help picking a phone

[sneeze18]

hey guys, I'm thinking of joining the smartphone (Android) scene and need help picking the right phone.

So far I'm thinking to either get the Vibrant or Nexus S. I know this is a Nexus S forum, so i want to ask can someone compare the two and tell me why I should get the NexusS over the Vibrant or is there any other phone i should consider?

I'll very much appreciate it! Thanks!

 

[quantumrand]

I'm just going to go into detail about the Vibrant vs Nexus S decision. To start off, the Nexus S is by far the better choice. You'll find that the Nexus S has very similar hardware to the Vibrant. In fact, the share the same processor, screen, etc.

The Nexus S has a few benefits though, such as the front facing camera, and a working GPS sensor. The Nexus S is also a pure Google phone, meaning it'll be among the first Android phones to get any updates (compared to the Vibrant which is still on Android 2.1). As Google's new development platform, the Nexus S should also run Android better than other devices with similar hardware. To top it off, the Nexus S has a better camera and LED flash.

Now the Vibrant has a couple advantages. For instance, the Nexus S has no expandable storage, so you're stuck with the 16GB the phone comes with. The Vibrant can also record video in 720p, while the Nexus S is stuck with 480p, at least for the time being.

Basically it comes down to this:

Nexus S
+Working GPS
+Better Camera w/ flash
+Front Facing Camera
+Runs Android better and gets updates first
-No SD card slot
-No HD video recording (at least for now)

Vibrant
+SD storage (on top of 16GB of internal storage)
+720p Video recording
-Poor GPS
-Poor camera for low light conditions
-Very slow to Android updates. TouchWiz slows things down.

Also, I feel that the Nexus S feels a lot better in the hand. It has a bit more weight to it, but it's a good weight and makes the phone feel more sturdy.

 

[sneeze18]

very nice.
Thank you so much for that review

 

[2FR35H]

I'm just going to go into detail about the Vibrant vs Nexus S decision. To start off, the Nexus S is by far the better choice. You'll find that the Nexus S has very similar hardware to the Vibrant. In fact, the share the same processor, screen, etc.

The Nexus S has a few benefits though, such as the front facing camera, and a working GPS sensor. The Nexus S is also a pure Google phone, meaning it'll be among the first Android phones to get any updates (compared to the Vibrant which is still on Android 2.1). As Google's new development platform, the Nexus S should also run Android better than other devices with similar hardware. To top it off, the Nexus S has a better camera and LED flash.

Now the Vibrant has a couple advantages. For instance, the Nexus S has no expandable storage, so you're stuck with the 16GB the phone comes with. The Vibrant can also record video in 720p, while the Nexus S is stuck with 480p, at least for the time being.

Basically it comes down to this:

Nexus S
+Working GPS
+Better Camera w/ flash
+Front Facing Camera
+Runs Android better and gets updates first
-No SD card slot
-No HD video recording (at least for now)

Vibrant
+SD storage (on top of 16GB of internal storage)
+720p Video recording
-Poor GPS
-Poor camera for low light conditions
-Very slow to Android updates. TouchWiz slows things down.

Also, I feel that the Nexus S feels a lot better in the hand. It has a bit more weight to it, but it's a good weight and makes the phone feel more sturdy.

I don't honestly feel poor gps is a fair con for vibrant. Yes alot of users have issues regarding this but not everyone though, if you have it its more of a defect on the device that you should exchange. All other accounts I can agree with.

 

[quantumrand]

I don't honestly feel poor gps is a fair con for vibrant. Yes alot of users have issues regarding this but not everyone though, if you have it its more of a defect on the device that you should exchange. All other accounts I can agree with.

It seems to be affecting an awful lot of people, and the way Samsung handled it doesn't help their case. First they simply ignored the issue entirely until finally, after so much bad press, they admitted that there was a "software" issue. They took their sweet time and released an update that they claimed would fix the GPS issues, but it really didn't whatsoever. They then ignored the problem again, until the heat got too high, admitting that it still wasn't fixed and released a second update, claiming again that it would fix it. That update didn't fix it either, which they then ignored for a while.

Finally, Samsung admitted that it's not something that can be fixed and created a webpage to help people troubleshoot and get the most out of their crappy GPS chip.

My girlfriend went through 3 Vibrants, trying to find one with a decent GPS before giving up. We tried all of the updates as well as the various fixes in the mod community. It still suffers from the same problems. My friend's Captivate is the same way. Granted I'm only looking at a small sample size, but it's looking like 100% of units are affected.

 

[NunyaBidnez]

I'm just going to go into detail about the Vibrant vs Nexus S decision. To start off, the Nexus S is by far the better choice. You'll find that the Nexus S has very similar hardware to the Vibrant. In fact, the share the same processor, screen, etc.

The Nexus S has a few benefits though, such as the front facing camera, and a working GPS sensor. The Nexus S is also a pure Google phone, meaning it'll be among the first Android phones to get any updates (compared to the Vibrant which is still on Android 2.1). As Google's new development platform, the Nexus S should also run Android better than other devices with similar hardware. To top it off, the Nexus S has a better camera and LED flash.

Now the Vibrant has a couple advantages. For instance, the Nexus S has no expandable storage, so you're stuck with the 16GB the phone comes with. The Vibrant can also record video in 720p, while the Nexus S is stuck with 480p, at least for the time being.

Basically it comes down to this:

Nexus S
+Working GPS
+Better Camera w/ flash
+Front Facing Camera
+Runs Android better and gets updates first
-No SD card slot
-No HD video recording (at least for now)

Vibrant
+SD storage (on top of 16GB of internal storage)
+720p Video recording
-Poor GPS
-Poor camera for low light conditions
-Very slow to Android updates. TouchWiz slows things down.

Also, I feel that the Nexus S feels a lot better in the hand. It has a bit more weight to it, but it's a good weight and makes the phone feel more sturdy.

I personally think the Nexus S is a better choice over the Vibrant but the Vibrant has one more advantage that you neglected to mention. When unlocked, the Vibrant is capable of running on both T-Mobile and AT&T 3G.

T-Mobile Vibrant supports AT&T 3G