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iPhone with AT&T? or Android with T-Mobile?

JustKnowz

Lurker
Apr 24, 2011
3
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iPhone with AT&T? or Android with T-Mobile? Well here it goes... this is my dilemma... Ive been doing research because I'm looking to get a new phone and I'm deadlocked between the iPhone and the LG - GX2 from T-Moblie. I have a Mac Book Pro so people have told me to get an iPhone becuase of compatability. At the same time, I have no need to have my phone and computer "synced" with one another. My big issue is the $$$ I have to pay to AT&T for internet data use.. like $25 monthly and IT IS NOT UNLIMITED. T-mobile offers me unlimited talk, text and internet with their monthly package. I've heard a lot of bad things about Droid phones, but obviously from iPhone enthusiasts. Do apps run well on Droid? Will I be at a disadvantage? I 'm racking my brain here people... please give me some advice... thank you :D
 
Welcome to the Android Forums!

Another thing to check is service levels in your specific area. In some metro areas AT&T has spotty coverage at best. In other areas their coverage is good. Do you want to be able to customize your phone to your liking? Or do you want it to work out of the box with minimal tweaking? IF the choice were mine these are some of the things I'd be asking myself...
 
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Hi,

I think i can help you ... because i'm coming from Iphone!

I can tell that iphones are great phones ONLY and ONLY if you stay in town.

New Iphones are NOT unlockable (dev-team is still stuck on the new basebands for many months now, and they don't see the light yet ... )

Droid phones are most of them unlockable. :) Good point if you travel somewhere one day!

On Iphones, Wifi sucks :( Once your iphone is connected to a wifi network, it's very hard to make it change... so if connected to a crappy network, too bad for you !

On Iphone, you don't have a real GPS. If you buy Tomtom for example, to get a turn by turn navigator (because you are in the middle of nowhere without network access) don't rely on iphone gps to help you. Iphone need a constant data connection to be efficient.

On Iphone, games are just amazing, graphic wise. I don't know yet on Android, because i don't play that much, but i think it should not be a deal maker/breaker for you.

On iphone, the system is very closed, and that sucks! You need to wait the jailbreak to get some interesting apps that have been 'forbidden' by apple. Even if the jailbreak team are efficient, (you have to wait one or 2 weeks before the release of the jailbreak tools) . But this game becomes harder and harder for 'hackers' and they basically need more time to get results. Apple took some actions vs Saurik's servers...

So i would say: go with android. Forget Iphone -- It's just a nice toy for urbanized people, who need gps to find the closest Starbucks !!

You don't really need a data plan -- since you have free wifi almost everywhere now :) macdo, starbucks, hotels, even Audi ! Be Free! be Android !
 
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please give me some advice...
Always select the carrier first based on real world coverage (not mentioned at all in the OP).

I have a Mac Book Pro so people have told me to get an iPhone becuase of compatability.
I've heard a lot of bad things about Droid phones, but obviously from iPhone enthusiasts. Do apps run well on Droid?
Be careful relying on "what you hear". The quoted stuff above is quite dubious.

Start with what you need/want out of a smartphone and then determine if Android meets your needs. The only "needs" you've discussed are pricing. Spend some time in any of the "Which device should I get?" threads to see what you need to be considering (whether you go with Android or not).


Droid phones are most of them unlockable. :) Good point if you travel somewhere one day!
Android devices may tend to be unlockable but Droid phones tend to not be since they're Verizon devices (CDMA). Subsidy locks aren't relevant to CDMA devices except for the CDMA/GSM hybrids.

I can tell that iphones are great phones ONLY and ONLY if you stay in town.
Clarify? I've gone "out of town" many times with the iPhone without any issues. What exactly are you referring to? Coverage issues?

On Iphones, Wifi sucks :( Once your iphone is connected to a wifi network, it's very hard to make it change... so if connected to a crappy network, too bad for you !
Again, no idea what you're talking about. Changing the WiFi spot you're connected to on the iPhone isn't any more difficult than it is on Android.

On Iphone, you don't have a real GPS. If you buy Tomtom for example, to get a turn by turn navigator (because you are in the middle of nowhere without network access) don't rely on iphone gps to help you. Iphone need a constant data connection to be efficient.
GPS on the iPhone is "real" -- whatever that means. It's the same as it is with Android. If you want GPS nav without data then you need to use an app that stores maps locally. That's not a device issue -- it's an app issue.

I suspect that you mean that the stock Maps app isn't a true GPS nav app. GPS apps and the GPS receiver are 2 entirely separate things on mobile devices so be clear in your posts. And, TomTom works just fine without data as it does locally store maps. Granted, its data features won't work but that's a given.
 
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i would look at the terms of the carrier, not the phone, if the carrier is offering you more at a cheaper rate, and if the case the same network coverage, then why not go with the cheapest?

i like T-mo and im a verizon customer, if at&t buys t-mo i will stay with verizon
if t-mo isnt bought by at&t im going to t-mo, mainly for the prices, the coverage in my area is nice, and it has quite possibly the best android devices!

android devices are good to look at through the carrier, sprint has the flagship evo line, verizon has the droid, at&t has the atrix.. and a few nice htc's, t-mo has the nexus line!

but like martimus said, check your coverage area, no point in paying for something you have no coverage with at your house right? good luck iin your choice bud. hope all goes well ^_^
 
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Yes check coverage at your home and work, then look at the coverage maps online. I do a bit of offroading and camping, so coverages in far flung places are also important to me. This is where Verizon truly shines, TMo truly sucks, at&t and Sprint are just ok.


see i have heard different things, but of course everyones opinion can be different, in my area all i hear is bad things about sprint, customer service, no good android devices except 2, which i can believe.

at&t horrible service here, if any! charges outrages amounts for data plans... but thats all tiered, verizon wont be far behind im sure

t-mo i hear nothing but good things, which is why im going to make the leap if at&t doesnt buy them out. or i may make the leap and get t-mo's unlimited plans before at&t screws over the customers, and just become grandfathered in

verizon is great, expensive, but you get what you pay for. customer service is great as well.

but like you said its all in your area
 
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Just a quick note on carriers:

I looked into getting off my family plan recently and getting my own plan (becoming an adult! Yay! Ice cream for breakfast and paying my own bills!) and the four major carriers were all pretty much the exact same price, for a single plan with the smallest minutes package.

There were some discrepancies in data plan costs, but for unlimited data, sms, and the smallest minutes package every place cost $80. It was funny how it worked, I think Verizon costs $50 for the minutes, $30 for unlimited data with text included... then AT&T costs $40 for the minutes, $20 for the text and $20 for the data (don't quote me on those numbers, just an example).

So if you know you WON'T be using some features, feel free to shop around (amazon makes it really easy to compare different prices of carriers btw), but for the most part you're going to be paying the same pretty much anywhere.

Oh and they all require a data plan for new phones. Some have options for smaller data plans if you know you're not going to be using it much (i.e. $10 for 200mb, $30 for 2 gigs). But if you accidentally go over the limit on your data plan, the charges get outrageous... so I think it's better to just get unlimited.
 
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I'm on at&t and i can make a suggestion. Look at the HTC Inspire 4g if you haven't already. Phone has good specs for the $99 contract price. (Some places offer it cheaper aswell.)

it's what i would consider high end phone for its price. Of course it depends what you are looking for ina phone. I feel the 4.3" screen, 8mp camera, 720p recording, 4gb storage (1gb avail to user), Sense UI and tons of other stuff is great for that price.

But then again i've also been told i'm cheap :p
 
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