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Samsung Galaxy Note III |OT|

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L

LaserBuddha

Member
Reposting the problems I've had with my Verizon GN3. I recieved it Thursday and it still doesn't work... unless I'm at home:

Long-winded post incoming.

I recieved my GN3 by mail on Thursday. I set it up using the SIM that came inside it, and everything including 4G worked fine. The next morning (Friday) I grab it and head off to work, and notice the whole way there that it is acting strangely. The Note will not connect to any network. Mostly it just shows a circle with a line through it, every once in a while flashing a couple of grey bars for no more than a second before returning to the circle. It is also randomly and frequently rebooting itself, even when left alone in a drawer.

During my lunch break I head over to a Verizon store. They try running the SIM through activation on a different phone, then putting it back in my phone, and that doesn't work. They try activating a brand new SIM in another phone before transferring it to my phone, and that doesn't work either. The employee advised that I should exchange the phone, and directs me to some other locations that have it in stock. I called one of these stores, and actually got the the national customer service folks by mistake. They called this other store for me, and I was told that they had phones in stock to swap, but they WOULD NOT hold one for me.

This kind of irked me, and I realized right away that they wanted to sell all of their stock, and to hell with me if I wanted to do an exchange there. I work late so I sent a family member over there to exchange it for me. When she arrived, she was given this story about a master ticket being created for my issue, that it was affecting everyone and there was nothing they could do to help me. They said that it would happen with any other GN3, and that there was a company-wide block on exchanges until some sort of update was released to resolve the problem. They told her she could either return the phone for a refund, or wait for a fix. When I heard about this, I wondered how it is that they couldn't exchange the phone because it would happen with any of them, yet they could continue to sell them to new customers?

When I returned home that night and was reunited with my phone, to my surprised it could connect to 4G and make calls without a problem! So I get up the next morning and head off to work, and you can guess what happened next...

At this point, today Saturday morning, I've come to realize that the phone works only on my home tower that it was activated on. I returned to the nearby store during my lunch break again (the one that was always sold out). They now have a Razr M that they are using to fix this problem on all the Note owners' phones. They run my SIM through it and it doesn't work for me. Out of time, I return to work.

I come home tonight and call Verizon tech support. We get my old SIM from my Galaxy Nexus "reactivated" and put it in the GN3. It works fine of course, but we don't know if it will work when I leave this cell tower. I went out for a drive tonight and the exact same thing happened as soon as I got a few miles away. Exhausted from all of the stress, I return home and call tech support back (the sound of the phone randomly rebooting mocks me the whole way). By now I've tried three different SIMS, and done factory data restores at home and away from home with every SIM. So I ask if the SIM isn't the issue, and the phone isn't the issue, then what ties it to me? Because there are other note owners that are doing just fine while this problem allegedly just follows me around like a ghost. The tech agreed that the phone itself is DOA. They can send me a new phone but it wont arrive until Wednesday, and they will need me to pay for it as collateral until they receive my non-working unit. But here comes the juicy part!

There never was a master ticket as described to my family member by the store rep (the same store that wouldn't hold a phone for me with Verizon corporate on the line). He said that they never put a blackout on phone exchanges (unless, I suppose, the problem really were universal). He points out the 14 day worry free guarantee, and that the stores can lose their franchise privileges for denying an exchange during this period for any reason. I am going to try to find one in stock somewhere tomorrow before I call to accept the mail exchange. The tech tells me to get them on the phone while in the store if I get any pushback, so that they can ask about the existence of this master ticket and educate the store reps about the consequences of violating the 14 day guarantee.

I just hope at this point that I can find a black GN3 somewhere around here tomorrow, and that someone in some Verizon store gives me a reason to raise hell. Whatever happens I will definitely be filing a complaint to the BBB and to Verizon corporate about the store which has been running interference on resolving a Verizon customer's issue, to the point of outright lying to us.

The store that has been lying to me and refusing to help me is in Lynnhaven, Virginia Beach, VA, by the way.

Different stores and tech support reps have told me anecdotally that a number of people are reporting this problem, and I've been astonished to see no mention of it on Verizon's forum, this forum, or any other.
Click to expand...



Meanwhile, at Laser Buddha HQ...

1383634_10201358729467jk50.jpg
Click to expand...
 
S

snacknuts

we all knew her
LaserBuddha said:
Reposting the problems I've had with my Verizon GN3. I recieved it Thursday and it still doesn't work... unless I'm at home:





Meanwhile, at Laser Buddha HQ...
Click to expand...

