Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Choosing my next cell/smart-phone

Well, its been a few months of thinking and pondering, but I’ve finally made up my mind about what kind of phone to get next. I have to admit, the market is full of options that would be great upgrades from my Palm Centro; the iPhone, Android, the Palm Pre, etc. So, come March, I’ll be getting a Windows Phone 7… er… phone.

The phones are nice, do what I want, and integrate well with some of the other services I use. So, now, the only trick for me is deciding which one to get. Since I’m with AT&T, I’ve got three choices. The HTC Surround doesn’t do anything for me, truth be told. A such, I need to decide between the LG Quantum and the Samsung Focus.

Just the way things are looking right now:

LG Quantum

  • I like the hardware keyboard. While there’s the standard virtual keyboard? Truth be told I’m used to physical ones plus not using the touch-screen as a keyboard means I can more of the screen to see things. Given my Centro usage I will be using the word processor and spreadsheet quite a bit, not to mention email.
  • It has 16g of storage right off the bat, which is double the Focus. I’m not much interested in adding memory to the Focus, which is doable but not supported by Microsoft (AT&T requested the feature).
  • While the LCD screen isn’t as nice as the Focus’, its supposed to be better for battery life.

Samsung Focus

  • The only thing I’m really worried about the Quantum is the slider keyboard. I’ve never had a phone with one before, so I’m worried about wear and tear. The Focus is one piece – no mechanical mechanisms to go awry.
  • The Focus’ screen is nicer than the Quantum’s, and is a bit larger to boot. That would be easier on the eyes.
  • The Focus has been called the best WP7 phone available for AT&T right now, and I’ve seen one article call it the second best phone for AT&T after the iPhone.

This might take a little while to puzzle out for me. Thankfully, since Microsoft has its minimum specs in place, both phones will do nicely. I’m looking forward to picking one up, and hopefully by the end of the year? Maybe even have a simple app or two made for them!

Fun times, fun times.

2 comments:

  1. Thought you'd want to read this, even though you're not considering an iPhone. Just know you like to read up on stuff like this.

    http://lifehacker.com/5731557/know-the-differences-between-att-and-verizon-before-committing-to-the-new-iphone

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  2. Well, I'm on a family plan, so I won't be moving. AT&T does well here - my friend moved to AT&T because Verizon doesn't get good reception upcountry. Of course, if I was on Verizon, the WP7 phones are headed that way too :)

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