My carrier (Helio) merged with Virgin Mobile about a year ago, at which point the quality went significantly downhill. Now Virgin Mobile is being absorbed by Sprint, and they're actually discontinuing support for all the old Virgin Mobile phones and plans. As of a week from today, my cell phone will be a useless chunk of plastic and silicon.
So, I need a new phone. I was really set on getting an iPhone. I've had an iPod Touch for the last two years, which I love (and for which I've bought a large number of applications). All of our computers at home are Macs, and all my important info (calendar, contacts, music/videos) is stored in Apple's bundled software (iCal, Address Book, iTunes).
Verizon has the best coverage in my area, plus my girlfriend and my family are all on Verizon, so that seems like the best carrier to go with.
That decided, I've tentatively narrowed it down to two phones:
HTC Droid Incredible:
http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/htc ... 64029.html
![Image](http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/sc/34064029-2-440-OVR-1.gif)
Palm Pre Plus:
http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/pal ... ncol;lst;1
![Image](http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/sc/33941250-2-440-FT-2.jpg)
The things that are most important to me (besides, y'know, being able to make phone calls):
- good web browsing
- good maps/navigation software (a good implementation of Google Maps will suffice)
- plays nice with a Mac (see above)
- decent email management
- takes decent pictures (image quality--particularly indoors--is far more important than resolution)
It would also be really nice to have something that can actually sync properly with iTunes so I don't have to carry my iPod around as well, but based on Apple's monopolistic control over that stuff I figure I'm pretty much out of luck. (My library is organized via a system of user ratings and smart playlists, so the barebones drag-and-drop approach isn't really sufficient for my needs).
The main things I use my phone for besides making calls are surfing the web on my lunch break, getting directions if I get lost and finding restaurants/things to do when I'm out of town, and checking/responding to urgent email (I'm a union officer, and sometimes things can't wait until I get back to a computer). I'd also prefer something that has a decent camera and a robust MP3 player, so I don't have to carry around more than one pocket gadget.
...However, not having used either phone, and needing to make this decision ASAP, I'm having a tough time choosing. So please, pitch something to me. And if you know of a smartphone that might work better, let me know.