Anyone have an Android phone?

[valanhb]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

I am an AT&T user and per your requirements I suggest the duel core Motorola Atrix or the lesser powered HTC Inspire. These are AT&T's current top Android phones that are 4G and on 2.2 (so you have flash support).

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Don't count on getting the Gingerbread update, though, as AT&T aren't the best for updating Android anyways.

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Do remember though that the pricing on these phones is 2 year contract + purchase of one of their smartphone data plans. These aren't the same as iPhones plans or feature phone data plans. They are separate, price is 200mbs for $15, 2gb for $25. There's a reason why people hate AT&T for their data plans.

The phone I'm mainly looking at is the Atrix. I love the docking station/laptop it comes with.

I leave the tech phone stuff up to my husband.

I'll ask him about the Gingerbread thing, though.

We've been with AT&T for over 10 years.

The really good thing that we have is that we are locked into the Unlimited Data Plan as long as we keep it.

We're definitely not changing that! If we couldn't keep that we would probably be changing carriers.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

^AT&T locks you into using the app market and blocks some apps. The reason why Apple went with AT&T originally is because they have like business practices.

Hmm...I'll have to check into that...

Originally Posted by sarahp

I would also recommend the Nexus S - http://www.google.com/nexus/#

It's the only purely Android phone, made by Google to best use all their features. The other Android phones are messed with by the carrier/phone company, but the Nexus best uses all the Android features.

It will be available on 4G soon as well

Ah, darnit! Only available for Sprint!

Hopefully we'll be able to upgrade phones this week.

I'll let y'all know what we get!

 

[strange_wings]

We had unlimited data and weren't able to keep it unless we wanted to pay for the costs of the phones. Remember the promotional pricing on these phones, in this case $199 for the Atrix, is based on you agreeing to a 2 year contract and a data package. This is how they make up that $300-400 you don't pay upfront.

Now nothing is stopping you from getting any phone you like and unlocking it, provided that you can find instructions for it. You can even buy some phones unlocked already. Just expect to pay full price. The nexus one tend to be one people get because it's easy to unlock and even easier (supported) to put custom roms on. Simply put, it's a favorite for developers and those that like to hack their phones. If you do neither, that won't matter to you.

Most new phones are on Froyo. It's good enough if your main concern is flash support and being able to install to the SD card. Linux distros update roughly every 6 months, in all versions (including android) the updates fix security and support issues. Part of that is a speedier more responsive os/product - though it doesn't always work out that way.