Droid vs. Blackberry vs. iPhone

[Euphoric One]

So I've never researched smart phones that much, mainly because I despise talking on phones and thus, never saw a point in paying $60-100 a month for a cell phone plan, but I think I'm finally getting sick of my Virgin Mobile pay as you go POS.

I would want a plan that has limited voice, a high text limit and a data plan for moderate internet usage, but nothing crazy. Verizon seems like they have the best network, which has me leaning towards a Droid or a Blackberry.

I read some threads on here about the iPhone, but I've seen no objective data on why the iPhone is so great, just Apple rod-strokers saying how great it is because it's Apple and because it's an iPhone.

Also, not willing to pay over $70 a month. Does that eliminate any of the options above?

What say you? Which phone is best and WHY is it the best?

 

[thomas91169]

heres the deal:

the iPhone continues to be the basis for which all touch phones are compared against.

Nobody remembers the name of all others 4-6 weeks after their release. a year from now well all be going "Droid what?" while the iPhone will still be the staple of touch phone technology and in everyones mind.

I hate apple/mac products, but the iPhone is just something that is pretty much untouchable, especially once you jailbreak it. Anything iPhone cant, jailbreaking can, and its all free.

your price limit cancels you out of any good data/messaging plan. I think the lowest talk plan you will find will be around $49, unlimited data plans for AT&T (AFAIk there are no limited data plans out there) are $30 and unlimited text is $20, 1500 texts is $15.

 

[jf4boogie]

^^Imagine that.


Anyway, I just went from blackberry to droid (on verizon network). I can honestly say that it is pretty bad ass. I would definitely eliminate blackberry from your options simply because the droid can do any/everything the bb can do, and better/faster as well.

The down side...I'm pretty sure that with even the lowest talk plan +data plan you will be overbudget.

 

[stangin99]

Haven't tried a droid, but my Touch Pro 2 trumps anything the iphone can do for me. Personally the iPhone is just another huge hype-up by Apple. When you get down to it what does it have that's special? A nice touchscreen.

All the apps can exist(and many already do) for the other OS's. It has no real keyboard. No removable battery. Until recently was severely lacking in the average phone functions department(MMS, etc). And it is still stuck on AT&T's shitty network. Everyone is only hooked on it because of the applications you can download for it. Well here is some news for the koolaid drinkers, applications can run on any OS.

And $70 won't get you data/text. Unless you RARELY surf the web. Although Verizon did lower it's pricing on certain plans, I still think you're looking at $80-90 for a plan that includes data/text. AT&T is even more.

 

[txyaloo]

And $70 won't get you data/text. Unless you RARELY surf the web. Although Verizon did lower it's pricing on certain plans, I still think you're looking at $80-90 for a plan that includes data/text. AT&T is even more.

Sprint's SERO plan is unlimited txt/data with I believe 500 minutes for $60 a month. With unlimited txt, data, and minutes, it's $100 a month.

 

[sunburned]

^ But it's sprint, so it sucks.

I recently moved from being a hardcore BB fan to a Android/Droid fan. If you want Verizon and an Android phone, just wait for the Nexus One to come out on Verizon. I've heard a date around mid March.

Verizon's cheapest plan is $60 for 450 minutes and unlimited texting, then add $30 for an unlimited data plan. You can usually get a 15% discount, but after taxes and fees, you'll still be looking at a bit over $80 for your bill.

And again, there is nothing the Iphone can do that the Android phones can't, so don't let that sway your opinion. The only reason I'd get a BB nowadays is if I needed a business phone. They seriously need to up date their OS and get with the times.

 

[afk]

Nexus One From Google

Link

 

[50 Proof]

But it's sprint, so it sucks.

:beer: You win for the most ignorant post in the entire thread. There isn't one single cell phone company that is gonig to be perfect everywhere across the entire U.S.A. That's why cell phone providers give you a 14-30 day trial period and publish coverage maps, so that you can figure out if their service is good in your area before you're locked in and committed for 2 years. Sprint sucks balls for some people but for me, I drop maybe one call ever 2 months if that. Data download speeds for me on my Sprint BB are above 2100kbps on average. Sprint sucks for some and is great for others. The same will hold true for Verizon and AT&T as well.


