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Wife looking into a new phone: Fascinate or Incredible?

M

Mischka7

Well-Known Member
Hey all,

My wife's 2 year old 9630 is about to kick the bucket and she's due for an upgrade. She actually interested in getting an Android-based phone, but we're having trouble deciding between the Fascinate and the Incredible.

I have the Incredible and she likes the form factor and how it can fit into her pocket easily. That said, how is the Fascinate in terms of size, is it larger than the Incredible?

Also, I haven't seen many issues with the Fascinate's build quality or software, but I do see that you guys still haven't gotten OS 2.2 yet. Can anyone comment on how the Fascinate performs vs. the Incredible?

Thanks all!
Mischka
 
If neither you or your wife are tech junkies into hacking I would go with Inc. I love my fascinate but I love hacking away at it. I think inc is probably better out of box for everyday user but thats jusy imo. Im sure you will get many varying opinions
 
I had the Incredible for about a year... Just got the Fascinate. As far as hacking is concerned I think the Incredible has more devs cooking stuff up for it, if I'm correct? One of the main distinctions between this forum and the the Incredible forum were the amount of people passing along roms that were floating around and rooting their phones. That was just what I gathered though. I never rooted myself.

I loved the Incredible because it was really reliable. It was snappy, no lag, no GPS issues, the scroll wheel at the bottom actually made texting and typing a lot more efficient because I could scroll to a place I had missed a letter or punctuation mark in a sentence. HTC Sense is awesome as well... maybe it was just because I was used to the Incredible's setup from more experience, but I found it a lot easier to navigate. The Camera was also far, far superior as well. That added to the fact it had 2.2 speed, flash, and all those other goodies were all other pluses.

The battery life was terrible though... VERY annoying. I'd have to charge frequently throughout the day. A lot of people experienced problems too with the preloaded mail software causing low memory issues. Also, some of the hardware was flawed. The camera cover protecting the lens was a little loose, and a lot of people have had issues with blown speakers on the phones as well.

The Fascinate, however, is MAD sexy. The screen is far superior to the Incredible. It's the perfect size, not too big and not too small. It's sleek and feels awesome in your hand. The screen is BEAUTIFUL and bright... I can't say enough about it. Maybe it's just because I haven't played with the phone enough yet, but I feel like it's definitely catered for more practical use. The battery is definitely a lot better, that's for sure. And, another plus since I use my phone for music, is that the sound quality is a LOT better on this phone as well. From everything i've read, all the problems I seem to be having with lag etc and the GPS on the Fascinate will be fixed once 2.2 comes around... it just pisses me off (and a lot of other people too whom I sympathize with since because they've been waiting for far longer) that Samsung and Verizon haven't been able to push it in a more timely manner. That and while the GPS issues persist they kind of annoy me (it doesn't lock in with as much ease as the Incredible's did) and for some reason I don't get good 3G reception with the Fascinate :-/ or else it's not as good as the Incredible's was.

There seems to be a lot more accessories for the Fascinate as well, compared to the Incredible. I actually have a sleek form fitting case for the Fascinate that won't peel back the screen protector (which was a BIG pet peeve of mine with the Incredible).

I'm sure a lot of the more experienced Fascinate users will be able to shed a lot more light on the phone better than I was able to. So far I seem to like it, and I'm going to be following this thread just as closely as you probably since I'm still learning about the phone myself :)
 
i recently tried both phones and I went with the incredible. It is much smaller in my hands and was more ready to go out of the box. The Fascinate has a gorgeous display but it its running an older android version and I like having flash. I didn't want to root to get the features I wanted so I stayed with the incredible. HTC's sense just had some great features that I missed on there fascinates. Honestly they are
both great phones and it comes down to what size of screen and features you are looking for.
 
if your wife wants a good stable phone that doesnt need much done to it out of the box, then id recommend the incredible (assuming she doesnt want a physical keyboard)...if she does go with a droid 2 global

i love my fascinate, and my wife now uses my incredible and loves it....the incredible is just more polished out of the box experience.

you really have to do a lot to the fascinate to make it "usable" imo, and unless you want to do that, then stick with the incredible/droid 2 global :)
 
nitsuj17 said:
you really have to do a lot to the fascinate to make it "usable" imo, and unless you want to do that, then stick with the incredible/droid 2 global :)
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I wish people would stop using silly hyperbole like this. We have an unrooted Fascinate and it is perfectly "usable" as it is. If there are specifics you are incapable of doing that you would like to do, let's hear them, but using over-the-top descriptors like not "usable" is not in the slightest useful to others, and, furthermore, very misleading.
 
