New to Android, Need some Help. - General Questions and Answers

Hey,
I'm relatively new to the android scene but after researching phones for the last few days and looking into the apps and the projected path of the system I've decided to go with an android phone.
I currently live in the USA and would like some guidance as to what I phone I should get. I am on T-Mobile's service as well. What I'm looking for is a phone that will last me for about 2 years, or a year and a half at least. I'm not a huge fan of the G1's keyboard so I'm thinking of stay away from it but if it's immensely better then I'll reconsider.
I'm definitely a huge texter and web browser. I was originally thinking of getting the HTC Hero however I learned that it only supports 2g networking and that is too slow to be of use. Is there any way to get a flash rom or application of the mytouch as of now? I know there are Hero rom's but I'm unsure if they can also view flash in the browser.
My main question is, is there a phone which is flash enabled and could be projected as working for the next 2 years?
Thank you,
Evervoid

That's what I'm currently looking at, however I'm unsure if it will last 2 years. Do you know if the HTC Hero Rom works well with it? or is even compatable?

Related

HTC HD2 vs/or HTC Desire?

Hi all,
I am new to the forum and am in the process of updating my Next G phone. I am limited by time as my current phone [Blackberry Bold 9000] is fast becoming unusable and I will have to make a choice quickly, maybe tomorrow. The HD2 impressed me, especially with the Roms being developed and available. Making Windows more user friendly and taking the phone to its best. Talking with my phone provider - Telstra, they informed me that the HTC Desire is just now on the market and I am reading glowing reports on the latest Android system and the Desire... So I have been researching all I can on these 2 phones. I have only a little Windows mobile experience from some years ago with an Imate, however have no experience with the Android system.
I don't plan on returning to Blackberry and have narrowed my choice to ether the HD2 or the Desire... This phone will be on a renewed 24 month business contract, so is a phone I will "be with" for sometime! I do understand many of the criticisms of Windows mobile and the very positive reaction to the latest Android system. Also that the all new Windows 7 will be available later in the year. The Desire reads very well in its specs and the few reviews that are available have it as the one to beat for 2010? The HD2 has had much more reviews and comment available, having been on the market longer. Many people satisfied with the phone in standard form [and some not so] and many very happy with it in its modified form with custom Rom.... My decision doesn't seem easier.
Some areas I am thinking on are - Will the HD2 become dated quickly, with fewer windows 6.5 apps and less dev work once the totally new Windows 7 becomes available and the new handsets reach the market? Does this make the current Desire with its latest Android system a better long term option as it is not faced with the release of a whole new operating system just around the corner within its brand and apps and updates will continue to grow? Part of me is saying go with my original choice of the HD2 and its big screen, with a custom Rom. AND, part of me is saying go with the new Android Desire.... ohhh and yes I have read reference to Dev work being done on Windows 7 for the HD2 [That's a potential plus]
Unfortunately I am not in a situation of being able to handle and get to know these phones pre purchase. However would be interested to hear the thoughts of others ie: what would have you chose one over the other?
cheers,
Cam...
Welcome to forums,
I would prefer Leo
Have a look here
I've had both What do you want it for? If you need WM for office use get the HD2 otherwise get the desire! Android is much better in a social aspect I would say. The only thing I like about the HD2 was the Sense overlay and it is the same if not better on the desire
Oh and there is a gameboy advanced emulator on the desire which works great... just in case that would be a deciding factor for you
pympster said:
I've had both What do you want it for? If you need WM for office use get the HD2 otherwise get the desire! Android is much better in a social aspect I would say. The only thing I like about the HD2 was the Sense overlay and it is the same if not better on the desire
Oh and there is a gameboy advanced emulator on the desire which works great... just in case that would be a deciding factor for you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Morphgear and Fpsece work well on the HD2.
I must say I prefer the look of the HD2 and the bigger screen, but android is just that much better than WM and thus think you should get the desire.
I am a farmer/rancher and also have a small business importing workwear/casual wear from the USA. I will use the phone for accessing manufacturer websites. Storing photos of my products. Recording expenses, checking weather updates. Email and Instant messaging... I do travel from time to time and recently sat next to a guy on a flight who was wathcing James Bond movies on his Ipod touch. That was neat I did contact HTC Australia a month ago, to see if the HD2 would be released with Android here Down Under, but was told not planned at present and my contact and interest would be passed on. Of course thats what is always said. I have to think long term use out of this phone ie: to 24 months - The Desire seems a great choice, however would the HD2 with an aftermarket custom Rom be equally as good? Which is the best rom around right now? Will Windows 6.5 App availability continue to rise once Windows 7 hits the streets or will it taper off? Android Apps I am sure will continue to grow...
