Need help deciding on a provider

[Sgroh87]

I'm currently on AT&T with an iPhone. My contract just ended, and I'm wanting to switch to a droid.

Im looking at either the EVO on sprint or the upcoming droid x on verizon. I'm finding both good and bad reviews of both online, and i was hoping to get a final opinion here.

Some notes on me and my needs:
I use both Facebook and Twitter regularly.
My girlfriend and family are both on AT&T, and while my family might change with me, my girlfriend won't be.
There are maybe three or four numbers that I call on a regular basis. I talk to those numbers for 30-45 minutes a day on average (though a lot of that is after 9pm).
I would guess that I use less than 200 texts a month.
I listen to music and watch movies all the time (including pandora and YouTube, but also stored on the phone), and would like to start taking pictures more often.
I live in Fort Worth, TX, which means that I am in 4G range (or I'm very close, anyway).
My dad works for a company that gets a 20% discount through sprint and a 19% discount through verizon.
I rarely drive more than 100 or so miles from home, meaning that roaming is probably not very important.
I don't have a lot of money. I have a job lined up that I'm going to get, in all likelihood, but it's only a part time job. I expect to earn between $500-700 a month before the government takes their share.

Both phones look fantastic, and other than the supposedly bad battery life on the EVO, they seem to be neck-and-neck. That means that I really need to know about plans and services, specifically, the cheapest plan I can get for the services I need. Can you guys help steer me in the right direction?

 

[macprv]

I don't own an evo, but since you said you don't have lots of money, I would go with sprint, they have the everything mobile (it something like that) that has unlimited calls to any mobile phone so you could call your gf without worries, just make sure you get 4g where you live/work
you could also consider a plan from T-Mobile their off contract plans are super cheap... you would need to buy a phone at full price though

 

[Dr. Shady PhD]

Well i am looking at the HTC Aria for AT&T, but i personally think that the Droid-X is better IMO. But I am not a phone expert so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

 

[UrbanMuppet]

No longer a contributing member. Account pending for deletion.

 

[Sgroh87]

I've had a lot of problems with AT&T: dropped calls in my house, failed calls, minutes-long periods where the phone is searching for a connection (also in my house).

And I have done research. I spent about an hour each at sprint and verizon stores, talking to reps about the phones i was interested in plus the services they provide. I was also leaning towards sprint, because the closest i could get to an equivalent plan at verizon was $10-20 more per month, despite the 4G "premium tax."

How long have you had sprint, Urban? Are you satisfied with their services so far?

 

[takeshi]

Always select the carrier first based on coverage where you need it.

 

[Sgroh87]

That's what I'm saying. I live in a major metropolitan area, so (at least according to the coverage maps on their sites) I get the best possible reception, including 4G on Sprint.

 

[LaFlavor]

If the coverage where you live/work is roughly equal, and you don't travel a whole lot, sprint is probably the better choice. As has been noted, you just get more bang for your buck, even with the 4g tax. Unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited text, unlimited data, 450 anytime minutes (I think I've used 9 minutes this month on my plan, since the vast majority of my calls are to mobile phones) for ~$70 ($80, I think, with the evo) is just a tough price to beat.

If you were into camping or hiking, or were on the road a lot, outside of cities and towns, verizon would probably the better choice, because sprint's coverage outside of cities is spotty at best.

 

[UrbanMuppet]

No longer a contributing member. Account pending for deletion.