Thinking of buying a phone...

[Widgetcraft]

So, CoG, as much of a geek as I am, I have never really gotten into phones. I'm thinking of changing that, possibly as soon as the end of the month. What I can't decide on is whether I want to go with an iPhone, or some kind of Android phone. This is kind of uncharted territory for me, so I'm turning to you guys for advice. Prepare for a barrage of questions.

To begin with, I don't have 3G service in my area. I understand that my internet access will be slow, but how slow? I assume it will be 56kish. Am I right in thinking that this won't eat up my cell minutes? I plan on using the phone to access CoG on the go, which would you say has the better web browser? I understand that the iPhone doesn't support Flash, that seems like a rather large hindrance.

As far as gaming goes, which has the best games that one might consider to be real games? Not the sort of thing that my mother would play on Facebook, but the sort of thing that I might play on a traditional handheld. I'm not planning on having a phone take the place of my PSP, but it'd be nice to have a few games sitting around. Any particularly cool apps for one or the other that I should know about outside of games?

I have friends I like to speak to over Skype (text chat), as well as other IM programs, which would you say has the best support for IM services? In terms of battery life, what should I expect? As far as tethering to a laptop goes, what do I need to know about that?

Finally: If you suggest that I go with Android, are there any particular Android phones that you would recommend? Any that I should avoid?

Lastly: This Windows 7 phone I'm hearing about, what is the deal with that?

EDIT: Oh, I forgot to ask about using the phones on wifi. Can I use wifi to download apps and such rather than using the cell network?

EDIT: And media applications! Which is better for watching movies?

[Vasanni]

If you're planning to make voip/skype calls I'd suggest the iphone. I know some people hate the company but I will never deny the fact that they make rock solid products. I've played with the blackberry(ies), the epic, the evo, and a bunch of others and haven't found one that seems as... fluid as my iphone across the board. However, as with all things it comes down to personal preference.

As far as gaming goes, the platform is inherently flawed simply because of the control interface. But I'd be lying if i didn't say that I did have a good time with Nazi Zombies/Wolfenstein 3D/Civ Rev/Myst/Cube/Star Defense/Doom Resurrection/the list goes on... on my iphone.

[Widgetcraft]

Not so much calls, more interested in the text chat aspect of Skype.

[J Arcane]

Finally: If you suggest that I go with Android, are there any particular Android phones that you would recommend? Any that I should avoid?

Buy a Nexus One on eBay, it will set you free. Won't be cheap, about $500, but it means no contract, no 3rd-party UI to slow down OS updates, and no intentional crippling of OS features.

Even the new G2 "Google experience" phone can't say that, T-Mobile ripped out tethering and is going to charge you $15 to get it back.

Lastly: This Windows 7 phone I'm hearing about, what is the deal with that?


The next Palm/WebOS. Pretty UI, but crippled/dumbed-down features, and a mess of an app situation.

If they're really lucky, they might have it straightened out in a year's time, if not, it'll go broke just like Palm did.

[muddi900]

Go with an unlocked ipod touch. Since you do not have a 3G, I dont see the point of buying an iphone over it.

If you do go Android, stay away from HTC.

[J Arcane]

Also, I missed that. Muddi's right. If you don't have 3G, your mobile internet will be purest excrement, and really not worth the money.

jjohnson's on US Cellular, who despite their claims to 3G speeds, only actually get EVDO signal, if you're lucky. A lot of times it isn't even that.

It is ass slow. You could feed a constipated dog black tar molasses and it would still shit faster than US Cellular data speeds.

Which means if you want to do anything data related, you'll be looking for open wi-fi anyway, so unless you want the voice part, don't bother getting a plan.

I used a G1 off-service for a while, but I got fed up with not being able to use it anywhere there wasn't wi-fi. Limited the utility a bit. Still was alright for playing games and shit when I was away from a hotspot though.

The iTouch isn't a bad idea if that's the route you're going. iOS, ashamed to say, has much better games right now, and will continue to unless the Playstation Phone and Tegra 2 take off, or Microsoft pulls it's head out of it's ass and unifies the game markets on Windows Phone. Right now all Android's got are ports of iPhone games, and emulators for old consoles and computers. There's a few good games, but most of my gaming space on my phone is SNES ROMs for a reason.