I have a Leo, so far i love it in every way possible. I had an android device before and i think they are a lot easier to use. Yet i still wouldn't trade my Leo for the world
Yes, my personal preference is Android. WM has always proved to be too slow and buggy for me. But hey, it's all about YOUR preference. You can't really go on what we say. 10/10 of us might say get one phone, and you might get it and hate it. Too bad you can't try before you buy on cell phones. :/
I totally agree and am not looking to be told what direction to take. More intertested in hearing why others would choose one phone over the other...
Yep woud great to handle both phones and see them working. I live rural, tho did get into Telstra shop to take a look, but had nothing for me to see working.
Cheers.
cam0063 said:
I totally agree and am not looking to be told what direction to take. More intertested in hearing why others would choose one phone over the other...
Yep woud great to handle both phones and see them working. I live rural, tho did get into Telstra shop to take a look, but had nothing for me to see working.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never buy a phone I didn't get to at least play with first. All the videos and reviews in the world couldn't change that.
I like that policy too. However when u live rural, somethings are not possible and research is your best tool...
I would go with the Desire. The HD2 is running Windows Mobile 6.5, which is still pretty much the same underlying Windows CE kernel that's been in use since Windows Mobile 5. Because been confirmed that the HD2 will not recieve an offical Windows Mobile 7 upgrade, meaning your new shiny phone will be obsolete by the end of the year, you likely be stuck with this obsolete operating system forever if you buy this device. The only option would be an unofficial port of Windows Phone 7 to the HD2, but I'm not sure how that is coming along lately.
Conversely, Android is constantly undergoing development, and seeing as the Desire is a top of the line Android device, updates to the latest versions of Android are pretty much guaranteed for that device. The Desire will probably have support for longer than the HD2, considering it won't be obsolete only a few months after you bought it.
I don't think that you could go wrong when choosing a new device, as they're both top of the line smartphones with grade A hardware and XDA behind them, but IMO the Desire is the superior of the two.
cam0063 said:
I like that policy too. However when u live rural, somethings are not possible and research is your best tool...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, you're talking to a guy who would drive at least an hour no question, just to play with a phone to make sure I liked it. You can't be THAT rural. Can you? o.o
Thanks Dave, I do appreciate all you have said. I did read that Microsoft was not going to allow Windows 7 to be installed on the HD2 and that there were devs out there working on Windows 7 as an unofficial OS for the HD2. The desire is a great option and makes sense, especially for the obvious reasons you mention... I have managed to gain a couple of extra days to make a decision, as I will not be in a mobile service area and not in desperate need of the phone till Monday. Thanks again...
Hi R3s,
I take it you havent been to Australia? At present I am a 6 hour round trip from the nearest Telstra shop. [Telstra is the contracted provider of these phones right now.] Also a week ago, on a visit to the nearest Telstra shop to my home - a 2 hour return trip, I was informed there will be no shop demos available of these phones, only the non functioning store dummies! Which is the norm... I will travel 6 hours for a beer, but not 6 hours to look at a phone!, especially a store dummy So I will keep researching.

looking for new android phone

i thought i'd ask openly since i've done a fair amount of homework, but i'm still inexperienced when it comes with rooting these devices etc.
i used to be a symbian guy, then switched to htc only winmo phones, and joined this forum back in 04. we would flash custom roms etc etc (i really enjoyed it)
what phone do you guys recommend that's either out now or coming out soon for a US provider? i'm looking for top of the line, super fast, easily rooted, new roms flashed (no encrypted boot loaders etc)
i've been on the iphone since 07 (2g, 3g, 3gs) but the new iphone4 just doesn't impress me very much and i'm ready to finally make the move to (what i believe to be) a better device.
any opinions out there? i'm currently with at&t, but can jump ship to verizon or t-mobile (i kinda like the htc evo, but i always hear people complain about sprint here) and i read the droid x will most likely have an encrypted boot loader, so i'm not sure about verizon either.
I was in the same situation as you last week. I have no complaints about ATT's service in my area and signing a contract with another carrier didn't look too appealing since I've been out of contract since 08.
The Nexus One meets all of your criteria and then some. I do not have that gadget lust anymore, I don't feel that it is incomplete like I always felt with my other devices. Hell the only thing I really felt that was missing from the stock build is waking with the trackball, I too came from an iPhone and it just feels natural as opposed to using the sleep button.
