However, if you can't go with Sprint (who is far better than they used to be, I swapped from overpriced AT&T), the Droid does use Android OS, which is a pretty damn nice phone OS. I'm using the Samsung Moment, which runs Android, and really like it. Falaanla Marr fucked around with this message on 11-22-2009 at 10:51 AM.
quote:
Fly Me To The Moon got a whole lot of nerve:
Storm or bust
Curve or bust
quote:
Liam said this about your mom:
Curve or bust
The new 5.0 software for the Storm is really, really good. The Storm2 is better though since Wifi.
Though I really want to get the Bold. No more trackball. It's got a touchpad instead.
It's rumored that HTC is releasing a slightly faster Android 2.0 phone on Verizon in mid-December, though. Might be worth waiting 'til Christmas JUST IN CASE
note: HTC has their own UI for Android that's fairly well thought of Kegwen fucked around with this message on 11-22-2009 at 09:36 PM.
edit: physical, widescreen touch and vertical touch Kegwen fucked around with this message on 11-22-2009 at 11:25 PM.
quote:
Falaanla Marr had this to say about Captain Planet:
I know that Verizon's service is horribly overpriced.
First phone I've had where I've never had to wonder if I was going to have service or not.
worth the price.
quote:
Kermitov 2 was listening to Cher while typing:
First phone I've had where I've never had to wonder if I was going to have service or not.
worth the price.
Sprint can roam onto Verizon's network and costs 30 or so dollars less than an equivalent verizon plan.
Just sayin.
edit: Sprint actually has pretty good service, but for some reason the public has this idea of them being even more ghetto than T-Mobile in terms of coverage.
They're also slow about Android device updates -- none of them have 1.6 available, which means they can't get Google Maps with navigation. The Hero will get 2.0 eventually, but HTC hasn't really given a timeline for this Kegwen fucked around with this message on 11-24-2009 at 12:43 PM.
quote:
Kegwen Model 2000 was programmed to say:
Enjoy your Android 1.5 devices thenedit: Sprint actually has pretty good service, but for some reason the public has this idea of them being even more ghetto than T-Mobile in terms of coverage.
They're also slow about Android device updates -- none of them have 1.6 available, which means they can't get Google Maps with navigation. The Hero will get 2.0 eventually, but HTC hasn't really given a timeline for this
Android 1.5 is working just peachy for me on Sprint. Considering I can use a real GPS when I need that, I didn't buy the phone for that function.
And the Samsung Moment is better than the Hero anyways (I've had both), and should get the 2.0 update faster due to a lack of any sort of fancy UI overlay. Granted, 2.0 does have some neat features (such as multi-touch), but it isn't anything I'm all that worked up about. For most people, 1.5 will work just fine.
I'd much rather only pay 69.99 (before an 18% discount) for unlimited everything save for anytime minutes (which only apply to landline calls, all cell calls count as mobile to mobile) than whatever verizon charges for a similar feature set (which is, if I remember right, somewhere in the 100 dollar range). If you're after the latest and greatest hardware/OS, though, by all means -- the Droid is a great looking phone and I'd recommend it on the basis of it using Android OS. But if you're ok with a slightly older OS that functions nearly as well, go with Sprint.
Note that Sprint has a shitton of discounts available, ranging from 10% off just for being a member of a credit union, to the 18% off I got simply by having a faculty ID here at the university (due to being a grad student). Look into discounts before you decide on anything in particular, pretty much. Falaanla Marr fucked around with this message on 11-24-2009 at 12:59 PM.
quote:
Kegwen wrote, obviously thinking too hard:
If you're staying on Verizon, it's the best phone they have.It's rumored that HTC is releasing a slightly faster Android 2.0 phone on Verizon in mid-December, though. Might be worth waiting 'til Christmas JUST IN CASE
note: HTC has their own UI for Android that's fairly well thought of
addendum: if anything about the UI for this phone seems appealing to you then you might want to wait for the rumored December phone. It'll likely have a similar interface but not be Windows Mobile: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/25/htc-hd2-review/
Of course I've also been running a modified OS since I got the device so YMMV, depending on what you plan on doing with it. As "just a phone" the only complaint I have is the touchscreen. Can't "blind dial" when the buttons aren't physical.
quote:
nem-x had this to say about (_|_):
f yo smartphones
You have the 905a? Or did you get the girly colored Euro with the wifi and features?
