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

billwill

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).

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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)

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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.

KalTorak

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.

billwill

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.

Oliver

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.

Kyougu

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.

Captain Vash

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.

MushroomStick

I have a Pre and like it fine. Last I checked, Radioshack had a better price on it than buying it straight from Sprint.

CrystalMethodist

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.

badpoet

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.

billwill

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).

Robman

I like my Storm 2, it's pretty much like the iPhone and the Bold had wild sweaty sex.

JohnDoe

I like my Droid. Fast, great screen, okay hardware keyboard.

rfalias

Just get an iPhone.
Seriously.

badpoet

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).

UncleChet

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.

badpoet

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).

a5ehren

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).

RocketSauce

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.

KalTorak

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.

billwill

Yes, I have decided on the Nexus One on Sprint. Thanks to all for the advice!