Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Verizon - iPhone? Blackberry? Droid?

L

Lorelai

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 16, 2006
50
0
USA
I don't want to start another "when is the iPhone coming to Verizon thread?" but...

I have Verizon and my contract is up for renewal late October/early November. As a result of the "New Every Two" program, I can get a new phone in late June/early July. I would (obviously! ;) ) absolutely love to get the iPhone on the Verizon network (AT&T has really awful coverage where I live) but I don't want to sit around and wait for something that may be 2 years away. My question basically relates to is there any possibility that we could see the Verizon iPhone before the end of the year?

If not, does anyone have any experience with the Verizon Droid phones? Are they clunky or pretty efficient? I currently have a Blackberry which I love, but I do find myself wishing I could have just a couple of the Apps from the AppStore that would work on it!

Thanks in advance for any advice! :)
 
I did the 30 day trial. I'll admit it.

I'll also say I'm glad I didn't switch. The service wasn't any better but in a few places. Not enough to spend that kind of money...

If not, does anyone have any experience with the Verizon Droid phones? Are they clunky or pretty efficient? I currently have a Blackberry which I love, but I do find myself wishing I could have just a couple of the Apps from the AppStore that would work on it!
Click to expand...

The droid is a pretty cool phone BUT, it's no iPhone. I won't list out all the features and differences. Most of that info is available elsewhere. Like I said after testing, I didn't see that much of a difference in service and Verizon is supposed to be the ****. :rolleyes:
 
Thanks :) I figured I wouldn't be that lucky...to have my contract renewal and the arrival of the iPhone coincide. :rolleyes:

I had AT&T at one point (before the iPhone came out) and the reception was terrible. I have had friends choose AT&T just for the iPhone and end up canceling because what good is a $200 phone if it can't make a phone call? :mad:

Since I know what to expect from my Blackberry, I guess I'll try to research the Droid before I make my final decision.

Thanks again.
 
I personally don't really like Android. It reminds me of windows XP. If you don't want to use At&t, I say stick with blackberry. But that's just my opinion, and my opinion means nothing. :D
 
If your gonna stick with Verizon than I'd say wait for the Nexus One, it's coming out in Spring for Verizon besides T-Mobile, because the iPhone is not gonna be on Verizon anytime soon.
 
Rumors say that the Verizon version of the Nexus One will only be available via Google.

Supposedly a similar phone, the HTC Incredible, will be available from Verizon in April or May, but with better camera and more memory.

I know a lot of women with a Droid, who like its large physical keyboard.

As you said, you should visit a well stocked store and check things out.

Personally, I've become a fan of the Palm Pixi for its ease of use, but some don't like its tiny keyboard... and of course, it doesn't have an enormouse app store yet (but it has the main apps, so check and see if it already has the apps you want).

Good luck!
 
The Motorola Droid is probably the only phone I would even bother switching to if I had to give up my iPhone. While I like the Nexus One, it's far too similar to the iPhone in design and I like the Droid's design a whole better (Even more then the iPhone).
 
Lorelai said:
I don't want to start another "when is the iPhone coming to Verizon thread?" but...

My question basically relates to is there any possibility that we could see the Verizon iPhone before the end of the year?
Click to expand...

Yes you started another Verizon on iPhone thread. SEARCH...there are a million threads like this one littered throughout this forum. :rolleyes:
 
I just switched from an iPhone 3gs to the Moto Droid and I seriously couldn't be any happier, you can customize far better than a jailbroken iphone in my opinion, and you can't beat Verizon's 3g coverage. I'd highly recommend giving one a try.
 
I was a former iPhone user until I got fed up with AT&T's crappy coverage. The final nail in the coffin for me with AT&T is when a lady friend of mine sent me a picture of herself in some sexy clothing saying something like "why don't you come over" and I didn't get that MMS until the next morning. Oh, visual voicemail wasn't working so I never got the voicemail she left asking me if I got her MMS. Needless to say AT&T screwed up what would of been one heck of a night.

