New device for the wife...ideas?

[Odell]

I have finally convinced my wife to at least consider a replacement for her blackberry curve so now I need to try to guide her towards the right device. I was considering an iphone for her but I think the price is going to kill that idea. Besides, I want to get her on the Google bandwagon for ease of contact and calendar management and my understanding is that the google integration with the iphone can be a bit clunky. I may be wrong about that.

 

They basic parameters are that she is not a techie at all and will strongly resist anything that is too "complicated". She doesn't know or care about Gingerbread, ICS or Jellybean. Anything as large as the EvoLTE is going to be too much for her.

 

I was considering the LG Viper 4G LTE. It's 79.99 on upgrade which should be a palatable price point for her.

 

Any downsides to that device and/or any other recommendations? Keeping in mind the above stated limitations.

 

Thanks for any help!

[ballman]

My mom got an LG Viper a couple of months ago. Her only complaint has been battery life is shorter than she thinks it should be, but she plays a lot of Words with Friends and Hanging with Friends and those are notorious battery killers.

 

We don't have LTE in our area yet so I can't comment on how well that works.

[MacinJosh]

My mom got an LG Viper a couple of months ago. Her only complaint has been battery life is shorter than she thinks it should be, but she plays a lot of Words with Friends and Hanging with Friends and those are notorious battery killers.

 

We don't have LTE in our area yet so I can't comment on how well that works.

 

Shorter in what way? Does her phone get really hot after playing for a while? If so, it might be like mine is. The first 2 weeks I had my Viper, the battery life was great, and now it just drops off after I leave my home WiFi connection. Needless to say, I took it in on Thursday and found out that the phone is defective, and am waiting for UPS to bring my replacement.

[Odell]

My mom got an LG Viper a couple of months ago. Her only complaint has been battery life is shorter than she thinks it should be, but she plays a lot of Words with Friends and Hanging with Friends and those are notorious battery killers.

 

We don't have LTE in our area yet so I can't comment on how well that works.

 

Battery life seems to be the main issue I've been seeing from folks. My wife would mostly be using facebook, texting and maybe the camera. And she actually makes calls (imagine that).

[bgguy]

If you aren't worried about LTE the Motorola XPRT is free out the door and she could still have a keyboard.

[Odell]

If you aren't worried about LTE the Motorola XPRT is free out the door and she could still have a keyboard.

 

Wow...I hadn't even considered that device. Coincidentally the first review on Sprint is titled "Great transition phone from blackberry". That one basically ticks all the boxes for her. Size is about right; physical keys; FREE!. I'll def put that one on the list.

 

Thanks!

[S4GRU]

My Viper seems to get better battery life than an EVO 3D, but less than a Galaxy Nexus. And noticeably less than an EVO LTE or GS-III.

 

Robert

[pyroscott]

Somewhat unrelated, but it made me think of this when you said your wife doesn't care about GB ICS or JB. My wife's phone just got an ota for ICS and she is really mad about it. I think her exact words were "this is f'n pointless, my phone was perfectly fine the way it was. Now I have to set it up as if I am buying a new phone... dumb" It struck me as funny because I normally see people freaking out because they don't have the newest upgrade and she would have been fine using the same version of android until she upgraded again.

 

Sent from JBToro on Forum Runner

[Odell]

For a user like my wife I don't think battery life will be an issue. She could often get a couple days or more out of her blackberry. I am seeing reports of random reboots for the XPRT. The last thing I need is for this device to be problematic. I would never hear the end of it. She basically has no issues with her blackberry so if anything new starts screwing up then no happy wife, no happy life.

[Odell]

Somewhat unrelated, but it made me think of this when you said your wife doesn't care about GB ICS or JB. My wife's phone just got an ota for ICS and she is really mad about it. I think her exact words were "this is f'n pointless, my phone was perfectly fine the way it was. Now I have to set it up as if I am buying a new phone... dumb" It struck me as funny because I normally see people freaking out because they don't have the newest upgrade and she would have been fine using the same version of android until she upgraded again.

 

Sent from JBToro on Forum Runner

 

That could have been a quote from my wife...just without the "f'n". That's not a good thing with Android. Unless I get something that is too old to get any upgrades I will have to deal with the "why did my phone change" issue.

 

Or I could just go with the iPhone. But then she'll have to deal with iTunes and that's just another headache.

 

Maybe I'm getting myself into something here...

[digiblur]

Seeing this subject line without the messages takes on a whole new meaning.

