GeorgeinLA
Well-Known Member
UPDATE: I took our iPhones back today within the 14 day grace period for a full refund. I don't know what phone we'll get instead, for now i'm just going to wait and see how much longer we can
last with our D2's.
I realize I'm probably spitting into the wind here, but I need to rant. I've been a big fan of the Android OS ever since buying D2's for my wife and I two and a half years ago. I've really enjoyed all of the power and customization features of Android, and I was all set to "re-up" with new phones. But I'm now six months past my contract renewal date, and our phones are getting pretty long in the tooth, and yet, there's nothing in the Android lineup that's really appealing. Our requirements are fairly straightforward: solid spec's, latest software, physical keyboard, fits comfortably in the hand and pocket.
OK, there is/was the Droid 4, but they just got the ICS update, which tells me that the Jelly Bean update is a long ways off, if it ever happens. Do I really want to lock myself into a two-year contract on a phone that is on the verge of becoming yesterday's news, forgotten by even its maker? Plus, they changed the form factor into a big ugly phone that doesn't fit the docks I bought for the D2. There's Photon Q which is similar, maybe slightly updated, but that's Sprint, and I see no point in buying a 4G phone when Spring doesn't and won't have 4G in my area anytime soon. Samsung Stratosphere will probably never see ICS, much less Jelly Bean. After that, you start getting into cheap (unreliable) brands like Pantech and Kyocera, and/or other phones with below-par spec's/build quality. HTC just flat out refuses to make a phone with a keyboard these days.
The upshot is that if I want to buy an Android phone with a physical keyboard that runs the latest version of the OS, or is at least likely to in the near future, with a decent build quality and good spec's (a perfect description, by the way, of my D2 when I bought it), I can't do it. I've run all kinds of searches for what's coming down the pike, and there seems little hope that things will change anytime soon.
OK, so I can drop the keyboard as a requirement, and then I have a lot more choices, but at that point, why not just get an iPhone? I don't need or want a 4.7 inch screen, or the ability to transmit data by "bumping" my phone into another phone, or Dr. Dre's vision of the proper EQ for audio, nor am I particularly stoked to pay $200-300 even with a contract. My local Target offered an I-Phone 4 with 16 gigs for $30 on a two-year Verizon contract. It has a good camera, a good screen, and a nice-looking, good-sized form factor. It runs the latest version of iOS and in all likelihood will continue to do so at least through end of our contract.
So there you have it. We're three days or so into the 14-day grace period. I'm still considering returning them and picking up Androids, but unless something really compelling gets announced in the next ten days, probably not. Hopefully, two years from now, things will be better.
last with our D2's.
I realize I'm probably spitting into the wind here, but I need to rant. I've been a big fan of the Android OS ever since buying D2's for my wife and I two and a half years ago. I've really enjoyed all of the power and customization features of Android, and I was all set to "re-up" with new phones. But I'm now six months past my contract renewal date, and our phones are getting pretty long in the tooth, and yet, there's nothing in the Android lineup that's really appealing. Our requirements are fairly straightforward: solid spec's, latest software, physical keyboard, fits comfortably in the hand and pocket.
OK, there is/was the Droid 4, but they just got the ICS update, which tells me that the Jelly Bean update is a long ways off, if it ever happens. Do I really want to lock myself into a two-year contract on a phone that is on the verge of becoming yesterday's news, forgotten by even its maker? Plus, they changed the form factor into a big ugly phone that doesn't fit the docks I bought for the D2. There's Photon Q which is similar, maybe slightly updated, but that's Sprint, and I see no point in buying a 4G phone when Spring doesn't and won't have 4G in my area anytime soon. Samsung Stratosphere will probably never see ICS, much less Jelly Bean. After that, you start getting into cheap (unreliable) brands like Pantech and Kyocera, and/or other phones with below-par spec's/build quality. HTC just flat out refuses to make a phone with a keyboard these days.
The upshot is that if I want to buy an Android phone with a physical keyboard that runs the latest version of the OS, or is at least likely to in the near future, with a decent build quality and good spec's (a perfect description, by the way, of my D2 when I bought it), I can't do it. I've run all kinds of searches for what's coming down the pike, and there seems little hope that things will change anytime soon.
OK, so I can drop the keyboard as a requirement, and then I have a lot more choices, but at that point, why not just get an iPhone? I don't need or want a 4.7 inch screen, or the ability to transmit data by "bumping" my phone into another phone, or Dr. Dre's vision of the proper EQ for audio, nor am I particularly stoked to pay $200-300 even with a contract. My local Target offered an I-Phone 4 with 16 gigs for $30 on a two-year Verizon contract. It has a good camera, a good screen, and a nice-looking, good-sized form factor. It runs the latest version of iOS and in all likelihood will continue to do so at least through end of our contract.
So there you have it. We're three days or so into the 14-day grace period. I'm still considering returning them and picking up Androids, but unless something really compelling gets announced in the next ten days, probably not. Hopefully, two years from now, things will be better.
