I might have been too hasty!

[Style]

I've already pre-ordered the motodroid from best buy, but I completely overlooked the Eris. Does anyone know if canceling my preorder is possible tomorrow? The Eris looks like more of what I need in a phone, is more affordable, and the sense UI looks awesome. Any weigh ins on if changing my mind is the right move?

 

[michaelkahl]

The Eris ultimately saves you $100.00 over the course of 2 years. You pay the same price for your data plan as you would on the Droid which has much better hardware. Sense UI is nice, but if it's a must for you then I'd suggest waiting for the HTC Passion. This is HTC's long awaited phone with a Snapdragon processor (similar to the Moto Droid) coupled with Sense UI. Some reports have this phone being released for the holiday season, but it's a tough one to call.
The Droid Eris is built on old hardware that can get sluggish at times. Initial reports say that Verizon's version is faster than the Sprint HTC Hero but the videos I saw don't show huge performance improvements. I honestly think you should fork over an extra $100 for either the Droid or hold out for the Passon which will probably come in at $199 with a contract as well (this isn't confirmed anywhere, just my assumption).
If you have the phone for two yours buy into hardware that is fresh and powerful, it's an extra $100 over two years. If you are having a tough time justifying $100 today then Verizon's plans may be to much in the long run anyway. I could be wrong on this point, but I'd hate to see you throw that much money on a phone that costs the same month-to-month as a much better spec'd phone.
Good luck in your choice, either way they both are really nice phones. I may just be pickier than others, but that's my 0.02.

 

[gwlaw99]

Well I would go play with them both at the Verizon store. I may have had a bad droid, but the Eris seemed much snappier and user friendly. If it had the Droid screen, I would get it.

 

[LarryMcJ]

I also pre-ordered the Droid from BestBuy but changed to the Eris as soon as I held and played with both. Eris is WAY more pocketable and the interface is much nicer. I did NOT like the physical keyboard on the Motorola droid and the virtual keyboard on Eris is almost exactly the same as the iPhone...I have no trouble with it, even with fat fingers.

All of this said, even Eris has a few nits...I'm posting them here under a separate thread.

 

[ssgmun32]

I have been reading that from several people already stating that once they compared the Eris and Droid they preferred the Eris.

 

[johnclayton]

I have been reading that from several people already stating that once they compared the Eris and Droid they preferred the Eris.

+1

The only thing that kept me from walking out of Best Buy with the Eris was the fact that I don't mind waiting to see either what the Passion ends up being or how the slower Eris hardware handles 2.0.

 

[droidnut]

+2. I def like the Eris over the Droid. I don't want to wait for the Passion because if I do, I'll be forced into that new ETF b/s. They will double the ETF for those who sign up or upgrade after the 15th. It's confirmed. Also, my wife and I are new to Android so we don't mind getting the second best ( software only ) Android phone. We both loved everything about the Eris. We're sold.

 

[sleemie]

No one addressed the return issue...IF Best Buy did it as they should have then you can cancel it. Their pre-orders aren't like your typical pre-order. You should have ended up buying a $50.00 gift card and basically they'll just be putting one aside for you when it comes in. The card is not tied to that phone, so you can either use it for anything in the store or if you have your receipt just return it for a refund. I still have my gift card from pre-ordering the Hero that I didn't buy. I didn't contact them or anything, I just didn't go in to pick it up, and for some reason they never even called me, either. I'll just wait until I wanna buy something from them. Hopefully, the passion sometime this month.

As far as which phone to get, I find it kind of funny how "spec crazy" some of the people on here are. To me, it doesn't really make any sense to make your decision whether to get a Droid or Passion because of the snapdragon. The phones are SO different in style that that should be the deciding factor. I mean is it more important to have a web page load in 10 seconds instead of 12 than to have a phone who's style you prefer?? It's not like there's gonna be a major difference in speed. Especially with the passion being bogged down with Sense I would guess that there will be no noticeable difference in speed.

As far as the between the Eris and the Passion, the Passion is a whole different league, especially with the screen size. That's the only thing that stopped me from getting the Hero. To me, anything less than 3.5 just isn't worth me committing for two years to when there are enough phones coming out with the bigger screens. My hope is the passion will be the one to do it for me. If not, I might have to go to the dark side and get the HD2. Which, unlike I keep hearing people INCORRECTLY suggesting, is a completely different phone than the Passion. The only thing that's identical is the snapdragon and it's HTC, and maybe some other internal components, but they are NOT the same phone, and it's NOT the Android "version" of the HD2.

 

[LarryMcJ]

@sleemie: is the Passion going to be any larger than the Eris? If so, I don't want it. I chose Eris first because I loved the form factor and the fact it just felt ten times better than the Moto Droid. But I don't want anything larger than Eris...just not pocketable enough.

 

[sleemie]

Here's some info on it. I'm kind of torn on that, also. I also prefer a pocket phone, but I've played around on the Hero and I've played on friends' iphones and to me it's a world of difference and I can't see having a screen smaller than the iphone, unless it's a minuscule difference. I'll just have to clip it to my belt, that's what I see with most smartphones, anyways.

I have to say, though, I don't think it's a very attractive phone. Hopefully, the final product will look better than the pics that have been floating around.

HTC Passion (Phone Arena)