Help me choose a new phone

See that's my whole point. Maybe it's not as "bad", but the fact is if you buy any Android phone from an American carrier you will need to root it if you want to tether or use custom kernels. I could not see myself using my phone if I couldn't have rooted it, which is the same situation as if I wanted to use an iPhone, I 'd want to jailbreak it which is the same as rooting, in fact literally _is_ rooting.

 

As far as I know, T-Mobile hasn't blocked any features for their Android phones like the other carriers have. So that makes one carrier that you can buy Android phones that have all the features unlocked out of the box. Custom kernels are a different matter altogether. Of course you have to root to do that, since you have to be able to install the kernel image in a space that you can only write to if you have superuser access.

 

I'm like 99% sure they don't allow tethering. Which is really a damn shame. I used to be a Tier 3 rep for Tmo and we were actually trained to inform people that with the basic internet plan, they were allowed and welcome to tether with their phones. My main job functions were to help people set up their unlocked phones (fuck you chinese iphone clones, so much) and to tether their phones to their computers. I had all the modem INIT strings memorized.

 

The T-Mobile rep I talked to when I ordered phones for my roommates told me tethering was fine as long as they didn't abuse it. It is part of why they went with T-Mobile. We have an incredibly unreliable broadband internet connection (50 year old cable infrastructure does not make a reliable internet connection). They have a reasonable restriction of 10GB of 3G and then you are downgraded to EDGE and you can keep on chugging along.

 

Oh that's nice, so they don't just shut you off at that point? Good to hear they still have a customer friendly attitude. I left that call center right before the launch of the G1, so it's all different now.

 

Yeah, they won't shut you off. He even told me there were ways to hack Android devices to support tethering without Froyo and to Google about it to get some more information.

In other news: I watched a webcast from Verizon where the Verizon CEO said he wants Verizon to offer something like AT&T's 200MB plan, with pay per MB after maxing the initial bucket, soon after LTE is switched on in 2011. Gotta love greedy bastards...

 

Wow, what an offshoot. I'm just saying the OS is easy to use, lots of great, inexpensive apps, and it's a pretty reliable little phone. Jailbreaking it is cool, but not entirely necessary to enjoy the iPhone experience. I hear that Android's good, but it doesn't seem as user friendly as the iPhone. Could be just me, though.

 

Depends on the "Android experience." Sony Ericsson's UX is a great experience for those that are media centric and social networking centric people. Motorola's MOTOBLUR is great for the socialites and provides useful security features. Samsung's TouchWiz provides a polished, iPhone-like interface for app lists and a refined media playback system, while augmenting the Android home screens and widgets capabilities with useful bits. HTC's Sense extends the Android UI with limited theme support and offers many useful extra widgets while preserving much of the stock Android experience. Then of course, there is the stock Android UI, which is minimalistic in design.

In the end, if you don't like the UI and/or skin on the phone, you can easily swap out with another. That's the beauty of Android.

 

... but you cant do that without rooting.

Also Overlord: I clearly said "american carriers" so your comment makes no sense

 

LauncherPro begs to differ. LauncherPro can be installed and configured as the home UI without ever rooting the phone.

 

CDMA is the cellular technology used by Sprint and Verizon. It's not compatible with GSM, and doesn't use SIM cards. The only other country that uses it AFAIK is Japan. It's somewhat akin to NTSC vs PAL though they are very different. Main point being that on GSM you can talk and use data at once and on CDMA you can't.

Jaseman, why don't you just call sprint and get a trial set up, they'll send you any phone you want and you have 30 days to give it back if you don't want it.

 

CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) is a proprietary Qualcomm technology designed for effective dual analog+digital signals. Nowadays, the analog signal for cellular devices is non-existent, so CDMA is solely digital, just like GSM. CDMA is used in parts of Japan, China, and is used by two national carriers in the United States.

Technically, every national carrier (T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon) offers you a 30-day trial. Even when you sign a two-year contract, you have thirty days to decide whether or not the service is right for you. If you don't like it, you can return it and get a full refund, and usually with no questions asked. And you won't be charged an ETF within the first 30 days if you cancel.

 

Yeah dude and honestly I think that your best bet would be to get an Epic first and see how it goes. Then you can work from there, if you don't like CDMA then you know, and if that camera is too shitty then you know. I personally don't see any problem with the camera, it's shitty on paper by my friend bought 5 epics not that long ago and loves them.

 

If your area has HSPA+ or is getting HSPA+ from T-Mobile soon, I'd recommend checking them out first. They are cheapest in terms of value, and they do offer a Galaxy S. Technically, you could get a trial with all of them at once, but that is quite a lot to juggle...

 

Just sign up for Sprint service on the website or by phone, or at a store. Here's the details for Sprint's return policy, AT&T's Return Policy, T-Mobile's Return Policy, and Verizon's return policy.

EDIT: Hmm, seems T-Mobile is 14 days (except in California).

 

Hrm... The cameras are fixed focus and there's a mirror next to the camera on the three Moto phones (meaning no Barcode scanner). Why AT&T doesn't mention it is beyond me....