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Android |OT|
- Thread starter kehs
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Aesius
Member
Guys, I really need some help with a smartphone purchase (Verizon).
I've been eligible for an upgrade for over a year and a half (been rocking a shitty, shitty LG Dare since November 2008), but for some reason I kept putting it off as I was waiting for the latest and greatest phone to arrive.
Well, it looks like that time is finally at hand with the Galaxy Nexus (at least whenever it finally releases). But at $300 with a two year contract -- well, it seems a bit expensive, especially when I can get either a Droid Incredible 2 or a Droid X2 for a penny on Amazon.
Being an Android/smartphone virgin, would I honestly be missing all that much by going with a cheaper phone?
I don't really plan on any heavy use -- mostly just GPS, streaming Pandora/downloaded songs to my car stereo, and light browsing while I'm out and about.
I've been eligible for an upgrade for over a year and a half (been rocking a shitty, shitty LG Dare since November 2008), but for some reason I kept putting it off as I was waiting for the latest and greatest phone to arrive.
Well, it looks like that time is finally at hand with the Galaxy Nexus (at least whenever it finally releases). But at $300 with a two year contract -- well, it seems a bit expensive, especially when I can get either a Droid Incredible 2 or a Droid X2 for a penny on Amazon.
Being an Android/smartphone virgin, would I honestly be missing all that much by going with a cheaper phone?
I don't really plan on any heavy use -- mostly just GPS, streaming Pandora/downloaded songs to my car stereo, and light browsing while I'm out and about.
Bboy AJ
My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
Get the GN. What's $300? It'll be LTE, too. If anything, you can get the GN and trade it to someone here for a Droid Inc 2 plus cash.
D'ultimate
Member
Take the deal on a phone or wait for the price of the GN to go down.
You can't beat the price of a penny.
Aesius
Member
There's no way I can wait any longer. What are the chances Amazon might have a deal on the Nexus in say a month or so?
And realistically speaking -- if I went with a Droid X2 or an Incredible 2, what would I be missing that I would get on the GN? Bear in mind I have no experience with Android whatsoever, so ICS means basically nothing to me.
Verizon currently has a deal for $100 off a 4G phone for select customers. Nobody is sure what the qualifications are, but one seems to be upgrading from a 3G phone to a 4G phone. You could try calling up customer service and asking about your upgrade and then inquiring about the $100 off deal. You just might be eligible.
Just get the Nexus. You're going to be signing a contract promising Verizon thousands of dollars, what is an extra $300 to ensure that you have the most up to date and future proof phone?
check your account, I'm pretty sure that you should have a $50 discount and may be able to get $100 if that rumored $100 discount thing is true
I think mobo player has playlists.
Nexus S is getting it since it's handled(mostly) by Google. It'd be surprised if the international Galaxy S (handled by samsung) gets ICS, and super amazed if the US variants get it.
The GS2 ICS build is in the hands of SamFirmware and will be leaked next week.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1385515
Thanks, I'll check that out.
Google+ does it to Picasa
You mean a Lenovo thinkpad tablet?
jobber
Would let Tony Parker sleep with his wife
afaik, G+ messenger doesn't do video chat on phones yet. Talk does if your manufacturer remembers to update Talk in the 2.3+ updates(HTC forgot to do that in the last 3D update -_-)
I just learned that in the default GTV home screen, you can add widgets! So you can stream music while you watch tv.
That's why I'm asking in the android thread, yes.
I have one. What are you buying it for?
The main selling point would certainly be the stylus. I want it for sketching/painting without having to carry around my 10 pound laptop + wacom tablet just to make some digital sketches.
The utility beyond that is what I'm mostly interested in finding out about
Thats what I bought mine for too. And I would say that you should wait for the next batch of tegra3 tabs to come out. Its not that its bad, its pretty good, its that Lenovo support sucks. They've been pretty poor about updates so far. I know motor's xyboards will have stylus input too.
