Android phones

[leafer]

I've figured it out. Pressing the hell out of it did nothing because you have to "drag" the button to one side. :doh:

 

Cali,

 

With the budget I had to work with I feel these two would put up a good fight if pitched against the other brands of the same price range. Also, being a cheap smartphone, the Fit, has some serious cons such as the underpowered CPU, 600mhz, and low 240x320 res display, no flash, and low fps video recording. My wife and I old phones are about 6-7 years old so this feels like Pentium 2 vs i7. :D

Edited August 10, 2011 by leafer

[EtherealN]

I've figured it out. Pressing the hell out of it did nothing because you have to "drag" the button to one side. :doh:

 

Was about to say, but I had been dragged over to my dad's place to help him forward an e-mail with his iPad. >.<

 

Yeah, basically, "dragging" is a very big thing with this kind of unit. It can feel a bit weird at first if you're used to "button" phones, but you'll get into the habit soon and it'll come to feel very natural.

[EtherealN]

Cali, by "droid 2", do you mean the Motorola?

 

If so... well... it's Motorola. Used them once, never ever again. Crap crap crap. :D

[leafer]

You need to move back in with your dad. :D My co-worker bought an ipad1 and he's been having trouble downloading videos to it. he told me in order to save a vid he was asked to delete some files to make room. Does that make sense to you?

Edited August 10, 2011 by leafer

[Boberro]

I'm on it (Opera NoAdds and Ghostery extensions, cookies deletetion, irlfilter...) :sly: and I'd like to know what spying features are impossible to disable on Android phones. The articles on the internet I've seen so far are rather vague.

 

Well in my Firefox I also use many blockers, anticookies, antiflash cookies ect but every phone can be tracked easily.

 

@Ethereal - ok I am waiting for data to see ;)

So far I didn't change my plans, but I will have to buy also great condom on screen. There is great foil made in USA for about 30 USD, which is uber hard to scratch or crack.

I worry about camera lens, Samsung didn't cover it, there is no non-scratchable glass. Samsung made wrong decision not protecting it, IMHO.

[Cali]

Cali, by "droid 2", do you mean the Motorola?

 

If so... well... it's Motorola. Used them once, never ever again. Crap crap crap. :D

 

Yes, Motorola, I have no problems with my Droid X and all the reviews I saw about it where good. I like Motorola and have had them before, what I don't like is Nokia, but maybe they are better. Last time I had one of those was about 13 years ago.

[leafer]

EtherealN, did u upgrade your phone to gingerbread? I just read Samsung offers this upgrade for my Fit through download and wonder if I should. There's a detailed guide on how this is done but I fear it'll break my phone if I screwed up.

[Boberro]

I heard battery flap is really big shit. When I saw it I thought same... what ya think... can it "survive" more than few months?

[EtherealN]

Leafer, it had Ginger out-of-the-box. I have run a minor OS update once, which was straightforward: I told it to check for update in the settings menu, it did so, told me there was one, and I clicked OK to let it do it. Couple minutes later it was done all by itself.

 

Not sure if the Fit permits such OTA (Over The Air) updating though. Samsung were a bit late to the scene with OTA.

 

That said, Ginger worth it. It won't exactly revolutionise the phone, but it's still a good update and does help ensure increased app compatibility.

 

Boberro, I'm having some issues getting that track of mine out of the phone. I suspect I had it set up wrong. :(

 

If you mean the battery flap on the back of the Samsung Galaxy S2, yeah, it's a bit of a "huh?" Mine has survived just fine, the only thing I worry about is whenever one has to open it. But I've not seen any deterioration during use.

[Jinja]

Samsung Galaxy S2. I chose it over Apple because it's not Apple... :p

 

 

+1 to everything Ethereal says, I have an S2 for exactly the same reasons. I LOVE being able to just browse to my NAS, and drag/drop a 1080P MKV onto my phone, and it plays awesomely with the dual-core CPU and the amazing OLED screen.

 

Try doing that with an iPhone... oh yeah, you can't!

