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Thanks so much for the recommendations guys, it really helped narrow it down. It was down to a Galaxy S2 (i9105) for 279 Euro and the 300 Euro Nexus 4 of the Google Play site. We ended up going with the Nexus 4 because the quick shipping time made it worth the extra $21. I really can't express how much of a headache you guys saved. Mad props to anakha and waffle. The maddest props.
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Jul 27, 2013 19:37
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Heran Bago posted:Thanks so much for the recommendations guys, it really helped narrow it down. It was down to a Galaxy S2 (i9105) for 279 Euro and the 300 Euro Nexus 4 of the Google Play site. We ended up going with the Nexus 4 because the quick shipping time made it worth the extra $21. Being one and a half to two generations newer in hardware should have made it worth the difference, regardless of shipping time.
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Jul 28, 2013 06:54
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Endless Mike posted:Being one and a half to two generations newer in hardware should have made it worth the difference, regardless of shipping time.
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Jul 28, 2013 17:27
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What are the major service providers in The Netherlands, South Holland area, around Leiden/The Hague. Could I get a sim card here in the US before leaving for The Netherlands?
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Jul 28, 2013 21:20
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So my wife and I are looking to finally join the 21st century and get smart phones. Since I'm such a Luddite in many respects, I am pretty lost about what to get. Country/Provider: USA / I've had Verizon since they were Bell Atlantic and the phones were well, like this. Current contract status: Finished. Eligible for upgrade. (Verizon) Budget (phone/plan): Budget is pretty open and I get a decent discount through my employer. I'd like to keep each phone below $350~ish out-of-pocket, though if there's something out there that is worlds better, but costs more I'd probably be amenable to it. My current plan is about $100 a month for the two of us. I probably want to keep the data plan below $50. (So, $150 monthly or less for two). Features I know I want: It's not essential, but I'd love to have mapping / music / and calls on my motorcycle. We probably won't be streaming movies or music, but doing more web surfing, text chat (Pidgin), and games. Also, as an aside on providers, because Verizon doesn't offer high-speed HD cable and internet in my area, I have AT&T U-verse. I've stuck with Verizon for the phone because they have always treated me well. Does it make more sense to roll with AT&T so cable / internet / phone are all on one provider? Granted, I need to be doing some reading of the various OS threads for smartphones, but any general pros and cons to I-phone vs. Android, vs. ??? would be appreciated.
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Jul 29, 2013 21:06
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MoraleHazard posted:So my wife and I are looking to finally join the 21st century and get smart phones. Since I'm such a Luddite in many respects, I am pretty lost about what to get. By default I'd say either the iPhone 5, the Droid Maxx, or the Galaxy S4 are your best options. waffle fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Jul 29, 2013 |
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Jul 29, 2013 21:15
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To run through pros and cons of the various platforms: iOS tends to be a bit more reliable and, depending on where you live, has the advantage of being able to go to an Apple Store for support. The App Store is huge with lots of great apps in it. There's also a much bigger market for accessories and it has a tendency to have greater compatibility with things like car stereos and clock radios. On the minus side, they're much more locked down to both users and app developers, so it's not capable of doing as much as other Android. Some people also think the screens are too small, but that's a matter of preference. With Android, it is much more open to users and developers allowing a much greater ability to customize the phone to your preferences, and developers can have apps interact with the OS and each other at a fairly low level. Since there's many companies making Android phones, you're not limited to a small number of device choices. The app marketplace on Android is similarly huge and varied, though quality is sometimes lower than iOS versions of the same app. The minus to all of this is that Android can be finicky at times with "Android being Android" coming up as the reason for a weird problem now and then. The best hardware at any given time seems to be constantly changing, but that's not a terrible thing. Windows Phone 8 is newer than either iOS and Android and is more like iOS than Android in terms of customization and what developers can do. Multiple companies make the phones, though only Nokia seems to be taking it seriously. App support is significantly lacking, though the big players are mostly there. I haven't really used it at all to make a legitimate claim for or against it. For plans, if you want to stick with Verizon, I'm not entirely sure if you can stick with your current plans and add on data, but if you do, I think you have to get separate plans for you and your wife which will be $30 for 2 GB each. (There might be a 300 MB plan, as well, but chances are you will need more than that.) Alternatively, you can switch to a Share Everything plan which will be $150 total with 4 GB of shared data. I don't think there's any really good reason to switch to AT&T if you're happy with Verizon. You could save some money switching to a prepaid plan, though. Specific phone recommendations, assuming you stick with Verizon: iPhone 5 (iOS) Samsung Galaxy S4 (Android) Nokia 928 (Windows Phone 8) And coming shortly will be the HTC One, Motorola Droid Ultra/Maxx/Mini (these would be worth waiting for if you go with Android), potentially Motorola X all running Android, and the next iPhone, though that is probably a bit further out. None of those will run you more than $200 unless you want more storage capacity in an iPhone.
