Over the past 2 years I have had 3 separate and different mobile phones. Each with their own problems.
1st a htc hero which had many problems , not anything which needed it sending back but things such as push call and it wouldn't call anyone for 5 mins then place 15 calls to that person. Not sending texts and dropping calls.
2nd a htc desire hd , got the day of release , sent back 4 separate times. Faulty phone which drained the battery dry in 3 hours even when not using it . Another twice for the phone dying and not switching on. And then a problem with the screen not displaying anything aswell as each time taking a photo it would switch the phone off.
3rd and finally the iPhone 4 which I have had for 2 months , and granted to software is a lot more stable than android (and more boring even when jailbroken) but even this phone has a fault with the light sensor so the screen dosnt re illuminate when making a call.
Is it just my bad luck or as phones are packed with more gizmos and gadgets are they becoming less reliable? Because as you can see here the more advanced the phone gets the more issues arise. Now I'm not complaining i think even with the faults there is no way I could live without a smartphone.
Any comments or are other people feeling this way ?
no, in our environment where broadband and instant gratification has become so pervasive our expectations have risen ... sometimes to unrealistic levels
Bummer...fortunately I've had no big issues with my last 3 HTC devices!
I think they're generally just as reliable as before, which is to say not very reliable at all. There's not enough testing and quality control and, as ever, new technology is constantly replacing the old before the old is ever perfected. That applies to both hardware and software where it seems every iteration brings a new set of problems.
Also consider how much more frequently they are used as opposed to the days of the Nokia 33** phones, voice only, no such thing as texting or data.
The more features you have the more these is to go wrong...
omgjosho said:
Also consider how much more frequently they are used as opposed to the days of the Nokia 33** phones, voice only, no such thing as texting or data.
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This.
Or it is probably your luck
From reading your post, I'd say the majority of the problems lies within the user. It's like giving an inexperienced 18yo a classic Ferrari and expect the kid to know on how to properly take care of it. Maybe it's the case of TOO much technology for one to handle rather than phones becoming more unreliable. Funny how I've had about 4-5 phones in the last 2yrs and none have gone in for repair.
All phones now are unreliable crap. . . . All the way from beyond garbage software that needs to be changed to for even daily use(that is why this community exists), to junk hardware.
Windows 7 < enough said
As an ex-Android and WinMob user I can only agree, phones are unreliable ... and lets be honest, they have been for more than a couple of years!
The problem as I see it with OS's like WinMob and Android - they are written to be "everything to everyone". They are then customised either with drivers or a front end or both by a manufacturer and this is where the weak points come in.
Why do you think IOS and WinPho7 are far more stable? Because they are closed environments with restrictions to hardware access/low level coding. Because of this its much harder to introduce unstable code.
I am now a Winpho 7 owner and I cannot express here just how happy I am with its stability. OK, it *currently* doesn't do everything Android and WinMob do but what it does do, it does reliably
How embarrasing was it when you went to give a friend a phone number and your "contacts" would lock up or, you try to make a phone call and nothing happens or, you don't get phone calls ... only to find out your phone had locked up!
Reliability is now 100% key for me.
omgjosho said:
Also consider how much more frequently they are used as opposed to the days of the Nokia 33** phones, voice only, no such thing as texting or data.
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dont be rediculous.
I've been using phones as "modems" for years, probably actually thinking about, over a decade! As as for "no such thing as texting"......
jordanprudent said:
Over the past 2 years I have had 3 separate and different mobile phones. Each with their own problems.
1st a htc hero which had many problems , not anything which needed it sending back but things such as push call and it wouldn't call anyone for 5 mins then place 15 calls to that person. Not sending texts and dropping calls.
2nd a htc desire hd , got the day of release , sent back 4 separate times. Faulty phone which drained the battery dry in 3 hours even when not using it . Another twice for the phone dying and not switching on. And then a problem with the screen not displaying anything aswell as each time taking a photo it would switch the phone off.
3rd and finally the iPhone 4 which I have had for 2 months , and granted to software is a lot more stable than android (and more boring even when jailbroken) but even this phone has a fault with the light sensor so the screen dosnt re illuminate when making a call.
Any comments or are other people feeling this way ?
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It beggars belief that people are saying that these are YOUR fault and the way you use it.... unless of course you decided to throw it on the floor (which i doubt!)
So all those "its your fault" people, how would he/we break a light sensor or stop the screen switching on? Seriously .. would love to hear this!
DirkGently1 said:
I think they're generally just as reliable as before, which is to say not very reliable at all. There's not enough testing and quality control and, as ever, new technology is constantly replacing the old before the old is ever perfected. That applies to both hardware and software where it seems every iteration brings a new set of problems.
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Would have to 100% agree with this! Too much rush, not enough QA.
no, in our environment where broadband and instant gratification has become so pervasive our expectations have risen ...
Monty Burns said:
dont be rediculous.
I've been using phones as "modems" for years, probably actually thinking about, over a decade! As as for "no such thing as texting"......
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I'm hardly being ridiculous. It's common sense. If you leave your car in the garage 6 days out of the week and only drive it on Saturday, the probability of failure is significantly lower than if you were to commute daily. There are a number of factors involved: mechanical failure and accidental damage being two examples.
The same could be said of cell phones - when they had less function than the phones of today, there were fewer points of failure and a lower probability that it would occur.
