Messages

1

LG / Re: LG G2x User and Getting Started Guides.

« on: April 15, 2011, 08:09:50 pm »

User guide isnt working.

IDK, worked for me.  Took a while to load, but did eventually come up.

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LG / Re: LG G2x User and Getting Started Guides.

« on: April 15, 2011, 03:36:26 pm »

Awesome. Thanks!

3

Upcoming Phones / Re: LG G2X or HTC sensation

« on: April 15, 2011, 09:22:54 am »

I think vanilla Android is a very underrated feature and is one of the best advantages of the G2x for me.  Don't get me wrong, Sense looks great, and the 3.0 version seems to be another great improvement.  However, you can customize everything pretty well with comparable downloadable widgets and downloadable home screens, so you don't lose a ton by not having Sense.  The cost of a custom UI, however, is that you will just never get updates.

If you root and CM is available for Pyramid (probably will be some time) you should be fine.  However, don't count on HTC to release any updated ROMs, or if they do it will be way behind.  With Vanilla Android, it is way quicker and easier for the manufacturer to get it updated and keep you with the latest Android version.  I'm hoping LG comes through on this expectation and that to me could be a big advantage of the G2x.

4

Upcoming Phones / Re: Buy G2x or wait for Pyramid possibly?

« on: April 11, 2011, 08:06:35 pm »

I don't think that network speeds beyond 14.4 are a ceiling T-Mobile users will hit frequently. While pulling down data at higher speeds is a good thing, despite the "more speed" marketing hype, current phones can't take advantage of HSPA+ due to bottlenecks within today's mobile hardware.

I have no doubt that 512MB DDR2 is above and beyond what is necessary now.  I still worry about whether or not that becomes a bottleneck 12-15 months from now, but it very well may still be adequate.

Mobile hardware ages the fastest compared to all other consumer electronics. While we try to "future-proof" with our careful device selection, I doubt that we can make a purchase that will remain relevant for the duration of a 24 month contract in a market where 6 months qualifies devices as old. The good thing about the G2X is that it's a top dog upon it's arrival, not bested by existing phones, like I see some recently released phones that sport single core CPU's and specs on par or below the G2X. It may not be able to "withstand" time but at least it's will be the best phone on the network when it's launched.

As for 512MB being enough or not, it's been heavily debated before. While it will become an issue down the road, I don't think that single spec is a reason to avoid the phone. And for those who already have phones with 512 MB RAM, I don't think upgrading to a phone with the same amount of RAM makes sense.

I agree with J-Hop on many things, we both seem to be waiting for next gen phones. However, I can't really tell people who are still using G1's to wait any longer. At some point, one "has" to buy a new smartphone and depending how their current phones perform, the time may be now.  I still maintain that the evolution doesn't occur evenly over time and I am waiting for the next leap in performance that should coincide with my current contract expiration.

As far as the 14.4 speed, that is definitely fast enough for a max speed.  The problem is that you never hit the theoretical speed.  What that means is while no phones will be getting 14.4 speeds right now, a 21 modem will get a better speed than 14.4 (maybe about 8-12 instead of say 5-8).  The lower theoretical will translate to lower actual speeds as well.

You make the one point that worries me though.  My current Nexus One, obviously already has 512 MB RAM.  Obviously the G2x is a huge upgrade though.  I would probably stick with my Nexus a while longer if not for the AT&T buyout.  However, we signed a 2 year contract right before the buyout for a promo rate plan and now I want to use the upgrade I had been saving as soon as possible so as to extend my contract for as short a time as possible.  I can get rid of T-Mobile 2 years down the road or so, but I don't see myself with them 3 years down the road when they are most likely transitioned with AT&T by then.

Thanks for all the great talk, will help a bunch with making a decision here in the next couple weeks.

5

Upcoming Phones / Re: Buy G2x or wait for Pyramid possibly?

« on: April 11, 2011, 06:25:52 pm »

That's a bummer.  Any idea why T-Mobile isn't making their best new phones with their new fastest internet?

They are, it's called the Sidekick 4G with 21 Mbps.....

lol.  I hardly consider the Sidekick 4G their best new phone.  It is year old tech inside almost at this point.  That is the frustrating part to me.  Why does the Fascinate 4G and Sidekick 4G have a much faster modem than two phones that are going to be way higher end in every other department?

6

Upcoming Phones / Re: Buy G2x or wait for Pyramid possibly?

« on: April 11, 2011, 06:11:24 pm »

G2x will be 14.4, as well as pyramid.

That's a bummer.  Any idea why T-Mobile isn't making their best new phones with their new fastest internet?

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Upcoming Phones / Re: Buy G2x or wait for Pyramid possibly?