I don't think you can really go wrong with any of the top tier Android offerings right now. They all have strengths and weaknesses but the simple fact that the Nexus One gets the (official) updates first made it an easy choice for me.
thanks for the reply. i've been looking at the nexus one for the same reasons you described... the ability to get updates quickly, and the fact it comes with a vanilla rom. i wish i could get the att version with a discount... it looks like if i go with it i'll need to get t-mobile.
i was a little hesitant just because im not sure how it holds up against the latest round of android devices (due to it being out for a while now) but it definitely looks fairly solid from what i've ready.
i ditto the nexus one..IF you want to stay with ATT..but a very customizable phone is the motorola droid..plus a physical keyboard is a BIG plus for me..but the droid is a little old and you should wait for the droid 2 next month..the thing is..who knows who long is going to take for dev to start working on droid 2...droid already has a large drawer full of kernels, themes, roms..ect
yeh, i think theres just too many phones out/coming out to make a decision. the nexus multitouch problem i keep reading about seems kind of annoying... i played with an evo on sprint today and apparently sprint has extremely slow data in my area (even tho it was full bars on 3g) and the droid x might have a locked/encrypted boot loader which i read will definitely affect the ability to flash roms (so i've read)
almost as bad as car shopping.
thanks guys for all the advice so far.

Best out?

Hi I am looking at getting a new phone currently I have a htc desire and it made me fall in love with android because with my desire I rooted and flashed custom roms.
Which phone would you suggest I go for that is either out at the min or is soon to be released.
It must be android in order to compete with my desire
Thanks for your opinions
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App
I too am currently looking for an android phone.
I was pretty much sure I was going to get the Thunderbolt or Evo depending on if Verizon would match Sprint's current bonus minutes offer. But now I've been reading about other phones (LG G2x, EVO 3D coming soon...) and new developments such as dual core processors, etc... and I'm thinking maybe I should wait.
Depends what your budget is. Galaxy S II seems a favorite.
I think it'd be a good idea to think of what you want and then we could make some suggestions... I'm hoping for the Droid Pro II (eventually) but that's because I like keys and don't mind the smaller screen.
sephriam said:
I think it'd be a good idea to think of what you want and then we could make some suggestions... I'm hoping for the Droid Pro II (eventually) but that's because I like keys and don't mind the smaller screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since the OP hasn't been back I won't feel bad hijacking this thread.
Looks like now I'm deciding between the Galaxy S II and the Evo 3D.
Since the GS2 is going to be open source, does that mean we will probably be able to put HTC Sense 3.0 on the GS2? I really wanted an HTC and I like their UI but I think I'd rather have the better camera than 3D.
Is there another HTC phone that will compare with the GS2? Also, I read Samsung is bad about updating, but if I'm rooting and flashing a new ROM that is moot, right? The devs will update ROMS here and I can grab those, right?
It's really more phone than I think I need but I've had mine for almost a year past my contract expiring so I'm not someone who needs to replace my phone asap, I will probably live with new phone for 3-4 years. And I don't mind waiting a few more months for price drop and devs to do their thing. So I'd like to future proof it a little bit even if it costs a bit more right now, I think.
Or I get the Thunderbolt right now but it seems like I should go to dual processors and 1gb ram for future OS updates but that is kind of guessing on my part based on what I've been reading the past few days.
I'm going to use it mostly for phone, texts, email, music and internet browsing. Then once I learn more about the android apps I'd like to integrate it with my home AV system as much as possible. I'm coming from a dumbphone that I dropped my data plan for so it's just calls and texts and casual pic taking right now. Kind of excited to get a smartphone.

[Q] Would it be wise to "upgrade" from HD2 to Sensation?

I'm a WM guy. From the days Windows Mobile 2003, WM 5, WM 6, 6.1 to WM6.5.
Tried WP7 but found it inmature, crippled, limited, sterile and lacking all the power user features of the WM6.5
So I jumped back to my trusty T9193 HD2 with custom WM6.5 Energy ROM. It is the Telstra Australia version of HTC HD2 running on USA AT&T 3G Bands.
Due to the lack of support from the apps developing community for Windows Mobile 6.5, I'm feeling tempted to get my hands on a Telstra Z710a HTC Sensation. Since Telstra Australia uses the same 3G (850MHz/1900MHz) bands as AT&T USA, it should be no problem to get it to work here (I suppose).
Of course Android is not WM6.5 but is a promissing, well featured, mature OS with a huge community of apps and ROMs developers.
After some reading on the forum, I found lots of people complaining about the display quality, the power-off charging issue and some other issues. Being an Australian phone, it will be a pain to get warranty repairs or exchange here in the states.
