Pedro...Galaxy S4 v Nexus v HTC One

[Darrell KSR]

Not sure about shipping, etc., CBBN--but if you want the Otterbox Marine Commuter case, TigerDirect has it for $28.99.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...55085&csid=_61

Insomnia sucks. But it does let you find bargains on the internet.

Amazon has them all over the place, of course. And you may be able to pick them up locally; I dunno.

Here's a Tech21 at Amazon. I think I'm switching back to the Otterbox, but I love the technology of the Tech21 cases.

http://www.amazon.com/Tech21-Impact-.../ref=de_a_smtd

[Darrell KSR]

If you are still in the market, and are considering the HTC or Samsung S4, Google is now selling both. ... in a clean Android environment, free of the bloat, and with a promise of quick Android software updates.
Order now, will ship July 9.

Of course, you will have to pay $649 up front for the S4, $599 for the HTC. I paid $99 and $20 a month for 24 months, total $580. Still, those are nice treats by Google. If you considered the Nexus for these reasons, you can now consider the gorgeous HTC, or the S4 as well.

[Darrell KSR]

And I thought I posted this, but I ended up getting the Tech 21 case in the Smoke. Thin, fits great, looks great, and pleased with the protection.

[BarristerCat]

If you are still in the market, and are considering the HTC or Samsung S4, Google is now selling both. ... in a clean Android environment, free of the bloat, and with a promise of quick Android software updates.
Order now, will ship July 9.

Of course, you will have to pay $649 up front for the S4, $599 for the HTC. I paid $99 and $20 a month for 24 months, total $580. Still, those are nice treats by Google. If you considered the Nexus for these reasons, you can now consider the gorgeous HTC, or the S4 as well.

D, I think the big draw with paying full price up front for the phone (whether it's for a normal one or the Google version) is that you can get the calling/data plan cheaper. What you pay for the phone itself comes out cheaper when you go the contract route, but apparently you can more than make up the difference with a no-contract plan price.

As to the cases, my personal all-time favorite case is the Speck Candyshell. It is basically the same thing as the Otterbox Commuter, but with the Candyshell the hard plastic outer layer is fused directly to the soft silicone inner layer. With the Commuter, the silicone layer tends to get loose after a while. That can't happen with the way the Candyshell is built.

As to the phones, I got a Droid Razr Maxx HD back in December. I like it well enough, but I have made the decision to sell it and buy an S4 off-contract. The RMHD is a fine phone for many applications -- and the battery life is phenomenal -- but I play a lot of games and listen to a lot of streaming radio. I've found that the RMHD just doesn't seem to pack enough RAM to handle those things smoothly. It's a great phone in so many respects, but if it can't handle games now there's no way it can carry me through the next year and a half. So, I'm going to buy an S4 and sell my RMHD to ease the blow.

[Darrell KSR]

D, I think the big draw with paying full price up front for the phone (whether it's for a normal one or the Google version) is that you can get the calling/data plan cheaper. What you pay for the phone itself comes out cheaper when you go the contract route, but apparently you can more than make up the difference with a no-contract plan price.

T Mobile actually sort of does both. While you pay full price for the phone, you do so by paying a small down payment, and then paying $20 per month for a period Of time until it is paid for. The price of the plan is much lower, however, and in the long run, it saves a lot of money. I have actually had that as my business plan for years.

[BarristerCat]

T Mobile actually sort of does both. While you pay full price for the phone, you do so by paying a small down payment, and then paying $20 per month for a period Of time until it is paid for. The price of the plan is much lower, however, and in the long run, it saves a lot of money. I have actually had that as my business plan for years.

Whenever I have to get my own plan, I'm going to give that route a shot. So far I have managed to stay on my dad's plan (a benefit of having younger siblings). I'm not going to rock that boat if at all possible.

[BarristerCat]

I saw this article about getting the most out of Gmail for Android and I thought it might interest you, Darrell. It might be stuff you already know, but I thought I'd pass it along.

[CGWildcat]

I curently have th iPhone 4S, and been debating on the incoming 5S this fall or going for the S4. Coworker got the S4 and let me play with it some. Very impressed. I'm tired of the 4S and all the Apple "you can't do this with our phone" stuff. My wife is still working off the LG Chocolate. I'm giving her my 4S and getting the S4 sometime soon.

[BarristerCat]

I curently have th iPhone 4S, and been debating on the incoming 5S this fall or going for the S4. Coworker got the S4 and let me play with it some. Very impressed. I'm tired of the 4S and all the Apple "you can't do this with our phone" stuff. My wife is still working off the LG Chocolate. I'm giving her my 4S and getting the S4 sometime soon.

I was in the same spot last December. I don't think I'll ever go back to Apple, but I'll never consider it at the current screen size. This extra screen real estate is really great.

[Darrell KSR]

I played with both the iPhone 5 and the S4, but honestly, I'm so tied into android, it would've been an upset for me to have chosen otherwise.

I have to say I am ecstatic with it so far. I love the real estate. Then again, I'm 150 years old, and it's nice to be able to see the screen clearly with as much stuff as I do on the phone.

Throw a nice, slim state of the art D30 smoke case on it, and it's much more attractive than the plastic that it comes in.

[Darrell KSR]

I saw this article about getting the most out of Gmail for Android and I thought it might interest you, Darrell. It might be stuff you already know, but I thought I'd pass it along.

Good stuff, B-Cat. I'm always interested in more ways to use it. I have the business version, but basically the same, and those are some excellent suggestions.

[CitizenBBN]

I curently have th iPhone 4S, and been debating on the incoming 5S this fall or going for the S4. Coworker got the S4 and let me play with it some. Very impressed. I'm tired of the 4S and all the Apple "you can't do this with our phone" stuff. My wife is still working off the LG Chocolate. I'm giving her my 4S and getting the S4 sometime soon.

