vibrant, g2, or torch?

[tam0o]

Hi everyone! i am in need of opinions. I know that posting here will have biased opinions but I'm trying to weigh out the pros and cons of every phone.
I've been a die-hard blackberry user for the past 5 years and never thought that I would ever consider any other type of phone.
Android, however, is sparking my interest. I don't know anything about it other than it is less secure than blackberry and that it is more customizable. I'm not sure if customization factors apply to ALL android phones or just certain models.
Also, I mostly use my phone for texting and entertainment. I always thought that a touchscreen would set back my texting but after seeing how swype works, I'm a little curious about going full touchscreen. I may never know until I try for myself but I wanted to get some information beforehand.
Any comments or suggestion will be greatly appreciated!

p.s. i'm also considering the new mytouch coming out.

 

[PatrickAupperle]

I recently (5 days ago) ordered my vibrant.
I considered both the vibrant and g2 at the time and went with the vibrant because of the larger, better screen and faster processor. The vibrant has an SAMOLED screen that just looks amazing. I can't honestly tell you about texting speeds since this is my first cell phone. Swype does seem pretty quick, though. Plus, swyping things is still fun for me.I am just amazed at how good it is even when I go to random letters in the middle of my word.

The G2 almost won me over because it had the physical keyboard (glad I don't have it now, losing it saves 5mm thickness), supposed to feel just as fast, made by htc (faster updates), and it already has froyo. Of course, froyo is coming to the vibrant soon. This should also speed up the vibrant, making it feel faster than the G2. That combined with the fact that 2.1 is good enough until 2.2 comes out (giving me no reason to fear waiting), lessens all the pros I just listed and made me pick the vibrant.

Where did you hear that android is less secure than Blackberry? I've never heard that before. Even if it is true, android is secure enough that you don't have to worry about viruses unless you ignore all warnings and turn on unsafe sources.

Whatever you go with, I don't think you will be disappointed. If it were me, a die hard Linux fan, I would stay away from the blackberry. I am sure it is a great phone, but android has so many more features I love.

 

[kenyee]

BB data is encrypted on the device (though it's a bit lame in that only a single encryption key is used for *all* devices).
Android doesn't encrypt data on the device.
A friend is evaluating devices for their company's email system (Exchange) and trying to determine which ones to allow. Their conclusion was the iphone w/ iOS 4 believe it or not

 

[PatrickAupperle]

BB data is encrypted on the device (though it's a bit lame in that only a single encryption key is used for *all* devices).
Android doesn't encrypt data on the device.
A friend is evaluating devices for their company's email system (Exchange) and trying to determine which ones to allow. Their conclusion was the iphone w/ iOS 4 believe it or not

Hmm. Interesting. I guess BB is more secure. I still stand by the android being secure enough, though. Maybe a corporation would want to consider this security difference, but the average user shouldn't worry about it.
Thank you for the interesting tidbit of information. I always like to learn new things.

 

[tam0o]

thank you for your input! i'm leaning towards the vibrant because i am strongly against landscape keyboards, their length makes my hands feel uncomfortable. That is why I was considering the bb torch. Since I'm on t-mobile, however, using the torch will mean that I have to give up 3g.. which is kind of stupid because why should I downgrade?
After looking at multiple vibrant videos on youtube, I really want one! I'm just afraid that if I use my upgrade now, something better will come out soon since it is almost 2011

 

[PatrickAupperle]

thank you for your input! i'm leaning towards the vibrant because i am strongly against landscape keyboards, their length makes my hands feel uncomfortable. That is why I was considering the bb torch. Since I'm on t-mobile, however, using the torch will mean that I have to give up 3g.. which is kind of stupid because why should I downgrade?
After looking at multiple vibrant videos on youtube, I really want one! I'm just afraid that if I use my upgrade now, something better will come out soon since it is almost 2011

That is the problem with the technology world. No matter when or what you buy, you will be outdated in a matter of months. The good thing about the vibrant is that it does reach the minimum specs of Android 3.0. This means that, if Samsung is willing, Vibrant owners could get all those new features. The G2 actually does not reach these minimum specs. I am certainly happy with my purchase. I am eagerly awaiting 2.2 to be finished by Samsung and pushed by T-Mobile, but 2.1 is fine for now. I think one of the most unexpectedly great things about this phone for me is the screen. If you have never seen one in person, I think you will be surprised. Not to try to push you out of purchasing, but I think you should know about the problems. Look here for an overview of them: Samsung i9000 Galaxy S - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I will tell you, though, that I have had absolutely no problems with the GPS, I can't figure out how to test the FM radio, and my compass does absolutely nothing. Basically, these problems seem to be hit and miss. You should know about them before purchasing, though. Also, notice that most of them say they can be fixed in updates. We can hope that is true. Even with the problems, the brilliant screen and Android software have made this purchase one of the best ones I have every made.

