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Help me choose a new phone

Discussion in 'Technical Discussion' started by Jaseman, Sep 5, 2010.

  1. Jaseman

    Jaseman

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    Tried a few phones out in the Best Buy. Liked the feel of the Epic's keyboard and handfeel, among other phones. Only the iPhone was operational, though. Where could I try out operational Sprint phones?
     
  2. Conan Kudo

    Conan Kudo

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    I'd check either RadioShack or a dedicated Sprint store. If your area has native Sprint voice and 3G coverage, a Sprint store should be within 50 miles of your place. Check here for a location.
     
  3. Mad Echidna

    Mad Echidna

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    And for the love of god, don't buy anything at Radioshack. They are the worst of the worst when it comes to sales. Those places are staffed with nothing but Lionel Hutz clones. No matter how good the deals they offer you might sound, buy your phone directly from sprint. If you ask nicely they'll probably overnight you an Epic if that's what you want.

    I'm an authorized reseller for AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon, just so you know, not just talking out of my ass :P
     
  4. Conan Kudo

    Conan Kudo

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    If at all possible, buy directly from the carrier. If you really want to take advantage of reseller deals, be very careful. Resellers have the ability to add terms to the contract you sign to acquire service. Read them very carefully.
     
  5. Jaseman

    Jaseman

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    I got to try the Epic (functional this time!) in a Sprint store. Everything moved so smoothly, it was amazing. It looks like they improved from the captivate; no blue screen tint. Also, it took me mere seconds to get used to the keyboard; I love it! I think this is what I'm gonna get. The camera is also great. I tried the Evo as well, but just didn't impress me as much as the Epic did as a product.
     
  6. Conan Kudo

    Conan Kudo

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    The blue screen tint is there, but it isn't noticeable unless you are outright looking for it. The blue screen tint is inherent to Super AMOLED. I believe regular AMOLED is usually either green or purple tinted, depending on the variety.

    Congratulations on choosing the Samsung Epic 4G, a Galaxy S Pro phone, exclusively available from Sprint.
     
  7. Mad Echidna

    Mad Echidna

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    Way to be a cock block there bro. I don't know what this "add terms to the contract" business is about, but if I were to sell a phone to Jaseman, he would pay whatever the standard carrier price is for the device, and then I'd apply a discount to whatever plan he chooses. Nothing more, nothing less. The only distinction between buying "direct" and from a dealer, is when you do it "direct" you're having a carrier employee place the order for you, and if you get a dealer to do it they place the order, using the exact same tools. There's no logical reason to go directly to the dealer based on what you're saying, except for maybe Radio Shack, I wouldn't deal with those guys.
     
  8. Conan Kudo

    Conan Kudo

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    The last time I dealt with a reseller, they added terms that if I were to cancel early, I'd have to pay some rather high termination fees to both the carrier AND the reseller. Needless to say, after I found that out, I became very frustrated because I was stuck with Verizon for another eight months, since I couldn't afford the termination fees for BOTH of them. So, I waited until one day after my Verizon contract expired before I cancelled my service and moved to AT&T. Incidentally, while I don't remember who this reseller was, I do know they went bankrupt and disappeared a year after I moved away from Verizon. Since then, I haven't dealt with a reseller for my phone service. Now, if it was a reseller I know personally well (either through a friend or something like that), I may go through that. Otherwise, I probably would treat the reseller with some suspicion until I was able to read the full terms of service contract and make sure nothing undesirable is in it.

    I'm not saying that resellers are necessarily bad, but caveat emptor to those who buy from resellers.
     
  9. Mad Echidna

    Mad Echidna

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    Sounds to me like that seller was making up their own fees. They probably got burned by people who returned their phone before their trial period was up (you have to give your commission back to the carrier when this happened) and did some scammy shit to avoid it.
     
  10. Jaseman

    Jaseman

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    I chose the Epic 4G. Couldn't be any happier. It's a snappy phone, and it does everything so fast. Plus, camera rox. I am currently rooted, using a custom ROM. It's kinda crashy so I may go back to stock.
     
  11. Mad Echidna

    Mad Echidna

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    If I were you I'd just use the stock rom with a custom kernel until Cyanogen Mod is stable on the Epic
     
  12. Mad Echidna

    Mad Echidna

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    Sorry for bumping an old thread, seemed better than making yet another new android thread.

    I had to test a Motorola Atrix yesterday that I was sending out to a client, and I was VERY impressed. You really can't judge this thing until you hold it in your hand.. Unlike the HTC Evo, the Atrix comes with a FREE HDMI CABLE! A very nice sturdy looking cable no less. Software wise, it booted very quickly, and the touch response time was spectacular. I saw no lag of any kind, even moments after boot.

    If I ever use AT&T again, this is definitely the phone I want.
     
  13. Shadow Hog

    Shadow Hog

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    It's the phone I got a week or two ago. I'm pretty pleased with it; it's my first smartphone, though, so it'd be hard to not be pleased with it.

    Games for the thing are lackluster, though. People seriously say this is the sort of gaming that's going to conk off the 3DS et al? You've gotta be kidding me. Still, the web browser IS sapping into my usual DS/3DS playtime at restaurants and such, so...
     
  14. Mad Echidna

    Mad Echidna

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    Yeah android gaming hasn't really made much progress, but there are a few notables, such as Angry Birds, Rocket Bunny, Fruit Ninja, the Gameloft Titles (Need for Speed shift and a bunch of clones of other games), and emulators for pretty much everything N64 down. Quake3Droid is also quite good, I've been able to hold my own on public Quake III servers over 3G on my Galaxy Tab.
     
  15. Conan Kudo

    Conan Kudo

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    I'd suggest the LG Optimus 2X or the Samsung Galaxy S2. The American variant of the Optimus 2X runs near stock Android, so it is a lot snappier than the international variant of the Optimus 2X, which most reviewers dinged the software on making it laggy and slow. The international models of both the Samsung Galaxy S2 and the LG Optimus 2X work only on AT&T, though.