Possible Android Move?

[lukechanning]

Howdy, Everybody! Basically, I'm tired of fighting my iPhone. It works like magic, and I have never had to beat a bug in the code into submission, but fighting Apple's vice-like grip is terrible. I jailbroke my phone ages ago, and it was great for a while. But with all the effort I put into getting my iPhone just the way I want it, it suddenly occurred to me that getting an Android phone might but a much simpler—and more satisfying—step. But that's just backlog, so here's what I want to know:
What sort of cheap(ish), 3g capable, SD-slotted android phone can I get? I'm currently on t-Mobile with my iPhone, and my plan includes 3g, but i cannot currently use it because of hardware limitations with Apple. If I swap to a new phone, I'd absolutely love to utilize the faster network. And, as stated, it should be a simple SIM card swap to use the new phone. Hence the cheap(ish). I want a good phone that's comprable/similarly designed to the iPhone, but I don't necessarily want to spend a fortune—I mean, who does?
I know next to nothing about Gphones, so that's why I'm asking. Just sound off with whatever info you happen to have about the subject, or if you've thought about or done the same thing, and I'd greatly (really, greatly) appreciate it. Thanks so much!

[cpjr]

I have (of course) an iphone for personal use...and a Droid for work.

I can tell you this, first off you have to root the android devices (which is like jailbreaking) to do most of the "cool" stuff just like the iphone. Yes apps arent strained before they hit the market like Apple does.....however for the most part this just means more "crap" apps, not a whole lot in the area of useful.

Secondly, there isnt NEARLY as much out for the Android OS as far as apps and features, IMO.

The iphone, even with Apple's tight grip....is still a much better deal.

Dont get me wrong, Android is definetely a close second....but thats about it.

Anyhow....I do like the droid and my buddy just got the Incredible and thats a great phone (neither is real cheap though). However neither of those are GSM so it wont matter for you, and Im not completely sure what Android devices are GSM capable.

[mitchell209]

You don't have many good options for T-Mobile at the moment. All of the new, better spec'd phones are being released for the other three carriers.

You should definitely check out the Nexus One.

[lukechanning]

Agreed to both counts; T-Mobile doesn't offer a whole lot. Is it possible to unlock the phones, or buy them unlocked? I'm assuming the latter is ungodly expensive, like with the iPhone. And I totally love my iPhone CPJR, so I'd agree with you—it's been my experience that Apple polishes their products to a fine finish, despite their Nazi-like policies. I was really just wanting to wage my options, as Android is quickly *becoming* a steep competitor. How about the HTC Hero? Do they come in an unlocked flavour? I wouldn't even mind one of these "pebble-style, palm-pre-ish" Droid phones floating around. An SD slot would be a bonus with such a device, though.

[mitchell209]

I believe the Hero and Droid Hero are both CDMA, so you're out of luck there. Your best bet would be to get an N1 if you want 3G on an Android phone. I was thinking about the N1 for AT&T until I saw the Palm Pre Plus was going to be on AT&T eventually. Now I'm not sure if I'll just save my money or get the Pre.

[subywrex]

My wife was tired of the iPhone 3g so she moved to verizon and got a droid eris. We took it back a week later and got her back on AT&T with a 3gs.

The android market really is a joke to me. I found it extremely confusing and not very informitive. Yeah it's more of an open platform but there doesn't seem to be that many good developers making stuff (like we have for the iPhone) for android. They always advertise comstomizing is so great really if your sticking with a good solid home screen you cant theme anythingbut the wallpaper with out rooting the devise. It's that or go with an alt home screen wich doesnot run as good.

Also rooting your phone is a little more involved than jailbreaking an iPhone and if you root the phone it will most definatly void your warranty and there is no way (to my knowledge) to restore back.

Having said that I really have my eye on the htc evo. It's on sprint which seems to have some killer prices for service right now. From reviews the htc evo is very very impressive. But I have a feeling the new iPhone will out perform it with less power.

If you like widgets read up on pogoplank 2.0 when it's released th devs goal is to bring widgets to your home screen much like a droid phone does

[mitchell209]

It's actually quite easy to flash the stock ROM back on your phone. Not nearly as easy as a simple DFU Restore of the iPhone, but still quite easy if you know what you're doing.

[lukechanning]

I've been busy working, so I haven't had much time to check things out, but the N1 looks wicked cool. I am indeed a big fan of the widgets idea—IMO, it makes the icon-sprawl iPhone homescreen look a little rusty—so I'll check out PogoPlank right now! Someone else on a Gphone forum suggested the CLIQ XT. Again, haven't had much time to look, but I'll report back with what i think. Thanks for the continued input guys!

[CaptainChaos]

Once you have an iPhone there really isn't a satisfying alternative.

[subywrex]

I would have to agree. Yeah android does things the iPhone doesn't but the things that the iPhone does is far superior than other smart phone os's

[mitchell209]

Once you have an iPhone there really isn't a satisfying alternative.

Well that's not totally true. I mean, I'd gladly take a Palm Pre Plus over an iPhone. The Evo is another great alternative, but I would never take it because I'm on AT&T and would have no 4G connection in my city.

Also, the Nexus One is a pretty good alternative. Great hardware, great software, and it's nice and small.

But yes, I agree that what the iPhone does, it does extremely well.

I've been busy working, so I haven't had much time to check things out, but the N1 looks wicked cool. I am indeed a big fan of the widgets idea—IMO, it makes the icon-sprawl iPhone homescreen look a little rusty—so I'll check out PogoPlank right now! Someone else on a Gphone forum suggested the CLIQ XT. Again, haven't had much time to look, but I'll report back with what i think. Thanks for the continued input guys!