Going back to the OP, if you like texting, be careful about getting a touchscreen only phone. Some people don't text well on touchscreen only phones. If you want good and reliable but boring, get a blackberry. It's great for messaging and email, the operating system is rock solid reliable and the phones are built very well. Touching on the iPhone, yes the droid can do what the iPhone does but the iPhone does everything better. I'm not a mac fan at all. I hate Apple but I like the iPhone. Go to an Apple store and play with one. It's basically a mini computer that can fit in your pocket. The problem with the Droid phones is that it has such a small amount of memory available that is reserved for installing apps, saving pictures, etc. You can put a larger memory card into a droid but you still have to use the onboard memory to install applications onto, therefore not being able to utilize the memory expansion capabilities for anything other than saving documents, music, and pictures onto.

 

[lobra97]

tmobile then unlock iphone...the end

 

[Sirhc7897]

I have a BB and my wife has a iphone on AT&T. IMO, playing with both the iphone is a superior device. It's faster in every possible way and much easier to use for the average user. It has tons of great features and is a very slick package.

Now for what I need the BB is still the better choice for the following reasons:
-actual keypad (the iphone keypad is weird in that it's not a pressure touch screen and sometimes will not work if your hand is damp, temp. extremes, etc.)
-The BB can be insured. I spend a good bit of time outside for work and in situations where phones tend not to survive of dropped. I've already gone through several BB's (all insured) while the iphone through ATT is not insured.
-Ms. Pac man is easier to play with the scroll wheel on the BB than it is with the iphone (for me)...

But if I could get the iphone insured I think I'd be all over one.....

 

[DRTHV8R]

Haven't tried a droid, but my Touch Pro 2 trumps anything the iphone can do for me. Personally the iPhone is just another huge hype-up by Apple. When you get down to it what does it have that's special? A nice touchscreen.

All the apps can exist(and many already do) for the other OS's. It has no real keyboard. No removable battery. Until recently was severely lacking in the average phone functions department(MMS, etc). And it is still stuck on AT&T's shitty network. Everyone is only hooked on it because of the applications you can download for it. Well here is some news for the koolaid drinkers, applications can run on any OS.

And $70 won't get you data/text. Unless you RARELY surf the web. Although Verizon did lower it's pricing on certain plans, I still think you're looking at $80-90 for a plan that includes data/text. AT&T is even more.

It is not the App's it is just the way the OS works.. In my opinion apple made a mini computer with phone functionality.. the competitors phones always just feel like a phone.

 

[aoc racer]

DO NOT GET THE DRIOD ERIS!!!! i bought the Eris model, which is the cheaper version of the Driod, and it's awful. Yeah, it has all the capabilities of getting apps, GPS, yada yada yada. The thing that kills me about the Eris is that it is not user friendly. Navigating through the phone settings is very hard and difficult to even find the right menu to change settings. OR it doesn't have the option to change certain settings. For example: the hardest thing for me to use is the actual keypad for the phone. Sometimes the buttons don't react when pushed, scrolling through the call history log is very difficult to navigate and this menu is the only part pushing the screen is very sensative so I constantly make accidental calls. And here's what really pisses me off, THE SCREEN TURNS OFF WHEN AFTER A CALL IS MADE!!!!! so now I'm scrambling to get the screen back on so I can end the call. The screen comes on and off so I just end up ending the call and then remaking that same call again!:fm: I tried going to the screen settings but there is no such menu to change the screen options. Sorry for the rant but take this as a warning. I had no problems with the Iphone and my wife's normal Droid works just fine. Thank you.

 

[50 Proof]

^ i've read numerous compalints about the keypad on android phones, I constantly hear how terrible it is.

 

[stangin99]

It is not the App's it is just the way the OS works.. In my opinion apple made a mini computer with phone functionality.. the competitors phones always just feel like a phone.

What does it do or have that's special?

It was great because it was the first of it's kind. Nowadays there are phones that do everything it does, and more, for less.

 

[LSUstang05]

The ONLY other phone I would even consider having besides the iPhone is the new Nexus One from Google. A few guys at work have one and I've messed around with them and love the way they feel. It's surprising, but even on the Edge network for AT&T (yes, the nexus one works on att just not the 3g network) the Nexus One is barely (and I mean barely) slower than my iPhone 3GS when pulling up web pages. It loads in a slightly different way though. Instead of loading top down like a normal browser, it seems like it loads the whole page and then displays it all at once. Very cool phone and the only other one I'd get other than an iPhone. I've also had T-Mobile before and loved it. I only got rid of them because I couldn't get service in my apartment and missed quite a few important calls because of it.

