OT- Verizon Phone Suggestions?

Submitted by mds315 on

Hey, I was looking for some help or advice from any tech savvy MGoUsers.  I will be upgrading my phone later this week, and was open to suggestions.  Im with Verizion and Im really not sure what to get.  Im looking for a qwerty keyboard, and thats about all I require.  So any suggestions?  Would a Droid or BlackBerry be worth it?  Or should I keep it simple and get and enV3 or env Touch?

Thanks in advance!

Go Blue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Young Hero

July 12th, 2010 at 11:01 AM ^

I have had 0 problems with it and would definitely recommend it.  Of course if you are willing to spend the money to go more high-tech then go for it I say!

Plegerize

July 12th, 2010 at 12:04 PM ^

I have an enV3 as well and while it is a good phone, I have had trouble with the battery recently. I got the phone back around thanksgiving, and the last couple months the phone will just randomly turn off, even when it has a full battery.

I love LG phones and had an original enV before I got the enV3, but the one big criticism I (and many) have is the battery life. Not that they aren't great phones and offer one of the best experiences, but battery is just something you want to consider when looking for phones. I love my phone and would recommend it to anyone who asked.

Pea-Tear Gryphon

July 12th, 2010 at 12:23 PM ^

I have an enV and it was randomly turning off for a couple of months. I removed the battery, and cleaned out the connections and stuff in between the battery and phone. Since then, it has been working great. [knocks on wood] All that pocket lint/dirt was causing havoc I think.

I've had the same phone for almost two years now and am still getting 2-3 days of life on the battery. I don't use it a ton for talking, but do for texting. It has helped that I've turned off the "vibrate for everything" option though too.

I'll be looking for a new phone in a few months. I'd like to keep Verizon and will look into the Droid series. Glad to see it is comparing favorably with the iphone.

Plegerize

July 12th, 2010 at 12:55 PM ^

Hmm I'll look into it, thanks for the advice. I have yet to clean out the battery, you might be onto something there my friend.

In terms of battery life, yes the enV's can last a couple days with good battery power. I haven't had trouble with my phone when I haven't charged it for a couple days and it remains well powered. It's just the issues of it randomly turning off, but I will test your theory and see if the battery needs a cleanin.

jblaze

July 12th, 2010 at 11:02 AM ^

and wouldn't recommend a blackberry, unless you need it for work reasons (enterprise/ push email, type a lot). It's good for that, but isn't any fun (the music player and web browser are terrble, the screen is small, the doc viewers are a pain to use, the apps are limited).

It seems like Droid phones on Verizon get great reviews, so you may want to get one of those.

evenyoubrutus

July 12th, 2010 at 11:53 AM ^

I have a BlackBerry Tour and the browser is incredibly slow (which is really annoying when I'm trying to check MGoBlog), and I and everybody I know who has one has had some kind of problem with the hardware; like the cursor ball in the middle not working properly or the keyboard doing funny things etc.  My next smartphone will not be a BlackBerry.

jcgary

July 12th, 2010 at 11:03 AM ^

I have a Droid and love it.  The app store is starting to catch up with the Iphone.  The speaker phone is great.  I don't have blutooth in my car so I just put the phone on speaker and put it on my dashboard and whoever I am talking to can hear me fine.  I would highly recommend the Droid but I would consider waiting until the Droid X is released which will be this month sometime. 

Njia

July 12th, 2010 at 12:29 PM ^

I have a BB Curve through Verizon, and while its great on my company's network, (even the intranet sites for time & expense reporting, corporate yellow pages, etc.) there are much better options if you're not tethered to Planet Corporate. The standard browser is terrible, (third-party BOLT browser is only marginally better) the app store is awful, the screen is small for a smartphone, and the whole thing is really slow. Oh, and from time to time, it just "wigs out" on you, and you have to reset it by removing the battery.

I tried out the new BB Storm 2, and while the virtual keyboard is better than the original storm, and it has built-in wi-fi, it still seems sub-par compared to either the Droid or the iPhone. I'd pick something else.

MGoHail

July 12th, 2010 at 11:25 AM ^

I have used a blackberry tour for the last 10 months and have had zero problems with it. The thing is a tank. I have dropped it multiple times on concrete and it still looks and works like the day I bought it. That being said I plan on picking up the new Droid X  Thursday morning

MH20

July 12th, 2010 at 12:22 PM ^

I loved this phone for about the first two weeks I owned it, then started noticing a lot of little annoying things about it: constant lag when typing after not having pulled the battery in a few days (almost a daily thing now, the phone leaks memory like a sieve), random freezes, screen rotations not full finishing (i.e. turning it 90 degrees and having the screen become a garbled mess), and recently it started to have troubles recognizing the 8GB micro-SD card installed.

