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Might be upgrading out of Ally-world soon

PowerBomb

Android Enthusiast
Jul 7, 2010
542
104
Chicago
I'll probably be upgrading at the end of the month. Ally has served me well but the battery is getting tired and dying quicker than before and just general wear and tear. I'll have to see what the total device upgrade + loyalty discount will get me when it kicks in, probably won't have a lot of cash to spend on top of the discounts so I have to see what falls between Free -to- $99.

I should hopefully qualify to be grandfathered in on unlimited data still. Do plans for 4G phones cost more? Minutes wise or data wise? Or still the same pricing structure?

I think I'm ready to get away from a physical keyboard finally, unless I really decide it's worth it on the Droid 3.

This is what shows up in my price range so far without full discounts:

Fascinate
Droid3
X2
Incredible2
Thunderbolt (4g)
Revolution (4g)
Charge (4g)
Bionic (4g) (if I raise my spending limit to $150)

If anyone has an opinions out of those let me know.
 
Thanks for the replies so far.

I've been with LG since the days of enV2. Then I had a Dare, and now the Ally. I really grew to like their products, but I'm not sure how the Revolution stacks up to the other products, so if it's time to go with Motorola, HTC, or Samsung, I'll take the leap.

4G isn't a huge factor for me right now, 3G speeds for the type of use I need seem fine for me.

It would be nice to have something that will more than like be getting ICS in some form or another. Interesting to hear that the Fascinate pretty much already has it. I see Incredible 2 has some form of it running too.

Just visited a comparison website for Fascinate -to- Inc2 and they are incredibly close. Then a comparison between the Inc2 and X2 seems to favor the X2. Although I thought I read the X2 is suffering from a bit of the same treatment that the Ally got where it quickly got left behind in the market and future update support is not likely.
 
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Haha interesting quote. I've mostly liked the form factor of LG products. I loved typing on the old enV2, and the Droid physical keyboard never appealed to me, so when the Ally was announced I was thrilled to be able to move up to an Android device.

I'm certainly not considering anything like the Enlighten or other garbage that has come out and barely seem improved over the Ally. Only slightly looking at the Revolution, but compared to the other "slab" phones I think there's too much better competition.

I guess looking back, the support and updates for the Ally was a terrible process, and only the custom dev community made this phone great. But I also hear Moto with their Blur and HTC with Sense can slow down the arrival of updates since they have their own stuff running on top of vanilla Android.

But at this moment, I am leaning a lot towards getting an dInc2. LG phones never even get the full "Droid" branding and that's probably for a reason.
 
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If the Bionic is an option you can't pass on it. I got it for 80 certified preowned, not sure if that was a promo type deal though. You'll read a ton of complaints about it, mostly software related (and solved) and the rest I believe to be bad batches of hardware when the phone came out. I'm sure any of the newer phones will be a radical improvement but assuming you dont wanna spend 200+ for a rezound, razr or nexus nothing comes close performance-wise or (imo) in sex appeal. No qwerty takes some getting used to but you'll find there are options for your keyboard, including swiftkey which does a great job of autocorrecting (something about better algorithims than the others). It has been confirmed we will be getting ICS, supposedly first quarter but in all likelihood not until summer.
 
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Isn't the tbolt free right now? Id get that, and donate the rest to the devs!

Doesn't seem to be, at least not according to my account page on the website when I click on upgrade eligible device. Shows up at $99 or $69.99 certified preowned.

If the Bionic is an option you can't pass on it. I got it for 80 certified preowned, not sure if that was a promo type deal though.... It has been confirmed we will be getting ICS, supposedly first quarter but in all likelihood not until summer.

Thanks for your input. When I check the website, the Bionic shows up as $199 new or $149 preowned. If I could get $80 for a cert preowned like you did I would definitely be considering it.
 
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Thanks guys :). Short of seeing some big change in any prices over the next few days, I feel like I've become sufficiently interested in getting the DInc2. Some days I can hardly justify owning a smartphone so I don't think I need to have 4G on top of that, and I think I'm ready to take the leap to not having a physical keyboard anymore.
 
