How long did your smartphone last?

[ny biker]

Well alrighty then. I ordered a Motorola Droid Razr Maxx today. It was only $199 at Radio Shack -- $100 less than I was seeing last week, so I figured I needed to jump. And after having to nurse the battery of my old phone this weekend while the power was out, I figured it made sense to pay for the extra battery life.

It fits in my current bento box (the LG Gel Box 2), but with not much room for other things. I am going to look into the LG Gel Box Plus. I can't find any dimensions for it online except for "40 cubic inches," which doesn't tell me if it's long enough. I had to cancel my planned trip to the LBS this weekend due to the storm (they still have no power, two days later), but soon I'll head out there to get more info and hopefully buy it.

Anyway. I'm oddly not happy about my purchase. All the press reviews are great, customer reviews are also very good, though there are some potential problems that I read about. I just really would rather not need a new phone right now. I like the user interface of the Droid Incredible and was happy with most things about it. I just don't like having to go through the apps that I can't uninstall to constantly delete data from them. I also resent the forced obsolescence in this product category.

And then there's the change in Verizon's calling plans -- I'm now paying the same amount of money for limited data that I paid for unlimited data before. And they charge a $30 "upgrade fee" even though I'm not really upgrading anything. It's like they want you to be unhappy by the time the purchase experience is over.

I did spend some time playing with the new phone today -- I had to go to Verizon Wireless to do that, but they're located in the same shopping center as the Radio Shack, so it was easy enough. It got hot pretty fast, which I hope is not typical. I was able to type some texts, enter data into the address book, do some google searches, take some pictures, etc., to get a feel for the phone. It will take time to get used to the different interface, but I hope it will be okay.

Anyway, the new phone should arrive in a few days, though it may be Friday or Saturday before I have time to take it to Radio Shack to activate it.

Meanwhile, I guess I will have to re-download the apps that I like on the old phone when I activate the new phone. I could try storing them all on the sd card and using the same card in the new phone, but I don't know if that will work. Switching from one brand to another, I assume there will be some incompatibilities. They say they can transfer my photos and videos to the new phone, but I think it's easier to just transfer them to my pc and let them live there. Most of them are already on the pc already.

I'll post my thoughts on the new phone when I've had a chance to put it through its paces, in case anyone else is thinking of buying it or a similar Motorola model.

The adventure continues...

[Miranda]

DH just got that phone and broke it about a month after.

Somehow we accidently got checked outta the Verizon store with insurance on his line. Which I don't normally get and don't want to pay for every month. However, it saved us paying just the insurance deductable, versus a whole new phone retail. Btw, it was dropped and I think part of the breaking was due to the fact it's so thin.

Personally I just got a new smart phone as well. My old Droid Incredible died (wasn't 2yrs old yet, couple months short). Just about like yours. And frankly I was happy to see it die. I hated a lot of things about it since day one. And wanted the iPhone to start. But Verizon was just short of getting the iPhone at the time my cell before that died.

So far I love my iPhone.

With Verizon you do have 14 days to exchange and or change your mind. And when you originally posted this you could have also upgraded early. You just need to check you eligibility date. Thinks it's up to six months early.

ALSO, you could have possibly kept your unlimited data package and gotten it grandfathered. That's what I did. I don't know how because I thought I was going to get screwed out of it. But, I didn't.

FWIW... Good Luck!

[ny biker]

DH just got that phone and broke it about a month after.

Somehow we accidently got checked outta the Verizon store with insurance on his line. Which I don't normally get and don't want to pay for every month. However, it saved us paying just the insurance deductable, versus a whole new phone retail. Btw, it was dropped and I think part of the breaking was due to the fact it's so thin.

Personally I just got a new smart phone as well. My old Droid Incredible died (wasn't 2yrs old yet, couple months short). Just about like yours. And frankly I was happy to see it die. I hated a lot of things about it since day one. And wanted the iPhone to start. But Verizon was just short of getting the iPhone at the time my cell before that died.

So far I love my iPhone.

With Verizon you do have 14 days to exchange and or change your mind. And when you originally posted this you could have also upgraded early. You just need to check you eligibility date. Thinks it's up to six months early.

ALSO, you could have possibly kept your unlimited data package and gotten it grandfathered. That's what I did. I don't know how because I thought I was going to get screwed out of it. But, I didn't.

FWIW... Good Luck!

As of June 28, the only way to keep unlimited data is to pay full price for the phone, which is more than $600.

I have read that the screen is fragile, but also that it's the same glass as an iphone, so I don't know how concerned to be about it.

I think mostly the problem is that I don't want to need a new phone. I had my old (not smart) phone for 5 years, and the one before that lasted for years also.

I played with my sister's iphone but really didn't like the interface.

I don't remember if I mentioned this already -- I did think of a good reason to have a phone with a larger screen. As my eyes get more and more far-sighted, it should be easier to read things on the larger phone. I just hope they stop with the current sizes instead of making them even bigger. Otherwise we'll be back to carrying bricks.

[ny biker]

OMG. I generally want to support businesses that sponsor cycling teams, which is why I checked the Radio Shack site to see what they were charging for the phone I wanted, and it was a good price so I bought from them.

But I am more than paying the difference in aggravation. It is a nightmare dealing with these people.

Update: The terms of this sale are unacceptable, and were not given to me when I made the purchase, and their service is horrible. I'm returning this phone to Radio Shack.

Update 2: OMG these people are idiots. The return authorization number they gave me on the phone is different from what they sent in the confirming email. So now I have to call them AGAIN.

They actually make Verizon Wireless look good!!!!!

[OakLeaf]

First generation Droid Incredible owners, beware the latest firmware update.

There's a bit of reassurance in these threads, but since I only applied the patch yesterday and experienced the 2 a.m. reboots for the first time last night, I can't say whether mine is going to be one of the ones that finishes up and settles down.

[Blueberry]

Read this (termination fees from Radio Shack) and make sure you don't get bitten.

Good luck - I hate dealing with cell phone stuff.

[OakLeaf]

It was my only lifeline when the electric, DSL and landline went out. (We don't have cable, but that was down too.) I could charge the phone in the car on water and ice runs - otherwise we'd have been completely cut off at home.

Another good reason to have phones from multiple providers in a household. The AT&T towers went down (metaphorically, not physically) so my Verizon phone was our only connection to the outside world at home. Weather, which stores were open and had ice, what roads were closed, special notices from the emergency services, which gas stations were open and still had gas (we'd luckily filled up right before the storm and didn't need gas, but many people did - and the car was our only way of getting water) - none of that would've been accessible to us without my phone.

Other reasons to have a smartphone have been rehashed ad infinitum in other threads. But I have a new appreciation for their value in an emergency situation.

[ny biker]

Read this (termination fees from Radio Shack) and make sure you don't get bitten.

Good luck - I hate dealing with cell phone stuff.

Yes this is why I returned the phone immediately. I asked what would happen if the phone broke, and they said I would have to either buy my next one from them or pay them $400.

I sent a letter with the returned phone to explain that the people on the phone gave me one return authorization number but the email had a different one, just to be on the safe side. They processed the return quickly. My guess is they have lots of practice handling returns!!

Now that the return is done and Verizon reinstated my upgrade qualification, I will buy the new phone from them, probably tonight.

update: New phone ordered from Verizon, expected to arrive in 2 business days. Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly and that I like the new phone.

Next project: trying to figure out why I get so attached to inanimate objects just because I've had them for a while. Because I'm still wavering between looking forward to the new phone and feeling oddly sad about getting rid of the old one. I can be so weird sometimes...