Need advise on new at&t smartphone

[Tip3r]

Hi

I'm looking to get a new at&t phone to go with a two year contract. I know at&t may not give the best selection of phones but all my friends and family use at&t and I wont be charged when I'm talking to them if I also go with at&t.

I would prefer to get an android phone but it seems like at&t doesn't have a good selection. I like Sony Ericsson, so I've been looking at the XPERIA X10. The OS is suppose to be upgraded to v2.1 in the near future. Will that be OK? or will I feel its out of date becasue v2.2 is out there?

HTC Aria seemed like the right choice for me. I could get it for free from wirefly or letstalk. However, I read that you cannot sideload applications into it. Is that still the case? Is it a big deal? What about XPERIA X10? Can you sideload apps into it?

Another option is the Samsung Captivate. Quite honestly I hate Samsung. I've had some bad experience with them. However, It seems like Captivate is a powerful smartphone. I read that its UI is not very nice and it may have some software issues. Can anyone say how this compares to other phones?

Blackberry Torch 9800 is my next option. From what I can tell Black Berries have fallen behind in the competition. I haven't read many good reviews. But then again, reviews are always biased.

Finally, I could also go with an iPhone 3Gs. I can't afford a iPhone 4. I've used the 3Gs before and I've liked it. What I don't like is that it looks old and I see everyone carrying iPhones around. It would also be slightly more expensive than my other options.

I'm not really heavy on using apps. I prefer to find free applications than to pay for them. I don't care much about the camera.

Thanks in advance for your input

[RickAgresta]

welcome to Brighthand, Tip3r

I'm not sure about the Aria & sideloading; this Google search turned up a lot of hits. It appears there are work-arounds.

It got a nice review at Brighthand.....

[Tip3r]

Thank you Rick!

Actually now that I'm reading a little more it seems that sideloading isn't possible on any at&t android phones. It seems there are softwares you can use to load the applications from windows. That's nice

So now I have it down to htc aria and XPERIA X10.
I just read that Android v2.1 will be available for X10 some time in Q3 2010. So that should be pretty soon.

Any suggestions on choosing between X10 and Aria?

[booboo12]

I wouldn't recommend the Xperia X10 at all. While SE does make great handsets, they've always been glacially slow with updates. (this phone has been released for months now in other markets) Also, you'll be feeling the burn of several missing features due to having Android 1.6 like Google Navigation, Multitouch, and access to newer apps in the Android Market.

Also, an important thing to consider is the "community" behind each handset. While I have little doubt that SE has a massive userbase, HTC devices tend to have greater followings and as such, better support down the road in the form of new unofficial OS updates, tweaks/tips and tricks, etc.

Aria's a bit smaller than the X10 so if you like very pocketable phones then it'll work quite well. It's also, ironically, faster and performs much more smoothly than the x10 using a slower processor.

If you'll only consider these two phones (a bit curious why captivate got dropped from your shortlist...) I'd only recommend the Aria. Having a larger screen is no consolation for having a poorer user experience IMO.

You should really go to a AT&T store and try both out.

[Tip3r]

Thank you for your response.
I was starting to lean toward Aria.
As I said I've had a bad experience with Samsung phones and I just don't really like the brand anymore. Generally I don't like Samsung UI either. I haven't used Captivate however. I should probably go to an at&t store and try them out.
The at&t store will be selling me each of these phones for what? $100-150?
I'm moving to a new state and I want to get a cellphone as soon as possible. However, I noticed that I will have to enter a home phone number if I want to get it from wirefly. Is there any way around this?

[official]

I have an captivate phone and i am trying to access my computer remotely. My os is Win/7 can anyone help?

[r0k]

I have an captivate phone and i am trying to access my computer remotely. My os is Win/7 can anyone help?

Welcome to Brighthand, official. What you have done is ask an unrelated question in somebody else's thread. Hopefully a Moderator will come along and move your post to its own thread in the appropriate forum so you will get an answer. I'm sure they will post a link here so you can find it when you return.

[r0k]

Thank you for your response.
I was starting to lean toward Aria.
As I said I've had a bad experience with Samsung phones and I just don't really like the brand anymore. Generally I don't like Samsung UI either. I haven't used Captivate however. I should probably go to an at&t store and try them out.
The at&t store will be selling me each of these phones for what? $100-150?
I'm moving to a new state and I want to get a cellphone as soon as possible. However, I noticed that I will have to enter a home phone number if I want to get it from wirefly. Is there any way around this?

I'm not a fan of Samsung phones either. The BB Torch promises to be a nice device and I believe it will get the new webkit BB browser once it comes out. If I had to choose between Android, iOS and BB OS, I wouldn't give BB OS a second look right now. You mentioned iPhone 3GS but that you are concerned about how it looks? Really? I just picked up an iPhone 4 after years of using a Blackberry and I considered the 3GS to save money. Ultimately I decided facetime and multitasking were worth the extra and I got the free Apple case to take care of the "death grip" issue. If you like the variety offered by the app store and don't mind Apple's restrictions on apps, I would keep 3GS on your list.