Verizon Razr Maxx or Iphone 4s

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Ashley Lynn

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Ashley Lynn
Time to upgrade phones on my Verizon plan and I just bought my first MAC.

We traded in the wife's 1st gen Motorola Droid for an iPhone 4s, I like how the iPhone interconnects via the iCloud to the MAC.

Well, it is my turn to choose a new phone----I have looked and keep going back to the Motorola Razr Maxx...bigger battery, 4g, etc, etc.

My question is this: I would like to solicit thoughts, pro or con about the iPhone 4s and/or the Motorola Razr Maxx. Remember, just bought the IMAC w/ iCloud.

FYI, 4g is very limited around my area.

Thanks in advance for all the advice.
 
I am in the Fl. Keys, and use the i phone 4 s many times a day. Consulting charts, weather radar, wind direction and speed, waves, tides and currents. Those who have androids do not seem to be able to all of these apps.
 
I'm a mac guy but own and Droid RAZR. I get great 4G service (almost as fast as my cable speeds) and I can tether the phone to my PC for free (using PdaNet). Those are the two things that kept with with Android as opposed to shifting to an iPhone 4S a couple of months ago. The tethering in particular saves me a lot of $'s when traveling as I no longer pay hotel rates for internet.
 
Ours is a "mixed marriage" - the Blonde has an iPhone4, I have a Droid Bionic. We are VERY much a Mac family in all other respects: a couple MacBook Pros, an iMac, iPad, and various iPods. The thing that swayed me towards the Droid Bionic was the 4G (I had already owned an original Droid for two years). We were in the boonies at the time, and had very little coverage of any kind, so it was a leap of faith for the 4G. I've now had the Droid for about 6 months, and we have had 4G about as often as 3G in our travels. There is a BIG difference in the speed, and we use my Droid as our hot spot... no DSL, no cable modem, and we don't count on finding wifi along the way; we just make our own.

I have been delighted with the Droid AND the 4G. Let me clarify that: WE have been delighted, since Joan generally uses the iPad and/or a MacBook Pro, and my Droid is her internet source, too.

There are some differences in the apps and their availability between her iPhone and my Droid, but it really is pretty insignificant. I get all the weather, radar, and navigation I need on the Droid. There have been a few instances where she has had an issue finding a place in the land nav mode on her phone, that I just speak into the Droid and it pulls it right up, including directions.

Just like Macs and PCs, it seems that these phones are more alike than they are different. The approach to getting the info out of each is a bit different. For ease of use, the iPhone is easy and seamless; the Droid seems to be more adaptable.

I don't think there is a lot of difference between the Razr and the Bionic, other than thickness.

If you truly don't think you're going to be in an area that offers 4G, the difference is pretty minor. If you have the opportunity for 4G and use the phone as a hot spot, the Droid is definitely the choice. If you're just using it as a phone and a solitary device, again, not that much difference. No doubt that the iPhones do work more seamless with other Mac devices.

I didn't think the whole 4G thing was going to be much of an issue, but it really offers great speed for internet connection. Most of the time with 3G, we see between .5 and 1 mg; with 4G it is between 5 and 14 mg - a significant difference.

And a couple weeks after we got to the Tropical Tip (sometimes known as the end of the US), we went from crappy 3G to outstanding 4G service. Equipment upgrades are happening.

Hope that helps.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
iPhone is my first smartphone and 4G is not common in our area just 3G and unlimited data was not an option

If it was, I would buy a Droid for the Wifi hotspot function and drop AT and T DSL at home. I am hoping not to do business with them ever again.

Be careful using your iphone as a Wifi hot spot on the Verizon net, sometimes it is needed but go past your limit and the data becomes pricey

I have many paid apps so switching would take a little home work.

Lots of good advice already posted and this helps me too

You should ask folks about their service providers and data plans

Thanks for asking
 
I too am at the upgrade point and have been considering Android for some of the reasons that Jim already mentioned. I'm looking at Verison due to area coverage. The other option is a nonAndroid, Straight Talk on a month to month that would include, talk, text and web for $50 month. But the Web appears to be limited and it is not Android. It appears to be not comparing apples to apple, so I am leaning toward the Andy Razer 4G for the aps choices that have been proffered here on the site .
Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
BrentB":3lqgqbpe said:
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Be careful using your iphone as a Wifi hot spot on the Verizon net, sometimes it is needed but go past your limit and the data becomes pricey
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Click to expand...

I'm lucky in that I'm still grandfathered in under an (truly) unlimited data plan I purchased several years ago. But you are correct in that others might need to worry about this on Verizon - especially if you're a big user of Pandora or other service that pushes a lot of data in your direction. But compared to $12-20 a day charges at hotels and airports, the tethering option is cheap.
 
In our Verizon network we have 4GLT which is not true 4G up and down speeds. More like one bit faster than 3G
 
Looks like Verizon have been playing with the rules of the game a bit. Just signed up my Droid for temporary Canadian service as I will be there for a week and will have to jump through lots of menu hoops every time I use data services in order not to exceed my "limit" and get charged $$$$. This was not a problem last year.

It also seems like a lot of us are coming up for potential upgrade at the same time (great minds 8) ) so I am very interested in this thread. Personally, while a lot of the 'Apps' are fascinating, I find the novelty value soon wears off and they become a bit of a PITA to use in real life. Still of value as a back -up or as a means to access functions not available on the boat equipment but not easy to use with 10 frozen thumbs and a facefull of salt water in a seaway.

Would also be nice if it worked better as a phone :shock:

M
 
I have iNavX, Navionics (older, iPhone size app), and Navimatics. iNavX is the most fully featured and allows importing and exporting of routes and waypoints. Navionics is basic, but all you need for a backup, and is the easiest to build routes with. Navimatics draws from a different chart database and isn't as detailed. It's big advantage is integrated, offline Active Captain support.

I tend to run iNavX on the iPad with a big picture view, close up chartplotter and radar views on the Raymarine, and a close up view in Navimatics on my iPhone to read Ative Captain listings as I pass places by. I keep the iPhone in a suction cup mount on the windshield right next to the Raymarine and find it is easier to use when secured to the boat than when it's in my hand (when it's choppy out).

I posted a bit about this on my blog... http://samlandsman.blogspot.com/2011/11/ipad-for-marine-navigation.html[/url]
 
The advantage of inavx is that it is an electronic copy of the official NOAA chart. These are upgraded on a regular basis.

Recently on another forum I pointed out that many of the chart chips and other "enhanced" versions or charts which are easy to use, leave off some curtail data--such as the horizontal and vertical clearance of bridges.

I reviewed the various charts--and although "active Captain had a notation about a certain bridge, the chart did not show the clearance. Of course the NOAA chart on inavx did. Definitely worth having.
 
I'm lucky in that I'm still grandfathered in under an (truly) unlimited data plan I purchased several years ago. But you are correct in that others might need to worry about this on Verizon - especially if you're a big user of Pandora or other service that pushes a lot of data in your direction. But compared to $12-20 a day charges at hotels and airports, the tethering option is cheap.[/quote]

Do they throttle the speed after you exceed a certain amount of data?

I know several folks in Indiana who have grand fathered unlimited data plans from Verizon, Sprint and AT&T and they say their lines are throttled after they reach a certain amount of data. They called it false advertisement and complained to Feds b/c they signed their contract, throttling was not used. A similar problem exists with ComCast and cable modems users. When you exceed the set amount of data, the modem reduces the speed until the beginning of the next billing cycle.
 
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