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I just finally dumped Big Red and came over to AT&T (combined contracts with my wife). I'm going from the HTC Incredible and purchased the Sammy Captivate. I was very active back in the Dinc forum, and would consider myself "Advanced" - I did some development, but wasn't yet at the level of ROM Cooking.
I got over here to the Captivate - I'm confused as hell. I've followed my own advice and read forum after forum after forum before posting anything - the Cappy just seems like Greek to me.
Here's what I'm picking up:
1. GPS is spotty, but not for everyone. Mine has always been dead on, but then again I'm not a first-adopter of the Galaxy S. Perhaps it was a batch issue?
2. ROMs seem significantly harder to cook for the Cappy. I see a bunch of leaks from the Froyo build, but it looks half-done at best. Don't get me wrong, I'm running Cognition and I love it for day to day use. I had read a bit online about the lag issues, but I didn't imagine they would be *this* prominent even after rooting and removing bloatware.
That's about it, really. I'm checking back in the forums every day. I'm loving the hardware on this phone - the screen is fantastic, and when the Cappy is fast it's FAST. But I've gotta admit I'm fairly dissapointed thus far with some of the User Experience pieces. The Samsung overlay has some nice attributes (the swiping in Contacts is great, for one), but there are other bits that are wholly frustrating about this phone (WHY would they make the buttons at the bottom time out before the screen, forcing you to touch the screen to get the buttons lit up again??).
OH! And why did they switch "Home" and "Menu"??? I realize Samsung is a global company and that not all of their products are released Stateside, but it's still annoying.
I must apologize, this has turned from a general "how do you do" to a vent-fest. I'd love to hear from any experienced and new users alike. Thanks!
hi I just came from HTC too, I had the Aira, but I broke it. When I went to the ATT store, I saw the Captivate and decided to try it. I'm with you -- the hardware specs are great, screen is beautiful, camera is better than aria, etc. But the programming is lame, especially compared to aria. I haven't had an issue with the GPS, but there are a tons of software issues on this phone, such as wifi just not working at times, the exchange email client almost unusable, lack of languages, lag, and those lights at the bottom like you mentioned. HTC sense is wonderful.
I'm also having a hard time figuring out all of the ROMS and etc out there. I did install one of the lag fixes and it's made quite a difference. I also installed the HPUSA thing but I don't know how to tell if it's actually working. Anyway, install the lag fix, it will definitely help. And if anyone knows of a fix for the wifi, I'd love to know what it is (One would expect that it would just work out of the box).
What WiFi issues are you having? I can't even "see" any WPA networks. I have a Verizon FiOS router and can't see it because I'm assuming the WPA security. I tried switching to WEP though and still couldn't see it. I've search all over the web and XDA and can't seem to find anyone complaining of the same issue.
vbhines said:
What WiFi issues are you having? I can't even "see" any WPA networks. I have a Verizon FiOS router and can't see it because I'm assuming the WPA security. I tried switching to WEP though and still couldn't see it. I've search all over the web and XDA and can't seem to find anyone complaining of the same issue.
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I haven't had any problems with Wifi and use WPA. I can see all of my networks (which are G, not N).
The button thing is kind of annoying, so I agree with you there. My GPS has been hit or miss, but I bought this phone used, so I'm not sure if it was a first batch model or not.
There's not much in the way of ROMs. There's stock and leaks, then there's Cognition and Eugene's, and that's about it. All of those are based on a leak or stock build, so they'll usually contain the same problems as the stock/leak build.
We're supposed to be getting a CyanogenMOD ROM sometime, or at least be able to port it...but I'm sure they can't do anything until Samsung releases the source for Froyo.
Anoter HTC convert here, but I came from the Pure.
GPS is definitely an issue. Mine improved with the OTA update to JH7. Its still not as accurate at highway speeds as the HTC.
HTC sense Rules compared to the UI in the Cappy. Im hoping that improvements will come as 2.2 is more widely adopted.
vbhines said:
OH! And why did they switch "Home" and "Menu"??? I realize Samsung is a global company and that not all of their products are released Stateside, but it's still annoying.
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Click to collapse
That has NOTHING to do with Samsung. At all.
Do a little research and you'll see almost every phone has a different arrangement of the four buttons.
Just going to answer the part of your question about the lag and lag fixes.
The lag on the galaxy s phones is the result of samsung using rfs file system - rfs has a much slower input/output read/write than ext* file systems generally found on linux distros. This is the lag that is being refereed to in the lag fixes.
so as long as samsung continues to put out official roms with rfs file system there will always be an opportunity for a "lag fix" with ext2 (i.e. ryanza's OCLF) or ext4 (i.e. voodoo).
hello_______
GPS is hit or miss, but on the FroYo leak it has gotten much better, unfortunately Samsung released the phones with brand new hardware and apparently didn't test...
The lag is as mentioned another Samsung fubar along the lines of using an inferior file system.
