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In your opinions, I have enough money for the N1, but is it worth paying $530 for it? Are you guys who payed for it completely satisfied with your purchase? No remorse?
Thanks.
There are lesser android phones/phones in general that cost more than $530. I am more than satisfied with my phone.
Thats good! I'm leaning on my desk thinking about pushing the "Buy" button, and I think (...Know...) I have my answer.
Worth every penny.
Where do you live? How's T-mobile's 3G saturation where you live? If you definitely want to stay with T-mobile, then go for it. Otherwise, I'd wait.
I'm with AT&T, so I have to pay $530 for the unlocked model. My friend tried their 3G and Edge coverage with TMO, and in San Francisco, it isn't anything specially, AT&T has better here.
wait,
I didnt think that the nexus one could get AT&T 3G...
sassyness77 said:
I didnt think that the nexus one could get AT&T 3G...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it only works on EDGE on AT&T ... but as for now t-mobile is a faster network.. HSDPA soon to be HSDPA+ at least here in NYC / LI .. other than that.. this is BY FAR the best phone ive ever even seen... always get comments on it.. and that display is just gorgeous
couple things to assess here from my point of view...
who is your carrier and how is their service in your area? Since you have ATT you will not have 3g, if you will have access to wifi most of the time i would say this balances it out, but N1 on edge seems pointless to me... i would say thats a "dont buy point"
what is your current phone? in my situation, i upgraded from the HTC Excalibur (the Tmobile Dash) so 530 dollars gave me a night and day difference... if you are going from a comparable level phone i would say its not worth full price... unless is one of this icky iphones...
what else can you do with 530 bux? it is a good chunk of money that you can do a number of other things with, so it really is a matter of how bad do you want the phone... for me i worked myself up to buy the thing until i finally cracked and broke the credit card out ...
for me, it was an excellent buy... i went from an old school windows mobile phone to a top of the line android phone so it was literally a night and day difference and I can do so much more with my N1 that i ever dreamed possible... it was worth every penny to me, but will it be for you? I had no idea really what i was buying, i had no experience with android, hell i had to figure out how the OS worked when i got the phone lol
i was real resistant to buy this phone, as i have plenty of things i need to spend 500 on, before the phone.
anyway, last week i got mine, and coming from the moded g1's, even with the awesome mods n such, this phone kills any of them.
its nice to have a phone respond, and do what its told,when clicked.
500$ was worth every mila-second i dont have to wait, ever again.
especially when my ride just left, as i walked out the door, and my
phone has a locked screen, or other random issue, causing me to
panicly push too many buttons, thus freezing the phone more, and
causing a reboot... giving my ride even more time, to get far enough
away, to be assholes and not wanna turn around and pick me up.
see how far that 500$ got me? worth every penny.
Zing.
docsparks said:
i was real resistant to buy this phone, as i have plenty of things i need to spend 500 on, before the phone.
anyway, last week i got mine, and coming from the moded g1's, even with the awesome mods n such, this phone kills any of them.
its nice to have a phone respond, and do what its told,when clicked.
500$ was worth every mila-second i dont have to wait, ever again.
especially when my ride just left, as i walked out the door, and my
phone has a locked screen, or other random issue, causing me to
panicly push too many buttons, thus freezing the phone more, and
causing a reboot... giving my ride even more time, to get far enough
away, to be assholes and not wanna turn around and pick me up.
see how far that 500$ got me? worth every penny.
Zing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
amen, even when I have like 30 apps running in Modaco's Desire ROM it all works perfectly. My boy who has an iPhone 3GS saw my phone, played around with it and his first words were "Holy F%CK this is fast" I then grabbed the phone and checked ATM and I had 27 tasks running and only 69mb's left of RAM and everything was super responsive....granted he wasn't too impressed when I loaded up the the Cyan ROM (which visually compared to Desire is lacking) but still, he will be buying a Nexus One
and docsparks...you should change ur sig, I just changed mine from G1 to Nexus.
People don't buy this phone for it's superior sound quality, nor excellent coverage 3G/H/etc.
