[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] neccoguy21:
Here's my take on the situation. I'm a gadget lover, definitely the biggest geek I know by far, and don't consider myself too biased. I'm typing this on my iPad (rockin the first gen and still love it) while i have my GNex (which I also love with a scary passion) right beside me. And it could have just as easily been the other way around, I don't mind writing long winded messages with the GNex. So with that, take my opinion as you will.

The Galaxy Nexus has had a rocky start, there's no denying that. If you are going to rely on Verizon and Google alone for support with this phone, you better have your fingers crossed really tight for a handset with no issues. That's very unlikely seeing as how the vast majority of the problems lie within Verizon's not-so-good build of ICS. There's also a large number of handsets with hardware screen issues (see Galaxy Nexus Screen - What's Normal, What's Not. http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1394358) I do currently have banding and color problems at low brightness myself that I'm none too happy about, and will probably be exchanging phones soon because of it (for another GNex of course). So that also needs to be taken into consideration (I guess I'm writing a buyers guide now?). Samsung dropped the ball on that one. Now, there are 2 sides to the overall argument on all this, and I happen to agree with both of them.

On the one hand, yes, Verizon and Google should do their part in keeping up with the Nexus brand and make sure that the LTE handset works just as good as its global GSM twin. This has not happened. For the most part, this is Verizon's problem because the coding that needs to be in place for their 4G LTE radios is all handled secretly by Verizon themselves. Google is in control 100% when it comes to the GSM Galaxy Nexus updates, but they only hand over a partial build to Verizon, who then fill in the phone-y bits themselves. The fact that only one official update has rolled out so far is unacceptable. The average user who was sold on the latest and greatest is still stuck behind a wall of bugs nearly 6 months later. Tarnish doesn't begin to describe what this act of laziness does to the Nexus Name (Although the Galaxy name is kinda used to it).

On the other hand, the percentage of ICS users in the Android pool is about 5%. It's really hard to justify putting most of your tech teams to work on an update for a device that makes up only a fraction of that 5%. Instead Verizon and Google are mostly hard at work making sure the other 95% of their customers are continuing to get at least satisfactory service, while also trying to get those devices with the green light for an ICS upgrade that are already in millions of pockets geared up and ready to receive those updates before its too late and becomes a lost cause. Another point to this argument is that Big Red and the Googs know all about rooting and the vast underground community supporting it. They're not stupid. Google has sold this and all Nexus phones as a developer phone. They knew that our devs in the underground community could fix more bugs with this unlocked device and AOSP builds (read Android A to Z: What is the AOSP? http://m.androidcentral.com/android-z-what-aosp) then they could ever hope to push out together through official OTA updates. It's the locked down (and basically un rootable, and therefore un fix-it-yourself-by-simply-flashing-a-new-rom-able) handsets from the last generations that really need the attention from Verizon, since they really are the only ones who can fix it.

So if you're someone who loves to tinker around with devices and you turn a blind eye to warnings about voiding those seemingly useless warranties, then the Galaxy Nexus is deffinately a great bet, seeing as how the development community for this thing is bigger than any other Android device yet (at least I'm pretty sure of that one, damn near close and very surprising if not) and isn't likely to go anywhere soon.

But if you're someone who just wants their phone to work and not have to hassle with fixing it yourself (which is absolutely understandable, and in a perfect world we shouldn't have to), then you might want to seek other options as of this writing (Verizon could very well roll out a 4.0.5 update tomorrow fixing everything, making all of what I just said pointless, but I doubt it).

You stand on the side of "I'll Figure This Thing Out And Even Make It Better": You'll most likely love the Galaxy Nexus.

You stand on the side of "Making Sure Your Phone Works Right Is Your Problem, Verizon. Not Mine": You'll most likely be left with a bad taste in your mouth from the beloved/despised GNex.

Be sure to check out my write up on my solution for all your Screen Protection worries on any device! http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1645709