Switching to Verizon in January, questions about Android

[prism]

I'll be brand new to the Android platform, coming off of a Blackberry. So far, the most intriguing devices to me are the Droid 2, Samsung Fascinate and the upcoming Droid Pro.

I've seen that the Droid OS keeps getting upgraded; if I bought a Fascinate, would I be able to update it from 2.1 to 2.2 (or 2.3), or would I have to download a custom OS/UI that would void the warranty?

Also, I've heard alot of negative things about MotoBlur. Is it simply a GUI overlay on top of the Android OS?

Thanks for any info!

 

[Anubis8307]

Im curious about knowing about these Android OS upgrades too. I seen tablets on Ebay with one version, but i would assume just update it to the newest one...

Have you stopped at Verizon to try some of the live phones they have? Droid Incredible is my favorite! And newegg has them for free right now with contracts.

 

[boomhower]

Upgrades to new software is up to the manufacturer and carrier. You should be fine for 2.3 but I wouldn't hold my breath on 3.0. Updates typically lag behind googles release quite a bit.

That said, if you root and are comfortable flashing roms you'll get it sooner and updates after the carrier quits doing it. I don't know about samsungs mod community but HTC's and Motorola's are very active.

 

[thescreensavers]

Samsung smatphones apparently suck at quality from what I hear.

Motoblur is just an interface that moto set up. Its not too bad. dont worry much about it. People make it seam like its so horrible.

Droid Pro looks very interesting with that keyboard. The D2 keyboard is very hard to type on, but what I hear with some break in it gets better. The Display models were too new for me lol.

 

[prism]

Also, what's with wirefly/newegg offering these massive phone discounts over signing up directly at Verizon's site? Are the plans exactly the same, and if so, is there any downside to going through one of these alternate sites?

 

[thescreensavers]

^ I believe you sign a contract with them as well. So if you cancel you got a Verizon and wirefly early cancellation fee's

 

[boomhower]

^ I believe you sign a contract with them as well. So if you cancel you got a Verizon and wirefly early cancellation fee's

This. The third party vendors get a TON of money for signing up new accounts so sometimes they will give massive discounts on phones. But you are signing up for a second ETF. The bright side is it's short term. Last one I looked at was amazon and I believe it was 180 days. The plans are the same.

 

[Raduque]

This. The third party vendors get a TON of money for signing up new accounts so sometimes they will give massive discounts on phones. But you are signing up for a second ETF. The bright side is it's short term. Last one I looked at was amazon and I believe it was 180 days. The plans are the same.

Pretty much all of them are 180 day contracts. They're more limited than a typical carrier contract, though - you're not allowed to change your plan or features (IOW, if you sign up for a 1500 minute plan, unlimited text and unlimited data, you have to keep all of that for 6 months) or the retailer hits you with their broken contract fee, because they get a chargeback on their commission if you change your plan.

 

[Anubis]

the droid 2 is being phased out, you might not be able to get one in Jan

 

[YoungGun21]

The manufacturers push out updates Over The Air (OTA). The Fascinate is a good phone with its only major issue being GPS problems, but if you don't use GPS often then it isn't a big deal. I'd say it is a better choice if you want to root, its modding community is already a decent size and once it gets 2.2 it will explode. The Droid X and Droid 2 are fairly locked down at this point.

The HTC modding community is extremely big as well.