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Jul 29, 2013 21:30
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So I mentioned earlier how I was thinking about getting rid of my iPhone in favor of jumping to an Android. I got to mess with a coworkers Galaxy S4 today and really liked it. Not nearly as huge as I thought it would be. I want to checkout the S4 Active at a store when I get a chance to see the differences in size. Anyways, more conversion questions. I have a macbook, imac, time capsule, and the wife has an iPhone and iPad. She caused me to jump on the apple wagon 5-6 years back and I was glad I did. Everything is easy, though I still get confused sometimes with simple tasks that seem easier to get around on a Windows computer at work. So, would it be possible/easy to convert only one phone (mine) to Android? I know she's never going to make the jump, so I'll be the black sheep of products in our house. I'm thinking I might wait to see what Apple brings in the new iPhone whenever it comes out, but it seems like there isn't much new stuff to do. The 5 basically brought a longer screen and not much else in my opinion. Plus my coworker says her 4S is currently lasting two days with all the widgets on, so that's an upgrade as well. I'm ready for something different, but with the way all of my hardware is setup, am I just going to be pulling my hair out in the conversion process? Also, regarding my AT&T grandfathered unlimited plan. We are on a family plan, so if I switched to the Galaxy, would I be able to keep that plan? Thanks again for all the help.
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Jul 30, 2013 02:28
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It all depends on where your services are based, and what apps you use. The main friction points have to do with web services (i.e. calendar, contacts, mail), and media. If you don't use Google services already, you're going to have to. Personal calendar and contacts require Google services, and there's really no way around that from what I remember. E-mail is definitely more workable. If you use iTunes as your media hub, it might get painful. You can upload all your music to Google's Play Music (20K track limit) to get around the music restriction if you don't use Spotify/Rdio. As far as local photos and video, it's going to suck if you have lots of pictures and video you want to look at on your phone. You'll have to drag and drop, but USB file transfer is a pain with a Mac and Android. Google decided to switch to MTP with Android 4.0+ in order as part of simplifying Android. The big problem with this is that OS X doesn't support MTP, except for an app built by Google to handle this. And that app is godawful. It hasn't been updated since Google was forced to push it out with the very first Android tablets, and it shows. It's the type of app that crashes if you look at it funny. I've got a Mac-iPad-Android setup right now, and it's relatively painless for me. I've been using Google services so that's taken care of. As far as media goes, I use Spotify, my pictures are on Dropbox, and I generally don't watch video on my phone. Other major web services (i.e. Evernote, Spotify, Dropbox) do cross-platform sync well. You might have friction with minor apps - it's a little bit of a pain keeping my podcasts and Twitter clients in sync. Finally, you'll keep your old data plan if you upgrade on AT&T.
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Jul 30, 2013 04:12
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Endless Mike and waffle; thanks for the replies. I appreciate it. The phones are a lot cheaper than I was expecting, so that's a pleasant surprise. Seems like I have some more reading to do. For the moment, I'm leaning toward android, but we'll see. 