[Widgetcraft]

As far as internet goes, it just needs to be able to browse CoG, and maybe 4chan. I'm not going to be streaming video on it or anything. It does need to be a real phone, and it needs to be able to access the internet without wifi, as I will be outside of wifi a lot.

[J Arcane]

Tapatalk will help with CoG, cuts down on all the excess image loads.

4chan is hell on a slow connection though, even with Chandroid. So many pictures . . .

[Widgetcraft]

I'm leaning heavily towards the iPhone 4. I like the open nature of Android, but I'm not sure I actually need my phone to be open. There is also at least one app I'd like that won't be available on an Android phone that is on the iPhone. The big negative is that it doesn't support flash, but I think the pros might outweigh the cons.

As far as getting AT&T service goes, I don't have an AT&T store here and would have to drive an hour away to get to one; do you think I'd still be able to get a local number? The regional provider we do have in town pushes Android phones, but really, I don't trust those guys at all, and I've actually heard from friends who have switched from them to AT&T that the bill is actually lower with AT&T.

[Widgetcraft]

Apparently the local provider that most people go with around here is basically rebranded Verizon service. So, the shitty thing is that I could go with the local provider and get an iPhone through them... next year. The only two Android phones they offer at their store are the HTC Desire and Motorolla Milestone, so that is another point against Android, as I'd have to go elsewhere to get the phone if those aren't good (and I have no idea as to whether or not they are good or bad). On the plus side, the HTC Desire would only be $99 through them with a contract, where-as a 32GB iPhone 4G would be $299.

EDIT: After two hours of trying to contact them, I get through. I confirmed that they do, in fact, only offer the Desire and the Milestone.

[MagGnome]

Do you have Verizon in your area? They are getting the iPhone somewhat soon, from what I've heard.

Edit - Oops, looks like you already covered that.

[muddi900]

Motorolla Milestone(Droid) is one of the best Android phones. Its not the most powerful, but its a beast on Android 2.2. I am currently on the iphone 3GS and its a great phone.

[Widgetcraft]

Do you have Verizon in your area? They are getting the iPhone somewhat soon, from what I've heard.

Edit - Oops, looks like you already covered that.

Yeah, I have a Verizon "partner" but I have a feeling that they won't be getting iPhones. They don't even have the Verizon exclusive Android phones.

[Widgetcraft]

Motorolla Milestone(Droid) is one of the best Android phones. Its not the most powerful, but its a beast on Android 2.2. I am currently on the iphone 3GS and its a great phone.

From reading the wiki article on it, I got the impression that the Milestone was outdated. Motorolla was apparently considering not even deploying the Android 2.2 update for it. The Desire (http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/01/htc-desire-review/) is looking okay though, does anyone have any comments about it?

[J Arcane]

3rd party UI will screw you on updates even worse than the Droid will.

I know it's expensive, but seriously, get a Nexus. Owning your own phone is the best decision you can ever make in the cell phone world. It also means you'll be getting the latest updates when they actually happen, because the Nexus line is also the dev phone for Android, so everything gets ported to it first.

Check your service coverage in the area for AT&T, and as long as it's proper coverage and not roaming, go with them. Order an AT&T Nexus from eBay, and a SIM card from AT&T's website. You'll be able to get everything going without ever having to set foot in an AT&T store.

Which is a boon in my book. Cell phone stores are horrid.

Sadly, the Verizon band Nexus was cancelled because Verizon didn't want competition with their Droid brand, so if you're stuck with the locals, you're SOL there.

[Widgetcraft]

3rd party UI will screw you on updates even worse than the Droid will.

I know it's expensive, but seriously, get a Nexus. Owning your own phone is the best decision you can ever make in the cell phone world. It also means you'll be getting the latest updates when they actually happen, because the Nexus line is also the dev phone for Android, so everything gets ported to it first.

Check your service coverage in the area for AT&T, and as long as it's proper coverage and not roaming, go with them. Order an AT&T Nexus from eBay, and a SIM card from AT&T's website. You'll be able to get everything going without ever having to set foot in an AT&T store.

Which is a boon in my book. Cell phone stores are horrid.

Sadly, the Verizon band Nexus was cancelled because Verizon didn't want competition with their Droid brand, so if you're stuck with the locals, you're SOL there.

The coverage map for AT&T looks fine, but my friend with an iPhone says that when he comes here, his service is shit. My friend with the local provider says his is fine, so that is what is swaying me back towards the local provider and an Android phone. Really, if I went with AT&T, there is a 90% chance I'd just be going with an iPhone 4.