Just because you may be the exception to the rule does not change the rule. Assuming that is ridiculous.
omgjosho said:
I'm hardly being ridiculous. It's common sense. If you leave your car in the garage 6 days out of the week and only drive it on Saturday, the probability of failure is significantly lower than if you were to commute daily. There are a number of factors involved: mechanical failure and accidental damage being two examples.
The same could be said of cell phones - when they had less function than the phones of today, there were fewer points of failure and a lower probability that it would occur.
Just because you may be the exception to the rule does not change the rule. Assuming that is ridiculous.
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I wasn't refering to the complexity=failability, couldn't agree more!
I was refering to the fact that you suggest that people didn't text or use mobiles as modems, of course we did.. The only diference was that we had a modem cable and proprietry dialer! I even setup an NT4 RAS server for our company...
and texting? Your seriously suggesting texting is a "new" craze....? I might suggest the exception to the rule might be you.
I was referencing the period before SMS was an available service, actually. So you're missing the point.
And the majority of people were not setting up their cell phones as modems on NT4, so you are still missing the point and bordering irrelevancy.
Regarding SMS... I sent my first text message before making my first mobile call...
Regarding reliability, my previous phones (roughly £100 dumb phones) were all useless.
Friend has LG cookie. Worst, least reliable phone known to man.
Hero? Used it heavily for 16 months out of my 18 month contract, and still not seen anything that takes my fancy to replace it comes May...
Best, most reliable phone has been the most recent one.
For those who complain of a device's speed, just whip up a custom rom and optimise it.
Never had any speed issues on my own ROMS... had plenty in others
omgjosho said:
I was referencing the period before SMS was an available service, actually. So you're missing the point.
And the majority of people were not setting up their cell phones as modems on NT4, so you are still missing the point and bordering irrelevancy.
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I'm guessing your in the USA where adoption of digital networks was far slower (and later) than in the UK (and probably Europe?).
Texts have been an integral part of mobiles since well before your Nokia 33xx models i.e. before 2000.
For example, my first mobile was on Hutchinson Telecom (now Orange) back in 1995 Linky
And do you even know what NT4 RAS was? You wouldn't put a mobile on it! You would use a Win95/98 client to dial into it ... usualy from the laptop with its modem i.e. cellphone! Here in London it was common place for IT support to carry this kind of setup around. IT people were some of the first to take advantage of digital networks.... for this very reason. (Yes you could do it over analogue but it was easily monitored)
So, as we are going to labour a pointless point, why on earth do you think texts are a relatively new thing!? Maybe in the states it is but not here in Europe and certainly not in the UK!
edit:
ahh yeah there we go "Location: Livermore, CA" of course, the rest of the world doesn't exist does it...
There's no point debating with someone who's failing to read.
I never once said that texting was a new thing. You put those words into my mouth, and I'm yet to agree with you about that.
Regardless, let me know when you're ready to actually discuss the topic, sans tossing out insults and making assumptions about what I do and do not know
I love the Droid Charge's hardware, I really do. Those first-gen Galaxy S PenTile AMOLED displays drove me nuts, LTE is the effing truth, and thankfully, the Wolfson DAC is just as killer as it was last time around -- I came from a Vibrant on T-Mobile.
As you can probably imagine, I'm loathe to give up LTE. And I've got incredible respect for the work that imnuts, imoseyon, the GummyCharged bros, and all the other developers here and at RW are putting into this phone to make it usable -- seriously, you guys are awesome. But the day-to-day with this phone is just wearing on me hard, and I really miss the serene world of stable CyanogenMod. These days, my battery will randomly choose days to die before I'm even home from work, the GPS chip doesn't seem any better than the Vibrant's was, the phone is noticeably less responsive than a CM7 device with similar internals, I still occaisionally get launcher redraws, and though it's improved considerably with EP3HA I still sometimes get data dropouts.
I know it's the same **** you guys all complain about, I guess I just wonder if anyone else has literally gotten so frustrated with it that they gave up the sweet nectar of LTE to get the hell away from this disaster of a software implementation. I joined the Galaxy S party late in the Vibrant's lifespan so I had a really positive experience thanks to all the great development people had done for it. I didn't really get the full flavor of "Samsung Disease" until this phone, and for chrissake, I can see why people were running the hate parade.
Has anyone else here gone back (or thought about going back) to an Ev-DO phone just for a better software experience? We can pretty much guarantee that the resale value of this phone is going to completely tank after the G-Nexus launches so I'm thinking it makes sense to get some cash out of it now. I literally won a clean ESN Fascinate auction on eBay last night for $81, so I'm psyched about that.
Incidentally I'll probably just buy another Charge for 81 dollars at this time next year after it's rocking official CM7. Then again, maybe the Galaxy Nexus will be cheap by then.
Thoughts?
Here's my thought: The grass is always greener. This is the Groundhog Day of phone forums.
If you want to go back to a 3G phone, how about you set your Charge to 3G only? That way it behaves the same as a Fascinate.
Cm7 is far from stable my friend. Try getting a nightly that doesn't play well with your kernal. Once you've bricked from this you will understand. In a year this will all be different. Phones are being released to developers first now to tweak them for the hard release. Think of it this way... The linux command for superuser, or "su" does not hurt the machine, but opens up commands to fine tune to the user's preferences. If we are given the base framework to recover to, there is no harm in supercharging the system, just so long as we can "reset" it in case of a system failure or resource exhaustion. Just wait until google buys MORE into samsung's development.