I think the reason for lack of ROMs is most people are waiting for FroYo to launch. We just got our first beta build leaked this week. Once source for the new kernel gets released, we should see a lot more activity as far as that goes.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
MikeyMike01 said:
That has NOTHING to do with Samsung. At all.
Do a little research and you'll see almost every phone has a different arrangement of the four buttons.
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I've done a lot of research, and I alluded to that point in my post. Survey the *American* market and empirically you will see that of the slate Android phones, most have the buttons in the order Home, Menu, Back, Search. And I would argue that it has everything to do with Samsung - unless you're implying that someone else designed the layout of the buttons on their device. After all, they are the reason the European variant of the i9000 has three buttons like the X10, correct?
Krad said:
hello_______
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Funny.
dayv said:
Just going to answer the part of your question about the lag and lag fixes.
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Thanks, dayv. That's a good explanation and gives me some idea of where to go from here.
As for an update, turns out the WiFi issues were strictly hardware. After putting in a bridge with my FiOS router and still not getting any improvement, I took it back to Best Buy and swapped it out. Connected the second I got home. Unfortunately, the touch buttons were totally borked and I had to do a battery pull three times in 20 minutes because apparently the buttons would "touch themselves when they thought of me." In other words, you could see the buttons flash on and off, feel the haptic go crazy, and all kinds of strange stuff on the screen. Yet another swapout and I'm good to go.
I also installed Eugene's Frankin-Twiz last night - it really helped improve just about everything. Hardly any lag at all and I'm liking the associated themes available. GPS on my new device works great too.
sdotbrucato said:
I think the reason for lack of ROMs is most people are waiting for FroYo to launch. We just got our first beta build leaked this week. Once source for the new kernel gets released, we should see a lot more activity as far as that goes.
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I imagine we can also add to this that the Captivate has only been out for not quite 3 months if I recall correctly. So between the newness and people holding their breath for Froyo I could understand people's hesitancy to invest a lot of time and energy in making a soon to be outdated ROM.
came from a tilt2 which is/was? still trying to develop android..it was pretty good but wow i can never go back to windows phone after that mess. freggin love this captivate thou...when it doesnt break lol. ive never had a phone that i seem to get ALL the known issues with and still decide to stick with getting a new one instead. I miss sense somedays but overall i still am willing to stick with a less "bogged down" OS that i can practically do the same with. if i can make the phone do what i need faster then screw the pretty screen gadgets lol
hokiemiata said:
HTC sense Rules compared to the UI in the Cappy. Im hoping that improvements will come as 2.2 is more widely adopted.
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I'm sorry but I to came from the htc aria, awesome little phone. I bought the aria because I thought the sense ui was pretty awesome. After using Cyanogen mods on the aria and playing with other launchers and now playing with tw launcher, sorry but sense ui is crap and for noobs . I got over the whole sense ui about a week of owning the aria and wasn't able to use it after adw and launcher pro.
Sorry had to post it. I just don't feel you can use an androids phone ui to bash another phone. I have only seen a few who use any androids phone stock ui any way and I'm one of them and as basic as it is it still makes sense ui look a babies toy.
Sent from my Cognition v2.2 BETA 4 Froyo - RyanZA's OCLF and Screaming Fast
bytemare said:
hi I just came from HTC too, I had the Aira, but I broke it. When I went to the ATT store, I saw the Captivate and decided to try it. I'm with you -- the hardware specs are great, screen is beautiful, camera is better than aria, etc. But the programming is lame, especially compared to aria. I haven't had an issue with the GPS, but there are a tons of software issues on this phone, such as wifi just not working at times, the exchange email client almost unusable, lack of languages, lag, and those lights at the bottom like you mentioned. HTC sense is wonderful.
I'm also having a hard time figuring out all of the ROMS and etc out there. I did install one of the lag fixes and it's made quite a difference. I also installed the HPUSA thing but I don't know how to tell if it's actually working. Anyway, install the lag fix, it will definitely help. And if anyone knows of a fix for the wifi, I'd love to know what it is (One would expect that it would just work out of the box).
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Curious because I'm considering returning the captivate for the aria (other than the Screen the Captivate Really Kinda Sucks). If you had it to do again would you pick the Aria over the Captivate?
bigdaddy4u said:
Curious because I'm considering returning the captivate for the aria (other than the Screen the Captivate Really Kinda Sucks). If you had it to do again would you pick the Aria over the Captivate?
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Not a chance lol the aria is awesome for its size but doesn't come close to the captivate , that's just my imo though. Only problem I have had with captivate is gps and I really don't use gps, so not that big of deal. The aria, like I said awesome for its size, just has to small of processor to do what the captivate can do. Most things lag on the aria games and movies almost un playable. I love my captivate.
I had bought an iphone4 for my wife to replace her old iphone. Well long story short , I turned a "i will not use anything else but iphone ! " the iphone 4 went back two weeks of having it cause of to many problems to we booth own captivates now and shes sold.