Damn, dude, that sucks. I also have Verizon and had trouble getting mine to activate, but they were able to take care of it over the phone and I haven't had any issues since then.

Can I ask how you were able to get the SIM out of your phone? Mine came with a new SIM in it and it feels like it's installed there in such a manner that will prevent it from coming out. All other SIM cards I've used have had the spring-loaded mechanism where you push it until it clicks to install or remove it. This one doesn't do shit if I push on it, and there is nothing to grab onto to try to pull it out.
 
L

LaserBuddha

Member
snacknuts said:
Damn, dude, that sucks. I also have Verizon and had trouble getting mine to activate, but they were able to take care of it over the phone and I haven't had any issues since then.

Can I ask how you were able to get the SIM out of your phone? Mine came with a new SIM in it and it feels like it's installed there in such a manner that will prevent it from coming out. All other SIM cards I've used have had the spring-loaded mechanism where you push it until it clicks to install or remove it. This one doesn't do shit if I push on it, and there is nothing to grab onto to try to pull it out.
Click to expand...
Very simple: use a piece of scotch tape.
 
W

wilflare

Member
really sad this OT isn't moving as fast :/
has anyone rooted their phone? I just did with the latest Root de la Vega method and it does not trigger the KNOX counter

debloated my phone with Titanium Backup
greenified some apps with Greenify
loving it!
 
M

mackattk

Member
wilflare said:
really sad this OT isn't moving as fast :/
has anyone rooted their phone? I just did with the latest Root de la Vega method and it does not trigger the KNOX counter

debloated my phone with Titanium Backup
greenified some apps with Greenify
loving it!
Click to expand...

Hoping to get mine in this week,planning on rooting it but not sure about installing a custom ROM. With all the extra features that the note 3 has I will probably stay with the stock ROM for awhile.
 
G

Gvaz

Banned
wilflare said:
really sad this OT isn't moving as fast :/
has anyone rooted their phone? I just did with the latest Root de la Vega method and it does not trigger the KNOX counter

debloated my phone with Titanium Backup
greenified some apps with Greenify
loving it!
Click to expand...

I would do that but im scared i'll fuck up my phone

I mean I have done this shit before to my s3 and didn't give a shit but mah nice new note :3
 
L

LaserBuddha

Member
I can definitely recommend the S-view cover.

I picked up one in black at a T-mobile store. It's a different sort of "fake leather" than the stock battery door. In fact it feels exactly like a Moleskine cover, and has REAL stitching. It adds a little bulk but feels good and the window and unlock mechanism work fine.

The cover is malleable to where if it wants to pop open because it was just folded back for a while, it doesn't take much effort to make it stay closed again. Similarly, if you want it to lay flat in an open position, a little bending will make it stop trying to close itself. I imagine with some wear it will be limp and stay exactly where you fold it.

Pictures are not full res when taken through the S-view window's special mode, unfortunately, but it's nice to have the option. As for the normal camera mode, you can use it with the cover folded back because of the clear window, but you won't want the distortion of taking a photo with the window over the lens. I hold the camera in landscape while shooting and I have no issues with just letting the cover hang down as opposed to folded over the camera, but people that are serious about taking pictures should keep this in mind. One plus is that the case makes the camera recessed so that it doesn't rest on it when you lay the phone down.
 
Y

YuriLowell

Member
LaserBuddha said:
I can definitely recommend the S-view cover.

I picked up one in black at a T-mobile store. It's a different sort of "fake leather" than the stock battery door. In fact it feels exactly like a Moleskine cover, and has REAL stitching. It adds a little bulk but feels good and the window and unlock mechanism work fine.

The cover is malleable to where if it wants to pop open because it was just folded back for a while, it doesn't take much effort to make it stay closed again. Similarly, if you want it to lay flat in an open position, a little bending will make it stop trying to close itself. I imagine with some wear it will be limp and stay exactly where you fold it.

Pictures are not full res when taken through the S-view window's special mode, unfortunately, but it's nice to have the option. As for the normal camera mode, you can use it with the cover folded back because of the clear window, but you won't want the distortion of taking a photo with the window over the lens. I hold the camera in landscape while shooting and I have no issues with just letting the cover hang down as opposed to folded over the camera, but people that are serious about taking pictures should keep this in mind. One plus is that the case makes the camera recessed so that it doesn't rest on it when you lay the phone down.
Click to expand...

