it was a slow piece of chit. I returned it and waited a year and ended up with the updated Storm and will say it is very nice especially with the email. Be sure that if you try a friends Storm that they have the updated software Version 5.0.0.328 as it made a big difference in the response time when opening and closing apps. I will say the IPHONE is nice but you can't get insurance on it and it is nice to have insurance when it breaks. There is a plan you can buy from Apple that will help offset some of the cost of the IPHONE if it breaks but I am not sure how it works with there Apple Care. I also have the Samsung Omnia for sale that was used for 3 weeks. My wife thought she would like for work but didn't like getting email's every 5 seconds so she decided to go back to her Env 2.

 

[TheSnowman]

You can get Applecare for the life of your contract on the phone. It is like $80 or something.

 

[bayshorecreations]

Love my storm!

 

[rcook99]

You can get Applecare for the life of your contract on the phone. It is like $80 or something

What does it give you for coverage as far as a broken phone and how long are you without your phone if they choose to repair it? Not bashing the phone or plan just curious as to how there Apple Care plan works.

 

[stickygraphics12]

iPhone - Email is great, Internet is great, I accept all my credit cards right on my phone, you can't go wrong! I also have many other apps that I use for the business! No other phone even compares!

 

[TheSnowman]

From what I understood when my parents bought their phones, they got some kit along w/ applecare for like $100. The applecare works like this. If your phone goes down, and you call tech support, and they can't fix it, they overnight you a new phone. You send yours in, and if they can't fix it, or they think it's too big of a deal to fix, you just keep the new one they sent you.

 

[redmondcopy]

iphone

I have iphone unlocked and ues it with t-mobile and now they have a new unlimted plan for 59.99 unlimited everything. Also just saw Mal-Mart has a new deal for $45.00 a month you get unlimited everything. Not sure what phone options they have though. Good Luck.

Grant

 

[LoGl]

Storm

Everyday of the week I would want an IPhone...BUT will not switch from Verizon because have had other services and Verizon can not be beat for reception almost everywhere I go. That said, I have a Storm (Gen 1) and it has had it's issues, but with software upgrades and occasional pull out the battery and reset the sucker....I generally find it does everything I need it to do (and pretty effeciently) short of not having Illustrator on it! I say go for a BlackBerry....friends have Pearl and really like it too. One thing about IPhone, I heard you can not insure broken screen and know of a few people that have paid big money to have that fixed. Hope this helps somewhat!

 

[Doyle]

Blackberry Tour here, I tend to stick with blackberry because I am used to them and have lots of apps that I can transfer to a new blackberry when I upgrade. I haven't used any other smartphone except a nokia e61. I am very happy with blackberry, but don't think I would ever get a storm just because it lacks a physical keyboard.

If you are shopping for a new carrier, Sprint has the best deals on data plans. I pay $99/mo and have unlimited everything, which includes phone minutes, text, data, etc. and as a bonus you also get free Sprint navigation (voice guided gps, really handy) and sprint tv and sprint radio.

The iphone will be coming to other carriers in the next year or so, so I would never commit to ATT just for the iphone. Nice phone, just a horrible carrier (at least in my area).

Android has come a long way in the last couple of years, I would be interested in checking out some of their devices too.

 

[SignManiac]

Very pleased with the Iphone with the exception of four things. It won't play any flash, you can't swap out the battery, you can't add more than the 32gb of memory and last but not least, it's with AT&T for the time being. Otherwise it's a great device.

I don't mind the virtual keyboard at all because that's the only one I've used. Most of the other phones I've looked at have tiny keyboards that would be awkward with my big hands.

More apps than you could every possibly need. The TomTom GPS and Golf GPS work really well. The Droid would be my only other choice if I didn't have an Iphone. I think these smart phones are where it's at if you are in business. Nothing like carrying your office around in your pocket.

In five years I'm certain they will be the norm for most people once the price comes down. It's a write off for me so I don't give a damn. Oh, and I pay $90 a month for unlimited data plan and 450 anytime minutes and rollover, with unlimited after hours and on weekends.

I don't spend a lot of time on the phone or texting.

 

[MachServTech]

I have had the Droid for about a week, as a former iphone user (hated ATT coverage) I have to say I really love this phone. The downloadable apps are in the multiple thousands (most are free) and the OS on the phone opens a PDF faster than my laptop. Very fast OS and good enough Nav feature to replace my Garmin with one device. The contact screen isnt my favorite, but I do have hundreds of contacts, so it may be better for others. The 5mp camera seems to work well too (there is a focusing glitch in the camera that they say will be fixed with a software update on Dec 11th)

Has an removable 16GB Sd card that I use for file/movie/music storage just like a USB HD. If you like to watch tv or movies it really does have an incredible screen. This is the first phone that is as good (in some ways better) as the iphone.

My advice is test drive one.

 

[Kwiksigns]

if it is for business mostly... Get a Blackberry or Android phone. Stay away from windows mobile. I had it for a couple years and it is too buggy and not as fast as anything else. Android 2.0 is getting better as Flash will be introduced in the first quarter of '10. AT&T is just too terrible for me to tell anyone to go to it. And my dad has been through like... 2 or 3 IPhones... They just break. I have had absolutely no problem with my Droid either. I haven't had to restart it... But regardless you should restart your phone everyday for better service. And everytime I need something there is an app for it. It also has spreadsheets! Which an iphone does not

 

[OneUpTenn]

Not sure how you feel about touchscreen phones but I have the Rogue from Verizon and it is by far the best phone ever. It is similiar to an iphone and you can do everything on it.

Have your email sent to your phone
Use it as an Ipod..which I do every day
Key pad for easy texting
Awesome features like a notepad that you can actually write with your finger on the phone...great for jotting down phone numbers, directions, etc.
The only bad side is there is a slight delay when you hit certain buttons that you have to get used to and the people at Verizon said that if I will take off the screen protector that this will not be an issue, however I like the screen protector and have learned to deal with the delay.

Just my 2 cents!!

 

[synergy_jim]

I love my Iphone but hate at&t..... If it was on verizon, it would be the cat's-ass

 

[Sticky Signs]

Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone, Iphone,.

 

[grafxxx]

have you looked at sprint? they have the htc touch/ hero (android). i have the original instinct. which i will be upgrading to the new instinct hd. i jsut like the sprint nav plus if you get the data plan you get free mobile to mobile. on any network. plus i used to have some kind of business plan where they don't charge you form incoming calls. but not sure if that is covered on the data plan...
good luck in your search..