$530 is cheap. Maybe you aren't used to buying unlocked phones, but around the world an unlocked 3GS costs in the region of $750-800, and it's a far, far inferior phone that's nearly a year old. Taken a look at the prices of unlocked Sony Satio, Nokia X6 or N97 lately? They're all pieces of **** with garbage hardware, abso-****ing-lutely terrible software (Symbian!), inferior everything. They're all priced at $640-727 respectively. How about the LG Chocolate BL40? Retails at over $700, and it's a goddamn feature phone.
$530 is nothing.
Look at it this way, the N1 sells for HIGHER than the $530 pricetag on eBay. There's currently no other phone out there with comparable hardware specs.
Buy the thing now, if you decide you don't like it (within the 15 days), you can return it to Google for refund (without the fee). If you decide you don't like it after that, throw it on eBay and sell it for at least what you paid.
...For me, I love my N1.
No wai!
Don't listen to all these guys.
It's totally NOT worth it!
The N1 is terrible.
Get the iPhone. MUCH better device.
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What kind of responses were you expecting to find here? lol
it cost me $250 and that's the most i'd personally pay for a phone. My phone is rooted and all that goodness but all in all - the only reason i gave up my G1 is because of the speed. (or lack of). I'm a conservative person but i like having nice things so i bit the bullet and found 1 on Craigslist for $400, then i sold my G1 for $150 = $250 total out of pocket. Love the N1, but would never pay $530 for a phone. That's nearly the price of a 42inch TV you can find nowadays, or a PS3 and a XBOX360, or like 2 1/2 car payments...all for a phone?!?!
To put it in perspective, i paid 700 for N1 to get it in toronto. I only have edge but i still love the phone and think it was worth every penny.
I genuinely have no complaints about the phone.
For me it was worth the $530. I am on deployment right now, so when we pulled into port in Thailand we were offered local SIM cards if we wanted. To be able to pop the card in, buy basically 300 minutes for $7 and be able to talk to my family while I was there was so worth it.
Knowing that when I go back to Japan for the rest of this det I can do the same thing, worth it.
Knowing that I can learn to develop my own apps without having to buy a mac or pay $100 developers fee, worth it.
I have TMo service at home and have been happy with it, in AZ only Verizon offers 3g so I don't miss that. I had an unlocked 1stgen iPhone and edge was fast enough for the browsing that I did so no loss there. Plus when I travel I can still get 3g if they have it. So for me it was completely worth the $530. Now I just have to wait for manufacturers to give us some nice cases.
docsparks said:
i was real resistant to buy this phone, as i have plenty of things i need to spend 500 on, before the phone.
anyway, last week i got mine, and coming from the moded g1's, even with the awesome mods n such, this phone kills any of them.
its nice to have a phone respond, and do what its told,when clicked.
500$ was worth every mila-second i dont have to wait, ever again.
especially when my ride just left, as i walked out the door, and my
phone has a locked screen, or other random issue, causing me to
panicly push too many buttons, thus freezing the phone more, and
causing a reboot... giving my ride even more time, to get far enough
away, to be assholes and not wanna turn around and pick me up.
see how far that 500$ got me? worth every penny.
Zing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a bingo [movie reference]
It came out to $579 with tax and the best $579 I have ever spent. It's definitely worth every bit of it. I think it is definitely the best phone out. I never buy a phone unless I think it's superior to any other phone on the market. Rooted or Not Rooted you're going to love it. There is absolutely no waiting on anything. The only thing that has to "load" is Google Navigation because it's loading a lot of information. Even then, we're talking 5 seconds at most. I do remember using my G1 and MyTouch and getting in a rush and freezing the phone. Most irritating thing in the world. An example of the N1 speed: When I receive an SMS I pull down the notification and click the message. Before the notification bar has time to return the message has already appeared underneath it.
It mostly depends on what you want. If you like using your phone for more than making calls then I would say go for it. I've had up to 49 apps running at once with zero lag. One thing I can tell you before you get one is to read the link in my signature about getting a Task Killer and DON'T get one
Because I live in Norway, I "had" to pay about $820-830 for it. I would do it again.
It is the best phone I have had or tried.
So Ive been calling around since I've heard that most store might not have the device on the 12th, but sure enough the Verizon corp store by me in South Florida got theirs TONIGHT! I drove straight there and got to power on their demo device for the first time and play around with it. After begging the manager for about 10 mins he told me he could not sell it until the 12th, he would hold one for me either . So I guess I'll have to show up Thursday Morning to pick one up. They said they had more than 5 so I hoping that number is closer to 10.
