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Making a decision, a little help?

Kauai

Lurker
Jul 11, 2010
5
2
Hello everyone! Well, that time of my cellular contract has come up again, -- I'm up for renewal! As such myself and my family are looking around at the bunch of new smart phones that are coming out...and the HTC Evo, which my Grandmother has already gotten, is definitely on the list. Right now I'm trying to decide between an iPhone 4 or an Evo.

And I realize this place is likely rabidly anti-Apple, well, let's keep that to a minimum. You can score against Apple by answering my questions and hopefully winning them one less customer if I'm content, sound good? :p

Let's get to the point...

From the research I've been doing the Evo looks like the flagship phone amongst both Android and HTC right now. Is it indeed the current top of the line phone in that category, or is there another? Alternatively I guess there could be phones that are different if not better...but most lines seem to have a flagship one.

Does Sprint have plans to expand 4G at all in the near future? This, along with the screen, is likely the other thing that is seriously drawing me towards the Evo. But of course if we're not going to have widespread 4G for another 2~3 years, what's the point?

A question about the screen. The iPhone has a better resolution, but a smaller screen, which usually means better quality. Have you noticed a difference at all if you've had a chance to compare, or in your own research? Obviously a 4.3 screen is quite nice compared to a 3.5 screen when it comes to a phone...

And lastly, and most importantly, will I still be able to play my iTunes music on the Evo?

Thank you!!! :)

And hey anything else you want to throw in...it all helps.
 
You should also consider the Droid X and the Samsung Galaxy S phones (by their various names).

(And you thought I was going to help you make it easier to decide :) ).

I won't bash the iPhone. I was on AT&T for years (they kept acquiring my carriers) and I will bash them, however. I know they are trying to improve, but they were really really bad for me the last year (for my non-iPhone and my SO's iPhone). Consider the carrier when you make a purchase.

.02

jd
 
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1. Yes, flagship phone. But won't be best 3 months from now, just the nature of things.

2. YES. Expanding every day. Have 4G in spots that didn't last month.

3. Bigger screen just better. MYCH better.

4. Yes, but may have to jump through some hoops first. Many folks here will help if that time comes.

Hope this helps you make the right decision for YOU. ;-)
 
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You should also consider the Droid X and the Samsung Galaxy S phones (by their various names).

(And you thought I was going to help you make it easier to decide :) ).

I won't bash the iPhone. I was on AT&T for years (they kept acquiring my carriers) and I will bash them, however. I know they are trying to improve, but they were really really bad for me the last year (for my non-iPhone and my SO's iPhone). Consider the carrier when you make a purchase.

.02

jd

Actually that's exactly why my Grandmother switched, haha. She had an iPhone and switched to the Evo.

As for your suggestions...gahhh. Haha, those were EXACTLY the other two phones I'd done research on. I guess the four are the current best right now.

But your correct, I'll need to compare plans and coverage.
 
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Hey everyone! Another quick (Sprint) question.

Remember that Grandmother I told you guys about? (Wow that sounds lame) Any way, we're considering getting onto her Family Talk Plan, to which she agreed.

The Evo costs an extra $10 for the 4G service from what I understand. Is that per Evo or on the over all plan?
 
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Hey everyone! Another quick (Sprint) question.

Remember that Grandmother I told you guys about? (Wow that sounds lame) Any way, we're considering getting onto her Family Talk Plan, to which she agreed.

The Evo costs an extra $10 for the 4G service from what I understand. Is that per Evo or on the over all plan?

Per evo. I think I'm going to write another one of my "Open Source" letters.
 
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The Evo costs an extra $10 for the 4G service from what I understand. Is that per Evo or on the over all plan?
I believe that is per device, there are some threads here about getting it removed. I can't believe long term that they will be able to continue to charge the premium to compete.

You might be able to negotiate it away if you are talking about multiple devices too.

In regards to picking a device, I always believe you need to consider carrier first, what works best for you (& your family) regardless of device. Then pick the best device for your "needs" on that carrier. Being on the same network as friends and family can also have an impact on the bottom line.

As far as devices, per network, the Evo is the one to pick for Sprint, Droid X/DInc for Verizon, AT&T Samsung Captivate & Dell Streak are on the horizon and T-Mobil (I have no idea, other than I hear they may not be around by the end of the year), but they do share some devices with AT&T.





Aren't you happy I didn't even mention the Fruity devices :D But personally, I have never owned one, my background is in Blackberries.
 
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Carrier choice is more of the question here.

These aren't addressing any of your questions specifically but just my own bullets:

1) Depending on who you talk to, look at how carrier will affect minutes or texting. In sprints case, you yourself won't be affected unless you are calling landlines, as sprints texting is all networks, and their minutes are also unlimited for all MOBILE phones off of ANY network.

2) I've heard the iphone argument about higher resolution, but honestly with my evo I don't really see any pixels. I'd rather the higher size screen. Best thing to do here is to just go look at both of them yourself in the store. I haven't seen the iPhone myself.

3) I didn't think it was a big deal at first, but I have an iTouch for my music, and after using an android system, I love how unrestricted it is compared to apples app store and the device settings in general. I don't want to root right yet, and when you compare both devices un jailbroken/rooted, obviously android wins imo.

I won't lie I like how the iphone looks astetically, but the evo was just about as good. It's just a different ballgame, you can't compare apples and oranges unless you outright hate the taste of one of them. They both have their perks.