Due to these issues, Would it be wise to "upgrade" from my HD2 to the Sensation?
I'll get lynched for saying this, but iOS is the more mature platform (2007 vs Android's 2008) with more apps available if that is what you are looking for. Moreover, if you are worried about warranty and repairs, Apple usually takes good care of their customers.
I also was using an HD 2 for T-Mobile running the Energy Rom and I've been using the Sensation since it came out...no regrets!
Sent from my GT-P7510 using XDA Premium App
I left my HD2 for the Sensation. Android is in a whole different league than WinMo 6.5. I actually had Android ROM's on my HD2 and still do. My Girlfriend uses my HD2 with the Android OS on it. I stopped using WinMo as soon as Android Nand came out for the HD2.
Either way, do it. You won't regret it.
The HD2 served me well. It was my first Android phone (Well.. with it flashed of course) and it was GREAT however I hit problems such as a dead touchscreen after a year (Which warranty fixed) than it overheating every damn time it had to do anything intensive or even because of heat. I sent it to HTC and they sent it back the same way saying they fixed it.. Though it persisted. Sent it back a week later, this time I made it a point to tell them that they did NOTHING last time and wasted my money by sending it back without doing any changes. (My WinMo rom was still there with settings I changed specifically to see if they even did a ROM wipe.) They exchanged the motherboard the 2nd time and it was great.. for about a month.. than the overheating began once again. I mean I'm not even doing things like watching long videos or playing video games.. All I did was run it as a phone.. browsed the net for 10 minutes at a time 2 times max a day.. texted a few.. and it would die..
Going off a tangent, but you won't regret the switch to the Sensation 4G.. You won't see much change if you are just going to use it as a phone though! Gaming/video watching will be a lot better however
depends
My .02$.
Depends on what you are using the phone for. I actually am keeping my HD2 because of the great office integration and ability of the OS. If you have a shortage of apps you might be looking in the wrong place. True, the official marketpalce is seriously lacking in apps, however a quick search of the world wide web will reveal many many more. However as far as multi-media and gaming, the sensation wins hands down. Btw, Ive had android and am currently running WP7 on my phone because of the, once again, great office integration plus the rapidly expanding marketplace. I just love the ability to switch Roms and OS's like no other phone can. It truly is a superphone. What other phone has the ability to remain "current" after two years in this rapidly developing digital world?
gattech said:
I'm a WM guy. From the days Windows Mobile 2003, WM 5, WM 6, 6.1 to WM6.5.
Tried WP7 but found it inmature, crippled, limited, sterile and lacking all the power user features of the WM6.5
So I jumped back to my trusty T9193 HD2 with custom WM6.5 Energy ROM. It is the Telstra Australia version of HTC HD2 running on USA AT&T 3G Bands.
Due to the lack of support from the apps developing community for Windows Mobile 6.5, I'm feeling tempted to get my hands on a Telstra Z710a HTC Sensation. Since Telstra Australia uses the same 3G (850MHz/1900MHz) bands as AT&T USA, it should be no problem to get it to work here (I suppose).
Of course Android is not WM6.5 but is a promissing, well featured, mature OS with a huge community of apps and ROMs developers.
After some reading on the forum, I found lots of people complaining about the display quality, the power-off charging issue and some other issues. Being an Australian phone, it will be a pain to get warranty repairs or exchange here in the states.
Due to these issues, Would it be wise to "upgrade" from my HD2 to the Sensation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The biggest thing to me was getting over the issue of not having the physical buttons. Still bugs me from time to time. The biggest button I miss is the end call/power button.
Like you I'm still down for WM6.5, honestly I saw nothing wrong with it. However I did install Android on my HD2 and liked it. Call it my test run for the final migration to Android full time.
The speaker doesn't seem to be as loud as the HD2 but works. The camera can zoom while recording video BUT doesn't have MP4 format as an option. I hope S-Off can take care of that somewhere (recording format).
kwambewright said:
My .02$.
Depends on what you are using the phone for. I actually am keeping my HD2 because of the great office integration and ability of the OS. If you have a shortage of apps you might be looking in the wrong place. True, the official marketpalce is seriously lacking in apps, however a quick search of the world wide web will reveal many many more. However as far as multi-media and gaming, the sensation wins hands down. Btw, Ive had android and am currently running WP7 on my phone because of the, once again, great office integration plus the rapidly expanding marketplace. I just love the ability to switch Roms and OS's like no other phone can. It truly is a superphone. What other phone has the ability to remain "current" after two years in this rapidly developing digital world?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also this!
