Database Develop

thinking of going from G1 to Behold 2 tomorrow....questions first!

So I just recently (a few months ago) figured out what rooting was and what you were capable of after doing so, and I have a new found love for my G1. However, I still want something new, because device-wise, I want something thinner. The G1 just isn't cutting it for me anymore.
I am looking into the Behold 2 and thinking about getting it tomorrow. Does anyone know if this phone is going to be an easy phone to root? I don't like what Samsung did to the UI (i.e., the "cube" and the QuickAccess buttons along the bottom that are ALWAYS there, taking up screen space) and figured, it would be an awesome phone if I was able to root it and put a new ROM on there.
Any info back on this would be greatly appreciated guys!
Thank you!

um no. The behold runs it's own OS. No way to ever put anything android on it, let alone "root" it. I don't even think samsung does updates on their own OSs. What you get is what you're going to have until you switch to a far superior phone.. like say the G1 also Android has some pretty slim phone coming out in the near future, are you under some sort of time restraint?

http://theunlockr.com/2009/11/18/how-to-root-your-samsung-behold-2-samsung-galaxy-in-one-click/
You might want to search more up on rooting the behold 2, I just googled that and it was the first thing i found.

sonikamd said:
um no. The behold runs it's own OS. No way to ever put anything android on it, let alone "root" it. I don't even think samsung does updates on their own OSs. What you get is what you're going to have until you switch to a far superior phone.. like say the G1 also Android has some pretty slim phone coming out in the near future, are you under some sort of time restraint?
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The Behold II is running Android, it's just customized like the Sense UI on the Hero.

dam it's going to be hard to get this shoe out of my mouth lol :O you know it's getting late when you fail @ google
nice save Anartic.
edit: and some of the "other" devices i spoke of pdadb.net / android 1.6 devices and of course the behold II is listed heh

If I were you, I would try and hold off a bit... lots of good ones coming out/already out that will be more customizable than that. Stick to HTC devices, since in turn you will have this community. As well, you will have far superior quality and reliability in the long run. Samsung makes some good phones, but you lose this community.

i know next year there will probably be some good devices coming out, but i don't want to wait. that's the problem. and even so, i have many friends who work in t-mobile retail stores so i always get the discount even if i'm not eligible.
it all depends on how much i can get the behold 2 for tomorrow. my friend already told me he would get me the mytouch for 149.99. if i was to get the behold 2 i'm thinking it would be the 199.99 price that current tmobile customers are eligible for. if its the 229.99 price, then i most likely wont get it and will get the mytouch.
but overall, i like the look of the behold 2 more than any of the current offerings from tmobile. my g1 runs good with cyans 4.2.5 rom.. its the fastest yet and getting better all the time. but the battery life is just damn awful and i can't deal with that anymore. and not to mention the behold 2 has a 5mp cam with flash. and that's something drawing me towards that phone. and also the 320MB RAM

I've never been a fan of samsungs.. all that graphical jazz gets in the way of usability imo.
Quite apart from that, I would be lost without my familiar bootloader/recovery system. It would be like losing a limb after all these years.

i have the behold 2 and the UI is terrible, really hurts usability. i'll write more details later, but i'll be flashing to stock android first opportunity i get.

Your basically exchanging a 1rst generation android phone, for another 1rst generation android phone that is running 1.5 (maybe 1.6, I can't recall). I would just wait man.... I really dont think a camera on a phone is more important. Why not wait a few months and get a stellar phone with a bigger processor and android 2.0. I really think it's a bad move on your part.

I took back the Behold II today and exchanged it for a myTouch. I had it for one day. Which shows you what I think about it.
Don't do it. I was in the same situation as you, I had the g1 since day one and got tired of it (and it's bulkiness), except that I switched to the Pre (which was good, but not Android) and gave my G1 away. I was with a dumbphone for a couple of months. So even though I plan on getting the Xperia X10, I couldn't live without a smartphone any longer..
But the Behold II is not a good phone. The UI changes are MAJOR. I know that they don't look major, before I got the phone I thought that the "touchwiz interface" was just the stupid cube. Don't use the cube, it's that simple right? Wrong. The entire screen is from the perspective that you are "inside the cube". So when you change screens, there is an animation of the cube moving. And it's not a simple "camera trick", because you can see your widgets moving as if they are on a 3D surface. It's kinda sorta cool, but it VERY LAGGY too....
This is the laggiest phone I've ever owned. You know how sometimes your G1 will be a little laggy when you bring up the app drawer? Well the Behold II does this every time. That's the worst thing, and why if I was Samsung I wouldn't have released the phone. Quite frankly, for the engineers it is embarrassing. I would be embarrassed to release this phone.
I'm cool with Android skinning... but they do more than just skin it. They have replaced most of the major applications (contacts, music, photos) with their own.... and what's crazy is that they are all worse than the android apps. Contacts can only be searched by first name... the music player is just awful, you can't get back to the main screen by bringing up the menu...
On all of the apps, when you bring up the menu, the buttons don't have icons. That doesn't hurt usability but it does show that Samsung didn't even want to pay designers to draw icons. It shows how little effort they put into this phone. It seems obvious that they didn't want to pay google for their apps so they made bad alternatives.
What this has done for me is open my eyes and make me realize how much I like stock android UI. It's really quite lovely once you're accustomed to it. I got the myTouch (which i'm loving so far) with the plan of still getting the Xperia X10... but I might not now. Not because the myTouch is so awesome, it is a 1gen phone after all.. but because I don't know if I want to leave stock android again.
Anyways, if you want another 1st gen android device, they are many good choices but the Behold II is not one of them. It'll will make me think twice about buying a Samsung product in the future because they obviously put no effort into this device other than to put their branding into it.