60 dollars just seems insane to me. :(
 
V

VanquishUK

Member
Just popping in to express my jealousy of Note III owners.

What are your opinions on the build quality? In pictures, it looks better than any previous Samsung smart phone.
 
W

wilflare

Member
VanquishUK said:
Just popping in to express my jealousy of Note III owners.

What are your opinions on the build quality? In pictures, it looks better than any previous Samsung smart phone.
Click to expand...

I'm really liking the build quality, it feels well-built and solid. doesn't really give you that plasticky feeling as with Note II.

anyone using Wanam Exposed with this?
 
S

snacknuts

we all knew her
VanquishUK said:
Just popping in to express my jealousy of Note III owners.

What are your opinions on the build quality? In pictures, it looks better than any previous Samsung smart phone.
Click to expand...

No complaints, but I also had no complaints about the build quality on the S3 (the Note 3 feels better than that device). I can't get over how light this thing is for its size.

Have you guys played around at all with the "Glue" camera mode? It's silly, but it's pretty cool watching it manipulate the imagery in real-time on the screen.
 
F

fiore

Banned
I wish body mobile released a car for the note 3.. I'm using a spigen bounce case and it's nice but hefty and the back design is pretty dumb
 
F

fritolay

Member
Where is cheapest place to get one of these? What about that T Mobile $30 plan, I don't wan to play $700 unlocked so what are my options?
 
C

coldfoot

Banned
BigDaddyFatSack said:
Thinking about selling my 5S for Note 3. Hmm.... Does TouchWiz still suffer from stuttering?
Click to expand...
It'll be like divorcing your super smart, sexy wife with B-cups for a dumb bimbo with double D-cups. Touchwiz is 3rd world country software compared to the finely tuned 1st world software you have on your 5S. Don't, I did and it was a horrific experience. Never again.
 
L

LaserBuddha

Member
coldfoot said:
It'll be like divorcing your super smart, sexy wife with B-cups for a dumb bimbo with double D-cups. Touchwiz is 3rd world country software compared to the finely tuned 1st world software you have on your 5S. Don't, I did and it was a horrific experience. Never again.
Click to expand...
Speaking from a position of knowledge on the subject as a GN3 owner...no, this phone does not stutter at all. It also has yet to make me reload a page when I switch tabs in the browser.
 
W

wilflare

Member
coldfoot said:
It'll be like divorcing your super smart, sexy wife with B-cups for a dumb bimbo with double D-cups. Touchwiz is 3rd world country software compared to the finely tuned 1st world software you have on your 5S. Don't, I did and it was a horrific experience. Never again.
Click to expand...

I disagree though :X
it's more like the other way around
 
C

coldfoot

Banned
LaserBuddha said:
Speaking from a position of knowledge on the subject as a GN3 owner...no, this phone does not stutter at all. It also has yet to make me reload a page when I switch tabs in the browser.
Click to expand...
I wasn't referring to the stuttering as I didn't experience that on the S4 when I had it either. It's just low quality crap software without a cohesive design and full of useless features that need to be turned off that will fill up the task bar and eat up your battery.
Shit mail client, shit messaging app, etc.

Anyway that's my experience. Never again.
 
L

LaserBuddha

Member
coldfoot said:
I wasn't referring to the stuttering as I didn't experience that on the S4 when I had it either. It's just low quality crap software without a cohesive design and full of useless features that need to be turned off that will fill up the task bar and eat up your battery.
Shit mail client, shit messaging app, etc.

Anyway that's my experience. Never again.
Click to expand...
I disabled anything I didn't want like the gesture controls. I don't see anything wrong with the messaging app (quite customizable, in fact) and I use Gmail. I don't have anything running that I wouldn't on any other phone, save for the useful things unique to this phone. It's not as slickly styled as others, true, but I'd struggle to invent some frustrating problem with it. I came from a Galaxy Nexus and an iPhone before and I am picky. I've found the increased customization and functionality of Touchwiz features to be nice compared to my previous stock android device. Every extra feature, from the notification bar tools, to the one-handed mode, to anything pen-related, is pulled off very well and works in a very logical way. The extra stuff that doesn't work well (like motion controls) never bothers you again once you toggle it off.

In particular, the handwriting recognition (the icon for which comes up when hovering the pen over any text field) is absolutely outstanding. The only issue I've ever had with it, period, is that it doesn't want to automatically insert spaces when typing a search phrase into the browser address bar.