The Phone itself was amazing. Felt solid in hand and the smaller metallic buttons on the back were easy to reach and were clickie enough. The screen was a little larger then the s4 and the overall size was not much larger then the s4 (my ex-phone ). Camera app was super responsive and general speed of the phone was amazing.
Cant wait! :victory:
UPDATE: Posted Pics with Case!
You have just pissed people off for not taking pictures, checking storage, detailing the differences from other g2's and many other things. Expect to be pressured to go back by tomorrow morning
Sent from my LG-P769 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Considering no one has seen a US version or the back of the Verizon version in real life, I have a couple questions. Could you go into a little more detail about the button differences on the back vs the international version? Do you think it looks better or worse? Was the version you saw white or black? What about texture and feel - glossy like the GS4? A picture would be great!
I've had mine (AT&T) since yesterday, and its pretty freaking sweet! The more I use it, the better I like the buttons on the back.
Sent from my LG G2
I didnt even think to take pics :silly: since the store was closing and they wanted me out. But storage I can Confirm it was a 32GB Model in black.
The plastic back felt more solid then the s4's plastic back. It was glossy, not super slippery. From what I've seen in pics of the international version, the back button are differently smaller and metallic feeling but it provides more room for wireless charger pads.
psychoace said:
You have just pissed people off for not taking pictures, checking storage, detailing the differences from other g2's and many other things. Expect to be pressured to go back by tomorrow morning
Sent from my LG-P769 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Click to collapse
lennyspicer7 said:
Considering no one has seen a US version or the back of the Verizon version in real life, I have a couple questions. Could you go into a little more detail about the button differences on the back vs the international version? Do you think it looks better or worse? Was the version you saw white or black? What about texture and feel - glossy like the GS4? A picture would be great!
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Click to collapse
I'll try to go back tomorrow and take pics.
I guess I should have said "reviewed a US version"
Thanks for the additional information!
I got a chance to play with it too.. Loved the feel in the hand, and it is very fast. One down side is there is only a little of 23GB of available memory.
Most stores probably got theirs in drop shipments today or tomorrow.Seems like a lot of phones and tablets or delivered at the last minute.I am going to call the closest corp store tomorrow to see if they got theirs.All attention will be on the anticipation of the new iphone preorder and launch.The G2 and the Note 3 will get put on the back burner.
I have to give it to Apple though, to be able to launch a phone and have it out to all carriers in 10 days is something I don't think any of the Android manufactures will ever achieve.To much fighting over exclusives and who gets to launch it first,
Did you notice anything else that looked different from the model that the other carriers are getting?
Did they have any in white?
synplex said:
I didnt even think to take pics :silly: since the store was closing and they wanted me out. But storage I can Confirm it was a 32GB Model in black.
The plastic back felt more solid then the s4's plastic back. It was glossy, not super slippery. From what I've seen in pics of the international version, the back button are differently smaller and metallic feeling but it provides more room for wireless charger pads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for at least confirming the 32gig of storage. Droid-life is still saying it has 16/32gig.
Other then the smaller buttons on the back and verizon logos I didn't notice anything else different from the others. And from what they told me they only had the black models in stock.
lennyspicer7 said:
Considering no one has seen a US version or the back of the Verizon version in real life, I have a couple questions. Could you go into a little more detail about the button differences on the back vs the international version? Do you think it looks better or worse? Was the version you saw white or black? What about texture and feel - glossy like the GS4? A picture would be great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im gonna assume u meant the Verizon model, because a few of us have had the phone since yesterday morning on ATT...hell I even have a case on mine and its Sim Unlocked.
Do you mean in Tampa near USF or south Florida near Miami? What store was this?
I just spoke with a verizon rep and he told me that it would be launching everywhere on the 12th.. I also called my local verizon store and their response was "I don't even know what that is" when I asked "Will you have the LG G2 available for in store purchase tomorrow?" lol. Gotta love verizon.
Anyway.... if the verizon rep was right (sometimes not the case), we should be getting it everywhere in store tomorrow
cslingerland said:
I just spoke with a verizon rep and he told me that it would be launching everywhere on the 12th.. I also called my local verizon store and their response was "I don't even know what that is" when I asked "Will you have the LG G2 available for in store purchase tomorrow?" lol. Gotta love verizon.
