Sunday, January 2, 2011

2011 new Verizon phone - which one should I get?

I have been using a Blackberry for over a little over 3 years now and have been relatively happy.  With that said, as with many things, the grass seems greener on the other side sometimes.  With the iPhone coming to Verizon (or so the rumors say) and the Android coming of age and with 4G here with new 4G phones on the way, what phone should I get for 2011.

So, what do I like about my current Blackberry Tour:
- The keyboard.  I have tried other touch screen keyboards, but I never felt comfortable with them.  Also, I never liked the slide out keyboards, except the Torch (which isn't available on Verizon).
- The notifications.  I like the ability to look at a glance and see if I have new email, gmail, facebook or twitter messages in the notification bar.  I also like the flashing led which tells me when I have a message.
- I have it set up like I want it.  I have my work and personal email separate which I like.  While I don't have push email, I also don't have to pay an additional $15 a month to have that feature and I have still been able to receive calendar entries wirelessly through emails.
- The simplicity.  What the Blackberry does it does well.

What don't I like about my Blackberry Tour:
- The hour glass.  When I really need it to work, it hangs and locks up.  Honestly, if this wasn't happening, I probably wouldn't be writing this blog entry.  So you say, get a Bold and it will solve all your problems.  This is probably true, except technology has come a long way since the Bold came out and if I am going to make a change, might as well consider my other options.
- GPS, again, when I really need it to work, it seems to stop working.  I use Google Maps all the time for my job to get from point A to point B the quickest way possible.  Also, I wish Google provided more of a navigation app for the Blackberry like they do for the Android.  I don't want to pay 9.99 a month for VZ Navigator.
- Flash:  it doesn't have it at all.  This isn't a huge deal, but it is a nice to have if I could show flash videos on my phone when they are sent to me.
- Touch Screen:  while I am all about short cuts, it would still be very helpful if I could just point to navigate instead of a roller ball or track pad.

So, why not just get an iPhone when it comes out, you say?  There are a couple of reasons why I won't get an iPhone:
- no removable battery.  With all the things I do during the day, I need to make sure my phone is always available.  Also, I sometimes forget to plug in my car charger so my battery goes dead.  I won't give up the peace of mind of having a back up battery available.  Also, when the battery does give up, I do not want to be without my phone for a couple of days and $89 to Apple)
- no expandable memory.  This is unacceptable to me.  I don't want to pay for more memory than I currently need just because I might need it someday.  Memory is constantly getting less expensive.  I want to pay for it as I need it.  Also, I want to be able to swap out my microSD cards as I see fit.

I can't get past those 2 items.  I believe that both design decisions were made by Apple as built in planned obsolescence.  From my engineering background, this is unacceptable.

So, basically it is either Blackberry or Android.  What is attractive about the Android:
- Flash
- widgets
- more applications
- Mi Fi (or whatever you want to call it)

I can't wait for what devices get announced at CES this coming week.  Based on those announcements, I will be making a device change sometime later this year.  Looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time.

I know all 3 groups have the advocates and dissenters.  Chime in with your opinion.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have the Droid one of the early ones. I like the notifications for email (I use 2 different email accounts as well). The apps and navigation are great. We used it to drive from Boston to North Carolina and were able to find our stops along the way- even the small, population 200, towns in the foothills of the Shenandoah Mountains in Virginia.

My friends all have the iPhone with att&t service. I did not realize that the iPhone didn't have a memory card or a removable battery. When my son needed a replacement phone it was so easy to swap out the memory card.

sell cell phones online said...

iPhone sucks for not having removable battery.

Sell Used Cell Phones said...

yeah..aside for not having removable battery the sim card are so hassle to removed...