<p>I want my smart phone to have a dial for phone calling.</p>
<p>I finally switched to an iphone after several years of foot-dragging. I resisted joining the herd for so long but have gone for it hook line and sinker. Now all my “stuff” is on the cloud, everything is synced, my every move is being tracked etc, but it has actually simplified my life especially my social life. Ironically, I hardly ever use the phone to call people. One unexpected plus is that I spend much less time on my computer because I can quickly check emails, messages, facebook, Times, etc without getting sucked into the whole browsing thing. I love it.</p>
<p>Just a suggestion - I develop software for mobile communications and use 4-5 cellphones a day… Let’s just say that HTC would not be my 1st thru 10th choice. So far the best phone I have used has been the Droid RAZR, the iPhone, and Nokia Lumia’s.</p>
<p>HTC has a lot of strange issues with Bluetooth and in general has earned its nickname “Hard To Connect”. nice and flashy, but if I want a phone that works 100% that would be either an iPhone or a Droid RAZR.</p>
<p>Thanks, turbo. I’ll look into it. The Draid Razr seems to be very highly thought of, but I haven’t seen either of those listed as phones that work with t-mobile…what is your take on the issue of Windows updates for Lumias?</p>
<p>What does everyone think about qwerty keyboards? There is an HTC My Touch 4G slide that has a keyboard and it is cheaper than the One, with good reviews. Like mousegray, I would be hoping to spend less time tethered to the computer, so typing more easily might be a plus.</p>
<p>Consolation, I’m also under the impression that T-Mobile’s system is different enough such that a GSM phone advertised as 4G will perform differently on different networks, if at all. In any event, reviews I’ve read say that if the unlocked phone’s 4G capability doesn’t work at 4G speed on another network, it will automatically step down to the next level of performance.</p>
<p>Consolation, Once you figure out swype you’ll never need/want a real keyboard again. I can text ALMOST as fast as my kids now using my Galaxy S2 touchscreen :-).</p>
<p>True that, the Droids are CDMA (may it meet an untimely demise) for Verizon and Sprint. Something similar would be the Atrix for GSM/Tmobile.</p>
<p>Nobody makes a decent ‘real’ keyboard any more. Even BlackBerry. The last ‘real’ I used was a Nokia from the dark ages. </p>
<p>Lumias, well, bad idea for now because they won’t get Windows Phone. The T-mo 710 is pretty good (we have one) but is more of a teenager/kid phone. If my Focus dies I may get an unlocked one.</p>
<p>I didn’t read every post on this thread, but I know mousegray touched on this with “ic loud”. Am I super paranoid in thinking how creepy it is how everything is super tracked everywhere? From the apple id to the cloud to ieverything.</p>
<p>What does everyone think of the idea of buying a used phone on ebay? I could get a Samsung Galaxy S II for about $300.</p>
<p>Unless it came with a very long and ironclad warranty, I would pass it by. You just don’t know how a used phone has been handled. How many times was it dropped on the floor? Methinks you could get a new unlocked Galaxy S Ill at a competitive price on Ebay or Amazon.</p>
<p>If $600 is a competitive price, yes. Too rich for my blood.</p>
<p>I’ve bought used phones and had no problems…it’s best to get 'em from someone you know and trust. I bought a used iPhone 4 from a friend last week for $50 and activated it on Straight Talk. The phone had a cracked back cover and my friend had purchased a new replacement for it–I put packing tape on the back cover, put it in an Otterbox case and was all set. I gave my old iPhone 3gs to my sister…I had purchased that used last month for $100.</p>
<p>I have never had good luck buying phones on eBay. Even with highly ranked sellers etc.
They work for about a month.
:(</p>
<p>Online phone sellers like cowboom.com offer preowned and refurb phones with a 30 day return policy. Cowboom.com also has available extended protection plans for 1 or 2 years after the first 30 days. They’re advertising online today Samsung Galaxy S II’s for under $300.
[Cell</a> Phones, No Contract Cell Phones, Prepaid Cell Phones, Smartphones - CowBoom.com](<a href=“http://www.cowboom.com/Mobile-Cellular/Cell-Phones-Smartphones/?page=1&order=price_low&store=fixed&query=&view=grid&keywords=]Cell”>http://www.cowboom.com/Mobile-Cellular/Cell-Phones-Smartphones/?page=1&order=price_low&store=fixed&query=&view=grid&keywords=)</p>
<p>Consolation, re typing on phones – I’m getting the hang of typing on the iphone touch screen. I hated it at first and tried typing with it in the horizontal orientation but now I can type pretty quickly holding it vertically, especially if I don’t try to type fast! My thumb tends to spasm if I try to type quickly. Also, with the 4S you can dictate. I actually find that a real challenge – it’s hard to think what I want to say and talk at the same time!</p>
<p>As for the cloud, it IS paranoia inducing but so far I haven’t felt invaded. 
I think Facebook is actually much more intrusive. The cloud has changed my habits as much as having a cell phone origianlly did, and in similar ways – it gives you autonomy as long as YOU’re the master of it, ie you don’t let it into your every waking moment.</p>
<p>I spent some time researching my first smartphone a couple of years ago. I chose an Android then for several reasons that are mostly still true. I wanted:</p>
<p>turn by turn voice navigation;</p>
<p>the ability to pop out the battery and replace it if it died;</p>
<p>to upgrade storage (sdcard) at any time;</p>
<p>sync effortlessly to gmail, google calendar, contacts, picasa, etc;</p>
<p>to be able to simply drag music files to the phone without using itunes, an app that i cannot stand to have on my computer;</p>
<p>to be able to customize it extensively with home screens, launchers, ringtones, even speed up cpu and such.</p>
<p>I bought a Droid Incredible back then, now I have an Optimus V which is far less powerful but lets me have a plan that’s only $25/month with unlimited data, text and 300 mins of talk time. I can still,when driving, have Nav telling me where to go, play my favorite Pandora stations and take a call…all through my car speakers, all managed by the phone (one app interrupts the other when appropriate). </p>
<p>A lot of family members have iphones, I chose the right phone for me.</p>