« on: April 11, 2011, 03:57:03 pm »

I was actually under the impression the G2x used DDR, so that is good news to me.  Much like the app storage question, I have no doubt that 512MB DDR2 is above and beyond what is necessary now.  I still worry about whether or not that becomes a bottleneck 12-15 months from now, but it very well may still be adequate.  I'm just surprised that RAM has not gone up from the "super phones" of over a year ago, but perhaps that jump from DDR to DDR2 will be a huge difference, even if not an increase in amount.


Oh yeah, one other question I had that I can't find a definitive answer too.  Does anyone know if the G2x is going to run at 42Mbps or 14.4 or 21?  I can't find any confirmed or at least likely rumored 4G speeds.

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Upcoming Phones / Re: Buy G2x or wait for Pyramid possibly?

« on: April 11, 2011, 01:38:27 pm »

I'm right with you t-mizzle on the lack of hardware keyboard phones.  I eventually got the Nexus One because it was everything I wanted minus the hardware keyboard I loved on my G1 and I didn't see any good alternatives on the horizon.  Unfortunately companies are too iPhone crazy and just want to make thin touchscreen only phones.

I am tempted to wait for the Pyramid and make a decision when both are there, but I could be waiting for a while for no good reason.  I just hate to buy the G2x and find out the Pyramid is exactly what I was looking for.  So difficult for me, lol.  I guess I'll be waiting until at least the beginning of May and if there is no more concrete info about a T-Mobile Pyramid by then just go for it.  If there is some new info, I'll have to see what I think then.  Damn all the secrecy!

9

Upcoming Phones / Re: Buy G2x or wait for Pyramid possibly?

« on: April 11, 2011, 01:20:47 pm »

@MCbrian: once you get Gingerbread at some point, you may like the stock keyboard.  I have actually uninstalled Swype and gone fully stock since getting Gingerbread.  The keyboard is a huge upgrade and way more accurate with better prediction.

@Prod1702: that may be a deal breaker for me.  I agree that 2GB is plenty, now.  I only use about 275-300MB right now.  However, with the higher processor and graphics, games will continue to balloon in size and someday that could be a problem.  There are more and more games coming out recently that use 30+MB each, and it is very likely that they will be over 100MB in less than a year with the rise in 3D graphics capabilities.  I plan to have this phone for the full 2 years so I worry if it will run out some day down the road.  There are lots of phones that have been out for a while that have more storage, so that is disappointing to me.  Perhaps some hacks could reorganize how that storage is allocated, idk.  I find it so confusing as to why companies make a phone with 8GB and don't make it all available to the apps?  The iPhone has done that since day one, why is that so hard?  It just seems like wasted space to me.

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Upcoming Phones / Re: Buy G2x or wait for Pyramid possibly?

« on: April 11, 2011, 12:06:46 pm »

Does the G2X/Optimus 2x have a trackpad of any sort?  That is, is there any way to select text and/or navigate in text (for example) other than dragging your finger on the screen?

A few weeks ago there was a leak-post (on the TmoNews blog) referring to an upcoming (possible) HTC "myTouch4G Slide" -- slide meaning hw keyboard -- with dual-core processor, etc.  That might be what I'd really like to see. 

Have you ever used a phone without a hardware keyboard?  I used the G1 for almost two years before I got my Nexus One and really thought I would miss the keyboard.  While I definitely do, it is a minimal difference for me.  I have adjusted and can type fairly fast, especially with the new and greatly improved Gingerbread software keyboard.

Also, I wouldn't hold out for a phone with a trackball or touchpad as it seems that unfortunately those are being ignored on new phones, even Google's own Nexus S.  This is another thing, like the hardware keyboard, that I think I will miss, but may end up missing less than it seems.  I turn again to another Gingerbread improvement and that is the text selection / cursor movement improvements.  Now, when touching text, you get a pin to grab and drag your cursor around which allows for pretty precise movement without a trackball.  I still find myself reaching for my trackball to move one or two places, but I wonder if this isn't just out of habit?

Specs seem great to me on both, but I'm a little worried about RAM and internal memory.  Is the G2x just 512MB RAM?  If so, that seems maybe a potential bottleneck like 6 months from now or so.  Also, the biggest problem with the N1 to me is the lack of internal memory.  I have to run CM with apps to SD because I always run out of space, even using Froyo's built in apps 2 SD and I will not buy another phone with less than like 4GB of app storage.

@t-mizzle: Seeing the pretty much confirmed support for Cyanogenmod this weekend is a huge boost to the G2x for me.  I have run CM since CM1 and will be excited to continue using it instead of waiting for manufacturers and their slow upgrades to the OS.  No word yet no the Pyramid and how hard they might make it to root.  My only experience with 4.3" phones so far was about 30 minutes with a Droid X which was definitely too big for my taste.  The Pyramid does at least look a little slimmer, so not sure if that would help.

11

Upcoming Phones / Re: Buy G2x or wait for Pyramid possibly?

