# I guess I'm going to need a new phone



## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

My 18 month old HTC EVO died while I was out bike riding this afternoon. Totally black screen, even though apparently the phone is still operative.

Now the question is: Do I get another Android phone (all the current Android phones from my carrier have at least one major thing that keeps me from being enthusiastic about them), or do I get back into the Apple fold and get an iPhone?

I've stayed away from iPhones because they don't have micro SD card support and you're stuck with the battery they have installed (I put a double capacity battery in my HTC). And they cost about 80% more than a corresponding Android device.

What a decision. It could go either way at the moment.


Mike


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## Toby (Nov 25, 2008)

Sorry for your loss. I only have my 1st iPhone to speak of. It works for me. I have no experience with an Android Phone.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

jmiked said:


> My 18 month old HTC EVO died while I was out bike riding this afternoon. Totally black screen, even though apparently the phone is still operative.
> 
> Now the question is: Do I get another Android phone (all the current Android phones from my carrier have at least one major thing that keeps me from being enthusiastic about them), or do I get back into the Apple fold and get an iPhone?
> 
> ...


I briefly tried switching to an android several years back because I thought I'd like the sad card and the ability to swap out batteries. I wound up hating it and went back to an iPhone within 3 months. The lack of an sd card doesn't bother me. I have a 32gb phone and use Dropbox. As for the battery, I have a portable charger (mine is the Zaggsprq 6000 (I picked it up for half price). I very rarely need to use it as my iPhone battery usually lasts the full day.

Then again, in my family, we all have iPhones and iPads so it's just more convenient for me.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

After an internal debate lasting some hours, I decided to get another Android phone. I just can't let loose of the $35 a month voice/data plan. I have an iPod touch, a 1st gen iPad, and my main computer is a MacBook, but after seeing the pictures of the "upgraded appearance" of IOS 7, I decided to give it a pass. My Nexus 7 and the soon-to-arrive Samsung Galaxy phone will both do a two-way sync to my contacts and calendar info in the iCloud (i.e., sync to my IOS devices and MacBook).

It's going to be a pain to set up, since you can't do whole-system backups with Android, so I'll have to reinstall all my individual apps that aren't on the microSD card.  At least the app data is backed up. But I'm saving a ton of money and since I'm retired, my time is very inexpensive.  

Not only did I have a double-capacity battery in my HTC phone, but I had an external power-pack that would recharge it two times (it doesn't recharge satisfactorily from the car power outlet). When I'm out geocaching all day, I can run the extended battery from 100% to 10% in 5-6 hours. I have the thing downloading satellite maps, sending and receiving position info every few minutes, and frequently have three different programs using the GPS function, as well as having the Bluetooth on to get hands-free phone calls.

This was a mentally painful process. I ended up choosing the least-worst choice. I can't say I was enthusiastic about any of the phone/plan options. And I'm still not getting the WiFi hotspot capabilities I had with the HTC phone.


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## purplesmurf (Mar 20, 2012)

Just this past weekend i made the switch from iphone to a galaxy s3 mini. So far i'm happy with my choice but i must say it sure is a learning curve (at least for me)!


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## Toby (Nov 25, 2008)

Why? Is the Galaxy hard to learn how to use?


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## Chicken Little (Mar 12, 2014)

Toby said:


> Why? Is the Galaxy hard to learn how to use?


No I've had three Samsung Galaxy phones before I got my iPhone, the Galaxy is easy peasy to use.


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## purplesmurf (Mar 20, 2012)

Toby said:


> Why? Is the Galaxy hard to learn how to use?


If you have it locked there is a button that says "emergency calls" and within a day and a half i managed to pocket dial 911. So not exactly hard to use, just different from iphone that some things take more learning


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

purplesmurf said:


> So not exactly hard to use, just different from iphone that some things take more learning


Exactly. The Android OS is so much more open and customizable that it takes a while to get accustomed to it. But I'm one who likes to customize things, so it was worth the minor learning effort.

Mike


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## Anne Berkeley (Jul 12, 2013)

I've tried other phones and I love Apple. I'm looking forward to purchasing the new phone this fall. I hear that it'll have a larger screen. I have the ipad too, which is nice because I can switch back and forth from device and all my books and bookmarks sync effortlessly. I'm sure you can do that with the cloud other phones now have, but with my two kids and my husband all using either iphones or ipods, it's nice that I can manage all devices through my single iTunes account.


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## Mandy (Dec 27, 2009)

I've had Android phones for a while now and just recently switched to an iPhone. It was a hard decision but I absolutely love my iPhone and never regretted the switch. The main thing that pushed me toward the iPhone 5S was the fact that I already have several iPods and an iPad, so I was already pretty familiar with everything the iPhone had to offer. I also loved the idea of syncing to my iTunes library. The iPhone was a breeze to use right out of the box. I don't even touch my iPod anymore.

I've noticed that the Android phones, particularly the Galaxy line, has a lot of cool bells and whistles that I'd never actually use. I'd often have to Google just to learn how to use a particular feature on my Galaxy phones. The iPhone seems basic and uncluttered in comparison. The only thing I do miss about my Androids is the bigger screen size. That was the only adjustment I really had with the iPhone.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Mandy said:


> I also loved the idea of syncing to my iTunes library.


My Android phone (and my Android tablet) syncs to my iTunes library just fine, using the Doubletwist app. It takes a bit longer than syncing an IOS device, though 



Mandy said:


> The iPhone seems basic and uncluttered in comparison.


That's exactly it. I'm a compulsive customizer, and the iPhone just doesn't quite do it for me (I have an iPod touch and an iPad, so I am familiar with IOS).

The choice between the two was moderately close, though. The iPhone is much more expensive than an Android phone, also (two to three times as expensive). If someone gave me an iPhone, I wouldn't throw it away. 

Mike


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## kwajkat (Nov 6, 2008)

How did you get the double twist app to work? I had it on the note 3 and couldn't get it to recognize my itunes movies that I have on an external drive. Everything else I have on that same drive worked fine, just not the movies.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

My guess is that your movies aren't in the format that Doubletwist requires. I had that problem with some music files. I had to convert them to MP3 from AAC.

Mike


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## Majigurl (May 18, 2014)

Have you checked out the Nexus 5? (google phone) Many avid Iphone ex-users are migrating to it. My husband LOVES his.  He used to be a die hard iphone (apple anything really) lover.


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