s15274n said:
Your basically exchanging a 1rst generation android phone, for another 1rst generation android phone that is running 1.5 (maybe 1.6, I can't recall). I would just wait man.... I really dont think a camera on a phone is more important. Why not wait a few months and get a stellar phone with a bigger processor and android 2.0. I really think it's a bad move on your part.
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it's 1.5 and won't get 1.6 even. samsung has no intent to upgrade this phone, ever.
And the camera, in my limited time, wasn't as great as advertised. Well, there are many reviewers out there who are more experts than I when it comes to camera, so I will take their word... but when I took pictures I had the same "shacky camera" problem that is typical of cell phone pictures.

mateo2 said:
it's 1.5 and won't get 1.6 even. samsung has no intent to upgrade this phone, ever.
And the camera, in my limited time, wasn't as great as advertised. Well, there are many reviewers out there who are more experts than I when it comes to camera, so I will take their word... but when I took pictures I had the same "shacky camera" problem that is typical of cell phone pictures.
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gotta agree here, im a long time samsung instinct owner(origional&S30) both were awful including the custom Ui.Upgrades always made other features broken, but now im a proud G1 owner w/cyan mod.

Just thought of a couple of others things. I buy my music from lala.com (great great service, highly recommended) and when I put my mp3s on the Behold II they all came up as "unknown" artist. I assumed there was something wrong with the mp3 tags and thought of maybe contacting lala and asking why they have bad tags... but then when I exchanged the Behold II and got the myTouch, the tags are just fine on the same mp3 files. So the Samsung mp3 player doesn't recognize these artist tags for some reason, who knows why. Terrible.
Also, the home screen UI doesn't "snap" in place. So you can literally stack widgets/icons on top of each other. For a neat freak like me, getting everything "in line" is annoyingly difficult.
Not everything is bad. The virtual keyboard was pretty good, maybe even better than stock android. But overall the phone is flat-out embarrassing. I will never buy another Samsung phone, ever.

Also, the GPS is awful. I only had it for a day, but Maps was never able to locate me. Ever. After I got the myTouch, it locked me in on the drive home.

mateo2 said:
it's 1.5 and won't get 1.6 even. samsung has no intent to upgrade this phone, ever.
And the camera, in my limited time, wasn't as great as advertised. Well, there are many reviewers out there who are more experts than I when it comes to camera, so I will take their word... but when I took pictures I had the same "shacky camera" problem that is typical of cell phone pictures.
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umm actually you're wrong. they have stated that it will be upgraded to 2.0

