Droid X or Dinc?

[Taylored]

So I have convinced my parents to join the rest of the family and get Android phones. I found a way to save them $40 a month by changing plans and dropping their home internet(DSL).

Neither of my parents are particularly tech savvy. My mother only learned to use a PC in the past 5 years. My step father is a big more tech savvy, but still not very.

My question is should they get a Dinc or a DroidX (or maybe one of each?) I really would not even consider the DroidX, but my parents are up there in age and vision is becoming a deciding factor here, so a bigger screen is a plus.

Some issues I am worried about.

Reception: My parents live out in the middle of nowhere and have very poor reception on their current Samsung flip phones. My stock Incredible has always had good reception there (even better now with 2.2 and FrankenRom).
How is the signal strength for DroidX?

Wifi Tether: Works great on the Incredible. Droid X?

Battery life: It seems that both phones have less than desirable battery life. I have found some cheap backup and extended batteries for my incredible, and I am no longer afraid to leave home w/o a charger. The Incredible battery is compatible with several other HTC phones and so the batteries are cheaper and easier to come by.
What is the situation with the DroidX battery?

Any additional info is greatly appreciated. I know some of you have switched from the Dinc to the DX so your thoughts would be of great value to me.

 

[dguy]

I had an Incredible for about a month before I had an X. The Incredible was the best phone I had ever used and my favorite phone at the time.

X gets way better signal than the Incredible. I get 3G data deep inside the back room of where I work, the Incredible couldn't get a signal at all back there. Haven't tested wifi tether on either of them but I imagine they both work fine.

Call quality on the X is superb, noticeably better than on the Incredible. Everything sounds crystal clear and people on the other end say I sound great. I've tested the noise canceling by having a loud fan on next to me and people could not hear it, they could only hear my voice. The Incredible doesn't have noise canceling.

The Droid X has the best battery life of any Android phone by far. Don't know where you're reading it has "less than desirable" battery life, but it would be a case of user error, not the device. With the stock battery on the X I've been unplugged for over 10 hours and had over 80% left on a regular basis. My X is getting battery life comparable to what my Incredible got with the 2150 extended battery.

The Incredible picks up a GPS signal quicker than the X.

Stock UI of the Incredible is smoother than the X. Launcher Pro solves the low framerate of the Droid X UI if it bothers you. Chances are the Android 2.2 update will fix the UI sluggishness.

Note: MANY people confuse the Droid X's stock UI's low frame rate for the device itself being slow. The device opens and runs apps faster than the Incredible. It's just that home screen switching and scrolling in the app drawer renders in a choppy manner by default, but this is not to be confused with actual device performance, it's a software bug.

The X blows the Incredible away in 3D games performance. Gets nearly double the FPS in benchmarks and more than double in 3D games like Quake 2.

X blows the Incredible away in app storage(700MB vs 6GB+)

The X feels like a very solid device when you hold it, the Incredible feels like a very cheap device. X is mostly metal, Incredible is very thin plastic. Just taking the back battery cover on the Incredible off feels really bad like it could break at any moment. The Incredible casing also squeaks and bends a little just by picking it up and holding it.

X camera is better, video capture is better. Lots of cool software features in the X camera that the Incredible does not have. The camera button is pretty nice on the X but it's not a make or break feature.

Both phones have really nice sets of widgets to use.

The larger screen of the X is easier to read and MUCH easier to type on than the Incredible. This would be of significant importance to adults who aren't particularly tech savy.

In short, I would say the devices aren't really in the same league. The X is better at too many things for the devices to be considered comparable. Nobody could go wrong with either phone and anyone would be very happy with either phone, but for the same price I believe the X is a no brainer.

 

[droidSPARX]

posted this on another thread

as long as its in Smart Mode. u get a long battery life

my use today. podcast, pandora, tv.com (video clips), youtube, browsing the net, and RSS news feed refresh

 

[ObiDon]

...I found a way to save them $40 a month by changing plans and dropping their home internet(DSL)...

Dude...there's no way I'd give up DSL for tethering. Tethering is OK in a pinch. But I think it would be way too slow for every day use. But then again, I'm an Internet addict.