glendower said:
I wish people would stop using silly hyperbole like this. We have an unrooted Fascinate and it is perfectly "usable" as it is. If there are specifics you are incapable of doing that you would like to do, let's hear them, but using over-the-top descriptors like not "usable" is not in the slightest useful to others, and, furthermore, very misleading.
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having used a good portion of the top tier verizon android phones i think im qualified to make a statement as to how usable something is out of the box

and while perhaps "unusable" is a bit strong...i feel if you compare how good the current motorolas (dx, d2) and droid incredible are compared to the fascinate unrooted....it doesnt come out well for the fascinate

and this is said from someone who prefers the fascinate to those phones

i am just trying to help the op make the better decision and not push them to the phone "i have".

lets face it....an unrooted fascinate is very laggy compared to an unrooted inc or x...its slow on long presses and games/browser hiccup frequently. unless you are rooted and on dj05/dl09 there is an extremely high chance the gps locks extremely slowly, if at all, and its not as accurate as the gps on the other mentioned phones

its held back by still being on 2.1 whereas the inc and dx are all on 2.2.1 already with flash, 2.2 gmail, jit...bleh the list goes on and on about the comparisons between 2.1 and 2.2....and im sure those phones will most likely get 2.3 way before the fascinate does as well

also, not everyone cares about the bing/google issue....but for those that do, its a pita to remove as many traces of bing as you can and replace it with google.
 
nitsuj17 said:
having used a good portion of the top tier verizon android phones i think im qualified to make a statement as to how usable something is out of the box

and while perhaps "unusable" is a bit strong...i feel if you compare how good the current motorolas (dx, d2) and droid incredible are compared to the fascinate unrooted....it doesnt come out well for the fascinate

and this is said from someone who prefers the fascinate to those phones

i am just trying to help the op make the better decision and not push them to the phone "i have".

lets face it....an unrooted fascinate is very laggy compared to an unrooted inc or x...its slow on long presses and games/browser hiccup frequently. unless you are rooted and on dj05/dl09 there is an extremely high chance the gps locks extremely slowly, if at all, and its not as accurate as the gps on the other mentioned phones

its held back by still being on 2.1 whereas the inc and dx are all on 2.2.1 already with flash, 2.2 gmail, jit...bleh the list goes on and on about the comparisons between 2.1 and 2.2....and im sure those phones will most likely get 2.3 way before the fascinate does as well

also, not everyone cares about the bing/google issue....but for those that do, its a pita to remove as many traces of bing as you can and replace it with google.

and rather than "call someone out" for a post you didnt like, try offering some advice of your own.
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All True ... for experienced cell/android users. Not so sure how much any of the above would actually affect any "normal" user in day-to-day use who is not a gadget geek like us :-). I have some problems with my Fascinate. Though small, they are some what annoying.

HOWEVER, let me relate a quick story which gave me some perspective. A recent xmas present I received was an old Android tablet - The Archos 7 home tablet, running some old OS version (1.5, 1.6 maybe?). It is a horrible device. Slow, laggy, unresponsive resistive display, etc. After using it for several hours / days, it seemed somewhat usable and I got used to using it. Then I later picked up my Fascinate, and it seemed like LIGHTNING. Seriously. It seemed super responsive, etc, etc. And I thought to myself jeez, most (normal) people would love how well this performs.

The moral of my story is that over time, as we gadget geeks expect more and more from our phones, it gets harder to realize that the "average user" may feel phones that we have "issues" with are great. I have to agree with glendower here. Just my 2 cents... And yeah, "unusable" is a bit silly I would think, problems and all ..
 
Don S said:
All True ... for experienced cell/android users. Not so sure how much any of the above would actually affect any "normal" user in day-to-day use who is not a gadget geek like us :-). I have some problems with my Fascinate. Though small, they are some what annoying.

HOWEVER, let me relate a quick story which gave me some perspective. A recent xmas present I received was an old Android tablet - The Archos 7 home tablet, running some old OS version (1.5, 1.6 maybe?). It is a horrible device. Slow, laggy, unresponsive resistive display, etc. After using it for several hours / days, it seemed somewhat usable and I got used to using it. Then I later picked up my Fascinate, and it seemed like LIGHTNING. Seriously. It seemed super responsive, etc, etc. And I thought to myself jeez, most (normal) people would love how well this performs.

The moral of my story is that over time, as we gadget geeks expect more and more from our phones, it gets harder to realize that the "average user" may feel phones that we have "issues" with are great. I have to agree with glendower here. Just my 2 cents... And yeah, "unusable" is a bit silly I would think, problems and all ..
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valid points :)

my take on it was....that if you arent a "power" user (whatever that means) you would the most complete device out of the box that can do the most things for you without having to mess around with the phone...and the reality is android 2.2 has more features built in then android 2.1...and that is the reality of the fascinate at the moment
 
glendower said:
Sorry, pal, but nitsuj's posting wasn't "nice." His subsequent clarification was "useful," and that's what should have been written in the first place. Note how he subsequently clarified his thoughts with substance, not over-the-top generalities. Fascinate is quite "usable" out of the box, and to say otherwise is misleading to others who might have no interest in rooting, something I suspect is true for the vast majority of Fascinate owners.