Anyway.... if the verizon rep was right (sometimes not the case), we should be getting it everywhere in store tomorrow
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Click to collapse
It's scary that they don't even keep up with the latest flagships and they work for a tech company.
cslingerland said:
I just spoke with a verizon rep and he told me that it would be launching everywhere on the 12th.. I also called my local verizon store and their response was "I don't even know what that is" when I asked "Will you have the LG G2 available for in store purchase tomorrow?" lol. Gotta love verizon.
Anyway.... if the verizon rep was right (sometimes not the case), we should be getting it everywhere in store tomorrow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just called the local Verizon rep (NH) and they also had no idea what I was asking about. Their exact reply was "Our newest LG device is the Enact bt LG".
Oh well.
Juan
I already bought my VZN one on Tuesday.
They let me look at it hold it and buy it but I can't turn it on, activate it or take it home until 10 am Thursday when they open. Yes it looks good, feels good, smaller metal buttons, and a honeycomb looking back but it is slick and polycarbonate. I plan to get a quick case so it doesn't matter if it is a finger print attractive material or not.
Battery life
Any word on battery life with that big battery? It's down to the HTC one or G2 for my upgrade from GNex.
I just wanted to throw a poll up quick to get a estimate on what versions of the S6 you guys are using! I am switching to AT&T from the big red and just bought an Active on Swappa. More or less I'm curious about how many actives are out there lol.
I have an S6 and an S6 Active. Got the Active last Saturday and am seriously impressed. Tried to get one off of Swappa but they were selling so fast. Found a sealed one on Craigslist and got n it for 550. Really happy with it so far. Battery life is superb!
Went 19 hours and 5:15 SOT this week and still had 33% left before I passed out lol!
Sent from my S6 Active!
planoman said:
I have an S6 and an S6 Active. Got the Active last Saturday and am seriously impressed. Tried to get one off of Swappa but they were selling so fast. Found a sealed one on Craigslist and got n it for 550. Really happy with it so far. Battery life is superb!
Went 19 hours and 5:15 SOT this week and still had 33% left before I passed out lol!
Sent from my S6 Active!
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I hope you double checked that IMEI and made Sure it's not financed. I'm going through hell trying to get my money back through eBay because I didn't know it was financed until I tried to sell on swappa. But anyway...
I have the s6 edge (returning hopefully) and just picked up the active. I absolutely love the active. Not as pretty as the edge but makes more sense with my job.
Yes, I asked that and put that on the bill of sale that it was free and clear of the Next plan. It was a 2 year upgrade. Already unlocked it. The seller did not hesitate and gave me the IMEI number ahead of time to run it with ATT, Etc.
Sent from my S6 Active!
So far the results are surprising me, I didn't expect so many people to have the Active. That deffinitely gives me hope that some developers will pick up this device. I can't wait to debloat and modify this thing! How does rooting affect the price on Swappa?
I actually have a 32gb s6 which I use on straight talk....kinda wish I bought the unlocked version since I can't get ota's I don't think. It's blocked on smart sense or something? Was hoping to leave my rooting days behind me but I guess that's my only option.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using XDA Free mobile app
Just picked up the S6 active a few days ago. I have 2 weeks to return it if not satisfied. 19 hours with 4 hours screen on and still at 40%! Beautiful screen, phenomenal camera, responsive and smooth. Even the ruggedness looks and feels good after using it for a few days Ummm...it's not going back!
I had a Verizon S6 for a month and a half or so.
I just switched to AT&T because of signal issues at my house with Verizon. I picked up the Active and OMG. What an exponentially better device from a usability standpoint. Sure, it's not as pretty as the S6, but then again the S6 is so fragile I had to put it in a case, so it was covered up any way. I actually kinda like the rugged look of the active.
With the S6 I was constantly worrying about the battery. Disabling this, removing that, installing a custom ROM, etc. I'm running the Active with just a few annoying AT&T apps disabled and Nova Launcher. I've been unplugged 6 hours and am at 86%. With 36 hours estimated remaining.
Not having to constantly worry about running out of juice is worth the switch for me.
