New phone?

[otters]

I'm getting one, because the Versa has problems with, well, working properly. Network is Verizon. Budget depends on how much the online discount is, so anywhere from $150-$500.

I want to avoid resistive touch screens as they are devil spawn, and I do a lot of texting but not much calling. Also I don't use Qwerty.

[Zilla]

Since you said Verizon, I can't possibly jump in with the obligatory iPhone suggestion, in which I'll go to the obligatory Android suggestions.

I'm assuming when you say you "don't use Qwerty", you mean a physical keyboard. So your best bets for a touchscreen-only smartphone on Verizon would be either the Motorola Droid X or the HTC Droid Incredible. (Note that if you change your mind about QWERTY, word through the grapevine is that the Droid 2 is on the way.) They're both $200 on a new 2-year contract. The Droid Incredible has a 3.7" AMOLED display running at 480x800 resolution, a 1 GHz processor, an 8-megapixel camera with video recording, and Android 2.1 (Eclair) with the HTC Sense interface on top. The Droid X differs in its screen, which is a 4.3" TFT LCD running at 480x854, as well as running MOTOBLUR on top of Eclair. It also has an 8-megapixel camera, but it can record video at up to 720p, versus the 800x480 max video resolution of the Incredible; said video can also be outputted via a built-in HDMI port. They both have 8GB of internal memory, but the Droid X comes bundled with a 16GB microSD card as well. It also may or may not support larger SD cards (different sources say different things). Finally, the Droid X has a larger and longer-lasting battery, as well as a noise-cancelling microphone. The spec comparison between the two (as well as a few other phones) is available here.

That was probably far more detailed and tower-postish than it needed to be, but I'm a phone geek. The bottom line is that the Droid X is more powerful, with better specs; however, those specs make the phone pretty damn big, especially with the added screen real estate. If you'd rather having something smaller, the Incredible would be a great choice. I've never gotten to mess with a Droid X, but my classmate's Incredible was pretty nice. Oh, and from what I understand, Sense is much nicer than MOTOBLUR. On the other hand, the Android community is so passionate that as soon as they root a phone, you can start flashing whatever you want onto it.

Oh, but if you can't pay for data, you're fucked. No suggestions for feature phones.

[blackson]

I have the Verizon Wireless Razzle and I like it a lot. So far it's done everything I want in a phone other than being immune to being dropped in a toilet (although that's hardly fair to expect).

It has pretty powerful speakers, so if you're looking to add music, this is for you. On the back side of the speaker (it swivels) is a seemingly cramped QWERTY physical keyboard. The keyboard is actually pretty easy to type fairly quickly on. I know you said no QWERTY, but yeah, this is a QWERTY.

I have two complaints with the phone:

A) 2.5 mm headphone jack. For a phone as music-oriented as it is, it doesn't make much sense to stick a 2.5 mm jack on there.

B) The absence of video. This phone does not shoot or view videos.

Overall I've found it to be a good phone.

[otters]

Update: I'm not allowed to get a phone with a data plan, so this thread is essentially defunct. Thanks for the help, though.

[blackson]

Update: I'm not allowed to get a phone with a data plan, so this thread is essentially defunct. Thanks for the help, though.

The Razzle doesn't require a data plan.

[Zilla]

The Razzle doesn't require a data plan.

Looks like Verizon doesn't sell it anymore, anyways.

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

Update: I'm not allowed to get a phone with a data plan, so this thread is essentially defunct. Thanks for the help, though.

Get the shittiest flip-phone available. Use that fact as a bargaining chip the next time you're being offered a new phone.

[otters]

Use that fact as a bargaining chip the next time you're being offered a new phone.

How?

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

Use that fact as a bargaining chip the next time you're being offered a new phone.

How?

"Look at this piece of shit I've had to deal with for the last [however long]. I think you guys owe me a data plan."

[smartalco]

Or, alternatively, get a decent flip phone because they are awesome, and you can't butt dial people.

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

Or, alternatively, get a decent flip phone because they are awesome, and you can't butt dial people.

Locking your phone? An easily found setting on smartphones? What are you talking about?

[smartalco]

I actually have a friend who managed to unlock his phone and call me, with his ass (I guess it was in his front pocket, so it is more like with his inner thigh, but point stands).

[otters]

Or, alternatively, get a decent flip phone because they are awesome, and you can't butt dial people.

Locking your phone? An easily found setting on smartphones? What are you talking about?

Locking the Versa is an exercise in futility. I once called five people in a day, several times each, with my ass. And the phone was locked when I put it in my pocket.

[scythe]

If you must get a phone that moves, at least be classy enough to get a slider. Unless you're going the route Suki suggested, which I wholeheartedly support.

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

Or, alternatively, get a decent flip phone because they are awesome, and you can't butt dial people.

Locking your phone? An easily found setting on smartphones? What are you talking about?

Locking the Versa is an exercise in futility. I once called five people in a day, several times each, with my ass. And the phone was locked when I put it in my pocket.

Android 1.x+ supports an "unlock pattern". The chance of your ass drawing the specific unlock pattern is extremely small, so I have no fear even when the womens sit on my lap.

[Vyacheslav]

Android's lock pattern is both unique and effective. But if you really don't like touch screens and QWERTY keyboards since you use DVORAK, best bet is a flip-phone.

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

But if you really don't like touch screens and QWERTY keyboards since you use DVORAK, best bet is a flip-phone.

This applies to me, and yet I <3 my Droid Incredible.

[Zilla]

But if you really don't like touch screens and QWERTY keyboards since you use DVORAK, best bet is a flip-phone.

This applies to me, and yet I <3 my Droid Incredible.

It's hilarious how much I know about Android and smartphones in general, and yet I use a shitty slider phone that I got free on contract.