Worrying about taking 30 seconds one time to turn off something you don't want is inane when talking about something you'll own for at least 2 years.
 
M

mackattk

Member
LaserBuddha said:
Worrying about taking 30 seconds one time to turn off something you don't want is inane when talking about something you'll own for at least 2 years.
Click to expand...

Especially when 95% of those are a swipe and a tap away, you get a full page of options to turn on and off. The quick settings tab is one of the best features of modern android.
 
D

Das Mookid

Banned
Interesting to see a few others upgrading from Verizon GNex to this - exactly what I did. Love this phone so far.

Any recommendations on cases? Is s-view worth the premium?
 
J

JayDub

Member
Loving it so far. Multi window is amazing. S pen with notes and sketchbook is amazing. Phone is super light. Love the faux leather back. Love the black. Love the lack of S4 level of stuttering.

Don't like that they restrict third party tethering widgets from working, but whatever.

Also hate that they gimped the app hiding feature. Sometimes I want to hide an app that's being used by other apps without unistalling
 
M

mackattk

Member
fritolay said:
Where is cheapest place to get one of these? What about that T Mobile $30 plan, I don't wan to play $700 unlocked so what are my options?
Click to expand...

I bought mine on ebay for $680. If you want to think of it this way, by going with the mobile $30 plan, the phone will pay for Itself in a few months compared to a normal plan. You can also see if you can get financing through a credit card or other program if you don't want to fork over ~700 at one time.

Without paying full price for the phone, it will be subsidized through the monthly payments anyway.
 
M

Maxxan

Member
Help me GAF! Can't decide between this and the iPhone5S!

Most of all, I'm worried about getting burn-ins on the Note 3. The OLED's been fine on the Vita, but I've avoided using the browser and Youtube apps because of how easily they leave marks. I wouldn't want to avoid those kind of apps on my phone.

Second, I find the Android icons to be incredibly lacklustre. Would I need to root the Note 3 in order to make them look better, and will rooting it make me miss out on some cool features?

And if anyone in here's an iPhone 5S owner, how's the battery life on that device?

Any input's much appreciated =)
 
S

snacknuts

we all knew her
Maxxan said:
Help me GAF! Can't decide between this and the iPhone5S!

Most of all, I'm worried about getting burn-ins on the Note 3. The OLED's been fine on the Vita, but I've avoided using the browser and Youtube apps because of how easily they leave marks. I wouldn't want to avoid those kind of apps on my phone.

Second, I find the Android icons to be incredibly lacklustre. Would I need to root the Note 3 in order to make them look better, and will rooting it make me miss out on some cool features?

And if anyone in here's an iPhone 5S owner, how's the battery life on that device?

Any input's much appreciated =)
Click to expand...

I've only had mine for a couple weeks, so I can't comment on the burn in. I haven't seen any yet.

You do not need to root your phone to change the icons. You can simply install a new launcher. Something like Apex or Nova will have plenty of icon packs to choose from, so you can use whatever you'd like.

I don't think you are likely to find any iPhone owners in this thread, apart from coldfoot, who is obviously out of his goddamn mind.
 
M

Maxxan

Member
snacknuts said:
I've only had mine for a couple weeks, so I can't comment on the burn in. I haven't seen any yet.

You do not need to root your phone to change the icons. You can simply install a new launcher. Something like Apex or Nova will have plenty of icon packs to choose from, so you can use whatever you'd like.

I don't think you are likely to find any iPhone owners in this thread, apart from coldfoot, who is obviously out of his goddamn mind.
Click to expand...
lol, poor coldfoot :) So I can make the content on the screen look good without removing stylus features or voiding my warranty? Big plus if so.

I guess the only things in favour of the 5S are the simplicity of the OS and the sleek shape. Hopefully the staff at the shop will let me walk around with the Note 3 in my jeans pocket :p I think that's the only way I'll know for sure if the size's OK
 
W

wilflare

Member
Maxxan said:
lol, poor coldfoot :) So I can make the content on the screen look good without removing stylus features or voiding my warranty? Big plus if so.

I guess the only things in favour of the 5S are the simplicity of the OS and the sleek shape. Hopefully the staff at the shop will let me walk around with the Note 3 in my jeans pocket :p I think that's the only way I'll know for sure if the size's OK
Click to expand...

hmm the size isn't that big of an issue (lol that unintended pun)
after using the Note 3, all the iPhones are hopelessly small...
 
