Still Deciding

[757Dave]

OK, still trying to decide on my and wife's phone upgrade. Currently have HTC Tunderbolt. Which phone would you recommend to your parents? (Yes we are not spring chickens ) S4 or the S3 or wait for the HTC One? Just looking for your opinions. Thanks.

 

[thedeceiver]

OK, still trying to decide on my and wife's phone upgrade. Currently have HTC Tunderbolt. Which phone would you recommend to your parents? (Yes we are not spring chickens ) S4 or the S3 or wait for the HTC One? Just looking for your opinions. Thanks.

If you are familiar with HTC Sense.. You can go with DROID DNA or wait to see if HTC One or its variant pops up on Verizon.

If you want something different, the S4 can't really be beat.

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[majorpayne]

OK, still trying to decide on my and wife's phone upgrade. Currently have HTC Tunderbolt. Which phone would you recommend to your parents? (Yes we are not spring chickens ) S4 or the S3 or wait for the HTC One? Just looking for your opinions. Thanks.

I wouldn't wait to see if a phone gets launched. That being said Verizon is supposed to have a big announcement coming out on the 22. I suspect it's going to be the S4 as I have yet to see a advertisment for it yet on Verizon. That being said it's not impossible that they will announce 2 phones with one of them being next day they other maybe 2-4 week down the road. If you like the Sense type look but will be getting the Samsung phone there are app out there that mimic Sense in some ways. Beautiful Widgets is a great app for the sense type clock plus more. I do hope this helps.

 

[757Dave]

Thanks for the quick response. We are really considering the s3 for now. For the $$$ difference, we don't really see a benefit for the money. You have given us some useful information and I do appreciate you taking the time to respond. We are not settled yet and any advise is appreciated.

 

[s44]

I strongly recommend the Note 2 for your wife. It's my mom's favorite toy -- loves the screen (easy on eyes), battery lasts forever, and with a purse the size is no issue.

For you I'd suggest the S4 or S3, although for light use the biggest difference you'll notice is the remote control function of the S4...

 

[jsuns]

Thanks for the quick response. We are really considering the s3 for now. For the $$$ difference, we don't really see a benefit for the money. You have given us some useful information and I do appreciate you taking the time to respond. We are not settled yet and any advise is appreciated.

For me personally, I think the biggest factor in choosing a new phone is what you plan on doing with it. For example, if taking pictures and sharing them is important to you, then the difference between the 8 mp camera on the S3 and the 13 mp one on the S4 might be enough to sway your opinion. If you watch a lot of tv shows and/or movies on your phone, you might want the slightly larger screen and the 1080p resolution on the S4 as opposed to the 720p resolution on the S3. If you play a lot of games, you might feel like the Snapdragon S600 processor on the S4 is a worthwhile step up from the one in the S3. If all you're looking for is an all-around great phone for web browsing, email, occasional gaming, photography, Skype, whatever, then you probably can't go wrong with either of these phones. Finally, while it's impossible to "future-proof" any smartphone, it's worth noting that the S3 is already year-old hardware that is going to be three years old by the time you're out of your new contract. At some point, Samsung is going to stop supporting both of these phones with software updates, and that time is going to come sooner for the S3 than it is for the S4.

 

[s44]

I should mention that since you're both Thunderbolt-era, you probably both have unlimited. I would try to preserve unlimited on at least one line, by transferring its upgrade to the other and using both upgrades on the same line (to only lose unlimited there).

 

[fatboy97]

Parents... S4, then set it up using easy mode. One of the better things besides GPS is the ability to find your parents when they are lost, which just happened to my mother in law... I really wish she had a smartphone rather than just a dumb one.

At least the phone is better than nothing, but a smartphone would have been worth the little extra a month to have a GPS built in and use of Google Maps.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

OK, still trying to decide on my and wife's phone upgrade. Currently have HTC Tunderbolt. Which phone would you recommend to your parents? (Yes we are not spring chickens ) S4 or the S3 or wait for the HTC One? Just looking for your opinions. Thanks.

HTC One isn't coming to Verizon. I wouldn't be surprised if HTC did release a *similar* model for Verizon as they have in the past, but nothing as of now has been announced.

Considering that you refer to yourselves as "no spring chickens" and are still using a Thunderbolt, my guess is that you intend to keep your phone for at least a full 2 years until the next update cycle comes along. For that reason alone, I'd consider the extra money for the S4.

Having said that, however, if you really don't consider yourselves "power users" and primarily just use the phone for email and communications along with some web browsing and such, you really can't go wrong with the S3 either. It's still a great device and considerably cheaper right now than the S4. Just know that it will become "obsolete" before the S4 does. Notice the quotation marks around that word...some have differing opinions on that word means, but basically what I believe obsolete to indicate is that it will stop receiving software updates and eventually become unable to run newer apps as they are release down the road. When will this happen with the S3? Not for at least another year, I'd say...but past that all bets are off. For the record, the Thunderbolt has been "obsolete" for AT LEAST a year now by my standards, so if you're still OK using it, then the S3 will probably work fine for you.