Sent from my Cognition v2.2 BETA 4 Froyo - RyanZA's OCLF and Screaming Fast
besides the gps.... i am very satisfied. here is why.....
I woke up this morning and opened allshare to stream music from my synology diskstation. Got in the car and loaded up bluetooth to my moto speakerphone/radio transmitter. Put my captivate in my proclipusa mount and Loaded up pandora to stream to my car stereo... Loaded up the navigation for testing purposes and was on my way...
Both worked without issue on the commute in.. rocking to guerrillla radio and limp bizkit. Got some tweets and emails... and the phone took it like... IS THAT ALL YOU GOT!!!!
My blackberry 9700 would have exploded and for sure the "r" key would have flew straight into my forehead... where then people would ask me why i have an R indented in my head... is it for Retard?
I rate the phone 95% out of 100%. If you really have that much to complain about then you will never be happy with any phone.....
p.s. - for people who have captivates that reboot or shutoff, that has to be a defect and you need to get it replaced. My phone has never rebooted or shutoff by itself.
p.s.s. Gps isn't great... but the phone does everything else i need really well.
rant over.
vbhines said:
I also installed Eugene's Frankin-Twiz last night - it really helped improve just about everything. Hardly any lag at all and I'm liking the associated themes available. GPS on my new device works great too.
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If you like F-T you might like this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=791366
This has been a really stable rom with HSUPA enabled(no bluetooth issues) good GPS (for me) and a nice theme.
It is an international rom so all of the att crap is gone. No need for the sideloading crap.
I tried Cog beta 1,2, and 3 and F-T and I'm back to this rom. It's good for me until we get a good stable 2.2 rom.
bigdaddy4u said:
Curious because I'm considering returning the captivate for the aria (other than the Screen the Captivate Really Kinda Sucks). If you had it to do again would you pick the Aria over the Captivate?
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That's an interesting question. The aria costs a lot less than the captivate. As far as hardware goes, the captivate is superior: 16 GB RAM, the screen is awesome, the speaker is better (ringtones sound nicer) and the quality of phone calls, at least for me, is a lot better than the aria. Oh and the camera is LOT better on the captivate. I haven't had issues with the GPS (the aria locked on a little faster, but captivate performs well). The issues with wireless for me are really frustrating, but others don't seem to have an issue (wireless sometimes works, sometimes doesn't even though it's connected, I have no idea why).
Based on my experience, I'd rather have the captivate. It definitely takes more tweaking than the aria but in the 1 week I've had it, I think I got everything worked out. I definitely liked the sense UI and email client on the aria, but I can live with the UI and stuff on the captivate considering how much better the hardware is.
If anyone has any idea about how to fix wireless, I'd really appreciate it.
Yeah I'm not gonna lie, we really don't have much of choice on at&t . To me we only have two choices right now Aria or captivate. If at&t got a htc equivalent to the captivate then I would have a hard choice .
Sent from my Cognition v2.2 BETA 4 Froyo - RyanZA's OCLF and Screaming Fast
wmwilker said:
If you like F-T you might like this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=791366
This has been a really stable rom with HSUPA enabled(no bluetooth issues) good GPS (for me) and a nice theme.
It is an international rom so all of the att crap is gone. No need for the sideloading crap.
I tried Cog beta 1,2, and 3 and F-T and I'm back to this rom. It's good for me until we get a good stable 2.2 rom.
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Thanks for the tip! I've never met a ROM that I wouldn't reflash if something else came along. I will try it out later tonight. Do you happen to know if the Twiz mods for custom fonts will flash ok?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
A fun question. How many of us Sidekick 4G owners bought them to replace our rusty, err, trusty G1s? I get the feeling a lot of us made such a migration.
I held onto my G1 until last month, since I could find no other Android phone on the UMTS 1700 band with a keyboard so good. I just couldn't bear the thought of using a touch screen all day. When I saw the Sidekick's I knew I had to have one. And while I do miss that old workhorse, I've also enjoyed my time with the Sidekick. It's nice to finally have a current phone for once in my life!
I ended up selling that G1, cracked screen housing and all, to a friend for $50. Not only is it his first Android device, but also his first smart phone. With the addition of a new battery and a fresh ROM it should have another year or even two of life in it.
I had the G1 until I finally had an upgrade. Still have my trusty G1 just in case something magically goes wrong.
Didnt come straight from the g1 but had it when it first came out. I thought it was one of the cheapest built smartphones ive had but instead ended up being one of the toughest and survived many drops. i miss the g1's design. Im one of the few that thought it looked nice.
Sent from yo moms big booty using XDA App
Jax184 said:
A fun question. How many of us Sidekick 4G owners bought them to replace our rusty, err, trusty G1s? I get the feeling a lot of us made such a migration.
