getting a new phone, need opinions
 

so i have verizon and i am looking to get a new phone and just wondering what everybody else all has or what not to get. i really want the sony Ericsson xperia play which is the playstation phone. but i read that it might have bad memory problems. the last 2 phones i have had were samsung and were garbage. i currently have the omnia II a window phone and it totally sucks balls. i want to stay away from windows phones at all costs.

opinions and suggestions are welcome.

Close to a year ago while you still could get unlimited data, I picked up the Motorola Droid X through Verizon. I was quite happy with the phone while on the initial release firmware (froyo), but it was starting to feel bloated with the latest firmware (Gingerbread). I rooted it a month or so ago and just flashed it to Liberty3 v2.0 last night and it's like a new phone again. Fast & most everything is working better than the Verizon programming allowed.

If you're into tinkering, go with an Android phone. I didn't really expect to get too caught up in messing with my phone because I simply need it to work reliably, but I was surprised at how easy it was to move back and forth between roms while I was messing around last night.

One of my fellow firefighters just got the Motorola Razr. From the reviews I was reading, I wasn't expecting to be all that impressed. After playing with it for an hour or so the other night, I was thoroughly impressed with it. Slightly larger than the Droid X, but considerably lighter feeling. Thinner, but not flimsy feeling. It is a very nice phone and with a dual core processor, forward facing camera, and 4G, it will possibly be the next phone I get unless I like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus even more once I get a chance to try that phone out for a bit. But if the comparison stats are true, which the Razr beats the Nexus... There is a lot to be said for being on a Nexus though considering Samsung's approach to firmware openness & relatively quick timeline for release of major Android changes (providing Verizon doesn't put the damper on those two aspects).

The problem with the 4G phones is the battery life stinks. If you're OK with that, I'd go for the Galaxy Nexus when it comes out next week.

I think any Android or Apple phone would work great. I have an iPhone 4S and had a 3GS for the past few years and think it's great. I thought about switching over to the Galaxy S II to get away from apple but there really aren't enough differences to justify straying away from all of my 'made for iphone' accessories.

IMO, Android is the way to go if you're into modding/rooting the device. Much easier to obtain and install third-party software that doesn't need to be "approved" by apple or google. iPhones can be jailbroken easily but I think Android is still king when it comes to customization.

3G phones as well, especially if you browse the web heavily. But realistically, the days of getting a week or more battery life (I used to get a solid 10 days with my old Razr with 6-7 phone calls and probably 10 or so texts a day using the extended battery) are over unless you don't need any of the features that differentiate a smartphone from the lesser offerings. I was skeptical as to whether I would fully utilize a smart phone. Let me just say that I can't get over how much I do with it now. Whether its posting here while out, updating the fire departments website/calendar/rentals/etc, to just how nice it is to have my email & contacts sync'd between my gmail account & phone. It has become a very useful tool! I can make it a solid 24 hours given my usage habits and that will hopefully improve with the new ROM.

I'm waiting somewhat patiently for a stable release of Gingerbread Cyanogenmod 7 for the Droid X. If they can get a few more of the bugs fixed, I may just give it a go.

The sheer aftermarket support for the Android devices is astonishing. There are tons of ROMs available for just about all of them. Even if you buy the latest & greatest, by the time it starts to get 'ho-hum', there will be fantastic ROMs available with clear, worry/hassle free instructions on how to implement them.

I'll be honest after having the droid and now the iphone and experiencing the droid X I love android, however i have my Iphone 4 now and love it as well. The biggest turnoff for me as far as droids go is their battery life sucks compared to the iphone. doing all the same things between the 2 the iphone will last a solid 12 hours while i was charging the droid every 4-6.

If battery life isn't a real concern then it's a matter of taste. If you like apple products then the iPhone may be for you. If not then choose the droid. Either way you can't go wrong when it comes to firmware and apps available. IMHO

I currently have an iPhone 4S that I switched to from an LG Thrill 3D. Before the Thrill, I had an iPhone 3G and I found the switch to Android to be really difficult. Nothing against Android, but it was just a big difference between the OS's. If you go android, you have plenty of choices and you have the option to do much more software wise.

I have the Motorola Droid 3 with 3G and the qwerty keyboard and like it, but if you like a virtual keyboard and 4G I would go with the Droid Razr or wait for the Droid 4 with the qwerty.
Plus, no Carrier IQ on Verizon. :icon_biggrin:

I've bee on the Motorola Atrix for about a year - and I'm going to cry if something happens to it!

Dual core 1ghz Proc. and 1 gig of RAM and 16G(Dumpster) of internal storage. A huge 1930MaH battery. Full web and what not. It has the Webtop Connect and Theater mode in HDMI mode for slide shows and video presentations.

I, just Sunday, got my wife the new Atrix 2(after the touchscreen, in her iToy, quit reading and we couldn't unlock the phone) - It boasts 1080p video recording and 8mpx camera with 6 shots/per second in burst mode and a flash. Along with what the original Atrix had - Minus the fingerprint scanner - which I use to unlock the phone.

Battery life with the Motorola appears to be above par(at this time) than most brands that cater to Enterprise/Coorperate use. I highly recommend Motorola for battery life and not crashing!

i think im going to go with the xperia play. it just seems like such a great phone. not to mention all the emulators i can get from the android store. and that it has the android OS on it. my gf has a htc status and it has android on it as well and i really like how it works. hopefully i can get it either this weekend or after christmas sometime soon. all depends on how much i get paid. i can get it for 50 with the upgrade im eligible for. im not into spending 200 on a phone that im only going to keep for a year or two.