T-Mobile contract up in March; switching to Verizon. Update: Got the Droid.

[Eli]

As the title says, I've had a Blackberry Pearl with T-Mobile for the last 2 years. My contract expires in March, so in the name of saving money, we're going to add me to my girlfriends Verizon plan, which should save about 60$/mo.

Been very satisfied with my Pearl.. but it's pretty beat up. Thinking about a Curve.

I'm leary of a touch screen, because I do tend to beat my phone up. Between being dropped, and going into pockets with keys and such.. I'm skeptical that a touch screen would last 2 years. Though maybe my fears are unfounded?

Is there anything on the horizon perhaps worth waiting for?

Thanks for any information. I'm way out of the phone loop.

Edit: Hmm.. So if I were to stay with T-Mobile, which phone would be the most comparable to the Droid?

The HD2?

Update:

Welp, called T-Mobile up and found that my contract expired.. today!, so I decided to pull the plug.

Ordered the Droid through wirefly.com with the 50$ bing cashback, and ported my old number. Wewt!

This should be interesting... I'm excited.

I went and played with the phone in the verizon store. The keyboard really didn't seem that bad.... I had heard all this stuff about "flat" keys, but they seemed pretty convex to me. I don't think I'll have a problem with it.

 

[dguy6789]

Nexus One is rumored to be coming to Verizon in March. It's the best phone on the market. The touch screen is really durable, I don't think you'd have much issue with it. There's also a little sleeve the phone comes with that you can keep it in while it's in your pocket so keys and tools don't scratch the screen.

If you really don't want to use a touch screen, Droid is the way to go on Verizon.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I'd go Droid. If you're not big on touch screens it's much better to ease into using them by first getting a touchscreen phone with a physical keyboard.

 

[Deeko]

Droid is still very heavily touch based, even though it has a keyboard. If you like Blackberry and don't want touch, go with a Blackberry Tour.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Droid is still very heavily touch based, even though it has a keyboard. If you like Blackberry and don't want touch, go with a Blackberry Tour.

No, wait a little longer as the Tour is about to be replaced, but if you cannot wait, get the Tour, it's a solid device.

 

[Eli]

What are the advantages of the Tour over the Curve?

Looks like the Tour doesn't have WiFi? It's not necessary, but I thought that would be kinda cool.

 

[Deeko]

What are the advantages of the Tour over the Curve?

Looks like the Tour doesn't have WiFi? It's not necessary, but I thought that would be kinda cool.

DBZ can correct me if I'm wrong, but...

-higher resolution screen
-world phone capability
-higer res camera
-different (IMO, better) keyboard
-newer BBOS (? maybe)

 

[Rottie]

driod or nexus one is all you need with vzw

 

[zerocool84]

If you drop your phone a lot, get a phone that isn't a slider. Sliders don't take well to getting dropped at all.

 

[Bateluer]

driod or nexus one is all you need with vzw

Seconded.

 

[FreedomGUNDAM]

having used the itouch and iphone, I was leary of the Droid. But since having the Droid, I love it. The only downside is that you dont have a billion of apps to choose from. However, in terms of the hardware side, I love it.

 

[Muadib]

driod or nexus one is all you need with vzw

It looks like the Incredible will be here soon. I'm still hoping that the Desire will be Verizon's Nexus one.

 

[hanoverphist]

no omnia 2 love, eh?

im still not totally sold on it either, but using the default winmo6.5 interface i kind of like it so far.

 

[boomhower]

Nexus One-> Droid -> Tour 2

 

[Deeko]

no omnia 2 love, eh?

im still not totally sold on it either, but using the default winmo6.5 interface i kind of like it so far.

Swype is probably the best on-screen typing method out there. I have the beta version on my Droid and its absolutely fantastic - blows the default Android and Better Keyboard out of the water. That alone makes the Omnia II enticing.

I actually kinda like the default 6.5.3 interface better than the manufacturer skins like TouchFlo or TouchWiz.

 

[isekii]

I would stick with T-mobile and get a phone with UMA BB Bold 9700 would fit the bill nicely.

 

[foghorn67]

Don't buy the Tour likes the others said. The replacement should be arriving soon. Gone is the trackball!
I would suggest looking into the Android phones as well.

 

[Eli]

I like my Pearl.. I have no problems with the trackball. I'm still leaning towards the Curve, just because I see it as an upgraded Pearl.

I've never had any problems with T-Mobile, so that's not the reason for the switch.. I guess it could go either way.. Me switching to Verizon, or my girlfriend switching to T-Mobile. I dunno.

The Curve is also cheap.. lol. Where can I go to see whats in the pipeline phone wise? We won't be really looking to switch till April, probably.

 

[AstroManLuca]

If T-Mobile's coverage is good in your area I'd rather have them as a service provider than Verizon. They are the only carrier that actually reduces your monthly cost if you are using an unsubsidized phone. It just seems more fair. With Verizon and other carriers, you may as well get a new phone every two years because there's no reason not to (well, other than being locked into a contract). At least T-Mobile gives you the option to bring your own phone, not sign up for a contract, and not have to pay for a phone subsidy you don't use.

Of course, it's only $10/mo, which adds up to $240 over the two years. And most phone subsidies are more than $240. But that depends on the phone. Get a used T-Mobile Curve for $100 or something from eBay/Craigslist and spend $240 less on your service than if you were to buy a subsidized phone and sign up for a 2-year contract.

T-Mobile also lets you swap out SIM cards, which is much easier than switching the ESN if you want to change phones.

 

[DivideBYZero]

DBZ can correct me if I'm wrong, but...

-higher resolution screen
-world phone capability
-higer res camera
-different (IMO, better) keyboard
-newer BBOS (? maybe)

All correct! :thumbsup:

 

[shortylickens]

Well, I love android more than the crummy Blackberry OS, so I'd recommend an android phone.
BUT, if you love Blackberry and are used to it and comfortable with it, I see no reason to make the switch now.
I would avoid either of the Storms and get a Tour or Curve instead. Depends on your budget.

 

[Eli]

Hmm... so many choices.

I think maybe we'll get into the Verizon store to play with some phones this weekend. On the one hand, I wouldn't mind having a more top of the line phone. On the other, I'm afraid I won't like it for some reason, hence the tendancy to stay with what I know - Blackberry.

Hmm.

 

[AstroManLuca]

You can always stick to BlackBerries and just get a nicer one like the Tour. I mean, you're going to be paying for the data regardless of which one you get so it may as well be a good one.

 

[Muadib]

If you do go to the store, be sure and checkout the Droid & Eris. My pal got another BB, and now regrets not waiting. If you like the Eris, then you should wait for the Nexus 1, which should be out on the 23rd.

 

[theblackbox]

wait until the eris gets 2.1. the sense UI is the best on the market, the virtual keyboard better then any other, and it's a great little phone. with 1.5 it is slow, lags and not that impressive, but with 2.1 on it, it is a completely different story, and the slickest droid based phone out there, besides the nexus one.
the best part is the sense UI which should be the standard for any droid phone.