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Upgrade now, or wait?

grvthang

grvthang

Android Enthusiast
I've had a Droid Eris since December of 2009. I was due for an upgrade from Verizon this August, but I received a text from Verizon last week saying I'm due for an early upgrade. I called the number in the text and the rep said yes, I can get an upgrade anytime from now until August.

I really like the form factor of the Eris and the quality of the HTC phones, but of course the Eris is slow and running 2.1. Although I think the Incredible is a great phone, I can't see upgrading to it now that it's almost a year old.

Do you fellow Droid users think the Thunderbolt is enough of an advancement over the Incredible to warrant my upgrading now (and being locked in for the next two years), or should I wait for something to come out from HTC that will really knock my socks off from now until August?
 
grvthang said:
I've had a Droid Eris since December of 2009. I was due for an upgrade from Verizon this August, but I received a text from Verizon last week saying I'm due for an early upgrade. I called the number in the text and the rep said yes, I can get an upgrade anytime from now until August.

I really like the form factor of the Eris and the quality of the HTC phones, but of course the Eris is slow and running 2.1. Although I think the Incredible is a great phone, I can't see upgrading to it now that it's almost a year old.

Do you fellow Droid users think the Thunderbolt is enough of an advancement over the Incredible to warrant my upgrading now (and being locked in for the next two years), or should I wait for something to come out from HTC that will really knock my socks off from now until August?
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The ThunderBolt will be leagues beyond the Incredible. If you want to wait til August, you can, but know that something else is always on the horizon.
 
In my opinion, the Incredible is world's apart from the Eris, so the TB is a lot more advanced.

If you're on the fence, but happy with your Eris, maybe wait it out until August so that you can renew on a one-year....or see what else may come out by then.
 
Thanks for your comments.
I know they'll always be coming out with something newer and better. I'm not one who has to have the latest gadget out there, but, as I said, the Incredible is already almost a year old and I don't want to be locked in for another two years with a phone that's already a year old.

Looking online, I don't see anything in the wings from HTC that looks like a major advancement over the next few months. Maybe I'll get the TB to take advantage of LTE.
 
I would wait or atleast for a few weeks to see any issues people are having or how people like it and then go from there because they also have other 4g phones that will be coming out in the next few months so it all depends if you can wait with your eris or need something now.
 
grvthang said:
I've had a Droid Eris since December of 2009. I was due for an upgrade from Verizon this August, but I received a text from Verizon last week saying I'm due for an early upgrade. I called the number in the text and the rep said yes, I can get an upgrade anytime from now until August.

I really like the form factor of the Eris and the quality of the HTC phones, but of course the Eris is slow and running 2.1. Although I think the Incredible is a great phone, I can't see upgrading to it now that it's almost a year old.

Do you fellow Droid users think the Thunderbolt is enough of an advancement over the Incredible to warrant my upgrading now (and being locked in for the next two years), or should I wait for something to come out from HTC that will really knock my socks off from now until August?
Click to expand...

I'm in the exact situation that you are in with the Eris. I am, however, holding out for the Thunderbolt. My reasoning is that after how slow the Eris felt after only a year, I can't imagine getting into a 2-year contract with another phone that wasn't top of the line. Especially now that Verizon is apparently getting rid of the early upgrades. I'm just concerned that 10 months into my 20 month contract the Incredible will suffer from the same speed and memory problems that is currently plaguing my Eris. So, if you're going to sign a 2-year deal, then get the best that is out there (or soon to be).

BTW, is your Eris also bat ass slow? I'm to the point that when I receive a call, the phone takes so long to switch over to the phone, the call is gone. And when I send a call, it takes about 15 seconds after I push the contact that it actually starts ringing. Very Frustrating.
 
StillgotanEris said:
I'm in the exact situation that you are in with the Eris. I am, however, holding out for the Thunderbolt. My reasoning is that after how slow the Eris felt after only a year, I can't imagine getting into a 2-year contract with another phone that wasn't top of the line. Especially now that Verizon is apparently getting rid of the early upgrades. I'm just concerned that 10 months into my 20 month contract the Incredible will suffer from the same speed and memory problems that is currently plaguing my Eris. So, if you're going to sign a 2-year deal, then get the best that is out there (or soon to be).

BTW, is your Eris also bat ass slow? I'm to the point that when I receive a call, the phone takes so long to switch over to the phone, the call is gone. And when I send a call, it takes about 15 seconds after I push the contact that it actually starts ringing. Very Frustrating.
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YES! Im at that point! Also when im writing text message the keyboard will slow down which lets me know that im getting an incoming txt message..Frustrating! And im always running out of memory thus i havent downloaded an app in 6months!
 
My Eris has always been laggy. I don't think it's any worse now than when I first got it. What it did teach me, however, was good maintenance habits - emptying my cache frequently, and deleting texts and so forth.

The Incredible seems pretty quick to me. If I'm upgrading now, however, I don't think it makes sense to upgrade to a phone that's not LTE compatible.
 
grvthang said:
My Eris has always been laggy. I don't think it's any worse now than when I first got it. What it did teach me, however, was good maintenance habits - emptying my cache frequently, and deleting texts and so forth.

The Incredible seems pretty quick to me. If I'm upgrading now, however, I don't think it makes sense to upgrade to a phone that's not LTE compatible.
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I think that 2.1 was when mine started to slow down. I don't know if that was due to the upgrade or the apps that I got that weren't available for 1.5. I've tried task killers, but that stops my email from autosyncing so I'm just stuck waiting and restarting my phone a couple times a day.
 
