Got a New Phone!

Bought a new phone yesterday.

Yeah.  I went Verizon.  This is the first time in years that I'm not using an iPhone.  Since I've done a lot in the last 24 hours with the new phone, I've a bit to discuss.

The wife wouldn't let go of her vacation and stretched it to the limit yesterday.  She took the kids to the water park and I was positively done with vacationing, so I opted out.  I took the boy with me and decided to drive around Massanutten/Luray/Harrisburg in Virginia.  Then I got to thinking that maybe I should go look at phones at the closest Verizon Wireless center.  After driving around for a bit, I went to Harrisburg, looked around, and asked them if they had HTC Thunderbolts.  They did and I began to ask questions.  I looked at other 4G Verizon phones but had all issues with them.  The Droid X2 had a BIG screen but wasn't 4G.  The Revolution and Charge were OK but again, they weren't meeting my requirements, which I explained in my last post.

So, I ended up getting the Thunderbolt.

My 24-hour impressions are below.

1.  This phone is HEAVY.  When I say this, I'm comparing to my current iPhone 3GS.  My wife's Samsung Infuse makes the T-bolt seem like a boulder.  But I do like the solid feel.  I do like the heft, though...it doesn't seem fragile and is probably more durable than my iPhone.

2.  The screen is brighter than I thought.  It was blinding my wife when I was in bed reading.

3.  Voice clarity is incredible.  I called my mom and could hear everything going on in the background.

4.  Still getting used to the Android Market.  There's a LOT of junk apps...seriously.  I'm not used to that.  I was trying to find a free and GOOD free screenshot app but couldn't find one (and all want you to have a hacked phone (for root access).  I'm still looking for a good screenshot app, too.

5.  I had to find some critical apps that matched what I was using on my iPhone, such as mSecure.  They had mSecure for Android phones but it was a real pain to get a backed up copy imported onto my T-bolt.  At first, I mailed a backup to myself, but the phone wouldn't let me copy the encrypted backup (it was several pages long and the phone wouldn't let me copy AND scroll down).  So, I used mBackup and my Macbook to get a copy onto the T-bolt.

6.  I had a difficult time figuring out how to get my iPhone pictures onto my T-bolt.  Finally, I plugged my T-bolt into my Macbook with a USB cable, which mounted the phone as a drive.  Then I just copied the pictures onto the micro-SD card.

7.  I had to repurchase my highly desirable apps.  Apps such as Tapatalk and Motorcycle.com (as well as mSecure).  That was undesirable but unavoidable.  I found that I'd invested a bit into the iPhone, enough to where it was a bit painful for me to repurchase these apps.  I left alone such apps as Angry Bird, especially since I'd have to start all over with playing it (I don't believe Angry Bird saves game progress to the level that I can continue from the same place I'd left off on the iPhone).

8.  I love the speaker phone.  It is loud.  I love the fact that the speaker is big (it is behind the side stand).

9.  My bill should be the same as what I had with the iPhone, with the exception of the activation fee, which is $35 and will only show on the first bill.

10.  Data plan usage is NOT unlimited, but the salesperson swears that most people don't bump into the limit.  He insisted that 2GB is fine for most people.  We will see, as I do sometimes use data (at work when I can't reach the wifi hotspots).

11.  The voice plan I selected was the 450 plan.  Lately, with AT&T, I'd been bumping into my limit but what was saving me was the rollover minutes (I have a TON of them).  I'll have to watch my usage very closely.  No more speaking with mom for 1+ hours in the middle of the day!

12.  The seven (7) virtual screentops may not be enough for me.  Or, maybe I need to reconsider what I place on those screentops.  I'm used to the IOS's way of grouping screentop icons.

13.  The FriendStream app is NICE!  The wife also has it on her phone (but she doesn't use it...I'm going to push her to try it, as it is VERY cool.

14.  The front-facing camera on this phone is wicked.  It rivals my wife's Infuse (that statement would be scandalous to some).  The flash is bright, also.  The clarity is good.  The rear-facing camera is decent, also, but I would like to test it with apps such as Skype.  Sadly, Skype isn't ready for this phone yet.  Yahoo might work, though.

15.  I love the way I can kill running apps and have an app manage battery consumption.

16.  The micro-USB cable is a life-saver.  No more proprietary cabling.  I HATED the iPhone's cable and the fact that I couldn't do crap with it without iTunes.

17.  The 32-gb micro-SD card is a lifesaver...and it is rather large in storage capacity.  Too bad that you can only access it by removing the battery.

