My contract with ATT is up at the end of October. I could’ve renewed a long while ago, but I haven’t been too happy with my iPhone service lately. 3G coverage has been spotty at best and I hate those pesky dropped calls I keep getting.

Nothing gets me going more when my friends on Verizon can make calls standing in the same spot, when I have no bars. Maybe a few other things, but not a whole lot.

Rumored iPhone on Verizon by January aside, I’ve started to take a real look at Android devices on Verizon and other carriers. Although, I have to say that personally, I really like Verizon’s signal quality, even though they’re pricier than I want.

So what to do? Do I stay with ATT and my iPhone or do I jump into Android and, what I believe, is a better network?

Curious, I cross into the land of Verizon to check out just what Android has to offer.

Surprisingly, I found a ton more choices. I mean, I expected a few different handsets, but not in these different flavors. I’ve come to the conclusion that for sheer variety, you can’t beat an Android handset. Big screens, small screens, cheap models, 4G (over at Sprint), 8 megapixel cameras, fast processors, keypads…the list goes on.

With iPhone, it’s been one size fits all. Consider though, that iPhone’s one size (storage capacity aside) pretty much fits just about everyone’s needs, in my world anyways. It always has and always be about the Apps on iPhone.

Forget about doing just about everything with an iPhone App. It’s those apps that make for a different experience for each user. What are you going to buy? What do you want to do? Count how many times you pass gas? Go for it.

While Apple’s got somewhere along the lines of 10x more Apps than Android Market, the popular ones are pretty much available on both platforms.

Running apps and overall performance between the two platforms, there really is very little difference. Although, control within an app (games!), I have to say iPhone beats out Android.

With Android apps, too many of them just feel like (because they are) ported over from iPhone. The controls just don’t fit right sometimes and feels like playing a sloppy PS2-to-Wii shovelware port with waggle controls slapped on for the heck of it.

For some things, you can’t beat iPhone. Like music? You can’t beat iTunes and iPhone together. There is nothing better.

If variety’s the thing, then iPhone’s got that over Android right now.

Then there’s the network. Do I really wanna pay for a service that I’m pretty unhappy with? Verizon, in my experience, has a much better network overall. Forget about call quality and all that stuff. Too many times, I’ve been on my iPhone browsing in non-3G mode while everyone else on Verizon are doing so with 3G speeds.

I give ATT props. When my 3G is going, it’s going much faster than my Verizon counterparts. Web loads faster and all that stuff. But, getting coverage and sometimes even with coverage, 3G on ATT can be slower.

Granted, nothing here is scientific, so I’ve got no hard and fast numbers to throw around. Our testing is trying to a load a web page or two (same pages), standing in the same spot over various locations around The Bay Area.

Whenever a bunch of us are out and about, we’ll do this little thing. Verizon Android sets are consistently in 3G mode while us iPhone lovers are not so much.

Back to the original question: What to do with an ATT contract up in October? Do I re-up or jump?

Right now, the prospect of iPhone on Verizon is really enticing. I don’t wanna give up what I have. While Android is interesting, my iPhone OS is just sexy. I guess I’ll wait to see how the rumor pans out and make my choice based on facts.

I’m sick of ATT’s network quality, but I love my iPhone enough to deal. If Verizon gets an iPhone in January like rumors say, then I’ll jump for it. If not, then I can wait at least until then to see where things are. If ATT’s quality improves, then I’ll stay with. Otherwise, Hellooooo Android!

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