I've had an iPod Touch for a while, and love the thing for gaming (obviously). I actually prefer gaming on it to the PSP or DS. So I always have it with me. I got a Droid phone for Christmas (since my wife and her parents are on Verizon, and we could add it to the family plan), and while it's a nice phone it cannot compare to the iPhone/iPod for gaming. The selection is really lacking, and even when an iPhone game is available on the Droid, often times it's not as good. For example, I bought Radiant on both platforms, and it looks much nicer on my iPod Touch. The star field in the background is barely visible on the Droid, but it looks really nice on the iPod. Anyway, I thought I'd bite the bullet and give the iPhone a try and just give my Droid to my wife since she needs a new phone anyway soon. So I went to an AT&T store about 45 minutes from my house (there isn't one where I live), but since Walmart here sells them I figured we had coverage. The iPhone 3G worked fine there, and I was really excited since I could stop carrying two devices around with me (since I also think the iPhone is way better for handling podcasts). By the time I got home, I was out of the 3G network and it was connecting through EDGE, which was just too slow for me (talk worked fine). It is like dialup and so much slower than my Droid it's not even funny. Disappointed, I took it back the next day. I SO wish Verizon would get the iPhone since that is my only hope unless I want to put up with connecting through EDGE. Anyone here like their iPhone so much they put up with that? Comparing the iPhone/Ipod Touch and the Droid, I'd say the Droid has a quite a bit nicer screen. But as far as everyday use, the iPhone is just far more elegant. I love the way it handles music and podcasts, I actually like syncing the iPod Touch with iTunes, and for gaming it is absolutely no comparison. For web surfing, the Droid is okay (I use both the stock browser and the Dolphin browser) but using Safari on the Touch is so much easier and faster for me. Even apps that are available on both seem slightly better on the iPod. Facebook, for example is easier and faster for me to use. For typing, the onscreen keyboard is far better on the iPod. The Droid's physical keyboard is not great, so I use its onscreen keyboard, but it is still more difficult to type accurately than the iPod's. I doubt it happens but I am hoping when Apple announces a new iPhone that it will be available through Verizon or someone besides AT&T. I wonder how much market share Apple is missing out on.
I honestly love Sprint and Verizon because of their service and coverage. AT+T's Maps commercials are downright misleading: they show the EDGE maps and not the 3G. I am never going to buy an iPhone, but I will keep my touch as long as it's jailbroken. My main phone will probably be either a Droid, a Nexus One, or a Palm Pre (Plus?).
It's scary how similar you and I think I was going to get a droid in a month, for the sheer fact that I don't want a contract with AT&T, however the droid while having "more features", still lacks the beautiful, and nearly flawless execution of the iphones UI, and OS. I found the phone, very confusing, slow, and rather sloppy to be honest...at least compared to the experience I've had with the iphone os. That said, that screen is gorgeous!!
I know people are complaining about how Apple went with AT&T but they actually went to Verizon first and got turned down because they wanted to control the entire Iphone user experience (tech support, interface, no Verizon logo lol) and a decent cut from each phone sold which is unheard of in the cell phone industry and Verizon didn't like it. It's been rumored that Verizon has been banging their heads in the wall because the iphone launch has been so successful with AT&T because they were willing to take that huge risk. I almost want to say that Verizon could have been the #1 cell phone provider in the US and beat AT&T if they exclusively had the iphone but that might be a bit of a stretch. I did leave T-mobile for the iphone though and they tried to get me to stay with their service when I told them. It was a great company but they had no 3g and no solid phones (time to move on from that old sidekick) that rivaled the iphone at the time.
This is why I'm glad I live in Canada. I hear nothing but complaints about AT&T's 3G coverage, and it would annoy me greatly if I couldn't get 3G in the places I am at most frequently -- and given how much I'm on my iPhone on a daily basis, I just couldn't put up with it. What the hell is up with AT&T anyway? All they do is whine about how precious their bandwidth is and how everyone hogs it and yet they haven't done a damn thing about it. Meanwhile, Sprint is kicking their asses nine ways from Sunday in 3G coverage, except they're stuck with the dying CDMA/EV-DO network. If they did what Bell here did and set up a competing HSPA network, AT&T would suddenly discover they have a problem on their hands.
Verizon's phones tend to look very clinical, but there's no beating the fact that I can actually have a phone call. If it weren't for the iPhone, AT&T would've tanked a long time ago. The service is as ragged as Luke Wilson these days.
I have absolutely no problems with my AT&T coverage and my 3G speed at work is comparable to my WiFi speed at home. I've never had a dropped call on my 3GS and my signal strength is usually at 5 bars. The last carrier I had was T-Mobile and I had to leave the phone in the window and use bluetooth because that was the only way to keep a signal in the apartment.
I have great 3g coverage everywhere I go in my entire state of Connecticut, including the very rural woods. The few who don't get coverage are just very vocal.
The Nexus One is probably the better choice when it comes to Verizon. Hopefully the Android OS and game selection will improve over time.
