iPhone to Droid Bionic: Parting is such sweet sorrow

I confess.
I’m giving up my Day One iPhone, for a Droid.
So how did Mr. Thrifty (bordering-on-Mr.-Cheap), iPhone-iPad Fan get here?
Here’s how:

My iPhone has served me very well – morning, day and night – but has been dying a slow death.
AT&T has the reputation of having among the worst national cell phone service.
Verizon has been recognized as the best nationwide wireless service.
Verizon is also the most expensive. And, I was grandfathered in on unlimited data on AT&T.
Move from $59/mo to $109/mo? No way!

And so began my personal quest for the best cell phone, and the best coverage and access, for the least expense.

For weeks, I followed news stories, technical reports, and reviews of cell phone service, smartphones and operating systems, usually through websites highlighted on our own site www.411US.info website (shameless plug). (Or, shameful plug, you decide.)

These were the main factors:

  • Android has taken the lead as the mobile platform, and is more open.
  • iPhone 4 wasn’t quite good enough. (The antenna thing.)
  • Based on reviews others shared, to me the earlier Droids and HTC’s weren’t quite good enough to make the switch either. (Pre-loaded junk, in combination with the battery issue.)
  • Verizon just announced Verizon LTE 4G will be in mid-sized Roanoke, Va. by the end of the year.
  • LTE 4G is rapidly coming state of the art.
  • I think Apple/iPhone isn’t going to perfect LTE for awhile.
  • Motorola/Verizon released The Droid Bionic. (Reviewers say kick-ass, and battery good.)
  • (Plus even if iPhone 5 is super, which I expect it to be, I doubt it will be better than the Droid Bionic/Android/Verizon/LTE 4G combination.)
  • A newer iPhone would be so much easier for me to upgrade. Backup, restore, apps, setup etc. Plus, that teaching old dogs new tricks thing.

My poor old Day 1 iPhone has been heavily used and abused since June 29, 2007. I have loved it, but it is seriously battered and, like its owner, has some “age-appropriate” issues. (Will spare you the too-funny details. The iPhone, not its owner. Ha-damn-ha.) It has served me well; I love Apple and my iPhone. I held off a long time, but, for me, Apple just waited too long on iPhone 5.

I ordered the Droid Bionic last night through my menu website www.411US.info : (National, Buy/Sell, Amazon, Amazon Wireless. Much lower price on the Bionic. [Full disclosure: 411US.info is Amazon Affiliate.] Ordered it, in spite of an irritating problem with the Amazon Wireless website – no option to edit the order at the end of the lengthy order sequence. Oh, problem at the very end? Do it all – all over again!)

(Worth doing it for the phone savings, but irritating nonetheless. Told Amazon Wireless [website is Beta] of the problem. They should fix post haste.)

So I got the Droid Bionic for $179.99 (free shipping),  what I would have paid for a used, replacement iPhone which I had looked at for a while to solve my iPhone hardware problems, while waiting for the iPhone 5.

Oh, yeah, that Verizon cost thing: I went with the lowest monthly rate on Verizon service. (450 minutes, no free texting, plus email and 2GB (only) Internet access .) That moved me from $59/mo with AT&T to $69/mo with Verizon. Just a bump of $10/mo is reasonable after 4+ years. I just have to watch texting and downloads now. (Especially when I get spoiled to the LTE speed.)

Better to have the best, state-of-the-art smartphone, cell phone service,  open Android platform, and super fast Internet access when I need it. (Both coverage/availability AND speed.)

I just have to be judicious in texting and downloads, but my preference has always been for quality of access, not quantity. I want access wherever I want it, when I want it, clear, reliable and fast.

I expect to get it.

We’ll see.

Jerry Guzi was a computer consultant for a number of years, and is founder and owner of 411US.info  and Burris Computer Forms® (www.pcforms.com) .

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