Trying to decide on a cell phone...what do you recommend? [Nexus One, experiences?]

billwillbillwill Registered User regular
edited March 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
Hey all

My contract with Sprint ends in a few weeks, and I'm looking to get a new phone, since the one I have is complete shit (the Rumor 2).


Here's what I'm looking for:

+Good screen
+Ability to replace my current MP3 player
+Wireless ability and a smooth web browsing experience

What I'm indifferent about:

+Apps (not really drawn to them)
+Games

What I don't want:

+Blackberry (keyboard is too small for my fingers and I just don't really like it)


I'm a big guy (6'4, big frame and big hands), and as you may have seen in a recent thread, I was considering an HD2 since it would be proportionate. The large screen is particularly attractive to me, as is the included 16gig microSD card (which I know is relatively cheap, but I'm not Mr. Money Bags, and all my stuff can easily fit on it so I wouldn't need to upgrade). I'm also considering the Nexus One, and maybe the Palm Pre.

I'm not sure. What do you recommend? Why?

Also: I get a 25% discount with Sprint, 17% with Verizon, 20% with AT&T, and 10% with T-Mobile. I mean those aren't game changers, but just something to consider.

I hate you and you hate me.
billwill on

Posts

  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    If you have good coverage with Sprint, I'd go to a store and play around with a Pre to see how you like it, and if the keyboard is a good fit. That discount is nothing to sneeze at, and on its face their unlimited talk/text/data plan (I forget the price, something like $69.99?) isn't half bad.

    KalTorak on
  • billwillbillwill Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    KalTorak wrote: »
    If you have good coverage with Sprint, I'd go to a store and play around with a Pre to see how you like it, and if the keyboard is a good fit. That discount is nothing to sneeze at, and on its face their unlimited talk/text/data plan (I forget the price, something like $69.99?) isn't half bad.

    I'll have to go check it out, but I've heard the keyboard is cramped from normal sized people, and if its cramped for them, I'd imagine that it would be hell for me.

    billwill on
    I hate you and you hate me.
  • OliverOliver Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I've got a Pre and I love it. Its compact and the OS is pretty slick and intuitive. I dont care too much about apps or games, so I can't tell you much about those aspects of it. Also I do not use it as an MP3 player. However, I have average sized fingers and it can get a little cramped for me at times. I imagine that anyone with bigger fingers than mine would have somewhat of a problem. But like Kal said, go play with one and see what you think.

    Edit: Web browsing is great, and the screen is really nice as well. Supposedly it'll get flash support soon too, but I'll have to check into that.

    Oliver on
  • KyouguKyougu Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I love my Nexus One, but with average sized hands I'll press on the wrong key in the touchscreen keyboard, so I could imagine hating that.

    Another downside is that there's no easy way to synch your music to it. If you're fine with throwing your MP3's into it, it's fine, but it's going to be a pain in the ass keeping and updating playlists.

    Kyougu on
  • Captain VashCaptain Vash Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I love my iphone, but if you were of the iphone inclined mindset, wait till june when (almost certainly) we'll see a new hardware revision.

    Captain Vash on
    twitterforweb.Stuckens.1,1,500,f4f4f4,0,c4c4c4,000000.png
  • MushroomStickMushroomStick Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I have a Pre and like it fine. Last I checked, Radioshack had a better price on it than buying it straight from Sprint.

    MushroomStick on
  • CrystalMethodistCrystalMethodist Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Palm sales have been dismal-- like, "driving the company out of business" dismal, so be careful about investing in a contract + apps with them.

    I've tried a lot of phones, and I have to say... if you're going to do it, get an iPhone. It's exactly what I wanted and the damn thing works effortlessly.

    CrystalMethodist on
  • badpoetbadpoet Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I'd stick with Sprint and try the Pre, Pixi, or Hero. I have a Pre and it's a great phone, with a great community for free or homebrew apps (in addition to greatly expanded Palm apps). Webos is a wonderful phone OS. The Pre keyboard is small, but not cramped.

    badpoet on
  • billwillbillwill Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I tried out the Pre, the keyboard doesn't work for me. Nice OS though.

    I read that the Nexus One is coming to Sprint though, and that, combined with my discount making the Everything Data plan only 52 bucks, seems like a pretty sweet deal.

    Anything I should know about the Nexus One?