Hey, I'm new here, and also new to smartphones. I was told to read up on this site to learn more about them. I bought a Behold II a couple days ago and its awesome. Now I realize its my first smartphone, so its probably in actuality not as awesome as I think it is, however I have spent plenty of time playing around with my friend's G1, and also a lot of time with the Cliq. So while this is this is the first I've ever owned, its not my first smartphone experience.
As for mateo2, its unfortunate that you had all those problems with the phone, but I've had it for about 5 days now and have not experienced all the problems you did. For instance, the app drawer has yet to lag in the 5 days that I've owned the phone. The home screens however do lag for about the first 5 seconds after you wake the phone up. This can be an annoyance to some, but it really is only about 5 seconds or so, and then its gone. I mean I can live with it.
Also, I disagree about the music player, I think it is much nicer than stock Android, the only problem is that the cover art doesn't transfer. It does on some, but on most it doesn't. So, hopefully there will be an update soon to fix that. I'm not quite sure what you're talking about with not being able to get back to the main screen by pressing menu. If you mean the home screen of the phone just hit home. If you mean the main screen of the music player you just swipe left or right.
Also, as someone else has said you are misinformed about the update, it will get updated to 2.0. Samsung has the update ready and is waiting on Tmobile to release it. It is mentioned in passing in the review or preview by Cnet I believe.
Contacts can only be searched by first name which may be an annoyance to some, but not really to me.
Also, the keyboard is much better than the stock Android's I have used. Some people have reported a lag that can be fixed by turning off the vibration feedback, I haven't had it lag noticeably yet though. The keyboard IS difficult to use in portrait mode however, so someone might want to get a keyboard replacement because of that. I only find that its difficult when I'm trying to do other things at the same time, like drive, so I'm going to keep the keyboard so I don't text and drive anymore lol.
The camera is the best I've seen on a phone. Better than the Behold my girlfriend has, better picture than the iPhone that my friend has (although not as quick), better than the Droid (from the short time I had with it, and also from reviews that I've seen of it). The flash can be too bright at times, but some time with the camera and you figure out how to work it properly and the pictures are really quite amazing for a phone.
If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer them the best I can. Like I said earlier, I'm not as smart as you guys when it comes to these devices so you might ask me something that I have no idea how to answer haha. But, I plan on reading around this forum over the next couple of weeks to expand my knowledge. Hopefully it works, and I can root the thing without breaking it

Candiria92 said:
Hey, I'm new here, and also new to smartphones. I was told to read up on this site to learn more about them. I bought a Behold II a couple days ago and its awesome. Now I realize its my first smartphone, so its probably in actuality not as awesome as I think it is, however I have spent plenty of time playing around with my friend's G1, and also a lot of time with the Cliq. So while this is this is the first I've ever owned, its not my first smartphone experience.
As for mateo2, its unfortunate that you had all those problems with the phone, but I've had it for about 5 days now and have not experienced all the problems you did. For instance, the app drawer has yet to lag in the 5 days that I've owned the phone. The home screens however do lag for about the first 5 seconds after you wake the phone up. This can be an annoyance to some, but it really is only about 5 seconds or so, and then its gone. I mean I can live with it.
Also, I disagree about the music player, I think it is much nicer than stock Android, the only problem is that the cover art doesn't transfer. It does on some, but on most it doesn't. So, hopefully there will be an update soon to fix that. I'm not quite sure what you're talking about with not being able to get back to the main screen by pressing menu. If you mean the home screen of the phone just hit home. If you mean the main screen of the music player you just swipe left or right.
Also, as someone else has said you are misinformed about the update, it will get updated to 2.0. Samsung has the update ready and is waiting on Tmobile to release it. It is mentioned in passing in the review or preview by Cnet I believe.
Contacts can only be searched by first name which may be an annoyance to some, but not really to me.
Also, the keyboard is much better than the stock Android's I have used. Some people have reported a lag that can be fixed by turning off the vibration feedback, I haven't had it lag noticeably yet though. The keyboard IS difficult to use in portrait mode however, so someone might want to get a keyboard replacement because of that. I only find that its difficult when I'm trying to do other things at the same time, like drive, so I'm going to keep the keyboard so I don't text and drive anymore lol.
The camera is the best I've seen on a phone. Better than the Behold my girlfriend has, better picture than the iPhone that my friend has (although not as quick), better than the Droid (from the short time I had with it, and also from reviews that I've seen of it). The flash can be too bright at times, but some time with the camera and you figure out how to work it properly and the pictures are really quite amazing for a phone.
If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer them the best I can. Like I said earlier, I'm not as smart as you guys when it comes to these devices so you might ask me something that I have no idea how to answer haha. But, I plan on reading around this forum over the next couple of weeks to expand my knowledge. Hopefully it works, and I can root the thing without breaking it
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well put man. i've had this phone since the day it came out, so, i guess a week now. and i'm liking it. it has taken some getting use to after having a G1 for over a year, but i am very glad i made this purchase and not the mytouch. the mytouch is great, but its missing things that this phone doesn't have. one of these days, hopefully soon, there will be a hack to where we can root this phone without it getting rid of the root at startup, because as of right now, that is what is happening. samsung has put a pretty tough security lock on this phone. hopefully someone can crack it soon.

[Q] EVO vs Epic?

