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Is it a bad time to switch to Android?

R

redvettez06

Member
Hi,

I'm tired of Apple's shenannigins. Their iOS4 has made my 3g basically unusable. It drops calls all the time and the music has started to stutter at occasions. I'm quite interested in Android phones and I am wondering if a new bunch of Android phones are coming out soon to counter the iPhone 4 release. If they are, then I would be interested in waiting so that I get a product at the beginning of it's cycle (instead of end/middle like the curent 'droids are in). I live in Alaska, so my choices are limited. I can get another phone that works with ATT, or I can get a phone that works with one of the local smaller carriers which are GCI (GSM) or ACS Alaska (CDMA and uses Verizon networks when I am in the states). A quick look at ATTs offerings didn't produce any phones worth mentioning (and I'd like to be rid of ATT if I could find an excuse) and both of the other networks offer $99 heros though I would be up to buying a different phone (nexus 1, etc.) if they are trually worth it.

It seems like the iPhone 4 is the phone to beat right now and I can't help but think that there are new sweet Android phones coming soon (like this fall) though I haven't been able to find any info about them. Are there usually phone releases in the Fall/Christmas season? If so, is it worth waiting for them, or is the Hero (or Nexus, Droid. ect.) good enough for the next 2 years? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
The Nexus One has been sold out apparently. You can't get them anymore unless you eBay one.

I don't know much about the American phones (what with living in Canada and all) so I couldn't tell you what's best and what's coming next. Lots of people seem to like the Droid though. Droid X apparently is a PITA to root (if you're interested in that) last I heard.

Hopefully one of the members from south of the border come on and take a look at your thread. The other trick being that there could be good phones that one person is referring to that has a different name in another region but is still available in yours. (ie. My Samsung Spica is also known as the Samsung Portal and the Samsung Lite in other countries. Same phone. Same specs. Different color. Different name.)
 
redvettez06 said:
Hi,

I'm tired of Apple's shenannigins. Their iOS4 has made my 3g basically unusable. It drops calls all the time and the music has started to stutter at occasions. I'm quite interested in Android phones and I am wondering if a new bunch of Android phones are coming out soon to counter the iPhone 4 release. If they are, then I would be interested in waiting so that I get a product at the beginning of it's cycle (instead of end/middle like the curent 'droids are in). I live in Alaska, so my choices are limited. I can get another phone that works with ATT, or I can get a phone that works with one of the local smaller carriers which are GCI (GSM) or ACS Alaska (CDMA and uses Verizon networks when I am in the states). A quick look at ATTs offerings didn't produce any phones worth mentioning (and I'd like to be rid of ATT if I could find an excuse) and both of the other networks offer $99 heros though I would be up to buying a different phone (nexus 1, etc.) if they are trually worth it.

It seems like the iPhone 4 is the phone to beat right now and I can't help but think that there are new sweet Android phones coming soon (like this fall) though I haven't been able to find any info about them. Are there usually phone releases in the Fall/Christmas season? If so, is it worth waiting for them, or is the Hero (or Nexus, Droid. ect.) good enough for the next 2 years? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Evo is not in the middle of it's cycle, and Epic will be the next big 4g phone. Sprint has great plans, even with the Premium Data fee, is less than I paid with AT&T for 2 years. I'm not suggesting you jump ship on my recommendation. But my experience with Sprint SO FAR (been less than 2 months) is good. And I love the Evo.... the pros and cons comparisons person to person is various and long. but most people love the phone overall.

Also, We are all expecting (fingers crossed) to get an upgrade to android 2.2 by years end, maybe sooner, which should provide added functionality to all androids.
 
If you already have an iPhone 4, I'd just sit on it until Nov/Dec when the Gingerbread phones come out.

If I weren't currently limping along with a dumbphone (LG Chocolate 3), I'd wait. Gingerbread will bring dual core CPUs, 2GHz CPUs, front-facing cameras, and a bunch of other neat features on the high-end smartphones.

All things considered, the iPhone 4 is a pretty decent handset. It's certainly not perfect. I wouldn't want to use it for 2 years, but a few months is manageable. Especially when you see all the cool stuff in Gingerbread.
 
ImSpartacus said:
If you already have an iPhone 4, I'd just sit on it until Nov/Dec when the Gingerbread phones come out.
Click to expand...

