Smart phone decisions..

[TeamNH]

TeamNH---what you say about the Razrs having a non-removable battery: Is that REALLY such a big deal for a smartphone? My 4 1/2 year old BB Curve 8330 STILL had the OEM battery when it was 4 1/2 years old, and in all that time I probably pulled the battery to perform a hard reset twice a year. Since you are in the business, will you please give us your viewpoints as regards the expected battery life we can expect from our smartphones? BTW, I agree with you 100% about buying a high end Android. With the rapid development in the marketplace today, buying a basic phone will assure the buyer will need to upgrade much sooner. Good point !!

JDgreen, this is a hard question. Mostly it is a personal choice for me regarding taking the battery out. I like the fact that if the phone locks up, I can pull the battery. Yes, most if not all the phones have a hard reset option where you hold down a couple of buttons for xx amount of time and it does a hard reset. I like to pull the battery... I know it cut power.

As far as battery life, this is the hard to predict because there are many variables. Usage, Charges, Over Charges and cold temps all can cause battery's to fail at some point. Smart Phones tend to get used alot, since they do more. Thus they get charged more, and probably when they are not dead or close to dead. Repeat this day after day... soon the battery no longer will hold as much of its charge. Add in they have multiple wireless services they are working on(4g, 3g, wifi and bluetooth) and a extra large touch screens, you are asking alot of a battery. In short, I would not be surprised if a battery needed replace after one year of use, I see this happen. I also would not be surprised if it made it to the upgrade mark of 20 months or 2 years, I also see this happen. After 2 years, you really need a new one but put the money into a new phone.

With that said, I know someone here will say "I have had my smartphone for 3 years and the battery is fine". I would answer, every one is different with how they use the phone and charge it and the environment the phone is in is different in every case. Either way, I like the option of spending $40 and putting a new battery in to a phone I like then having to deal with a crappy battery until I can upgrade. Also, often times when a phone gets wet(dropped in the sink, toilet or pool, I have seen them all and more), its the battery that dies, being able to replace a battery might just save you from buying a $600 phone at full price.

 

[unbidden]

To TeamNH + JDgreen:

I posted earlier concerning phones that you are unable to swap out batteries, that's a deal breaker for me. I'm often in a situation were using a charger is not an option.

 

[JamesHW]

I'm in a similiar situation as the op in that I can chose to re-up with Verizon and replace our current phones. Our experience with a pair of HTC Android Incredibles has not been stellar. They worked well at first, but something happened with the updates about five months ago where now they will reboot all the time for no apparent reason. Mine will freeze and sometimes just shut down for no apparent reason. I did research and apparently it is not an uncommon issue with the original HTC Incredible and many users have been unable to resolve it despite taking all sorts of corrective actions. Also the phones barely make it through a 8 hour work day battery wise and god forbid you play a game on it. Add to that the camera is marginal at best.

I'm not a Mac fan, but have a nephew who has used iPhones for years and I think we will go ahead and make the switch based on our experience with our not so Incredibles. I have a ton of projects I can fiddle with, but fiddling with my phone that I need to be able to rely is something I am willing to dispense with.

 

[TeamNH]

I'm in a similiar situation as the op in that I can chose to re-up with Verizon and replace our current phones. Our experience with a pair of HTC Android Incredibles has not been stellar. They worked well at first, but something happened with the updates about five months ago where now they will reboot all the time for no apparent reason. Mine will freeze and sometimes just shut down for no apparent reason. I did research and apparently it is not an uncommon issue with the original HTC Incredible and many users have been unable to resolve it despite taking all sorts of corrective actions. Also the phones barely make it through a 8 hour work day battery wise and god forbid you play a game on it. Add to that the camera is marginal at best.

I'm not a Mac fan, but have a nephew who has used iPhones for years and I think we will go ahead and make the switch based on our experience with our not so Incredible's. I have a ton of projects I can fiddle with, but fiddling with my phone that I need to be able to rely is something I am willing to dispense with.

