iPhone 3G upgrade dilemma: how long should I wait?

[v0id]

Bump.

OK, it's now three months later. Really getting tired of the iPhone 3G on AT&T, and the 2011 smartphone release schedule seems to have settled out a little bit since January. The Droid Bionic appears to have been canceled/delayed until late summer or fall. The HTC Thunderbolt has been released as has the Motorola Atrix. Droid Incredible 2 is only about a week away. It appears that the LG Revolution will be released at some indeterminate point in the summer.

From what I can tell both Sprint and T-Mobile have considerably patchier coverage in this area (Santa Cruz, CA) than AT&T and Verizon, so I'm not really considering any phones on these networks, which is too bad since it looks like there are some cool ones coming down the pike (HTC Sensation etc). Even AT&T kinda sucks around here. I've pretty much decided that I'm not interested in continuing in Apple's ecosystem so I'll probably pass on the iPhone 4 and/or 5 when it is released.

Back in January it seemed like we might actually get some well-designed dual core 4G phones by late spring/early summer, but it increasingly appears that this will not happen any time soon. I don't really want to wait until fall for the prospect of the revamped Droid Bionic or what have you. So, at this point I think I'm willing to settle for phones available now or in the near future.

The question:

The VZW Thunderbolt is on sale on Amazon Wireless for $130 this weekend. This is a great price for a relatively new phone. I've read about all the quirks but I think this phone still looks pretty promising, especially if I can root it and mess about with custom ROMs etc. There is also the attraction of locking in (for now) unlimited LTE data, although I'll say again that LTE isn't currently available in this area and probably won't be until the end of 2011. I think it would be great to have a LTE-capable phone when VZW gets around to expanding the network to this area, though. Given my unwillingness to wait much longer, is this a deal worth pulling the trigger on?

The other option is to settle for a somewhat "more refined" but less powerful/capable phone like the Incredible 2 when it is released. That kind of experience is also appealing in a way but since I'll probably do some tweaking regardless, I'm not sure the value proposition is really there.

---

Cliffs:

- 1H 2011 smartphone release schedule is now more or less settled, no "perfect" dual core/4G phones appear to forthcoming
- Trigger finger getting very itchy, especially given the VZW Thunderbolt deal this weekend
- Looking to AT to help me figure out what the hell to do

Help a brother out!

 

[v0id]

Also, where is the AT review of the Thunderbolt? Did I miss that?

 

[Fire&Blood]

Bump.

OK, it's now three months later. Really getting tired of the iPhone 3G on AT&T, and the 2011 smartphone release schedule seems to have settled out a little bit since January. The Droid Bionic appears to have been canceled/delayed until late summer or fall. The HTC Thunderbolt has been released as has the Motorola Atrix. Droid Incredible 2 is only about a week away. It appears that the LG Revolution will be released at some indeterminate point in the summer.

From what I can tell both Sprint and T-Mobile have considerably patchier coverage in this area (Santa Cruz, CA) than AT&T and Verizon, so I'm not really considering any phones on these networks, which is too bad since it looks like there are some cool ones coming down the pike (HTC Sensation etc). Even AT&T kinda sucks around here. I've pretty much decided that I'm not interested in continuing in Apple's ecosystem so I'll probably pass on the iPhone 4 and/or 5 when it is released.

Back in January it seemed like we might actually get some well-designed dual core 4G phones by late spring/early summer, but it increasingly appears that this will not happen any time soon. I don't really want to wait until fall for the prospect of the revamped Droid Bionic or what have you. So, at this point I think I'm willing to settle for phones available now or in the near future.

The question:

The VZW Thunderbolt is on sale on Amazon Wireless for $130 this weekend. This is a great price for a relatively new phone. I've read about all the quirks but I think this phone still looks pretty promising, especially if I can root it and mess about with custom ROMs etc. There is also the attraction of locking in (for now) unlimited LTE data, although I'll say again that LTE isn't currently available in this area and probably won't be until the end of 2011. I think it would be great to have a LTE-capable phone when VZW gets around to expanding the network to this area, though. Given my unwillingness to wait much longer, is this a deal worth pulling the trigger on?

The other option is to settle for a somewhat "more refined" but less powerful/capable phone like the Incredible 2 when it is released. That kind of experience is also appealing in a way but since I'll probably do some tweaking regardless, I'm not sure the value proposition is really there.

---

Cliffs:

- 1H 2011 smartphone release schedule is now more or less settled, no "perfect" dual core/4G phones appear to forthcoming
- Trigger finger getting very itchy, especially given the VZW Thunderbolt deal this weekend
- Looking to AT to help me figure out what the hell to do

Help a brother out!

You might want to wait for this:

I don't know whether you are tired of iphone on AT&T or tired of it completely. Even if iphone 5 is not what you want, it will force all other smartphone OEM's to step up.
http://thisismynext.com/2011/04/22/iphone-5-design/

 

[shortylickens]

Just get a 2nd job and buy each new phone as it comes out.

 

[v0id]

I don't know whether you are tired of iphone on AT&T or tired of it completely. Even if iphone 5 is not what you want, it will force all other smartphone OEM's to step up. http://thisismynext.com/2011/04/22/iphone-5-design/

Ehhh. I'm pretty tired of AT&T - calls drop in my house from time to time. It's not terrible, exactly, but it's definitely not great.

The mockup looks pretty cool, but I'm not sure about continuing with the iPhone. I don't mind iOS but switching to Android is attractive in some ways. Also I am really interested in a 4G phone, but given the network situation here I suppose it's not a dealbreaker.

