DROID 3 or Bionic?

[Jungle King 76]

I really dint know exactly where 4G is available yet but I read somewhere that it won't be fully engaged in all markets until 2013 so personally I would take the Droid 3 if you like the keyboard now and in 2 years when you get your next upgrade, 4G will be more widely available and further tested. There is still some question to how well the 4G LTE will hold up. Apparently that is why the Bionic keeps being delayed because they are having problems with the 4G.

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[Stelv]

There are no 1 year contracts anymore. Verizon did away with them a couple months ago.

 

[b-jammin21]

There are no 1 year contracts anymore. Verizon did away with them a couple months ago.

Oh crap I remember hearing something about that...that sucks.

Verizon is turning evil. I might just have to leave their BS and go to another carrier.

So what does everyone do then? Pay outrageous retail prices on these phones? Is everyone rich or something? Lol

 

[Stelv]

I know I don't like 2 year contracts either, but Sprint, Tmobile and Att all make you sign 2 year contracts now (20 months). No one is going to keep a phone for 2 years though, so it looks like 1 year one will get a discounted phone and the next year one will have to buy it at full retail or off of ebay used. Example: 1st year $200 bucks plus $500 the next year= $700 divided by 2 years.

 

[bsweetness]

I know I don't like 2 year contracts either, but Sprint, Tmobile and Att all make you sign 2 year contracts now (20 months).

2 year contracts with Verizon weren't bad when you could upgrade every year at the new contract price (if you had a smartphone plan over a certain monthly amount). You had to sign a new 2 year contract every time you did it, but as long as you didn't plan on leaving Verizon any time soon, you were essentially signing a 1 year contract each time. I miss that.

No one is going to keep a phone for 2 years though, so it looks like 1 year one will get a discounted phone and the next year one will have to buy it at full retail or off of ebay used. Example: 1st year $200 bucks plus $500 the next year= $700 divided by 2 years.

That's pretty much what I always do. When I get bored with a phone, or a new one comes out that I really want, I either pick up a lightly used one or buy one at full retail. I then sell the phone I was using and recoup some of the cost. If you play your cards right (buying and selling popular phones at the right times), it doesn't end up costing much in the long run. Over the past 4 years I've averaged out to pay a total of about $50 per phone that I've had (after selling the one I was previously using). Not bad for having the latest and greatest (or close to it) every few months. If you hold onto a phone for a year or so, it will end up costing you more since the value of the phone will go down. Switching out every few months, while the value of your current phone is still high, works out extremely well, especially if you stick to the higher end phones.

 

[Stelv]

Yes good point. I have sold a couple devices and have made some pretty decent money on them. Swappa and Ebay are great resources.

 

[bsweetness]

Yes good point. I have sold a couple devices and have made some pretty decent money on them. Swappa and Ebay are great resources.

Yeah, you can easily get 75-95% of the full retail cost of a device if you sell at the right time. And forums are even better than Swappa and eBay in my opinion. This forum doesn't have a section for buying/selling/trading, but others do. No fees and smooth transactions all around in my experience. I do a little on eBay from time to time, but I like to stick to the forums for that sort of thing.

 

[GryphonD]

I really dint know exactly where 4G is available yet but I read somewhere that it won't be fully engaged in all markets until 2013 so personally I would take the Droid 3 if you like the keyboard now and in 2 years when you get your next upgrade, 4G will be more widely available and further tested. There is still some question to how well the 4G LTE will hold up. Apparently that is why the Bionic keeps being delayed because they are having problems with the 4G.

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Current coverage map.

4G LTE Network | Verizon Wireless

 

[GryphonD]

Actually J-K, it is not so much that they are having issues with 4G as it is that they have been having serious problems getting the nVidia Tegra2 chipset to work with 4G without losing signal completely (along with some battery life problems which will remain, if they do not address the idea of larger capacity batteries since the Tegra line *not that they are battery hogs* but that they are.... simply powerhouses.) %In essence, other than 4G issues, they are trying to put mush more powerful Video Cards in they Desktops without really upgrading the Power supply (something most current Computer gamers would understand is of pretty much dire importance.)

So far, it seems they are in a big debate between TI Omap, another chipset and waiting on nVidia to get their issue/s fixed. personally, I greatly hope that nVidia gets their issue/s worked out, the T2+ and even the slightly older Tegra chipsets are absolutely wonderful.

 

[alboboy10]

I just got my gf an atrix for free from att...omg beast phone. The bionic will be similar to it, great battery too I abused it for like two hours battery barely dropped anything.

Given it was uglier than my tb but nothing a launcher can't fix. I'm a little jealous, that screen is amazing too

 

[dragonhart6505]

yea everybody saying "well i dont know what your issue is with 4g mine is great!" need to quit. yes, the coverage is expanding but you need to realize there are people OUTSIDE the coverage area. 4g isnt all over the nation just yet. then you have to worry about the coverage limitations, ie how many users are running on the 4g network in your area. verizon is quite popular and i know a few people within the coverage area with 4g devices that simply dont get their 4g all the time. its much faster when they do have it, i wont deny that. but 3g isnt as bad as people make it out to be. hell i still get up to 3mbs download speed with 2 bars of service on my lg ally while tethering! keyboard all the way, unless you have the droid x like me. huge screens make touch keyboards more enjoyable. and the droid 3 has a beastly screen as well, so you get to pick-n-choose which one you wanna use at the moment.

 

[dusty56g]

Droid 3 vs Bionic

My droid one goes by by on 8/1. I want either the Bionic or the Droid 3. I love having a keyboard but 4g will not be available in my area for another 1.5 - 2 years. The bionic is so tempting if it ever comes out.

 

[Maverick0984]

I'm in Chicago and have LTE aplenty but am still leaning towards the Droid 3 right now.

I'm in Wifi so much I just can't see the the extra battery drain being worth the hassle. Also, if I already hate the battery life on my OG Droid, won't it only get worse? :-/

 

[rayw796]

I have the original Droid and tradeup starts 7/14! I am looking very strongly at Bionic and just recently at the Galaxy S II. The larger screen of the Bionic will win out if it is larger. I use it for email and web searches a lot so extra screen will be beneficial.

 

[Stelv]

Battery life is one of the most important features to a smartphone theses days. If vzw cannot figure out 4g and battery life anytime soon, than I am sticking with 3g and wifi myself. I heard the Charge isn't (edit) bad with battery though right? I would still take the Dinc2 over most phones out now.