Phone question....is the difference worth the hassle?

[Jester]

Okay, so I have an LG Rumor. A good enough phone, with really everything *I* need, and for the most part, I have had no problems with it. But for those of you not familiar with the LG, it is not one of those newer touch screen phones that so many people seem to have lately. I myself had no plans on buying one of those said touch screen phones since, as I said, I've been happy with my LG Rumor.

As I said, I had no plans on buying one of those fancier phones. However, a coworker of mine is getting a brand new phone through a friend who has connections (legal connections, thank you), and it is even fancier than his Palm Pre, which IS one of those fancier phones....and which he offered to me.

For free.

So my question to those familiar with both the Pre and the Rumor is this: should I take the Pre? I talked to Sprint customer service just now, and my current plan would not change in any way with the new fancier phone, as I already have unlimited everything. I would have more internet capabilities than I have now, a better camera, a perhaps smaller keyboard....but of course, I would have to go through some hassle to deal with my photos saved to the memory card in my Rumor, as there is no memory card in a Pre. And all my downloads (not that I have a lot) like ringtones and screensaves would probably not be transferable, though my contacts presumably would at the local Sprint store.

So.....advice? Should I take the new phone and deal with the slight headache of transferring everything, and the slight expense of repurchasing my ringtones and screensavers? Or should I stand pat with my trusty Rumor?

[HYHYBT]

I'd take the phone, but wait a bit before transferring more than you absolutely have to. It's free, so if you don't like it you can always go back to using the old one.

Nice problem to have!

[Jester]

I have regular phone conversations that last over 20 minutes. And the keyboard on the Rumor is small enough where my fat ole thumbs make regular typos. You are not inspiring confidence in this for me.

But I suppose I could always take the Pre, switch over, check it out....and if I don't like it, switch back to the Rumor.

It's a thought.

[Broomjockey]

The Pre is supposed to have a different OS than the Centro, so I wouldn't worry about freezing issues. I'd say, before you even take it in to get activated, charge it, and play around on the keyboard for practice, poke around its options. If you can use the keyboard fine, then go for it.

[Jester]

I am going to take the Pre, but my coworker yesterday informed me that "suddenly," the speaker for the earpiece has started going in and out. He told me "it works just fine on speakerphone." And that's all well and good, but I like talking on the phone in the regular manner, without having my conversation be made public, thank you very much.

So I am going to take possession of the Pre, but I am rather pessimistic that anything will come of it. No functional earpiece = no functional phone part of the phone = not worth the hassle to me.

We'll see.

Hmmmm.....I just realized a problem. How in the flying hell do I see how the earpiece is working if I don't activate the phone and actually use it as a phone? Any suggestions?

[Broomjockey]

If a phone isn't activated, and you attempt to dial it, you should get a recorded message telling you that it's unable to connect, yadda yadda. That message should let you check the earpiece.

[gremcint]

Just cycle through the ringtones in the selection menu, most phones will play the ringtone whenever you select a new one.

[Jester]

Good point, Broom! I hadn't thought of that!

[Broomjockey]

Just cycle through the ringtones in the selection menu, most phones will play the ringtone whenever you select a new one.

Ringtones tend to play through the speakerphone on smartphones, in my experience.

[draggar]

Pass.

I know people in the department that support the devices - it's scare. More than a few hardware issues, let alone consistent bugs. People I know in retail stores are also seeing a lot of returns on them (defects).

I'm willing to bet a lot of them are user-related (installing tons of applications etc.) but there are still hardware issues.

Stick with the Rumor or go for the Rumor II - not as hyped but they get the job done.

I've sent a friend of mine in support the link to this thread and I'll see if he wants to pipe in.

As for the phone not being active - any phone should be able to call 911 and customer service (just dial *2). I wouldn't recommend 911 for a test call but *2 may not be a bad one to at least test it.

[Jester]

Stick with the Rumor or go for the Rumor II...

Wasn't looking for an upgrade, but I thought I'd look into it when a FREE phone presented itself as a possibility. So I am either going to stick with my Rumor or take the Pre, but at the moment, am certainly not going to pay for a new phone when I don't need one.

[Kullervo]

A guy I used to work with had the same addiction to the latest and greatest phones.
I have no idea how he could afford the constant phone purchases. I witnessed him change out phones because a new color was released.
He knew a guy at a sprint store who would hook him up before official release dates but he would still have to pay full price for them.

A guy I currently work with has a facination with imported phones.
If its available in the U.S. its garbage. Must come from Europe.

[AdminAssistant]

Wow, Kullervo.

I've had the same phone for 3 years. I'd kinda like a new one, but it's not a priority in the same way a netbook is!

[Broomjockey]

I've had the same phone for 3 years.

I've had mine for not quite 2.5, and it's starting to wear out. I'm really looking forward to contract renewal time so I can get a new phone for cheap, because yeah, while a new phone'd be awesome, other things are more so.

[criddle]

Co-worker had the Pre, got it the first week it was out. Apparently the earpiece thing is common, he took his for repairs and they just gave him a new one.