[J Arcane]

The coverage map for AT&T looks fine, but my friend with an iPhone says that when he comes here, his service is shit. My friend with the local provider says his is fine, so that is what is swaying me back towards the local provider and an Android phone. Really, if I went with AT&T, there is a 90% chance I'd just be going with an iPhone 4.
Yeah, AT&T can be kind of shit out on the margins.

If you're stuck with the locals for a good signal, I recommend then, looking around on eBay for a Verizon phone.

Seriously, owning your own phone is great. It can be more expensive, but not having that contract is great, and usually the plans you can get are cheaper off contract because the provider isn't bleeding you dry to pay for that cheap contract phone.

[hunterx280]

Rumor is we'll be seeing the Nexus Two here soon. You may want to wait. It also sounds like Google may be re-opening their store, too. At least in some fashion or another.

[Widgetcraft]

So, I went by the local place today to check out the HTC Desire hands-on. I have to say, I dig it, I think it will fill my needs for a phone (which really just amounts to being able to browse the internet, especially CoG, on the go). I can get it for $100 with a $30/month data plan (5gb/month, plenty for my purposes); if I wait until Black Friday, I can get the phone for $0.01

The girl working the counter had one herself, and she let me see how quickly it loaded up pages on their network, and it seems totally doable. I think I'm going to go for it, their network is just better around here than AT&T's. I know the Desire isn't the best Android phone out there, but I think it will do what I need and then some. Thanks for all of the advice guys, I really appreciate it!

[Widgetcraft]

Got my phone yesterday, and surprise-surprise, my carrier actually does have 3G service (EvDo). Signal quality is pretty good, especially at home, but then again I'm pretty sure I can see a cell tower from my house. Really digging the Desire too, I love how customizable Sense UI is. Browsing the internet is slick, though it doesn't handle flash very well, outside of Youtube which has a specific app to handle it. Wish I could find a way to get blip.tv running smoothly, but it's not a big deal.

I'm thinking I'll pick up Tapatalk and a console emulator sometime soon, as I'm sure that the novelty of Angry Birds will wear out quickly. I did try out Pocket Legends, a free MMO that's actually in 3D and made for IOS/Android. It was cool, but very, very simplistic. I also tried the demo of Zenonia, but the localization is pretty atrocious, and the controls aren't that great. I think I'd be happy just being able to play Chrono Trigger if I really want to game.

[J Arcane]

As long as you stick to turn-based games and RPGs, you'll generally do OKish with the emulators.

The controls aren't accurate enough at all though for anything action based, unless you've got something with proper hardware buttons.

Or you can buy the Wiimote driver and rig up something so you can turn it into a crude handheld.

Personally, I'm really hoping the Playstation Phone turns up real, because a phone with a proper gamepad and buttons would be perfect.

[Widgetcraft]

As long as you stick to turn-based games and RPGs, you'll generally do OKish with the emulators.

The controls aren't accurate enough at all though for anything action based, unless you've got something with proper hardware buttons.

Yeah, I tried the demo for NESoid yesterday with a simple game, and while I could play it... you wouldn't want to. I basically felt like I was fighting with the controls. I could easily see playing jRPGs on it though.

Or you can buy the Wiimote driver and rig up something so you can turn it into a crude handheld.

There is a free SNES emulator on the marketplace that I haven't tried, and I think it claims to have Wiimote support.

EDIT: Trying out Tiger SNES right now, a free emulator on the market place... I think SNESoid got it's shit jacked, because this thing is fucking identical. I'm betting it's based off an old version though, people are saying transparency layers don't work properly, which tends to be a problem with early versions of emulators.

EDIT2: Not worth using. For some reason, pressing B and either Left or Right will translate to B + Down + Left/Right.

[MagGnome]

How does Wiimote support work? You set the phone on a desk and use the Wiimote to play?

That seems kind of silly to me.

[Widgetcraft]

How does Wiimote support work? You set the phone on a desk and use the Wiimote to play?

That seems kind of silly to me.

Yeah, I don't really get it either... Maybe you could buy one of these (http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/moms/9d5f/), I guess, but if I'm packing around a Wiimote I may as well have my PSP with me instead.

[MagGnome]

I can't see the Wiimote thing working unless you are at home, which kind of defeats the purpose IMHO. Perhaps there is something I'm missing.

