Oh no, XDCX bought a new smartphone.....

[XDCX]

OK, the good news is my ramblings about the virtues of my trusty Droid X have come to an end.

The bad news is I'll probably start a whole new set of threads rambling about the impressive features of my new Motorola Razr Maxx.

Well, it's not 100% new, I bought it off of Craigslist because I'm still unwilling to lock into a contract until I find a phone that I know I'll keep for two years. I'm also not 100% sold on Verizon - I might switch to AT&T if I find I'm not using too much data.

2012 looks to be a fantastic year for smartphones - if you don't have one yet this should be the year you decide to get one. HTC has already announced their HTC One X which has been getting fantastic reviews and Samsung is set to announce their S3 this Thursday. Add to that the pending release of Apple's first 4G phone and a new offering from Motorola and you have a great year in the making.

So far the most appealing phone to me this year has been HTC's EVO 4G LTE but I've read a lot of bad reports about Sprint's network and they won't have LTE in Phoenix until next year.

Anyone else looking to upgrade thier current phone?

[JoeRocket]

Originally Posted by XDCX

Anyone else looking to upgrade thier current phone?

Not really. I've a iPhone 4 and am grandfathered into Verizon's unlimited txt and data plan. The ip4 does way more stuff than I ever need a phone to do...lol. If I could find a phone out there with a "mute" app that would work on the wife, then I might give it a look.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by JoeRocket

Not really. I've a iPhone 4 and am grandfathered into Verizon's unlimited txt and data plan. The ip4 does way more stuff than I ever need a phone to do...lol.

The ip5 is going to have a larger screen, a faster processor and be the first iPhone to run on a real 4G network. All the experts predict the sales volumes will be huge and I'm betting the allure of a new ip5 might draw you in. (I also think Verizon will let you upgrade to a new phone and keep your unlimited plan - I know that's the case with unlimited data but I don't know about the texting plan.)

Originally Posted by JoeRocket

If I could find a phone out there with a "mute" app that would work on the wife, then I might give it a look.

I thought that's what voicemail was for.....

[JoeRocket]

Originally Posted by XDCX

The ip5 is going to have a larger screen, a faster processor and be the first iPhone to run on a real 4G network. All the experts predict the sales volumes will be huge and I'm betting the allure of a new ip5 might draw you in. (I also think Verizon will let you upgrade to a new phone and keep your unlimited plan - I know that's the case with unlimited data but I don't know about the texting plan.)

Meh... Even if the thing was 'instantaneous' fast, that wouldn't be a huge improvement. This thing is pretty quick. Think I'll keep this thing until it fizzles.

Originally Posted by XDCX

I thought that's what voicemail was for.....

Doesn't work when she's sitting next to me, though. That's what I'm looking for.

[mr4t60e]

I think I'm in the minority among the (barely) under 30 crowd who have bucked the smartphone trend and kept their phones dumb. I have come to grips with the fact that, as much as I would like to, I can't justify the cost of a data plan (that have rather low limits, I might add) just so I can satiate my curiosity on some random subject while I'm driving around in my car, waiting in line at the post office, etc. Not to mention the fact that cash hasn't been particularly plentiful since I was forced out of the car biz back during the Great Turmoil of '08.

In other words, a shrug and a "uh...I don't know" are going to have to do.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by mr4t60e

In other words, a shrug and a "uh...I don't know" are going to have to do.

I held off for a long time before I bought my first smartphone because I was unwilling to lock into a two-year contract. I ended up buying a cheap Droid X via Ebay and I've never looked back.

While I know money can be tight you can get a decent data plan that will only add $30/month to your wireless bill - that's only $1/day.

I use my smartphone A LOT more than I ever thought I would and I rarely have a need for a GPS or a camera anymore since the ones I have on my smartphone are more than adequate.

Sorry if this sounds like a commercial for smartphones - I just know I'm really glad I bought one and I can't imagine going back to a dumb phone.

[steve_biegler]

Originally Posted by XDCX

that's only $1/day.

You were in the car business.....wern't you.

[Lakeshow]

I'm looking to upgrade, looks like RIM is going to give the Blackberry one last hail mary...http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...swT_story.html
I think I'll wait until fall and see what they really offer, if not the rest of these new releases should have some time to get the initial bugs worked out. I do like the security the Blackberry offers. Plus Komrade Obama has one, so that's always a great selling point.

[lsx only]

I went from a basic flip phone to a iphone4s last month wow what a change

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by Lakeshow

I'm looking to upgrade, looks like RIM is going to give the Blackberry one last hail mary...http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...swT_story.html
I think I'll wait until fall and see what they really offer, if not the rest of these new releases should have some time to get the initial bugs worked out. I do like the security the Blackberry offers. Plus Komrade Obama has one, so that's always a great selling point.

That was an interesting article. It seems risky that Blackberry's new device doesn't offer a physical keyboard - that's been one of the big differentiators in the past.

I also thought it was interesting that Blackberry's stock has declined by almost 75% in the past year and their U.S. revenues are down 50% - those are HUGE declines.

Concerning the timing of when to buy a new phone, I'm thinking that Black Friday (the day following Thanksgiving) should be awesome. Amazon has traditionally offered deep discounts on some of their hottest phones and all of the OEMs should have their new phones in the market by then.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by lsx only

I went from a basic flip phone to a iphone4s last month wow what a change

I had the same experience when I switched from my old flip phone to my Droid X. It's no exaggeration to say that on some days I probably pull my phone out of my pocket 20 - 40 times just to check my email, view stock quotes, read the news, check the weather forecast, etc.

In fact, even when I'm at my laptop I'll often reach for my phone to check stock quotes or see the weather forecast because it's faster.

[57years]

It's no exaggeration to say that on some days I probably pull my phone out of my pocket 20 - 40 times just to check my email, view stock quotes, read the news, check the weather forecast, etc.

There's the reason I DON'T want a smartphone.

[Lakeshow]

And another contender enters the race...http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pho...1078667/review

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by 57years

There's the reason I DON'T want a smartphone.

No, really it's a good thing....

I know it sounds insane but I like having the ability to kill a few minutes by checking my email, reading the news, etc. In fact, I find I'm a lot less irritated if I get stuck behind some slow person in the checkout line because at least I'm able to use that time to get something done.

As another example, I was watching a softball game the other day and found myself checking my phone between innings just to fill the idle time.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by XDCX

I also thought it was interesting that Blackberry's stock has declined by almost 75% in the past year and their U.S. revenues are down 50% - those are HUGE declines.

Blackberry's stock fell to an eight year low today. Wall Street doesn't seem to be too impressed with management's plans to get the company turned around.