I held onto my G1 until last month, since I could find no other Android phone on the UMTS 1700 band with a keyboard so good. I just couldn't bear the thought of using a touch screen all day. When I saw the Sidekick's I knew I had to have one. And while I do miss that old workhorse, I've also enjoyed my time with the Sidekick. It's nice to finally have a current phone for once in my life!
I ended up selling that G1, cracked screen housing and all, to a friend for $50. Not only is it his first Android device, but also his first smart phone. With the addition of a new battery and a fresh ROM it should have another year or even two of life in it.
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I'm seriously thinking about buying this phone... I miss my G1's kb, I've been putzing along with the og Droid for a couple years (I was living in the states). Now that I'm back in Canada, I need a replacement. I'm not thrilled with the lack of decent camera, but that sweet sweet keyboard looks oh so nice. I do a lot of remote server admin and so the keyboard is a big deal for me.
Are the ROMs any good? I don't need the fancy crap it looks like they've piled on top, just a standard type Android UI would be nice for me.
Failing this I'd probably get the Milestone/Droid 3, but it's been getting kinda meh reviews.
The ROMs aren't bad, we're still improving each release, but they're much better than stock. Not sure exactly what you like in a ROM, but as far as Froyo Touchwiz goes, these are pretty solid. If you do happen to get this phone and find that the ROM selection isn't what you are looking for, PM me and we'll see what we can do to get a ROM made that fits your desires.
sduvick said:
The ROMs aren't bad, we're still improving each release, but they're much better than stock. Not sure exactly what you like in a ROM, but as far as Froyo Touchwiz goes, these are pretty solid. If you do happen to get this phone and find that the ROM selection isn't what you are looking for, PM me and we'll see what we can do to get a ROM made that fits your desires.
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Click to collapse
Thanks, that's very generous of you! Really all I want is to use the phone as a palmtop computer... browser, email, SSH, etc. I don't care much about eye candy or special effects, speed and efficiency are my main concerns. Not so much concerned with it as a social media platform either as an IT consultant's accessory Oh, and Google Navigation!
To give you an idea, here's my apps:
ConnectBot
AndroidVNC
ES File Explorer
Files Anywhere
K-9 Mail
PdaNet
QR Droid
Wifi Analyzer
SipDroid
Skype
Remote Web Desktop
Square
SwiftKeyX
etc
Didn't come directly from a g1 but I bought the g1 the first day it came out, had it until cyanogen stopped supporting it, and then tried out several different phones and none of them satisfied me. I could never get used to an all touchscreen device and most keyboards were very lacking. The sidekick has the best keyboard I have ever used, I like it better than the g1's. I still keep my g1 and use it for a bluetooth keyboard on my ipad/ps3 since blueputdroid doesn't support samsung's bluetooth drivers for some reason.
Sounds just like me! I work in IT as well and use most of those apps as well, and as far as i've found, there's no issues with them, and the keyboard is an IT person's best friend.
I'm getting the Sidekick in a couple days. Coming from the Mytouch 1.2 I have a couple roms I developed in the G1 section. I was wondering if and why there is no Gingerbread for Sidekick? Just curious. Also does anyone know if CM will support it? Thanks. I'm new to the Sidekick.
Sent from my Mytouch 1.2 using XDA Premium App!
There's no gingerbread for it because there's no gingerbread source. CM probably won't officially support it, as CM doesn't officially support anything Samsung other than the Galaxy S. When we get the GB source, someone (probably me) will at least try porting an unofficial CM7, but until we get the source, there's no efficient way to port it.
sduvick said:
There's no gingerbread for it because there's no gingerbread source. CM probably won't officially support it, as CM doesn't officially support anything Samsung other than the Galaxy S. When we get the GB source, someone (probably me) will at least try porting an unofficial CM7, but until we get the source, there's no efficient way to port it.
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So Samsung wont release the source. I hope it gets released soon. If so I'd like to work with you to get a CM ROM going for it. I have two CM7 Roms in the G1 Development forums.
Sent from my Mytouch 1.2 using XDA Premium App!
Also can anyone brush me up on ODIN, and Voodoo?
Sent from my Mytouch 1.2 using XDA Premium App!
Odin flashes firmware like fastboot does for HTC phones (kind of).
Odin is used to restore to stock from any state other than a hard brick. It just restores system images to the partitions.
Voodoo is the set of tweaks commonly used to implement the Lagfix, aka EXT4 partitions. Voodoo ClockworkMod recovery is Red, and is implemented in the Bali kernel.
I would be open to working with you on it, as I am for most people on most projects, let me know if you ever wanna work on anything together.
sduvick said:
Odin flashes firmware like fastboot does for HTC phones (kind of).
Odin is used to restore to stock from any state other than a hard brick. It just restores system images to the partitions.
Voodoo is the set of tweaks commonly used to implement the Lagfix, aka EXT4 partitions. Voodoo ClockworkMod recovery is Red, and is implemented in the Bali kernel.
