Would you get the Ally this late?

[deedee]

Brand new here, could use some thoughts.

I've been debating getting an LG Ally for months. This would be my first smartphone. I think it looks like it has the perfect keyboard, and I like the smaller size -- basically looks like what I'm looking for except that it's slower than the newer phones. I'm debating holding out for the HTC Merge, which apparently would be faster but doesn't have a number row on the keyboard ... but it's not even certain that Verizon is getting it. I've been out of contract for six months and my old LG Decoy doesn't even ring anymore. (OK, so that's another hesitation with getting an LG.) Would you go ahead and get the Ally this late in the game? Or wait some more?

I'm even considering buying one used on eBay so I don't have to use my upgrade credit now and can use it when something newer comes out. Does that make sense? I'd be paying out of pocket for something I could get free, to have the option of a lower price on something in the future.

 

[dougau]

Ally has a slow CPU 600Mhz, cant run flash, and has very limited space for apps. It's a good solid phone though and has Froyo. I guess it depends on what you want to do with it.
If you think you would want more phone in the next two years I would hang on to the new every two if you can find a Ally fairly cheap. I wouldn't want to be stuck with mine for two more years at this point i don't believe.

 

[deedee]

Thanks! That's what I ended up doing. Ally from eBay should be on its way in the mail. Saved my upgrade credit to use later.

 

[dougau]

Good luck with your Ally, hope you enjoy it as much as I have mine!!

 

[RodoBabbins]

The wife enjoys her Ally, doesn't have many apps on it besides Facebook and Spider Solitare. The Merge would have been good for her but not knowing when it would if ever be released was a big factor for her looking at keyboard phones.

 

[daabsolute1]

This is a great phone for my 10 year old daughter! Not trying to be funny because she really enjoys it, with its keyboard for texting and being able to surf the net and download apps.

 

[LBTRS]

My wife just got a LG Ally because she "had to have" a physical keyboard. She seems to think it is OK, however, it is WAY to slow for me. Every time you open an application you sit and wait. Web pages load slow, email slow, texting slow, etc. It's a much slower phone than my current HTC Thunderbolt or previous HTC Incredible.

I would not get it unless you had to have the keyboard.

 

[anon(220176)]

I am curious about getting the Ally from eBay AND using it with Verizon: will Verizon accept this if you don't buy the phone from them?

I have a family account, currently with 2 lines. I am thinking of doing this:
1). Buy an Ally from eBay
2). Add a line ($9.99 / month) to the existing family account
3). Add data ($29.99 / month) for the new line

I logged in to my Verizon account and I did NOT see an option to just add a line WITHOUT buying a phone, and I do NOT want to add a line with another 2 years contract.

 

[MisterObvious#AC]

I am curious about getting the Ally from eBay AND using it with Verizon: will Verizon accept this if you don't buy the phone from them?

I have a family account, currently with 2 lines. I am thinking of doing this:
1). Buy an Ally from eBay
2). Add a line ($9.99 / month) to the existing family account
3). Add data ($29.99 / month) for the new line

I logged in to my Verizon account and I did NOT see an option to just add a line WITHOUT buying a phone, and I do NOT want to add a line with another 2 years contract.

I think you can do that if you check to see if the ESN is clean. Why do you wanna add another line?

My wife has the phone and it is a very basic Android phone but it gets good battery life and has a good keyboard.

 

[anon(220176)]

The main reason is because I want to get a smartphone for a young member in my family. She doesn't need the latest and greatest phone, but it has to be an Android phone because:

- it doubles as a music player
- it can be used for games
- I can track her whereabouts using app like Life360 for safety reason.

So I though the Ally would be great, but I don't want to sign for another 2 years contract.

Or do you have another recommendation for an Android phone?

 

[YourMobileGuru]

If you're looking for a messaging phone running Android for your Tweenage daughter then yes. Otherwise no. It's just too old. But if there is anyone who does want this phone Walmart has it for $0.97 on a two year contract.

 

[intrimazz]

Samsung Stratosphere seems to be an upgrade of sorts frm this, but reading the forums on the Stratosphere seems issues arise from all phones - I love my Ally but the 512MB has relegated it to txting, calls, minimal mail/web surfing and youtube, so getting the Samsung would make no sense as also has 512MB Ram....

I had to take off most of the apps I loaded onto it the first few months I got it back in 2010 because Verizon's added bloatware since then takes up so much space there isn't much room for other downloaded apps (I have 4 - might have room for one more depending on its size) - yes, some of the apps already on the Ally are useful and free unlike other Android phones such as Thinkfree Office, Navigator, news & weather, Gmail, youtube and skype mobile - but so many apps in the marketplace don't utilize the apps2sd feature.

I will be eligible for a discounted upgrade at the end of this month so I have been researching. I will miss my Ally, but the lack of memory space on the phone has made me unhappy as of late. I feel badly for people that seem to have sluggishness or other issues as my phone is quite responsive and zippy. Whenever I do upgrade I will offer it for sale as I know how difficult it is for some people to trust other sources for a reliable older phone. I have considered the other option of finally rooting it and using google + and gvoice for calls over wifi - but if it works fine as is, my fear is I would brick it somehow and make it useful for no one.

Holding out til CES or another Expo shows an ideal phone in ram, speed, ICS, and other features worthy of my $

 

[YourMobileGuru]

Samsung Stratosphere seems to be an upgrade of sorts frm this with 4GB internal compared to Ally's 512MB - I love my Ally but the 512MB has relegated it to txting, calls, minimal mail/web surfing and youtube. I had to take off most of the apps I loaded onto it the first few months I got it back in 2010 because Verizon's added bloatware since then takes up so much space there isn't much room for other downloaded apps (I have 4 - might have room for one more depending on its size) - yes, some of the apps already on the Ally are useful and free unlike other Android phones such as Thinkfree Office, Navigator, news & weather, Gmail, youtube and skype mobile - but so many apps in the marketplace don't utilize the apps2sd feature.

I will be eligible for a discounted upgrade at the end of this month so I have been researching. I will miss my Ally, but the lack of memory space on the phone has made me unhappy as of late. I feel badly for people that seem to have sluggishness or other issues as my phone is quite responsive and zippy. Whenever I do upgrade I will offer it for sale as I know how difficult it is for some people to trust other sources for a reliable older phone. I have considered the other option of finally rooting it and using google + and gvoice for calls over wifi - but if it works fine as is, my fear is I would brick it somehow and make it useful for no one.

I used this phone as my daily driver for almosta year before the Froyo update killed it for me, I barely had any apps installed at all and had to remove even more because just too much space was being used. Tried a factory data reset gut that didn't help for more than a day or so. I still love how this device feels in my hand and it has the best keyboard of any Android phone to date IMHO.

 

[intrimazz]

I used this phone as my daily driver for almosta year before the Froyo update killed it for me, I barely had any apps installed at all and had to remove even more because just too much space was being used. Tried a factory data reset gut that didn't help for more than a day or so. I still love how this device feels in my hand and it has the best keyboard of any Android phone to date IMHO.

I couldn't agree more