# Calling All Geeks!



## Joe/GA

I'm thinking of making the move from a regular flip phone to a smart phone. I have service with verizon and they will soon have the I-Phone 4 available. They already have the Droid X. In comparisons, they are pretty much equal. The Droid is different in that it can be used as a WIFI hotspot and the I-Phone cannot. I'm not so sure how I will use it because I'm new to this. I want to be able to do email and WEB surfing. I'm thinking that I need to be able to pass data back and forth to my computer,as well. Such as transferring email? I dunno. While heading to a camp site, I would like for DW to be able to use her netbook. I guess that either phone could be used via tethering, but WIFI is cleaner (no cables). If no WIFI at a campground, I'd like to be able to feed the netbook and my laptop via WIFI. I have a repeater system and may be able to tether a phone to it and have it repeat the signal wirelessly. Here is the repeater that I have. Repeater
So, what do y'all smart phone Geeks recommend that I get?


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## CamperAndy

This reply was written on a Droid X. I have one and really like it.

BTW it also has a built in GPS system that is very handy.


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## Bob in Virginia

I queried my coworkers during a meeting last week and the consensus was to go with droid.


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## maddog

Go wit the Droid. I have a android powered phone and use it as a hot spot for my laptop. Works good as long as you are in 3G or 4G network. If not it is rather slow but works. The google navigation is awsome. I have eliminated my stand alone gps unit.


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## H2oSprayer

I also have a Droid. I love it for travel. I have also been able to remove my Garmin unit when we travel. It mounts to the windshield just like a Garmin unit. As it uses Google maps, I no longer have to worry about updating the Garmin with their expensive updates. Unlike Garmin, you get FREE traffic update with Google Maps. Some people say that the screen is a bit on the small site for vehicle navigation, but with the ability to zoom in or out on the maps, I haven't found that to be a problem. I have a couple of great app, more specifically for traveling. One is Gasbuddy; it is handy for finding a fuel stop when you have no idea whats around. Second is Aroundme; great for finding things to go on those wet days camping. And of course, Google Sky is a must for sitting around the campfire. I bet that if Verizon would have had the iPhone when I got my Droid, I probably would have gotten that. But I can say that I am very happy with my Droid and have no plans to make the switch anytime soon.


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## jozway

I have a Droid X and so far really like it. I manage email for my business, navigate anywhere way better than my tom tom. check facebook and surf the web with lighting speed. Google rocks you will love it.


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## N7OQ

I have a blackberry and will go to the Iphone next time. I can tether via bluetooth so no wires and I beleive the Iphone can do the same. The Iphone has a lot more apps then all the other phones another reason I will go with that one.

Anyone who want a repeater system like in the link just google dd-wrt and if you have a older wireless hub like the linksys in the picture or other brands as well you can make your own repeater for a fraction of the price. You can get used hubs on ebay and convert them or some of the new ones can be flashed with the hack too. I have flashed one of my hubs a Linksys and plan on doing another one soon, even if you don't want is as a repeater the new software is better than what comes in the hub and a whole lot more stable plus you get a ton of new options any way google dd-wrt there is a ton of info on the site and it is all free.


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## outback loft

Go for the Droid hands down. I have had an iPhone in the past and it was less then impressive, in the summer the phone wouldn't work because it was too hot, and it would put up a message saying it too. The 3g service was nothing to be desired, and then I would be typing a text message to one person, and it would get to someone else. This was something that happened quite frequently and is luckily I caught on to it before I had a text sent to a client that shouldn't be. I called out Apple and AT&T on this and they both pointed the fingers to each other or telling me that I was actually sending it to the person it was going to.

Apple will not get me back as an iPhone customer, and I try to avoid any of their products at all costs, especially since my ipod touch is now on the fritz as well.


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## Dub

The Verizon iPhone available in Feb *does* have the ability to create a wifi hotspot for 5 phones and can do Skype video calls over 3G. Whichever way you go, I would wait until later this summer before getting a new phone. Both Google and Apple have invested heavily in NFC (near field communication) technology which will give you the ability to pay for items securely with your phone, a service very popular in Japan and Europe. Most people assume that this will be the major update to the iPhone in June/July with Droids coming out around the same time with the same technology. This will be very popular with many small businesses as the merchant fees to use the technology will be far less than what the credit card companies currently charge them and it has been rumored that Apple and Google will be providing the technology to some big merchants and chains through a partnership for free (think: McDonalds, Starbucks, Walmart, Target, etc). At least the new Droids will be 4G, on verizon the HTC Thunderbolt has been rumored to be able to do both voice and data at the same time, something not currently possible with any other Verizon phone. For anything though with everything going to 4G, do you want to get stuck using 3G for the next two years when 4G is available now?


