Ditching my iPhone and going T-Mobile + Android

I ditched my iPhone 3G today, and got myself a Droid from Verizon Wireless. The primary reason for my switch was because the AT&T network totally sucks. I am on my phone all day for work, and it is totally unacceptable to drop 2-3 calls per hour when talking to clients.

I got the Droid - it's a very slick phone. Coming from an iPhone world, I can tell that the user experience isn't as "polished" and "branded" as the world Apple wants you to live in. But I will readily give that up, if it means I can use an open platform phone running on a solid cellular network.

Oh, and the screen on the Droid is absolutely insanely nice.

I wonder how long before it comes in an international GSM version.

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Originally Posted by ImaNihilist

That memory can't be used for app storage on the Android platform though, that's the problem. Only file, music, etc.

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WHAT!!!!!

Are you serious? Even Windows Mobile lets you store apps on a storage card. I'm not gonna buy a product with <1GB app storage capabilities, that's ridiculous. 1GB would be fine though.

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Originally Posted by kent1146

I ditched my iPhone 3G today, and got myself a Droid from Verizon Wireless. The primary reason for my switch was because the AT&T network totally sucks. I am on my phone all day for work, and it is totally unacceptable to drop 2-3 calls per hour when talking to clients.

I got the Droid - it's a very slick phone. Coming from an iPhone world, I can tell that the user experience isn't as "polished" and "branded" as the world Apple wants you to live in. But I will readily give that up, if it means I can use an open platform phone running on a solid cellular network.

Oh, and the screen on the Droid is absolutely insanely nice.

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Selling your iPhone 3G? :)

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Originally Posted by ua549

I wonder how long before it comes in an international GSM version.

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Shouldn't be long, I heard around Jan 2010.
http://www.cnet.com/8301-19736_1-10389778-251.html

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Originally Posted by MrDigital

Selling your iPhone 3G? :)

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As a matter of fact, I am. Interested?

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Originally Posted by MrDigital

WHAT!!!!!

Are you serious? Even Windows Mobile lets you store apps on a storage card. I'm not gonna buy a product with <1GB app storage capabilities, that's ridiculous. 1GB would be fine though.

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Yeap. Android does not allow applications to be executed from removable storage. This is the reason why there really any games in the Android marketplace, where the iPhone has things like Myst (which is like 800MB).

In order to store apps on the SD card, you'd have to root the phone and install a custom ROM. I don't even know what spins would support this or what it would be called. You can find a list of current spins here: http://db.androidspin.com/android_build_information.asp.

I was going to bite the bullet and get Droid myself until I found out this little tidbit. What's more, I believe that Exchange email in Android 2.0 is stored on the phone's memory, and not the SD card. You can fill 256MB of storage with email pretty quick.

One of the things I like about my iPhone is that Exchange stores a months worth of email locally, so I can search through it quickly and when I don't have a connection.

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Originally Posted by kent1146

As a matter of fact, I am. Interested?

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Yeah, give me a price. I'd still take Nihilists 2G as well since it's a good price but I'm not sure when he's gonna ditch it and I kind of need something here in Canada.

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Originally Posted by mrdigital

yeah, give me a price. I'd still take nihilists 2g as well since it's a good price but i'm not sure when he's gonna ditch it and i kind of need something here in canada.

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ygpm

I just found out that Verizon is charging a $30/mo data fee for the Droid (similar to the $30/mo fee for the iPhone on AT&T) for 5GB of data. Another $30 to enable tethering. Another $45 to use ActiveSync/Exchange.

The Droid looks like a great phone, but a plan with unlimited voice, 5GB of data transfer, and Exchange access costs $225/mo. I'm sorry, you are a total sucker if you buy into that.

Even the LOWEST plan, with 450 minutes, 5GB of data, no tethering and no Exchange access is $100/mo.

**** you, Verizon. I foresee a bunch of people trying to do things like tethering and Exchange "unofficially" and then getting banned and having to pay the new $350 early termination fee for breach of contract.

It sounds like you'll be better off sticking with an iPhone and use WiFi most of the time.

Do you have a relative with AT&T so you can use the family plan voice at $10/mo plus unlimited data for $30/mo? That's how I have my daughter and wife set up.

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Originally Posted by ImaNihilist

I just found out that Verizon is charging a $30/mo data fee for the Droid (similar to the $30/mo fee for the iPhone on AT&T) for 5GB of data. Another $30 to enable tethering. Another $45 to use ActiveSync/Exchange.

The Droid looks like a great phone, but a plan with unlimited voice, 5GB of data transfer, and Exchange access costs $225/mo. I'm sorry, you are a total sucker if you buy into that.

Even the LOWEST plan, with 450 minutes, 5GB of data, no tethering and no Exchange access is $100/mo.

**** you, Verizon. I foresee a bunch of people trying to do things like tethering and Exchange "unofficially" and then getting banned and having to pay the new $350 early termination fee for breach of contract.

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Forget that. I got a minutes plan + data plan. I did not buy Exchange access, although I can connect to Exchange w/o it. I did not pay for tethering, but I still tether using PDANet.

Yes, prices for smartphone service plans are high - but they are universally high. I don't think that any carrier has decent prices.

Myself, I'm beginning to hem and haw between the Motorola Droid on Verizon and the eventual appearance of the Palm pre on Verizon.

Both appear to be great phones, but the one stickler is that the Pre doesn't have expandable storage. I can't decide!

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Originally Posted by kent1146

Forget that. I got a minutes plan + data plan. I did not buy Exchange access, although I can connect to Exchange w/o it. I did not pay for tethering, but I still tether using PDANet.

Yes, prices for smartphone service plans are high - but they are universally high. I don't think that any carrier has decent prices.

