Its a Christmas present though so I can't use it yet. Really impressed with how solid the build quality is. Hopefully there'll be a stable 2.2 ROM available by the time I properly get my hands on it!
Its a Christmas present though so I can't use it yet. Really impressed with how solid the build quality is. Hopefully there'll be a stable 2.2 ROM available by the time I properly get my hands on it!
Phone of the forever (in terms of sheer value for money)
Girlfriend Mazuma'd her Hero and grabbed the San Fran for £89, I own a Galaxy S but even I'm jealous of the performance of the San Fran (no shitty file system bogging down the phone). Build quality is good, screen is great, and once you load Launcher Pro on there and remove the Orange interface it flies.
Camera is arse but..... it'll do for quicky outdoor shots.
Just got the MyTouch 4G yesterday. My first smartphone, so I have nothing to judge by, but some of the guys at work were really impressed with the speed. Reviews have been generally great too, so I'm feeling really solid about this purchase.
Well like I said I can't use it properly until Christmas.
However, I just signed upto Tesco mobile's rolling one month sim only contract:
500 minutes, unlimited texts + 500MB data for just £10 and it can be stopped at any time. That's better than most ~£30 contracts. That + the SF has to be the best mobile deal going atm.
The community have already managed to OC it to ~860mhz and there's an ALPHA 2.2 release out as well. Once both of those reach a stable release (hopefully before Xmas) then the difference between the SF and your high end Android handsets becomes incredibly small. Like I've said before all the rest of the hardware (sans camera) is on par with a high end handset.
512MB RAM + L2 cache + FPU + Adreno 200 GPU + GPS + WVGA OLED screen + multitouch capacitive screen. Its all there. Incredible really and like I say, its surprisingly solid, and I've handled much more expensive phones that are a lot flimsier. My one pet peeve with the hardware is the lack of a trackball or touchpad, I find the one on my Dad's Pulse incredibly useful at times.
sionyboy said:
Phone of the forever (in terms of sheer value for money)
Girlfriend Mazuma'd her Hero and grabbed the San Fran for £89, I own a Galaxy S but even I'm jealous of the performance of the San Fran (no shitty file system bogging down the phone). Build quality is good, screen is great, and once you load Launcher Pro on there and remove the Orange interface it flies.
Camera is arse but..... it'll do for quicky outdoor shots.
Anyone got a QC or App Brain link to a reliable 3G bandwidth monitor?
The one stinging detail with the Tesco deal is that they charge you £4 per MB if you go over your cap apparently (despite it being advertised as "unlimited" smh) so I'll have to make sure I keep an eye on my usage. No TVCatchup on the go for me!
Data plans are so incredibly terrible in the UK, its ridiculous how 500MB can be advertised as unlimited but at the price I'm getting that plan I can't really complain, just got to ration my usage.
Anyone got a QC or App Brain link to a reliable 3G bandwidth monitor?
The one stinging detail with the Tesco deal is that they charge you £4 per MB if you go over your cap apparently (despite it being advertised as "unlimited" smh) so I'll have to make sure I keep an eye on my usage. No TVCatchup on the go for me!
Data plans are so incredibly terrible in the UK, its ridiculous how 500MB can be advertised as unlimited but at the price I'm getting that plan I can't really complain, just got to ration my usage.
Oh yeah, I check Modaco for any updates to the 2.2 situation, I see they have a beta up at the moment, but I'll wait for something a little bit more official for her.
Few little niggles with it, but nothing that can't be solved with a couple of purchases off the marketplace (Alarm program, launcherpro and beautiful widgets)
Well like I said I can't use it properly until Christmas.
However, I just signed upto Tesco mobile's rolling one month sim only contract:
500 minutes, unlimited texts + 500MB data for just £10 and it can be stopped at any time. That's better than most ~£30 contracts. That + the SF has to be the best mobile deal going atm.
Fuck that's nice, think I'll be going for that when the contract on my shitty Nokia runs out. That's not for a couple of months though, will it have 2.2 by christmas?
Well like I said I can't use it properly until Christmas.
