New phone soon

ryanjoachim

So, i'm definitely grabbing a new phone come february. I can't afford to drop my contract with Verizon (how's that for **** up? I can afford a new phone, but not to leave Verizon), so I'm looking at a Blackberry or the Droid...

I need enterprise-level email (or at least the ability to connect to an exchange server), physical keyboard, and a decent camera.

I'm fairly swamped when looking at all the different possibilities. Anyone on Verizon have some insights or preferences?

Also, a new law went into effect on the 1st around here, so now I am required to have a "hands-free" device in order to use my phone in the car. That means bluetooth!
I've never used one, or even looked at what's available. I have terrible hearing, and oddly-shaped ears/canals due to surgeries. Any suggestions on brands/types to consider?

Poee7R

Personally Im a Droid (Motorola) fan. Blackberry's are great, but I like the response of the Droid. I'm not with Verizon, and one of my co-worker's has the Droid, so I am only going off of the little that Ive played with it this far.

As far as BT, look at BlueAnt's Supertooth. Its a bluetooth hands free speaker for the car, clips to the visor and will read out the names of caller's, great device.

They have a few models of the Supertooth, I would recommend the Supertooth 3. We sell them quite often to LEO's and right minded folks, and Ive yet to hear of any complaints with them.

http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phone-and-smart/blueant-supertooth-3/4505-6448_7-33110316.html


Dave

thuffman03

Sounds like the Droid will be the best fit for you. It has a MS Exchange app for email and one of the best camera for a phone on the market. Plus it has 802.11 so it will pick up hot spots.

Jstas

Nah, doesn't have to be Bluetooth. My Crackberrys came with ear pieces with in-line microphones that are corded. Works a bajillion times better than Bluetooth. The only time I'm using the Bluetooth anymore is when I'm working on something and I can't have wires in the way.


But yeah, those Droids look good. Hell, any phone from HTC looks good and they use Windows Mobile. If Sprint gets one that can upgrade to the new version of Windows Mobile, I'm going to seriously consider swapping out my beloved Crackberry Pearl.

Face

The Droid is really nice.

ryanjoachim

The only thing i'm worried about on the Droid is the keyboard. The keys seem to be real flat and the top row doesn't look like my fat fingers can fit on the whole key without hitting the top...

And I was leaning towards bluetooth cause I tend to forget what i'm doing while driving, and jump out of the car afterwards without paying attention to what happens to be on my lap/etc. I've cracked a few screens from phones falling onto the ground that way.

This way I can have my phone in a secure spot, and not worry about forgetting I have the earpiece attached...only to rip it out of the phone or my ear.

danger boy

rumblings say the Google Nexus one phone might come out tomorrow. tues, right before CES open on Thurs.

ryanjoachim

I've heard that the Google phone is T-Mobile only...anyone heard differently?

John30_30

ryanjoachim wrote: »

I've heard that the Google phone is T-Mobile only...anyone heard differently?

I thought they originally were going to market it untethered.

As for the state law, I'm all for that but I think I saw statistics somewhere that showed that using bluetooth is not really that much safer than people holding a phone up to their head while driving. Kind of shocked me.
Hopefully, if you mention ear canal issues, your phone store would let you sample a few display models. I'm a big fan of the boom type 'piece with external noise canceler. I've got a plantronics, I think Model 510 that's comfortable and fits my reqs, but my all-time favorite is the (OoP) Sony-Ericsson HBH 300. The damn thing just looks so vintage-retro. Bought my 2nd one 6 months ago off ebay.uk like a thief in the night, I was so tickled. Barely used.

danger boy

I think Google phone will be offered to some carrier, but also you can buy it unlocked for like triple the price.. around $599

DeusExa

The Google Nexus One's interesting, but benchmarks show it to be somewhat unimpressive...

http://www.slashgear.com/google-nexus-one-3d-neocore-benchmark-video-3067327/

Talweh

I absolutely love my Droid. And as for fat finger-ness, I never use the real keyboard, the on screen one (turn the phone on it's side, the widescreen one is bigger than the upright one) does such a great job, I haven't had to use the hardware one. The sensitivity on the screen is excellent, and I am fairly ham-handed myself. It does indeed have a jack for wired headsets if you prefer them over bluetooth, but I like wireless. The selection of Apps is astounding, many of them free. Web browsing is also very well done, there's really not much I have found to complain about. I had a voyager for a couple years, and I liked it as well, but the Droid is by far the best phone I've ever had. I find myself playing with it all the time just because it's awesome! So for whatever that's worth, I give the Droid a solid 4.8 stars out of 5. (voice dialing is an app, you can't just hit the button on your headset and give the commands, and that's annoying)
I think you'll be pleased with it.
Edit: BTW, my wife has the BB Storm, and now that she's met the Droid, she wants it!

ryanjoachim

No way am I going to be able to buy an unsubsidized phone any time soon. $600 for a phone that'll be near obsolete in a year? Not very cost effective.

I have the Voyager now, and it's ok. Touchscreen is nothing to be proud of, but it works. I love the keyboard, and can type relatively fast. As far as I know, the virtual keyboard on the Droid isn't multitouch, which can be a bit of a hassle if you're a fast typer.