I have the same phone coming in today, And will be debranding and flashing firmware as soon as the battery has a full charge. I have gone through a blackberry, an iPhone, and other smartphones, and have to go with nem's statement. The c905 has the features I actually use, albeit, once I remove the AT&T castration, and doesn't require me to pay for other shit I don't use.
I am curious however, about a couple things. Those of you who have and use smartphones.. Do you really use all that crap? I mean, how useful is it to edit word documents on a 3 inch screen? Don't you already have a tool for that? Most of the features folks say seem trivial at first, but soon find themselves relying on seem to me that they are just lazy. And those tasks are better done by other things you already own. Like a computer. GPS is nice and all, but well, it's available on non-smartphones. Is there some advantage to using blackberry messenger? Or is it just yet another messenger similar in features?
Really.. what does your smartphone do, that justifies the added expense? Do you NEEED it? Or do you just use it because it's on there, and you don't want to walk to the laptop, or wait 5 minutes til you get done poopin? Do you have it because your employer pays for it? Do you own your own business? Are you a douchebag who want's to be like the other douchebags, revelling in materialistic status symbols? Seriously, how many of you pay that monthly blackberry service charge, and never, or rarely ever use the features the blackberry has?
quote:
Kaiote had this to say about Knight Rider:
Are you a douchebag who want's to be like the other douchebags, revelling in materialistic status symbols?
oh shut up
Smart phones are awesome, but you need full blown plans to make the most out of them and I don't really want to pay that much. That, and they don't come with very good cameras (with xenon flash anyways).
Cell phones however, never interested me, and if I my boss would not have coerced me into getting one, I probably would still be without one. I have no idea why.
I think I am still waiting for technology to progress far enough to put a phone with a fully functional HUD into my glasses.
quote:
Kegwen had this to say about Duck Tales:
oh shut up
That's a yes..
nem, I've read some negative things about the video quality, but they tend to be worded poorly. Is the vid acceptable once you fiddle with the settings, and optimize some shit?
Also.. that fan is fucking awesome.
How well does it handle sequential? Reviews all pretty much agree on 5 seconds per full image, but none really go into detail about action sequential. I don't need amazong resolution on these shots, just enough to tell where mistakes on swing are made. Do these come out clear enough, or is it lackluster?
Now to stalk the UPS dude.. non holiday deliverin bastards..
quote:
Channeling the spirit of Sherlock Holmes, Kaiote absently fondled Watson and proclaimed:
That's a yes..nem, I've read some negative things about the video quality, but they tend to be worded poorly. Is the vid acceptable once you fiddle with the settings, and optimize some shit?
Also.. that fan is fucking awesome.
Quoting this one since it's shorter. 
I use my smartphone's features, and love it. I've been using various forms of smartphones since they were invented, and love them. They aren't for everyone, though.
My current is the iPhone 3GS. As a phone, it keeps me connected since I'm on a 24/7 string for work. I also travel quite a bit, so the e-mail features are great, and despite the bad press for iPhone's keyboard, I like it better than any of the physical one's I've used over the years. I also like the SMS/MMS implementation on iPhone--it's probably my most-used feature since Vernal and I are always running helter-skelter in different directions to fulfill our various work and social responsibilities. When texting my French friends, it's also nice to have one-touch access to the French keyboard and dictionary. I forgot to switch one time when I was in a hurry, and the stupid American dictionary autocorrected everything to be nonsense in any language.
[Sorry Tarquinn, my German's not up to sending text messages.]
So all that's pretty basic to just about any phone, although I'd argue that iPhone's interface takes them to a new level. The GPS is great, and neatly integrated: just a couple of weeks ago in Edinburgh, we were looking for a place to eat lunch...so found an interesting place on the internet, tapped on the address to start directions, and it took us there quickly and painlessly. Boring, probably, for most people, but a great tool if, like us, you find yourself in new cities routinely.
I'm also--I know you'll never guess--a fairly organized person, and like to have fancy to-do lists and things with me everywhere I go, but without carrying a man-purse or binder or anything. I use a program called Life Balance by Llamagraphics; a bit of an up-front effort to put everything in, but a great context-sensitive to-do list.
Have I mentioned I travel a lot? I also stay in touch with my family via Twitter: see a neat thingamabob, snap a photo, post it to my blog with an automatic tweet with a link. Parents love that kind of thing. Just got the Facebook app, and working that into the routine. In short, a great way to stay in touch while on the go.
Obviously, the iPod functionality is key, and it's nice not to have to carry a second device to bring my music everywhere. Both cars have connections for the music and BT hands-free, so those features get used a lot.