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## CdnOutback

I have a Blackberry and love it. I have so many friends that have Iphones and have had problems with them that I doubt whether I would ever switch. I have heard good things about the Droids though.. Unfortunately they only have one carrier in Canada.... and I hate that carrier. So I'll stick with the blackberry.


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## Joe/GA

Thanks for the replies, y'all! Dub, it's going to be 3 years until Verizon has 4G all over this country. There is only 38 places that have 4G now. So, I may get the 3G now and 4G in 2 years. It's either that or wait 3 or 4 months.


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## Just Add Dirt

I have a old timey crank phone; you know the kind that hangs on the wall and you talk into the mouthpeice and put the little earpeice thingy up to your ear. you crank it a couple times and you get Emily Latella aka: Edith Anne on the other end... I go with that...it's quite a hot spot..


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## Dub

Joe/GA said:


> Thanks for the replies, y'all! Dub, it's going to be 3 years until Verizon has 4G all over this country. There is only 38 places that have 4G now. So, I may get the 3G now and 4G in 2 years. It's either that or wait 3 or 4 months.


They have 4G in my area and since I tether that alone would make me wait if the NFC features didn't.

I am on my 5th model BlackBerry (work provides and pays for it) and I can give you a list of all the stupid features and failures in their series of phones. My advice is stay far away from BB if possible as every single one of them is useless. Apps sucks and are expensive, poor support for OS upgrades, I couldn't upgrade my phone OS for six months since it could only be done on Vista...not XP, not Win 7, not OS X...just Vista, no support for phones under contract (my wife's storm the joke of an iPhone killer is still at OS 5...BB has OS 6 out and it is only supported on a couple phones), they program idiotic features into them such as under certain versions of OS 4 and 5 if you give someone a custom ringtone you must want it to ring like that always even if the phone is set to silent or vibrate, and the worst part about them...12-16minutes to boot after they lockup which is about a once every day or two occurrence. Some apps don't even work like the BB version of Shazam to identify music...doesn't do anything. Get used to the "spin of death" meaning whenever you want to use a BB unless it wants to let you, you might have to wait 2-3mins for it to free up what it's doing before it lets you do anything like make a call. I'm currently using a 9630 that's about to be replaced with a newer model and have been using them before they were called Blackberrys, back when they were called "RIMs" and didn't have a phone in them--which was the last time they were good. RIM is a dying company, at CES they released their "iPad Killer" which is a BB tablet...you can't even get a calendar or contacts on the tab unless you used a BB phone...useless.


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## Dub

Oh, and the other stupid thing about BlackBerry...they have "application memory" which is the space that will contain your OS and any apps you buy or download. So if you have a phone with an 8GB microSD card...that's great for storing photos, songs, etc...but no apps can go there. My phone has 128mb as does my wifes ,half of which the OS uses...so that leaves about 60mb for apps so maybe 10 apps can be used since they also use that memory as RAM. Completely stupid and it's no wonder they lose 300,000 users per day while Apple and Google gain that each per day.


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## Joe/GA

Dub said:


> Thanks for the replies, y'all! Dub, it's going to be 3 years until Verizon has 4G all over this country. There is only 38 places that have 4G now. So, I may get the 3G now and 4G in 2 years. It's either that or wait 3 or 4 months.


They have 4G in my area and since I tether that alone would make me wait if the NFC features didn't.
[/quote]

So, Dub, you are now tethering with a 4G phone? How does that work for you? Are you doing that at home instead of DSL or cable? Have you done it with 3G and how much of a difference is it? Thanks!


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## egregg57

My Brother in Law owns 4 Verizon Stores.....

I Have the Droid. For tethering, GPS, Data etc it is a fantastic phone.

Yes Verizon will have the iPhone 4 available very shortly. It comes with a dual band antenna which solved the antenna issue the iphone had originally. One of the draw backs with the Verizon Iphone is the CDMA chip that will not allow you to answer the phone while streaming data. So if you are using it to provide a signal for your computer, you will not be able to use the telephone portion of the phone and vise versa.

BUT!

If you have your heart set on doing an iPhone with Verizon...wait. The iPhone5 will be out soon (I think mid-summer). Verizon will more than likely have the improved CDMA chip with release of the iPhone5 4G.

