Cell Phone advice

[powersteamracing]

So My Blackberry Curve 8530 crapped out (screen is busted) and I need a new phone. I was hoping someone here may be familiar with how Verizon Wireless works, and could give me some input on my best option.

I am apparently due for an upgrage, or eligible for an upgrade. Something like that. Not sure if it is free or not. Everytime I call VZW customer support I get 5 different answers. I also, apprently have $50 that can go towards a 4G phone.

So ultimately I'm looking for the following:
-I'm looing to pay as little as possible (I don't care if that means I have to sign a contract)
-something with a keyboard (not a virtual one)
-something that has good reception. I travel far and wide, and so far my little BB rarely drops calls.
-something that can run youtube videos well, especially while travelling. I use my cellphone as an mp3 player of sorts, and just play playlists from youtube while driving.

I'm not opposed to just getting another BB Curve 8530, but I'm always looking to improve. I don't care about the camera (although I do want to have atleast a camera).

I'm a simple man, and cell phones are extremely foreign to me. I use my phone for calls, browsing, and youtube videos. and that's it. no e-mails on the phone, no twitter apps or anything.

So what's my best option? I could use the insurance and just pay $50 to get the phone replaced, however I am constantly travelling, and am not anywhere long enough to receive a package. I think they can do instore replacements with the insurance, but it's hard enough to find a VZW store driving an 18-wheeler, little alone getting into a parking lot big enough.

Any suggestions?

[DeadsyRUs]

I had the Droid X2 (before I trashed it in water by accident). Sadly, Blackberry (RIM) has been dying a slow death. I'd go with the Droid family .

[S_Gibson]

One of the new Droids by Motorola has a slide out keyboard, but I'm not familiar with any other now.

[STEVE]

LG Enlighten might be a good choice. Has Android, slide-out keyboard, and doesn't have 4G so it should be free if you get it online.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/s...edPhoneId=5714

[Phathead]

I would spend the little extra money and get a BB 9930 refurb. Verizon does a good job working with BB to ensure you don't get a brick, and the 9930 is probably the best BB out there right now.

Otherwise Steve and Gib both hit the other options

[Richard Hammond]

My Dell Venue Pro is pretty nice, I'd stick with a blackberry though. A 9900 seems prime for you, same with the Motorola Droid Pro I believe it is? Has a BB type form factor but also packs Android.

[hideawayracer]

I've went from a Droid Global to a Droid 2 Global. Wouldn't trade them for anything. One usually last me a year, as they get beat up with my line of work. Girlfriend has a HTC, and battery life is crap on it.

[S_Gibson]

DROID 4 is the new one with slide out keyboard I was thinking of.

[STEVE]

DROID 4 is the new one with slide out keyboard I was thinking of.

That looks like a nice phone, but it's 4G, so he will probably end up paying more.

I would definitely suggest getting your phone online through VZW's site. They tend to give pretty significant discounts on there.

[powersteamracing]

Thanks for the info. I forgot to mention that I'm not a fan of touch screens, and that my job does take it's toll on a phone.

That said I've got some good suggestions. My job has given me a different run this week, so I get another week to ponder before I'm even near a VZW store.

[Mike Henry Jr]

If you don't want touch screen, and want a keyboard I think you're going to have to stick with Blackberry. That'd be your best bet.

[Richard Hammond]

If you were to switch to AT&T, I would've recommended the HTC Status, although it lacks any kind of trackpad so you have to use the touch screen to interact with things.

[powersteamracing]

If you don't want touch screen, and want a keyboard I think you're going to have to stick with Blackberry. That'd be your best bet.

Good to know. Yeah, I can't really use a touch pad because 9 times out of 10 I have grease on my fingers. I could easily see myself leaving a streek of grease on the screen.

[Phathead]

You could just get a 9600 series Curve too

[penskefan]

Or you could realize what the rest of the world already knows...Blackberry and RIM are dead.

Check out the new Windows phones. If I wasn't so blinded with Apple love, I would have gotten one.

[Phathead]

Or you could realize what the rest of the world already knows...Blackberry and RIM are dead.

Considering globally they are the most wide spread phone maker, and their share is growing, I would greatly refute that.

[GoMatt17]

I love my Droid Pro. Light years better than the Samsung my wife got. And about three times as good on battery.

But honestly, the best bet will be to check online and get a list of three or four phones that interest you and meet your criteria and then go to the store play with them. That's what I did. Sold me on the Droid Pro over the Blackberry. There's not really many bad phones these days and what you think you want may not always be what you really want.

[penskefan]

Considering globally they are the most wide spread phone maker, and their share is growing, I would greatly refute that.

http://www.bgr.com/2012/06/18/celest...berry-rim-odm/

For a successful company, things like this are usually the other way around. Celestica believes they can make their money elsewhere AND are willing to spend the bucks necessary to abandon ship.

[8dalejr.fan]

I walked by the RIM headquarters when I was in Waterloo, Canada for a conference. Massive. Took me 20 minutes to get back out of Blackberry zone.

BUT... latest story in my Twitter feed:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...usaolp00000003

LG Ecylpse isn't bad for your purposes. My brother and mother both have one.

[Phathead]

http://www.bgr.com/2012/06/18/celest...berry-rim-odm/

For a successful company, things like this are usually the other way around. Celestica believes they can make their money elsewhere AND are willing to spend the bucks necessary to abandon ship.

Or maybe from a more reliable source, which BGR really isn't anymore: Celestica didn't leave RIM, RIM left Celestica.- http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...85H0RK20120618

RIM recently brought in a new CEO for the first time in the company's history. One of the things he is doing is trimming the fat, of which RIM has a lot of. They are centralizing a lot of their R&D and getting rid of jobs or divisions that don't really need to exist. They only wanted 2 or 3 hardware developers for their BB10/QNX phones so they had more control over their production.

Yes their low end phones can be crappy and yes they are at least a year behind in terms of hardware and OS, but by the time BB10 comes out at least they'll be somewhat caught up. They're at least legitimately attempting to fix their problems, I follow the company quite closely because I really like the BlackBerry brand. They are not going away, they are far to widespread for that.