I make no apologies. We should be more thoughtful in our postings than was his original posting, which could send the wrong message to many browsers here.

And thank you, Don S.
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my post could have used more clarification, yes.

however i dont see why it wasnt "nice" i gave my opinion and should it have been expanded upon? sure...but it was in no way anything but nice in tone.

and my point was the other phones are *more* usable out of the box...i am not a fanboy for my own device, and feel people should buy the phone that is *best* for them...and devices that dont have as many issues are our phone does, in general, will be better for someone looking for a complete out of the box experience.

and for anyone to disagree that currently as things are....that the fascinate is a better "out of the box" experience than the dx/d2/incredible is pretty off base.

and to your point about posting "useful" things, instead of criticizing others posts, maybe you should give some "useful" information of your own :)...not to come down on you, but at this point half of the posts you have made in this forum are criticizing mine.

i have nothing against you whatsoever, but i feel that you might be better served by giving your own opinion about the device to lead the the op in a direction that you feel may better serve them :cool:
 
Thanks all, your posts have been very helpful.

My wife is definitely not the type to root her phone. She actually would rather have a physically smaller phone too, since it's easier to put in her pocket, purse, etc. But we'll take a hike to the retail store just so she can handle both phones.
 
Mischka7 said:
Thanks all, your posts have been very helpful.

My wife is definitely not the type to root her phone. She actually would rather have a physically smaller phone too, since it's easier to put in her pocket, purse, etc. But we'll take a hike to the retail store just so she can handle both phones.
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good idea...the best way to see if you truly like a phone is to handle it and play around with it :)
 
nitsuj17 said:
good idea...the best way to see if you truly like a phone is to handle it and play around with it :)
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+1 . Very true. Also, you can see the Fascinate better in sunlight than the incredible for the most part, and the screen is generally nicer. Having them in our hands though is the best way to notice , as stated in the posts above
 
nitsuj17 said:
i have nothing against you whatsoever, but i feel that you might be better served by giving your own opinion about the device to lead the the op in a direction that you feel may better serve them :cool:
Click to expand...
Look, I know little about the Incredible so I can't compare with Fascinate. other than Fascinate's screen is bigger and better, and that was important to me. Both are good Android phones, and both are very "usable." My issue, as has been concurred with by Don S, is that it was wrong to say the Fascinate is not "usable." Period.

This is a forum for Fascinate users or prospective users, so, to say the device is not "usable" is, frankly, misleading and incorrect. We should be careful about making loose, inaccurate statements like that. Such statements are helpful to no one. I do agree that too many people are "fanboys" of their electronic devices, and that also can be a problem. Some people simply have to feel their piece of technology is superior to everyone else's or their life is incomplete. Note that I am not pushing Fascinate on anyone. I am aware of its shortfalls, but none of them prevent it from being "usable" in the slightest.

I find my Fascinate very "usable." We just returned from a weekend trip where we used it as a phone, a navigation device, a restaurant review device, an internet browser, a weather forecaster, a book reader, a newspaper, an email terminal, and more, and had no problems doing so. The fact that press-and-hold may take a few nanoseconds longer than some other smartphone did not inhibit Fascinate's usability at all, and we had no browser "hiccups." Swipes and touches were responded to with satisfactory speed. And I don't have the slightest interest in gaming. I can search via google with two taps on the phone, and use google maps and navigation while traveling.

So, reading your more substantive posting, I find none of your criticisms of Fascinate to be relevant to my choice of phones (but can understand whey they might be to others), which is why a substantive posting like that is useful to people like the OP (and me, if I were still deciding on a phone), and why your not "usable" comment was not.

Now why don't we drop this exchange and let Mischa's wife do the smart thing: play with the two phones and decide which she prefers. I suspect 2.1 and 2.2 will factor little into her decision.
 
glendower said:
Look, I know little about the Incredible so I can't compare with Fascinate. other than Fascinate's screen is bigger and better, and that was important to me. Both are good Android phones, and both are very "usable." My issue, as has been concurred with by Don S, is that it was wrong to say the Fascinate is not "usable." Period.

This is a forum for Fascinate users or prospective users, so, to say the device is not "usable" is, frankly, misleading and incorrect. We should be careful about making loose, inaccurate statements like that. Such statements are helpful to no one. I do agree that too many people are "fanboys" of their electronic devices, and that also can be a problem. Some people simply have to feel their piece of technology is superior to everyone else's or their life is incomplete. Note that I am not pushing Fascinate on anyone. I am aware of its shortfalls, but none of them prevent it from being "usable" in the slightest.