Edit - That beanbag chair for cellphones is awesome.

[Widgetcraft]

I think my HTC Desire has a dead pixel :( It's a little black spot regardless of what color is in the background. Running Pixel Fixer on it now, but I'm not sure how effective that will be on this screen; I think Desire's have AMOLED screens.

[J Arcane]

How does Wiimote support work? You set the phone on a desk and use the Wiimote to play?

That seems kind of silly to me.
An engineer firned and I were considering designing some sort of bracket that would fit both a phone and the wiimote, but we never could quite come up with on.

Still, if you're in a place where you're going to be a while and you've got somewhere to set it, it's one way to go, though the lack of buttons is an issue since don't think Classic controller is supported, though nunchuks are now I believe.

There's also those phones with the little kickstand for watching things on aeroplane trays, but I don't remember if there's any Android phones like that.

[Widgetcraft]

There is at least one Desire case with one of those kick-stands built in.

[J Arcane]

Here's a guy who jury-rigged is own bracket set up: http://www.androidcentral.com/awesome-combo-nexus-one-wiimote-and-bike-handlebar-holder Looks like he just took the base off a car dock and rubber banded the Wiimote to it.

Apparently there's a Body Glove branded case with a belt clip that converts into a rotatable kickstand for the Nexus.

But with a screen this size I'd rather have it up close and personal like a handheld.

[MagGnome]

There's also those phones with the little kickstand for watching things on aeroplane trays, but I don't remember if there's any Android phones like that.

I think those little kickstands are a fantastic idea, and I'm surprised that they aren't used more often. I hadn't seen one until I was checking out Windows phones a couple of weeks ago. One of the HTC Win7 phones has slider that reveals a kickstand and a surprisingly good speaker for a cell phone. That would be nice to watch movies on when traveling, or to easily show videos on the phone to friends.

[Widgetcraft]

Here's a guy who jury-rigged is own bracket set up: http://www.androidcentral.com/awesome-combo-nexus-one-wiimote-and-bike-handlebar-holder Looks like he just took the base off a car dock and rubber banded the Wiimote to it.

Apparently there's a Body Glove branded case with a belt clip that converts into a rotatable kickstand for the Nexus.

But with a screen this size I'd rather have it up close and personal like a handheld.

Yeah, the Body Glove (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040M628I/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B003WQ4VDQ&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0J1V010D3YFPKC3V27E1) case was the one I was talking about. Honestly, I don't see much reason for a case for the Desire, because the back of it is rubberized and the front is pretty sturdy plastic. Just need a screen protector.

[Widgetcraft]

I called my provider today to ask about exchanging my Desire for a new one due to the dead pixel and they said it would be no problem. I wanted to ask you guys if you knew how I could make sure that my passwords and such were removed from the phone once I exchange it? Would a factory reset remove all of my personal information? I'll be transferring my SD card to the new phone, but I think most of my personal data like my Google account password is stored on the phone's internal memory.

EDIT: It sounds like a factory reset will do it.

[Widgetcraft]

So, I swapped it out... and this one had a dead pixel as well. I noticed it in the store, but frankly, I didn't really like the attitude of the guy I was dealing with so I said fuck it and stuck with it. It took him thirty minutes, at least, to get the phone for me, and that was with nothing else going on. Spoke to me in monotone the whole time. The moment a cute girl customer came in though, he became oh-so chipper and helpful for her.

I may go back some other day and exchange it again, I may not. The pixel is down in the lower-right corner, so it's not really a critical area like the last one, which was near the center of the screen. I have a feeling that if I had exchanged it for another, I would have gotten another bad pixel; probably a bad batch.

[MagGnome]

My DS has a bad pixel. It's been there since I bought the thing five years ago. It's annoying, but then again I don't use my DS all that much anymore.

[johnperkins21]

Just an FYI, the Wiimote app won't work with the Desire unless you root it. This goes for all HTC phones with Sense. Total bummer.

[Stmfuller]

I was going to recommend the jitterbug...but it appears the OP is looking for something with a little more class.
Pre 2.0 bitches


edit: you know what DON'T.
phones are addictive, they make you upgrade crazy, they're a money drain, and do less than a netbook+free wifi can net you.

stick with a pay as you go phone and buy the cheapest netbook you can find.
Load skype on it...and off you go!