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Jul 30, 2013 04:12
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Godzilla07 posted:If you use iTunes as your media hub, it might get painful. You can upload all your music to Google's Play Music (20K track limit) to get around the music restriction if you don't use Spotify/Rdio. As far as local photos and video, it's going to suck if you have lots of pictures and video you want to look at on your phone. You'll have to drag and drop, but USB file transfer is a pain with a Mac and Android. Google decided to switch to MTP with Android 4.0+ in order as part of simplifying Android. The big problem with this is that OS X doesn't support MTP, except for an app built by Google to handle this. And that app is godawful. It hasn't been updated since Google was forced to push it out with the very first Android tablets, and it shows. It's the type of app that crashes if you look at it funny. There's really no reason to ever have to plug your phone into your computer to transfer stuff anymore, install airdroid and do everything over wifi and it doesn't matter what os you're running. I've even used it to transfer files from my phone to tablet. You can even send texts and do all kinds of neat stuff with it.
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Jul 30, 2013 05:18
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Holy smokes, half the apps I want to install are asking for permission to listen to my phonecalls/record audio/use my camera at any time without confirmation or notification. Are people really okay with this?
Jack the Lad fucked around with this message at 10:02 on Jul 30, 2013 |
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Jul 30, 2013 09:58
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I'm currently looking at getting either a Nexus 4 or a Razr HD. From a battery life standpoint the HD lasts about twice as long as the Nexus. What do you guys recommend? I could get an external battery for the Nexus but thats a bit of a nuisance. I don't expect to be a heavy user, but i don't want to be running out of battery in normal useage. Carrier wise, i'll be going with Giffgaff i think, any horror stories about them? (I'm in the UK)
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Jul 30, 2013 12:06
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I'll be moving to the States in August and plan to sign an AT&T family plan with some friends. But I'd like to get the upcoming iPhone, which isn't likely to be out until September. What are my options? I don't suppose it's possible to sign a contract and wait one month before collecting the phone.
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Jul 30, 2013 13:00
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Jack the Lad posted:Holy smokes, half the apps I want to install are asking for permission to listen to my phonecalls/record audio/use my camera at any time without confirmation or notification. Are people really okay with this? The Android thread is thataway, man!
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Jul 30, 2013 13:15
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Vegetable posted:I'll be moving to the States in August and plan to sign an AT&T family plan with some friends. But I'd like to get the upcoming iPhone, which isn't likely to be out until September. What are my options? I don't suppose it's possible to sign a contract and wait one month before collecting the phone. You can purchase a phone outright and stay off contract for the month. The Nokia 520 is a $99 windows phone that would do the trick. If you bring your own phone you don't sign a contract and remain eligible for an upgrade. You would get double dinged with fees (fee to activate, fee to upgrade in a month), so another option is to use that phone on a prepaid plan for the time before that, although that's possibly mire than a pooled pin split between a few people.
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Jul 30, 2013 13:51
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Vegetable posted:I'll be moving to the States in August and plan to sign an AT&T family plan with some friends. But I'd like to get the upcoming iPhone, which isn't likely to be out until September. What are my options? I don't suppose it's possible to sign a contract and wait one month before collecting the phone. Where are you moving from? Do you currently have a phone? If so, if it's a GSM phone, you can just stick the AT&T SIM in that and wait to use the subsidy that comes with the line. Or get a prepaid account for the month or two before joining your friends' line.
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Jul 30, 2013 14:51
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Endless Mike posted:Where are you moving from? Do you currently have a phone? If so, if it's a GSM phone, you can just stick the AT&T SIM in that and wait to use the subsidy that comes with the line. Or get a prepaid account for the month or two before joining your friends' line.
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Jul 30, 2013 15:04
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Vegetable posted:I already have a GSM iPhone 4. So wait, it's possible to sign a line and use the subsidy only, say, a month later? Because that'd solve my problem.
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Jul 30, 2013 15:19
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Long Francesco posted:There's really no reason to ever have to plug your phone into your computer to transfer stuff anymore, install airdroid and do everything over wifi and it doesn't matter what os you're running. I've even used it to transfer files from my phone to tablet. You can even send texts and do all kinds of neat stuff with it. For small file transfers I already use Dropbox. For large file transfers with AirDroid, I have to keep the display on for high-performance Wi-Fi, which means keeping the device on some charger. I might as well just use USB at that point since it's faster, but  .