Speed rules...
fortesquieu said:
If you want to go back to a 3G phone, how about you set your Charge to 3G only? That way it behaves the same as a Fascinate.
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No kidding.. my thoughts exactly. This phone is without a doubt superior to the fascinate... then again, to each his own.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk
As much as I love my rock solid stable fascinate tsm poolparty 1.5 with glitch v13 rc, Im moving on to the charge bought off funzy32. Why? because I got it for $185. I dont plan on having issues with the charge, because ive never had problems with any android device in three years which seems un-realistic, but Im sticking with my good luck reasoning. The charge in terms of development is still in its infancy. Hell, my first verizon device was an htc incredible and over a year later it is still being improved. I have absolute faith that the charge will be continually developed on. The fact is that it is not a low end device or a middle of the road device either. As many problems as the failure device known as the fascinate has. It currently has an Ics sdk port that from my understanding is pretty insane in its infancy. If the fascinate can make it, the charge will be doing the same.
I'd go back in a second! Sadly I had to send in my fassy to get this garbage.
I was thinking the same thing a couple days ago. I miss my fassy a lot, but it had its issues like calls never coming in or texts not going out. 4g is unbelievably fast...didn't expect it to be this fast, it trumps home internet like many have said.
The fassy was the better phone overall though no doubt. I regret getting the charge as a replacement. I don't have any issues with it but it just doesn't feel right.
You guys are quite the whiney lot.
OP, why don't you post what setup you were running so that maybe we could help diagnose your issues.
Obviously battery life on the Fascinate is going to be much better than on the Charge, with its larger screen and battery sucking LTE.
I've found the battery life to be tolerable on the Charge as long as I'm not doing anything ridiculous like streaming audio/video for long periods of time. I live outside of LTE service location so I have my phone set to CDMA only. As of right now, after a typical day of use (probably 30 texts, 30 minutes of Pandora streaming, 20 minutes of phone calls, and probably 3 solid hours of screen-on time while browsing) my battery has 40% charge after 7 hours and 20 minutes unplugged.
If your conscious about how you are using the battery it is pretty manageable. Turn off LTE when you don't need it. Turn off mobile data when you aren't using it. Switch onto a wifi signal when one is available. Turn off GPS when you're not using it. This is pretty common sense stuff.
As far as screen redraws, use V6 Supercharger. I used to be annoyed to no end because of redraws. Since loading the script, I've had maybe 4 redraws in about a month. I don't even notice it anymore.
Also, if you miss TSM, the latest GummyCharged has it. Just have to go over to Rootzwiki to get it, they don't care for xda anymore.
nowens0520 said:
You guys are quite the whiney lot.
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This. I'm tired of people bashing this phone. Sure, it has some issues, but if you're that fed up with is just get rid of the phone. No sense in continuously *****ing about it.
Sent from my Droid Charge running Infinity Beta
kvswim said:
This. I'm tired of people bashing this phone. Sure, it has some issues, but if you're that fed up with is just get rid of the phone. No sense in continuously *****ing about it.
Sent from my Droid Charge running Infinity Beta
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Agreed. I really don't even understand the gripes. I guess its just me, but I believe this is hands down the best smartphone I've ever owned. Sure, I miss CM7 a bit which I too had on my fassy, but as I've heard mentioned before, what can the fassy do that the Charge cannot? Unless I'm being an absolute phone hog, I can easily go 12 hours a day without turning ANYTHING off. I don't get screen redraws, static phone calls, data drop offs, or any of the other complaints. I occasionally have some minor Rom nuances but you get that with just about any Rom and Android phone. I'm seriously loving my Droid Charge experience! I don't get the whining or the constant threads on this topic. If you don't like it, you don't need our approval to move on. Just get rid of the phone and move on already!
Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk
I thought I was pretty clear in my OP, but maybe not. I miss CyanogenMod. That is the main thing that I miss. The Charge doesn't have it. I guess I also miss having a small device, but that's not a fair complaint right now -- LTE radios are chunky, and I recognize that.
The battery life has been a really big sore spot for me, too. I've tried setting the phone to CDMA/Ev-DO only (completely ignoring the ridiculousness of carrying a larger, more expensive device and toggling off its best feature) to get a feel for what I'd be getting into speedwise if I switched to a Fascinate. I rarely use GPS, and leave it turned off.
It doesn't seem to have any effect on the battery; on Wednesday I ran it CDMA-only and barely used the device at all outside of an hour or so of PowerAmp playback and a handful of Google searches and GV messages. I took it off the charger with 100% juice at 7:15 AM, and it was dead by 6:30 PM. The maddening part is that it's crazy inconsistent: there are days where it makes it through the whole day with 30% or so left,even though I've had LTE turned on all day and have been using the phone fairly extensively. I definitely don't think it's a hardware problem -- Engadget swears they got two days in their review of this thing. The best guess I've been able to piece together is that the battery loss has something to do with with the phone's poor tower handoffs, because I've noticed a pattern of having a dead Charge on days where I move from place to place a lot. Days where my only destinations are home and work don't seem to exhibit the issue as much.
I suppose I'm past the point of being interested in solving it, and the device's limited community uptake (relative to something like the Nexus phones, or several of the more popular HTCs) doesn't help. That's the hugely exciting thing about the Galaxy Nexus -- we at least know it'll be crazy popular here, at Rootzwiki, and everywhere else. I just hope it's got a decent DAC and headphone amp, because otherwise the Fascinate and the Charge are still going to be my future.