Got the Active yesterday and so far I couldn't be happier! I went to the store still doubting between the S6 and the Active, on paper I liked the Active features but on the pictures and videos I had seen it seemed really ugly. Once in the store, however, I realized it actually looked much better in real life than I anticipated. At that moment my doubts went away instantly
I ended up with the blue camo one, again, it seemed pretty ugly on pictures/videos, but it's actually much softer than I thought, I think it looks great! The front and side of its case are black anyways so they're really not that different (not as much as I thought they would be).
BTW, about the waterproof feature, I haven't tested it yet (I'm kinda scared lol), does anyone have any advice on how to deal with that. Like if you put it under water, is it better to just let it dry on its own or to actively try to dry it (i.e. blow dryer)? Also, I read somewhere that it isn't recommended to take it into sea water, is that true?
lebertian said:
BTW, about the waterproof feature, I haven't tested it yet (I'm kinda scared lol), does anyone have any advice on how to deal with that. Like if you put it under water, is it better to just let it dry on its own or to actively try to dry it (i.e. blow dryer)? Also, I read somewhere that it isn't recommended to take it into sea water, is that true?
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Click to collapse
I took some underwater pics with mine this past weekend. Definitely no sea water.
I just blew into the charging port (like you use to have to do with Nintendo games. Most people on here are probably too young for that... LOL.)
Then just let it dry normally. I read somewhere it's recommended not to plug it in for an hour or two after getting it wet.
timdsmith72 said:
I took some underwater pics with mine this past weekend. Definitely no sea water.
I just blew into the charging port (like you use to have to do with Nintendo games. Most people on here are probably too young for that... LOL.)
Then just let it dry normally. I read somewhere it's recommended not to plug it in for an hour or two after getting it wet.
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Thanks for the advice!! Yep I was around for Nintendo cartridges, when games used to work out of the box... good times LOL
Got the regular S6. I really wished Samsung kept the IP certification from the S5. If Sony can do it in their Xperia line, Samsung could have surely done that with the S6. Would have totally been awesome if you could take pics underwater with a phone. Though, to be honest, I feel like all phones should have some kind of IP certification, since so many people have dealt with it.
My S3 got waterlogged and miraculously, it survived and still works fine. Ended up selling it to one of my friends (who was aware I had dropped it in water and the charging port was slightly finicky, though I feel it was like that before it happened, but they still wanted to buy it off me) when I upgraded to the S6.
But, that's definitely not always the case and sometimes your phone completely craps out. It's literally luck of the draw for sure. I honestly don't like look of the S6 Active, but I do wish the regular S6 had a larger battery. Sure, I personally can get through the day on a single charge, I won't say no to a larger battery, if had the option to.
I wonder if there'll ever be a day where you can have the best of both worlds -- huge battery in a tiny package. Guess we'll see what the future holds indeed.
Got the regular s6 since Edge didn't have temper glass screen protectors
timdsmith72 said:
I just blew into the charging port (like you use to have to do with Nintendo games.
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Click to collapse
Nintindo? shoot.. that started on the com64, maybe apple.... then the ripping of the UV quartz windowed eprom(&&).. intro basic, asm. fun days... Have a c64 in eyesite.
Thx. good memories. I did have a Nin I admit.
Many of you guys know that the newer Gear VR Consumer Edition apparently doesn't fit the Note 4. So I was searching for the older Innovator Edition for my Note 4, but all of the prices were jacked up to ridiculous amounts on Amazon and Ebay and it was sold out at Best Buy. And then I happened across a seller with certified refurbished Innovator Editions for both the Note 4 and S6 on Amazon for $150 with Prime shipping.
http://amzn.com/B018UHFZXQ
It looks like the 'certified refurbished' is a program from Amazon and it does come with a 90 day warranty.
I also made a Slickdeals post http://goo.gl/XuoyEm because I think there will be plenty of people who will be using their Note 4 for a while and want to experience VR.
Impossible to get one in or to Canada. Scammers on eBay and Amazon.ca selling for upwards of $500.
Just ordered one, to be delivered Thursday. Will let you know how it looks. Hopefully works with Sac23's Note 5 Ported ROM, otherwise it'll be time to do some flashin'!
ThaiM said:
Impossible to get one in or to Canada. Scammers on eBay and Amazon.ca selling for upwards of $500.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, that's why I was so happy to find a certified refub one from a reputable seller. Unfortunately, it didn't come with the microSD card, but the seller has been good about sending one out to me. As soon as I get it, I'll report back.
kennysp said:
Just ordered one, to be delivered Thursday. Will let you know how it looks. Hopefully works with Sac23's Note 5 Ported ROM, otherwise it'll be time to do some flashin'!
