Recommendations sought

[dr_whom]

So, apparently for Chanukah my parents decided that they want to get me a smartphone. Any recommendations for what kind I should ask them to get me? (Also, what provider do people recommend?)

Comments

[dumble.livejournal.com]

I like the iPhone because it syncs with my computer easily, but there's lots of good phones out there. I recommend going to a phone store and playing with them, or just ask to play with people's at e.g. the winter party to see what you like. I'm happy with Verizon, and consensus seems to be that it's way better than AT&T. I don't know about others.

[lowellboyslash.livejournal.com]

My mother suggests the iPhone because she found it more "seamless" than her Droid and because it synced with her other Mac products better. She also points out that there are more apps for the iPhone.

She and I have both found that the tech support for the iPhone is much better; I once walked into the Apple store with a phone that wasn't working (but was under warranty) and walked out with a new phone for free.

I also vote for the iPhone because it's much more intuitive to me than the Droid was. I freely admit, however, that Apple products are expensive and that they are probably taking over the world.

[khyros.livejournal.com]

I'm a die hard android fan -- would recommend Sprint where you can get unlimited Data and there are various programs you can get for tethering without paying for tethering as a feature from a provider and I don't think there's any way to do that on an iphone without Jailbreaking it.

[anasai.livejournal.com]

I tried really hard to answer this yesterday but LJ really didn't want to let me post. Glad they seem to be up today.
If you don't have any moral problems with really monopolistic business practices, have bought into the Apple lifestyle, and aren't a cheapskate, you want an iPhone. I'm guessing that means you want an iPhone.
If any of those things are dealbreakers (they more or less all are for me), you probably want an Android phone.
I personally use a Galaxy Nexus (I like the Nexus 4 a little better, but it's impossible to get right now - in general if you want an Android phone that's reasonably priced unlocked and guaranteed to keep up to date OS versions without crapware, you are forced into the Nexus line. If you are going to end up traveling overseas a lot, the unlocked GSM phones are *great* for that as well.) on Simple Mobile (a T-Mobile reseller with a solid $50 unlimited everything plan). From a cheapskate perspective, Simple and Ting (a Sprint reseller) are probably the best, though Virgin and T-Mobile are fairly cheap as well. If you want good coverage and fast internet, you probably want Verizon (or maybe AT&T, or maybe Sprint/Ting, depending where you are).