« on: April 11, 2011, 11:38:45 am »

Besides the problematic lack-of-LED-notification on the G2X, I'd want to compare other features.

I was actually pretty concerned about the lack of an LED notification as well as every smartphone I've owned dating back to my Blackberry Pearl has had one and my wife really misses it on her LG Optimus T.  However, I read this weekend about some sort of app that uses the backlight for the softkeys as a notification light that should work on any phone with backlight soft keys, so I think that should solve the problem.

Sorry, don't remember exactly where I read it, but I think it was these forums or the CM ones.

12

Upcoming Phones / Buy G2x or wait for Pyramid possibly?

« on: April 11, 2011, 10:48:14 am »

Any thoughts.  I'm still very undecided on what to do.  The Pyramid hardware does look slightly superior, but at the same time I think the 4.3" phone might just be too big.  I always thought the Droid X was way too big in my hand.  What do you all see as the plus/minus of both phones?

13

Development Questions / Re: How to Setup Android Development Environment

« on: February 05, 2010, 10:37:45 pm »

Very nice and useful information for what can be a pretty complicated process.  I'll move this over into the general Android area with other development info and hopefully this can help would be devs get up and running.  Thanks.

14

Nexus One / Re: Good News! DOA for Nexus = Full refund!

« on: January 26, 2010, 10:04:21 pm »

If T-Mobile got the Droid in GSM/HSPA+ flavor I might get it. The Verizon Droid looks very nice. But, I wonder how long is there exclusive.

Have you used the droid yet?  IMO the keyboard on that phone is a waste.  I'd rather have my thinner Nexus One than the Droid as it is probably the worst keyboard I've ever used and no better than the onscreen keyboard on my Nexus.  Now if only they could get a phone with Nexus stats and the keyboard from my Sidekick or G1.  I would go nuts.

15

Nexus One / Re: 3G has been fixed with OTA update!!!

« on: January 26, 2010, 10:01:14 pm »

The update needed to fix this problem will likely be a radio update and should change the baseband version.  At the very least, the build version would definitely change, even if it's not a major update (like 2.1 to 2.2 or whatever).

Also, Google says the update will be released within a week or so.  If it was already out, they would've said it was being sent out to phones in a rollout, not it will come next week.  Ever hear of the placebo effect?

16

Nexus One / Re: GPS starts when I open the browser

« on: January 25, 2010, 12:33:58 pm »

GPS doesn't use that much battery and it goes away as soon as you navigate from the home page.  This is happening because your Google Search page is trying to find your location for location based search.  This did happen on the G1 as well after an update of some sort, but perhaps that was only on the hacked ROM I had.

Anyway, as soon as you navigate away from the main home page, it will stop using the GPS.  If it really bothers you, just turn of your browsers location feature like this:

1. Press Menu while in the browser
2. Press More
3. Press Settings
4. Uncheck Enable location

Alternatively, instead of step 4, you can go to "Website settings" and disable location access only to www.google.com.

17

Nexus One / Re: Nexus One Activation Question

« on: January 24, 2010, 08:42:29 pm »

On my family's family plan we have the following area codes: 760, 707, 650, and 310.  I have had reps in the past tell me this is "impossible" but the latest line, 650, was added last Feb.  I'm not sure if the policy has changed recently.  Still, as jimbo831 says, you can only get the phone subbed for $180 with an individual plan.

It's not impossible.  It is against policy and reps who activated these lines for you with the wrong zip codes didn't follow policy.  I was never the rep that did what I wasn't supposed to do just to take the easy road and not tell a customer no, but there are always those that do it that way.

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Nexus One / Re: Battery Life

« on: January 24, 2010, 08:13:17 pm »

I notice a huge difference if I have the brightness all the way down or on the middle one.  If its all the way up, it seems to drain quite a bit faster.

I actually love the light sensor on this phone and just keep my brightness on auto.  Sometimes it is annoying in lower light areas where it will keep switching the brightness, but for the most part, it helps keep it just bright enough without wasting battery.  I wish I had something like this on my G1 before.

19

Nexus One / Re: Dead Pixel

« on: January 18, 2010, 09:16:55 pm »

No mine is not engraved. So I get a replacement first?

If you have them send you a replacement, they will send you a regular unengraved phone.  If you want to keep your engraving, you will want to send your phone to them, they will repair it and send it back to you.  Obviously you will be without it for a while in this process, but I have no idea how long they will take.

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Nexus One / Re: Overclock to 1.3 ghz?

« on: January 18, 2010, 09:14:14 pm »

They should focus on freeing up memory lol. I know google will do it but still 1ghz is fine.

I read that thread earlier.  1Ghz is plenty now, but just wait until phones start coming out with the new Snapdragon dual core 1.3 Ghz processor.  When that happens, we will wish we had it on our Nexus Ones.