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Be prepared for what happened to me on Sprint: If they catch you using PDANet, or you go over the 5GB allotment, they'll terminate your service and charge you $350.

Awesome to hear you're looking to switch to Tmobile, they can use every warm body right about now with the customer bleed they've reported this quarter.

As for the Behold you can get some video of the touchwiz interface they've laid on top of android over at androidandme. Samsung has been really tight-lipped about the processor coming on it but all signs point to it being an 800mhz tegra SoC. Tegra at 800mhz isn't really even guaranteed to beat out the Droid for speed. It's basically a single-issue chip based off the ARM11 where Droid is using the cortex A8.

The last couple of months have been a hot and heavy love affair with my MyTouch and it's currently rooted up and running Cyanogen's newest android build, but I may end up giving it up to jump ship if the dragon hits Verizon without any sign of Tmo picking up anything carrying the snapdragon processor. Really hate that idea though since I'm really wary of Big Red's business practices. The ARM11 base was perfect for getting android to market but over the next year the 40-100%+ performance gains cortex and snapdragon offer are really going to be the biggest news in android.

So yeah, that's my attempt at not rambling on the subject. ;) Can't go wrong with the mytouch, perform a personal gimmick tolerance test on touchwiz, and check out the snapdragon and cortex info that's popping up around the web if you haven't yet. g'luck man.

edit: Missed a couple.

The verizon charge for exchange only applies to business customers, their prices still suck being around 20-40 a month more than T-Mobile.

For Apps2SD, a good few roms support it and are listed on the spin page you linked further down. With things ramping up at the rate they are it shouldn't be long before someone is forced to budge on the whole situation. Either the hardware guys are going to have to start designing in more onboard or the AOSP guys will have to figure out a way to incorporate apps2sd that they consider "safe" enough.

Hmm. Looks like the Behold II is out since it won't have native support for Exchange without Android 2.0.

Maybe I'll just get that new Blackberry Bold.

To hopefully clear a few things up...

Yes you do have to root an Android device to store the apps on the SD card. But then again, I don't see the point in getting a linux phone that you aren't going to root and play around with... I have a 512MB EXT3 partition on my 16GB microSD card (Class 6 - that is important!) that all of my apps are stored on. I have 70 or so installed currently, and have 250MB+ free. Better yet, if I factory wipe my phone, all my apps stay where they are :)

As to tethering and exchange... well Verizon is screwing people on that. I have had wifi tethering and exchange support on my G1 for ages (using Cyanogen's roms). While Verizon does typically have better coverage, it all depends on where you live. I have 4/5 bars with tmobile almost everywhere in town. Verizon only beats tmo service here if you go waaay out into the country (and then they are the _only_ tower).

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Originally Posted by ImaNihilist

The problem I've noticed with all Android phones up until this point is the lack of storage space. Apparently even the Droid only has 256MB for application storage. Apps are starting to get larger. There are a few games on the iPhone that are over the 256MB limit themselves. Any application with a local database, like a dictionary app, also takes up quite a bit of space.

I appreciate the SD slot for expandable memory, but it would be nice to see an Android phone that comes with 8GB built in.

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Someone here posted that the 256mb only stored a small part of teh app and that the rest is stored on the SD card. I think the portion kept on the 256MB is something more like a key or a digital permissive to access the program which is stored on the SD.

I'm not sure, this is just what I remember reading in another thread.

On sprint right now and looking for a new phone. I want to keep my current SERO plans but Sprint is forcing me to get one of their new plans if I want a phone discount. If thats the case, I might as well go somewhere else.

If i stay with Sprint, I was thinking of getting the HTC Hero after Android 2.0 is released.


I was interested in the Droid, but the Verizon plan sounds crazy.

I'm seriously thinking about just getting rid of my phone all together. I tried out T-Mobile but service is just as shitty as AT&T.

****ing hell.

If you want to talk to me, call/text my Google Voice number and leave a message. I'll call you from Skype when I get a chance.

Have you considered just using the WiFi part of you iPhone and terminating your cellular service.
I have friends that use an iPod touch and they are quite pleased with the results.
There is free WiFi almost everywhere in a metro area.

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Originally Posted by ua549

Have you considered just using the WiFi part of you iPhone and terminating your cellular service.
I have friends that use an iPod touch and they are quite pleased with the results.
There is free WiFi almost everywhere in a metro area.

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And maybe get a prepaid SIM card for emergencies.

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Originally Posted by ImaNihilist

I'm seriously thinking about just getting rid of my phone all together. I tried out T-Mobile but service is just as shitty as AT&T.

****ing hell.

If you want to talk to me, call/text my Google Voice number and leave a message. I'll call you from Skype when I get a chance.

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LoL I told you so!

You're still right though, it's still more affordable than the others.

OR, big or... You could just use the phone for what it is meant for, talk to people. Most carriers offer bare bones plans that are extremely cheap. When you start getting in trouble is when you "have" to have their flagship phone with their flagship services, this is where they make the bulk of their money. I've been using normal phones my entire life. I never need all the stuff they push on you, hell I'm never more than 5 mins away from a real computer.

Well, I ultimately decided on T-Mobile and a BlackBerry Bold 9700. I was able to buy it on a 20mo installment plan at zero interest, and I can tether as much as I want. After 30 days, they said they'd unlock it for me no questions asked.

I'm going to pick up an AT&T pre-paid SIM for when I travel to places where T-Mobile has no coverage, but so far the coverage on the Bold is WAY better than my iPhone on AT&T.

For $80/mo I got a new phone with unlimited data and tethering. I can also make calls over WiFi.
With AT&T I had to pay $100/mo for 2G service and no tethering.

So far, I'm happy with it. And if it turns out that T-Mobile sucks too hard I'll just go back to AT&T I guess.

Really love this BB though.