In my experience mate, it's only an upgrade on paper
I have the Australian (Telstra) version of the Sensation and can only speak from experience with this, but I got far better performance out of a NAND ROM on my 9193 than I did with this heap (stock). That changed a bit once I S-OFFed and put a custom ROM/kernel on there, but Sense is still laggy as all buggery and my Atrix still runs rings around it. Even putting a new Launcher over the top hasn't made it 'feel' like a dual-core, like the Atrix and GS2 do.
I still use my 9193, it's my work phone. I don't think I'll ever get rid of it. It's far too good an all-rounder and far too well supported.
In terms of flexibility, you are already sitting on the ultimate device. It will be a long time before we see another device with the support and variety that LEO got.
I think if you're asking the question, you may already know the answer
Good luck either way, your 9193 will get an excellent price in the Marketplace should you decide to sell
Thanks for the suggestions and advise!
Specialy from all of you, the ones that still keep and use their HD2s.
I work as IT Specialist and for me the HD2 is like a swiss army knife. I carry in its storage card all the files and apps I need to keep my networks and clients up and running in no time. Its a matter of connecting the phone to any network pc to upload the file needed and presto.
I don't know of any other phone with such flexibility and integration with the pc enviroment.
I was tempted by the "lack of support" from the apps comumunity but maybe I'm looking in the wrong place.
I love the HTC HD2, this is the one that started it all!
I think I'll wait some time to see how it goes with the Sensation or if HTC comes with something comparable or better for AT&T.
I was using HD2 for long time , energy roms then moved to android on HD2 , when i did try the android couldn't back again to the WM so i bought the sensation for smoother and more performance android, and hangs anymore

Your Samsung Infuse experience? why the infuse & what will your next phone be?

I remember summer of 2011 when I bought this phone. I'd previously owned a couple of windows phones but took them back because a) nothing seemed to work, and b) nothing that didn't work seemed to be fixable. c) things that did work didn't work very well.
I bought an infuse 4g and my wife got an atrix 4g. (I'd considered the atrix as well, but heard stories of bricking and overheating... and moto's webtop strategy looked pretty half baked.)
I was on AT&T and decided to stick with them. The only other real android option at the time was the HTC inspire, which I didn't really like. I also considered the iPhone, but my experience with running itunes on a PC and using a 30gb ipod really soured me on Apple at least for a while.
Really why i opted for the Infuse boiled down to Samsung's promise to update phones for 18 months (didn't happen obviously) and the hackability. Samsung phones seemed easiest to hack in case support ever ran out and something needed fixing.
I waited patiently for gingerbread. When it took forever I found XDA and ran zeus 5.2 for months. Even with a few minor battery glitches and the very rare force close or reboot it was much nicer than stock FroYo. Then I tried CM9, which almost feels finished, but battery issues and random reboots seem to get worse over time and require reflashing. Then on to a couple other roms and now CM10. I do love the bells and whistles of CM10, but it does feel like it might just be too much for our outdated hardware.
Maybe I'd be better off had i never discovered XDA, because I've wasted more than a few hours backing up, flashing, re-installing apps, etc. :laugh:
I suppose when it comes right down to it, I'm not sure I've ever been 100% happy with my infuse, but my wife on the other hand is at least 99% unhappy with her atrix 99% of the time. That phone really is bordering on terrible, even the higher res display always looks grainier.
Now it's almost 2013 and I'm sure those of us on contracts will be moving on to something else in the next few months.
Phones with 2gb of RAM running jellybean sure look nice, and it looks like google is going to have a much more comprehensive nexus program.
i use a lot of google services for work and also have a nexus7, so I'm probably stuck with android for the long haul, but to be honest every glitzy new Android phone from a Carrier just looks like something that will be the next months forgotten red headed stepchild left for dead and never updated again after heavy promotion.
In the beginning of Dec 2011, no-one in my family had smartphones.
Then my wife decided we needed to outfit the entire family of five with smartphones for Xmas.
Faced with purchase of 5 phones, we looked only at the ones that were “free” (if you want to call a 2-year contract free..).
Infuse had much better hardware than iPhone 3 which was offered free at the time IIRC
It was also the biggest and baddest of the offered free ATT Android phones at the time.
Pantech Crossover was one of the only other free ATT Android choice at the time...'nuff said (doesn't hold a candle to our beloved i997)
Today, everyone else in my family is stil on stock Froyo. I moved to on rooted Gingerbread stock which I think makes me look really adventurous and with-it in their eyes (you have my permision to LOL). I haven’t ever used anything else except briefly trying a few custom GB ROMs.