The Droid is the best Smart phone I have had yet. The docking station and car mount are great and to re-enforce the GPS, it really kicks butt. Not only is is very accurate and was able to locate things my Garmin Nuvi could not, it provides traffic updates on routes I have made providing me real time delays, accidents and reroutes to avoid the delays.

My brother-in-law prefers the Fascinate, if that is any help to you.

Eric


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## duggy

I don't personally have a smartphone, but I know lot's of people with them. I'm reading this thread considering using the phone as a hotspot for a laptop. I believe the web content for the smart phones is much smaller data size than for a laptop. I'm thinking you'd go through your data plan limit in a hurry, if you were surfing with a laptop. Does anyone who has actually had experience with this, have any input?


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## Joe/GA

egregg57 said:


> My Brother in Law owns 4 Verizon Stores.....
> 
> I Have the Droid. For tethering, GPS, Data etc it is a fantastic phone.
> 
> Yes Verizon will have the iPhone 4 available very shortly. It comes with a dual band antenna which solved the antenna issue the iphone had originally. One of the draw backs with the Verizon Iphone is the CDMA chip that will not allow you to answer the phone while streaming data. So if you are using it to provide a signal for your computer, you will not be able to use the telephone portion of the phone and vise versa.
> 
> My brother-in-law prefers the Fascinate, if that is any help to you.
> 
> Eric


Thanks Eric. I think I have made up my mind and will be going with the Droid. I looked at the X and the Bionic...what to do, what to do! I've heard that the 4G data plan will be a lot more than the 3G which is $30 per month. It will be 2 to 3 years for 4G to be available everywhere, so I think I should go with the Droid X. The Bionic will have so much processor power that it will probably devour batteries. Is my thinking flawed?

Thanks,
Joe


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## maddog

All smart phones use battery life up rather quickly. My Motorola Milestone (android os) uses it up completely in a half day of work if i talk on it or a whole day if I don't. I generally leave it plugged in when I can especially in the car using GPS. But having it is well worth it.


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## Dub

Joe/GA said:


> Thanks for the replies, y'all! Dub, it's going to be 3 years until Verizon has 4G all over this country. There is only 38 places that have 4G now. So, I may get the 3G now and 4G in 2 years. It's either that or wait 3 or 4 months.


They have 4G in my area and since I tether that alone would make me wait if the NFC features didn't.
[/quote]

So, Dub, you are now tethering with a 4G phone? How does that work for you? Are you doing that at home instead of DSL or cable? Have you done it with 3G and how much of a difference is it? Thanks!
[/quote]

I should have ended that sentence with "If i needed to upgrade." I tether with 3G all the time and can get about 300K/sec, enough to do video calls in most areas. My wifes phone which is due for an upgrade in May will be replaced with an iPhone 5 or HTC Thunderbolt with Droid. Maybe one of the new Samsungs. We'll go with the best one that is on 4G and has a front facing camera for video calls.


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## Traveling Tek

HTC Evo on Sprint with Android OS. LOVE IT!! Sprint now piggy backs on Verizon so I have same coverage, plus 4G and truly unlimited data and wifi hotspot mode which I use constantly while traveling.

Used 7gb of data in one month without paying any extra. My old Verizon had a 5gb limit and my iPhone couldn't share data to my laptop. Droid is deff better.


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## thefulminator

Traveling Tek said:


> HTC Evo on Sprint with Android OS. LOVE IT!! Sprint now piggy backs on Verizon so I have same coverage, plus 4G and truly unlimited data and wifi hotspot mode which I use constantly while traveling.
> 
> Used 7gb of data in one month without paying any extra. My old Verizon had a 5gb limit and my iPhone couldn't share data to my laptop. Droid is deff better.


X2 on the Evo!!

As it has been explained to me, that using the Evo as a wireless hot spot costs a lot more money. I have also been told that if you connect your Evo as a wired hot spot with a usb cable to your laptop and use the application pdanet that it costs you nothing except data charges. If you have the unlimited data plan there are no additional charges at all.


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## N7OQ

Dub said:


> Thanks for the replies, y'all! Dub, it's going to be 3 years until Verizon has 4G all over this country. There is only 38 places that have 4G now. So, I may get the 3G now and 4G in 2 years. It's either that or wait 3 or 4 months.


They have 4G in my area and since I tether that alone would make me wait if the NFC features didn't.

