On Eris. Jump now or wait?

[alprazolam]

I have seen so many of these threads and I've always tried to be patient with those who ask unless they put something like "convince me to switch". I just want current feedback. I have been using an Eris for the past year and my upgrade date is here. Normally, I tell people that phone tech is always new and your phone will be "outdated" soon after you get it. Just upgrade year to year and get what is the best at your upgrade time.

Well, I'm having a little bit of difficulty taking my own advice because of the time frame that we find ourselves in. We will be seeing new, more powerful phones introduced at CES. Not a huge deal to me. Then, you add 4G on top of that. Now, if 4G pricing is going to run anything like the current modem pricing, then I'm not interested. Oh, and Gingerbread.

The thing is, and I loved my Eris so don't get me wrong, I don't want to jump into a phone that has been released for a few months now and feel that I am completely lacking. The DX is the most beastly king of VZ phones at this time (IMO). What is your opinion on waiting a bit or going ahead and doing the upgrade? Do those of you who love the latest and greatest feel like you hit a phone that gets plenty of speed or do you feel yourself wanting for more?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Kevmueller]

I guess the biggest question is LTE going to be in your area day one, or are you going to be in an area where it is going to be almost a year before it is up and running. If you can have LTE in 1st quarter next year it would make it hard to jump. But if it is not going to get to you until 4th quarter next year then you will be able to use your upgrade about the same time and jump to the 4G.

As for your question on the Droid X. I have had my phone since the 1st of August and three months later I am looking at new phones just to see how they fail in comparison, not to look for what will be replacing it next. I switched from the TP2. So the upgrade from WinMo to Android was a huge plus. The screen size is just amazing on this phone. The speed and browser (with flash) is just as good as sitting on my home computer. The battery usage is the best on the market for a smartphone. I find myself picking up my X more than my laptop when at home because it is such a good phone. I look to upgrade every year and to be honest I am not going to upgrade until LTE is in my area and there is a phone with specs better than the X. I would rather stay on 3G than drop battery use, screen size and CPU speed from what I have now.

Hope this helps. The X is an amazing phone if you decide to go that way.

 

[alprazolam]

Excellent answer KevMueller. I am possibly in 4G and possibly not. When you look at the LTE map for my area, I am on that spotted edge where there may be coverage and maybe not. I'm thinking that 4G is just not going to be an issue for me right now. I was just thinking. My sons are due for an upgrade on their plane old phone in August. I can always swap at their upgrade time because they won't be seeing a smartphone until they can pay for smartphone plans. Another thing to consider is that my ex (we are still on the same account) is also due for her upgrade and we can split BOGO. Verizon will buy my Eris for $132 and hers will have to sell on ebay for whatever it can fetch. Between the two, our phones will be nearly free after the rebates come in.

 

[quickaudi]

honestly, even if you were in a major LTE area, I wouldn't expect the coverage to actually be that good for a while - my opinion, of course.

if you get the X now, you could be in another phone by this time next year, which is basically my plan. of course, I've had the X since July, and even with it's downfalls, it still tops the Inc and 2, and you'll absolutely fall in love with the size of the screen. oh, and I agree with Kev, I use this 95% of the time compared to my laptop.

 

[Fabolous]

Now, if 4G pricing is going to run anything like the current modem pricing, then I'm not interested.

Actually, you should be very interested

Current 4G pricing is USB modem pricing and matches Verizon's 3G USB modem pricing exactly.

If that's the case for smartphones as well, we will still be seeing $30 unlimited 4G data plans.

Wishful thinking though, as Verizon has already stated that tiered data is coming (and what better time to start it than with LTE?)


Seems like there's a little lull right now, so if you really need a phone now, the DX is a great choice, but it also seems there'll be quite a few exciting new releases coming early next year.

And whatever happened to the Merge?

 

[alprazolam]

Oh the rumors of the Merge. Held up for LTE perhaps? Being outfitted with a dual core? Who knows. If they drop it within 30 days and it seems to blow away the X then I'll consider taking it back. I doubt that it's going to be that compelling though.

As an aside, one rumor even stated that in order to charge the Merge, you will need to get into a silver, tin can looking, 80's sports car with an antenna on top. During a lightning storm you need to drive at 88 mph and then you will need to be struck by lightning because the flux capacitor needs 1.22 gigawatts (pronounced "jigawatts") of electricity to power the beast of a phone.

 

[VoidedSaint]

I infact came from the Eris, i dispised mine with a fiery passion so switching was a must, i almost went back to blackberry, i had a contract ready to be up and then i saw the advertisements for the X, now i will honestly admitt whenever i get a new phone, after a few months i am bored of it and ready to change, i have had 10 phones within 2 years if that tells you anything(had money to spare) had to get a feeling for what was for me really. When i got the X and it arrived, i was thinking it was going to be a big box, no, small box, big phone though, this thing stock, can last all day with medium use, rooted, with apex rom, i wake up at 7am take it off the charger, go to work, airplane mode on and off, play games quite often at my desk, go home, play some more, if i do not feel like playing starcraft 2, and then head to bed around 11, and its still 40% battery life.