Don

 

[newell2511]

Dude...there's no way I'd give up DSL for tethering. Tethering is OK in a pinch. But I think it would be way too slow for every day use. But then again, I'm an Internet addict.

Don

+1
keeping my 12meg cable connection as long as i have a computer. Tethering just can't compete at this point in time. In fact i run my droid x off of my home connection via wifi whenever im home.

 

[thirteen113]

My wife and I settled on Incredibles after a couple of weeks of researching what was available. The X wasn't out yet but we decided it was ridiculously large and didn't need to wait for it.

After receiving the phones, I had the incredible for 3 weeks before switching to the X. During that time, I was blown away by the features of Android and the Incredible. I did have a few concerns about the call quality and a pink hue on my screen. Her phone doesn't have any call quality problems and her screen is perfect in comparison to what I had on my phone. She is 100% happy and still shows the phone off a month later.

When I received my X I was blown away again. Call quality is like I'm on a land-line, battery life is longer with what I feel is more usage, I can read it easily, it feels to be of higher build quality, and accessory support is already better.

I do like some of the integration Sense adds but I made the right choice switching. I'm also pretty sure the incredible is the right phone for my wife.

They are both great phones and I'm kinda excited that I get to see how each holds up physically and through manufacturer support.

 

[thirteen113]

Double post...

 

[esn]

I have the X and had the Dinc and by far the X is the better device. Just the large screen is so nice to type on and the battery life is much better than the Dinc was.

 

[kenn]

Being in a similar situation myself, I advised my parents to get a good flip phone with a large screen, large buttons, and adjustable-sized font. They just want to make calls. They are happy and it works. My advice: don't force the latest technology on someone who wasn't already asking for it to begin with.

 

[thirteen113]

Jitterbug ? Easy to Use, No Contract Mobile Phones for Everyone ? Jitterbug.com

 

[Taylored]

Dude...there's no way I'd give up DSL for tethering. Tethering is OK in a pinch. But I think it would be way too slow for every day use. But then again, I'm an Internet addict.

DSL is shit slow. The tethering is about the same. My parents do not really use the internet for anything which requires high speeds. Just basic browsing, Facebook, email, youtube, ect. I have tested all of these things tethering on my Dinc and they preform as well as the DSL(within a small margin at least).

Being in a similar situation myself, I advised my parents to get a good flip phone with a large screen, large buttons, and adjustable-sized font. They just want to make calls. They are happy and it works. My advice: don't force the latest technology on someone who wasn't already asking for it to begin with.

Thanks for the advice, but my parents are not so old they cannot learn new tricks.


My Stepfather needs a smart phone for work anyway. He needs to have mobile internet access as he is rarely at home. My mother does not need a smart phone as much, but my little sister would enjoy playing around on it.

My goal here is to both save and make my parents some money.
First, I will help to save them money by getting rid of the unlimited plans and replacing with GV on friends and family, and also setting up wifi tether so they can drop AT&T's overpriced DSL.

Second, I will help them make some money by getting my parents mobile internet access. Both of my parents have small businesses independent from one another. They both lose out on business because they are behind on technology.

 

[kenn]

DSL is shit slow. The tethering is about the same. My parents do not really use the internet for anything which requires high speeds. Just basic browsing, Facebook, email, youtube, ect. I have tested all of these things tethering on my Dinc and they preform as well as the DSL(within a small margin at least).



Thanks for the advice, but my parents are not so old they cannot learn new tricks.


My Stepfather needs a smart phone for work anyway. He needs to have mobile internet access as he is rarely at home. My mother does not need a smart phone as much, but my little sister would enjoy playing around on it.

My goal here is to both save and make my parents some money.
First, I will help to save them money by getting rid of the unlimited plans and replacing with GV on friends and family, and also setting up wifi tether so they can drop AT&T's overpriced DSL.

Second, I will help them make some money by getting my parents mobile internet access. Both of my parents have small businesses independent from one another. They both lose out on business because they are behind on technology.

Hey, if you are gonna be tech support, then go for it.