Someone asked me to post my setup, so I guess I'll repeat myself. I'm running EP3HA debloated. I've tried it with the stock kernel and with imoseyon's kernel -- didn't notice major differences either way. Compared to its predecessors, EP3HA has been an incredible improvement -- I ran the gamut and tried everything before, but I probably spent the most time with assorted builds of GummyCharged FE. I switched to EP3HA once I saw that imoseyon got Voodoo Sound working on his kernel, and I definitely believe that's currently the best way to use the Charge. I get fewer launcher redraws, and data drops less -- but make no mistake, there are still redraws and drops. I do firmly believe that this phone is headed toward greatness; in a year or so it's going to be a really amazing choice if it keeps improving at this rate. So, I'm coming back in a year. I've just grown weary of living with a problematic phone when Android itself has been done so much more gracefully on other devices -- how can any Charge owner deny that? Even if you love the device's hardware (as I do), have somehow had no issues (lol), and intend to keep it... the ability to run AOSP ROMs and to consistently get through the day on a single charge are irrefutably pretty big advantages.
One of my pals got a Droid Charge the same day as me, and has been experiencing all these same issues. In fact, our decisions to switch -- me to the Fascinate and him to the DInc -- were born out of frequent griping to each other about how poor the day-to-day with the Charge has been. Of course we hate losing LTE, it's obnoxious. The biggest reason we're paying Verizon's hilariously awful prices was to get access to LTE 700, and hopefully we'll get to come back to it soon. It's kind of a bummer because this has been his first Android device (he came from an iPhone 3GS). I told him the day we got our phones that I really wished Verizon had a solid LTE device with mature CyanogenMod support, because Samsung puts out a really embarassing version of Android and it's a super ****ty first impression to show him of the platform I've grown to love. "But," we said, "having LTE should make up for it."
It almost does. Almost.
kvswim said:
This. I'm tired of people bashing this phone. Sure, it has some issues, but if you're that fed up with is just get rid of the phone. No sense in continuously *****ing about it.
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Do you work for Samsung? Why on earth could you possibly be bothered by people objectively stating their complaints about a half-baked product? I signed a two-year contract for an overpriced unfinished smartphone too, dude. I'm in the same boat as you.
fortesquieu said:
If you want to go back to a 3G phone, how about you set your Charge to 3G only? That way it behaves the same as a Fascinate.
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Look how bad your post is. This is a bad, bad post.
kalibar said:
I thought I was pretty clear in my OP, but maybe not. I miss CyanogenMod. That is the main thing that I miss. The Charge doesn't have it. I guess I also miss having a small device, but that's not a fair complaint right now -- LTE radios are chunky, and I recognize that.
The battery life has been a really big sore spot for me, too. I've tried setting the phone to CDMA/Ev-DO only (completely ignoring the ridiculousness of carrying a larger, more expensive device and toggling off its best feature) to get a feel for what I'd be getting into speedwise if I switched to a Fascinate. I rarely use GPS, and leave it turned off.
It doesn't seem to have any effect on the battery; on Wednesday I ran it CDMA-only and barely used the device at all outside of an hour or so of PowerAmp playback and a handful of Google searches and GV messages. I took it off the charger with 100% juice at 7:15 AM, and it was dead by 6:30 PM. The maddening part is that it's crazy inconsistent: there are days where it makes it through the whole day with 30% or so left,even though I've had LTE turned on all day and have been using the phone fairly extensively. I definitely don't think it's a hardware problem -- Engadget swears they got two days in their review of this thing. The best guess I've been able to piece together is that the battery loss has something to do with with the phone's poor tower handoffs, because I've noticed a pattern of having a dead Charge on days where I move from place to place a lot. Days where my only destinations are home and work don't seem to exhibit the issue as much.
I suppose I'm past the point of being interested in solving it, and the device's limited community uptake (relative to something like the Nexus phones, or several of the more popular HTCs) doesn't help. That's the hugely exciting thing about the Galaxy Nexus -- we at least know it'll be crazy popular here, at Rootzwiki, and everywhere else. I just hope it's got a decent DAC and headphone amp, because otherwise the Fascinate and the Charge are still going to be my future.
Someone asked me to post my setup, so I guess I'll repeat myself. I'm running EP3HA debloated. I've tried it with the stock kernel and with imoseyon's kernel -- didn't notice major differences either way. Compared to its predecessors, EP3HA has been an incredible improvement -- I ran the gamut and tried everything before, but I probably spent the most time with assorted builds of GummyCharged FE. I switched to EP3HA once I saw that imoseyon got Voodoo Sound working on his kernel, and I definitely believe that's currently the best way to use the Charge. I get fewer launcher redraws, and data drops less -- but make no mistake, there are still redraws and drops. I do firmly believe that this phone is headed toward greatness; in a year or so it's going to be a really amazing choice if it keeps improving at this rate. So, I'm coming back in a year. I've just grown weary of living with a problematic phone when Android itself has been done so much more gracefully on other devices -- how can any Charge owner deny that? Even if you love the device's hardware (as I do), have somehow had no issues (lol), and intend to keep it... the ability to run AOSP ROMs and to consistently get through the day on a single charge are irrefutably pretty big advantages.
