Should I buy now, or wait?

[Haas]

Hi people. I'm going to jump head first into the smartphone arena. I live near the Milwaukee area, where they are claiming to have the 4Glte service soon, maybe mid summer.

I do believe the 4g service will be more expensive per month, it's always costlier to go faster, so I'm not sure if I should wait for 4g, or just jump right now.

Here's my thinking. If I buy now and have the 3G service, I can probably grandfather myself into a data plan that will cost me 30 bucks per month, for the next 2 years. If I wait until 4G is out, I'll be stuck with the new pricing.

On the other hand, if I go with 3g now, I'll be stuck not being able to upgrade for 2 years.
I'm hearing rumors that 4G will be so much faster, and I'm also hearing 4G will only be slightly faster until it rolls out completely which could take a couple years before the full speed of 4G is available.
The more I read, the more confused I am about the benefits of one over the other. One article will completely contradict the other.

What say you? All opinions welcomed

 

[Haas]

Hmm..... I thought others would be struggling with the same dilemma. Thought this thread would be full of ideas. Anyone?

 

[jrwestenberg]

There is no doubt that 4G is faster than 3G, but it isn't a matter of buying a phone or not. Personally, I have a 3G HTC Desire, and I absolutely love it. I've tried 4G phones and they are faster, yes, but I believe you can only tell the difference if you hold them next to each other and test it. For me, it would be a no-brainer... BUY NOW!

 

[RHChan84]

If your going with VZW then prices are the same. And if your getting 4g in mid-summer then wait. It will be worth it. Or get a 4g device now and when 4g becomes available, then you will have 4g.

 

[adammcgovern]

I talked to a rep yesterday(I have a inspire (ahem) 4g. Apparently when they actually roll out 4g we will be able to get the 4g sims then but we are getting speeds up to what 4g will be like now. obviously i can't gauge taht and i have a hard time believing everything a rep tells me, but i couldn't see the harm in getting a 4g capable phone now...i'm impatient...and waiting to see what happens when they roll it out. My att rep said it could be a year or so before they do this. you could also check out the rumored phones forum to help you make a decision. I recently transplanted from bb so i'm so happy wth my inspire. it is so, so much faster tahn my torch was. Seriously, so much faster

 

[Haas]

Well, I just got one. I couldn't wait. I'm not into downloading movies, songs, or anything else that requires the faster speed, so I figured, 3g is good enough for me. Besides, the only 4g phone available right now is the thunderbolt, and even the verizon sales reps are telling me the battery life sucks bad.

I ended up with a Samsung Fascinate. Great looking screen on it. It came in on sale for 149.00, with a 50.00 mail in rebate.

By the way, they did tell me that verizon finally decided on their pricing for 4G. It will be the same pricing as 3g, no changes in pricing at all. So he tells me.

Anyway, I've got a lot of learning to do.

 

[Moscow Desire]

The Thunderbolt is actually a decent ph. As with all new androids, comes a learning curve. One of them is battery power.

You have to get rid of the "bloatware" that comes pre-installed. Things that always run, auto-syncing all the time. You learn not to leave Wifi, gps, on all the time.

And after a few charges, you'll find the battery lasts all day.

 

[Haas]

Yeah, I really did like the thunderbolt, but the battery life scared me away. But, if turning those things off really gives you a full day on the battery, then it's not that bad at all.

But they were telling me it's not just the phone that drains battery, but when 4g rolls out, that alone will burn batteries even more.

Don't know if that's true or not.