I went from Eris to Incredible and now will be going to Thunderbolt

I believe it's a huge upgrade over the Incredible which is a massive upgrade over the Eris .

I have (had) a rooted Eris with Froyo on it and it's actually very smooth compared to 2.1 or 1.5 . It ran perfectly with it. If you decide not to upgrade do yourself a favor and root and install 2.2
 
StillgotanEris said:
I think that 2.1 was when mine started to slow down. I don't know if that was due to the upgrade or the apps that I got that weren't available for 1.5. I've tried task killers, but that stops my email from autosyncing so I'm just stuck waiting and restarting my phone a couple times a day.
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Gee, I never had problems like that after the 2.1 upgrade. I used a task killer for the first few months, but i found that if I used the phone properly, I had fewer issues, and now I very rarely kill tasks (I don't even have a task killer installed). This is what I do:

1. I keep the phone 'clean'. By that, I mean I keep available memory above 40mb at all times. I have the setting "Manage Applications" on my home screen, and, using that, I delete cache from the programs every few days.
2. Using the setting "Running applications" (for which I have an icon on the home screen), I see which apps stay running (and tie up resources, besides using up battery power). Then I get rid of apps that stay on all the time (like Coupons and Tiki). I found that when I used a task killer, the apps I killed would start up again anyway.

The Eris is a good basic Android phone, but that's all it is - a basic smartphone. I don't expect it to run 3d games and stuff like that. Looking at the Eris forums, it seems there are (were) a lot of varying experiences from users.
 
I've been eligible for a VZW upgrade since January and am going to be off-contract in early March. I've been waiting for the Thunderbolt for a while now. But since the delays, now a lot of other cool phones are going to drop within weeks of each other, including the LG Revolution and then Droid Bionic. April 1st (the start of Q2) is only 5 weeks away as of today.
 
I wish I had the willpower to hold out until September so that I could sign a one-year contract. But I figure if I do wait, the TB will already be 6 months old by then, and anything else I might be interested in will probably be a rumor that I'd be waiting on anyway.

So for now, the TB is a go. So I'll either hold onto it for 20 months (insert straight face here) or sell in a year and buy something else at retail to finish off my contract.
 
I'm more or less sold on the Thunderbolt for now. I'd like to see one, though, because I'm afraid it may be a little too big and clunky for me.
I need to also carry a Blackberry for my job, so I'm stuck lugging around two devices. That's why my initial Android phone was an Eris - because of its small size. I don't see any manufacturers coming out with new phones of that size, however.
 
I think if there is no announcement by March 3rd I am going to pass on the TB and wait for a better phone. March is already putting my upgrade in January of '12 and nothing ever comes out in January.
 
Who knows when the TB is coming out. It's been a dangling carrot for a while now. Upgrade now? To what? Who knows WHEN the TB will finally be out. Probably right after it's not even a factor anymore...
 
Ok, so I'm sporting a BB Storm2 and it's really wearing on me. If I go upgrade at VZW to a DINC and return it in 14 days (assuming the TBolt is available by then), I have to pay the $50 restocking fee. But if I go to best buy and do the upgrade, I'll have 30 days to return it in exchange for the TBolt and no restocking fee. Is there a potential downside here?

Should I go get myself a DINC today and just come back for my TB when it comes out on the firsteenthst of March?
 
HighHandicap said:
Ok, so I'm sporting a BB Storm2 and it's really wearing on me. If I go upgrade at VZW to a DINC and return it in 14 days (assuming the TBolt is available by then), I have to pay the $50 restocking fee. But if I go to best buy and do the upgrade, I'll have 30 days to return it in exchange for the TBolt and no restocking fee. Is there a potential downside here?

Should I go get myself a DINC today and just come back for my TB when it comes out on the firsteenthst of March?
Click to expand...

Best buy return is 14 days also
 
ckochinsky125 said:
I would wait or atleast for a few weeks to see any issues people are having or how people like it and then go from there because they also have other 4g phones that will be coming out in the next few months so it all depends if you can wait with your eris or need something now.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I'm going to do. I love my Incredible but if I see most people raving about the TB I'll jump ship. If not, I still have a phone that I love. If you love your Eris, no reason to hurry!
 
Very frustrated by VZW dragging their heels on releasing the TB, or any 4G LTE phone for that matter. I have a nearly 2 year old Samsung Omnia, and have been eligible for an upgrade since 11/2010 (!). I decided to wait it out and pick up an Android 4G LTE phone, since I live in prime 4G real estate in NJ.

I can't wait anymore.

Is VZW the only place to get 1 year contracts? Because I have this option, and might just get a HTC Incredible (at $129) while VZW figures out what phones they want to release and the 4G LTE network is a little more proven. When are you eligible for an upgrade on a 1 year contract?
 
ckochinsky125 said:
Best buy return is 14 days also
Click to expand...

Actually, BestBuy return is 14 days if you don't want to be locked into the carrier and 30 days for the phone. I'm already locked into VZW so that 14 days isn't an issue for me... it's the 30 days and any other "gotchas" that might be a pain.
 
got sick of waiting and ordered a droid x on 1 year contract last night. the eris has got on my last nerve. will upgrade to lte when coverage is better and phones are dual core running honeycomb or better next year.
 
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