I would be open to working with you on it, as I am for most people on most projects, let me know if you ever wanna work on anything together.
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Sounds great. Thanks for the info. I kinda new but wanted to be sure. Ill be glued to Google for a bit to educate myself on the Sidekick.
Sent from my Mytouch 1.2 using XDA Premium App!
There's no gingerbread for it because there's no gingerbread source. CM probably won't officially support it, as CM doesn't officially support anything Samsung other than the Galaxy S. When we get the GB source, someone (probably me) will at least try porting an unofficial CM7, but until we get the source, there's no efficient way to port it.
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Click to collapse
what about cm6... Not the most recent but still good
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using Tapatalk
Working on it, has some major compiling issues.
sduvick said:
Working on it, has some major compiling issues.
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Click to collapse
Will wait for it... Good luck and thanks for not leaving
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using Tapatalk
izzy001 said:
what about cm6... Not the most recent but still good
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using Tapatalk
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I'd be happy with that for now.
Sent from my Mytouch 1.2 using XDA Premium App!
OK, I confess it... I'm a root-n-rom-aholic! Nook color, my old just-replaced Droid X, and my new Nexus 7 all have had many ROMs, kernels, etc. and I've enjoyed, well, most of it.
Now may be different. For starters, I'm a consultant, my phone is tool first, toy second (tablet the other way around). It HAS to work, which is why I ended up custom ROMing my DX - I went through 4 phones before I realized, its the software, stupid! My N7 allows me to continue what I started with my old Nook, only now making a good machine even better.
With the S3, things are a bit different...
First, the darn thing works pretty well, other than battery life, and that may change with then next OTA update to JB. While I'm not very fond of the old ICS interface, in general, if it ain't broke, don't fix it?
Second, unlike my old DX, its still under guarantee, and while I think I could recover from any 'brick,' there is always the chance of not...
and replacement would NOT be inexpensive.
Third, I don't miss root-level backup as much as I might - because all my apk's are backed up from the N7 installation if I ever needed to recover them; data is another matter, as is setting up my Apex launcher, but all doable if I'm stuck.
Anyway, I think right now I'm going to wait for the OTA to JB, see if 'rooting' is still possible after that, then we'll see..
just my $.02
regards, jf
I'll probably mess around somewhat but I've slowly eased off too. My OG Droid ran every ROM available at one point or another. Working camera? Meh, not a big deal.
My Incredible 2 was a little mroe reserved. It worked well with Sense and i didn't like AOSP on it, thoguht it felt weird. So i stuck with a nearly stock Sense 2.1 setup.
SGS3 is better yet. I want to try AOSP but the epic camera app in TW has me shying away, I don't want to lose those features. Do'nt care about the sharesshot or anything but other things are really awesome. On top of that, it has to be stable and everything has to work.
Running Synergy now, mainly because I got too sick and tired of VZ Backup Assistant Plus trying to back **** up.
I'm with you on staying stock for now. Prior to me going with the iPhone full-time, custom ROMs where the best way for me to get a stable experience on my old devices due to the bloated nature of manufacturer custom skins back in the day.
Now that I switched from the iPhone to Android with the Galaxy S3, I don't feel the need to use a custom ROM to get good performance. The only temptation for me to move to JB is for Google Now, but I don't want to lose some of the features of TouchWiz...namely the camera app.
- VDubb
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
If you wait until the next OTA, rooting may be likely, but you may be stuck with kexec if it breaks our current method of unlocking the bootloader. Adam Outler specifically stated that flashing the leaked aboot image on an OTA other the our current will most likely brick your GS3, so I'd unlock and root now then wait for the next JB OTA to be ported.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Coming from the OG Droid Incredible I miss some root level things -- but I still haven't rooted yet. I think what I'll do is wait for a stable CM rom to be released, make sure to wait it out a bit for some common problems to occur, then go through it.
Some grips I have about the phone, for example the home button is nice.. there was a physical button on the Dinc, it wasn't anything new. Except the fact it wakes the screen. The phone is in my pocket.. seriously.
Messaging app stinks, but so does everything else on the Play store. CM7 messaging app -- I want that back.
Music player stinks, too much bling. If I wanted power amp, I would buy it (and that's better).
The hardware.. now this is where everything shines. The camera is awesome, fast, no slow downs. The 2GB of RAM is nice too with multiasking.
Playing DK 64 and going back and forth was a dream with my Dinc. Not anymore. USB OTG, even better with my USB drives, keyboard/mouse or even wired controllers.
The phone is great while stock, minus some opinions.. you can't please everyone. Some things deserve a toggle though, such as the home button wake screen = off or on? Choices like that would make the Sammy experience even better.
Stable CM for Verizon will be released sometime.. (hopefully). :good:
Im in love with root level access. I started out with the OG Droid. Went thru 4 of those, on purpose. 3 Droid X. 2 Droid Eris. 2 Droid 2. and got 2 SGS3, one for me and one for my sister.