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Jul 30, 2013 16:06
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Endless Mike posted:Yeah. You'll just be paying the same as if you had used the subsidy. Every line is entitled to a subsidy every two years, so it just attaches it to your account. Make sure no one else uses it in the meantime, though, since they might be shared within the family plan (I don't really know how that works). There's likely an AT&T thread you can ask who would have a better idea. This is the better idea, and basically the only downside is a 2nd activation fee. On ATT the account holder (person whose social it is under) is the default person who can make changes and use upgrades, and that person can also designate other people in the account as authorized to make changes.
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Jul 30, 2013 16:33
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I have been looking for a new phone for a while now, and finally decided to actually get to it more seriously (hope to order one tonight.) What I'm looking for: An Android device with preferentially a 720p screen, 1GB+ RAM and a dual core processor (more is fine too  ). A big battery is nice to have, too.If possible I'd really like to have a Sony Xperia Z, but that is very likely too much to ask. A similar phone (watertight, shockproof) would be cool though. Another, much cheaper phone has come in my sights, this is the Huawei Ascend G615. Otherwise I was looking at the Samsung Galaxy S3/S4 Mini, but I haven't been able to find one for a decent price yet. For service info: I live in The Netherlands and am currently with KPN with a SIM-only contract. My budget isn't very big, if possible less than €20,-/month. I don't mind paying a bit for the phone (no more than €150,- though.) At least 200 minutes/month is a requirement, and if possible about 500MB data. The most interesting contract I've found so far is €17,50/month for 275 minutes/texts and 500MB data, with that I can get the Huawei Ascend G615 for €110,- and lastly, I can pay €1,- a month more for 1000 extra texts. If I missed anything... Please do tell and I'll edit it in.
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Jul 30, 2013 18:41
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Could you post the link to that postpaid plan you mentioned? This is so that people can take a look at the carrier and see what other phone options are available.
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Jul 30, 2013 22:21
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anakha posted:Could you post the link to that postpaid plan you mentioned? This is so that people can take a look at the carrier and see what other phone options are available. https://www.studentmobiel.nl/huawei-ascend-g615/met/hollandsnieuwe-sim-only-2-jaar It's a 3rd-party website offering (SIM-lock free) phone-carrier combinations.
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Jul 31, 2013 00:27
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Alwyn posted:https://www.studentmobiel.nl/huawei-ascend-g615/met/hollandsnieuwe-sim-only-2-jaar Two things to mention after looking at the site: 1) 500MB per month isn't a whole lot, unless you anticipate minimal data usage. What do you expect to be doing regularly that would require data access? 2) Are you willing to spend a little above that budget? The Nexus 4 is listed at 183 for that plan, and is a much better value than the Huawei.
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Jul 31, 2013 04:16
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anakha posted:Two things to mention after looking at the site: Considering I will be at places a lot that have WIFI access, I think I'm good with 500MB. Could you explain how it's at a much better value than the Huawei? I am not seeing any major differences (well okay, 16 instead of 8GB internal storage). I don't think I'll be able to afford it, but I'll check to make sure.
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Jul 31, 2013 13:12
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Alwyn posted:Considering I will be at places a lot that have WIFI access, I think I'm good with 500MB. Huawei generally tends to be cheaper for a reason: they skimp on hardware and use cheaper parts and likely don't update the software on their phones. Your call, but saving the extra week or two ans getting the N4 (one of the standard android phones) is just a good idea.
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Jul 31, 2013 13:17
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Alwyn posted:Considering I will be at places a lot that have WIFI access, I think I'm good with 500MB. The Nexus 4 uses the better hardware and is practically guaranteed better OS support, as it will be updated by Google directly. Huawei to date has been inconsistent in its software support. If you're on a limited budget, it's the phone that gives you the most function/value for your money now and has the best chance of still being useful in the future due to Google and/or dev community support. It should be worth the extra time spent saving up for it.
