Some help deciding on phones please

[f575gtc]

So 3 weeks ago I had the worst luck I could ever imagine with phones. I dropped my original Droid from no more than 2 feet onto a carpet and that was the end of it, no longer worked. since my upgrade was less than a month away I found my old Voyager and re-activated it to have a phone.

Well my Upgrade date is July 9th with Verizon and now of course I find out that unlimited data is done on the 7th, so to be able to keep the unlimited data I will have to go get a phone on the 6th and sacrifice my old tel # to add a new family line with unlimited. I heard that smart phone users could continue with unlimited even after upgrading after the 7th but of course because my Droid broke, I currently am not using a smart phone.

So that's the story behind why I need help on phones.
I want to stay with Android and I was looking at the Thunderbolt, and I love that it has LTE (which is already available where I live, even in my house), but that fact that it has a single core throws me off a bit as I am a bit of a performance freak and I like to root and customize my things a bit.

The Droid X2 and Droid 3 looks great, I love that the Droid 3 still has the slide out keyboard like my Droid had and it has a dual core, but it lacks LTE, and I also hear all the newer Droid phones have encrypted boot loaders.

Are there any new phones coming out within the next 14 days that are dual core and have LTE on Verizon's network?

And can someone give me some insight on pros and cons of the Thunderbolt vs Droid 3 to make my choice a bit easier?
Is having LTE in your area already a good reason to go LTE?

Also if anyone knows exactly how the grandfather clause works for unlimited data, will I be able to upgrade and keep unlimited data even though I currently have a basic Voyager with its unlimited data plan if I go in to upgrade on the 9th with my same tel #?

Thanks!

 

[C_Pate]

Are there any new phones coming out within the next 14 days that are dual core and have LTE on Verizon's network?

No, the first phone to be released with both dual-core and LTE is the Bionic, and leaks have shown it to be released Aug. 4th.

 

[steveky]

My upgrade fall during the 2nd week of July so I'm looking to upgrade from D1 as well. I would consider myself an avg user so I don't know what the difference between single and dual cores. I know rooting allows more customization but I wouldn't know what to do other than to remove built in apps that I don't use, so I don't root.

As far as LTE goes, I also live in an LTE available city. I know people say that there are lots of bugs to work out, but I'm ASSUMING that when the problems present themselves, that the phone should revert to 3G and everything should be good to go until LTE comes back up. If that was the case then I don't see the harm in investing in an LTE phone when there isn't a price difference between 3G and LTE because eif anything, when LTE IS up then it should be a bonus (from 3G).

I also love the physical keyboard so I will consider every redeeming quality when comparing against D3. I'll do my darndest to justify getting the D3 just for the keyboard. Right now it isn't a clear decision.

It might come down to the little things like how I like to use my phone. I don't do complex gaming or anything like that so I'm not sure if I would use the processor to it's fullest anyway. One important thing for me is the size and the way the phone clips on. I'm a runner and I like to use the GPS to log my runs so I would grab a phone that has a convenient case or strap for running. I don't tuck my shirt in for my job so I prefer not to clip my phone to my belt. I'd rather put it in my pocket so how well the phone fits in my jeans would be a consideration for me.

There are too many rumors out there regarding the grand-fathering that I wouldn't feel comfortable commenting further on it. Good luck!