Difficult choice!

U

umair s

New member
Im on a 2 year contract with Virgin Mobile, it ends around November. I'll be heading off to university this fall and want to get a new phone before I leave (for help, ect).

Im stuck between Bell and Virgin Mobile, here are the details:

Bell: Motorola Atrix 4G, Smartphone 50 plan (150 minutes, unlimited evening and weekends, unlimited messaging, 500mb data) 50$/month + tax

Virgin: HTC Incredible S, Smartphone Combo 60 plan (200 minutes, unlim eve/weekends, unlim messaging, unlim nationwide to 10 numbers, 1GB data) 55$/month + tax

I pretty much tried to get the cheapest stuff I can, I am a student so can't go too crazy on the plan. Virgins plan is obviously better, I'm just not too sure of the phone (which is important to me!) Virgin doesn't have the greatest smartphones, and the Atrix looks awesome to me.

I'm wondering if these are the best deals I can get, or if theres any way I can negotiate the Bell plan to get more data? I'm not entirely sure how much data I'll use as I've never owned a smartphone.
 
The Motorola Atrix is awesome in my opinion. Its not engineered for beauty but the design is remarkably efficient. Its no bigger than many phones sporting 3.7" screens, but the screen on the Atrix, which I placed a Nexus S side by side, is actually bigger. The Atrix screen is actually slightly bigger than the 4" the paper specs say. It achieves this size even with an incredible 1900mah battery. I also like the screen which is quite sharp.

Regardless, the HTC Incredible S is worthy of its name. It still is a very good phone. Compared to the Atrix specs though, it feels a bit aged. You get a single core 1GHz processor and a smaller battery. You would want the Incredible if you are an HTC fan and loves the brand, if you like the way physical styling of HTC phones and you like HTC Sense, which for me looks better to the UI makeup on the Atrix. When doing light tasks both phones feel fast, the dual core advantage of the Atrix won't show much until you are opening complex web pages, doing app installs and uninstalls, doing high resolution video record and plays, and in 3D games and visually rich live wallpapers.

IMO, the Atrix appeals more to my logic, but the Incredible S to my emotions. Hardware wise the Atrix is the better of the two but the Incredible S remains a quality piece. The Virgin plans also seem more attractive as you say. Its a touch choice made tougher because in my opinion you won't fail on either.

Addendum: do consider the quality of the connections between each carrier on your area. The power of the Atrix makes it a multimedia monster that may increase your thirst for data. But then again, you have the wifi option. That 1GB data on the Virgin plan seems more attractive since I believe, based on studies, the average Android user appears to be consuming 500mb to 700mb a month. But then again, you can offload data consumption through wifi. And of course, everything is moot without a good connection.
 
Thanks for the long review Drillbit

I'll be in university in the fall so there shouldn't be a problem finding wifi hotspots. I didn't add that both phones come free with a 3 year contract. Not my first choice, but the cheapest way to get those expensive phones.

I'll have to think more about it
 
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