 

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

[ballman]

Shorter in what way? Does her phone get really hot after playing for a while? If so, it might be like mine is. The first 2 weeks I had my Viper, the battery life was great, and now it just drops off after I leave my home WiFi connection. Needless to say, I took it in on Thursday and found out that the phone is defective, and am waiting for UPS to bring my replacement.

 

She has complained about it getting warm also, but I don't know what specifically is causing it. I do know that when she's in an area with low/no signal the battery dies pretty quickly as well.

 

I think I'll tell her to take it in and see if her's is defective as well.

[Odell]

Seeing this subject line without the messages takes on a whole new meaning.

 

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

 

Lord help him!

[purpleunicorn]

My Viper seems to get better battery life than an EVO 3D, but less than a Galaxy Nexus. And noticeably less than an EVO LTE or GS-III.

 

Robert

Smaller battery...

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

[kckid]

The blackberry was designed for battery life. So I don't think there is any Android device that will have the same battery life as a blackberry. I would stay away from a WiMax device since the WiMax radio is not integrated. Since the EVO LTE has a 2000ma battery, it is getting good life, and you could just turn off the LTE service.

 

I like my EVO LTE.....

[ChemicalArts]

My wife really likes her galaxy s2 epic 4G or whatever the name of that phone is. It gets pretty good battery life.

 

Sent from my GS3 on Tapatalk 2

[mellimel2212]

Yeah my aunt has a e4gt and loves it I love my ns4g too if my girl understood this phone your girl will too plus a ns4g is cheap on eBay or Craigslist vanilla Android is real simple even with ics

 

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

[irev210]

While not the forum favorite here... the iPhone 4S certified refurbished can be had for 149.

 

Probably will be the phone with the least issues, best battery life, and easiest to use.

 

Otherwise, if you are going to go android, get an EVO 4G LTE or GS3.

 

Or better yet, wait for the new windows 8 phone. That would be my #1 recommendation.

[pyroscott]

Or better yet' date=' wait for the new windows 8 phone. That would be my #1 recommendation.[/quote']

 

Good point. The next windows phone should be coming to sprint in a couple months. Also when the iPhone 5 or iPhone 4GS or whatever they decide to call it comes out, I would think that would push the iPhone 4S to 99 and iPhone 4 to free on contract.

 

Sent from JBToro on Forum Runner

[jefbal99]

If she wants the physical keyboard, wait and see what happens with the Motorola Q LTE, that is probably going to be the next phone for my wife and mother who love their physical keyboards

[Odell]

While not the forum favorite here... the iPhone 4S certified refurbished can be had for 149.

 

Probably will be the phone with the least issues, best battery life, and easiest to use.

 

Otherwise, if you are going to go android, get an EVO 4G LTE or GS3.

 

Or better yet, wait for the new windows 8 phone. That would be my #1 recommendation.

 

I had never considered a windows phone but that idea is intriguing. The HTC Arrive is $49 on upgrade. I'll have to research that one.

 

My biggest concern with the iPhone is that she has an older laptop and I'm not sure how the latest version of iTunes will run on it. There is no way I'm talking her into a new phone AND a new laptop!

[irev210]

I had never considered a windows phone but that idea is intriguing. The HTC Arrive is $49 on upgrade. I'll have to research that one.

 

My biggest concern with the iPhone is that she has an older laptop and I'm not sure how the latest version of iTunes will run on it. There is no way I'm talking her into a new phone AND a new laptop!

 

The HTC Arrive is using very old snapdragon and is not upgradable to windows phone 8.

 

New Windows Phone 8 phones will be coming out, built by Nokia (matches Apple's build quality), will feature the latest and greatest dual core 28nm snapdragon processors, will have fantastic battery life, and should be rock solid stable.

 

I personally can't wait to give it a try. First windows phone that combines a good OS, solid build quality, and modern hardware.

[pyroscott]

While the HTC Arrive has had a lot of good customer reviews and seems to be a good phone, as irev210 said, it won't hold a candle to the new line of WP8 devices. Microsoft is desperate to gain a foothold in the smartphone market, so I wouldn't be surprised if the new WP models are priced lower than comparitive Androids. The Lumia 900 started at $100 on AT&T and is already down to $50. I would expect to see a premium quality handset (likely Nokia) at the $100 price point on Sprint in October(ish).

 

I sound like irev's echo... or a WP salesman...

[S4GRU]

I'm considering a WP phone to toy around with when they come out. Especially if it does the LTEs.

 

Robert via CM9 Kindle Fire using Forum Runner

[WiWavelength]

I'm considering a WP phone to toy around with when they come out. Especially if it does the LTEs.

 

It looks like we need to schedule Robert's intervention for the week before Sprint's Windows Phone is released.

 

AJ