He doesn't. He's currently stuck with a 3G which has been crippled by iOS4. Ironic really, since we all know that for Android, the 2.2 update increases speed--for all phones--not cripples them.

It's as good a time as any, OP. If you don't want to leave AT&T, go for the Samsung Captivate. It's easily the iFail4's equal in most areas and beats it stupid in others (bigger screen, super AMOLED providing greater visibility in direct sunlight and using less power, equally fast processor and possibly better GPU), and of course Android leaves iOS in the dust in all areas but app catalogue.
 
I have a Captivate, and I can almost say with 100% confidence that it's the best smart phone on the market. I had a bit of issue with the battery, and some small software related issues, but almost all of them have been resolved with a little tweaking. That's the best part about Android: instead of wishing and hoping that a company will release a phone, there's plenty of hackers willing to take a look and see what the problem is.

Good luck :)
 
iv'e got the desire and a iphone 3gs. i safely and honestly say that the htc desire totally and utterly wipes the floor with the iphone 3gs.
 
The only problem with Android phones is there's always a better phone being released around the corner regardless of what carrier you go with. For example, Droid 2, Galaxy S's (Verizon's version coming out at the end of the summer) and etc. For me the phone company you go with is very important. According to Consumers Report (I think we can all agree) Verizon rates #1 in almost every major market and AT&T is consistently on the bottom. Spring and T-mobile in the middle. What's the point of having a phone when you can't even use it. I left AT&T several years ago to go with Verizon and couldn't be happier. With that said Verizon isn't the cheapest either. They're are more expensive when compared to other companies at comparable plans. You want to also get a phone with a fast processor. The same reason you buy a computer with a fast processor. Currently, Droid X, Incredible,and Galaxy S's are good examples. Finally, I would highly recommend that you research them and find one that fits YOU. There is so much with these phones in regards to screen resolutions, how many pixels the camera has, does the camera flash, Android 2.1 or 2.2 and etc and etc....And when you finally make a decision on the one you like pull the trigger and buy it because if you keep waiting for whats coming around the corner you'll never buy one.

One last note, start a savings account for a new phone now because I can guarantee you that in a year maybe less into your two year agreement another Android phone will come out and blow the one you got out of the water. This way you can buy it out of contract.

Hope this helps.
 
Hi there.

I felt the same you did. I had a 3G and upgraded to iOS4. It was terrible on my phone (actually ALL 3Gs). I was so disgusted that Apple could release such terrible software to 3G users knowing that it would bog our phones down terribly so I decided to go to Android.

I got the Captivate and I love it!!! Android is awesome. AND you get to keep your unlimited data for $30. I hear that Verizon will be doing the tiered data within the next couple of months.
 
Maybe ios4 is slower because they couldn't hack in multitasking properly? We've seen the Nexus one with froyo trounce the IP4 on javascript and I really can't wait to see Droid X and SGS on froyo.
 
Cool guys, thanks for the info. Yeah, living in Alaska limits me to a few networks. I'm still not entirely decided where to go. I'd like to ditch ATT but I'd have to go with a local carrier like ACS alaska which are pretty good and work on Verizon networks when I'm down in the states. The Gingerbread that someone mentioned previously sounded intriguing. Is Gingerbread the next android version or an upcoming phone?
 
redvettez06 said:
Cool guys, thanks for the info. Yeah, living in Alaska limits me to a few networks. I'm still not entirely decided where to go. I'd like to ditch ATT but I'd have to go with a local carrier like ACS alaska which are pretty good and work on Verizon networks when I'm down in the states. The Gingerbread that someone mentioned previously sounded intriguing. Is Gingerbread the next android version or an upcoming phone?
Click to expand...

I thought I read that Android 2.2 will be a big release with a lot of new goodies to play with and Gingerbread (Android 3.0) will not be that exciting. But who knows things change so fast with this stuff. The biggest changes will come when the 2 ghz processors come out on new phones.
 
gingerbread is the next android version coming... they are all named in successive letters:

Cupcake 1.5, Donut 1.6, Eclair 2.1, Froyo 2.2, Gingerbread 3.0 :-)
 
IS04 made my iPhone 3G blow chunks to. Made me switch and shut off 4 iPhones. I do have to say it really improved the battery life on my iPhone though as since nothing worked worth a damn I didn't hardly use it during the day cause it sucked so hence my battery would last all day. :D
 
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