I’m very happy with my phone and OS. I have a hard time imagining what it is that I’m missing because I haven’t seen what other phones/operating systems have to offer. I use my phone for a lot of things and spend a lot of time exploring the apps available on my current OS, but I don’t foresee upgrading my os again in the near future... perhaps not until the next phone in Dec 2013. Maybe if all my friends had SG3’s and Notes running JB and CM10, then I’d start being unhappy with what I've got. But I’ve got my Froyo family and most of my friends are iphoners.
Maybe if you want to be happy with your Infuse, you should surround yourself with people who use Froyo
I've loved my infuse. I was dying for a smartphone for a year lol hyping over the release of the iPhone 4. Then I saw on cnet the leak of the infuse. I decided I needed that phone lol. I got the infuse the day it came out, it was soo much fun. Then maybe 4-5 months later I found on some website how to flash Gtg's over lock kernel, starting my hacking journey. Used android forums, when I guy recommended xda. Switched to xda, and it's been really nice. Lol idk what my next phone will be, I picked up a iPhone 4S from my friend for a small price to pay (he wanted a tmobile concord, to replace his tmobile phone and he is a noob lol, never unlocked the 4s.) but I'm looking at the Optimus g, one x+, or the gnote 2, I was thinking of selling this 4s to get one, but it's really starting to grow on me, and I've invested enough mods in it I may just keep it forever . I used to be a die hard android fan, but really you have to look at the good and bad things about each operating system, like android moving files and easy hacking, or ease of use, no hang ups, and just plain simple to use. Being honest, the 4s was probably good for me to get, I was spending too much time of my life trying to develop/hack, while I've been letting some schoolwork slip by... Haha. Still love and use my infuse though, not going to let that go, my friend was like ill buy it from you for 300-350, I said no! I love my infuse. It's just an awesome phone, even better it was my first smartphone lol.
I'm not sure that you can throw anything at the Infuse that it can't handle!!!
I am running AOKP JB and its soooo much smoother than ICS ever thought about being. You owe it to yourself to try a JB ROM before you get rid of a perfectly functional phone.
My Infuse was my first Android phone and have actually have zero complaints.. no matter my noobish adventures, if something went wrong I was able to get it back and working again.. (with the help of the amazing community here) so it was a perfect introduction for me..
I moved to the note a couple weeks ago and don't even have my Infuse anymore, but I still read the infuse forum everyday..
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
My wife was the first to get a smartphone, the iPhone 3GS, she loved it and I was jealous. I was stuck with a dumbphone and wanted to upgrade. Did my research and at the time (Oct '11), the Infuse seemed to be the logical choice. It combined all of the features I wanted in my new phone. I got it, loved it, and it was much bigger and better than my wife's iCrap. I had it for months without doing anything to it. Then I had just gotten the GB update from Samsung, so I was happy with them and my "new" phone. It ran great with GB, but it left me wanting more. I came to XDA and got started. I started with GB ROMs and the one I used was awesome and very stable. I still wanted more. Made the switch to JB. I loved the way it looked but the ROMs I tried were not very stable. I kept going back and forth from GB to JB to GB. I had a list of features I needed the devs to work out for JB for me to stay with it. Once those feature were added/stabilized, I made the permanent switch. I now run the ParanoidAndroid ROM from Scott Hart. He works tirelessly for the Infuse and we appreciate him for it.
For a while after a stated flashing, my wife was insanely jealous over my Infuse as compared to her POS 3GS. It was bigger, faster and ran newer software. She couldn't wait for the 5 to come out. I lobbied her to switch to an Android, but she was still loyal to the fruit. About a month before the 5 came out, she lost her 3GS. Without a phone, she asked me what she should do. I offered her one of our older spare backup phones. She didn't want that. She said let's go get the best one I can. Which was the Galaxy S3. Within an hour or two, she had forgotten all about Apple and was now fully a member of the Android community. She even wants me to root it soon! Even though it's an American company, and I should support it, Apple is so inflexible that it feels great to convert another one over to the dark side!
I am due for my upgrade in February, and I'm gonna wait for the Galaxy S4. I need quad core and at least 2GB of RAM or I'm just gonna keep my Infuse.
Let's see, before I had my Infuse I had these smartphones:
* Motorola 9qe that I flashed to make a 9qh. ((Windows Mobile 6.0)
* HTC Kaiser, (Windows Mobile 6.1)
* HTC Touch Pro 2, (Windows Mobile 6.5)
When I first heard of android, and learned that it was based on Linux, my initial thoughts were along the line of "Yeah, lets bring Linux to the phone because it's been SO successful on the desktop. NOT!!! This is going to be the biggest bust ever." I was wrong.