 

[sunburned]

:beer: You win for the most ignorant post in the entire thread. There isn't one single cell phone company that is gonig to be perfect everywhere across the entire U.S.A. That's why cell phone providers give you a 14-30 day trial period and publish coverage maps, so that you can figure out if their service is good in your area before you're locked in and committed for 2 years. Sprint sucks balls for some people but for me, I drop maybe one call ever 2 months if that. Data download speeds for me on my Sprint BB are above 2100kbps on average. Sprint sucks for some and is great for others. The same will hold true for Verizon and AT&T as well.

I had Nextel back in the day when they were merging the networks and my service was horrible. I went to school at UMD, which is a few miles from Washington DC and could barely get two bars, plus couldn't use direct connect half the time. The school is on a damn hill near a huge city, no way I should have bad coverage.

Plus the customer service is absolutely horrible. I had people hang up on me, or tell me they'd call back and never did. Totally unprofessional. I'd never even think about going back to Sprint.

DO NOT GET THE DRIOD ERIS!!!! i bought the Eris model, which is the cheaper version of the Driod, and it's awful. Yeah, it has all the capabilities of getting apps, GPS, yada yada yada. The thing that kills me about the Eris is that it is not user friendly. Navigating through the phone settings is very hard and difficult to even find the right menu to change settings. OR it doesn't have the option to change certain settings. For example: the hardest thing for me to use is the actual keypad for the phone. Sometimes the buttons don't react when pushed, scrolling through the call history log is very difficult to navigate and this menu is the only part pushing the screen is very sensative so I constantly make accidental calls. And here's what really pisses me off, THE SCREEN TURNS OFF WHEN AFTER A CALL IS MADE!!!!! so now I'm scrambling to get the screen back on so I can end the call. The screen comes on and off so I just end up ending the call and then remaking that same call again!:fm: I tried going to the screen settings but there is no such menu to change the screen options. Sorry for the rant but take this as a warning. I had no problems with the Iphone and my wife's normal Droid works just fine. Thank you.

First of all, the phone has a proximity sensor that turns off the screen when it's placed near your face during a call. This is so you don't press buttons on the screen with your cheek while talking. If you want to end a call, all you have to do is take the phone away from your face and the screen comes back.

Second, the Eris actually has physical send and end buttons, so you shouldn't have to use the screen to end a call.

Third, there are apps on the market that will solve all your problems. Superdial is a dialer that displays the number pad, plus your call log, making it very easy to find contacts or people you called recently. Download 'not call log' and you can set it so it goes back to your homescreen after ending a call. This prevents you from making accidental calls after you hang up with someone.

^ i've read numerous compalints about the keypad on android phones, I constantly hear how terrible it is.

No, you've heard complaints about the bad keypad on the Droid. The flat design and weird d-pad placement makes it a bit awkward to type on, I agree. If the d-pad wasn't there and the keyboard was centered, it would probably solve the problem. Then again, I hardly ever use the physical keyboard, so I probably should have waited for the Nexus One. Oh well.

Apparently the keyboard on other android phones are much better.

 

[shane12286]

I vote Droid... I love the car dock and home dock you can get and the car mode is really nice. And they're always updating the OS. I like it a lot more than my friends Iphones and the resolution is much nicer. But to each their own.

 

[HISSMAN]

I am tethering off of my iphone 3Gs right now at 1.7 meg/Sec. :rockon:

-Jeff

 

[DRTHV8R]

What does it do or have that's special?

It was great because it was the first of it's kind. Nowadays there are phones that do everything it does, and more, for less.

Just feels like more than just a phone. A kia can do everything a bmw does as well. See my point?

 

[txyaloo]

I had Nextel back in the day when they were merging the networks and my service was horrible. I went to school at UMD, which is a few miles from Washington DC and could barely get two bars, plus couldn't use direct connect half the time. The school is on a damn hill near a huge city, no way I should have bad coverage.

Plus the customer service is absolutely horrible. I had people hang up on me, or tell me they'd call back and never did. Totally unprofessional. I'd never even think about going back to Sprint.

That's weird you'd have bad service on the change over since Nextel was IDEN based versus Sprint being CDMA based. When Sprint took over Nextel, nothing really changed. There was no consolidation of towers, etc. Who knows what caused it.

I've run into that same type of service everywhere. It's part of speaking to people in call centers. Call centers are inbound operations, not outbound.

I have Verizon since they bought out Alltel. I quite often force my phone to roam on Sprint's network in certain areas because it's faster than Verizon's in those same areas.