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Android vs. iPod/iPhone vs. Sometime Else
My 2nd generation iPod Touch just isn't cutting it anymore and I want to upgrade. I don't intend to get a data plan, but am considering spending more for a real phone over just a wifi device. Ideally I would get a SmartPhone with voice service only, but I don't think Verizon will let me do that, and I don't want to switch carriers.
The primary things I currently use my iPod Touch for are:
- email and internet, which I'm mostly happy with, but it does kind of bug me that I'm always turning JavaScript on and off for TheNest vs other sites, and I don't like the lack of the newest version of Flash.
- Audiobooks from Audible (purchased) and Overdrive (public library). I'm happy with playing them when I sync them to the regular player through my computer, but on Android it looks like I will have to use an app. My experience listening to audiobooks through apps on the iPod Touch has been very bad and I listen to a lot of audiobooks. So it's vital to me that it's a good audiobook experience. Anyone have experience with these apps?
- Alarm clock, which I am mostly happy with, but wish it could automatically start playing stuff from my audio library or stream NPR... without having a 3rd party app running, which always scares me that I'll accidentally switch off of it before morning.
- Calendar/dayplanner (happy with iPod + 3rd party apps)
- Podcasts (happy with iPod)
- Streaming Netflix (happy with iPod)
- Streaming NPR (happy with iPod, but wish it could be triggered w/ native alarm)
- Typing text documents (happy with iPod, I've gotten really fast at typing on it, with the help of autocorrect)
- General User Interface (love, love, love)
I would also like:
- Decent office apps (Word, Excel) and DropBox (remote storage/syncing/backup), I'm very unhappy with the iPod offerings for this. And the silo-ed data storage for each app makes it very hard to get done what I need
- Take photos and upload them to the internet (because I don't always have my camera with me)
- GPS
- Make video calls on Skype over wifi
Other considerations:
- I'm a sucker for Freecell, but otherwise have no interest in playing games on it.
- I travel at least 4 days/week for work (sometimes gone multiple weeks in a row) and don't like to bring my personal computer with me, so good stand alone functionality is a big plus. Always needing to wait until the weekends to sync to iTunes to get new books, etc is kind of annoying.
- It must fit in my little tiny dress pants pocket.
Given all that, what would you recommend that I buy?
Re: Android vs. iPod/iPhone vs. Sometime Else
If you liked your iPod Touch and the apps you have, I'd suggest getting the iPhone. For all the things you were doing and would like to do in the future, I think an iPhone is your best bet. I love my iPhone and won't switch, ever!
PP is correct - you can't get a voice only plan with Verizon or AT&T for that matter.
You might also consider getting a newer iPod Touch or an iPad 2 for the additional things you'd like to do, and get a voice-only non-smartphone plan with Verizon. But, I love being able to do all of those things from one device, or using my phone in non-WiFi areas where an iPod/iPad without 3G wouldn't work. GL!
As PPs have said you can't get a voice-only plan with Verizon or AT&T, and as far as I know, not with Sprint either (I'm currently with Sprint).
I'll also second that if you already are a huge fan of the Apple Store apps, I would go with the iPhone, even though I'm Android fan.
my planning blog
The US phone companies won't sell you a smartphone without a data plan? Sheesh. I swear they are the least consumer-friendly companies on the planet!
Editorializing aside...
You won't find a lot of people who've used both (outside of tech reviewers or true gadget addicts), and I've only used an Android phone intermittently and on a beta version of the OS, but I didn't love it. As PPs said, you're already familiar with the Apple apps, so the iPhone would probably make more sense.
Regarding the data plan, I wouldn't count it out completely. I have an old iPhone (unlocked by our local carrier - so nice) that I use with only a prepaid voice plan. When I got the iPad2 I signed up for a local data plan, and it turns out I love it. It changes the way you do things, and I find that I use it more and more. I often wish that my iPhone had a data plan so that I didn't have to break out the iPad whenever I needed a data connection.
And if you can hold off for a month or two, the rumors are really starting to solidify around a fall release for the iPhone5. A while back there was some chatter that they might also release an unlocked iPhone4 without a plan, so if you really want to avoid the data plan, and that pans out... But I haven't heard much about it lately, so I'm rather skeptical.