What to do?? What to do?

[eddie31770]

If I can get a DX at Costco for $50 should I do it? Or do you think the Thunderbolt (if it ever gets released) is worth the extra $200-$250??

 

[pbroe]

I didn't think so (no LTE here yet anyway), so I went with the Droid X. I bought it from Amazon.com. I'm a new Verizon customer - it says priced from $0.01 (with a 2 year contract) and that's what my order says.

 

[jerseyboy357]

Do your comparisons. Im sure CNET and AC have them here somewhere at least on video. Personally Id go with the X. Not really THAT much of a diff between them.

 

[Dirty Ders]

There's only 6 cities with LTE service right now and maybe another 6 in the next year. It going to be slow moving for the 4G network. They are doing the most heavily populated areas first. Detroit for instance wont even get it in the next year and I live 20 minutes from Detroit... so I aint ever going to see it for my entire new contract time for the Droid X upgrade.

 

[roberte1342]

I would stay away from LTE for your phone until it matures some more. Fine for the laptop. Everytime there is new tech like this it is fraught with bugs and drains batteries more than it should. 2 years from now it will be more than a gimmick and an actual useful technology especially when we get crystal clear voice when VoLTE is live and stable. 2 years from now the LTE radio will likely use less than half the power it does now. Just read a post at engadget that the TB delays are due to extremely short battery life isseus. Like 3-4 hours in some cases. Definitely wait and see before getting that one.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[greydarrah]

I wouldn't buy anything that did not come directly from verizon. Otherwise, support, if it exist at all, is very sketchy. Besides, if you can't afford the $200 for the device, you're in trouble...it's the least of your financial concerns. Your going to spend about $1000 to $2000 per year in contract fees for every year you own the phone.

 

[mhans311]

There's only 6 cities with LTE service right now and maybe another 6 in the next year. It going to be slow moving for the 4G network. They are doing the most heavily populated areas first. Detroit for instance wont even get it in the next year and I live 20 minutes from Detroit... so I aint ever going to see it for my entire new contract time for the Droid X upgrade.

I'm confused. I am pretty sure there are like 38 or 39 cities with LTE right now. Either way, I would go with the X unless it doesn't bother you to pay the extra money. The Thunderbolt is not that much better than the X. The phone I would be waiting for if I hadn't upgraded a few months ago is the Bionic.

 

[davidnc]

Where I live LTE is available , you can check the vzw website to see if your area is covered .

I am still holding off on all LTE phones no matter the make or model even tho my upgrade is currently available. I expect all of them to be kinda buggy in someway on the first wave of LTE phones .

 

[Arelunde]

I recommend the X ... even though it's been followed by a long list of "newer" Android phones, it's still the best in just about every aspect from camera to processor to memory. AND, best of all, it's SO very customizable. I've had mine since it was issued (July 2010) and still am finding out great new capabillities! It's an amazing phone!!! And the 3G/WIFI is as fast as my desktop computer. No problems there.

Also, I agree that LTE is too new and too sketchy in coverage to be worthwhile at this point, especially if you travel.

 

[Voodoocaster]

I was originally waiting for the TB but after a lot of thought I'll be picking up a DX tomorrow. I'm very excited about my first android phone and ditching my 3GS.

 

[en28so]

Just get your X, wich has most bugs ironed out already. I think most of the new phones will have bugs, lte is a gimmick, and all will be settled down in 20 months, when it will be better to get on the lte Wagon. I got my X in December and no regrets here.

 

[Dirty Ders]

I had read an article from a major industry authority (PC World I think) talking about LTE coverage in 2010. At that time there was only one city with full coverage and another five cities that would have full coverage by the end of 2010. It also claimed that the company that owns the LTE network and technology is planning on fully outfitting another six or so cities within the next year.

On Verizon?s website under the LTE coverage map, they have this to say:
?These Coverage Locator maps depict predicted and approximate wireless coverage. The coverage areas shown do not guarantee service availability, and may include locations with limited or no coverage.?
To the left of the map:
?Verizon 4G LTE is available in 38 markets and over 60 major airports, covering APPROXIMATELY 110 million people BY THE END OF THE YEAR. And we're aggressively expanding to cover our entire existing nationwide 3G footprint with 4G LTE by the end of 2013.?

Having a few towers in the middle of a major metropolitan area that are outfitted with the new antennae and relays, doesn?t count for coverage in my opinion. My home located five miles from the center of Ann Arbor Michigan had 3G ?coverage? for the past four years, but you couldn?t ever get a 3G signal. I wasn?t until the summer of 2010 that I could finally get a reliable 3G signal.

It can take 6 to 18 months to outfit an entire city with new transponders, they are clearly showing the cities that they have just begun to outfit.

If you live in Phoenix, LA, Tampa, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco or San Diego (I can?t remember which one) then you should have full coverage. It was about a year ago when I read the article, so Verizon?s plans to contract ETSI might have been ?aggressively? changed. But apparently by the end of this year we will have 38 cities ?covered? so Verizon?s predictions are bigger than the original 12.

I am going to wait until two things happen:

1) Every single 3G tower has a 4G transponder
2) There?s enough customers to offset the need for a 5GB monthly cap on data.

If they plan on charging $50 for 5GB of data every month, I might as well just use 3G.

 

[polar135]

This is incorrect. I live in Metro Detroit and LTE is live and i have used it for work with a usb stick device. Now Droid X vs a 4g device, it all depends if you have the service in your town. Also, keep in mind if you want a first generation device and the issues that can come with these types of devices.

There's only 6 cities with LTE service right now and maybe another 6 in the next year. It going to be slow moving for the 4G network. They are doing the most heavily populated areas first. Detroit for instance wont even get it in the next year and I live 20 minutes from Detroit... so I aint ever going to see it for my entire new contract time for the Droid X upgrade.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[derpudel]

There is much more to consider when making these decisions, other than network availability, and that is COST for data! Hold onto your wallets, folks. Bleeding edge tech is gonna cost you. Straight from a VZN tech/tester...who has been using the TB for a couple of months now. He does NOT recommend getting it, now that says something. Reason? Cost for data. You'll fly through data on that LTE network, and fall over realizing you've used up what you can on your plan in one day!

 

[Chrisy]

Agreed. If the data for LTE is too much a month or if it's too little allowance on a tiered plan, I'm out.

And I'll get a Droid X with unlimited $30.

 

[Dirty Ders]

@ polar135, that’s why I made the second post. I’m talking about FULL coverage in an area.

The Verizon coverage in Detroit only covers 80% of the metro downtown area which is only a few square miles. It doesn’t cover any of the outskirts, it doesn’t even cover the Detroit International Airport.

I am wrong when I said that Detroit didn’t have ANY coverage, they just got it turned on this month. My info is a little old.

The 4G usb stick that you have also works with 3G, so I would double check your download bandwidth.

 

[wildman]

I was originally waiting for the TB but after a lot of thought I'll be picking up a DX tomorrow. I'm very excited about my first android phone and ditching my 3GS.

Wise, Wise move.... I think Droid X is the best way to go..