I tend to build computers with future proofing in mind - unfortunately, the cellphone market is changing drastically faster than even the computer market. My (computer) machine now has SATA III and USB 3 native, and I am booting off an SSD (soon to be SATA II SSD, if I play my cards right) and I *still* am behind on the technology.
I suppose the fact that I cannot upgrade phone components is what makes the choice the hardest. Right now I have a pair of GTX260s in my comp with a GTS250 dedicated to PhysX - I can upgrade piecemeal and be happy with my machine on a rolling, continuous basis. My phone - it's all or nothing. I either get a phone I know I'll be satisfied with, or I moan and complain about it for the next 2 years or so.
I did a
lot of research when I heard about the DROID, and the closer it came to drop day the more I knew I wanted it - I could not afford an unsubsidized phone, so the upcoming Nexus 1 was out of the question, and I did not want a Storm II b/c of all the crap that RIM had to deal with with the original Storm, and I most certainly did not want any phone that I was going to have to use iTune (on windows, no less) to update my phone. Of course, then there was no iPhone on VZW, so that took care of itself, but still...
I did the research, read the opinions, learned more and more about the hardware - and picked what has turned out to be a most fantastic phone for me.
I'm simply heartbroken that my DROID needs a new home, that it simply cannot fulfill my needs anymore, and that it's not the beast it used to be. Still, though, it has lasted me through thick and thin - I still impress people with it now.
I'm in a Master's of Biotechnology program, and we've been in workshop all week learning about all sorts of molecular amplification processes (primarily PCR based) and at one point a gel I had poured came out looking ... odd. We figured out that the gel tray was not level, and a professor went off to get a level to fix it - I whipped out my DROID, loaded the Bubble app, and checked the level myself, adjusted all the screws....and the guy from Penn State conducting the workshop was flabbergasted. He had already seen me use the Biochemistry Lab Suite app to accurately calculate solvent and solute mix concentrations, as well as dilution concentrations, and also watched me use it as a multiple setting timer for various reactions, but for some reason he was floored by the fact that I could check the level of the tray -
with my phone
You never know when someone is going to be impressed - and I've made a many a people drop their jaw at what exactly my phone can do.
Netflix on the phone - my boy Paul was amazed not only that I had it but that the quality was incredible, and the lag was non existent
on 3G.
My ideal phone would be one that has 2 GB RAM, 8 GB internal storage, 32 GB microSD, LTE, 12 MP quad CCD rear camera (maybe a small VGA front camera), new battery technology providing 3 times the power in the same footprint, FM Radio, and, of course,
vanilla Android - GB or HC, whichever works better. I think that with those types of specs, it would future prrof me until it came time to buy a new phone 2 years down the road.
Is that really too much to ask right now?