One of my pals got a Droid Charge the same day as me, and has been experiencing all these same issues. In fact, our decisions to switch -- me to the Fascinate and him to the DInc -- were born out of frequent griping to each other about how poor the day-to-day with the Charge has been. Of course we hate losing LTE, it's obnoxious. The biggest reason we're paying Verizon's hilariously awful prices was to get access to LTE 700, and hopefully we'll get to come back to it soon. It's kind of a bummer because this has been his first Android device (he came from an iPhone 3GS). I told him the day we got our phones that I really wished Verizon had a solid LTE device with mature CyanogenMod support, because Samsung puts out a really embarassing version of Android and it's a super ****ty first impression to show him of the platform I've grown to love. "But," we said, "having LTE should make up for it."
It almost does. Almost.
Do you work for Samsung? Why on earth could you possibly be bothered by people objectively stating their complaints about a half-baked product? I signed a two-year contract for an overpriced unfinished smartphone too, dude. I'm in the same boat as you.
Look how bad your post is. This is a bad, bad post.
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... and people wonder why the Gummy team left XDA.
If you wanted a phone that ran CM7, why'd you buy a phone that didn't have it? You should be well aware of how development works, there are no guarantees. I just think it's hilarious that you're going to pay your own hard earned money to downgrade your phone just because your particular favorite toy isn't on there.
I mean sucks that you're having some relatively minor problems with your Charge, but the Fascinate was no angel either. Have fun with your dropped / missed calls, front buttons that push themselves and total garbage GPS lock times.
To be honest, it sounds like you know the game here, so I assume you did your homework before your bought it, so really, you have no one but yourself to blame.
Fivecent said:
... and people wonder why the Gummy team left XDA.
If you wanted a phone that ran CM7, why'd you buy a phone that didn't have it? You should be well aware of how development works, there are no guarantees. I just think it's hilarious that you're going to pay your own hard earned money to downgrade your phone just because your particular favorite toy isn't on there.
I mean sucks that you're having some relatively minor problems with your Charge, but the Fascinate was no angel either. Have fun with your dropped / missed calls, front buttons that push themselves and total garbage GPS lock times.
To be honest, it sounds like you know the game here, so I assume you did your homework before your bought it, so really, you have no one but yourself to blame.
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Click to collapse
Since when was usability a toy? Maybe it's his fault for buying a phone that doesn't have CM7, but it's not his fault the phone's stock firmware is garbage. Why are you all apologists for this device? Is it because you bought it? Do you guys go around, telling people how your phone is the best phone no matter what, all because you paid money for it and to do otherwise would make you feel stupid?
Just be honest. The phone kinda sucks. It'd be one thing if the battery life was just bad, but the fact that it varies from day to day is like having a car that gets 25mpg on some days and 12mpg on others. It's one thing to tolerate mediocrity, but to defend it is absolutely despicable. You all should be ashamed.
Multiple times, across multiple firmwares (humble, gummy, fe and gbe, infinity beta w/ ep3ha) I've had the phone lag at inappropriate times that resulted in committing an action that I absolutely did not want.
For example, and I think this was on Gummy 2.0 GBE (laughably bad compared to even the release candidates that came before it), one time I pressed the power button to wake the phone, and it didn't wake (I have a case that makes it so you have to push a little harder), so I pressed it again and it did. I then slid to unlock, but instead of that happening, the phone shut off. It was so laggy that it actually did detect the first power button press, and the second one I held slightly too long (which brings up the reboot/poweroff/silent/etc dialog) and when I thought I was sliding to unlock, the phone registered it as pressing the power off option on the popup dialog that hadn't yet appeared when I was trying to unlock the phone. Phone powers off. I tried to unlock my phone and instead got a powered off device.
That's ****ing unacceptable. It's 2011, we should have devices that are responsive and stable. But instead, we get a holocaust. This isn't my fault. This isn't kalibar's fault. It's Samsung's fault. We thought we could count on them to make something with perhaps not the best experience, but a passable one at least. And we weren't just a little wrong, we were really wrong.
If you honestly believe this phone is good, you've never used an iPhone. I'm not trying to start an Android vs iOS argument, but when it comes to having a phone with reliable battery life and a consistently responsive user experience, the iPhone never fails. And although I've heard the 4S has ****ty battery life at the moment, there is no doubt in my mind that it will actually get fixed because Apple actually gives a ****. In a year when you can run AOSP ROMs on this phone, I would bet money that the official offering from Samsung remains an abortion.
Anyone who claims to have no issues with this phone is either a liar, or a good majority of Droid Charges are lemons. Either does not bode well.
And stop called the Fascinate, "Fassy." It immediately reveals that you're a neckbeard virgin.
p.s. The Gummy team left XDA not because people complain about the shortcomings of devices but because people do things like irrationally defend utter crap and spout cringe-inducingly stupid nonsense.
@jhonas, The phone is fairly new and the bugs will be worked out, I have complete faith in our developers.
Someone is an internet tough guy...
The Gummy Team left XDA from people like you just constantly whining about EVERYTHING. I don't have any problems with this phone beyond the battery life. That's it.
It's not like some of us defend our phones just for the hell of it...it's because we know this can be potentially a great phone. Things can take time. Look at how the FASSY (you mad?) was at the very beginning - everyone hated it. Now that it's a mature phone, it can be appreciated. Development for this device is in its infancy-unfortunately some people can't or won't see that and insist on bashing it.