Your best bet would still be the Nexus One.

If I was on T-Mobile, I would definitely have the Nexus One right now. Or possibly the G1 or MyTouch 3G Slide.

[lukechanning]

Okay, again, I've been working all weekend, but I've done a little bit of digging, and I like what I see. The Nexus One seems a very obvious winner for my Tmobile carrier, but I'm might be interested win swapping carriers—if I can find a prepaid plan I like. I'm not a fan of contracts. But as to Android in general, no it's not as smooth as iPhone OS, but then again, some things are just preference. I'm with Mitchell, as I think the Palm Pre is a beautiful little device. It all comes down to what you like best, although considering this is an iPhone site, I'm pretty sure we all think iPhone is the best at what it does. Doesn't mean it's my favourite, though.
Also, Pogoplank 2.0 looks amazing, and Android on the iPhone could be a good alternative. I'm looking at the state of that project as I type this—just digging a little. For people that like Android and are tired of Apple but like their phone hardware, that might be a good choice. I've been happily dual-booting linux on my Macbook for years, so it's not too different a concept. Still, Pogoplank with it's plankets looks like a great alternative to fully partitioning your device, or swapping phones entirely.

[subywrex]

A good friend of mine has an iPhone on tmobile and a work palm pre plus on verizon. He told me while at first the pre was awesome now that he has had it for a while he hates it. He has also had both droid phones and just nothing has the smoothness and usability of the iPhone.

There is a saying. You get what you pay for. I take it as a bad sign that verizon sales it's palm pre fir 40 bucks I beleive.

[cpjr]

Yeah rooting is kinda fun though, its like jailbreaking used to be, when you had to work for it and if you didnt own a first-gen when it came out and jailbroke it with the first methods available, you have no clue what Im talking about

And yeah, I have the same program Verizon uses to flash the droid, so its quiet easy to reflash to complete stock just in case Actually just had to last week as I had mine swapped for a malfunctioning speaker.

I am rooted and overclocking the processor to 1100mhz right now

[mitchell209]

Haha yeah. The 2G was pretty difficult too, in the beginning. I remember when the dev team first released their redsn0w lite. Was a ***** to jailbreak because i had no idea what I was doing at the time.

[screamforme02]

They released a moto droid in canada I believe that is gsm but you'd hav to buy it unlocked. Palm pre plus keyboard is awfull. I would love to see a nice web os device and even a moto droid like device on AT&T. But the droid dosent have the specs I'd be looking for in a phone. I need lots of power these days always need to be a step ahead

[confucious]

The Nexus One (Or HTC Desire) is currently the best Android phone which are similar to the iPhone but, although Android is 'getting there', I don't believe it is quite there yet.
One thing that has defiantly put me off is the fact that whatever you buy now could be left behind very quickly.
The iPhone is supported for at least two years and even then will still run most things with new updates annually. Android changes within months and 'older' devices do not support newer functionality. See Google: Android fragmentation isn't fragmentation ? The Register
Rooting is more difficult than JailBreaking (and just as necessary) and the Android store isn't as comprehensive as the app store and apps seem more expensive.
I've had my iPhone 3G longer than I've had any other phone as I usually swap for something better - but the only thing better than a 3G is the 3GS and it's not better enough to justify upgrading. I'm always looking but I think my next phone is likely to be the 4G, nothing else is tempting enough.

[theSavant]

Post this same question on an Android forum and see what responses you'll get. In fact, you should probably visit some Android forums for some insight. The hardcore guys are at xda-developers forum.

Of course on an iPhone forum you'll be told how great the iPhone and told of all Android's shortcomings. Conversely, if you go to an Android forum, you'll be told how great Android is and all of the iPhone's shortcomings.

If you do decide to switch to Android, get a good device that will support future updates as many have alluded to throughout this post. Desire, Evo, Incredible, and Nexus One come to mind. The Desire, Evo, and Incredible run a variation of Andriod so updates are delayed so that the variant ui can be adapted. The Nexus One is Google's golden child right now so it gets updates the fastest. Samsung Galaxy S is highly anticipated - you may want to look into that one as well.

I personally never liked iTunes and all the cancerous software it placed on my computer. But i lived with it to use an iPhone. I know of the workarounds with copytrans, doubletwist, etc. but I always end up going back to iTunes for something. Plus, I hate syncing my device to only one computer. But if you like iTunes, like many people do, then the iPhone is great for that particular integration.

I like dragging and dropping files onto my device as if I was moving files around on a computer. The stock music player finds new files and I can build playlists on my device. I don't need iTunes or something running on my desktop to perform this feature.

I used to have AT&T but I feel they are overpriced especially with such poor customer service, all the dropped calls, slow network speeds (I live in LA), and did i mention the poor customer service? I get put on hold, then passed to someone else, then passed to someone else, all of which everyone blames everyone else. Even if the iPhone went to Verizon, I wouldn't want a CDMA version. I think the iPhone, or some variation, should be on all providers as you are not just buying the device but also the service that comes with it.

Aside from themeing your device, you probably won't need to root your android. Stock Android does a lot. I'm running stock Android 2.2 and it does just about everything my JB iPhone did sans themeing.

I rarely need to connect my phone to my computer. Pictures are synced ota with Picasa. Contacts, calendar, email are all synced ota with google. Facebook & Twitter contacts are all integrated into one main contact directory.

Overall, it's very hard to be disappointed with either device. Obviously, these are my personal preferences and your opinions will probably differ.

[screamforme02]

i have been craving a keyboard for a while now, i really miss my dedicated buttons

[mitchell209]

TheSavant speaks the truth.