What's the current release date estimate for the iPhone 5?

 

[Fire&Blood]

What's the current release date estimate for the iPhone 5?

No one really knows at this point.

Each situation is unique, what works for me may be a bad decision for you, I can't point to a carrier or a phone and say this what you need.

 

[Bateluer]

Also, where is the AT review of the Thunderbolt? Did I miss that?

Good question. Surprised to not see one from AT.

The TB is a damn good phone though, some minor problems, but nothing serious.

 

[alent1234]

Ehhh. I'm pretty tired of AT&T - calls drop in my house from time to time. It's not terrible, exactly, but it's definitely not great.

The mockup looks pretty cool, but I'm not sure about continuing with the iPhone. I don't mind iOS but switching to Android is attractive in some ways. Also I am really interested in a 4G phone, but given the network situation here I suppose it's not a dealbreaker.

What's the current release date estimate for the iPhone 5?

I went from a 3gs to the HTC inspire and the phone part is better than the iphone. The 3g is known to have a buggy modem and baseband software

The app store is better than the android market but I have an ipad and don't really miss anything on my HTC

 

[alent1234]

Ehhh. I'm pretty tired of AT&T - calls drop in my house from time to time. It's not terrible, exactly, but it's definitely not great.

The mockup looks pretty cool, but I'm not sure about continuing with the iPhone. I don't mind iOS but switching to Android is attractive in some ways. Also I am really interested in a 4G phone, but given the network situation here I suppose it's not a dealbreaker.

What's the current release date estimate for the iPhone 5?

I went from a 3gs to the HTC inspire and the phone part is better than the iphone. The 3g is known to have a buggy modem and baseband software

The app store is better than the android market but I have an ipad and don't really miss anything on my HTC

For the thunderbolt I think its the same CPU and gpu as the inspire except it has a LTE modem

 

[v0id]

Update: I went to the VZW store here in town today to play with the Thunderbolt some more. It seems pretty fast and the screen looks great - to me, at least, going from an iPhone 3G. One of the reps at the store mentioned that our area could get LTE service this summer, which is earlier than I expected. Think I'm going to go through with the Amazon Wireless deal when I get home later.

Anybody have good results in respect to the phone's battery/heat issues after rooting and installing new ROMs, etc?

 

[shortylickens]

Update: I went to the VZW store here in town today to play with the Thunderbolt some more. It seems pretty fast and the screen looks great - to me, at least, going from an iPhone 3G. One of the reps at the store mentioned that our area could get LTE service this summer, which is earlier than I expected. Think I'm going to go through with the Amazon Wireless deal when I get home later.

Anybody have good results in respect to the phone's battery/heat issues after rooting and installing new ROMs, etc?

Amazon occasionally has awesome deals on phones. Just know what you want, what it costs, and keep checking back with them.
You could seriously save hundreds if you jump on at the right time.

 

[v0id]

Just get a 2nd job and buy each new phone as it comes out.

Amazon occasionally has awesome deals on phones. Just know what you want, what it costs, and keep checking back with them.
You could seriously save hundreds if you jump on at the right time.

Stop despoiling my thread, guy.

 

[shortylickens]

Sorry, the first was a joke. 2nd was serious.
Why get a 2nd job when its easier to just buy cheaper?

 

[Pliablemoose]

Update: I went to the VZW store here in town today to play with the Thunderbolt some more. It seems pretty fast and the screen looks great - to me, at least, going from an iPhone 3G. One of the reps at the store mentioned that our area could get LTE service this summer, which is earlier than I expected. Think I'm going to go through with the Amazon Wireless deal when I get home later.

Anybody have good results in respect to the phone's battery/heat issues after rooting and installing new ROMs, etc?

ThunderBolt owner here, just rooted mine today, honestly it's a little rough around the edges, battery life is poor, no need to put up with that since you're not in a 4G area either...

I don't know what to tell you, maybe score a 3GS on craigslist in the next week, rent is coming due and you should be able to negotiate a good price. then hold out with it till the next iPhone on Verizon comes out?

Do you have to surf and talk at the same time? I know a lot of folks that are pretty happy with the Verizion iPhone, current gen.

 

[v0id]

ThunderBolt owner here, just rooted mine today, honestly it's a little rough around the edges, battery life is poor, no need to put up with that since you're not in a 4G area either...

Yeah, you just hit the reasons why I've been hemming and hawing about this whole thing. I guess the key question is whether it's worth it to put up with things like less-than-perfect industrial design, crappy battery life, etc., in order have the option for LTE when it arrives here (and who knows when that will actually happen). If yes, the Thunderbolt's probably a good choice; if no, something like the Incredible 2, Droid X2 (to be released in May?), or iPhone 4 VZW would be a better choice.

I don't know what to tell you, maybe score a 3GS on craigslist in the next week, rent is coming due and you should be able to negotiate a good price. then hold out with it till the next iPhone on Verizon comes out?

Not really interested in a "stop-gap" phone, I guess. Seems like a big hassle to deal with acquiring one and using it just for a few months. Unfortunately I think the iPhone 5 is a little too far out to wait for.

Do you have to surf and talk at the same time? I know a lot of folks that are pretty happy with the Verizion iPhone, current gen.

I don't have to surf and talk at the same time. The VZW iPhone wouldn't be a bad choice, I think, but it is like 9 months old... bleh. Decisions, decisions.