Sent from my Droid Charge running Infinity Beta
Jhonas said:
Since when was usability a toy? Maybe it's his fault for buying a phone that doesn't have CM7, but it's not his fault the phone's stock firmware is garbage. Why are you all apologists for this device? Is it because you bought it? Do you guys go around, telling people how your phone is the best phone no matter what, all because you paid money for it and to do otherwise would make you feel stupid?
Just be honest. The phone kinda sucks. It'd be one thing if the battery life was just bad, but the fact that it varies from day to day is like having a car that gets 25mpg on some days and 12mpg on others. It's one thing to tolerate mediocrity, but to defend it is absolutely despicable. You all should be ashamed.
Multiple times, across multiple firmwares (humble, gummy, fe and gbe, infinity beta w/ ep3ha) I've had the phone lag at inappropriate times that resulted in committing an action that I absolutely did not want.
For example, and I think this was on Gummy 2.0 GBE (laughably bad compared to even the release candidates that came before it), one time I pressed the power button to wake the phone, and it didn't wake (I have a case that makes it so you have to push a little harder), so I pressed it again and it did. I then slid to unlock, but instead of that happening, the phone shut off. It was so laggy that it actually did detect the first power button press, and the second one I held slightly too long (which brings up the reboot/poweroff/silent/etc dialog) and when I thought I was sliding to unlock, the phone registered it as pressing the power off option on the popup dialog that hadn't yet appeared when I was trying to unlock the phone. Phone powers off. I tried to unlock my phone and instead got a powered off device.
That's ****ing unacceptable. It's 2011, we should have devices that are responsive and stable. But instead, we get a holocaust. This isn't my fault. This isn't kalibar's fault. It's Samsung's fault. We thought we could count on them to make something with perhaps not the best experience, but a passable one at least. And we weren't just a little wrong, we were really wrong.
If you honestly believe this phone is good, you've never used an iPhone. I'm not trying to start an Android vs iOS argument, but when it comes to having a phone with reliable battery life and a consistently responsive user experience, the iPhone never fails. And although I've heard the 4S has ****ty battery life at the moment, there is no doubt in my mind that it will actually get fixed because Apple actually gives a ****. In a year when you can run AOSP ROMs on this phone, I would bet money that the official offering from Samsung remains an abortion.
Anyone who claims to have no issues with this phone is either a liar, or a good majority of Droid Charges are lemons. Either does not bode well.
And stop called the Fascinate, "Fassy." It immediately reveals that you're a neckbeard virgin.
p.s. The Gummy team left XDA not because people complain about the shortcomings of devices but because people do things like irrationally defend utter crap and spout cringe-inducingly stupid nonsense.
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First off, there are plenty of decaffeinated brands on the market that taste just as good as the real thing, think about it.
I don't believe fivecent was referring to usability as a toy. He was referring to CM7 as a toy. It didn't come pre-installed on the phone - it's an extra or a "toy." It is well known Samsung is notorious for great hardware and crappy software. If you and kalibar have been around on Android at all, you should have already known this. And if you didn't do enough research to find this out, shame on both of you. Albert Einstein said insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. In this case expecting Samsung to suddenly put out a phone with great software given their track record, I would call naive.
Apple isn't better at fixing things because they care more, it's because they only have on phone to work on. All other phone manufacturers prefer to offer customers options and choices. Apple tells it's sheeple (customers) this is what we make, you will buy it and like it.
The Charge was only the third LTE phone on Verizon. Like davwaman said, there are still bugs and they will be worked out. Verizon and all phone manufacturers are encountering occasional problems related to 4G LTE. No 4G LTE phone has a functional CM7 because of the 4G radios/RIL.
And TeamGummy and several other developers didn't leave XDA for either your reason or the other reason stated. It's not my place to say why they left. You can ask them yourself, which you obviously haven't done based on your post.
And finally, you've been a member here since 2007 and this rant is your first post? Really? Not one productive or helpful post before now?
Jhonas said:
Since when was usability a toy? Maybe it's his fault for buying a phone that doesn't have CM7, but it's not his fault the phone's stock firmware is garbage. Why are you all apologists for this device? Is it because you bought it? Do you guys go around, telling people how your phone is the best phone no matter what, all because you paid money for it and to do otherwise would make you feel stupid?
Just be honest. The phone kinda sucks. It'd be one thing if the battery life was just bad, but the fact that it varies from day to day is like having a car that gets 25mpg on some days and 12mpg on others. It's one thing to tolerate mediocrity, but to defend it is absolutely despicable. You all should be ashamed.
Multiple times, across multiple firmwares (humble, gummy, fe and gbe, infinity beta w/ ep3ha) I've had the phone lag at inappropriate times that resulted in committing an action that I absolutely did not want.
For example, and I think this was on Gummy 2.0 GBE (laughably bad compared to even the release candidates that came before it), one time I pressed the power button to wake the phone, and it didn't wake (I have a case that makes it so you have to push a little harder), so I pressed it again and it did. I then slid to unlock, but instead of that happening, the phone shut off. It was so laggy that it actually did detect the first power button press, and the second one I held slightly too long (which brings up the reboot/poweroff/silent/etc dialog) and when I thought I was sliding to unlock, the phone registered it as pressing the power off option on the popup dialog that hadn't yet appeared when I was trying to unlock the phone. Phone powers off. I tried to unlock my phone and instead got a powered off device.