Price wise, Sprint wins right now even with their 10 dollar 4g charge. They win by 10-20 dollars depending on if you want insurance or have any other random costs. (Actually I'm not sure now with apples lower data tier charge it may be even, but I guarantee you will go over that limit fast. Sprint is actually unlimited.)


A bigger thing to look at is coverage if you are in a spotty area. All this talk is nothing if you can't get suitable signal.
 
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i got all my itunes music on my evo, i did it a little different. I made folders for each music group and then just copied and pasted the songs into those groups. It took some time up front but it was just like putting htem on a flash drive and now they are all sorted nice and pretty on my evo too. im sure it is not the simplest method but all songs play on my phone, didnt need to convert or anything else?
 
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I was in the same boat as you 2 weeks ago, although I was an IPhone/AT&T customer. All these new phones with amazing options and more on the way. I went back and forth a few times trying to decide. In the end, I obviously chose Sprint and an EVO.

1. Carrier. Like mentioned above, look at the carriers. You would be a new IPhone/AT&T user so remember your data plan will be capped at 2GB for $25 with $10 per GB after that. Add on another $30 if you want to tether that 2GB. Verizon offers unlimited data for $30 with a tethering option for an additional $20 a month. But there is a tether cap there and it is 5GB, after that you have to pay per GB. Sprint has the $30 +$10 premium data plan with the option of a $30 tethering. All of those are completely unlimited, no hidden caps/additional fees. Do you need a family plan or individual plan. Look at the costs of each plan.

2. Coverage. You most likely are not in a 4g coverage area. If you are, lucky you, hug your new EVO. If not, you get 3G coverage on the EVO. You will be capped with 3G on Verizon no matter what. Also on AT&T you will be capped at 3G at best. That is if they have it set up in your area. Where I work, I have 3g, but where I live, 22 miles away, I have edge on AT&T.

3. Phone. You have already looked into these and are probably pulling your hair out agonizing over which to get and what is the best. Avoid thinking this way as there is always a new "best" phone on the horizon. You can get the "best" per carrier for NOW, not for tomorrow. You already know the top phones (EVO, DroidX, Galaxy, IP4), you just need to decide how you want to use your phone. Remember they are all still phones.

My choice was easy once I narrowed down my options. I needed a family plan since we have 4 phone users and I wanted true unlimited data no matter what I did. The wife and I got EVO's and my girls each got a rumor touch. Sprint offered the cheapest option and the addition 23% discount (YAY! nursing/medical discount) was a nice bonus. (Side note: look for discounts, they are there for government, student, medical, fire, police, military, employee)
 
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Sprint has the $30 +$10 premium data plan with the option of a $30 tethering.

what's the first $30 for????
for the EVO.. there is only 2 extra charges:
$10 EVO fee
$29.99 for hotspot (if you want it, there are ways to get around it)
and share with her..any discounts your find..so she can apply to her accounts too!

Yes.. i would take Carrier into consideration before device!

Then do a little research into discounts available for each carrier with: employer or organizations that your are part of.

If you can not find any discounts... For Sprint.. do a little search on this web site as well as the XDA site. There are some Sprint Employees that are are willing to share their info so that you can get a Sprint referal employee discount.

PS... to answer your questions... you have the best resource within easy reach!!! YOUR GRANDMOTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
she is a past ATT/Apple client and has the EVO in hand!!
GO talk to her and get her opinions. I am sure it will be your best resource.
also.. share with her the discounts that you find.. so she can apply to her account too.
 
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My wife and I switched from ATT to Sprint. We both got Evos. I'd recommend you base your decision first on network, then on phone. We were so unhappy with ATT network service and dropped calls that moving was the only option. Sprint also wins by cost any way you measure it when getting the same plans and features.

As for phones, Evo was an easy decision because it's a great 3G phone with the 4G novelty when we're traveling. More importantly, it does everything we really wanted - calls, camera, videochat, SMS, mult-task, apps, and data support. Even better, Android 2.2 is going to make the phone even better.

As for iP4, we never considered it. Too many friends hopelessly devoted to other iPhones yet still complaining of calls, call quality, being stuck on proprietary system that doesn't allow customizing the phone (really - my wife's Evo screens are totally different from mine), and being so tied to iTunes.

We also decided that we could see Google more interested in the possibilities of Android and wireless communication whereas we saw Apple more interested in staying closed and appearance-driven.

I try not to bash iPhones, but I just can't think of anything so special about it like so many others have. Maybe I resent Apple just a bit for locking iPhones in with ATT too since I became displeased with ATT's network more and more as the years have passed. No excuse for ATT to be so far behind in network upgrades yet charging the highest rates in the industry.
 
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I posted a comment to the original post on NYTimes where I did my own calculation using sprints everything data plan instead of the simply everything because imho most people won't need unlimited minutes because of any mobile anytime. With that Sprint came out almost $300 less than the lowest in the article, t-mobile, for which they used the older and cheaper hd2. it was about $2,333 for the Evo on Sprint over 2 years.
 
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I think the iphone is a great product, but like everyone else, choose the carrier that has the best service for you in your area and then choose the phone. If it were me my top choice with Verizon would be Droid X, Sprint Evo (not a fan of the keyboard on the Epic,) the Vibrant on T-Mo and the iphone 4 on AT&T
 
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