Love this phone!

[bayou]

Originally Posted by ArrowSmith

How is the speed of things like:

* loading the browser
* browsing Google Maps
* watching videos

AT&T is not the best carrier I've heard.

Speed is relative, and loading the browser is fast. Slightly faster than my old iPhone. I don't use Google Maps (car has great GPS) and I don't watch videos on my phone because for me the screen is too small.

I just opened YouTube and started some random video and it's too small and not clear, too grainy. I'm not sure if that's what you meant or watching movies. Either way, I won't be using the video feature.

I live in the Bay Area and AT&T's service is spotty, it gets worse in downtown SF. I get a huge discount on service through my company, so I didn't want to switch. I can't get reception on T-Mobile in my own home. In my area Verizon is the best carrier hands down, but their plans are higher.

IMO cell phone capability is fairly even right now and when the 4g system rolls out or some new phone changes the game, I don't want to be stuck in a contract. That's me though. My iPhone was the first contract I'd had in years, I prefer unlocked phones.

[ArrowSmith]

Originally Posted by bayou

Speed is relative, and loading the browser is fast. Slightly faster than my old iPhone. I don't use Google Maps (car has great GPS) and I don't watch videos on my phone because for me the screen is too small.

I just opened YouTube and started some random video and it's too small and not clear, too grainy. I'm not sure if that's what you meant or watching movies. Either way, I won't be using the video feature.

I live in the Bay Area and AT&T's service is spotty, it gets worse in downtown SF. I get a huge discount on service through my company, so I didn't want to switch. I can't get reception on T-Mobile in my own home. In my area Verizon is the best carrier hands down, but their plans are higher.

IMO cell phone capability is fairly even right now and when the 4g system rolls out or some new phone changes the game, I don't want to be stuck in a contract. That's me though. My iPhone was the first contract I'd had in years, I prefer unlocked phones.

That's interesting. I always wondered what streaming video is like on 3G networks, and obviously it's not going to be very good. And you make a good point about watching video on such a small screen is pretty tough anyways except for kids these days. The one downside of course to getting a N-1 now is that the 4G phone comes out in a year and you'd have to pony up $500 for that or stay on 3G for a while. I'm gonna stick with my 5-year old flip-phone until I can get the best of both worlds(android/Google/4G).

[ShakataGaNai]

Originally Posted by ArrowSmith

How is the speed of things like:

* loading the browser
* browsing Google Maps
* watching videos

AT&T is not the best carrier I've heard.

I'm in the East Bay (The real east, not that middle east like Berkley).

Anyways, the little ba***rd phone is fast, and so is AT&T. Your service may vary based on where you are, how busy the time of day is, etc... But I _JUST_ (Sunday Afternoon, about 5pm) rand a test with speedtest.net app and got 1,663kbps down by 1,288kbps up (yes, this is over 3G, not Wifi). This is about on par with my normal tests. This is actually the worst download speed I've gotten yet, my first two tests were in excess of 2,500kbps down.

As for map, if you want to see it in action: Check out this video review I made. I linked directly to the map time section, note the unit is on wifi at the time - so it doesn't demo download speed - just unit speed.

[NexusDro]

When watching youtube videos on 3G, you have to go to settings and select "Play in HD" and you'll get good quality videos.