I wouldn't wait to see if a phone gets launched. That being said Verizon is supposed to have a big announcement coming out on the 22. I suspect it's going to be the S4 as I have yet to see a advertisment for it yet on Verizon. That being said it's not impossible that they will announce 2 phones with one of them being next day they other maybe 2-4 week down the road. If you like the Sense type look but will be getting the Samsung phone there are app out there that mimic Sense in some ways. Beautiful Widgets is a great app for the sense type clock plus more. I do hope this helps.

Verizon has been advertising the S4 for quite some time...already taking pre-orders. It's not going to be that.

 

[ibcop]

I'd say do the S4, but some great deals can be had on the S3 right now. I'd recommend getting hands on with the S3 and see what your overall thoughts are. I would compare the two and obviously get the one best suited for your needs - and wallet!

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

This is why I love this site. Everyone has given us their time in sharing their ideas and opinions to read and look over. We are not close to being "power" users. We make phone call, send and receive text messages, surf the web some, use gps often, check the weather, sports scores, use the mp3 player with our blue tooth connected devices, take a few photos, sometimes share photos with friends and family, don't use Facebook, twitter, or any of the social media. Rather boring I suppose, but as I said we aren't spring chickens. Again, I tried to thank each of you individually, but I do want to thank you all for your support here.

Sound like folks that would do just fine with the less expensive S3...in my opinion.

 

[318sugarhill]

If you are STILL on the Tbolt, then you likely aren't a power user. HTC one is NOT coming to VZW. VZW got the DNA instead, and it pales in comparison. Until HTC can prove to VZW that it can sell like the S3, HTC has no leverage in dealing with Verizon. After the S2, samsung forced VZW's hand by not catering to them, and offering the SAME device on separate carriers. Once the S3 and it's projected popularity VZW had to give in and take it the way Samsung was giving it. They got the locked bootloader they wanted, but nothing else. So HTC is taking a play from Sammy's book. It only hurts the manufacturer to make separate models for each carrier, and until VZW is pressured by sales numbers, or force to by the manufacturers, they will continue to try to dictate what they get.

So, after all that, If you are going to lose the unlimited, then pay the cheapest price and get the S3. Still a darn good phone and will last 2 more years. If you take the suggestion above.....upgrade one line to the S4 and lose unlimited, and when it arrives and is activated, transfer the upgrade from the unlimited line to the other line and order another S4. You will keep unlimited on one line, but lose it on the other. This way you still get the subsidized price for both without losing both unlimited plans.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

If you are STILL on the Tbolt, then you likely aren't a power user. HTC one is NOT coming to VZW. VZW got the DNA instead, and it pales in comparison. Until HTC can prove to VZW that it can sell like the S3, HTC has no leverage in dealing with Verizon. After the S2, samsung forced VZW's hand by not catering to them, and offering the SAME device on separate carriers. Once the S3 and it's projected popularity VZW had to give in and take it the way Samsung was giving it. They got the locked bootloader they wanted, but nothing else. So HTC is taking a play from Sammy's book. It only hurts the manufacturer to make separate models for each carrier, and until VZW is pressured by sales numbers, or force to by the manufacturers, they will continue to try to dictate what they get.

So, after all that, If you are going to lose the unlimited, then pay the cheapest price and get the S3. Still a darn good phone and will last 2 more years. If you take the suggestion above.....upgrade one line to the S4 and lose unlimited, and when it arrives and is activated, transfer the upgrade from the unlimited line to the other line and order another S4. You will keep unlimited on one line, but lose it on the other. This way you still get the subsidized price for both without losing both unlimited plans.

The DNA was more of a response to HTC's One X/V/S line, which was the predecessor to the current HTC One. Again, I wouldn't be surprised if Verizon and HTC announced a *comparable* phone to the HTC One, possibly under the "Droid" moniker as they have in the past...but you may be right about HTC trying to force Verizon's hand a bit. None the less, Verizon is the largest carrier in the US. You may want to employ tactics to get what you want, but in the end, Verizon can simply call their bluff...and I'm not sure any manufacturer in HTC's position would be willing to let that happen.

 

[757Dave]

This is why I love this site. Everyone has given us their time in sharing their ideas and opinions to read and look over. We are not close to being "power" users. We make phone call, send and receive text messages, surf the web some, use gps often, check the weather, sports scores, use the mp3 player with our blue tooth connected devices, take a few photos, sometimes share photos with friends and family, don't use Facebook, twitter, or any of the social media. Rather boring I suppose, but as I said we aren't spring chickens. Again, I tried to thank each of you individually, but I do want to thank you all for your support here.

 

[318sugarhill]

The problem for HTC is profitability, and the way they've been doing it....hasn't benefited them much. Apple set the stage with the one device and that's it....Samsung in turned followed suit and it has paid dividends. It may be too late for HTC, but the same phone with different versions for different carriers model only hurts the manufacturers costs. Carrier exclusive phones are going to be a thing of the past I predict.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Sound like folks that would do just fine with the less expensive S3...in my opinion.

Weird...for some reason this post got sorted as if I posted it one hour before I actually posted it...???