Since Apple is arrogant in the way they do business and AT&T is my only option I decided to look at other phones. I never had a desire to leave the iPhone as I was happy with the device but I had no choice. Long story short I have the Droid today and I believe Android OS is better than iPhone OS in my opinion. I have my phone overclocked to 1Ghz and it flies. The notification system is far better than anything the iPhone can do, and it multitasks without hacking. With the overclocked CPU and custom ROM it seems snappier than my 3GS. Battery life is exceptional for a smart phone. Android doesn't treat me like I'm stupid and my phone has the same functionality as a jailbroken 3G out of the box. I can easily "root" it for even more functionality. I know many Apple fanboys will fall behind their savior Jobs and hate Google now but the Google applications and integration with Android is phenomenal.

Best of all, I'm able to make and receive calls. My phone always has 3G it never drops to EDGE or 1x even on road trips through the boonies of East Texas. I never have a full 3G signal and still get timeouts when using data like I did on AT&T, and my data connections are instant. One thing I noticed on AT&T is when I start a data connection there was a delay on getting it going if it got going at all. I usually get a strong signal inside buildings, where it seems I had a lot of deadspots with AT&T. I have countless examples of friends who have the iPhone needing to use my phone because they have no signal. When I had AT&T if I had a very weak signal my data was nonexistant, but on Verizon those rare locations I have a weak 3G signal I still get instant, fast data.
 
well, the first thing I'd say is that AT&T has *vastly* upgraded their coverage in a lot of areas even in the last few months, let alone last few years. Of course, their coverage is still unacceptable in many places, but in many places it has improved by leaps and bounds. I don't know how long ago you tried them, but it's something to keep in mind.

Personally, I would not get a droid. I think it's form factor is awful (looks like a flattened brick) and more importantly, I'm not interested in being tied in to all of google's services. So if I had to have verizon, I'd go for the Pre Plus. I'm not a huge fan of the keyboard, but other than that, it's decent hardware and really great software (webOS).

As for whether the iphone will come to Verizon this year, the answer is, nobody knows. We can sit here and try to read tealeaves (vague statements, unconfirmed rumors, etc.) but nobody knows. I'd say AT&T being the exclusive provider of the ipad isn't a good sign, but that's really just another tealeaf.

The truth is that while we can tell you our preferences, the only thing to do is to figure out a) what providers are good in your town, and b) which OS appeals to you personally. Because there's no right answer.
 
Thank you for the many replies :)

QCassidy352 said:
well, the first thing I'd say is that AT&T has *vastly* upgraded their coverage in a lot of areas even in the last few months, let alone last few years. Of course, their coverage is still unacceptable in many places, but in many places it has improved by leaps and bounds. I don't know how long ago you tried them, but it's something to keep in mind.
Click to expand...
I had AT&T a few years ago and while they had somewhat passable service, you would lose the signal if you drove to close to a powerline or were inside the supermarket. Tried a variety of phones and it was always the same service issue. Although it's been a few years since I personally had an AT&T phone, my friend tried it last year for a month and switched back to Verizon because they couldn't get reliable service with their phone.

QCassidy352 said:
Personally, I would not get a droid. I think it's form factor is awful (looks like a flattened brick) and more importantly, I'm not interested in being tied in to all of google's services. So if I had to have verizon, I'd go for the Pre Plus. I'm not a huge fan of the keyboard, but other than that, it's decent hardware and really great software (webOS).
Click to expand...
That was the one thing that looked off about the Motorola Droid. It was so squared off and brick like. I have just started looking into what Verizon is offering, so I wasn't sure how the Droid was faring in comparison to the iPhone. The only person I know with one lives in another city and I haven't been able to test out the phone yet.

