New phone time. TO THE FUTURE!

[Helix]

I recently upgraded from my Thunderbolt too. I got the Galaxy Note 2 and absolutely love the phone. It's a big phone with a big screen but that's how I like it. I frequently use the S pen and find it super convenient to write down notes whenever you need to quickly. It's also useful because you can take notes while you are on the phone. The battery life is very very good, after about a day of heavy usage it only drops down to roughly 50-40%. It's great for viewing documents and powerpoint presentations as well. I also like navigating with the pen instead of using my fingers all the time.

My only problem is that some of the phones are buggy. The first phone I bought was brand new and quit charging after about 3 weeks. I had to go the warranty route with Verizon and they sent me a certified pre-owned replacement. The replacement they sent me had screen problems where gray colors were very pixelated and there was a film in between the screen and the glass cover. I had that one replaced and the 3rd phone I have has no problems. Verizon has a year long warranty, so if anything is defective with this phone I can send it back and get another. Most other people never have problems with the phone and it's very sturdy. In my case I was just unlucky... twice :lol:

i was very tempted by the Note; looks like an awesome device. glad that you like yours.

i'm also nervous about getting a bum phone, but so far, so good. the DXs were fairly hit and miss, as well. mine did pretty well and only had the regular, mostly solvable issues.

also, 4g is pretty great. yeah, i know, welcome to 2011, but still. :lol:

 

[SmokeAndMirrors]

i was very tempted by the Note; looks like an awesome device. glad that you like yours.

i'm also nervous about getting a bum phone, but so far, so good. the DXs were fairly hit and miss, as well. mine did pretty well and only had the regular, mostly solvable issues.

also, 4g is pretty great. yeah, i know, welcome to 2011, but still. :lol:

In my experience, I have the best luck with refurbs and floor models. Most of the "new" devices I've gotten have had problems.

It's cheaper too. Say what you want about the "someone else used it" factor, but NOTHING gets more thoroughly checked over than a refurb, and a floor model has already proven its toughness.

Of all the new devices I've ever bought, 3 out of 7 of them had serious problems within the first 6 months, and 2 died within a year. Of the 4 refurbs and floor models I've bought, 2 of them never had any problems even after years (I replaced them for some other reason--stolen, and cellular exclusivity), one finally died after 5 years of use, and one is still good after 2 years.

I got my HTC One new (and it's AWESOME, by the way!), and I'm hoping this will be one of the ones that doesn't have issues. We'll see.

 

[Helix]

In my experience, I have the best luck with refurbs and floor models. Most of the "new" devices I've gotten have had problems.

It's cheaper too. Say what you want about the "someone else used it" factor, but NOTHING gets more thoroughly checked over than a refurb, and a floor model has already proven its toughness.

Of all the new devices I've ever bought, 3 out of 7 of them had serious problems within the first 6 months, and 2 died within a year. Of the 4 refurbs and floor models I've bought, 2 of them never had any problems even after years (I replaced them for some other reason--stolen, and cellular exclusivity), one finally died after 5 years of use, and one is still good after 2 years.

I got my HTC One new (and it's AWESOME, by the way!), and I'm hoping this will be one of the ones that doesn't have issues. We'll see.

good advice, and you're probably right; no new phone gets checked as thoroughly as a refurb. As for the One, I've been reading some good things about it online. Android forums reviewed it as their top pick.

 

[SmokeAndMirrors]

good advice, and you're probably right; no new phone gets checked as thoroughly as a refurb. As for the One, I've been reading some good things about it online. Android forums reviewed it as their top pick.

Yup. The only reason I didn't go that route this time is because I wanted something with good enough specs to last me a few years and not choke, but the mobile device market moves so fast that if I bought something old enough to have refurbs available, it would probably be totally underpowered for my use within a year or two.

I'm keeping my eyes peeled for flaws in this one. I really don't think manufacturers pay much attention to their new devices before they ship them. But so far, so good. Hopefully I get lucky.

I'm really loving this. This is the first version of Sense I actually like better than stock Android, at least in some ways. AMAZING sound as well. And the headphones that come with it are actually pretty damn good. That's a first for me.

I'm still kind of getting used to the new photo/video organization system, but I think I like it so far. I also like Blinkfeed more than I expected to, although more options would be good.

Fast, pretty, hard as a rock... yup, this was money well spent, so far.

