🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <ddifq5t9ni2lt3s9bjgqom951nerroiqrr@4ax.com>,
Robert A. Fink, M. D. <lynxer@comcast.net> wrote:
" I am getting ready to replace my Motorola RAZR phone (I need to also
" replace my old Palm Tungsten C PDA and want a smartphone to handle
" both functions), and I am looking at the alternatives.  My carrier
" is AT&T GSM service and I also have their Laptop Connect 3G
" tethering service. I am happy with AT&T and wish to stay with them.
" 
" My wife uses an iPhone (same account) and I am not happy with it for
" a number of reasons.  Thus, I am looking at alternatives to the
" iPhone, with the Blackberry being currently the "leader" on my list.
" 
" I need the device for the following uses:
" 
" 1. Phone
" 2. PDA (calendar, addressbook)
" 3. Ability to send and receive e-mail.
" 4. Occasional Web access, including access to Google or other such
" sources.
" 5. GPS would be nice but not necessary as I have a freestanding GPS
" for my car.
" 
" Input regarding the benefits/disadvantages of the phones available
" would be appreciated.  Would a trip to an AT&T store be helpful?

I'm always baffled why people choose AT&T.  Some do because of prior
bad experience with other carriers, which is almost always dumb
because they're all bad, but AT&T is the worst.  I've been stuck with
them for years because of the "family" that I am with, but I recently
jettisoned them.  AT&T's minions are sure getting hot and heavy about
that!

I-Phone was faster on T-Mobile with EDGE than with AT&T on 3G, except
for the narrowly tailored question of large downloads, which was rare.
BUT, the large downloads often didn't need to be restarted on T-Mobile
due to failures, when comparing T-Mobile to AT&T; failures happened
less often on T-Mobile, so in actuality, it took less time on T-Mobile
overall once all time was considered.

Now that I have a 3G T-Mobile account (someone stole my iPhone, and I
wasn't buying another locked product, and accidentally ordered
Google's phone, so have that ("Nexus One")), it is a bit spiffier, but
there's a big drop in performance when it is "forced into EDGE by
network quality" like in stores.  I'd expect Verizon to be better
inside stores.  (Where Verizon shines, of course, is NYC, or at least
did; I don't know if that's still the case.  Verizon left the other
carriers in the sewer in the NYC market, when I lived there.)

So, my first suggestion is to go to all the carrier's stores, going to
all the non-AT&T ones first.  All the carriers are:

  Verizon
  Sprint
  T-Mobile
  AT&T

I'd pretty much visit them in that order.  (Notice I omit MetroPCS,
which never intended to be a good cell phone company -- simply a
low-market one.)  Do coverage surveys of all of them.  I'd consider
buying a $25 prepaid phone for a few weeks for each carrier just to
test quality, but remember, the disposable $5 cell phones are very
high in call quality compared to the smart phones, so they may be very
misleading.

Now, once you've done that, your world opens up to all the
possibilities.  I just saw and used a Blackberry for the first time
two days ago, and I must say, I never knew there was any type of
device that allowed you to click on the screen, rather than just put
your finger there and mush and patter it around hoping it does
something closer to what you are trying to achieve, like on I-Phone
and Nexus One.

You'll get to look at:

* OS X (I-Phone):  the next model, supposedly available on Verizon,
  may be a good model, and I am recommending everyone to look at
  it if it indeed does show up elsewhere from AT&T.
* Microsoft (Sidekick, et al; they keep claiming they have phones
  on the market; who knows which ones other than Sidekick, but a lot
  of Sidekick users decided that Sidekick is dead once Microsoft
  got their grubby hands on it, because Microsoft erased everyone's
  contact data!!!!!!  Sidekick used to be a very popular device.)
* Linux (Android, and has a lot of phones on a lot of carriers)
* And, whatever else is out there.

The above all have "application markets", in case the carrier didn't
pre-load what you want.  Make sure that whatever you're getting has
such a feature, and test it to make sure it works before you buy it,
or make certain returning it for fast refund is very very easy and
that you have the time and ability to test it in the timeframe they
giveyou for such a return (that is not always easy!).

If you stick with one carrier, you simply won't have those choices.