QCassidy352 said:
The truth is that while we can tell you our preferences, the only thing to do is to figure out a) what providers are good in your town, and b) which OS appeals to you personally. Because there's no right answer.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your advice, it's been very helpful :)

thetexan said:
Since Apple is arrogant in the way they do business and AT&T is my only option I decided to look at other phones. I never had a desire to leave the iPhone as I was happy with the device but I had no choice. Long story short I have the Droid today and I believe Android OS is better than iPhone OS in my opinion. I have my phone overclocked to 1Ghz and it flies. The notification system is far better than anything the iPhone can do, and it multitasks without hacking. With the overclocked CPU and custom ROM it seems snappier than my 3GS. Battery life is exceptional for a smart phone. Android doesn't treat me like I'm stupid and my phone has the same functionality as a jailbroken 3G out of the box. I can easily "root" it for even more functionality. I know many Apple fanboys will fall behind their savior Jobs and hate Google now but the Google applications and integration with Android is phenomenal.
Click to expand...
Was it time consuming to customize the Droid to your preferences? My friend who has one said it took a while to get it set the way he wanted it (but he tends to exaggerate and is not the most tech savvy person on the planet ;) ).

Thank you for advice...I appreciate it :)


Sorry to the people who were annoyed by this thread. I know there are many "when is the iPhone coming to Verizon?" threads and while that question was the first part of my thread, I couldn't really find many answers to the second part of my question when I used the search feature. If the thread offended you, I apologize.
 
I just picked up a Droid a few weeks ago and couldn't be happier! I'm on a Verizon family plan, so the iPhone was never really an option, but I used an iPod Touch for a couple of years before that, so I have enough experience with the iPhone OS to be able to compare them at least moderately intelligently. So far there aren't too many iPhone apps that I miss, but I've found tons of stuff you can do in Android that isn't possible on the iPhone. On the other hand, the iPhone wins decisively in the intuitive user interface department, and the iPhone's media playback/management absolutely dominate anything Android has to offer right now.

As far as customization, it did take slightly longer to get things to my liking than on the iPod Touch, but that's mostly because there were so many additional choices. For example, you can choose the ringtone and toggle vibration on or off for practically every type of notification. There's even an app that lets you change the color of the notification LED based on what the notification is. If you're a tinkerer, you'll LOVE Android; if not, you can get by without too much trouble, but you'll find it slightly more challenging to make full use of your phone.

I've been meaning to write up an in-depth comparison for a while, but if you have any other specific questions, I'd be glad to help.

Also, by the time you're due for a new phone, there will be some additional options (the HTC Incredible and the Nexus One, as others have mentioned). None of these will be a massive upgrade over the Droid in terms of the guts, so it'll mostly be a matter of what form factor (and screen) you like best. The Nexus One (and the other HTC phones) use OMLED screens, which apparently look gorgeous but have a lower resolution than the Droid's and are impossible to see outdoors. Also, some people love the Droid's physical keyboard, while others hate it. I couldn't stand it at first, but I've become reasonably proficient on it, and now find it useful for writing longer emails.
 
Customizing the Droid takes as long as you want it to take. If you want a custom wallpaper just slap one on and you'll be done in a matter of seconds. However if you want everything to be "you" then you'll spend some time customizing it. The first time will be the hardest as you learn the menus of the phone but after you get used to it I can have my phone setup in less than 10 minutes after I wipe it due to a ROM change.

I'll admit that the UI isn't as friendly as the iPhone's. To me the iPhone is like a bike with training wheels. It works as a bike but there are limitations to protect you. With these protections come less abilities with the phone. The Android is a full 10-speed bike without training wheels. There maybe a bit of a learning curve (it's not that bad) and with its open system comes greater risk for a security breach but as long as you know what you're doing (once again not that hard) then the abilities of the Android OS beat those of the iPhone OS.

I'll give you one example of how different the two are. In Android's official marketplace there is an application you can download that'll "root" your phone which is the equivalent to jailbreaking it. In the official marketplace there is an application that'll overclock your phone's CPU after you rooted it. There are custom web browsers, a file browser to access your phone's storage and move/cut/copy/paste/add etc. You can even load your own text messaging or music client if you don't like the stock clients. Apple would never allow these types of applications on their store. Never.
 
alas, android is a mediocre OS and AT&T is a mediocre carrier. Why does the US always have to have these quandaries while Europe and Asia can fly on any phone with full coverage..... :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back