 

Hey Ethereal, what happened to your recent avatar pic of the tailgun of some bomber? I thought that was deadly cool, looked like a robot that had been sniffing paint-fumes, much better than a dime-a-dozen T800 pic! <ducks for cover>

[EtherealN]

Actually, it wasn't a tailgun. It's the nose of an Avro Shackleton.

 

Anyway, this happened: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=78137

 

:D

 

As for sweet uses of the Galaxy, my fav so far (though this IS possible with the iPhone, I think) is to remote onto my computer. I've got my screens such that I can see them from the bed, so I can lied down in bed, and control the computer from that. Perfect when chillaxing with some GSL VODs.

 

For US users (unsure how this affects other countries, and haven't checked for my own country), my fav iPhone "problem" is that to tether it you need a special carrier plan, which then unlocks the function on the phone itself. You can jailbreak to get that function, of course - it's already there, just blocked - but that voids your warranty... Same crap as trying to access USB storage on your iPad through the camera accessory and it's USB port - the function is right there! (But you have to jailbreak, voiding warranty, to be able to use the function... lol?)

 

People laugh at the whole "openess" argument for Android, but Apple really has been taking it to such extremes that it is actually becoming valid! (Back in like Android 2.0 and 2.1 it really wasn't, because back then Android itself wasn't good enough in basic functions to merit it. After 2.2 and especially 2.3 I really don't see a reason to use iOS. It is a shame though, because the Apple units really are extremely high quality, but they're being held back by policy.)

Edited August 13, 2011 by EtherealN

[Jinja]

that's a funny ass thread. But everytime I see that Shackleton avatar I smile, it's got one high anthropomorphic quotient!

 

Agree with everything you say. This is actually my 1st ever proper phone.... I've delayed in buying one for years, waiting for something I truly couldn't say no to... Even though I've got an iPad and iPod Touch, which are great in what they do, as soon as I saw the S2 I said to myself "Thank God I don't have to buy an iPhone now!" And in my office at work, 3 out of 5 of us have now all bought S2s.

 

In fairness I am not a power-user of my phone (I don't do social networks and I've got bigger toys so I don't game on it).... the only killer feature I use apart from the phone, video and integrated email client, is the Google Sat-Nav. The combined integration of Sat-Nav + Google Earth + Google Maps + Street view is awesome. My Garmin is due for Ebay some day soon...

[EtherealN]

Hey, my T-800 has a totally massive anthropomorphic quotient too! I don't get why people dislike them so much. :(

[leafer]

Will do, EtherealN. I hope I don't screw anything up and turn the phone in a pretty shiny brick. Btw, I had to Goog GSL VODs. lol I am getting old.

Edited August 13, 2011 by leafer

[Jinja]

don't get me wrong, the T800s badass! But the Shackleton was unique!

[Boberro]

Boberro, I'm having some issues getting that track of mine out of the phone. I suspect I had it set up wrong. :(

 

 

What format did you choose in application? If track has been recorded succesfully there shouldn't be any problems.

 

I have recently had pleasure to test phone in Amsterdam and I must say I couldn't believe it is so light. I had also doubts about its size - it is really large but fortunately I am also large and my hand greatly touched it everywhere without problems ;]

[S77th-konkussion]

Samsung Droid Charge here.. Kinda forced into it against my will- Verizon was about to fuxor everyone over with their new data plans- and deliberately holding back the phone I wanted- (Droid Bionic) until the new plans took effect.

 

Charge is pretty good- better than the T-bolt. That thing takes the term "bricking" to whole new level... damned heavy.

 

Apple can byte me. I have little use for them and their totalitarian nonsense. I paid for the music- and I should be able to play it on whatever I want. Many of the apps I bought on my i- touch are free on Android market. Whatever music I get from here on out- I do with as I please. The instant I find a hack for the locked itunes music- I'll load it all right back into the music folder and itunes heads for the recycle bin.

 

No flash? Really?

 

Asinine battery replacement fiasco..

 

I do get a big chuckle watching all the apple zombies flock to their chapels every few months to get ripped off on yet another gadget that has 1 or 2 WOW's /advantages, but is predictably lacking a lot more..

