On the Fence!

ellje

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I keep trying to talk myself into walking into Costco and purchasing this phone, but then I come back here and read more about it and what *might* be around the corner. The truth is, the specs don't WOW me on this phone, but it likely is the best 4G contender out there right now.

I've been due for an upgrade since December, and I officially have the itch to purchase my first smartphone, but I feel as though I'm settling with this device since it's one of two 4G offerings. With the X2 coming in a week, I'm wondering if I should just be happy with a well-spec'd phone @ 3G, or wait for a potential Galaxy S2 4G or wait to see if the Bionic is just a figment of our imagination or not.

Truth is, whatever phone I buy is going to be with me for the 2-yr long haul... is it really so much to wait for another month... and then another month... until something better in the 4G world shows itself?

Is anyone else battling with this?
 

mboverst

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In my many years of experience on forums, this is what you get.

A) People who know waaaay to much and are picky about whatever forum they are on (phones, audio, games, pick a winner). Obviously these people will be more critical and find more flaws that the average consumer will never even think about. You are reading a forum that just can't wait for a root while 99% of the general population who buys Android phones will never know what a root is, and be happy with the phone just how it came.

B) People will search out forums because they have a problem and join to get help in getting it fixed. Ex: Joe Blow who has never cared less about phone forums/news/discussion and logs in for the first (and probably last) time to get an answer about a problem he is having with his new gadget. People who are NOT experiencing problems never bother to search out places like this and just enjoy the new phone.

C) The chronic stick up their butt's who come to complain or troll. They are miserable human beings with absolutely nothing better to do.

D) The rare minority of forum members like many of the guys you find here. They are generally helpful, and enjoy whatever they are talking about. They also have positive outlooks on whatever is being discussed and try their best to help out other members.


I'm pretty confident that this is the best generalization of internet forums to date (? MBOVERST). My Verizon corp store sold more units Saturday morning than we have active members in this section of the forum. You can easily slot those members into one of these 4 categories. Now, think about the thousands of handsets floating about that people are enjoying with no problems. This is your first smartphone and I think you will be blown away how much more convenient and entertaining this phone will make your life. If you get too caught up in stats, specs, etc you will never love the phone that you have, since it's inevitable that a new phone is just a few weeks around the corner. The Charge has the guts to keep up with even the most demanding needs for years to come, so I wouldn't harp on the specs too much. Guys you see really worrying about speed, power, freedom, etc are very knowledgable with phones and probably do 5x more with them than you and me combined! This has overall great reviews by both personal users and by the guys on the big sites. I say pull the trigger and don't look back.

Phew...finished.
 

rescueswimmer

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Elleje

Here was my thinking. I had a plain old feature phone. So I was due for an upgrade. Unlimited Data is coming to an end in the very near future. Did not want to get caught on the outside looking in especially at what price lte data is probably going to cost on its own. I am also a tech junkie I like the latest and the greatest, but you have to pay to play. So I thought long and hard about the GS2 and the 4glte potential, or it could be 3g. You would hope not. Then I figured when the GS2 is about to be released There is supposed to be the quad core phones possible coming in 12. So my dilemma like all techie geeks wait and only to wait longer or to get something now and enjoy now.

Upgrade price for the charge can be found for 249.99 with retail @ 575.00 off contract. I figured If I get the phone now and 6 months to a year. I should be able to get at least my 250.00 back out of it off craigslist or ebay. I then could purchase what ever the new and improved device was off contract for certainly around the same MSRP. While enjoying my new phone for the last 6 months. Not to mention most apps are not optimized for a dual core phones right now. Granted the phone should run a little smoother but I have no complaints about my charge and the way it performs.

So if you wait. Chances are you may want to wait a little more, and before you know it you could have been enjoying a new phone all that time.

Hope this helps. Any other thoughts Ill give you my perspective on it.

RS
 
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barrycinti

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I keep trying to talk myself into walking into Costco and purchasing this phone, but then I come back here and read more about it and what *might* be around the corner. The truth is, the specs don't WOW me on this phone, but it likely is the best 4G contender out there right now.

I've been due for an upgrade since December, and I officially have the itch to purchase my first smartphone, but I feel as though I'm settling with this device since it's one of two 4G offerings. With the X2 coming in a week, I'm wondering if I should just be happy with a well-spec'd phone @ 3G, or wait for a potential Galaxy S2 4G or wait to see if the Bionic is just a figment of our imagination or not.