 

[Helix]

i've been using a Droid X for more than three years now, and though i really like it and it has done great, it has some problems with the most recent browser upgrades. it was also getting buggy, so i went to get an S4 today. so far, i really like it. i'm learning it now, and it's really intuitive. latest feature i discovered : you can use it as a TV remote. i've been waiting years for that one.

the only downside is that i had to buy it outright to keep my unlimited data plan, and that cost a chunk of change. however, i've been saving up for a while, and i would have had to pick a 4 gig plan, which would have cost an extra twenty something a month. i figure i'll make the money back in less than two years, and now i'm off contract. the only way this costs me money is if Verizon cuts off unlimited anyway. even then, i don't much care; i don't upgrade phones as often as others anyway, so it's worth it for peace of mind.

so far, i like everything about the phone. i'm waiting to see how the battery holds up, but so far, so good. i might buy an extended depending on whether it gets really low after the workday. i don't like just barely scraping by. at this point, it's behaving like my DX extended, though, and i've been using it heavily today.

update :

this thing is awesome. if i disappear for a couple weeks, it's because family and friends have staged an intervention. :lol:

also, keeping unlimited data was the right move. my data usage skyrocketed the day i bought it, and i'm usually on wifi. i would be kicking myself right now if i had taken their advice to drop it and go with 2 gig. that's kind of what i suspected.

 

[What if...?]

Yeah, I'm considering T-Mobile, since you can "bring your own phone." Right now I'm with Virgin. They're fairly comparable in terms of price, but with Virgin, you're more limited in phone selection. I would have to dump this one to switch.

Doesn't bother me. Can't believe I spent $150 for this crap. I actually wonder if it's defective, or if they simply over-estimated what kind of specs are required to run ICS well. If I didn't have a really positive experience with HTC in the past, I wouldn't even consider the One. But I'm looking to spend a lot more money this time around, and 1 for 2 isn't a steller record.

But it's made of aluminum, dude. I mean, it's literally carved from a block of aluminum. That's appealing. And stereo? On a phone. Holy crap.

The thing about the Samsung's is that they never make a major departure. HTC does that all the time, and I guess sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but when it works, it REALLY works.

But Samsung never flunks out either. And that's really worth considering.

I've had a first generation galaxy Note since it came out.

Great devices, substandard external speakers.

And as far as I've been able to tell, they haven't fixed it in the S4 and Note II.

I'm looking at the One as well.

Best camera in a phone.

AND a programmable infrared remote.

 

[What if...?]

FYI, I wound up pre-ordering the HTC One on Ting.

I'm moving over from Virgin. I like Ting's bill tier system and their general ethos. They were also a LOT better than Virgin when I called their CS line with questions. They also had the cheapest price on buying the One off-contract.

I went with it because a comparable S4 would cost about $200 more, and I'm just not convinced it's got $200 more worth of value. That's kind of out of budget.

But due to the non-repairable nature of the One, I'm thinking I might get insurance on it, which should cost a few bucks a month.

I ALWAYS insure smart phones.

Anything portable and expensive.

I've used the insurance at least once per phone. My wife more than once.

I paid my Notes insurance in full when I got it. Saved a good chunk over monthly.

Just watch out for deductibles and number of claims you can make.

Some have high deductibles and some limit you to one replacement in two years.

Best Buy has a good plan and I think they'll cover you even if you didn't get the phone from them.

 

[What if...?]

I recently upgraded from my Thunderbolt too. I got the Galaxy Note 2 and absolutely love the phone. It's a big phone with a big screen but that's how I like it. I frequently use the S pen and find it super convenient to write down notes whenever you need to quickly. It's also useful because you can take notes while you are on the phone. The battery life is very very good, after about a day of heavy usage it only drops down to roughly 50-40%. It's great for viewing documents and powerpoint presentations as well. I also like navigating with the pen instead of using my fingers all the time.

My only problem is that some of the phones are buggy. The first phone I bought was brand new and quit charging after about 3 weeks. I had to go the warranty route with Verizon and they sent me a certified pre-owned replacement. The replacement they sent me had screen problems where gray colors were very pixelated and there was a film in between the screen and the glass cover. I had that one replaced and the 3rd phone I have has no problems. Verizon has a year long warranty, so if anything is defective with this phone I can send it back and get another. Most other people never have problems with the phone and it's very sturdy. In my case I was just unlucky... twice :lol:

I have the first Note.

I would advise a case that prevents torsion, the bane of big phones.

 

[SmokeAndMirrors]

I ALWAYS insure smart phones.

Anything portable and expensive.

I've used the insurance at least once per phone. My wife more than once.

I paid my Notes insurance in full when I got it. Saved a good chunk over monthly.

Just watch out for deductibles and number of claims you can make.

Some have high deductibles and some limit you to one replacement in two years.

Best Buy has a good plan and I think they'll cover you even if you didn't get the phone from them.

I was looking at SquareTrade. As a MVNO of Sprint, Ting doesn't have their own insurance, but that's the company they recommend.