However, I just signed upto Tesco mobile's rolling one month sim only contract:
500 minutes, unlimited texts + 500MB data for just £10 and it can be stopped at any time. That's better than most ~£30 contracts. That + the SF has to be the best mobile deal going atm.
That's a great deal, but because I would never use that many minutes I went for Giffgaff. I started using their £10 a month PAYG plan last month and couldn't be happier with it. 150mins, unlimited texts and (most importantly for me) unlimited data. They also use the o2 network like Tesco, so the coverage is great.
**EDIT** I feel I should point out that the unlimited data is actually unlimited, from their pricing page:
Is unlimited really unlimited? The answer is yes, we are unlimited for personal mobile use - but not for commercial and automated use. Mobile Internet allowances exclude PC use and tethering. http://giffgaff.com/index/pricing
This might not be the best place to ask this question, but I didn't think I should start a new thread. I have the original Moto Droid; I noticed last night that my Gmail account stopped syncing automatically and will only show new messages if I manually refresh it. I have tried rebooting the phone, taking the battery out, and clearing data from the app with no luck. I mentioned it to a friend of mine with a Droid X a bit ago and he said his has been doing the same thing. Anything I should be aware of or any other remedies I should try?
Apperently it is not an isolated case (androidcentral is reporting this problem here) but Google is already working on the it so the problem shoud be resolved soon.
Is unlimited really unlimited? The answer is no, we are only unlimited for "personal mobile use" - not for commercial and automated use. Mobile Internet allowances exclude PC use and tethering. http://giffgaff.com/index/pricing
512MB RAM + L2 cache + FPU + Adreno 200 GPU + GPS + WVGA OLED screen + multitouch capacitive screen. Its all there. Incredible really and like I say, its surprisingly solid, and I've handled much more expensive phones that are a lot flimsier. My one pet peeve with the hardware is the lack of a trackball or touchpad, I find the one on my Dad's Pulse incredibly useful at times.
Weren't you the one whining in the WP7 thread about the Adreno 200, or am I going crazy?
On a separate note, my Nexus One is acting up. I can't play lenghty flash videos without a reboot. It also rebooted on me while 3g web surfing. I suspect its heat related, I'm not sure. I don't know why I suckered myself into buying HTC hardware again, I've had two HTC phones (8525 and Tilt2) and neither one made it to the year mark without significant issues. I just got this phone earlier this year. Ugh. I hope it makes it to next year so I can get to my AT&T upgrade. My iPhone 3G still worked when I sold it this year after two years of super heavy use, and I treat this N1 like a baby. I'm going to see how my wife's Samsung holds up, and I have had good experience with Sony phones in the past.
What hardware do you guys recommend to last the full two year upgrade cycle?
In £400/£500 phones, sure. The SF is a £100 phone, the fact that the specs of WP7 phones are eerily similar is the issue, if I'm paying 4x as much I want much better hardware for my money. The Adreno 200 is a decent GPU for a £100 phone, its a laughing stock for a £400 phone.
Having a decent GPU on Android is less of an issue anyway. I've already given up on the paltform becoming a decent gaming platform anytime within the next couple years. WP7 has a real chance to offer a decent platform for games but restricting all handsets to a lowend GPU is going to get in the way of that.
That's a great deal, but because I would never use that many minutes I went for Giffgaff. I started using their £10 a month PAYG plan last month and couldn't be happier with it. 150mins, unlimited texts and (most importantly for me) unlimited data. They also use the o2 network like Tesco, so the coverage is great.
**EDIT** I feel I should point out that the unlimited data is actually unlimited, from their pricing page:
Is unlimited really unlimited? The answer is yes, we are unlimited for personal mobile use - but not for commercial and automated use. Mobile Internet allowances exclude PC use and tethering. http://giffgaff.com/index/pricing
That doesn't sound unlimited to me at all. Have you used well in excess of the 500MB other O2 networks cap you at? Tesco advertise their plan as "unlimited" as well.
It may be better in the sense that they don't charge you if you go over the 500MB limit, but don't expect to use several GBs a month unchecked.