Truth is, whatever phone I buy is going to be with me for the 2-yr long haul... is it really so much to wait for another month... and then another month... until something better in the 4G world shows itself?

Is anyone else battling with this?

Ellje:

Here are some suggestions:
- If you haven't tried a live Charge, go to a store and play with it
- Think about what things you run on the phone and decide if the Charge can handle it
- If you buy the Charge and decide you don't like it you can always return it and wait for something else

I am coming from a BB Bold to an Android phone so its like going from the stone age to the future.

Below are my requirements for a smartphone to provide a perspective with pass/fail ratings:
- easy to read screen -pass
- reliable - pass
- easy to navigate - pass
- form factor - pass
- case - fair - would prefer metal - not a showstopper
- reception - pass- better than my BB or TB I had for 13 days
- audio quality - pass
- navigation(GPS) - pass

I know how it feels to wait. I waited for the TB to come out and was disapointed. The I waited for the Charge to come out, luckily its great for me.

Hope this helps.
 

Grenex

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Elleje

Upgrade price for the charge can be found for 249.99 with retail @ 575.00 off contract. I figured If I get the phone now and 6 months to a year. I should be able to get at least my 250.00 back out of it off craigslist or ebay. I then could purchase what ever the new and improved device was off contract for certainly around the same MSRP. While enjoying my new phone for the last 6 months. Not to mention most apps are not optimized for a dual core phones right now. Granted the phone should run a little smoother but I have no complaints about my charge and the way it performs.

RS

I am doing the EXACT same thing!
 

rukshmani

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Hi RS, I went to Verizon store yesterday and almost bought it, I am coming from EVO to I-phone 4( Verizon), want to get back to android. I have a few concerns
1). Some reviewers say it keeps switching between 3G and 4G,how good is Samsung regarding providing updates?
2). I loved HTC Sense, touch wiz appears tacky, anyway to change that without degrading performance?
3). People talk about some thing regarding file systems, is it a huge problem?
4). Will it be easy to root and port gingerbread on this?

Thanks in advance,
R
 

Need A Beach

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I was in the same place as your, Elleje. I didn't know if I should wait for the 'next big thing' or just jump. I am coming from a BB Tour. I found myself getting caught up in the posts that identified things about this phone that were less than ideal. However, deep down I know that I'm not technically ready to root my phone. I have a lot to learn. And anything is better than a randomly rebooting BB with a trackball that has a mind of its own. Besides, there's always something new around the corner when it comes to technology.

A previous poster summed it up perfectly. Many people will be quick to post when things go wrong or they have a question. Not so much when things are going as planned.

Will I eventually root my phone? Perhaps. But by then all of the devs will have worked out all the kinks in their ROMs and I will be more comfortable with my Charge.

I ordered it yesterday from Amazon for $249.99 and can't wait to receive it. I decided to jump now rather than wait for the next great phone.
 
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whitenessj

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1.the 3g 4g switch is in areas w/ spotty or new 4g coverage i live south of Nashville and haven't drooped 4g but 1 time in the past week

2. I love me some sense, but i am getting used to the Wiz. It has some things i love and some i love to hate, this kinda goes with your question number 4. Because if you root your device it wont have the wiz or sense completely. It may have a number of different options.

3. The file system. Yes it can / will be changed, and no it isnt as much a problem as a solution. The people talking about it are mainly the spoiled ones (like myself) coming form other moded devices. the phone runs great but many people recognize the potential power hidden w/ a new ROM and File structure.

4. Gingerbread will be here and prob pretty easily. The question is do you want it on a rooted system with a 2.3 build someone did or wait for a VZW build to get pushed to the device. The later of the 2 will take longer but requires no effort the moding version is more likely inthe short term but wil require a little reading on how to root and rom.

Hope this helps
 
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ellje

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All good points.. I agree with and appreciate all the info presented, thus far.

Does the Launcher Pro simply overlay on top of Touchwiz? If so, does it actually make the phone more laggy?

Battery life and GPS are going to be the big kickers. If neither is sufficient, this phone will go back within a week. I'll need to research how to properly calibrate the new Li-Ion battery... as I don't want to jack it up.

Lastly, can I transfer my NE2 discount to my wife's phone? I'm not going to be using it for my upgrade, but it'd be nice to retain it in case she would like to upgrade through VZW later.
 

rescueswimmer

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All good points.. I agree with and appreciate all the info presented, thus far.