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Jul 31, 2013 13:33
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Alwyn posted:Could you explain how it's at a much better value than the Huawei?
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Jul 31, 2013 17:43
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I'm looking to get a new phone after having the same phone for like the last 4 or so years. I'm currently with Tmobile paying 40ish for text+calling. I am going to have to get a data plan obviously so I am looking for advice on that. I want to a get a cool smart phone that isn't inferior to other products around it and I don't want to get stuck wanting to upgrade it in a few months. My primary computer is a macbook, but I'm not attached to Apple/Droid in terms preference. Tmobile is also doing a 0 down promotion, but I have no idea if that' where I should be looking. Finally, the reason I have been putting off upgrading so long is I am super worried about dropping and breaking my phone as soon as I get it. I drop my lovely phone all the time and it's fine, but I am so worried about getting something nice and destroying it.
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Jul 31, 2013 17:56
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f1av0r posted:I'm looking to get a new phone after having the same phone for like the last 4 or so years. I'm currently with Tmobile paying 40ish for text+calling. I am going to have to get a data plan obviously so I am looking for advice on that. The Galaxy S4 or upcoming iPhone (whenever that launches) would be the two best bets. Check the TMo plan on rates.
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Jul 31, 2013 18:56
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f1av0r posted:I'm looking to get a new phone after having the same phone for like the last 4 or so years. I'm currently with Tmobile paying 40ish for text+calling. I am going to have to get a data plan obviously so I am looking for advice on that. T-Mobile changed around their plans recently to separate the subsidy of the device from the actual plan. On the other three major U.S. carriers, your subsidy is built into the plan, but your plan doesn't get any cheaper after your contract is up and you don't immediately get a new phone. Instead of 2-year contracts, you have an interest-free 24-month loan for the phone. The base plan for T-Mobile is unlimited minutes and texts and 500 MB of data, with 500 MB of tethering for $50/month. 2.5 GB of data is an extra $10/month on top of that, and unlimited data is an extra $10/month. 500 MB of tethering is included with all plans. But you won't be paying this rate until your phone is paid off. You can pay off the full balance at any time though, and if your initial payment is more than the normal one, your monthly payments are less per month. The "free" phone promotion is a bit of trickery from T-Mobile. T-Mobile normally has you put down a down payment, which in the case of the 16 GB iPhone 5, is $149, and you pay an extra $20/month for the phone over 24 months. T-Mobile's "sale" has you putting nothing down, but you pay $27/month for that iPhone instead of $20 to make up for the lack of down payment. If you want to buy a phone straight from T-Mobile, the iPhone is your best option. It'll play nicely with your Mac and it's easy to use with decent enough expansion for a first smartphone. There's also another option that works really well with T-Mobile's new plans. Buy a Nexus 4 directly from Google at $349, and save the $20/month or so that you'd spend on a normal T-Mobile phone. Nexus devices are the best-supported devices not made by Apple, and the Nexus 4 is great for the money. There's also the Moto X being announced tomorrow, which might be even cheaper, and may trade the outright performance of the N4 for a camera that isn't mediocre at best. Motorola is also owned by Google, so support should be good.
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Jul 31, 2013 20:09
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Thanks for the advice! Would the default data be enough to run GPS, check facebook, forums and sports periodically on Tmobile, or would I want to upgrade that? I really have no idea how much data I would use on my phone since I've never had to worry about it before.
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Jul 31, 2013 22:58
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f1av0r posted:Thanks for the advice! Would the default data be enough to run GPS, check facebook, forums and sports periodically on Tmobile, or would I want to upgrade that? I really have no idea how much data I would use on my phone since I've never had to worry about it before. If it helps, I used to be on a 1GB monthly data cap and was very careful to avoid Youtube and streaming. My data use was mostly daily Facebook, Twitter, browsing forums, and sports updates, plus some occasional navigation via GPS. I'd regularly end up consuming 600-700MB per month. E: of course, the moment I switched to unlimited data, my monthly usage jumped to 4GB/month.
anakha fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Jul 31, 2013 |
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Jul 31, 2013 23:09
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ExcessBLarg! posted:Huawei is, by definition (as well as practice), cheap Chinese crap that's barely worth the bulk material cost of whatever it's made out of. This is probably my favorite "explanation" as to why everyone should avoid Huawei like the plague. Cheers, I'm convinced Ordered the Nexus 4.
