My wife and I, new phones

[mthguy]

Ok, so me and my wife are on AT&T and Verizon respectively. I carry an iPhone 3G and she carries a Casio G'zone (the first one). she beats her phones up and i take fair care of mine. I have wanted to switch to Android since before I purchased my 3G but the G1 was the only option at the time, and it just wasn't as enjoyable to use as the iPhone, so i bit the bullet and got my iPhone. in general i have enjoyed my phone throughly, but it has been missing several features (widgets, Customizable UI, multi-tasking, and unsigned apps) i Jailbroke the phone just to get some of those features and it slows the phone substatially. point is i am willing to pay top dollar for a flagship device. my contract is up in January and my wife's on a family plan with her parents (cheap service). so i was curious if there are some people out there with opinions (I know there can't be many on a "fan-droid" site) who could guide me and my wife to a pair of android phones that would satisfy the both of us, preferable on the same carrier, we live in west michigan so coverage is pretty good from the big 4, just looking for some options that won't kill us on the monthly bill.

I was looking to get us possibly on sprint with an EVO for me and possibly either an i1 or EVO for her. once she saw how you can video chat she was convinced the phone was for her. with Sprint and us both toteing EVOs ( and a discount from studentrate.com) we should only be paying about 7 dollars a month more after taxes including the 4G surcharge. she currently pays for unlimited texting as an add-on to her plan with her parents and i am paying the 30 iphone data and 10 texting.

I haven't looked into verizon much, i LOVE the droid X and the droid 2, and i would be happy with an inc too, and i could probably save a few bucks and give my wife a older slightly not as nice phone, but i feel like we would be paying substially more going that route, unlimited texting x 2 , 2 data plans, and the base plan.

AT&T has the tiered data plans now, which would be nice cuz the wife wouldn't need more than the $15 one, and i haven't gone over 1GB yet, and the $25 is for 2GB, so that would be a $5 savings there, but texting again adds up.

T-moblie has some interesting phones (if i could get a nexus one that would be cool) a pair of vibrants for either 0.01 on amazon or BOGO through tmo, either way the phone would be cheaper, not sure how the plans compare though.

anyway, any and all thoughts are appreciated. I know i wouldn't be buying until January and there will be new phones out by then and new ones on the horizon. but really this comes down to which carrier is going to be the one for us to look at when the time comes. also, any romuored devices to keep an eye out for? I would prefer to have a TI chipset, or one from Sammy ( those Qualcomm chips tend to under perform and eat batteries) do any manufacturers us those chips besides motorola and samsung? I haven't heard. alright hope to hear from some people soon.

thank you.
MthGuy

 

[tsanuri]

It sounds like your wife just needs a lower end android handset and the carrier you are on has the best of those really in the aria. And you could get the captivate.

As to the texting question just get google voice and do not worry about it. It also depends on whom you text or get texts from. On verizon all texts on network are including in any plan over 500 texts.

With the processors Moto uses TI, HTC Qualcomm and Samsung uses their own. Nvidia is starting to make chips as well but not sure who is going to use them as of now.

And January is a long way out still. Who really know what will be out by then.

 

[Californium89]

verizon does have a wide selection of android devices.... now if you were to switch over why dont you just convert into a family plan.... she can get like the LG ally(low end device) and you can grab the droid 2 or droid X ..... you wont be paying much more if you make the switch to verizon from ATT they are both within acouple dollars difference

 

[cwrig]

If you wont be upgrading till Jan; wait to have this discussion in JAN. Today's phones will be in the bargin bin by then and there will be new "must have phones" and perhaps deals. For example Versizon is running a deal now on the fascinate; Buy one get another phone free.

But in general; getting you both on a single family plan will save you a few bucks over a 2 year contract.. (vs 2 individual plans)

 

[mthguy]

alright, well here it is january, and very little has moved on the phone front! CEs is just starting though, so that helps. still need some guidance. My wife would love a FFC, which would mean that we both would need them to be worthwhile. i would love a nexus s style experinence. any suggestions?