The original Incredible is almost 3 years old. The latest update should have been tested better but I can understand them not putting tons of hours into an old phone. At one time 80% of my employees used that phone, and all had great things to say about it. My wife uses the Incredible 2, which was a pre-release given to me by HTC themselves. Still works great. Third party apps can cause the issues you are talking about, as well as a bad install of an update. I am sure there is a way to fix it, but if you are just going to upgrade, why spend the time. I like my HTC's, sorry you didn't have the same experience I did.

It could have been made on a Monday or a Friday....

Everyday someone asks me what piece of technology to buy. What I would buy is different then what they should buy, because our needs our different, that is why my employees are not sales people but consultants. Iphones are great for many, Droids are too. Its like asking, which tractor is better, Green, Red, Blue or Orange?

 

[JamesHW]

In all fairness TeamNH, you own a Verizon store, so likely have access to the latest and greatest in phones (using the latest model would be part of the job). But I don't understand pushing out updates to a phone that f's the functionality, period, full stop (no apps were installed prior to the update that started the issue).

Once bitten, twice shy.

 

[JDgreen227]

In all fairness TeamNH, you own a Verizon store, so likely have access to the latest and greatest in phones (using the latest model would be part of the job). But I don't understand pushing out updates to a phone that f's the functionality, period, full stop (no apps were installed prior to the update that started the issue).

Once bitten, twice shy.

May be off topic here, but when I purchased my Droid in mid-November of last year, the supposedly TRAINED AND INFORMED Best Buy Mobile associate was clueless when I asked him if my new device had the most recent update to ICS 4.0.4 Android. A guy who makes his living selling phones for all carriers and should have known what I was talking about....DIDN'T KNOW what I was talking about. It truthfully baffled me why he was in the job he had.

 

[thatguy]

i got a chance to play with all 3 phones today, but for just a few minutes :-(

I am a Mac/Apple person in heart - BUT the screen was quite small on the 5 and I was shocked that the 4s screen is NOT that much smaller than the 5. I know the 5 has a 4" screen BUT they got it by making the screen narrower than the 4s.. In real life - if you are viewing the screen in landscape mode the 4s screen is actually taller


I loved the screens on the Razr Maxx and S3 - But when i turned the s3 to landscape i kept hitting the side buttons though


thanks for all the input

Brian

 

[thatguy]

TeamNH - any ides when/if Verizon will offer the "double your data" incentive again?


Brian

 

[JDgreen227]

i got a chance to play with all 3 phones today, but for just a few minutes :-(

I am a Mac/Apple person in heart - BUT the screen was quite small on the 5 and I was shocked that the 4s screen is NOT that much smaller than the 5. I know the 5 has a 4" screen BUT they got it by making the screen narrower than the 4s.. In real life - if you are viewing the screen in landscape mode the 4s screen is actually taller


I loved the screens on the Razr Maxx and S3 - But when i turned the s3 to landscape i kept hitting the side buttons though


thanks for all the input

Brian

Love my Razr Maxx...and for what it's worth I have had an Otterbox Commuter case on it since new, and it takes a determined push of the side buttons to activate them. I find it very hard to press them by accident.

 

[Grateful11]

Personally I would never own an apple product, they are a great product, just not for me. Most people who buy Iphones do it because thats what Mr. and Mrs. Jones have. Or "my friend Sally has one and she likes it." You are "stuck" with the phone for 2 years, buy one for you, not your friend or to keep with the Jones's. I often refer to people buying Iphones for the reasons above, the "John Deere" affect. You are paying for the name, yes its a good product, but it is not for everyone. I hate having to buy accessories that work only on one device. If you have other apple products, then getting the Iphone makes more sense.

Oh really. I go with iPhone's because they plain frickin' work just like their computers and no other reason. I have no friends to keep up with, the JD effect give me a break. Every single cellphone I've had before including an iPhone had to have a different type charger connection so there goes your, "I hate having to buy accessories that work only on one device." reasoning. That's why WalMart has the charger pigtail hanging out the box nowadays so people will buy the right one. All headphone jacks are universal these days whether it's an iPhone or and Android. I've had a cellphone since they came in a bag back in the early 90's so I'm not a noob when it comes to cellphones.

OT: There's no "brand effects" around my wife's operation she buys whatever works, whether it's Kubota, CaseIH, John Deere, New Holland, Krone, Precision Welding, Amco, etc.