There are also several of the aumented reality apps that are neat in new cities. I've got one for London, for example, that superimposes direction/distance to various tube stations on the viewfinder to help one find the subway. I've got another that helps find restaurants and cultural landmarks. Again, probably not useful unless you travel extensively, but priceless if you do.
Heck, there's even an app that listens to the music in a club and tells you the name of the song and artist. I got that one as a gimmick, but it's pretty useful in certain circumstances. It turned me on to Florence and the Machine's "Rabbit Heart" when I'd otherwise never have figured out the song, or remembered it if I did, after hearing it in a cocktail bar.
I also have several camera-related apps, such as one that automatically stitches multiple photos together on the spot into, for example, a city skyline. Sure, I could do all that back home on the computer...but why not do it on the spot, and save the time later?
My bank also has an app that lets me not only check my balances, but also tranfer money between accounts while I'm on the road. My only grip on this front is Quicken has gone low-end web based for their iPhone app, rather than porting Pocket Quicken, which was a fantastic app.
I've also got a fitness app I use a lot, where you input food and exercise and it graphs calorise in/out as well as tracking weight and an exercise plan. That's nice to have everywhere I go.
I have other apps on my phone, but I use them less frequently.
Other than that, though, smartphones are pretty useless. I guess it just depends on your lifestyle. I find myself using many features every day that aren't on regular phones, or are implemented so poorly on a standard "just phone" phone--like SMS--as to be not worth it. There are times when I answer every SMS with emoji, just to make everyone's day a little more surreal.
--Satan, quoted by John Milton
quote:
Bloodsage stopped staring at Deedlit long enough to write:
[Sorry Tarquinn, my German's not up to sending text messages.]
When looking at it from my view, you make Officer money. And not newbie officer money. This makes paying for such things much easier. I'm not faulting you for success, simply gives a perspective on somebody who can both afford, and actually uses a smartphone as a smartphone.
Now, the side I refer to as douchebags who blend with douchebags, I'd like to clarify. The bagboy at the grocery 2 blocks from my house has an iPhone 3GS. He bought it instead getting a car. He is not in school, and has no other job. he lives at home, and plays WoW like.. well, you know. Now he busts his ass bagging groceries to pay his mobile bill. So naturally, I asked him what apps he uses, and he just gives me this blank stare. Seems to be, he doesn't even text often because he has trouble with getting it to send right. Not the iPhone's fault. He has no use for it's capability, and can barely afford it, but goddamit he got him one of them iPhone's, and any day now he'll be rolling in pussy, right?
Also, my UPS guy pulled up on a goddamn golf cart. Cutbacks in fuel expenses he says. The golf cart was not even painted brown. Now, off to make my phone work as the lord intended.
quote:
Channeling the spirit of Sherlock Holmes, Tarquinn absently fondled Watson and proclaimed:
Yeah, it's unfortunate that I do not speak any other languages besides German.
Touché!
Or, rather, berührt!
That's probably unintentionally obscene, but the best I could do.
--Satan, quoted by John Milton
quote:
Quoth Kaiote:
That's the kind of thing I was hoping to read on the "pro" smartphone side, and actually one of the folks I expected to write it. And after proofing college students essays and research papers, I have to thank you, from the very well of my being, for your use of paragraphs. It was enjoyable to read.When looking at it from my view, you make Officer money. And not newbie officer money. This makes paying for such things much easier. I'm not faulting you for success, simply gives a perspective on somebody who can both afford, and actually uses a smartphone as a smartphone.
Now, the side I refer to as douchebags who blend with douchebags, I'd like to clarify. The bagboy at the grocery 2 blocks from my house has an iPhone 3GS. He bought it instead getting a car. He is not in school, and has no other job. he lives at home, and plays WoW like.. well, you know. Now he busts his ass bagging groceries to pay his mobile bill. So naturally, I asked him what apps he uses, and he just gives me this blank stare. Seems to be, he doesn't even text often because he has trouble with getting it to send right. Not the iPhone's fault. He has no use for it's capability, and can barely afford it, but goddamit he got him one of them iPhone's, and any day now he'll be rolling in pussy, right?
Also, my UPS guy pulled up on a goddamn golf cart. Cutbacks in fuel expenses he says. The golf cart was not even painted brown. Now, off to make my phone work as the lord intended.
You should've seen the dude at the Apple store when we walked in and said we wanted two 16GB 3GS iPhones with separate plans. 
But, yeah, I'm all about the toys.
--Satan, quoted by John Milton