I am on my 5th model BlackBerry (work provides and pays for it) and I can give you a list of all the stupid features and failures in their series of phones. My advice is stay far away from BB if possible as every single one of them is useless. Apps sucks and are expensive, poor support for OS upgrades, I couldn't upgrade my phone OS for six months since it could only be done on Vista...not XP, not Win 7, not OS X...just Vista, no support for phones under contract (my wife's storm the joke of an iPhone killer is still at OS 5...BB has OS 6 out and it is only supported on a couple phones), they program idiotic features into them such as under certain versions of OS 4 and 5 if you give someone a custom ringtone you must want it to ring like that always even if the phone is set to silent or vibrate, and the worst part about them...12-16minutes to boot after they lockup which is about a once every day or two occurrence. Some apps don't even work like the BB version of Shazam to identify music...doesn't do anything. Get used to the "spin of death" meaning whenever you want to use a BB unless it wants to let you, you might have to wait 2-3mins for it to free up what it's doing before it lets you do anything like make a call. I'm currently using a 9630 that's about to be replaced with a newer model and have been using them before they were called Blackberrys, back when they were called "RIMs" and didn't have a phone in them--which was the last time they were good. RIM is a dying company, at CES they released their "iPad Killer" which is a BB tablet...you can't even get a calendar or contacts on the tab unless you used a BB phone...useless.
[/quote]

I have had none of these problems with my BB I just don't like the screen size.


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## Traveling Tek

thefulminator said:


> HTC Evo on Sprint with Android OS. LOVE IT!! Sprint now piggy backs on Verizon so I have same coverage, plus 4G and truly unlimited data and wifi hotspot mode which I use constantly while traveling.
> 
> Used 7gb of data in one month without paying any extra. My old Verizon had a 5gb limit and my iPhone couldn't share data to my laptop. Droid is deff better.


X2 on the Evo!!

As it has been explained to me, that using the Evo as a wireless hot spot costs a lot more money. I have also been told that if you connect your Evo as a wired hot spot with a usb cable to your laptop and use the application pdanet that it costs you nothing except data charges. If you have the unlimited data plan there are no additional charges at all.
[/quote]

I simply rooted my phone, which was easy using the how to off the web, and put wifi tether on. I can share my internet with as many devices as I want and it doesn't cost anything extra. It's pretty sweet. Since I full time in my TT I needed unlimited internet. We even use it to watch hulu.com with.


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## clarkely

Traveling Tek said:


> HTC Evo on Sprint with Android OS. LOVE IT!! Sprint now piggy backs on Verizon so I have same coverage, plus 4G and truly unlimited data and wifi hotspot mode which I use constantly while traveling.
> 
> Used 7gb of data in one month without paying any extra. My old Verizon had a 5gb limit and my iPhone couldn't share data to my laptop. Droid is deff better.


X2 on the Evo!!

As it has been explained to me, that using the Evo as a wireless hot spot costs a lot more money. I have also been told that if you connect your Evo as a wired hot spot with a usb cable to your laptop and use the application pdanet that it costs you nothing except data charges. If you have the unlimited data plan there are no additional charges at all.
[/quote]

I simply rooted my phone, which was easy using the how to off the web, and put wifi tether on. I can share my internet with as many devices as I want and it doesn't cost anything extra. It's pretty sweet. Since I full time in my TT I needed unlimited internet. We even use it to watch hulu.com with.
[/quote]

Several camping friends that need to be connected for work 24/7 have gone with the verizon Mifi, cheaper/or same cost than an air card.............very convenient for the rest of us as well to always have a mobile wifi network available


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## Nathan

I have the Droid 2. I wanted the physical keyboard and use it when typing e-mails. I do more web surfing using the onscreen keyboard with swipe. Definetly a good phone. Probably 80% of my OB time is done on the Droid2. They do eat through the batteries, but buy some cheap micro USB cables and turn any computer into a phone charger.


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## TexanThompsons

Had the BB - was a good business phone (not as sexy as the other smart phones) and did the job

Now have the iPhone 3gS and not a big fan. The phone likes to randomly shut down certain applications, I drop calls constantly (might just be an over-saturated market here in Houston, TX) and functionality of work items like email, calendar, spreadsheet, and word processor applications are abysmal. the Calendar is the worst function of them all. Regardless it has Angry Birds so I love the phone. I will say I suffer from Droid envy but my work pays for mine so no real complaints (none that they need to know about anyway)


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## Scoutr2

CamperAndy said:


> This reply was written on a Droid X. I have one and really like it.
> 
> BTW it also has a built in GPS system that is very handy.