It's really coming down to the Droid or BB Storm/Storm2 (or maybe the Tour?)...so many choices, and really neither of them has a clear advantage over the other imo. My work uses security certificates for wireless access on devices, and I don't think I would be able to get the Droid set up on it...my boss and a couple other techs have BB's though, so I would assume that they were able to get those working. I'll have to ask.

nadams

ryanjoachim wrote: »

Also, a new law went into effect on the 1st around here, so now I am required to have a "hands-free" device in order to use my phone in the car. That means bluetooth!
I've never used one, or even looked at what's available. I have terrible hearing, and oddly-shaped ears/canals due to surgeries. Any suggestions on brands/types to consider?

Not to get into your medical history, but if you already wear hearing aids, there's some really neat technology out there these days that gets you bluetooth-capable hearing aids! I do computer work for a local audiologist, and some of the stuff I see in his offices is amazing.

You could contact an audiologist and see if they have any clinical trials available for the bluetooth aids. They're fairly new, so you might be able to get in on a trial.

Pauly

Suppose to work on all 4 major Networks if you purchase unlocked from Google for approx 530.00 bucks.

Im watching the Live Blog from the press confrence for more details...


http://live.gizmodo.com/

Pauly

Verizon will be coming abord in the spring

http://www.google.com/phone


Pauly

ryanjoachim

Well, considering I probably have to wait till mid-late february till I get my phone, maybe something else will pop up for me to look at.

ryanjoachim

Hmm...looks like the Palm Pre Plus is coming to Verizon soon!

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/palm-pre-plus-and-pixi-plus-first-hands-on/2#comments

Depending on prices, I might go with the Palm Pre. Just went down to the Verizon store and did some playing with the BBs and Droid, and the Droid keyboard was a killer for me, like I was afraid of. I have to use my nails (I have short nails too) to use the keys, since there is almost no distinction between each key.

I believe the Palm Pre's keyboard is more like BBs, which I found slightly more usable, although still really tough to type accurately on. I'm sure with either keyboard type that it would become easier for me with practice though.

Talweh

ryanjoachim wrote: »

Hmm...looks like the Palm Pre Plus is coming to Verizon soon!

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/palm-pre-plus-and-pixi-plus-first-hands-on/2#comments

Depending on prices, I might go with the Palm Pre. Just went down to the Verizon store and did some playing with the BBs and Droid, and the Droid keyboard was a killer for me, like I was afraid of. I have to use my nails (I have short nails too) to use the keys, since there is almost no distinction between each key.

I believe the Palm Pre's keyboard is more like BBs, which I found slightly more usable, although still really tough to type accurately on. I'm sure with either keyboard type that it would become easier for me with practice though.

Weird... mine doesn't respond to my nails at all, or pencils/pens... only skin of fingers. Maybe the demo phone has a diferent (older) version of the screen? Or maybe my screen protector makes it different. I'm sorry it didn't work for you, but I couldn't be much happier with mine.

ryanjoachim

Talweh wrote: »

Weird... mine doesn't respond to my nails at all, or pencils/pens... only skin of fingers. Maybe the demo phone has a diferent (older) version of the screen? Or maybe my screen protector makes it different. I'm sorry it didn't work for you, but I couldn't be much happier with mine.

No, I meant the physical keyboard. The virtual one was 'ok', but it would be a lot better for me if it was multi-touch (freaking apple and their idiotic patent).

AsSiMiLaTeD

Wait, are you saying that only the iPhones are multi-touch?

ryanjoachim

No, of course not. BUT, Apple does have patents on certain gestures, and the only reason I can see as to why the Droid and the new Nexus phone don't have multitouch off the back is from pressure of some kind from Apple.

I could be wrong.

Kex

I don't have a whole lot to say on this topic, other than the following:

Hands Free: You don't need bluetooth for that. I agree with the point Jstas made, a good wired headset is better than a bad bluetooth headset. The best bluetooth I have used was a Nokia BH-800, which was superbly lightweight and easy to wear, had excellent noise cancelling (it was impossible to tell that the caller was in a car), and generally worked well. I would prefer this to just about every wired headset I have used, but some cheaper bluetooth headsets are a totally different story, and altogether too annoying to even bother.

Blackberry: wifey has been using one for years. Her current model is the Pearl, and at two years old it's working very well. Vibrant screen, nice (but slightly unusual) keyboard, great battery. Of course, she has no choice. As with many companies, it's what the IT department will accept, or nothing. In her case, it has to be Blackberry because they will not deal with MS Exchange. Nothing too fancy going on with the Pearl, of course (no touchscreen, if that's important to you).

Droid: I had a chance to play with this briefly over the holidays. I think it's an interesting device, but far too heavy and clunky for me to ever want one, much less pay $200 to get it. There are some interesting functions, and, as has been mentioned, the virtual keyboard is so good, I would never bother with the hard key slide out version also included. But otherwise, it is not nearly on par with an iPhone IMHO ... not nearly.

I still think you have to figure out what your IT people will allow you to do. Just e-mail over Blackberry (like those other users you mentioned), or MS Exchange based devices also.

For hands free calling only, I would definitely consider a bluetooth speakerphone also.