Edit: It says on that link that the free internet is only valid until the end of the year? Did you get a different deal?
Or maybe not, its a bit confusing. Let me know how flexible they are with the internet cap though, I'd really like to know as if I'm free to burn through multiple GBs watching TV Catchup on the go and using Spotify Mobile then I'd be seriously interested in changing. I can live with a 500MB cap just fine but having a truly unlimited plan would allow me to use a lot more stuff.
f0rk said:
Fuck that's nice, think I'll be going for that when the contract on my shitty Nokia runs out. That's not for a couple of months though, will it have 2.2 by christmas?
There's already a 2.2 ROM out there, its just not fully stable and at feature parity yet. I'd expect something useful by Christmas, yes. The community is already very large and they've made fantastic progress already.
Looks like it may be properly unlimited then. Think I'll cancel my Tesco mobile contract come Xmas then. No use for GiffGaff yet as I don't need the data but I'd definitely take the extra data over the extra minutes.
That seems to confuse a lot of people, they should really word it better, the "ending on 1st Dec" deal is for people on the tariff who haven't topped up that month, ie if they don't top up they don't get any minutes or texts but they do get data access. If you get one of their "Goodie Bags" its free anyway, read the second link for more info.
"Unlimited means unlimited" is good enough for me, there's no small print any where that says otherwise.
**Just read your link, your Google skills are better than mine
That seems to confuse a lot of people, they should really word it better, the "ending on 1st Dec" deal is for people on the tariff who haven't topped up that month, ie if they don't top up they don't get any minutes or texts but they do get data access. If you get one of their "Goodie Bags" its free anyway, read the second link for more info.
"Unlimited means unlimited" is good enough for me, there's no small print any where that says otherwise.
**Just read your link, your Google skills are better than mine
Think I'll ride out this Tesco Mobile SIM until Xmas and then switch to GiffGaff once I've got the Android handset. No point sacrificing the extra minutes if I've no use for the data yet.
I'm really impressed by that tariff, finding an actual unlimited plan in the UK these days is near impossible, even on contract so to get one for £10 PAYG is fantastic. Now I can watch Freeview on the bus and sign upto Spotify Premium and have 10m+ music tracks with me at all times! Fantastic!
Apologies if this has been discussed but is that Orange San Francisco locked to the Orange network, and if so what is the process for unlocking it?
I've got a T-Mobile G1 (running the latest Cyanogen ROM) which has been a trusty phone for the last few years but I'm ready to retire it now as it's struggling with modern apps. I've been hovering over a purchase of a Desire Z all week but can't really afford to spend £400+ at the moment. That San Francisco looks like a nice little handset to keep me going for a few months and then I'll buy a super duper handset sometime next year.
Actually being a T-Mobile customer (I'm on a cheap 30-day contract similar to that Tesco one above) I can use the Orange network for free, but I'm not sure if an Orange phone would let me put a T-Mobile SIM in it.
Edit: nevermind, just went over to the MoDaCo forum and spotted there's a stickied thread on this.
Last night my Droid X was working perfectly fine, but this morning it won't turn on. I've pulled the battery, held in the power button, tried charging it, and nothing seems to work. When I plug it into the charger the green led comes on as a solid light. Anyone had this problem before and know how to fix it?
Nevermind...came back just now and its on...guess the battery was super low or something.
Apologies if this has been discussed but is that Orange San Francisco locked to the Orange network, and if so what is the process for unlocking it?
I've got a T-Mobile G1 (running the latest Cyanogen ROM) which has been a trusty phone for the last few years but I'm ready to retire it now as it's struggling with modern apps. I've been hovering over a purchase of a Desire Z all week but can't really afford to spend £400+ at the moment. That San Francisco looks like a nice little handset to keep me going for a few months and then I'll buy a super duper handset sometime next year.
Actually being a T-Mobile customer (I'm on a cheap 30-day contract similar to that Tesco one above) I can use the Orange network for free, but I'm not sure if an Orange phone would let me put a T-Mobile SIM in it.
Edit: nevermind, just went over to the MoDaCo forum and spotted there's a stickied thread on this.
