[General Questions and Answers] StupidPhonesNowMoreDumb:
Looking for mid-range unlocked, rooted not a new full time hobby

Sorry if I have again files this incorrectly, hopefully not.

As a former BES Admin, I was in no rush to get to the Android side. Eventually, I had to make the switch some years back to an Atrix 4G. Physically the phone felt like the cheaply constructed piece of garbage that it is and I had to replace it at least once along the way via Asurion.

Aside from the advertised FM Radio that the unit didn't actually contain, it was a pleasure to own. I spent time with a dozen different ROMs. There was even an Ubuntu for it!

I replaced that with an LG phone. It was physically sturdy, but much harder to mod and sans the replaceable battery. I don't consider battery replacement a feature, as much as I consider built-in batteries to be a crime against the environment and children. It was recently stolen.

I replaced it with a Samsung Note SGH-i717. It reeks of cheap plastic like Samsung's do. Rooting was easy, and a nice buffet of ROMs to choose from, just like when I rooted my friend's Galaxy... It's my first phone that can accommodate a 64Gb microSD!

With 10Gb free on internal storage and a freshly-formatted 64 Gb microSD I was surprised to see this thing whining and demanding uncompensated attention around an issue of space.

Figuring out how to repartition took forever. Immediately after I did (using sdparted) the phone will not turn on or charge. A brick headed back to where I bought it from.

I was surprised that no matter how awesome the ROM, most of the internal storage was set aside to do nothing. Luckily I snagged a VSA v.45 for $50 along with the new Samsung and microSD. My job mandates I carry a phone, and I don't want to stress. This one actually has an FM radio too!

It is doing the same thing where it seems like someone with a severe disability established the (not-at-all-easy-to-modify) partition scheme. I'm aware of options which generously "allow" me to move app data to the microSD card. But I'm not suffering from a brain injury, and so I don't want any app to ever stop working just because I need to swap in some more removable storage. At least I don't want to think about it until I filled the internal memory legitimately - an impossibility which will likely never occur.

I like to use my microSD for data, and phone space for OS and apps. I could author a book on why, likely I'm preaching to the choir.

As a long-time IT guy and American, I will not carry around a device I cannot root. I wish I could add 3 days to every week so I could donate them to hacking Android's stupidity (not).

Under $400 unlocked, no contract, is there a phone that is not tied to a horrifically unusable partitioning scheme? If it wasn't made out of plastic and falling apart by week 2, that'd be a nice bonus. I realize in asking the the hardware and software both not be trash I'm being "picky."

I love the Cisco 7960 on my home desk. If it wasn't for my being on-call for work, I'd just as soon leave it at that.

I need something modern and peppy as I work in IT.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for this forum and all the hard work you do! I would have never made it this far without you!