So I've seen a few of these threads, but neither were really much help. I'm either already eligible or will soon be eligible for an upgrade, and I'm really thinking about getting either the Epic or the Evo. The Evo is a big contender, just because it's made by HTC and the camera is better, from what I've seen (haven't really seen video/pics from the Epic yet. Basically, the only thing I'm really hoping for is better battery life than I'm currently getting with my Hero (probably won't see the need to overclock whichever phone I get, I'll underclock it a bit if anything, I'm happy with the speed of my Hero at 629mhz).
So basically, it comes down to:
Price: which is cheaper, where can I get the best deal? 2 year extension, and my price *should* be the same as the new customer pricing.
Battery Life: will it be better than the 6 hours or so I get with my Hero?
CM6 availability: I'll probably stick with this ROM, I love it so much on my Hero.
camera: is the Epic's camera better than my Hero's? Also, this isn't completely about MP, since it's the actual quality of the sensor that makes the difference. Do either/both have an LED flash?
form factor: I have no problem with a device being completely touch-based, but from what I've seen/experienced with the Epic, I really like the keyboard.
known issues: what issues are known for each device? I know of GPS with the Epic, but are there any issues to keep an eye out for on the Evo?
HTC vs Samsung: I got the Hero over the Moment simply because despite the Moment's better specs, the Hero just "felt" better. How does the slider on the Epic feel? Sturdy? This isnt something I've really seen in reviews. Overall build quality of the phone? Any crazy Hero-esque dust issues with either phone? I also have seen some chipping/peeling of paint on my phone, any wear issues with either phone?
futureproofing: what's the life span of each phone look like? I know the Evo is probably coming up on EOL, and I've heard rumors of an Evo 2 for a while.
Hopefully we can keep this fairly unbiased, but I'm sure I'll get some people saying that one is better just because of whatever, but I'm hoping that I'll get some flat out opinions from both sides of the fence.

Really Me would be EVO. I can't bring myself to trust samsung anymore..
Who cares bout the life span anymore. I mean hell new phones come out everyday.etc.
I mean If you got the EVO right now. will It be underpowered this time next year? Doubt it.

I have an Evo, but I'll keep this as unbiased as I can. I know hardly anything about the Epic.
1.The Evo is $50 cheaper than the Epic with a two year contract.
2. Runing CM6, I get about eighteen hours of total on time, and six and a half with the screen on (texting, web browsing, all that). I'm a pretty heavy user. However, the Evo is infamous for its bad battery life in reviews and such. I never had any problems, and most of the battery issues had to do with the phone not sleeping or account syncs eating up the battery. I don't make any compromises (like keeping 3G off or turning my syncs off) to get the numbers I listed. I don't know anything about the Epic's battery.
3. CM6 RC1 is available for the Evo. The dev support is really strong. Epic doesn't have much dev support from what I've heard.
4. The Evo's camera isn't very good. It shoots 720p video, but with the stock Sense ROM (and custom Sense ROMs) it's only good quality with plenty of light. The general consensus is that the code written for the camera isn't very good.
5. This is completely opinion. I know there are times when a physical keyboard would be nice, but I have no problems with an onscreen keyboard and Swype.
6. The Evo had screen separation issues and light leak issues, but they weren't widespread and Sprint will fix you up if you run into one of those things. I didn't.
7. This is the same reason I chose the Evo over the Epic. It just felt better, for whatever reason. The build quality is very good on the Evo. My only problem with the phone's design is that the battery cover is pretty thin. It gives slightly when you put pressure on it.The screen and the rest of the phone is solid. I've heard some people complain about dust under the screen. I've had my Evo since August and haven't had that issue.
8. Not sure. I know that there have been rumours about some dual-core phones hitting the market in Q1/Q2 2011, but I can't see myself needing anything other than my Evo until then.
I hope that helps. I don't know a whole lot about the Epic. I know that the screen is fantastic, but the dev support isn't that great and to me, the Evo just feels better. I'm not an HTC fanboy or anything - if somebody took my Evo and gave me an Epic, I'm sure I wouldn't be too upset.

I agree, it'd be an evo for me, not a huge samsung/physical keyboard fan myself

The Epic has a gorgeous screen Super AMOLED, a 1GHZ Hummingbird processor and a surprisingly thin form-factor for a slider. The hummingbird is a very fast processor--anecdotally it runs way better than the snapdragon. Despite all these goodies, it is a Samsung and I'm done with them. My Samsung Moment was a big disappointment of glitches and radio/data lock-ups, rebooting, freezes, etc.
The Evo would be my preferred device, but I'm waiting until March next year (at the latest) to see what comes up.
No matter what, I'm staying with sprint.

boiker said:
The Epic has a gorgeous screen Super AMOLED, a 1GHZ Hummingbird processor and a surprisingly thin form-factor for a slider. The hummingbird is a very fast processor--anecdotally it runs way better than the snapdragon. Despite all these goodies, it is a Samsung and I'm done with them. My Samsung Moment was a big disappointment of glitches and radio/data lock-ups, rebooting, freezes, etc.
The Evo would be my preferred device, but I'm waiting until March next year (at the latest) to see what comes up.
No matter what, I'm staying with sprint.
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That's my dilemma too. I have noticed that the Epic seems to be smoother/faster than the Evo, and it feels okay, but I heard a bunch of horror stories about the Moment, and Samsung in general to some extent.

