Iphone Replacement

[Evil_Dictator]

Thought you guys would be a good group to ask. I have an iphone 3gs which I love, but it's so expensive with the $30 data plan and minutes I never use. I only use the data plan for when I get directions because I'm always near wifi and noone talks to me anyways so I don't use ATT's network much at all. Have any of you ever considered giving up your iphones and just going off an itouch like device that goes off wifi for communication?

I could

1. Get an ipod touch and hack it to put google voice on it. Has a solid developer community already.
2. Get an android device which would come with google voice (but which one?)

ARCHOS 5 Internet Tablet looks quite compelling. No camera or video recorder (or maybe I missed it in the specs) but I have a separate camera I could use if i really want to.

The Zii Plaszma seems to have awesome specs with 1080p video playback to your hdtv, but doesn't look like it's really out yet.

Does anyone have any experience with android? Are many free useful apps out for it yet? I imagine there should be a good selection by now.

[EricJ]

I went through the same dilemma last month.. I had a 32gb iphone 3gs which I picked up for 299.. It had a couple of scrateches on the back but i was still able to sell it for 550 (it sold within 15 minutes of putting it up on the local classifieds site). If you sell your 3gs you'll make a ton of money on it, check them out on ebay $700+ for good condition..

I was going to get an ipod touch, but after shopping around for a while, and looking at the options, i realized I only reallly wanted to play music, so I got an iPod classic (160gb) for only 50 bucks more than I could get an 8gb ipod touch for. I was a little distraught at getting rid of all of the apps I had purchased for my iPhone.. but the only one i've really been missing is the FML app. but I could get online if i really wanted to read some FMLs.

There are only a couple of pitfalls I could see by using an ipod touch with google voice as your main device. 1. The iPod touch doesn't have a mic, so unless you have your headphones with the inline mic with you at all times, you're SOL for phone calls.. 2. You're dependant on WiFi.. If your car breaks down and your stuck in a place with no wifi, how will you call for help?

The plus side of having any phone except the iphone, is the data plan is optional.. and since I'm on a family plan, unlimited data is only ten bucks / month.. bringing my share of the phone bill to 20 a month (10 for the addon line, and 10 for unlimited data) :D

I've been using an HTC Fuze, but I don't really like it much, so I just ordered a G1 ($235 on ebay). on sunday night, and am going to unlock it so I can use it with ATT.. I've been researching G1 apps since i placed the order, and there are a lot of awesome ones that I can't wait to try.. The one I'm most excited about is called locale. It runs in the background (something that the iPhone can't do), and uses your gps location to execute functions on your phone.. For instance, when I enter the zone I set up for my college, it will automatically put my phone on silent mode... From what I've read you can make to pretty much anything, including updating your facebook/twitter status for when you enter certain locations. I'll let you know how the Android experience goes.

[EricJ]

Depending on who is your provider, and if you like a little risk, there are generic alternatives that are available that mimic iphones and other comlex models fairly well. I've heard mixed reviews, so I can't recommend them one way or another.

I've heard horrible things about the sciphone and the hiphone.. Those are the only two knock offs that I know of.. :). but I'm excited for my G1.

[Evil_Dictator]

Thanks for the thoughful replies. I was looking to see if I could ditch cellular service all together. Right now the answer seems to be a hacked ipod touch with googlevoice on it and skype since apple has such strong developer support. The zune hd has a nice oled screen, but no apps. My favorite rumor for a few months now has been the Apple Tablet, but who knows when they'll release that. Early 2010 is what I keep reading. Anyone else know of a itouch like device that will surf, maybe even have flash support, play videos, music, do facebook, instant message. I keep hoping for a nice tablet with android on it since many will be getting on that bandwagon. The archos seems to be the closest thing to that but they charge you an arm and a leg for accessories to get to do the cooler things (like hook up to your tv to play 720p videos)

On the flip side, I told ATT I was considering canceling the service and they switched me to a cheaper plan based on my usage. Saved 20 bucks a month. ;)

[EricJ]

I'll let you know how the Android experience goes.

So far this G1 is the best phone I've ever owned. I like it 50x more than my iPhone.. I had to give up 3g to get it, but hey, I've got wifi nearly everywhere.. and even when I'm on the go edge really isn't half bad.. I even ssh'd to my home server over edge and it was snappy.. more than I can say for the poor ssh client I got for my iPhone (SO SLOW).. This one is actually readable and has usable controls. Everything about this phone is just awesome. The only thing I would change is the battery life.. If i'm on it all day with wifi on it'll be just about dead when I go to sleep.. so if I were to go camping or something like that without a car charger it probably wouldn't last.. There are so many awesome apps for this phone though, because the development environment is so open, developers can do almost anything with the phone. It provides better functionality than a jailbroken iPhone, and this doesn't even need to be jailbroken.

I would definitely recommend this phone to anyone.

[Evil_Dictator]

The software sounds pretty solid. It's nice to see developers latching onto android. How do you like the hardware so far? I'm thinking I want to wait since there are so many itouch like devices that are almost released that have neat specs, like the ability to put out 1080p video to your tv as well as play media and have your browsers and instant messaging. Android sounds like a fun platform if someone could get the hardware going. Always a nasty balance between size and functionality. Maybe someone will get those nuclear batteries going that they've been using for pacemakers that make electricity from the radiation, though i'm not sure how suitable they'd be for a high power requirement device.