I think in the end I switched to S4 and Android as much b/c I was sick of Apple's "you can have it in any color you want as long as it's black" approach to design. ITunes on Windows is beyond bad, but they dont' open it up to let others do better. One of 1,000 such decisions that finally broke my back.

Still looking for good sync/backup software for the S4 though if anyone has a suggestion. If push comes to shove I'm going to install the Android SDK and I imagine it'll have a phone backup and restore feature in there somewhere as part of the debugging tools. Hope so. Samsung makes something but it seems as universally hated and bad as ITunes.

[CGWildcat]

Well, I said "sometime soon." Didn't think it would be yesterday after work!! Picked up Lori at the house (she's still using the LG Blue Ice edition) and went to the Verizon store to simply look around and see how it would impact our monthly bill. Half hour later (and in between a call from my doctor at 5:30 that was scheduled for 1130am, and not the best news) Lori had my 4S and I now have the Galaxy S4.

Maybe we should start an App thread now!

[Darrell KSR]

Hope everything is ok with the doctor. I am enjoying my S4, hope you are, too. Right now I am fine with a 16gb micro Sd card, but I love that I can expand to 32gb next if needed.

[CGWildcat]

Yeah, just time to start paaying attention to my health or I won't be able to see any of you guys at the games.
Anyway, found this cover....seems appropriate for many of us..
http://www.etsy.com/listing/15510609..._type=handmade

[CitizenBBN]

Yeah, just time to start paaying attention to my health or I won't be able to see any of you guys at the games.

Despite that obvious benefit you should still start paying attention to your health.

[CGWildcat]

Yeah, it's like I've checked out this last year. Working on getting it back. I'm an all or nothing guy....argue a lot with Lori on buyinig exercise equipment for the house, when I have a free fantastic gym on base. She just doesn't get that I'm not comfy there. Sugars, chol, BP, low t all outta whack. Nothing that can't be fixed, but I need to get it together. Gonna be 50 in October....Gotta get it together.

Despite that obvious benefit you should still start paying attention to your health.

[CitizenBBN]

If we can figure out how to get it to you we sell home gym equipment at the auctions for pennies. You can't give that stuff away at auctions and like 90% of home stuff it's barely been used if at all. The problem is it'll cost more to ship than its worth, but I bet you could find some at auctions there locally. Great place to pick up gym stuff for nothing.

My cholesterol is higher than my SAT scores.

[CGWildcat]

My cholesterol is higher than my SAT scores.

So they're in the safe range under 200?

[CitizenBBN]

So they're in the safe range under 200?

Smarta$$. Back when I took it you got 400 for just signing your name.

[CGWildcat]

LOL, thanks, I'll be here all week, tip your waitress and be sure to try the veal.

Smarta$$. Back when I took it you got 400 for just signing your name.

[Darrell KSR]

If we can figure out how to get it to you we sell home gym equipment at the auctions for pennies. You can't give that stuff away at auctions and like 90% of home stuff it's barely been used if at all. The problem is it'll cost more to ship than its worth, but I bet you could find some at auctions there locally. Great place to pick up gym stuff for nothing.

Great subject from an insider... What items are great deals to look for in an auction?

[CGWildcat]

I agree with Darrell (don't tell anyone please). How do you even find an auction?

[BigBlueBrock]

I moved my service to T-Mobile on Monday and got an HTC One. Far and away the best phone I've ever used. If there's a nicer phone available to the general public today, I'd have a hard time believing it.

FYI, I had been using a Samsung Galaxy Nexus for the last couple of years on Verizon. Quite a step up.

[Darrell KSR]

HTC One is a gorgeous phone, BBB. I agonized over the decision, and loved having it in my hand. I'm T-Mobile, too, and the guys in the local store know me very well from the hours I spent in it.

I ended up with the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Tech21 D30 smoke case (which hides/protects the plastic that otherwise diminishes a great phone with inferior appearance, IMHO). But the HTC One was a great phone, and I am very envious of the appearance of it. I would not have purchased a case for it had I chosen that one. I know you will not be disappointed with that fine piece of machinery.

[blue2ksr]

Just read that Apple is going to introduce something iphone on September 10. I'm anxious to see what they come out with. I'm due for an upgrade from Verizon and have been waiting to see if the new version is worth my interest or not.

[BigBlueBrock]

Just read that Apple is going to introduce something iphone on September 10. I'm anxious to see what they come out with. I'm due for an upgrade from Verizon and have been waiting to see if the new version is worth my interest or not.

Probably just the 5S. They're working on a larger iPhone, but it's still too early (and we'd have seen leaks if it were coming next month). We'll probably get a 4.3" to 4.7" iPhone 6 next year, along with a "standard" sized version and maybe even a "cheaper" all/mostly plastic iPhone. Apple is getting killed in marketshare and they've got to answer with more iPhone variations.

[Catonahottinroof]

Darrell, how is the new phone doing?

[Darrell KSR]

Darrell, how is the new phone doing?

Very pleased. Does everything I want and then some. Crisp, clean screen, perfect size, and not too big to hold. Snappy. I have a 16gb card in addition to the built-in memory, and it is handling all the apps, pics, videos, etc. well. Got the D30 case and like the look of it, and just yesterday had my first drop on concrete from close to 6 feet, and it was really cool.. You saw it hit, and heard it, and it was somewhat of an absorbent thud. Knew immediately it was fine.

Just a good experience. But I'm sure I would feel the same about any of the fine phones we were discussing here. They are all great phones.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 4

[Catonahottinroof]

My contract renewal is up with AT&T soon. Phone shopping now commencing.