That's ****ing unacceptable. It's 2011, we should have devices that are responsive and stable. But instead, we get a holocaust. This isn't my fault. This isn't kalibar's fault. It's Samsung's fault. We thought we could count on them to make something with perhaps not the best experience, but a passable one at least. And we weren't just a little wrong, we were really wrong.
If you honestly believe this phone is good, you've never used an iPhone. I'm not trying to start an Android vs iOS argument, but when it comes to having a phone with reliable battery life and a consistently responsive user experience, the iPhone never fails. And although I've heard the 4S has ****ty battery life at the moment, there is no doubt in my mind that it will actually get fixed because Apple actually gives a ****. In a year when you can run AOSP ROMs on this phone, I would bet money that the official offering from Samsung remains an abortion.
Anyone who claims to have no issues with this phone is either a liar, or a good majority of Droid Charges are lemons. Either does not bode well.
And stop called the Fascinate, "Fassy." It immediately reveals that you're a neckbeard virgin.
p.s. The Gummy team left XDA not because people complain about the shortcomings of devices but because people do things like irrationally defend utter crap and spout cringe-inducingly stupid nonsense.
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so much BUTTHURT lol
no but seriously I loved my FASSY and I love my Charge, sure they both have issues but are incredible phones none the less.. there are always problems and always will be as no phone is perfect, and this constant whining about how bad it is isn't helping anyone unless its an actual constructive question about how to fix something or why something's happening
Lufc or Scotsman where you at buddies, lock this thread up
blazing through on my 4G Droid Charge
Jhonas said:
If you honestly believe this phone is good, you've never used an iPhone. I'm not trying to start an Android vs iOS argument, but when it comes to having a phone with reliable battery life and a consistently responsive user experience, the iPhone never fails. And although I've heard the 4S has ****ty battery life at the moment, there is no doubt in my mind that it will actually get fixed because Apple actually gives a ****. In a year when you can run AOSP ROMs on this phone, I would bet money that the official offering from Samsung remains an abortion.
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Chopping the rest because this is all I'm going to respond to. I came to this phone from an iPhone. You couldn't pay me to go back.
That is all.
I don't understand how this thread is still going on. We have a parade of "blame the OP" for daring to purchase the flagship Samsung Verizon phone and expecting it to actually work, then people pretending like a battery that goes 12 hours, barely, if you micro it, is perfectly acceptable, then we have people blaming other posters for not making enough nice posts before a rant?
Seriously, what the hell? The phone seems pretty crappy from all the reviews and I don't think that the OP was asking for people to leap in and white-knight it, I'm pretty sure he wanted opinions on things he would miss or whatever if he downgraded to a Fascinate.
(Honestly, "Fassy"? Makes you sound like you're 5.)
Please read ENTIRE post before flaming..and/or commenting...
I am a Windows advocate going WAY back. I LOVE Windows, I am certified, and I have had Windows mobile for YEARS.
I only have this to say about Android. It's more advanced, better structured, and higher performance. Some would argue that is has less security, but as an Avid mobile user and OS support Tech I can tell YOU that *NO* OS is SAFE. ZERO, don't believe the hype. AIX, Unix, and yes even the beloved iOS / Apple OS X can be hacked.. don't believe me? Well that's fine.. it's true.
AIX / Unix sits behind a firewall (if not multiple firewalls) but if you are on the inside like me.. you KNOW how vulnerable they really are, problem is you will *NEVER* get to these machines, unless you have inside access, and even then it's usually restricted to only 1 or 2 machines.... so AIX / Unix you never heard about "security" issues, because they are "contained" or quarantined as the case may be.
I have one basic philosophy. People will ONLY go after the largest segment, period. Who currently has the highest market share of Desktop OS? Windows, that's right. Why doesn't apple get hacked and you hear about it.. because 12% of a segment isn't anything to write home about, that's why. No hacker will go after 12% of users.. that's just well dumb.
Yes, Apple iPhone is making a killing, it's MORE about profit MARGIN and less about market infiltration. I believe that iPhone gets MORE profit per phone and from licensing revenue than actual phone.. this is supported by the Android which has a larger market share..
Why am I saying this.. I am giving some background, to lead into my real point.
I believe Android is totally AWESOME. I have personally tested about 5 different MODS (not a lot, but it was several iterations of each) since I bought my first Android (Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket) in December..
I have tested Alien, Sky, the stock, and a couple of hybrids.. right now I settled on Alien (just personal preference).
From my experience it's a good idea to factory wipe, and make sure if you are installing over MOD 7 (Gingerbread) with ICS MOD 9, it's a necessity to format the mnt/system and mnt/cache. format wipe factory and Dalvik cache also.
I did a bench (Antutu) of my phone. I am currently sitting at 6503. Maybe not great, but considering I went from 4000 on stock, and Gingerbread mods to just over 5000 and now on ICS with latest Alien 7.4 build.. that's pretty significant.
My phone gives good performance, I am happy. More important is NO force closes... NONE. Alien is very stable.
I LOVE Apex launcher (yes plugging my likes), Go SMS Pro. I routinely turn off Talk, media share, and that other system background junk.. I don't use twitter, facebook.. I just Taptu, Pocket, News, and assorted games. My battery life is actually quite good. I set my CPU to userspace on Superuser tuner Pro, I can get over.. yes I said OVER a full day battery.