SirRipo said:
That's my dilemma too. I have noticed that the Epic seems to be smoother/faster than the Evo, and it feels okay, but I heard a bunch of horror stories about the Moment, and Samsung in general to some extent.
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Honestly this is a decision you have to make on your own. What you want. If I had an upgrade right now I would pass due to lack of phones I want (mytouch4g for sprint). If I had to choose though right now between evo and samsung epic, hands down evo. Samsung support sucks of all the devices they made read up on the behold 2. They got it bad. This is pretty much a continuing thing with samsung. If you like cyanogen it's already got support on the evo. The evo is kinda big though like a tablet (damn I'm thinking about android tablets again). Basically only reason I would choose evo is it's support base. I don't get lured in by prettyness (is that a word?). Real support can make or break a phone in my opinion. Story time ...
once upon a time I was with at&t bought an unlocked windows mobile phone from overpriced.com. AT&T wouldn't give me the mms settings (even though the phone was sold at at&t stores) and couldn't find them online. I tried and tried and eventually figured out at&t wasn't for me. They made my phone useless. Not much of a story.
Also samsung doesn't officially have drivers for windows 64. Try and find them. I've got them now due to looking all over the place don't believe me? Go through that mess samsung calls a website.
Sorry I really don't like samsung. I have really good reasons though

boiker said:
The Epic has a gorgeous screen Super AMOLED, a 1GHZ Hummingbird processor and a surprisingly thin form-factor for a slider. The hummingbird is a very fast processor--anecdotally it runs way better than the snapdragon. Despite all these goodies, it is a Samsung and I'm done with them. My Samsung Moment was a big disappointment of glitches and radio/data lock-ups, rebooting, freezes, etc.
The Evo would be my preferred device, but I'm waiting until March next year (at the latest) to see what comes up.
No matter what, I'm staying with sprint.
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Yup, same with me, I want dual core!!!

to comment on your worry about the phone being underpowered in a year, think of it like this... Unless someone comes up with a new battery that literally revolutionizes the way we power portable electronics, you are going to suffer greatly from anything much faster than a 1ghz, and id even argue that that is too overpowered for what the battery can handle. sure a 1.5 ghz dual core processor sounds all well and good on paper, but its gonna get to the point that your "cell phone" is a land line that can come off the charger for a short period of time if you need it to. Also, keep in mind (as already posted), a new phone literally pops up every other week. No matter how long you wait for the next great phone, there will always be the speculation of yet another phone.
The question also leads me to ask people what in the world are they doing on their phone that they need a 1.5 ghz processor!? i have a hero overclocked slightly running cm6.1 stable, and its plently fast. there has NEVER been a time with my hero that I have been in a position that if i could access something 2 seconds quicker that it would have had even the slightest impact on my task at hand.
Personally, I would go with the Evo, simply bc the development seems to be significantly better for it. from samsungs past, you arent going to get many updates in any type of timely fashion, so if you want the newest OS, thats gonna mean looking to the dev's, and at the current time, its nowhere near on par with that of the Evo
I know i didnt really answer too many of your specific questions, but i think they are still good points to keep in mind

chawski said:
to comment on your worry about the phone being underpowered in a year, think of it like this... Unless someone comes up with a new battery that literally revolutionizes the way we power portable electronics, you are going to suffer greatly from anything much faster than a 1ghz, and id even argue that that is too overpowered for what the battery can handle. sure a 1.5 ghz dual core processor sounds all well and good on paper, but its gonna get to the point that your "cell phone" is a land line that can come off the charger for a short period of time if you need it to. Also, keep in mind (as already posted), a new phone literally pops up every other week. No matter how long you wait for the next great phone, there will always be the speculation of yet another phone.
The question also leads me to ask people what in the world are they doing on their phone that they need a 1.5 ghz processor!? i have a hero overclocked slightly running cm6.1 stable, and its plently fast. there has NEVER been a time with my hero that I have been in a position that if i could access something 2 seconds quicker that it would have had even the slightest impact on my task at hand.
Personally, I would go with the Evo, simply bc the development seems to be significantly better for it. from samsungs past, you arent going to get many updates in any type of timely fashion, so if you want the newest OS, thats gonna mean looking to the dev's, and at the current time, its nowhere near on par with that of the Evo
I know i didnt really answer too many of your specific questions, but i think they are still good points to keep in mind
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Forget battery life if I have a 1.5 GHz dual core phone

chawski said:
i have a hero overclocked slightly running cm6.1 stable...
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When did that (CM 6.1 stable) come out?

something like three weeks ago? 10/28

Opinion...
first of all....i would probably get an Evo before epic, but what i noticed in the thread was...well a lot of people are trying to compare the moment and epic(i had moment and i'm done with samsung)i just dont think its right....
i mean...it is the same thing to compare hero and evo...
there's just no comparison....