Yeah, it can be unlocked for just £3 or something, another one of the reasons its garnering such a following.
Holding off for an expensive handset purchase until next year seems to make sense to me. Phones sporting 2.3/3.0, dual core CPUs and decent GPUs (SGX543MPS/Teg2/SGX540/Adreno 220 etc.) should be the norm before the end of Q2.
Spending the best part of £400 on a 1st generation Snapdragon device doesn't seem like a very smart move in my eyes, when £100 phones can come awfully close to that level of performance already. Best off getting a real upgrade for your money.
Yeah, it can be unlocked for just £3 or something, another one of the reasons its garnering such a following.
Holding off for an expensive handset purchase until next year seems to make sense to me. Phones sporting 2.3/3.0, dual core CPUs and decent GPUs (SGX543MPS/Teg2/SGX540/Adreno 220 etc.) should be the norm before the end of Q2.
yeah i'm firmly planted with my nexus one until either samsungs orion dual core chipset or the tegra2 makes it into phones. The only thing i really dislike about my n1 is the touchscreen.
yeah i'm firmly planted with my nexus one until either samsungs orion dual core chipset or the tegra2 makes it into phones. The only thing i really dislike about my n1 is the touchscreen.
Keep an eye on Omap4 based handsets as well, that's a full dual cortex A9 SOC and its already shipping in some devices, though not smartphones quite yet. The GPU is the same SGX 540 as Hummingbird but by all accounts that's still faster than Teg2 (at worst its probably on par) and you're not losing NEON support like you are with Teg2 devices. Its still a significant upgrade over any 1st generation Snapdragon device and TI's SOCs have a proven track record.
If Orion really does come with an SGX543MP2 though (and I expect it will) then that's going to be a beast and it'll be a long while before its topped.
So is there anything quite like the San Fransisco Orange or Giffgaff in the US? That seems like the perfect type of plan for my kind of use, and great prices too. But both of those seem to be UK-exclusive if Im reading it right.
Its pretty funny. Most of that wish list is already answered either with a galaxy s and/or droid 2/x. Really, the only thing I wish for going forward is tighter hardware requirements for any future iterations of android.
Agree, but they don't set complete hardware requirements, just minimum.
another reason to use a Galaxy S based successor is that gingerbread is supposed to actually use GPU GUI acceleration. With the best GPU currently in use, this would allow for some forward looking 3D GUI work.
by and large those with 2.2 and the later beta 2.1 ROMs are doing fine with GPS....
Mine used to suck with the orig FW, but on a 2.2 beta, no issues at all. Nav works like a champ.
Really the only thing of note is that there is some stalling occasionally when you don't use a lagfix. This is apparently due to the files system samsung uses. I am not sure if the official 2.2 will fix this. If not there are tons of fixes to pick from EXT2/4 etc.
Anyone? I'm also curious if I could use my GF's LG Ally charger with my Droid X. Don't really know much about electricity.
Is the fact that all Android chargers are basically USB cables w/ a AC plug on the end, does that mean they are all sending the same amount of power? Or since the Ally has a smaller battery than my X, is it possible that the Ally's AC plug draws less power?
If so, does that mean I can't use it, or it will just charge my X slower?
Anyone? I'm also curious if I could use my GF's LG Ally charger with my Droid X. Don't really know much about electricity.
Is the fact that all Android chargers are basically USB cables w/ a AC plug on the end, does that mean they are all sending the same amount of power? Or since the Ally has a smaller battery than my X, is it possible that the Ally's AC plug draws less power?
If so, does that mean I can't use it, or it will just charge my X slower?
My GF's Droid 2 uses the same USB/AC plug as my BlackBerry and the chargers are interchangeable. I'd imagine you'd be fine.