I find my Fascinate very "usable." We just returned from a weekend trip where we used it as a phone, a navigation device, a restaurant review device, an internet browser, a weather forecaster, a book reader, a newspaper, an email terminal, and more, and had no problems doing so. The fact that press-and-hold may take a few nanoseconds longer than some other smartphone did not inhibit Fascinate's usability at all, and we had no browser "hiccups." Swipes and touches were responded to with satisfactory speed. And I don't have the slightest interest in gaming. I can search via google with two taps on the phone, and use google maps and navigation while traveling.

So, reading your more substantive posting, I find none of your criticisms of Fascinate to be relevant to my choice of phones (but can understand whey they might be to others), which is why a substantive posting like that is useful to people like the OP (and me, if I were still deciding on a phone), and why your not "usable" comment was not.

Now why don't we drop this exchange and let Mischa's wife do the smart thing: play with the two phones and decide which she prefers. I suspect 2.1 and 2.2 will factor little into her decision.
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it would have been much easier imo to just post your own thoughts on the subject....my take on usability is obviously different than others as i have spent significant amount of times with other verizon phones...again, i should have substantiated that statement and if it lead to "misleading" information that im sorry.

however i did post the usability comment as an opinion based on real world usage...is the fascinate usable? yes, yes it is....if its your first (or even 2nd or 3rd) smarthphone than you may think its the greatest thing since sliced bread...i bought it because of its great potential and my issues with motorola (thus leaving my dx) and size issues of the incredible....i bought it full well knowing its limitations and what would have to be done to overcome them.

its a great phone, and everyone should spend time and research before they make their decision when tying themselves into 1 or 2 years with a particular phone.
 
I ordered the Fascinate (SF)and will get it tomorrow. I think the overall "look" of the phone is nicer. I hate the back of the Incredible (Dinc), but thats about all I don't like. That being said... I think that the Dinc is probably better out of the box for someone who is not going to root their phone. I love the size and weight of the SF, HATE that it has bing and 2.1, but will change all that with root. Also, the SF has navigation problems that can be solved by rooting. So, if your wife just want to open the box and use the phone as is, go with the Incredible, IMO.
 
I am new to this forum and this just happens to be my first read. I am also on the fence about getting the fascinate. I mainly use my phone for music through my ear buds (about 5 hours a day). Will I notice a sound difference with the ear buds on if I make the switch? I have read that the SF's music sounds better, but does that apply to the ear buds as well? It is a huge selling point for me. FYI, I have the BOSE MIE2 (awesome might I add.)
 
One thing no one has mentioned is that the Fascinate is all "Bing"ed up so if you don't want Bing and don't want to root don't get the fascinate.
 
GOOD MORNING.

Best that many of you re-read the links in my sig - in fact, best if you read my whole sig (at least past the Latin).

I like to keep it simple: attack issues and not each other - and keep it on-topic.

Infractions are being handed out, and staff is now unhappily tracking several users.

Those of you not receiving your notes from me yet can consider this fair and public warning - cool it.

If anyone wants to offer anyone else constructive criticism on their posts, PM is ok for that - and the rules of courtesy apply to PMs as well as public posts.

Questions or issues on policy - PM me.

 
karib said:
HATE that it has bing and 2.1
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Just wondering why everyone hates on Bing so much. I keep reading on here and other forums how this phone is "crippled" because it has Bing. I have the Fascinate and Bing is just fine. It gives me smart results and just what I'm looking for. I think it is a great competitor to Google but not sure why all the hate.
 
amg55nj said:
Just wondering why everyone hates on Bing so much. I keep reading on here and other forums how this phone is "crippled" because it has Bing. I have the Fascinate and Bing is just fine. It gives me smart results and just what I'm looking for. I think it is a great competitor to Google but now sure why all the hate.
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i dont think the issue with bing is so much thats its an inferior search engine (imo it is, but thats different) but that its a microsoft product forced on a phone running a google operating system because of a deal between big red and ms

many of us feel that this is a wrong brought on us by verizon and at the very least they should have given us an option in settings to change search engines.

i am a google fan and prefer using google apps and search...and it doesnt always sit will with me that the "open source" of android was perverted in this way :(
 
nitsuj17 said:
i am a google fan and prefer using google apps and search...and it doesnt always sit will with me that the "open source" of android was perverted in this way :(
Click to expand...

I agree with you that the open source of android should be more "open" and allow for changing to any search engine you want. I personally don't mind using Bing as I previously said, it gives me the results I want, which is the important thing. It just seemed to me like people were saying the phone was not as good because Bing search wasn't as good (not in this thread, but others I have read).

Thanks for the reply and explanation. I hope this helps the OP if he was wondering the same thing for his wife. If not, sorry for the hijacking.
 
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