Your choice is going to be just that, Your choice, i would honestly say hold out, wait for a bit, unless you have a friend that would buy your X, (if you got it) cause as i see the Droid Pro, totally not impressed, and once you own the X every other phone feels like a child in your hand compared to this bahemoth. The camera is 2 times better than the eris, processor speed as well, internal ram, and storage.

For my my selling point and which made me love the X was the games, for instance, Armored Strike(bought) sluggish on the eris took forever to load, on the X i am waiting on other people to join the game, and that is how i feel, i am a previous eris owner, didnt enjoy it, but enjoyed the android experience, but the X is, and should be the flagship of verizon/moto, i do not think there is nothing this phone cannot do. i hope you can make the choice that is going to make you happy. The eris may be great and perfect for you, and the X may not be what you are looking for, but i would hold out to see what is comming at the beginning of the year, and then make your choice.

Good Luck

(P.S. find a friend who has an X, and get a feel for it, dont use the stores, they are sluggish as to the fact what everyone does to them, but good luck to you and hope your choice is simple for when the time comes)

 

[bobdrakken]

I purchased an HTC Droid Eris in April and it was discontinued like immediatly afterwards. Just last month I jumped at my chance to nab a Droid X for 50 bucks and I have not looked back. It's a big step up from the Eris. At least in my experience, I have no complaints. Excellent phone all around.

I know LTE might look flashy and awesome because of the speed increases but heck when you're loading web pages on these phones a lot of sites are already making mobile versions that load quickly anyway. The 3G network where I live is plenty. 1Meg connection is more than enough for a smartphone

 

[Outlaw71]

When exactly does the new crop hit the shelf? If I was in your shoes, I would buy the X 25 days before the new kids on the block arrive. That way, if there is a standout among them, you would be within your 30 day grace period on the X and could return it for another one. It would also give you some time to get to know the DX enough to know what it would take to make you jump ship.

One thing I know forsure, my next phone will have to have no smaller than a 4.0 inch screen. I just can't get down on 'little' screens anymore.

 

[alprazolam]

Thanks to all of you. I made the jump and this baby is awesome. I just obtsined root and haven't even overclocked or gotten rid of the bloat. It is just amazing coming from the eris. As for new phone, I have until jan 15th to return this should something irresistable come out. I doubt that and I trend to agree that 4G just isn't necessary for me at this point. I think I'm gonna be one happy customer.

 

[bobdrakken]

Thanks to all of you. I made the jump and this baby is awesome. I just obtsined root and haven't even overclocked or gotten rid of the bloat. It is just amazing coming from the eris. As for new phone, I have until jan 15th to return this should something irresistable come out. I doubt that and I trend to agree that 4G just isn't necessary for me at this point. I think I'm gonna be one happy customer.

That and you can finally hit the call button and actually call someone right away. My Eris would take like 5-10 seconds to place a call.

 

[VoidedSaint]

When exactly does the new crop hit the shelf? If I was in your shoes, I would buy the X 25 days before the new kids on the block arrive. That way, if there is a standout among them, you would be within your 30 day grace period on the X and could return it for another one. It would also give you some time to get to know the DX enough to know what it would take to make you jump ship.

smart

One thing I know forsure, my next phone will have to have no smaller than a 4.0 inch screen. I just can't get down on 'little' screens anymore.

def cant handle a screen smaller than 4.0 its ridiculous that you can get used to something like that so quickly

and alp i suggest going to the all things room forum, and checking out Apex rom by fabolous, and his revolution theme or nextheme, with the gingerbread keyboard, i can let you know, anything coming from fabolous is quite possibly going to be the best.

just sayin

 

[Kevmueller]

Welcome to the world of "everything else can wait, I am doing something with my X".

As a side note as well on this. The development community for the X is doing a great job with this phone to make it even better if you want to go down that road.

 

[mlclm]

Welcome to the world of "everything else can wait, I am doing something with my X".

Agreed. Last night I took a study break to play around with my phone and spent the next 3 hours further customizing it.

 

[alprazolam]

Welcome to the world of "everything else can wait, I am doing something with my X".

As a side note as well on this. The development community for the X is doing a great job with this phone to make it even better if you want to go down that road.

On my X right now and gonna head over to check that Rom out. I'm amazed at how much easier the whole root process has gotten. I remember when this thing was supposedly locked down and you could forget root or custom roms.

 

[Outlaw71]

Root came fairly quickly. But custom ROM's came a bit slower because they were never able to break the kernel. So our custom ROM's aren't pure vanilla like on some other devices. They've done a great job at hiding as much of the Blur as they could, but they can't get rid of it 100%.

Still, impressive work forsure.