I switched to Android because out of all the user reviews that I read regarding Windows Phone 7 seemed to give only negative reviews, and it just seemed to suck. I decided that WM 6.5 was the last version of Windows Mobile that I would ever use, and decided to switch to Android because I don't really like PALM, and I hate Crapple products.
I bouught the Infuse because it was on sale for $9.95, and was running Android 2.2.3, (I think it was Froyo). No other reason for the initial purchase, as the Infuse is my first Android device. My next phone will likely be a Samsung Note, (or whatever is on sale next july).
I'm a Mac person for the most part. I've been using Macs since OS9 and don't see that changing in the near future (although I do like some Linux distros). However I'm not a fan of the walled garden model that everyone, including Google, is chasing right now, especially Apple's increasingly closed hardware. Seriously, you can't even change your own battery now! The iPhone and iPad represent the worst of these tendencies and for that reason, I've never wanted one. I knew I wanted an Android phone, but didn't know much about them. Basically, the Infuse was on sale, recommended, and looked nice.
It's not been easy. There are so many terrible guides out there on Android/Mac compatibility, I've wasted a lot of time and money trying to get my phone to work with my computer the way I want it to. It's all good now! I really appreciate the Android dev community and for that reason I'll stick with Android. I'll probably get another Samsung phone since I tend to like their designs and because I like how much they bother Apple!
Whizzpopper said:
I'm a Mac person for the most part. I've been using Macs since OS9 and don't see that changing in the near future (although I do like some Linux distros). However I'm not a fan of the walled garden model that everyone, including Google, is chasing right now, especially Apple's increasingly closed hardware. Seriously, you can't even change your own battery now! The iPhone and iPad represent the worst of these tendencies and for that reason, I've never wanted one. I knew I wanted an Android phone, but didn't know much about them. Basically, the Infuse was on sale, recommended, and looked nice.
It's not been easy. There are so many terrible guides out there on Android/Mac compatibility, I've wasted a lot of time and money trying to get my phone to work with my computer the way I want it to. It's all good now! I really appreciate the Android dev community and for that reason I'll stick with Android. I'll probably get another Samsung phone since I tend to like their designs and because I like how much they bother Apple!
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Click to collapse
I think Google will only chase this to an extent. Openness has it's appeal, and I think androids source code will always be open, even though 3rd parties like amazon will put pressure on it. I like what I'm hearing about google's new nexus strategy. I'd really prefer stock android of any manufacturer skin at this point. I have a nexus 7 and didn't even bother to root it.
4.2 or whatever they are calling it looks like manufactuers skins will only be a theme which can be easily removed, and of course after ICS you can disable any crapware you don't use.
While it might close android a bit, google needs to do something so that we are not always wading through manufacturer/carrier finger pointing for updates.
Android does have a weakness in apps. iOS still has more, but the quantity is not so much the problem as quality. Earlier this year I think Google finally laid down some solid guidelines for best practices for developers, but still many developers don't follow them. The menu button on my N7 for example. sometimes it's up at the top, sometimes it's down below with the soft keys.
Apple is obviously far more strict. Even so it has not seemed to hinder development at all. There's always jailbreak, and if I were to ever buy an iphone i'd do that ASAP if for nothing else other than widgets.
For Samsung I do really think they've dialed in their product line much better. Having one phone instead of a bunch of custom phones for carriers is a big deal. They no longer seem to take the shotgun approach. There's a big distinction between the note and the GS3, and they seem to be committed to releasing a new version once a year which avoids the option anxiety/paradox of choice we've had in the past. I'd guess that would make updates easier and more streamlined.
It also doesn't leave us feeling burned when you buy a brand new phone and 2 months later the newer better version is on the shelf. I suppose that's my one gripe about the infuse. It was a big deal for about two months. Samsung made promises and broke them almost immediately.
I do still love the display and form factor though. Although when i first got it i actually almost felt self conscious answering phone calls on it because it was so huge. Just a year later it's average if not slightly below average for phone size though.
I got my Infuse in January after washing my previous non-smart phone in the wash. I've been addicted to Android ever since! :victory:
Got my Infuse in August of 2011. For 4 years previous to that, I was using an LG Chocolate dumb phone on Verizon. I was sick of Verizon's prices, and knew I wanted to go Android but refused to get a Motorola (have had nothing but poor experiences with them in the past) so I went to the AT&T store to play with their phones. Ended up walking out with an Infuse that day.