Speaking of Droids, I'm able to go ahead and upgrade on Verizon right now. Are there any phones coming out soon that would be worth waiting for? (<2 months max, my BB's screen is on its way out)
I've wanted a Droid X for months now, but I'd hate to take the plunge if there's something else out there I should be looking at. I've seen the Galaxy's screen and it looks great, but I do like the size of the Droid X. I also am all about performance. I've been nothing but disappointed with my Storm since I got it, so I'm hoping to find something that'll last me for the two years of my contract without suffering the same performance issues and degradation I've seen. Any recommendations? Also note that I don't need the slideout keyboard ala Droid 2
Ok, if you are sticking with Verizon, then Droid X or Instinct would be the best options right now for big screen, performance, and no keyboard.
Samsung is rumored to be revealing a stock Android phone next week, but I don't think there's been any mention as to which carrier it is headed to. You may also want to wait until January-ish to see if the rumors of a Verizon iPhone are true.
Ok, if you are sticking with Verizon, then Droid X or Instinct would be the best options right now for big screen, performance, and no keyboard.
Samsung is rumored to be revealing a stock Android phone next week, but I don't think there's been any mention as to which carrier it is headed to. You may also want to wait until January-ish to see if the rumors of a Verizon iPhone are true.
What about standard size Android phones on Verizon? My girlfriend is looking for one but doesn't like the size of the larger phones. The Incredible still seems like the best touch screen only standard size droid phone on Verizon.
So, I just saw that there was a HW thread and since I have a G2 I figured I weigh in in case anybody was on the fence about it. In the past few days, they released an OTA update which fixed the major problem that I was having with it: random reboots. Basically, if the signal was low or no signal, something in the software caused it to reboot itself. Anyway, it appears that has been completely fixed. Overall, despite not having root I absolutely love the phone now that the freeze issue has been fixed. I had a Vibrant and the G2 blows it out of the water in comparison. The Vibrants screen is amazing, but it was laggy even with root and lagfix installed.
If you get one, just check the hinges and make sure it doesn't flop down by itself. If you do, take it back and get one that doesn't have the issue.
i'm really looking forward to the tablets coming next year. I'm holding off until gen 2 ipad or to see what some companies come up with on the android front. I want something portable and dockable, besides normal use i really want to be able to use it in my kitchen for recipes, lists, etc (and listening to music)
Either way, I think this will be my next phone. I don't really care if LTE is up or not, but the rumored high res screen would be enough of a plus for me. I was going to go with the X, but I'll wait and see until the 23rd at least.
Edit: Whoops, I had sourced the same article twice.
Either way, I think this will be my next phone. I don't really care if LTE is up or not, but the rumored high res screen would be enough of a plus for me. I was going to go with the X, but I'll wait and see until the 23rd at least.
Edit: Whoops, I had sourced the same article twice.
I´m "rocking" a Sony Ericsson Walkman W850 and I´m sick of it. It doesn´t show every call I´m getting, it accesses menus even in my pocket without the buttons even accesible etc. It´s ancient. It´s a dumbphone, too. I can´t even log into wifi and browse the net at uni! It´s really getting unbearable and the battery looks like it´ll start leaking any day.
So I really should update. ANYTHING would be better than what I have now, but I was always holding out for a HUGE upgrade that´d would last for a long ass time again. Being in Europe (Germany) I´m somewhat in a smartphone ghetto, though. The HD2 almost became my new phone, but I got jealous of the Evo 4G and I couldn´t jusitfy buying a WM 6.5 phone for more than people in the US had to pay for the Evo.
Important are build quality (I know I can´t drop a smartphone as often as my W850, but y´know, it shouldn´t fall apart in my pocket), screen size, decent enough specs, being able to buy it without being forced into a contract and the ability to use a LED as a flashlight. Price is less important, I´m willing to invest in something I can use for years.
Right now I´m looking at the Samsung Galaxy S i9000 and the new Desire phones, especially the HD. The Galaxy doesn´t have a LED afaik, and I really want one. The one in my W850 probably saved my life on a few walks through dark places with lots of stuff to trip over. The Z and the HD have got one. A bigger screen is always nice, but a great hardware keyboard would probably be more important.
So, would a Desire HD or a Z be a good investment for a phone I´ll use for years to come? Any other suggestions. I´m open to anything
but the Iphone, I don´t want to look "cool" Or pay for the contract.
Or pay for the contract.