So yes battery still isn't perfect, but again I went from going 80% of a day (7 AM til 8PM) before I needed to charge.. to now I can fully charge at night, start my day at 7:00 AM use the phone here and there (same as before) and have 30-40% charge remaining on my phone, go the night.. leave it sit until next morning.. and STILL have about 10% left... Of course that makes no sense because I have to charge at that point.. but battery AND performance has improved.
If that's not testament to how good Android is.. compare that Windows / Apple devices give you one continuous list of Apps, no customization to speak of, smaller screens.. and NO live widgets.. Microsoft thinks they "smoked" Android, well they didn't invite me! I will PROVE their diminutive device wouldn't even be able to stutter out of the gate, let alone keep up!
Windows mobile.. is a FAD.. I have a Samsung Focus.. had it for a YEAR (remember I said I am a Windows guy going WAY back) that was my phone.. so I do have some insight..
I think it's fair to say that since I know Linux, Windows, android, (even used 3G iPhone for a year as well) iPhone, and I am a Systems engineer.. I THINK that qualifies me to be an expert on the mobile platform.
Android, hands down.. clear winner.
Thread moved to Android General, 'For general comments and thoughts relating to the Android platform'.
Just having a look on my phone and I relise that all the things I use and rely on are available on my previous Symbian Nokia E71 and that in fact if I still had my E55 I'd be able to almost everything I do now but with 5 days battery life for camping trips instead of 1.
The Nokia E71 was released in 2008. We're now looking to 2013. This makes me want to take stock and say are we really achieving anything with smartphones these days?
Yes, there is massive improvement in an entertainment way and to be honest it's the tweaking and hacking that I love...
and indeed they are getting easier to use...
But my E55 used to be readable in bright sunlight, had global maps coverage, no wakelock problems and loads more battery life. I don't think any of that is possible with a Galaxy Note?
When I look at my frequently used, useful apps I see the following that is available on Symbian:
- VoIP via Fring
- Opera Mini... that fills in many gaps for the lack of apps
- various encryption apps, but... is this with a better security model than permissions that have been broken and sdcards that can be read?
- Gmail
- Global sat nav maps precachable
The only thing don't see that I use regularly is the HDRCam app but do I really need amazing photos?
What about you? Do you find the ebay or Eggdrop apps essential? What about QR codes?
Could you go back to a Nokia E71?
The best features of S60 was battery life I have a 6120c and I had a E72 both phones last 2 - 3 days easily and Copy/paste text Remember iOS before 2009?
What would stop me more from going back to these phones is that non touch devices blow at browsing the web, and also the fact that on Symbian you can't turn 3g connection off, which will most likely kill your battery if you have something like whatsapp installed. I could even be fine with everything else, looking at how I use my phone right now. You're kinda right, most of the mobile innovations of the latest years actually have to do more with entertainment than with anything else. Basic functions actually got better but there's actually nothing spectacular going on with that, apart from internet speeds being bumped up.
Sent from my Lumia 800 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
vnvman said:
What would stop me more from going back to these phones is that non touch devices blow at browsing the web, and also the fact that on Symbian you can't turn 3g connection off, which will most likely kill your battery if you have something like whatsapp installed.
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You can change 3G only to dual mode or 2G only in settings -> phone -> network or something like that.
I have an E71 that I got for testing purposes with our mail system. The stock interface is awful compared to the latest smartphones.
That said, I took it when travelling internationally last year. As a phone and a device to get mail, it worked fantastic. It easily kept a charge all day long, often through 12+ hour work days.
I'm not going to use it as my everyday phone, but I am going to keep this bad boy and use it when I travel or when I what i need most is a phone that will stay charged longer.
I used to own an e71...until someone stole it while I was sleeping by my bedside. Lol. Easiest robbery ever I think.
Anyway...yeah it was a very good handset for its time. Loved it to bits. Battery was very good and the keyboard was a particular favorite. Last phone I had with any physical keyboard actually.
I could not see myself go back to it however. Just be a big step backwards in terms of apps and general performance. Everything except for battery life is so much better on the modern smart phones of nowadays.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Not exactly the same but: I miss my e90 :-( It was the best phone ever! I just wish it had US 3G. No other phone keyboard I have ever used measured up to that phone... I wonder if I could use it as a bluetooth keyboard....
Well, I have been forced into going back to my E71 while my Galaxy SII is under going warranty repair (it refused to connect to the mobile network one day after running it's battery flat).
What I miss most is my calendar syncing, and a decent imap email client that doesn't bomb when you have a few emails in the inbox. As others have said the smartphones are way better for web browsing. The E71's user interface seems just awkward and somewhat counter intuitive. I actually like the physical keyboard better then the touch screen keyboard (doesn't take up screen real estate) but accessing the extended maps is a bit of a pain. I reacon the shift key is in the wrong place and should be in the bottom outside corner as it's used more. But then it's only been a few days and I'll no doubt get used to it again.
I'd really love to make it run android and might give it a crack once I've got my SGSII back.
yeah I could. I have a Nokia e5 as a back up and it does all of the essentials and is way better to type on than my current touch screen phone is. I would miss the syncing abilities of android, and the entertainment possibilities of the nice big screen.... and apps...but I'd definitely survive.
I still can a spare copy of my sim that goes in my Nokia E71 as I use it all the time when I go on camping trips and long distance when I would be away from my charger for a extended period of time. It is hardy phone and the battery life is legendary.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 beta
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