All of which were rooted and rom'd. All except for my sisters. I see no difference in usability with the S3. Just being rom'd allows me to access options quicker.
I use my phone for work and it has not failed me yet.
Only issues sometimes is the forced reboots.
Every device i have ever owned, i have modified it to allow root access. Computers, Tablets, Apple products, Game consoles, and Android.
Just like you im a root n rom aholic.
I have had a Samsung Epic that has served me well for a couple years. I'm looking to upgrade, and seeing no other qwerty sliders worthy of consideration on Sprint, I am really interested in the Q.
Just the name Q makes me all nostalgic for my old MotoQ9c that is still activated and sits in my drawer for the occasional use as a backup phone. And I have to say that I am impressed with the keyboard on the new Q after trying it out a few times.
My Epic is just about worn out. I have been running CM9.0 on it since alpha, and have it running as good as is to be expected. But it's loaded down with apps, and the slider and keyboard are just about worn out. It's laggy just because it's under powered for all the stuff I'm making it do. To top it off, my otterbox commuter case has broken, and even if I could find a new one, I don't see myself investing in more accessories for this old phone.
The nice thing about the epic, though, was that the dev community was, and to some extent still is, EPIC. So let's just say that coming over here seems a little quiet. I see that there is development happening, of course, just not on the same scale. I also see that CM 10 is available, so I know my ROMing needs will probably be met. So, this alone will not stop me from a move.
Neither will lte/wimax coverage.
So, if some of you would be so kind, just give me your reasons why you think I should or should not buy a new Q. Let me know the strengths and weaknesses of the phone from the perspective of those who have had it for a while.
I greatly appreciate your input.
-AH
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
Photon Q:
Pros:
Dual core 1.5ghz Krait.
Nice keyboard.
$50 phone with contract
Cons:
Integrated SIM and battery.
No ROMs available until all kinks are worked out, I would not expect a fully functional ROM any time soon.
I'll think of more .
I would wait more and spend more on a better, more supported phone, though it might the best Keyboard phone available on sprint. iPhone is probably the best on Sprint, for those who don't like freedom, we'll see what Ubuntu OS has to offer! I can't wait for a native system, Android has been disappointing in the app/ROM stability/speed department.
Depends on personal preference. Even with very little development currently going on for the Q, in terms of performance it is leaps and bounds ahead of the Epic. On the stock Q rom no Custom Rom on the Epic is going to come close for multitasking and performance.
The stock rom rooted and with custom mods is pretty snappy. I have no regrets coming from the Epic. The battery life is great on the Q. I had the Epic for two years, and always had terrible battery life no matter what custom rom or mods I ran.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
Pros:
Fast as ****. 2nd fastest SOC in the market .
Best keyboard I have ever used.
Brilliant screen.
Cons:
Battery life.
Not much development.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk HD
Thanks, guys. That's good info, and all along the lines of what I expected. I've got a couple weeks before I make the final jump, so, unless another phone comes along that just blows everything else out of the water, I'll be getting the new Q on or around March 1.
And if something better does come along, well then I guess I can upgrade that line my MotoQ9c has been on for the last 5 years. =)
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
I have had every QWERTY phone available on Sprint.
The Moto Q is the best yet. I think you will be happy with the decision.
I was hesitant about giving up the removable battery.
But, I bought a Anker 5600 Mah power bank that I keep in my car or in my front pocket with my wallet and I'm happy.
On a side note, the width of the phone is perfect. Probably the widest I would want.
Let's just hope the Moto Q is not the last, great QWERTY phone.
dpwhitty11 said:
Cons:
Not much development.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's going to change
Porting CM10 on the Photon Q and another guy with MS1 - the CM maintainer for MS - kabaldan - is getting the Q too. Although CDMA support might be a problem since he's from Prague too.
So far I got basic things working (display, sound, camera, adb, modem, wifi (partially - doesn't seem to detect networks properly)). Main thing though - QWERTY keyboard - still needs properly patched framework (that's right, stock ICS+ Android lacks support for physical QWERTY keyboard on the phone) ...
Skrilax_CZ said:
That's going to change
Porting CM10 on the Photon Q and another guy with MS1 - the CM maintainer for MS - kabaldan - is getting the Q too. Although CDMA support might be a problem since he's from Prague too.
So far I got basic things working (display, sound, camera, adb, modem, wifi (partially - doesn't seem to detect networks properly)). Main thing though - QWERTY keyboard - still needs properly patched framework (that's right, stock ICS+ Android lacks support for physical QWERTY keyboard on the phone) ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad to hear things are about to pick up!
Now I'll be less tempted to jump onto a Nexus 4 once it eventually comes to Sprint.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk HD
Skrilax_CZ said:
That's going to change
Porting CM10 on the Photon Q and another guy with MS1 - the CM maintainer for MS - kabaldan - is getting the Q too. Although CDMA support might be a problem since he's from Prague too.
