New Defy or New XT720?

[Mobile01]

I have found that I like MotoBLUR. Really. However, my Dext is no longer supported, so the last version of MotoBLUR which was the 2.1.5 firmware, will never be further developed. So I am thinking about picking up a new MotoBLUR platform and using the Dext for CyanogenMod. I am not in a hurry, so this might not happen till September - ish.

Anyway, the 2 devices I am considering are the Defy and the XT720. Both are near the end of their support lifespan. They Defy will shortly be replaced by a new "Defy+" (or something like that) with a better CPU.

Any opinions?

[DJGHOSTS3V3N]

Well, if you have money go buy a Atrix, if you want something good, buy the Defy. If you want something powerful buy a Cliq2, if you want a speed beast buy a MileStoneX or a Droid Incredible or a Droid X.

[Pzyduck]

Defy Has a lot of modding and GingerBread with blur

[Mobile01]

Hmm. Looks like I'll probably end up with a "Defy".

There really is not much choice in Toronto right now:

Bell Canada Mobility
Atrix $599.95

Mobilicity
Spice $169.99, Android 2.1, QVGA screen, might not have Blur, might be unlocked?

TelusMobility
Defy $379.99 [+ $50 to "officially" unlock]

[Charm $179.99 @ FactoryDirect, Telus, limited quantity]

WindMobile
XT720 $400, Android 2.1, 8MP camera, possibly unlocked?

[Saurus]

Used Defy unlocked running about USD 300, on ebay (US). I like the ruggedized/water resistance feature of that one.

[Mobile01]

The Quench is pretty much gone from Canada as far as I know. The last one I saw in a store was over a month ago.

I have been looking at the Motorola XT531 (aka Spice XT, aka Fire XT, etc.). It looks like this is intended to take the place of the XT 3, XT 5 style phones. It looks like the LG Phoenix. In Canada, it might be a new Quench phone.

[neo.ank]

Defy is good an option for the price..

[Mobile01]

So it is over half a year since I started this thread. But I have been very busy. I bought a few phones over the last year, but hung onto my Dext and used it for the BLUR News widget up until early this year. Then it stopped working. I checked it for days after it stopped working and there was no change. I decided that it might not be worth complaining about since I was running T-Mobile firmware in my Bell Mobility Dext, and did not feel like arguing about whether this disqualified support for me. I also stopped using it on Bell Mobility completely because I had to wipe the Baseband and ended up only able to use it on Rogers Mobility -- not worth arguing if they were going to make an issue of it.

The "landscape" changed over the half-year. I tried to buy a refurbished Milestone from Telus but they would not take my money -- literally. They refused my Visa debit card. Completely ridiculous since there was more than enough money in the account.

So I went back to Bell Mobility and bought: a Motorola XT-860 (aka "Milestone 3").

Irony? Of course there is irony. It's me, right? There has to be irony:

1. While setting up my XT860 I decided to turn on the Dext to see what I had been using, and, yup. The News widget system on the Dext is working again, so I did not have to buy the XT860 -- yet.

2. I have not been able to replicate my settings yet. I seem to be getting closer, but the Dext with Android 2.1 and that version of MotoBLUR actually does a slightly better job than the new XT860.

3. Not only does the old News widget work better, but they increased the spacing of the screen icon grid. Despite the larger physical screen and much greater pixel density, I am now getting slightly LESS on the screen.

4. Two programs on the Dext stopped working after upgrades. I have no idea why. I have removed one and the other was the "Netqin" Anti-Virus software, which I will get rid of too, as soon as I decided what to replace it with.

I am keeping both, for now. On the Dext, I was going to replace Motorola Android with CyanogenMod as soon as I got the XT860 set up. Now I am not so sure about dumping the Motorola software quite yet.