Upgrade at end of January. What phone to get

[imp3r10]

I have an upgrade at the end of January and I'm going to be getting a Droid phone. Right now I would either like to get the Droid 2 Global or Droid X. But the Droid Thunderbird should be coming out shortly and with the new 4G/LTE network, this looks enticing. However it doesn't have an HDMI out.

Is having an HDMI out worth it?
Does the Thudnerbird have the hotspot feature? I want to jailbreak my droid and this feature would be very useless on the road for my laptop.

Or should I wait the extra couple of months for the Droid Bionic to be released?

 

[Liderc]

Believe you mean Droid Thunderbolt.

I don't think having an HDMI out is worth it, you still have to bring the cable with you anywhere you go if you want to put a video or something on a big screen. Once 1080p is possible, then it's worth it(soon).

Probably know more about hotspot with the thunderbolt in the next few days.

I would say, read the news in the next few days, should make your decision much easier.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about the Bionic and the Thunderbolt, should be 2 sexy phones.

 

[imp3r10]

Believe you mean Droid Thunderbolt.

I don't think having an HDMI out is worth it, you still have to bring the cable with you anywhere you go if you want to put a video or something on a big screen. Once 1080p is possible, then it's worth it(soon).

Probably know more about hotspot with the thunderbolt in the next few days.

I would say, read the news in the next few days, should make your decision much easier.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about the Bionic and the Thunderbolt, should be 2 sexy phones.

oh yeah the bionic is like the ultimate phone dual-core 4g.


does verizon have unlimited 4g plans?

 

[dezymond]

worth of a phone is decided by it's user. Do you NEED an HDMI out?

CES is going right now and there's a bunch of devices being announced so keep an eye on that.

The first batch of 4g phones sound good, but i'd personally wait til the next few releases before settling for one of them. I'm willing to bet there's a bunch of 4g phones coming out not announced yet...

 

[Tillyswilly]

yea i would be waiting to see what big red puts out at ces and go from there myself

 

[takeshi]

Is having an HDMI out worth it?

Worth is always highly subjective. If you're considering an upgrade then list out your needs/wants and make your selection based on that rather than arbitrarily selecting a device and hoping that it is suited to you.

For example, I have no interest in HDMI out on my phone. However, LTE and dual cores are must haves for my upgrade. Make your list and stick with it. Don't get easily distracted just because there's something new and shiny out there.

 

[imp3r10]

ok well i checked the 4g coverage it is at my home in colorado but not where i go to school and spend most of my time of the year. also it is not on the list of upcoming locations. so i think it is down to the droid x and the droid 2 global


or possibly the Samsung Fascinate


anyone have a preference for either one?

i DO want to root it to get the mobile hotspot feature without having to pay for it, and have heard worries about rooting the new moto droid devices

 

[Mortiel]

No word yet on phone 4G data features, however 4G mobile broadband is $50/$80 per month for 5/10 GB respectively. 4G will be backward compatible with 3G, so if its not in you area yet, you are still good.

As far as phones, the 4G phones set to be released this year so far are the HTC Thunderbolt, Motorola Droid Bionic, the Samsung SCH-i520, and the LG Revolution. The iPhone 4 is NOT going to be 4G, and frankly is a feature phone compared to the VZW 4G line up.

To give you more info on 4G LTE, it will boast about 70% better speed than Sprint's WiMax. AT&T and T-Mobile don't compare since they neither have 4G, regardless of what their ads say. They both run HSPA+, which is 3G, claims speeds up to 21 Mbps. That is an unloaded quote, to which WiMax has unloaded speeds up to 42 Mbps, and LTE up to 100 Mbps.

Unloaded quotes are so misleading, which is why I applauded VZW for giving a loaded speed quote of 5-12 Mbps, while T-Mobile and AT&T still only give the unloaded quotes.

Anyway, supposedly the Bionic might have some serious manufacturer flaws, so I'd look into the Thunderbolt, i520, or Revolution.

Device: Samsung SCH-I400 Continuum

 

[Detonation]

Thunderbolt if you don't mind paying the likely extra 4g fees. Droid X if not. Once you go to a 4.3" screen you will never want to go back to anything smaller!

 

[Mortiel]

I know fire certain that at least three of the four LTE phones will have 4.3" screens. There is absolutely no word yet on if there will be an extra 4G charge... Especially considering that 80% of the customers buying these early LTE devices won't even be in a 4G coverage until it gets to their area. We'll see... The Thunderbolt will be out before April (likely in February).

Device: Samsung SCH-I400 Continuum

 

[imp3r10]

ive decided against waiting for a 4g phone, 1 due to lack of service in my area and the extra data charge. I will just get a 3G phone with unlimited data plan.


right now i have it between

Droid X
Droid 2 Global
Samsung Fascinate


i;ve heard good things about all of them but what do you guy think of the fascinate compared to the other two? i will go to verizon and use each phone to see which i like.

EDIT: which of these is the easiest to root?

 

[Mortiel]

All of them are fairly easy to root. The D-X has a 4.3" screen, which is nice, but the Fascinate has Swype text entry... Trust me its a godsend once you spend some time using it. The D-2G is ok, but all it really has is the 1.2 Ghz processor. Go with the X if you want a 4.3" screen, and the Fascinate if you want a 4.0" screen with Swype.

Device: Samsung SCH-I400 Continuum

 

[imp3r10]

All of them are fairly easy to root. The D-X has a 4.3" screen, which is nice, but the Fascinate has Swype text entry... Trust me its a godsend once you spend some time using it. The D-2G is ok, but all it really has is the 1.2 Ghz processor. Go with the X if you want a 4.3" screen, and the Fascinate if you want a 4.0" screen with Swype.

Device: Samsung SCH-I400 Continuum

the droid x can have swype aswell

 

[Droid DOES!!]

Swype is preinstalled on the DX

All of them are fairly easy to root. The D-X has a 4.3" screen, which is nice, but the Fascinate has Swype text entry... Trust me its a godsend once you spend some time using it. The D-2G is ok, but all it really has is the 1.2 Ghz processor. Go with the X if you want a 4.3" screen, and the Fascinate if you want a 4.0" screen with Swype.

Device: Samsung SCH-I400 Continuum

the droid x can have swype aswell

DroidForums Junkie!!

 

[imp3r10]

All of them are fairly easy to root. The D-X has a 4.3" screen, which is nice, but the Fascinate has Swype text entry... Trust me its a godsend once you spend some time using it. The D-2G is ok, but all it really has is the 1.2 Ghz processor. Go with the X if you want a 4.3" screen, and the Fascinate if you want a 4.0" screen with Swype.

Device: Samsung SCH-I400 Continuum

also what do you find superior on the D2G besides teh smaller screen?

and camera