New Phone? Maybe...

As you probably saw, there are two test entries in my blog referencing some phones. My current contract with Verizon expired in August so they're trying to lure me back with offers on new equipment and such. That's fine considering my phone is over 2 years old now so I am in line for an upgrade if I wish to do so.

I have to admit, I had not wanted an iPhone, until I used one of my friends. Now I would consider getting one. However, I would rather wait until some of the bugs are worked out, including the fact that AT&T seems to have issues with keeping their data network up at the moment. Also, from what I have seen, the iPhones mapping application doesn't do turn-by-turn directions using GPS like Verizon's does, which I have seen in action and it's pretty sweet. Where the iPhone does have their advantage is that it can use Wi-Fi

So in the meantime I tested some of the latest phones from Verizon to see how their phones would feel in my hands, and whether or not the internet worked well on them. I started out with the Samsung Glyde. I liked the wide screen and the touch screen was pretty responsive. It also had the best of the keyboards that I tried out that night. However, I was unable to login to Blogger or Gmail because unless something was wonky with the demo model, I was unable to type anything on the login boxes. So it's nice, but it doesn't quite do what I want.

I tried out the Blackberry 8830 as well, it actually let me login to Blogger and type out the test post. I wasn't quite so impressed with how close the buttons were on the keyboard, but I think I could get used to that if I were to use the device further. However, trying to find the functions in the browser were not so easy. It took me a minute to find the place to type in the URL's. At least it had a decent screen for showing web pages.

Next up was the LG Voyager. Again, nice screen, responsive to my touch, the browser was easier to navigate. This one also let me login to blogger and type out a post. The thing that made me nuts was that I could not find a backspace key, so when I made a typo in typing a URL, instead of the clr button doing the backspacing, it took me out of entering a URL, so I had to start over again. That's not very convenient.

I tried the Env2, and it's basically the same as the voyager, except no touch screen, and the inner screen size is smaller. So it's not the best for web pages, and displaying maps.

If I were to stick with Verizon and make my choice, I would likely go with the LG Voyager as my next phone. However, I think I may wait a while before making my decision and purchase. What I would love to see from Verizon is a phone that is capable of handling Wi-Fi, what makes me nuts is that Blackberry phones are capable of doing Wi-Fi, except that Verizon only takes and sells models that have no Wi-Fi built in. What is Verizon afraid of by letting their phones be Wi-Fi capable? I don't always want to be tethered to their network, especially for mobile web stuff because it is not always the fastest. It took a while to load up failblog.org since it's very graphics intensive, and I know it loads much faster over Wi-Fi on an iPhone. I would love to see Verizon sell a Wi-Fi capable phone, but who knows if that is in the works.

The next thing I want to do is get a friend over here who has an iPhone and see what kind of reception I get, and how well the Wi-Fi would work. Besides that I would also want to test the functionality of using the iPhone, including the on-screen keyboard, which I am a bit leery of because I think I might prefer to have a physical keyboard, but we'll see.

Of course, by the time I'm ready to buy, the prices could come down on any of the phones or plans, so I'll just watch and see what happens. At least I don't have to buy a phone right now because my old one is still working.