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Aug 1, 2013 12:17
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Country/Provider: AT&T Current contract status: I'm not in a contract - currently prepaid gophone Smartphone $2/day Unlimited Talk and Text and was getting the 500mb a month for 15 bucks or whatever Budget (phone/plan): I'll pay what I need to pay I want a Samsung Galaxy s4 and I need to be on AT&T for decent coverage. I also need at least 500mb data a month but more is fine too. Budget isn't really an issue but I'm getting overwhelmed with the options. I'm open to getting a contract, purchasing a phone outright or whatever.
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Aug 3, 2013 00:41
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Country/Provider: USA Verizon My Galaxy Nexus stopped working on Thursday and Verizon won't let me have an upgrade until next February. I couldn't get a Verizon rep in store or on the phone to give me an upgrade, so I'm unsure if I should try to spring for a refurbished one right now (a refurb GNEX is still really expensive, in my opinion), or if I keep calling them will they give me an upgrade? Is there a cheap 4G phone I should pick up and use for 6 months? I just don't know what to do 
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Aug 3, 2013 00:53
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I need a carrier and phone suggestion. My Galaxy Nexus has a busted charging port, and I don't feel like it's worth the money to replace, and I'd like to take the opportunity to look at some other options, both in terms of my phone and my plan. Country/Provider: - USA Verizon Wireless - Nationwide Talk 450 with Unlimited Data - I use around 100-200 minutes a month, and no text (I use Google Voice instead). I use about 2 GB of data a month on my unlimited plan, so I think I can deal with a 2GB cap, though I'd prefer 5. Current contract status: - Discounted Upgrade 8/15 - Contract Ends 12/15 Budget (phone/plan): - I'd like at least two options, one latest and greatest and one serviceable lower-end or last-gen. - Plan: Something ultimately cheaper than the $80 a month I'm paying now. Features I know I want: - Android Phone. I've had both iOS and Android in the past and I think I prefer Android, as I use a lot of Google services and I like the integration. I'm also not terribly interested in gaming on my phone either, which is the only thing I found my iPhone did better. - Powerful enough. Towards the end of its life my old MotoDroid seemed to be really slow and hitched a lot, and it bugged the crap out of me. I'd like something that's at least powerful enough to have a smooth user experience. - 4G/LTE. Don't think this is a huge issue these days, but just in case, I'd like the phone to have 4G/LTE support. - Battery Life. The battery life on my Galaxy Nexus isn't great, and I'd like something with a little more juice in it. EDIT: I ended up going with an HTC One and I'm very happy with it. Unboxing Day fucked around with this message at 01:49 on Sep 5, 2013 |
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Aug 3, 2013 04:22
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nunchohai posted:Country/Provider: AT&T Well, on ATT you have two options: Prepaid like you have: $60 a month for unlimited call text and 2GB of data. Phone is $600+ from ATT, if you can find it elsewhere cheaper as long as it is GSM it will work. Contract: plans slightly vary, but basically $85-90 a month for call text and 1-3GBs of data. Phone is $199. Coverage is better on the contract plan but the plan is more expensive. Worth mentioning a Nexus 4 is $350 no contract.
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Aug 3, 2013 14:02
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Country/Provider: USA/Virgin Mobile Current contract status:none (Pay As You Go) Budget (phone/plan): up to $300 for the phone and no more than $60 a month. I use maybe around 60 minutes in a year, so I dont need a plan with a lot of minutes. Features I know I want: An iPhone, any provider. I carry around an iPod Touch and a dumbphone everywhere I go, and I'd like to have one less thing to carry around.
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Aug 5, 2013 01:33
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