Does the Launcher Pro simply overlay on top of Touchwiz? If so, does it actually make the phone more laggy?

Battery life and GPS are going to be the big kickers. If neither is sufficient, this phone will go back within a week. I'll need to research how to properly calibrate the new Li-Ion battery... as I don't want to jack it up.

Lastly, can I transfer my NE2 discount to my wife's phone? I'm not going to be using it for my upgrade, but it'd be nice to retain it in case she would like to upgrade through VZW later.

You will need to talk to a Rep that knows what they are doing, but yes you can port your NE2 to your wife's account and vise versa.

Launcher runs over top of TW, supposedly it runs pretty smooth on the Charge.

I have had the phone for a few days and love it no issues so far.
 

rvfool

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I just decide to upgrade from a LG touch to the droid charge, (first smartphone). I hated the LG touch. One area of concern I have is Samsung update history. I hear a lot about gingerbread and Samsung might be a long time is getting it to the Charge. Also the touchwiz. Looks like I need launchpro on it. I'm good with computers. Ex unix admin and window admin so getting around is no problem. Might root phone but hate to lost warrenty. Looks like you need root to get rid of all the bogware. What ram as clean as possible. Can you set up an external cache on the 32Gb space or extent your ram like a paging system.
 

whitenessj

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no you cant use the 32gb as cache... but the best comparison i can give to Launcher pro is still like hiding your dirty clothing in the closet when guest come over.. its still there you just dont see it. It may make things run smoother but the real things can be fixed with a simple root.. the warranty is a joke anyway..if you have insurance your more likely to "loose" it if God forbid it was ruined somehow in rooting ...

~edit~ assuming it isnt bricked you can always unroot it..
 

ellje

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Alright, it's settled. I'm going to swing by Costco after work and give it a ride.

I may need to swing by a VZW before to have the NE2 transferred. I hate to lose that just in case she decides to upgrade someday...

Does Costco have a insurance plan on phones? Best Buy has a pretty solid one... just wondering if Costco has anything comparable.
 

mouser991

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I had the Fascinate and like a lot of others out there was waiting for the next "great" thing. I waited for the TBolt to drop and when it did I checked it out and watched the forums to see how well people liked it. After reading the forums here and many reviews online I decided to wait for the Charge and dont regret it one bit. I am getting what I consider good battery life (12-15hrs) before charging. I use the phone in my business from 7:30am to 6pm, mostly calls, texting and e-mails. Screen is absolutely a big plus as I came from the Fascinate which has an awesome screen as well. I don't live in a 4G area so 3G use only for me. I do not know what running 4G would do to battery life. The phone feels very solid to me and I expect once development gets to full speed things will only improve. ( Brown & Orange theme....Really? :confused: )
 

reflekt2099

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I went from a Droid Incredible to the Droid Charge. I use my phone a lot for internet browsing purposes, so i wanted to take advantage of the ample amounts of 4G coverage in my area (southern california). I also wanted to get in on the unlimited $29.99 4G data plan, so that i would be grandfathered into that plan before they start potentially getting tiered. Whenever you get a new phone, you're always going to be seeing newer phones on the horizon that are probably going to be released in 6 months from your purchase (galaxy s 2). The droid incredible has been great the past year i've owned it. but with the release of 4G LTE, i wanted to take advantage of it asap and with the right phone. the charge should hold me over until the galaxy s 2 is released. i know for a fact that the thunderbolt was not impressive at all for me, coming from a droid incredible. but the amazing screen on the droid charge and the better battery life, alone, had me sold.

with launcher pro and dolphin browser (or skyfire). I feel like i just have a beefed up Droid Incredible with an amazing screen, amazing cameras, better battery life, and 4G LTE speeds. and it's worth it to me.

rooting. Custom ROMs. Changing from RFS to EXT4. all coming in the very near future. those are all going to be icing on the cake to only improve my Droid Charge, which I already enjoy.
 

deadpenguins

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I am a new member of the smartphone world (hello!) and am a proud owner of the Charge. All I gotta say is do your homework and you will more than likely fall in love with this phone (like I have). I came from a Samsung Rogue (nobody even knows what that is I'm sure) and every day I am blown away by the new features and perks I'm finding in this gorgeous device.
 

MissJennell#IM

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If you wait for something better that's on the hoizon you will always be waiting and never enjoy a great phone. Its hard to impress me with a phone and the charge has done just that.