18.  This phone pretty much flies when asked to do something.  I rarely see it running slowly.

19.  I had a few large software updates waiting for me.  It's nice to have these loaded directly to the phone instead of relying on iTunes.  Word of advice, though, some updates can be large...it would be wise to use a wifi connection when updating.  Also, I preprogramed the phone to get the updates while I was sleeping (so it wouldn't interfere with me doing other things...plus, the phone gets hot when downloading large files).

It's going to take me awhile to get used to this phone, especially since I'm coming from an iPhone.  I'm ready for a change, but I'm not going to lie when I say that the iPhone is the phone to have if you just want crap to work.

Loving it so far!

EDIT:


Still need to import my iPhone contacts and music to my Thunderbolt.  I'm currently in the process of importing my contacts.  What I had to do was save all of my contacts in my address book on my Macbook into a vcard formated file.  I then placed this file on the micro-SD card, then I imported the file into my People app.  It looks like it worked fine.  The real test may be my music, especially my iTunes-purchased music.  :(


EDIT 2:


Tried using ITMW (itunemywalkman) to get my music into my Android but it was cumbersome, but I remember a phone salseman mentioning Doubletwist.  I installed that and my music appears to be synching.  It will be awhile, as I've 29GB of stuff to transfer.  I suppose I can do this a few hours every day for a few days.  Most of it is podcasts, I think, so I could maybe remove all the podcasts (I don't listen to them anymore anyways).  We'll see how it turns out.

Got a new phone - iPhone 3GS!

Backed up old phone -3G 16GB

Sync'ed the new phone - 3GS 32GB.

Erased old phone.

How to erase all data from an iPhone - Apparently, this is a two-hour process (OMG). Maybe it won't take so long, since I was only using 7GB of the space.

Giving the 3G to the wife. The phone guys just swapped out my old SIM card from the old phone to the new one. Took the old one home and gave it to the wife and she was playing with it and yelled, "why is it working when there's no SIM?" We'd forgotten that this phone can still be used without a SIM, and she was going on the web and everything. Basically, it was in iTouch mode...hahaha. So, apparently, she can pop in the SIM from her phone (non-iPhone) and it should work. She'd still have to call or visit an AT&T authorized dealer so that they could turn on the iPhone data plan, though (from what I'm told). We'll add a family plan to my phone and she can piggy-back off of me.

Seriously, I considered the Droid but did not consider much else. Based on some reviews I read and some feedback from friends that have the Droid, I decided to not get that phone. Really, once you go iPhone, you're not turning back. Almost everyone I know that tried to switch away came right back.

The 3GS is much faster than the 3G (the 3G still lags a bit after finger inputs). I can play my Skee Ball much better with this new hardware (no lag due to other background tasks going on). It also feels just a tad lighter in weight. My old cases fit the new phone. All my apps are still compatible with the 3GS. The camera on the GS is worlds better, also...and the video function is a dream. Additionally, the speaker is WAY louder.

About all I have to do now is upgrade the firmware to v3.1.3 (it currently has v3.1.2).

And, to be different, I went black this time instead of white.

So, why upgrade to 3GS when this summer will probably be 4g? Because I'm not one to be a beta tester. I'll let other people sort out the new hardware...I just want a stable phone. Plus, if I REALLY want one, I'll get it anyways (and sell my 3GS to help pay for the 4g phone).

iPhone 3GS 32GB or Droid?

So, I'm really close to being able to upgrade my 3G 16GB soon (this coming Monday). I'm on the fence on if I should wait or upgrade to the 3GS 32GB. I just know as soon as I do, within months, Apple will release a new phone (happened last time, even though I knew it was coming but didn't know when).

I'm also curious about the Droid. The tech stats don't really mean all that much to me. I hear the keys on the pad are very small. The camera looks to be a lot better than any iPhone. Both can capture video. The Droid's memory and storage specs leave a bit to be desired, although it will take an external card (up to 16GB of microSD). Apparently, the Droid will chew up and spit out a freshly charged battery, although I've heard multiple people stating that the phone would need to be tuned (similar to when I tuned my phone to lessen battery consumption). Verizon's data plan has dropped to $69.99, according to some of the TV commercials I've recently been seeing. That would put a Droid close to what I'm paying now for my iPhone service. Both can tether and both can use headsets to voice-dial.

I could try out the Droid and return it within two weeks of purchase if I don't like it...wondering if I'd be wasting my time, though. My experience with Apple is GREAT and I'd definitely want to purchase through Best Buy and purchase their accident plan like I did with the last pone (and ended up dropping it not long after purchase, which Best Buy replaced for a small fee).

Basically, I'm afraid of giving up the Apple experience. I'll make a decision on what to do soon...but really, there's no rush to become indentured by another phone company...again.