Since then, my time with the Infuse has been sorta bittersweet. I can't see myself ever purchasing anything but a Samsung Android (hey! I actually like Touchwiz), but if I could do it over again I think I would've gone for the Galaxy S2. While GB ROMs were great for my phone, the jump to ICS and now JB has presented some annoying problems. Most notably is the Android OS battery drain bug, which always seems to attack my phone when I most need it on the go. It never happens at home on Wifi, but it ALWAYS seems to happen when I switch over to data when I'm leaving my house. Needing your phone for a 2 hour drive, and having it die in 45 minutes is NOT cool.
Problem is, I enjoy the added functionality of JB, so going back to GB isn't really an option. I don't necessary share the same opinion as other people that JB runs flawlessly on our 512MB of RAM. While it is smooth 99% of the time, those times when it isn't smooth seem to really cripple the phone. And, like I said before, the Android OS drain bug is really annoying. I like to reboot my phone every morning, and I never know if the drain bug is going to present itself after reboot. It's like Russian roulette.
So, while my experience with my Infuse has been pretty good, I definitely won't be sad to move on from it when the time is right. If Google can offer the Nexus 4 unlocked at a decent price, that might be where I go, unless I can find a Note 2 or S3 at a decent price.
Infuse is a great phone. It was my first android phone, and I really had no issues. I've been flashing lots of roms but I'm running Zeus 5.2 for couple of months now because It has best battery life plus It is error-free (No SOD, No dropping signal, mms etc). I like ICS and JB but I really want everything to work perfectly. And I already have Samsung Galaxy tab 2 running CM10...
One real problem I had with infuse... is that if you see other phones less than 4.5" I have problems lolzz.
I still have about 8 months before my 2 year contract is up so I'm still gonna enjoy it for a while.
I'm thinking of changing it to whatever they have the best (probably Note 2 or S 4).
I got my infuse about 2 weeks after it came out i wanted it because i was moving away from blackberry. I didnt like iphones and wanted an android because of all the things you can do. It was a 4.5 inch screen at the time the first screen that big and i just wanted it. my experience has been good at fist i had to get use to the size of the phone and it being touch now om bored i hate it and i want a new phone. My next phone will be the galaxy note 2 i was thinking about the galaxy s3 but changed my mind bigger screen quad and lte yay.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
Two reasons why i bought samsung infuse:
1) 4,5 in. amazing Super Amoled Plus display
2) 8 px camera
If I'm going to change my smartphone I will be buy Samsung S II.
Why not Samsung S III? It's to big for me.)
picklnows said:
Two reasons why i bought samsung infuse:
1) 4,5 in. amazing Super Amoled Plus display
2) 8 px camera
If I'm going to change my smartphone I will be buy Samsung S II.
Why not Samsung S III? It's to big for me.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
c'mon dude its only 0.3" bigger...
slicingtaco said:
c'mon dude its only 0.3" bigger...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
old joke:
..for some, the extra .3" could mean the difference between, "Oh" ...and... "Ahhhhhhhhh"
slicingtaco said:
c'mon dude its only 0.3" bigger...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, the difference in size between Infuse and S II subtle.
Although the difference between them 0.2 ".
S III it's to big....
Sorry for bad english.
the infuse will back up my note2 on tmob. it was a damn good phone!well still is realy,but 5gbs and 100 mins for 30$ is good enough for me,just need to root and use an app for the wifi calling.now i just need wendsday to get here!!!!!!!!!!!!
At the time, I was looking at the Atrix, Infuse and Inspire. I originally got the Inspire but didn't care for the sound quality so, I got the Infuse. The screen was what attracted me to the Infuse. I would have like my next phone to have been a Nexus device. But with the lack of an SD slot, I don't think it will be the Nexus 4. Yes, Google probably wants folks to use their cloud services but the lack of an SD simply doesn't make sense to me.
The Infuse was handed down to me so it was not really my choice.
I initially hated it with the stock Froyo. It was too unstable. OS would get corrupted and I would have to reflash. As a result I would lose all my bookmarks and contacts. I would have to add these back manually. The bluetooth was also unusable.
Now I am on JB and it is a completely different phone. I realized it was the OS that was bad and not the phone. Everything works great: Phone, WiFi, music, GPS and bluetooth. Some people have issues with battery drain with 3G. I don't have a data plan and don't need one. I am near a WiFi connection for most of my day. I like the fact that I can sync my contacts and bookmarks to my google account.
I am not sure of my next phone. It would be a dual core GSM phone (not CDMA). Other than that I have not given it much thought.

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