SirRipo said:
something like three weeks ago? 10/28
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Technically, it's RC... isn't it? I mean, it is stable enough for everyday use... but still.

andythegreenguy said:
Technically, it's RC... isn't it? I mean, it is stable enough for everyday use... but still.
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Correct.
Also, Epic still doesn't have a date for 2.2, ouch.

andythegreenguy said:
Technically, it's RC... isn't it? I mean, it is stable enough for everyday use... but still.
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Yeh, if you are being technical. But typically that's what's referred to as the "stable" build.

get whatever makes u happy.lol
If I was still with sprint I would pass on both. since i dont want to pay 10 bucks extra a month.. Sprint needs something like the incredible.. but without 4g.. but its either pay extra for the evo or epic or the hero. cause honestly wouldnt mess with those budget androids on sprint..
Just remember most if not all HTC androids will have better support than samsung or lg etc.. not to mention You will find way more cases and battery options with HTC too.

i was in the exact same boat as op. i went and played with both for about an hour. the choice was clearly Evo

theimpaler747 said:
Yup, same with me, I want dual core!!!
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I'm with you. Just hope I don't have to wait too much past Jan/Feb for it. I'm eligible for an upgrade 12/1, but I know there's some great new hardware coming soon!

get an evo my friend. the epic is only for people who need a keyboard. the screen on the epic is awesome but i think the evo has more development and roms. best phone ive purchased soo far is my evo.

[Q] Buying an i9000M, but would you recommend this?

Hello.
Directly to the question: Is the current state of the (Bell) i9000 Galaxy S completely working? (Lag, GPS issues, 2.2, etc)?
A little bit of background:
I own a Galaxy Tab, and it's absolutely the best mobile device I've ever had and seen. I've had nothing but good experience with no issues at all.
My dad wanted to jump the smartphone bandwagon and started to inquire about the iPhone, naturally I was like lolwut? Hellz no! Android + 4" screen + Google Maps Navigation baby!
Because the P1000 and the i9000 models are world class devices (multiple region specific firmwares and support, such as Arabic) I thought the i9000 would be the best choice for him since he already likes what my phone/tablet does.
Then I came here to the forums just to see what's up... and BAM! ...greeted with problems being reported left and right like no tomorrow! Flashing issues, updates bricking, GPS issues, lag and all sorts of issues. Now i'm hesitating and and having second thoughts about buying one at this point. But what is the alternative? Are the minority just having these issues or bad luck?
But man seriously, it's hard to ignore the awesome features this phone has, and the rather great experience I'm having with the Samsung Tab, I'm dying to know whether its safe to buy this now or wait.
Alternatively, what would be an equivalent device with features like a front facing camera, 4"+ screen, huge internal app storage, global support (arabic, europien), etc)?
You're advise is highly appreciated, I have two 1.5 months to decide!

If you've got 1.5-2 months, I say wait for the Nexus S.
Pretty much the same phone, but with all issues addressed and no Samsung B.S.
If you want one before that, then yes: go for the i9000m. I had to swap mine during the DOA period (30 days), but aslong as you upgrade via CWM and not ODIN or Kies AND make sure you have one of the new batch, you won't have any issues.

Honetly, the only "real" issue is the GPS
I got a SGS since october and I don't use lagfix or whatever and it's a pretty good device.
Only GPS can be, sometimes, kind of "all over the place". I've had "some" issue (not all the time) with it but that's about it.
And since the new Nexus S is almost the same hardware (but SGS has better options, IMO) we'll surelly get an even more optimised Gingerbread!

[Q] Considering upgrading from S2, anything to worry about ?

Hello,
As the tittle already says, currently I am considering buying the Note and selling my S2. Im not a noob and consider myself as a power user. I like to tweak the sh*t out of my phone. Im currently running cyanogenmod on S2 with syiah and this is why I am writing this. I am aware that the Note is almost the same hardware as S2 and I am wondering about few things:
Is cyanogenmod 7/9 coming to the Note ?
What do you think, will developers support the note ? I mean, the S2 section is overflowing with roms, kernels etc, I wonder if there are any kernels with cpu undervolting, gpu undervolting/clocking etc.
The screen, ive seen some rumours that it uses the old amoled tech with fewer subpixels from S1, I didnt like that on S1, is that true ?
Im sorry to bother you, these are just a few questions I am having in my head before going to the store I love my S2, I dont mind the big screen, actually its the reason I want to upgrade... I would be very grateful for any replies, I am sure it will help few other undecided people too
Thanks for reading

I wouldn't buy the Note instead of your SII. It's too little of an upgrade for the $$$.
Unless the screen means everything to you (yes, it's beautiful).
CyanogenMod isn't released for the Note yet, but it probably will be pretty soon. Same goes for stock Ice Cream Sandwich.

i wasnt blown away when i upgraded from sgs2 to the note but still if u absolutely want a bigger screen than yeah go for it u wont be dissapointed in that respect.

