Android phone, max 15K, good OOB experience

raksrules

Elite
My brother's ZTE Blade is on the verge of dying. He needs a new android phone and max budget is 15K. Be informed that he has no technical knowledge whatsoever about installing custom ROMs so he needs a good OOB experience. Please suggest what he can buy and from where ?

I guess buying from ebay USA (directly) wont be a good option as whatever he gets will involve installing custom ROM etc. But if there is a good phone in USA ebay or any other site in USA then i can always buy it and send him (friends, SNS etc), so that option is always open.

Btw i read reviews on samsung focus (i know it is Windows phone 7 OS) but how steep is the learning curve in this phone ? If it is not much then i may buy this then. But consider this last option.

Please suggest. I am confused :)

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I think i can get Vibrant / Captivate for less here in ebay USA. Can anyone tell me what is the max price i should pay for a vibrant / captivate and what is the difference between these phones ?

Also how easy it is to unlock them ? Do i need to pay or i can get it done for free ?

You may suggest any more options you may have.
 
pranavreddy said:
Already? :huh:

Why bothered about the learning curve? It'll be a different experience from Android. :) I m sure your brother will like it.

Yes because he put his giant foot on that little one and the screen's display has gone kaput. :p

He is using an old spare phone now.

Btw that phone was bought in start of this year.
 
Windows Phone 7 would actually be a great choice. The learning curve is very flat and is great for people who don't want to tinker at all. Everything is OOB.

I'd say get the Samsung Focus.
 
manu1991 said:
Windows Phone 7 would actually be a great choice. The learning curve is very flat and is great for people who don't want to tinker at all. Everything is OOB.

I'd say get the Samsung Focus.

But that tile UI really turns me off and i guess it will be for him too. I know what he will like so keeping this as last and final choice. First priority is android only.
 
manu1991 said:
Windows Phone 7 would actually be a great choice.

Amen to THAT! A colleague just returned from Thailand with a HTC HD7 and I am completely in love with that phone. The interface and GUI is as good as the iPhones and so is the touch response. The downside is using Zune utility to copy the content to the phone a la iTunes. Anyhow, I've made up my mind regarding the next phone.

The HD7 is expensive however and wouldn't fall under the 15k budget. But WP7 is definitely worth considering if you mentioned OOTB experience.
 
Vibrant is an amazing phone. 4 inch screen with super amoled screen and excellent oob experience. It is also superior in hardware and best among any single core phones in the market. So it is an excellent android phone and also a step up from what he is using now.

Also you can get android galaxy s phones like vibrant/captivate here in TE for 15 or sub 15k. So he can avoid custom and shipping risks.

Here is the video of Samsung focus vs Samsung captivate (similar to vibrant except different design/carrier) Have a look:
Samsung Focus Vs Samsung Captivate "Face Off" Part 1 - YouTube
Samsung Focus Vs Samsung Captivate "Face Off" Part 2 - YouTube
Samsung Focus Vs Samsung Captivate "Face Off" Part 3 - YouTube

Samsung focus in-depth review:
Samsung Focus Review - YouTube
Samsung focus software review:
AT&T Samsung Focus Windows Phone 7 software review and tour - Super AMOLED and WP7 - YouTube
 
Samsung Vibrant / Captivate does have unofficial update (custom ROM) to 2.2 and 2.3 too right ?? Correct me if i am wrong.

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I cannot take chances with focus. It has to be android only so only good options are captivate / vibrant. Now what is the difference between these two ? Also what about availablity of custom ROMs ? I plan to buy the phone, load ROM and send to my brother through some friend who may go to India. Also is 225$ (before shipping/duty etc, assume i have to use SNS in worst case) a good price to pay for the vibrant / captivate ?

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Also need to know that if i get a good deal on LOCKED AT&T / Tmobile then how easy it is to unlock it ? Free or i have to pay for unlock.
 
raksrules said:
Samsung Vibrant / Captivate does have unofficial update (custom ROM) to 2.2 and 2.3 too right ?? Correct me if i am wrong.

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

I cannot take chances with focus. It has to be android only so only good options are captivate / vibrant. Now what is the difference between these two ? Also what about availablity of custom ROMs ? I plan to buy the phone, load ROM and send to my brother through some friend who may go to India. Also is 225$ (before shipping/duty etc, assume i have to use SNS in worst case) a good price to pay for the vibrant / captivate ?

Captivate and vibrant have lots of custom gingerbread roms to choose from. Even captivate is supposed to receive official gingerbread rom from ATT soon. They have better community support.

Vibrant and captivate are variant of galaxy s phones. Vibrant is available for T-Mobile while captivate is for ATT. They have similar hardware and software with Samsung touchwiz. They have same 4 inch super amoled screen. Vibrant has soft curve edges and looks like iPhone while captivate has boxy design with sharp edges. Only thing they miss from international galaxy s version is the physical home button and front facing camera.

It is common for US carriers to release their own variants of galaxy phone. For galaxy s, Verizon has fascinate, sprint has epic 4g, T-Mobile has vibrant and ATT has captivate. Similarly for galaxy S2, Sprint has Epic 4g, ATT has attain and T-Mobile has their own version. But they all have same specs but different design than original galaxy model.
 
Front camera is not really a need as of now so i think i may be good with a vibrant / captivate and yes personally i like vibrant for its smooth edges more. Btw what is the good price to pay for the vibrant ?
Forget mint condition as it is almost not available anymore on ebay.com

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

Does the vibrant / captivate have a FM Radio ? I guess not right ?
Is it like enabled in custom ROMs ?
 
raksrules said:
Front camera is not really a need as of now so i think i may be good with a vibrant / captivate and yes personally i like vibrant for its smooth edges more. Btw what is the good price to pay for the vibrant ?

Forget mint condition as it is almost not available anymore on ebay.com

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

Does the vibrant / captivate have a FM Radio ? I guess not right ?

Is it like enabled in custom ROMs ?

The normal price for vibrant or captivate is around 185-250 dollars. That is how much they are worth now. These phones are sometimes only slightly used or in mint condition. The best place is to try craigslist in Plano. I usually shop for phones through Craigslist in Denver. Because they are cheaper, you can inspect in person and also negotiate. So look only to pay between 180-250 dollars depending on the condition.

Unfortunately captivate does not have FM radio and cannot be turned on with custom rom. Even the same applies with Vibrant.
 
Yes i think craig list method is good. Btw i have found a shop here selling it for 199$. But it is far from my place and i don't have a car so cannot go myself.

Sent from my ZTE-BLADE using Tapatalk
 
Gannu said:
Amen to THAT! A colleague just returned from Thailand with a HTC HD7 and I am completely in love with that phone. The interface and GUI is as good as the iPhones and so is the touch response. The downside is using Zune utility to copy the content to the phone a la iTunes. Anyhow, I've made up my mind regarding the next phone.

The HD7 is expensive however and wouldn't fall under the 15k budget. But WP7 is definitely worth considering if you mentioned OOTB experience.

But sire, I got mine for 15.5k and there are other people here who got it for 13-14k too. You have to be lucky and looking at the right place at the right time.
 
Sei said:
But sire, I got mine for 15.5k and there are other people here who got it for 13-14k too. You have to be lucky and looking at the right place at the right time.

The HTC HD7 locally? Then it is certainly a fantastic deal I'd say. I am unaware of the current market pricing of the WP7 phones. I was told by my friend that the HD7 costs about 20~22k here!

PS: Drop the sire part. :p
 
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