    (And about the apps...I pretty much only dismissed them because I don't have much money to spend per month for unlimited internet and I had completely forgotten how the discount would factor into that price).

    billwill on
    I hate you and you hate me.
  • RobmanRobman Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I like my Storm 2, it's pretty much like the iPhone and the Bold had wild sweaty sex.

    Robman on
  • JohnDoeJohnDoe Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I like my Droid. Fast, great screen, okay hardware keyboard.

    JohnDoe on
  • rfaliasrfalias Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Just get an iPhone.
    Seriously.

    rfalias on
  • badpoetbadpoet Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    rfalias wrote: »
    Just get an iPhone.
    Seriously.

    Personally, I think they're a great phone for some people, just not for everyone. I hate the non-hardware keyboard, and I'm unimpressed with the OS (though you can always jailbreak it to make it better). Sure, it's got a million apps, but most of them are useless and/or stupid and both Google and Palm have versions of the good ones anyway.

    Plus, AT&T's plans are way more expensive for far worse coverage than either Verizon or Sprints (though it is better than T-Mobile, which sucks). I can't imagine having to live with AT&T's network again (I left AT&T to go to Sprint).

    badpoet on
  • UncleChetUncleChet N00b Lancaster, PARegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I'm with badpoet on this one. I've been with AT&T for over 10 years and I'm looking forward to switching to Sprint. I have an iPhone 3g and I'm just not thrilled with it. Sure there's a million apps, but how many fart apps and bad twitter clients do you need? At one point I was up to 6 pages of useless apps, now I'm down to 2. I look forward to selling my iphone once my contract is up and hopefully getting a nexus one or comparable android phone on a network with a less expensive, everything's unlimited plan.

    UncleChet on
    I'm sometimes grumpy and random, feel free to overlook the strange man in the corner.
  • badpoetbadpoet Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I've been all around the country with my Sprint phone and I've yet to be disappointed by the service (unlike my previous AT&T phone). If i'm not getting service somewhere, chances are no one else is. My GF has T-Mobile and her service is just abysmal. Verizon obviously has the best network, but their prices are much higher than Sprint. And, with the unlimited mobile to mobile, most people need far less overall minutes (I have a 500 minute plan and rarely use even close to that now with unlimited mobile to mobile since 90% of my phone calls are to mobiles).

    badpoet on
  • a5ehrena5ehren AtlantaRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    billwill wrote: »
    I tried out the Pre, the keyboard doesn't work for me. Nice OS though.

    I read that the Nexus One is coming to Sprint though, and that, combined with my discount making the Everything Data plan only 52 bucks, seems like a pretty sweet deal.

    Anything I should know about the Nexus One?

    (And about the apps...I pretty much only dismissed them because I don't have much money to spend per month for unlimited internet and I had completely forgotten how the discount would factor into that price).

    If you live in a city with WiMax coverage, Sprint is going to have a phone that uses that for data sometime this summer. If not, they're going to announce the date and price for their Nexus One next week. I'm using Android on an older phone, and I like it - I imagine it would be even better on a phone built for it.

    Like someone said earlier, all the good iPhone apps have either a direct Android version or something with similar functionality. Modern Android phones also all have free navigation, which works well as long as you have a data connection when you're starting the route and a car charger (GPS+data = major battery drain).

    a5ehren on
  • RocketSauceRocketSauce Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Just recently (last week) switched from AT&T to Sprint, and couldn't be happier. My wife and I are paying about $20 more, but in return have gotten unlimited mobile calling, unlimited text/data plan, and the coverage has been great. We went from crap phones with limited amount of minutes, limited texts, and no data plan.

    We both got the Samsung Moment and it's been fantastic. Looked at the Pre, it was a nice size, but the keyboard was just too small for me. Best of luck.

    I will also give a shout out to the dude at the Spring store that helped us. It was the most laid back, comfortable experience I've ever had getting signed up. He took care of everything for us and was a super cool dude.

    RocketSauce on
  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I know there's been some buzz around the gadget blogs that the Nexus One is coming to all four big networks, so if you like that phone you should be able to go with the network that gives you the best deal/coverage.

    KalTorak on
  • billwillbillwill Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Yes, I have decided on the Nexus One on Sprint. Thanks to all for the advice!

    billwill on
    I hate you and you hate me.
Sign In or Register to comment.