And the next-gen Droid is due out in a few months. It will support 4G networks and will have a 10 MP camera, plus a front side web cam, so you can use Skype and other similar services. Hand-held picture-phone is here! And 64 GB of memory!

I have the original Droid and love it. When I travel, I can use PlacesDirectory to find me (GPS), then show me restaurants, shopping, medical, etc - plus will dial the number and/or navigate me there, just like my Garmin. All kinds of free apps through Verizon's safe store. Check it out - you'll be impressed!

The iPhones are nice, but I love my Droid!

Mike


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## vdub

> I'm thinking you'd go through your data plan limit in a hurry, if you were surfing with a laptop. Does anyone who has actually had experience with this, have any input?


I don't know if I have EVO or 3G. Never have clarified that. However, I do have a USB modem (PanTech 175) from Verizon and a 5Gb/month plan. The 5Gb costs $60/month and I've never gone over (and I'm a pretty heavy user). I've heard several people talk about having an unlimited plan from Verizon and I've asked, but they tell me no such thing exists. I'm confused....

I plug my USB modem into a CradlePoint CTR500 to make a wifi bubble around the RV. We have broadband virtually everywhere....

Sooner or later, I will go to 4G, but probably get another USB modem to plug into the cradlepoint and keep that configuration.


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## Traveling Tek

Verizon says "Unlimited 5gb" plan. What that means is that you can do anything you want on the web, but you can only use 5gb of data. Some older plans used to limit what you could do on the internet, like you couldn't goto youtube or something like that. So they came out with unlimited plans. Problem is that confuses people into thinking they can use data wiley niley. We went over twice on our Verizon card before switching to spring. It was expensive to go over, and they use a rolling scale, so it doesn't ness reset at the bigging of the month. Granted we have 3 computers in the trailer and we full time, so maybe other wouldn't have this problem. I just likes Sprints true unlimitness, and that it piggy backed off of verizon towers. It's like two phone carriers for price of one.  Plus having a phone that has hotspot built in means, only one bill to pay.


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## thefulminator

Also with Sprint, you only use minutes for calls to land lines and those only count during the daytime on weekdays. Calls to any cell phone any time don't count against your minutes.


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## Dub

Traveling Tek said:


> Verizon says "Unlimited 5gb" plan. What that means is that you can do anything you want on the web, but you can only use 5gb of data. Some older plans used to limit what you could do on the internet, like you couldn't goto youtube or something like that. So they came out with unlimited plans. Problem is that confuses people into thinking they can use data wiley niley. We went over twice on our Verizon card before switching to spring. It was expensive to go over, and they use a rolling scale, so it doesn't ness reset at the bigging of the month. Granted we have 3 computers in the trailer and we full time, so maybe other wouldn't have this problem. I just likes Sprints true unlimitness, and that it piggy backed off of verizon towers. It's like two phone carriers for price of one.  Plus having a phone that has hotspot built in means, only one bill to pay.


Sprint and Verizon share technology and allow roaming on each others networks in most areas but not all. My permanent campground I can barely get a signal with my sprint phone set to global, can't make calls inside the camper. With my wife's Verizon phone we could make skype video calls on the computer no problem. It's a good bet that they share but not always true.


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## Traveling Tek

Dub said:


> Verizon says "Unlimited 5gb" plan. What that means is that you can do anything you want on the web, but you can only use 5gb of data. Some older plans used to limit what you could do on the internet, like you couldn't goto youtube or something like that. So they came out with unlimited plans. Problem is that confuses people into thinking they can use data wiley niley. We went over twice on our Verizon card before switching to spring. It was expensive to go over, and they use a rolling scale, so it doesn't ness reset at the bigging of the month. Granted we have 3 computers in the trailer and we full time, so maybe other wouldn't have this problem. I just likes Sprints true unlimitness, and that it piggy backed off of verizon towers. It's like two phone carriers for price of one.  Plus having a phone that has hotspot built in means, only one bill to pay.


Sprint and Verizon share technology and allow roaming on each others networks in most areas but not all. My permanent campground I can barely get a signal with my sprint phone set to global, can't make calls inside the camper. With my wife's Verizon phone we could make skype video calls on the computer no problem. It's a good bet that they share but not always true.
[/quote]

If you have a droid and root it, then you can use Roam Control and force it on to verizon towers. That's what I do. I have only had a couple places like that.


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