Help, keep Nexus or go AT&T?

[hull22]

Trying to decide whether or not to keep the Galaxy Nexus(Verizon) or go with an AT&T Android phone like the HTC Vivid or SGSII.

For the past several years, I was with AT&T and went thru the iPhone/3G/3Gs/4 progression living in Central Texas. Always heard that Verizon has better signal quality. So when I moved to the Florida panhandle, I decided to switch in advance to Verizon and got the HTC Thunderbolt for me and iPhone 4 for my wife.

After moving, I come to find out that the hospital where I work at the local air force base has bad indoor signal, regardless of provider. With the poor signal(-100db), my TB drains like crazy, so I basically leave it plugged into the charger at work..occassionally getting txts or missed calls/vms. I mostly use my phone for checking emails, browsing the web, a couple of txts daily, as a GPS, occassional Netflix, occassional brief calls, and USB tethering. I like the Android OS because of the customization you have compared to iOS. Haven't delved into rooting. I primarily use Go Launcher EX and have not issues with Sense. The Thunderbolt is slightly heavy, not great battery life and can get hot sometimes.

I got a bit caught up with the recent Galaxy Nexus hype and ended up getting an upgrade on my wife's line (not on contract previously) despite reports of bad signal and battery life. While the 3G signal is on par(or slightly worse) with my TB and the battery life of course is bad with poor signal at work, I really love the screen quality, UI, and feel of holding the Nexus(with TPU case).

I have been considering switching to another provider that has 4g coverage in my area so I can tether at higher speeds during the day. Through the online coverage maps, I saw that Tmobile seemed to have 4g coverage now in my area. I went today and purchased the SGSII for only $79 at the base BX. I should've known that things would not work out after I cannot log into my google account because there's no signal inside the building. Meanwhile, I was shocked to see that their AT&T phones had good 4G(well, HSDPA+) signal. I hoped for the best and headed back to work. The entire time the SGSII only receive Edge data network. Even my TB had decent 3g outside of the bldg at work. I returned the phone two hours later, no restocking fee due to government account.

Now, I'm wondering if I should try AT&T. I'm sure my wife would like to have the iPhone 4S. I want to stick with Android. The good ones I saw on display were the HTC Vivid and SGSII for AT&T, no Skyrocket. I hear good things about the SGSII, but the one I tried out on Tmobile, I really didn't like the low res screen, it feel like everything was supersize, like it was for someone with poor vision. Touchwiz felt odd too. I wasn't thrilled about the plastic component of the Vivid and the strange tapering of the back, but I liked seeing the familiar Sense icons. I liked the profile of the HTC Inspire better, but I heard that was bad.

I'm thinking that I will either:
-keep the Nexus and wait for 4G LTE in my area(supposedly due in 1st qtr of 2012 but who knows)
-return the Nexus, pay the $280 left of my VZ ETF on my life and switched to HTC Vivid or SGSII
-return the Nexus and wait to see what happens with Verizon LTE or Nexus coming to AT&T

The best might be to switch to AT&T and buy a no contract GSM Nexus, but that's quite pricey.

Thoughts? Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[hull22]

really? 28 views and not a single opinion?

 

[SoreAintya]

I'll bite.
Personally I'd go with #4-leave Big Red, pay the ETF, sell the Verizon Nexus and use that money to offset the purchase of a GSM Nexus.
Having both, the Nexus and the SGSII, I'll say this.. I came from the Inspire (was a wonderful phone btw, never had any problems with mine) and jumped feet first into the Nexus as soon as it was available for "overseas purchase" and went through a adjustment period. Having always used a manufacturers UI then going pure Android was odd to say the least, definitely takes some time to" get to know your phone". I've had no issues with the Nexus, other than AT&T reps telling me it's a unsupported device (long story).. I love the phone and only wish I had a faster network.

Last month I upgraded a line on my account to the SGSII (Not the Skyrocket) because I had heard great reviews about the device and I had a upgrade to burn. Again, learning curve. Touchwiz is a lighter covering than Sense in my opinion but Sense is more rich in features and user friendly, again opinion.

I like the SII too, but have issues with it that I've never had with any other phone. One of which is the damn things too light! I mean light, light. Like it'll float away if your not careful light. Don't sound like a problem until you realize light equals less gravity to keep it planted in your hand, on your lap or anywhere else you put your phone and expect it to stay put.
I also get checkerboard a lot is the SII, something I've never had on any other phone, not even that rusty old Xperia X10 I accidentally bought a couple years ago. Checkerboarding is those little white and gray boxes you see on webpages when you move around. They're horrible. I lined the Galaxy SII, Nexus and Inspire side by side for a comparison and only the SII checkered. Mind boggling when the Samsung specs are almost twice that of the HTCs..

Any rate I think your only choice, as of right now given the coverage your exposed to, is to drop Verizon. Remember, the bestest, most awesome super phone is useless if you can even use it..

 

[wpbfjr]

bail on vzw. it's just a phone.

wpbfjr on the road