 

[tam0o]

That definitely helped me! Thank you SO much! I actually do not need a GPS, anytime soon so that is not a big factor to me. As long as it eventually gets a fix, I think it's a minor issue. Same with the radio and compass.
Lack of flash, however, does deter me a little bit but based on the reviews of night mode, I don't think pictures will come out too bad. I use my camera phone a lot, a minimum of twice a day.

 

[PatrickAupperle]

Glad I could help. If camera is an issue, I could take a couple of pictures in low light conditions and upload them. That would allow you to see the overall quality of the pictures in different levels of light. I can have the pictures up by tomorrow, if you want. You do certainly need a little light, though.

 

[tam0o]

That's okay, but thank you so much for your generous offer. I saw reviews both on youtube and various sites and kind of got a feel for how the night pictures came out.
Are you waiting for Froyo? Other than speed, will Froyo change anything else about the phone?
Also, what apps would you recommend?
Thanks again!

 

[PatrickAupperle]

That's okay, but thank you so much for your generous offer. I saw reviews both on youtube and various sites and kind of got a feel for how the night pictures came out.
Are you waiting for Froyo? Other than speed, will Froyo change anything else about the phone?
Also, what apps would you recommend?
Thanks again!

Yes, I am eagerly awaiting Froyo. According to Android (operating system) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia this is the change list:

# General Android OS speed, memory, and performance optimizations[47]
# Additional application speed improvements courtesy of JIT implementation[48]
# Integration of Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine into the Browser application
# Increased Microsoft Exchange support (security policies, auto-discovery, GAL look-up, calendar synchronization, remote wipe)
# Improved application launcher with shortcuts to Phone and Browser applications
# USB tethering and WiFi hotspot functionality
# Added an option to disable data access over mobile network
# Updated Market application with batch and automatic update features[47]
# Quick switching between multiple keyboard languages and their dictionaries
# Voice dialing and contact sharing over Bluetooth
# Support for numeric and alphanumeric passwords
# Support for file upload fields in the Browser application[49]
# Browser can now display animated GIFs (instead of just the first frame)
# Support for installing applications to the expandable memory[50]
# Adobe Flash 10.1 support

T-Mobile might lock us out of the tethering, but I really hope they don't. All in all, this update looks pretty amazing to me.

I have actually installed very little from the android market. This is probably due to the large number of apps included with the phone. Besides what came with the phone, my favorite apps are Barcode Scanner, Goggles, ConvertPad, and The Weather (from The Weather Channel). This is my first android phone, so I have not stumbled onto anything really great. Also, the phone comes with Kindle, Pandora, Slacker, Google Maps, Calculator, and most other things i need/want so I don't spend much time in the market.

 

[MANdroid5000]

I'd say get one with a hardware keyboard since you're coming from a BB...that'll give you the flexibility to use both

 

[kubernetes]

I was in your boat a few months back: Spent several years with a Blackberry, thought I would never get a phone without a qwerty keyboard, but I borrowed by brother's Nexus One one week and realized that I could get by just fine with the onscreen one. Of course, I'm no longer in a job that requires me to answer hundreds of emails a day... if that were the case I might have gone for the G2. My wife actually got a Droid and now regrets it because she doesn't use the keyboard at all.

You should try it out and see how comfortable you are with the onscreen keyboard. I also wouldn't bother with RIM if given a choice. Once you get the functionality of a modern smartphone, you can't go back to that terrible platform (still love the email and keyboard, but dang, RIM, do something with that terrible OS!)

 

[rms2005]

same here, I have had nothing but berry's for about 6 years now ans have said manytimes I would prolly never buy anything else, well.... since tmobiles berry love sucks and I went through 4 9700's in about 6 months finally broke me and I bought a vibrant. I LOVE this phone, even more before tmobile sent this stupid update that made my battery life crap, laggy and bad call quality, tmobile is sending me another one. (PLEASE let this one be like it was before) The internet is WAYYY faster than the berry. The apps kick A** compared to the berry, I never been a big touch screen person cause of heavy texting and email but, I can out type a blackberry keyboars on this thing (without swype) many times over. I think the only thing that I really like the berry better for is email because its email is real time instant, the android is set to push every xx minutes and dont want it to often cause of battery drain. I can deal with that. Ok I think im done. good luck with your choice, cant go wrong either way.

 

[voghan]

I'm not a fan if the G2. That phone is heavy. If you drop it, don't worry for the phone, worry for the floor! The touch screen on the vibrant is very nice. You will be ok making the switch. I actually white blog posts using my phone. Once you get used to it you'll fly.

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