Making the Switch from AT&T. Need phone choice help

[BetaRoc]

We have finally got fed up with AT&T and the horrible coverage. Multiple dropped calls a day, spotty data coverage, horrible reception...blech

I have 4 phones with them and we all have experienced this, so I know its not just one particular phone not performing well.


Current Phones:
Me: Samsung Captivate (rooted)
Wife: iPhone 3g (was jailbroke but just upgrade to latest OS and she likes it)
17 year old daughter: Samsung Mythic
16 Year Old daughter: Little Slider phone. LG something I think. Its blue. lol


Recommendations?
I really like my Captivate (except for the horrible GPS lock problems), so I am considering the Fascinate. The Incredible and Droid 2 are possibilities as well, but I am open to suggestions. Want a phone that can compare in features/speed to my Captivate and also be on the forefront on upcoming and latest developments. Don't want a phone that is on the verge of becoming obsolete.

Wife: She isn't really picky, but I'd like to get her an decent phone as well.

Daughters: Got to be a great text messaging phone (obviously, lol) and ability to access social media apps would be a plus. Decent camera (flash preferable)
STURDY. These girls do some serious texting. They wore out multiple Blackberries, so a touchscreen keyboard might be best, or maybe one with touchscreen AND QWERTY?

We will probably keep paying for data access for our phones, but not our daughters. Maybe a phone with wifi for them, so they can access internet at home?

Any suggestions appreciated!

 

[MsGadget13]

My family did the same thing in September after 10-years with AT&T. Same reasons too. Three of us went to the Fascinate (we LOVE them). My mom who only talks on the phone went with the Gusto, and my son went with one of the BB's.

Once again, LOVE the Fascinates. The lack of visual indicators and screen shutting off was frustrating to me but not the rest of my family. I added NoLed and Screebl and it's great now. Those issues didn't bother the rest of my family... Best phone I've ever had and I've had just about every WM phone that AT&T had. I don't care for iPhones, too locked down.

It was hard for my daughter to leave, she had the iPhone and hope Verizon has one soon! Until then the Fascinate works great.

MsGadget

 

[Menno]

For you, the Fascinate's not bad. Personally I can't STAND touchwhiz. I currently have an OG droid and love it, but I'm looking for picking up a DINC on the cheap sometime soon. Might settle for a Fascinate, but I'll have that thing rooted within an hour of it being activated. If you're going to root the fascinate as well, it's not that bad, especially once it gets 2.2 or *crosses fingers* gingerbread.

The DINC is still a great phone, and highly hackable (It's part of CyanogenMod's group of supported devices). But for android, the Dinc, Dx, and Fascinate (if rooted) are all great choices. Don't discount a Dx until you test one out for yourself.

One quick thing to note: If you switch before January 7th, you can do the "smartphones talk free" promotion. This means that the second (and any subsequent) line to get a smartphone beyond the primary line will get a $10/month credit. also, the $30 data plan is eligable for discounts, so check to see if your work (or wife's) offers one. For 20% discount, the difference between a smartphone and a dumbphone is $14 a month.

For your daughters, STAY AWAY from the kins. stores might push this on you, but they are awful phones. They currently the only wifi capable non-smartphones, but they're not worth compromising for.

For them, take a look at the following:
LG Octane: Full keyboard device, flip open design, decent camera with flash.

LG Cosmos Touch: This one has a RESISTIVE touch screen and a full, slide out keyboard. 1.3mp camera

Pantech Crux: Capacitive Touchscreen, all touch. It's a pretty neat phone, but it's also pantech, which I don't care for personally.

LG Cosmos/Samsung intensity: Decent phones, but if your kids wear through blackberries, I don't think that any feature phone will stand up to them, especially the entry level ones.

 

[BetaRoc]

Thanks for the insight yall. Good to know about the discounts as well. We are already getting a discount because we are both State employees. I'll check into the other ones.

Chances are I am going to go with the Fascinate. I really like my Captivate alot and I have had a bunch of different smartphones. The DINC is a strong possibility though.

I was looking at the KIN TWOm for my daughters, which has pretty decent reviews on the site and on Youtube. Glad you gave me your viewpoint on them though. Might have to take a second look at some other choices.

AT&T gave us two free months of service to try and keep us from switching; so we will be with them a bit longer. Will give me some time to make a final choice on phones.

 

[Cory Streater]

You mentioned obsolete as being a factor, and being that we are so close to getting phones with LTE, I personally will not be buying any new phones that do not have it. At CES (Android Central will be there blogging about everything Android related), we should hear several LTE phone announcements.

That said, it sounds like your situation on AT&T warrants you making a change sooner rather than later. If you like the Captivate, I would move over to the Fascinate. You could also pay something less than full price for a Fascinate on Ebay, sign a month to month with Verizon, and then resell it in a few months when LTE comes out. Then use your discount to get a new LTE phone.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Menno]

This is the story of the Kin's:

They were initially intended to be smartphones, and they SUCKED:
Microsoft Kin One and Two review -- Engadget

They were in stores for just a few weeks until they were pulled. I guess Microsoft and Verizon got together and reworked the internal software so that it no longer did smartphone things (which removed pretty much anything cool about the device)

The ONLY thing this phone has going for it is Zunepass over wifi. EVERYTHING else is inferior. Poor sound quality, poor keyboard, sever lack of features (The Cosmos has more features than either Kin) and basically 0 support for the device. They're trying to pass these off on customers who just see the free wifi option and cheap price.

The phones run a modified version of Windows 6.1 (ask anyone who used it about horror stories) and the browser is Internet explorer.. I believe 6. The phones feel unbelievably cheap in the hands. I haven't played with one that much since they made it a dumbphone, but the only parts of the software I LIKED were the smartphone features.

I will say the new software is really laggy. as in 2-3 seconds to pull up the phone dialer from a first time boot.