Same as the rest of the comments. But, take into consideration that the custom launchers are not yet optimized for the Note, at least most of them. You'll need to wait for some upgrades.
The screen and resolution are...

My note will be here tomorrow, you guys are bumming me out. I have a i9100 now and thought the notes screen would be a big improvement.

The Note's screen IS a big improvement! It makes the phone. It does use the pentile subpixel layout, but the resolution is high enough and they've optimized the software to where it's the best screen you can currently buy in a mobile device. In My Humble Opinion. I literally haven't touched my tablet since the day my note arrived in the mail. I came from the GSII, also, and things like web browsing are no contest superior on the Note.

xeq544 said:
Is cyanogenmod 7/9 coming to the Note ?
What do you think, will developers support the note ? I mean, the S2 section is overflowing with roms, kernels etc, I wonder if there are any kernels with cpu undervolting, gpu undervolting/clocking etc.
The screen, ive seen some rumours that it uses the old amoled tech with fewer subpixels from S1, I didnt like that on S1, is that true ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, CM7 and 9 are being worked on.
When will they be done? Who knows.
Will developers support it? Who can tell? We have people doing ROMS already.
I'm sure you are aware that in this first gen set of kernels, the Note will be laggier than your S2. I'd suggest also browsing through the FAQ in my sig for a lot more info.
- Frank

Go for it. I went from the S2 (via a detour to the GN) to the Note and love it. My advice is think about what you want it for. it if's video and web browsing then go for it, if its more as a phone and making loads of calls then maybe not.
Also i'm seeing much better battery life with my usage when compared to the S2.

xeq544 said:
Hello,
As the tittle already says, currently I am considering buying the Note and selling my S2. Im not a noob and consider myself as a power user. I like to tweak the sh*t out of my phone. Im currently running cyanogenmod on S2 with syiah and this is why I am writing this. I am aware that the Note is almost the same hardware as S2 and I am wondering about few things:
Is cyanogenmod 7/9 coming to the Note ?
What do you think, will developers support the note ? I mean, the S2 section is overflowing with roms, kernels etc, I wonder if there are any kernels with cpu undervolting, gpu undervolting/clocking etc.
The screen, ive seen some rumours that it uses the old amoled tech with fewer subpixels from S1, I didnt like that on S1, is that true ?
Im sorry to bother you, these are just a few questions I am having in my head before going to the store I love my S2, I dont mind the big screen, actually its the reason I want to upgrade... I would be very grateful for any replies, I am sure it will help few other undecided people too
Thanks for reading
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
like every new popular device, it takes time for the devs to get it & create a ROM for it.

There are some differences between the S2 and the Note... u can`t use the same Kernel and ROM. I talked to one Developer and in his opinion there will be no C 7 for Note... they´re still working on a ICS-ROM . At this time there are only a few C-ROM´s for the Note. They are almost buggy... If u come from Silya Kernel u will miss the very good performance of this Kernel and also the features ( call recording, reboot,...)
BTW u have the opinion to flash this features via CWM an mods to the Note..

maxh said:
It does use the pentile subpixel layout
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn, thats a VERY cheap move from samsung on such an expensive handset. I was about to order the handset today, but I will go to the shop to check out the screen more extensively. I hated it on S1. And I sure will hate it on note... Why do they do this, its pretty much FAKE HD screen, because the number of subpixels is lower than on sub-HD S2 screen...
Gonna check it out tommorow and I will decide.

xeq544 said:
Damn, thats a VERY cheap move from samsung on such an expensive handset. I was about to order the handset today, but I will go to the shop to check out the screen more extensively. I hated it on S1. And I sure will hate it on note... Why do they do this, its pretty much FAKE HD screen, because the number of subpixels is lower than on sub-HD S2 screen...
Gonna check it out tommorow and I will decide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By all means do check it out because of course it's a fair bit of money to drop on a new toy, but the screen density makes up for that very issue you're concerned about.
I came from a GSII and I have a mate who owns a Captivate. The difference between the two screens are immediately visible. Comparing my Note's screen to the GSII is however, a matter left to microscopes. Chances are you wont have the Note held 6 inches or less away from your face, which is where it just starts to become noticeable and that's even if you're looking for it.
Remember, the Galaxy Nexus and Droid RAZR both have (currently) higher-than-usual resolution screens using pentile SAMOLED displays. It's still slightly visible on the RAZR, but not so on the Nexus. It really truly is a great display.
As a side note, I took a bite ordering mine without ever handling one before, and I'm completely satisfied.