 

That said- Apple is outpacing most of the others out there for form. Thin and light. No question about that. That was my only brief temptation regarding the iphone..

 

The Android OS has seemingly limitless upside to it. Apple is going to get BBQ'ed... Not because iOS is bad- it's the people who run the place.

 

All in all- I recommend the Charge. I'd rate it 3.5 to 4 stars. Hits for battery longevity, and I think - a little short on RAM.

Edited August 16, 2011 by S77th-konkussion

[gigz-on]

Hello everybody.

Since January I got Galaxy Tab and it is a very good device. I bought it because there're so many opportunities with Android like custom firmware, overclocking, free apps and games, etc... Without any jailbreaks and other witchcraft! :D

Last week I went to Paris and bought Galaxy SII as a primary phone instead of a stupid Nokia N97. :) It was an interesting offer: almost 250 euros less than in Russia. :thumbup: It cost me ~ 500€ including Tax Free.

I am a happy man now. :smartass:

[leafer]

The Galaxy SII is supposedly thiner and lighter than current gen of iPhones. I've never seen either the SII nor the iPhone, but read it at a site that seemed very pro Android. Those who've handled both what do u think?

[Cali]

Samsung Droid Charge here.. Kinda forced into it against my will- Verizon was about to fuxor everyone over with their new data plans- and deliberately holding back the phone I wanted- (Droid Bionic) until the new plans took effect.

 

Did you talk to them about the new data plans? I switched to verizon on June 18th from T-mobile. I called to find out about the new plans in mid-July. I pay $30 a month and the plans they told me were higher but with less. I have unlimited, so they say. The 2GB plan was $50 dollars and it went up from there.

[leafer]

So I got a "Net Sim" from one of the carrier and is using my phone to get on the net from my computer. Cool! Too bad it is taking 1 hour to download 13.6 MB Picasa file. lol

 

So forget about downloading 0.9 patch then? :D

[S77th-konkussion]

Did you talk to them about the new data plans? I switched to verizon on June 18th from T-mobile. I called to find out about the new plans in mid-July. I pay $30 a month and the plans they told me were higher but with less. I have unlimited, so they say. The 2GB plan was $50 dollars and it went up from there.

 

I had read about the data tiers on a blog about 3 weeks before they announced.. When it got confirmed I dragged my feet hoping that I could get a feel for when the Bionic was to debut. Once it became obvious that they had no intention of releasing it- I went with the second best thing based on reviews and specs.

 

Since I had no barometer on which to judge how much data I would use- I decided that 2 gigs/ mo. sounded VERY low to me- and pulled trigger on the Charge for the same reason you did. I wanted a 4G device with unlimited data.

[Cali]

The Galaxy SII is supposedly thiner and lighter than current gen of iPhones. I've never seen either the SII nor the iPhone, but read it at a site that seemed very pro Android. Those who've handled both what do u think?

 

I have a Droid X and the wife has a iPhone. I picked mine cause the screen is the size of her phone and the camera is 8mp instead of the 5mp the iPhone has. Mine doesn't have a camera on the front like the iPhone which is a 1.3mp cam, but I don't really need it either, at least not yet. Our phones do the same thing, however there are a few things that are way different. Hers is 16gb and mine is 2gb. That is enough for me, for now, I can expand it if I want with an SD card. I'm happy with mine and she is happy with her's. It all depends on the person, there are people that rant and rave about the iPhone. I think it's ok, nothing to special I see about it.

[leafer]

Yeap, I am loving this smartphone technology. I had never, ever spent so much time fiddling with a phone before this one. I am debating whether to get a 3G Net Sim or a home ADSL.

[EtherealN]

I'd say ADSL is probably the better option since it'll give you lower latencies, though this does depend on the quality of the infrastructure. Myself I'm pretty much locked to 3G+/4G as my internet connection since the ground here is essentially just mud, which the ADSL doesn't like ever since they dug the cables into the ground - the cables snap and short out constantly. :(

 

A lot depends on the carrier as well, obviously - where I live I have crap connectivity on one carrier, good on another.

 

Also, if you've got a W-LAN router for the ADSL, you can always surf the phone via your W-LAN. :)