So far I got basic things working (display, sound, camera, adb, modem, wifi (partially - doesn't seem to detect networks properly)). Main thing though - QWERTY keyboard - still needs properly patched framework (that's right, stock ICS+ Android lacks support for physical QWERTY keyboard on the phone) ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, why haven't you said anything......
I feel like I'm reinventing the wheel over here! You guys meet on IRC somewhere, or do I need to speak Czech?
Skrilax_CZ said:
That's going to change
Porting CM10 on the Photon Q and another guy with MS1 - the CM maintainer for MS - kabaldan - is getting the Q too. Although CDMA support might be a problem since he's from Prague too.
So far I got basic things working (display, sound, camera, adb, modem, wifi (partially - doesn't seem to detect networks properly)). Main thing though - QWERTY keyboard - still needs properly patched framework (that's right, stock ICS+ Android lacks support for physical QWERTY keyboard on the phone) ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there anything public we can see? Like a git somewhere?
Repos are on github in current state: https://github.com/SkrilaxCZ?tab=repositories (use android_kernel_moto_asanti_c for kernel). Or see here how to clone the entire tree: https://github.com/SkrilaxCZ/android (jellybean branch). Vendor repo is included too, no need to extract anything from phone. Also I'm on ASA14 firmware. I'm porting CM10 as there are problems with camera on CM10.1 on the similar phones such as RAZR HD as of now. And I started this weekend, that's 4 days
Framework is forked, but I haven't patched it yet. So as I said QWERTY keyboard isn't working properly (backlight, onscreen keyboard shows up etc.).
You can find me and kabaldan (as nadlabak) on freenode #motomagic, there are also other guys from US in there to help (well, mind the timezones, CZ is GMT+1).
Skrilax_CZ said:
Repos are on github in current state: https://github.com/SkrilaxCZ?tab=repositories (use android_kernel_moto_asanti_c for kernel). Or see here how to clone the entire tree: https://github.com/SkrilaxCZ/android (jellybean branch). Vendor repo is included too, no need to extract anything from phone. Also I'm on ASA14 firmware. I'm porting CM10 as there are problems with camera on CM10.1 on the similar phones such as RAZR HD as of now. And I started this weekend, that's 4 days
Framework is forked, but I haven't patched it yet. So as I said QWERTY keyboard isn't working properly (backlight, onscreen keyboard shows up etc.).
You can find me and kabaldan (as nadlabak) on freenode #motomagic, there are also other guys from US in there to help (well, mind the timezones, CZ is GMT+1).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Friggin sweet!
So when are you going to post CM10? When you get the kb stuff worked out?
I'm building now, hoping to get some success. Hoping you post it to the public soon!
I will post when the "child illnesses" are solved.
I just upgraded from the Evo Shift and I'm glad I did. The Shift was a great phone but like you, it couldn't keep up with me anymore. I rooted, flashed pwnyourface's customish stock ROM and debloated and the phone's running great. With the fast processor, multi-tasking is much easier and even Sprint's abysmal 3G speeds seem better because the apps can us it more efficiently.
Battery life's not bad but with being faster and with a bigger screen' I was expecting a dip from the usual 18hrs I would get out of my Shift. The good thing is that if you buy the Q from Costco Wireless, it's only $40 (edit - with upgrade) plus you get the following:
-belt holster (won't use but I'll take it)
-a slip over case (can't use it in the case but it's good until I get my Otterbox which I found for $21 on Amazon)
-a car charger/wall charger combo with extra cable (cheapish but whatever, it's free)
- mail-in-rebate for a battery pack and nav dock (will take 4-8 weeks to process BUT FREE! WOOOOO!)
Overall, more than happy I upgraded though I'm having to retrain my fingers to work with this keyboard.
Skrilax_CZ said:
Repos are on github in current state: https://github.com/SkrilaxCZ?tab=repositories (use android_kernel_moto_asanti_c for kernel). Or see here how to clone the entire tree: https://github.com/SkrilaxCZ/android (jellybean branch). Vendor repo is included too, no need to extract anything from phone. Also I'm on ASA14 firmware. I'm porting CM10 as there are problems with camera on CM10.1 on the similar phones such as RAZR HD as of now. And I started this weekend, that's 4 days
Framework is forked, but I haven't patched it yet. So as I said QWERTY keyboard isn't working properly (backlight, onscreen keyboard shows up etc.).
