time for something new

[three west]

hey folks,

so I could use some expert opinion. My TP2 has arguably been the best phone I've ever had. I didn't think I'd like another phone as much as my trusty Kyocera 7135, but this TP2 is great. That said, its showing its age now. I thought I'd hold out for a WP7 device, but am now strongly considering moving to android. I think the WP7 devices are just too locked down for me to be happy with them for now. Maybe in another couple years I'll jump back, but I think I see anroid in my future.

One of my favorite features of WM was activesync and its ability to toggle what it would sync. I sync to an exchange server at work, and to my PC at home. I work in the office 80% of the time, and loved how I could just toggle the email sync off with about 4 taps on my TP2 while maintaining calendar, contact, & task sync. I tried out a blackberry, and returned it after 3 weeks because of the inability to turn my work email OFF. If its the weekend I don't want to be seeing any new message notifications, cause if I saw them, I'd HAVE to check them!
I'm unclear exactly how this will work on android.

I thought I pretty much had to have a physical keyboard, so that was one of the reasons I went with the TP2. I think now I'm ready to try a phone without a keyboard. I don't use the keyboard that much and I think as long as I got a larger screen phone I'd be OK without it.

so right now I'm thinking I'd like to try the Droid X2, with some consideration for the Thunderbolt. I live no where near a 4G area, and am not real keen on paying extra for a data plan that I cannot use. I plan to stick with Verizon, as ATT in my area sucks, and those are the only two choices.

I dig the car mounts & docking station available for the X(2)

HTC has bought a little loyalty from me since the TP2 has been so good, but before this I had a MotoQ which was a good little device. If you're a samsung person make your case below.

and does either/both phones have a notification LED? Seems strange, but I don't see mention of it for either device and that's something I like.

can I stealth wi-fi tether with both? I'm not sure the tbolt has been unlocked yet? does that matter?

I could do without the ability to sync to outlook 2007 to my home PC, but would miss it a little. The exchange sync is not negotiable.

about the only thing the tbolt probably has going for it is the 4G, which isn't available anywhere nearby, and likely won't be for a while.

If there was a solid release date on the bionic, or whatever they call it, or replace it with, I might consider waiting, but right now I'm not sure I'm willing to wait for an undetermined time.

what say you fellow ppcgeeks?

[gTen]

Right now verizon has a large selection of top end phones:

Droid 2, Droid X2, HTC Thunderbolt, LG Revolution, Samsung Charge, Xperia Play

There is also a rumor of Droid 3 releasing in June..

As far as 4g goes...it boils down to this..do you think 4g will be in your area by the time you plan to switch?

Aside from Activesync, is there anythign else thats important to you? liek do you play games? do you want a bigger screen any screen..how important is battery life..do you want wireless charging...do you want to flash roms or stock is fine with you most of the time? etc..if you can make a priority list it will help coordinate things..


All of them can do activesync..but blur, sense and tocuhwiz have their own uniqueness to implementation of activesync via their UI..you can also use stock UI activesync or a program called Touchdown.


Edit: Forgot to mention..Bionic was scrapped, wasn't playing nicely with LTE...they will replace it with an OMAP based phone and rename it..I actually played with the original Bionic in CES2011 and it was smooth minus a few hiccups...but it was a demo phone...

[three west]

I live in the UP of MI, and I'm not familiar with VZW's LTE rollout schedule, but would guess that maybe in another 2 years I'll have it for my next phone. I travel out of state for work 3-4 times a year, and that's about the only time I wi-fi tether. Perhaps the destinations with have LTE within this contract period, but half the time the hotel has free internet anyhow, right.

on to the answers

I don't currently play any games, I listen to slacker radio & mp3s, & watch some youtube clips, & use the phone as my alarm clock. I also pair it to my zumo GPS on my motorcycle and use GPS weather radar to know if I should break out the rain suit. I use Bing navigation when in my truck.

I think I want to try a 4.3" screen just because I'm leaning toward going to a phone without a keyboard, and I think that would be a plus.

Battery: right now I can usually get 2 days out of my TP2 battery. Most of the time BT & wi-fi are turned off.

I don't think I care about wireless charging at this point.

As for flashing roms, I don't think I'll know until I get the device. Honestly I never got around to flashing my TP2, not because I was uncomfortable with that, but just because I was able to do everything I wanted via cabs. I think my cabbed MR3 is as customized as some folks mild custom roms.

lesse, what other things can I think of

I do like HTC's sense interface, but assume the moto version can't be too much different.

I liked how the BB I had for a couple weeks I could assign different sounds to different email accounts.

I like the TP2s face down speakerphone on feature

I sometimes with the ringer volume on my TP2 was louder.

I need to learn more about the android exchange OTA & outlook hardline sync options, those are important.

Oh, and timeline, I'll probably be upgrading in July!

[gTen]

If July is your date then I'd wait a little.. Thunderbolt has been getting sub par reviews on battery unfortunately and Droid X2 is not much of an upgrade from a Droid X (if I remember correctly)..June/July is when Verizon will most likely release its heavy hitters UNLESS its gonna conflict with their iphone thing..

I would avoid Motorola if possible though because they are not very friendly when it comes to bootloaders for flashign custom roms (though there are rumors it will change in the near future)

Edit: new bionic information..no release date.. just specs:

http://www.ppcgeeks.com/?p=22077

[three west]

yes, the DX2 gets you a dual core Tegra2 1 Ghz processor and a qHD display over the original X, oh, and camera button removed. That's about it for changes, but that dual core is nothing to sneeze at (not that I'd probably test its limits),

being the noob to android that I am, having access to the moto bootloader doesn't neccessarily preclude you from rooting the phone though eh? and currently its the same on the tbolt unlocking front too eh?

seems the bionic is a no-brainer, but geez, give me a date! I'm all geeked up about a new device!

[three west]

bump for more opinions

not much action hidden away at the bottom of the forum here eh?

[MrObvious]

I would say try running XDAndroid on your phone to get a feel for Android. It will tell you if you like it or not (minus battery life and bugs). As far as getting a new phone goes, maybe get one before tiered data sets in if you would even want 4G so you get the plan. As far as which device, well it's a toss up really. HTC has good build quality but the TB has bad battery life, which EVERYONE complains about, because there are two radios for 1x/3G and 4G I think and it is a huge battery drain. Sticking to 3G ain't a bad option either and gives you many more options.

There are some good software keyboards too on Android so finding a good touchscreen is essential. I love the one on my OG Droid since the hardware KB sucks.

[EyeB]

you could always scour craigslist for a cheap android phone, buy it play with it and then resell it.

I see some evo in the $120-200 range and epics in the $150-200 range. So you wouldn't loose out on too much if any money reselling the phones, maybe turn a profit but don't count on it.

[three west]

thanks for the thoughts on trying out android guys, but I'm in the boonies, and a craigslist find isn't very likely.
I think I'll just end up jumping in with both feet.
Figure the WM platform is abandoned (even if still well supported by us), so its just a matter of when I go and to which device, rather than if.

[three west]

and now it looks like it would be in my best interest to pick up a new phone before July 7.

still curious about this part though, I've searched a fair amount and can't find any mention of it.

One of my favorite features of WM was activesync and its ability to toggle what it would sync. I sync to an exchange server at work, and to my PC at home. I work in the office 80% of the time, and loved how I could just toggle the email sync off with about 4 taps on my TP2 while maintaining calendar, contact, & task sync. I tried out a blackberry, and returned it after 3 weeks because of the inability to turn my work email OFF. If its the weekend I don't want to be seeing any new message notifications, cause if I saw them, I'd HAVE to check them!
I'm unclear exactly how this will work on android.