C

coldfoot

Banned
snacknuts said:
I don't think you are likely to find any iPhone owners in this thread, apart from coldfoot, who is obviously out of his goddamn mind.
Click to expand...
Having high standards for software design is not being out of one's mind. Android (Touchwiz) has all these cool features, large screens until you notice none of them work properly like you'd want and you miss how good your old phone worked. It's just too much complexity getting in the way of using your phone to accomplish a task.

Anyway, that deragotary attitude is the last I'll ever see from you thanks to the ignore feature. Since there aren't any iPhone owners left on here, I'm unsubbing. Fellow iPhone owners, if you want Android, do not get a Touchwiz you will refret it. Hopefully you won't be able to get one anyway if the latest patent lawsuit is enforced.
 
L

LaserBuddha

Member
coldfoot said:
Having high standards for software design is not being out of one's mind. Android (Touchwiz) has all these cool features, large screens until you notice none of them work properly like you'd want and you miss how good your old phone worked. It's just too much complexity getting in the way of using your phone to accomplish a task.

Anyway, that deragotary attitude is the last I'll ever see from you thanks to the ignore feature. Since there aren't any iPhone owners left on here, I'm unsubbing. Fellow iPhone owners, if you want Android, do not get a Touchwiz you will refret it. Hopefully you won't be able to get one anyway if the latest patent lawsuit is enforced.
Click to expand...
I have a GN3 and what you are saying is completely wrong. The only thing that doesn't work great is air gestures, which is a non - issue to anyone I've met. There are zero performance issues with this phone. Now don't let the door hit you in the ass.
 
M

Maxxan

Member
LaserBuddha said:
I have a GN3 and what you are saying is completely wrong. The only thing that doesn't work great is air gestures, which is a non - issue to anyone I've met. There are zero performance issues with this phone. Now don't let the door hit you in the ass.
Click to expand...

So some of that lag I've noticed on my friend's S4 is a non-issue here? As in, the problem no longer exists? That be awesome =)
 
L

LaserBuddha

Member
mackattk said:
Only lag I have is with the default gallery app. I use quickpic anyway so it doesn't really matter.
Click to expand...
I read in a review that the gallery app tries to pull photos from a million different places by default, and that's why it's slow. Currently mine is only looking at local files and I'm not having any problems.
 
S

snacknuts

we all knew her
coldfoot said:
Having high standards for software design is not being out of one's mind. Android (Touchwiz) has all these cool features, large screens until you notice none of them work properly like you'd want and you miss how good your old phone worked. It's just too much complexity getting in the way of using your phone to accomplish a task.

Anyway, that deragotary attitude is the last I'll ever see from you thanks to the ignore feature. Since there aren't any iPhone owners left on here, I'm unsubbing. Fellow iPhone owners, if you want Android, do not get a Touchwiz you will refret it. Hopefully you won't be able to get one anyway if the latest patent lawsuit is enforced.
Click to expand...

This post and a subsequent re-reading of your earlier posts has reinforced my opinion. I know you can't see this since you have me on ignore, but I wanted to reiterate my position. Believing that Samsung's software is not as good as it could be is one thing; suggesting that getting this phone instead of an iPhone is akin to going from Alice Eve to Susan Boyle is batty.
 
M

mingoguaya

Member
LaserBuddha said:
I read in a review that the gallery app tries to pull photos from a million different places by default, and that's why it's slow. Currently mine is only looking at local files and I'm not having any problems.
Click to expand...

Same here. Mine is only looking at my external sd card, my internal card, G+, Facebook albums and whatsapp, and it loads in <1s.
 
GutsOfThor

GutsOfThor

Member
What do you all use to clean the screen? I have ghost armor on my screen and was thinking about using those Zeiss wipes but wanted to make sure I won't damage my phone.
 
B

besiktas1

Member
Ok during busy times, this really does help with productivity. No gimmicks here, s pen, multitasking, split screen and hover apps are great. No change of going back now.
 
M

mackattk

Member
The battery on the gear is one of the things that I am worried about if I ever do decide to get a smartwatch like that. It is officially rated at 24 hours, but have seen reports saying that it lasts twice that. I would want a watch that would last at least a full week.

Well, that and $300 is a hell of a lot of money when most other smartwatches top out at half that.
 
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