You can find me and kabaldan (as nadlabak) on freenode #motomagic, there are also other guys from US in there to help (well, mind the timezones, CZ is GMT+1).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow! That's all so great to hear. I'm sure if the JB upgrade from moto and sprint ever actually arrives and we get source code on it it will help to figure out a lot of those issues as well. I'm definitely not letting development or lack thereof affect my decision. I know development will happen, it's just a matter of time. My feeling is that some of the newer phones haven't been developed as much as older ones like the Epic because they work so well out of the box with faster processors and more ram. You can't imagine how shocked I was when my Epic froze up less than an hour of leaving the sprint store with it. Everyone knew the hardware could do better, so the tinkerers had to fix it...and boy did they. But if a phone works well out of the box, then there isn't the perceived need for it. Still, I've gotten used to having my phone rooted, checking CM nightlies, and doing my own tweaks. So the fact that this is out there is icing on the cake.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
brandontowey said:
I just upgraded from the Evo Shift and I'm glad I did. The Shift was a great phone but like you, it couldn't keep up with me anymore. I rooted, flashed pwnyourface's customish stock ROM and debloated and the phone's running great. With the fast processor, multi-tasking is much easier and even Sprint's abysmal 3G speeds seem better because the apps can us it more efficiently.
Battery life's not bad but with being faster and with a bigger screen' I was expecting a dip from the usual 18hrs I would get out of my Shift. The good thing is that if you buy the Q from Costco Wireless, it's only $40 (edit - with upgrade) plus you get the following:
-belt holster (won't use but I'll take it)
-a slip over case (can't use it in the case but it's good until I get my Otterbox which I found for $21 on Amazon)
-a car charger/wall charger combo with extra cable (cheapish but whatever, it's free)
- mail-in-rebate for a battery pack and nav dock (will take 4-8 weeks to process BUT FREE! WOOOOO!)
Overall, more than happy I upgraded though I'm having to retrain my fingers to work with this keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I saw the deal from costco, and am probably going that way. We don't have a membership, and it's about 20 miles to the nearest store, and we pass two Sam's clubs on the way, but my wife is interested in getting a membership and checking it out for a year, so that's the plan.
And I know what you mean about changing the keyboard. I picked the Epic because I felt it had the best keyboard available at the time, and that was largely due to the 5th row of keys. My first couple tries with the Q were like going into bazaaro land, but the feel of it is just so much more positive. I agree with the guys over at A|C: the best keyboard on an android phone, period.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
Wow, this generated more response than I expected. Thanks so much to all of you for all the info.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
I thought you needed a membership but when I ordered two phones from the website, membershipwireless.com, it never asked for a Costco customer number, just my Sprint info. I think it's a separate entity that's partnered with Costco or something but you don't need to join to buy stuff from the wireless division.
Hey guys.
Just ordered up my phone from Costco. Can't wait until it comes in.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
amateurhack said:
Hey guys.
Just ordered up my phone from Costco. Can't wait until it comes in.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great choice!! You gotta love it. For custom ROM,I think it will come considering this phone has an unlocked bootloader.
On what firmwares, photon q works with lapdock in mirroring mode? On stock all work. Who connected photon q to the lapdock on CM or CARBON?
I'm wondering the same thing many years later. My guess, based on what I've been able to find, is that only works on latest stock rom. (earlier stock roms display only, no keyboard/mouse/sdcard, latest support all hardware). And couldn't find anyone that got webtop to run on PQ. Lotta people with ideas of how to make it work by using atrix version, but couldn't find anyone who did it.
I ran across a lapdock 500 for cheap is the reason I ask.
Well, seems no. Just tried Jellybean, no keyboard/trackpad, and display is very zoomed in, like a resolution problem.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=41563237&postcount=10
With CM11, keyboard & touchpad work and mouse pointer appeared on phone screen, but distorted unusable display.
With sfos 3.0.8.9, nothing.
Apparently only the final ICS works, but I haven't tested that yet as I don't have any easy way to install... if anyone actually reads this and has a twrp backup of ics, that would be great. Otherwise I'm gunna have to figure out how to run rsdlite, I think one of my old computers has dual boot to xp on it, I tried rsdlite under wine but it doesnt see my phone.
Finally tested stock ICS, and finally everything works (in mirror mode). It is an exact mirror so in apps that allow landscape, everything looks huge on the screen. Some apps allow you to shrink text within the app (i.e. terminal I could set the font size down) and I'm trying to find a browser that'll let me shrink, but still all the UI headers and gadgets adress bar etc are huge looking and can't do anything about that. On an app that forces portrait, it looks more normal cuz that's similar to the size of a modern phone (although you're then only using ~1/3 of the screen pillarboxed).
I've never used Android this old in my life, not even on PQ. But beside the point.
I don't think anyone cares about this device anymore, but this is annoying me. I just read the wikipedia article and someone (with no reference) had claimed it works with LOS. However my phone with LOS14.1 on it has a battery issue and I'm tired of taking apart these things, and I'm tired of re-installing OSs, I think I wanna keep my others on sfos & stock ics. But someday in the future I will either swap batteries or get another battery and try my LOS14.1 phone with it. Cuz if that works how well whoever put that in wikipedia says, that's awesome.
I never used ICS, I don't even know if I can root it the normal way, dunno if I can use simmod with it... all before my time... so LOS would be great if that works. Plus ics supports even less apps than kitkat.