I can answer more questions when I get home in an hour.
I was doing some research on it yesterday and found a bunch of people saying they had received quit a few support updates to the device. Also a dev on the Lenovo forums confirmed an upgrade to 4.0 in March, as well as asking for consumer input on changes.
When will the new xyboards be available (if they are available off-contract?)
There's only been one update so far that was a pretty big fiasco since at first it bricked people's tablet's. I frequent those boards, and I wouldn't put too much stock into what the devs say, they've been consistently wrong so far.
Don't get me wrong, the tablet is great, it's just obviously Lenovo's first shot at a tablet and I think they could do better support wise.
As for the stylus, it's pretty good, but it does depend on the app. One of the best apps is Quill which is an excellent sketching app that is constantly being improved. Sketchbook pro is good for painting, but has pretty crappy handwriting recognition so it's a bit frustrating to use. The thing is brilliant at simple sketching, but not quite there for detail work.
The only other thing is that Lenovo obviously made it for corporate use, so it's heavily secured which means it isn't getting rooted any time some so forget about that.
I'm not sure when the Xyboards come out, maybe in 2-3 months?
Both Droid XYBOARD models will be available at Verizon stores tomorrow. But those are 4G models and will be pretty expensive without a plan.
The Xoom 2 is the same hardware, right? What about those
The Xoom doesn't have stylus support. Actually I'm not sure if the Xyboards have pen pressure.
Jayayess1190
Member
The 10" Xoom 2/Xyboard has an optional stylus, the 8" does not.
Unknown Soldier
Member
Motorola have clever people in charge of coming up with names for their devices.
They also have the worst software developers on Earth. Unless CyanogenMod is available for the device, DO NOT BUY MOTOROLA.
They also have the worst software developers on Earth. Unless CyanogenMod is available for the device, DO NOT BUY MOTOROLA.
Can't find any info if it has pen pressure though. Weird thing to omit.
Looks like it doesn't to me. http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/12/xoom2reviewxoomwhatmat600.jpg
But anyway, concerning using the Thinkpad for art applications, is there any reason that I shouldn't buy this, and is there anything that it isn't capable of doing (considering the limited range of hardware/software)
The business aspect of the tablet is also what caught my eye over the normal consumer-level stuff, so that is a plus to me.
For art, like I said, it's great for sketching, but harder for detail work as the accuracy of the touchscreen just isn't there. It's not bad by any means, just don't expect it to be like a cintiq.
As for other stuff, it's just as capable as any other android tablet with the exception of root access. I guess it depends on what you want to do with it? For me, the browsing is pretty great, and games run well on it though I don't play many games on it. The optional keyboard folio is very well made if you're interested in it. It is heavy though, really heavy.
Negri has the titanium Galaxy Nexus for $690 if you use VZsucks as a coupon code (seriously). Give you $45 off.
Nah, all they do is basically flash a bunch of random colors really fast.
Albeit it does it "gimped" as in not as robust as the desktop version.
I'm thinking of creating a folder on Picasa that is shared better for G+ to auto upload to. I really hope they flesh out that feature in the near future.
AlteredBeast
Fork 'em, Sparky!
Got a stock 2.2 motorola triumph. Any disadvantages to installing Cyanogen Mod 7? Is it safe and reversible? Actually improvements?
Gamer @ Heart
Member
If I were to overcloack my xoom to say 1.2 ghz or higher, would I actually be able to notice a difference in performance, like web page loading?
The modified kernals like tiamat offer better honescreen performance and application responsiveness. Over locking will obviously lower battery life a bit, but you will a slightly snappier xoom (especially if you use Widgets heavily).
I personally recommend using adw ex as a launcher replacement. Its fully hardware accelerated, and can handle twice as many scrollable honeycomb Widgets on a single screen without dropping below 60fps. Quite astounding, and a little sad at the same time.
The Faceless Master
Member
kind of ridiculous to have that huge removable back plate just to access the sim slot...
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