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Thanks.

I was leaning heavily towards the DInc2 but now that I've confirmed that 4G wouldn't cost me anything extra, and the fact that I'm getting grandfathered in on unlimited data, I'm starting to think I should take advantage of Verizon as much as I can and enjoy unlimited 4G by getting something like the Tbolt. Although I've actually seen Tbolt owners change over to the DInc2 and report that they like it even better. Not thrilled about the rumored battery life of the Tbolt though. I can't decide, but now I have 4G weighing more heavily on my mind than when I first posted this thread.
 
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My Dinc2 has been unplugged for 13 hours 2 minutes and is at 75% battery. That'll never happen on a Tbolt. I'd say it's been moderate use, about half and half wifi and 3g internet browsing, Facebook, some games. Overclocked to 1500ish also.

Not trying to coerce, just stating my experiences. Either way you go will be a big step up from the Ally.
 
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My Dinc2 has been unplugged for 13 hours 2 minutes and is at 75% battery. That'll never happen on a Tbolt. I'd say it's been moderate use, about half and half wifi and 3g internet browsing, Facebook, some games. Overclocked to 1500ish also.

Not trying to coerce, just stating my experiences. Either way you go will be a big step up from the Ally.

Yeah, this is exactly the type of stuff I hear from the comparisons of Tbolt/DInc2. I know I'd definitely have to be okay with shorter battery life if I were to choose the Tbolt. Although I'm used to having my crapped-out Ally plugged in almost all day anyway. Don't worry, I don't feel like you're trying to coerce me, I appreciate the input. I've read some people have been swapping Rezound batteries into their Tbolts because they are something like 200mAh larger and last a little longer. It's a $20 upgrade and doesn't make the phone bulkier like an extended battery would. Perhaps I would go this route. Really I was fine thinking about just getting another 3G device, but reading various posts reminded me that it's a 2 year commitment (I never shell out the cash to change devices unless it's upgrade time), so even if 4G doesn't matter to me for now, the extra speed might end up being quite useful over the next 2 years of use.

I <3 my Droid 3. I just wish it was 4G. Other than that, this thing is a beast.

ICS ftw. Mmmmm.

Haha. Sometimes I still think I'd want a physical keyboard, but that's about the only thing the Droid3 has that makes me consider it. I'm just not crazy about Motorola for some reason. But the D3 is still on my radar if last minute I decide I still want a full qwerty.
 
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Geez... just when I think I'm close to a decision, the prices keep on changing.

VZW website came up with a few new certified preowned prices when I checked it this morning.
Revolution - Free
Bionic - $29.99
Charge- $29.99

Now I'm all caught up in the pentile display debate. I have a feeling that is something that would bug me. :rolleyes:
 
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Geez... just when I think I'm close to a decision, the prices keep on changing.

VZW website came up with a few new certified preowned prices when I checked it this morning.
Revolution - Free
Bionic - $29.99
Charge- $29.99

Now I'm all caught up in the pentile display debate. I have a feeling that is something that would bug me. :rolleyes:
If you want your display to look perfect when you examine it closely don't get a bionic. I wasn't thrilled when i heard about the pentile thing but i honestly haven't noticed since the day i got it. I stream netflix and play n64oid every day and it looks fine.
 
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Thanks for your input about that, I've been reading up on it all night. With the pre-owned sale going on, I'm pretty much sold on the Bionic, dual core, HDMI, 4G, etc. I'd be 100% done and decided if I didn't see a lot of people don't like the display. I'm gonna have to stop by a Verizon store and just spend a few minutes looking at it. Bionic has moved it's way up to first on my list though. Things shift around on the VZW site so much anyway, the pre-owned Thunderbolt seems to have been taken down, and I'm not willing to spend a full $99 on a new one. This pre-owned sale is until 2/2 and my loyalty discount kicks in 1/28. I'll just have to hope the Bionics don't sell out, cuz if I hang on til Saturday it'll end up being free with $30 of loyalty added in. I almost want to order one now and let my loyalty credit go down the drain because it's still only $29.99 and I don't want them to run out. Hm...
 
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