From Eris to.........?

[tbaker]

So, I for various reason Verizon will not give me a replacement other than the Eris after have a few Eris act up on me for similar reasons. But, they are offering me an early upgrade, with the possibility of the fee waved. So, now I am looking at a few phones, but want to know a few things before I make the jump.

I am right now deciding between the Droid 2, and HTC Merge. I ruled out the Fascinate, because I am not fond of Touchwiz, or the lack of an LED notification light, and the Continuum seems a bit novelty-ish with the notification screen. As for the DI, it is a great phone, but that EOL, and I want to try something different that what my sister has. I also like the Droid Pro and don't mind the form factor as I use to be a Treo 700w user, but I kind of like the idea of a larger screen.

So, out of the two I am looking at, which would fit my usage better(I know the Merge isn't out yet so the G2/desire Z would be used as the fill in for the comparo as they are essential the same device). I just want the one with the better call, audio(music playback and the like), and image quality as the rest of the features are a bit moot and/or could be solved with a root. Which do you think is going to have a longer software update life(without factoring in the ability to root)? Which has the better cpu/gpu combo based on what is has been seen on the G2(since both have the 2nd gen Snapdragon chip)? Thank you.

 

[Caddyman]

why not consider the droid X?

 

[tbaker]

I have played with one and it is a bit larger than I want. Plus, the D2 is just as good(spec wise), while costing me $50 less in the end. Is it really that much better than the D2, I know battery life is better because of the larger battery, but what about the rest of the phone? Thank you.

 

[tbaker]

You know the more I am thinking and reading about it the Continuum maybe an interesting choice as the ticker could be useful. Since it is a Galaxy S phone I am assuming the GPS hasn't been fixed yet? So, based on the Fascinate and every other Galaxy S phones released in the US, how does the battery life compare to the D2, G2/Desire Z/Merge, and Eris(for comparison sake)? What about camera can call quality between the ones I am looking at? Thank you.

 

[tbaker]

So, it turning out the Merge maybe an LTE device and despite me being in an area where LTE is being launched, I'd prefer not to go LTE just yet. So, I guess it right now kind of down to the Continuum and the D2(maybe the world as I am reading it has a even better keyboard). Any thoughts, suggestions or ideas on what I previously asked? Thank you.

 

[MonmouthDroid]

I'd go D2 because samsung has a very poor history with device support for android. They are promising to be better with the Galaxy S series of phones, but do you really want to be their customer service guinnie pig? I was heavily considering the fascinate but decided against it mainly for this reason.

 

[tbaker]

Weill isn't that issue kind of solved with rooting? Or is the rooting support that poor on the Galaxy S?
Based on what is know how does call, and camera quality, & durability compare between the D2 and Continuum(Fascinate in this case as Continuum isn't out yet). Never had Moto device so not familiar with their quality.

 

[MonmouthDroid]

My moto droid is by far the highest quality, most durable phone I have ever owned. The fascinate still doesn't have 2.2 even rooted because no 2.2 kernels for it have been released by samsung. Rooting only gets you so far. There has to be a similar device using the same wireless technology to build the kernel off of. This is the issue with the fascinate. It is the only CDMA only Galaxy S phone. Epic 4g kernels won't work because of the WiMax, and International Galaxy S, Vibrant, and Captivate kernels won't work because they are GSM.

 

[tbaker]

Interesting. With my Eris I have see 2.2 roms because they were able to port 2.2 roms from similar HTC(mostly GSM) devices with 2.2. Is that because the kernels were released?

The only thing I really like in sense is the dialer and contact app, if I can get the on the D2 I may go for that. If not I may wait for the Merge then(specially if it is not an LTE device because right now I'd prefer not to pay extra for LTE).

 

[MonmouthDroid]

Interesting. With my Eris I have see 2.2 roms because they were able to port 2.2 roms from similar HTC(mostly GSM) devices with 2.2. Is that because the kernels were released?

The only thing I really like in sense is the dialer and contact app, if I can get the on the D2 I may go for that. If not I may wait for the Merge then(specially if it is not an LTE device because right now I'd prefer not to pay extra for LTE).

It took developers a lot of work to get 2.2 on the eris. No one is willing to put that kind of work in on the fascinate for 2.2 since it will get it officially anyway, and then 2.2 roms will be easy to make. I have a feeling that in the long run (6-12 months from now) the Fascinate will be the Galaxy S device that developers abandon (except for a select few).

 

[tbaker]

Yeah I kind of get that same feeling, any reason you think? I do prefer the Continuum because I am starting to think that the ticker display could be useful and it has a dedicated camera button, which is a nice convenience. Do you think that will fair better than the Fascinate? I like both the D2, and Continuum, but not sure if either will have good call quality or not as I keep hearing mix reviews for both.

 

[MonmouthDroid]

Honestly, due to its similarities to the Fascinate (they are the same phone with different screen layouts) the Continuum won't fare any better IMO. If you are worried about developer support, get the D2. If not, just get whichever one you like better.

 

[tbaker]

Yeah I am planning to get the D2 as it is going to come out $50 less in the end for me, and community support seems better for Moto and HTC vs Samsung(was the same back in the WM6 days too). Thank you. I just hope the SQ and call quality are at least equal to my Eris.