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My LG Chocolate is dying, and I'm jonesing for a Droid upgrade.
I'm looking at the HTC Incredible, but have the option to get the Motorola DroidX or Droid2 or the new Samsung Fascinate (via Verizon). Any recommendations? I really, really, really wish I could afford a Google G1, but that isn't in the cards, and wouldn't work on Verizon anyway.
All of the phones you're looking at are pretty good in my opinion. It mostly just depends on which one fits your needs better. The Droid 2 has the hardware keyboard, the Droid X has the biggest screen, and the Incredible has the best software customizations. The only one I would avoid is the Fascinate, only because Verizon did some pretty awful software customizations (replaced Google search with Bing, Verizon navigator instead of Google navigator). Also, some reviewers have reported a lot of software bugs with the Fascinate.
Thanks for the information. Since this model was just released, I assume the community hasn't had a lot of time to come up with workarounds to unload the crapware, but one of the reasons I want an Android device is for the ability to mess around with the bits inside to customise it to my preferences. I know Motorola has taken steps with the Droid2 and DroidX to prevent this, but it's only a matter of time before someone figures out a way to root the Fascinate.
With all these caveats now, I'm seriously looking at the LG Ally as an alternative (and a much cheaper device). Any thoughts on how hackable the Ally might be?
With all these caveats now, I'm seriously looking at the LG Ally as an alternative (and a much cheaper device). Any thoughts on how hackable the Ally might be?
Please don't get the Ally. I know several people that own one and they all completely hate it. And they're non-techies also, who would otherwise be fine with a cheaper device. I'd say go with the Incredible. Lots of ROMs out there for it, good default software on it to begin with. And it's closest to the Nexus One in form factor.
Actually, the Fascinate can already be rooted. If you're planning on rooting the phone and removing all the crapware the Fascinate may not be so bad since most of its issues are software related. It's not locked down like the Droid X, so I'm sure we'll be seeing custom ROMs pretty soon as well. It's just a matter of time.
Out of all the phones you're looking at the Incredible seems to be the most hacker-friendly and has a many custom ROMs available, probably since it's been out the longest and has very similar hardware to the Nexus One.
Out of all the phones you're looking at the Incredible seems to be the most hacker-friendly and has a many custom ROMs available, probably since it's been out the longest and has very similar hardware to the Nexus One.
Seems like the Incredible might be your best choice. I've heard, though, that the battery life on the Droid X is better than that of the Incredible. Being a Nexus One owner, it would be hard to switch to anything else, but if I had to get a Verizon phone, I think I would go with the Incredible just because I hate the skin that Motorola put on the Droid X and I know that HTC does a good job of keeping their phones and software up to date.
Okay, update time. The Verizon sales staff steered me away from the LG Ally, suggesting that its underpowered CPU would not provide the best Android experience for me. After examining several models, I narrowed it down to the Incredible or the Droid X, but their inventory made my decision for me. They were sold out of both models and only had the Samsung Fascinate and Droid2 in stock. In order to get the best deal, we ended up buying the Fascinate for my daughter-in-law (she doesn't give a shit that they made Bing the default search engine) in order for my Droid2 to be a "free" upgrade with a 2-year contract extension. And I'm pretty okay with that. I've now been using the Droid 2 for almost a week and think I've fallen in love with it. The Verizon Sales rep had an Incredible, and apologised for flaunting it in front of me when they had none in stock, but he made a good case for the Droid2 and I'm doing fine with it so far. I have found the root instructions, and may play around with that option in the next few weeks, but for now, I'm happy to delete the pre-installed apps I will never use (e.g., Blockbuster, CityID, etc.) and install the ones I need (Advanced Task Killer, EasyTether, Citrix Receiver etc.) to enjoy the experience. The Bluetooth connectivity is so much easier to manage than my old LG phone, and everything else seems to work fine (though I had to re-boot once yesterday, when I couldn't get a 3G connection).
I'm really looking forward to doing many more things with this tool.
I'm really looking forward to doing many more things with this tool.