I sold my sgs2 in fqvour of a galaxy note, and can never go back. the sgs2 is smoother, the note has a lot of hiccups. but I can't use a regular phone anymore, everything is just to tiny.
Also, the biggest advantage besides the screen is the batterylife, it is the first phone that will last the whole day, the sgs2 was horrible in this departement!
so basically; better screen, better batterylife... but less smooth (still very fast though).

This is my first android phone, came from an iPhone 3gs, so no real comparison. I do have a few friends with the SGS2.
I agree with all the posts above. The screen is awesome, and even the Nexus seems small compared. I personally prefer having hardware buttons as further increases real-estate. Also agree with some of the lag issues, specifically with browser use. Have played around with the Nexus and ICS has some pretty significant improvements regarding speed and smoothness and i have no doubt that these will be passed down to the Note.
At the moment, this phone can,t be beaten IMHO
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

Did I buy the right phone...n

I'm currently on a Samsung SIII with KitKat (omnirom), but because my daughter's phone broke down it's going to her after I get my new phone. I wanted to buy a Nexus 5, but it's sold out in the Netherlands even though it's € 400,- instead of € 350,- Because I was in a hurry I opted for an S4-active. I had some water damage with a HTC HD2 in the past and this one is probably better equipped in that respect. I already read enough to avoid putting it under water on purpose.
But...
I did get a bit of a scare when I looked for custom ROMs in this thread. Why are there so few options? Is this phone so different?
Maybe I should have waited a bit longer or even try to get a Nexus 5 from Germany.
Can someone give me an advice what to flash when my phone arrives? I don't like all the Samsung bloatware and don't mind to run cyanogenmod.
Cheers

I find this phone to be an almost perfect match for me.
I don't take underwater photos, but I love watching online content while I take a bath. I would never do this with any other phone. It's decided to take a few dips in the tub with me, but just pulling it out and drying it off it doesn't miss a beat.
The lack of custom roms/kernals is a bit disappointing, but I find that with the safestrap and Google stock rom I'm able to reach an experience that I can enjoy.
The screen was a sell for me hands down. I hate the new pentile style screens that cause blurriness in the display. Despite many people telling me it's not humanly possible to tell on such a small screen. When I see a flat red/blue color on the normal S4 screen it looks absolutely disgusting (Think 540p resolution because of the 1:2 ratio of pentile to rgb)

Thanks for your elaborate reply. I went to the safestrap thread. Is this only for the AT&T version or is it for my international version as well?
You're talking about Google stock.. do you mean cyanogenmod?
I hope to hear more from you
Cheers

The limited ROM development is quite disappointing but I think it's because the market that would've normally bought this device had already largely bought the s4.
I use the CyanogenMod ROM. It works quite well. The camera works but it's unstable. LTE is great .
I agree with Celeste, the display is amazingly good, especially considering it is LCD based. The phone is also the only device I know of that combines both the features of Exynos 5 (which features the BIG.little CPU design) and LTE in one package.
Sent from my GT-I9295 using Tapatalk

I don't use Cyanogen, just the Stock Google 4.2 Rom that's in one of the development threads.
I haven't seen any of the features of most customized roms to be appealing enough to me, and I'm always afraid the features will end up adding larger overhead to the system.
I really enjoy 60fps content whenever I'm playing around and the jitter that happens whenever other processes get in the way of displaying the next frame always seem to irk me a bit.

I'm actually about to sell my active to buy a nexus 5, due to the limited rom development. Just waiting for the 32Gb model to reach Sweden.
I've got the international version as well, and as you've noted we don't have much to choose from - safestrap won't work for us. I run cyanogenmod and it mostly works, has a few quirks particularly when it comes to the camera that has me rebooting now and then. I don't think anyone can answer if you bought the right phone or not, it really comes down to if you can live with one of the existing roms or not - because there isn't likely to ever be many roms to choose from. This phone just didn't get a breakthrough and there just isn't enough users out there to get the development really going. The hardware is good, the screen is phenomenal, but that's not all there is to a phone for me.
Try out the roms, and if they don't scratch your itch... sell it and get something else.

Thanks for all the info...
I already have the files in place to flash when it arrives tomorrow.
I think I'm going to flash it to Google's
If only we would have the same deals as our German neighbours...
€ 350,- is still even much more than $ 350,-
They could at least have given us the 32 MB model for that price.
Otherwise I would have waited for the Nexus...