The update to 5.0.0.328 OS (newest one) made it run better for about three days, then I started to notice it actually running worse than before at times.

In short, my next phone will not be a BlackBerry.

Wolverine318

July 12th, 2010 at 1:34 PM ^

Completely agree. I have a storm2. It was great for ~2 weeks. I cannot stand it. I can't use the external speaker to watch videos on it. It will randomly switch between headphone mode and speaker mode. The textile touch on it randomly locks up. The native browser is a piece of crap and slow. Even third party browsers like Opera Mini are filled with bugs that never get fixed.  There are literaly zero interesting apps to down load. I cannot wait to trade this phone in for a Droid. 

mikefromaa

July 12th, 2010 at 12:25 PM ^

All the good droid apps are free.  My favorite is the skyfire(flash converter) browser.

Droid+Skyfire+casttv.com+movies2k.com=free cable and first run movies in your pocket.

GVBlue86

July 12th, 2010 at 12:42 PM ^

Env's are great. i had an Env2 for 2 years and loved it. I did have battery problems after a while and it shut off on me just like another poster stated. I just got the Env Touch basically because I wanted a newer phone but I did not want to pay the $30 internet package. The touch has been out a while but it is still pretty decent, and the keyboard is one of the biggest out there.

Jeff

July 12th, 2010 at 3:42 PM ^

When did you get your Env Touch?  About 3 or 4 months ago I tried to upgrade to it but they told me I had to get a data package.  I was not happy about that, so I still have my old phone.  If you've gotten it recently, I guess I should try again.

To the OP I would also recommend the Env Touch, despite not having personal experience with it.  My sister got it last October (right before the data package rule started) and loves it.  It has a full hard keyboard plus a touch screen if you only want to type a few things.  It can do the internet (I don't know how well) but if you want a semi-smart phone much cheaper (and possibly without the expensive data packages) then the Env Touch is probably the best thing out.

bronxblue

July 12th, 2010 at 12:48 PM ^

I have the original Motorola Droid and it is a very good phone.  Droid X looks amazing, but without the hard keyboard you might get a little annoyed when typing longer messages (I'm not crazy about any screen-based keyboards, but that is a personal issue).  The big issue should be playing with a couple of the phones, seeing which one fits your needs best, and going from there.  Verizon used to be the land of forgotten phones, but now they have a couple of nice models that can complete with any from the other carriers.

Njia

July 12th, 2010 at 3:51 PM ^

Is the size. Its big, (that 4.3" screen needs a bezel, case and room for other assorted componentry). One review I read noted that it may be - in some respects - intended to compete with both the iPhone and iPad (though, for the life of me, I don't see how the iPad really fits here). The same reviewer noted that it can't comfortably be carried in a pants pocket.

Unless I want to carry around a "European shoulder bag", (uh, no) that means a holster. My BB Curve in its holster is already plenty big enough, and I can't imagine wearing anything still larger.

Its the only thing that really bothers me about the Droid X. I'd be willing to give up my access to the corporate intranet, email, etc. for the better phone and apps in a heartbeat but for that drawback.

DaveInNerk

July 12th, 2010 at 6:04 PM ^

for corporate email and calendars.

My Droid easily connects to our Corporate Exchange server (and with security certificates) to pull down both.

 

The corporate thing has been what keeps BBerry above water but it is a joke.

Njia

July 12th, 2010 at 7:27 PM ^

It depends highly on how the corporate IT architecture and email are configured. Microsoft? Notes? Novell? How about the use of a BlackBerry Enterprise Server? Does it require authentication (via the BB's PIN) of the BlackBerry on the corporate network?

Our corporate intranet, for example, is not "visible" outside the company's firewall without a VPN. That includes the email servers. Thus, a Droid (or iPhone, Palm Pre, or a "rogue" BlackBerry) cannot gain access.

Red_Lee

July 12th, 2010 at 6:25 PM ^

A while ago, I "upgraded" to the cheapest phone Verizon had to offer in store, some motorola hunk of junk and it's on its last legs. 

I'm thinking of getting a new high tech phone, but I live up in Marquette. The instant I get outside of town I'm in the woods of the UP with little to no service for most of the time. The only time I'm away from my apartment for long enough is when I'm in these limited service areas. Would this affect the internet capabilities of a high tech phone? There are plenty of areas where I get some service, but I don't know a lot about high end phones or their capabilities in regions such as mine.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Oh, and I 'spose it's what I git for livin' in da UP, eh?