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Click to collapse
Thanks, I will do the same.
Techngro said:
Yeah, that's why I was so happy to find a certified refub one from a reputable seller. Unfortunately, it didn't come with the microSD card, but the seller has been good about sending one out to me. As soon as I get it, I'll report back.
Thanks, I will do the same.
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Click to collapse
Well, got the Gear VR (1 day early, thanks Amazon!) in a plain white box, and looks almost new to me. The only thing that I might question is whether or not it was used, as the foam surround looks like it may have been worn before.
Overall, no scratches, came with the headgear, back strap, top strap, faceplate cover, extra foam surround, and instruction manual, all in the big black carry case. It did not include the microsd card that is found in the retail version. The headgear did have the protective plastic covering on it as if it were new, but the one that should be on the back strap didn't, and neither did the top piece nor the faceplate cover.
Overall, it's a pretty solid buy, especially since you can download the oculus software from Sandman here. Now, I can't vouch for how well it works yet, since: A. I just unboxed it, and B: I'm running Sac23 Note 5 Ported V2 .1 10/2 http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4-sprint/development/rom-sac23-note-5-ported-v1-9-23-t3208932Rom right now, which doesn't seem to support Gear VR. I'm currently installing [ROM] [N910PVPS4COK1] [100% Stock, Root, Odexed&Deodexed, No KNOX/Itson] [12/15/2015]http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4-sprint/development/rom-t3271966 to get that functionality back, and will update once I have done so.
It's not the deal that the new users get with the $99 Gear VR, but compared to the $299 this guy was, I'm pretty happy.
kennysp said:
Well, got the Gear VR (1 day early, thanks Amazon!) in a plain white box, and looks almost new to me. The only thing that I might question is whether or not it was used, as the foam surround looks like it may have been worn before.
Overall, no scratches, came with the headgear, back strap, top strap, faceplate cover, extra foam surround, and instruction manual, all in the big black carry case. It did not include the microsd card that is found in the retail version. The headgear did have the protective plastic covering on it as if it were new, but the one that should be on the back strap didn't, and neither did the top piece nor the faceplate cover.
Overall, it's a pretty solid buy, especially since you can download the oculus software from Sandman here. Now, I can't vouch for how well it works yet, since: A. I just unboxed it, and B: I'm running Sac23 Note 5 Ported V2 .1 10/2 http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4-sprint/development/rom-sac23-note-5-ported-v1-9-23-t3208932Rom right now, which doesn't seem to support Gear VR. I'm currently installing [ROM] [N910PVPS4COK1] [100% Stock, Root, Odexed&Deodexed, No KNOX/Itson] [12/15/2015]http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4-sprint/development/rom-t3271966 to get that functionality back, and will update once I have done so.
It's not the deal that the new users get with the $99 Gear VR, but compared to the $299 this guy was, I'm pretty happy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the update. When you get it set up, let us know if everything works.
Techngro said:
Thanks for the update. When you get it set up, let us know if everything works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far, everything checks out. It isn't quite as smooth as when I tried it on my phone while running kitkat...though that may be because I was impatient and did a dirty flash lol (I know, tsk tsk, shame on me, my phone will blow up, yadda yadda yadda. I was impatient! I'll do a clean install in the next few days to update the performance of Gear VR with a properly done flash).
Video player, Netflix, and photos all work well, though slightly laggy (again, dirty flash), and I noticed that the focus wheel isn't quite as smooth as it should be, though I finally got it dialed in.
For those of you that never tried the Gear VR, it does have a fair amount of pixelation, however after watching a movie for a bit you really don't notice it as much. The touchpad, back button, and volume controls all work as they should.
The phone does overheat while using this. I've had a fan directed at my phone while watching movies, and that seemed to help. There are tutorials and write ups on mods you can do, from heatsinks applied directly to the battery, to attaching mini pc-fans to the back of the phone powered by small usb battery packs hooked on the strap by the temple, to plug in fans. I even read about a guy that stuck one of those cold gel eyepatches that women wear between the phone and the faceplate cover to cool down the phone. Whatever you do, know that heat is an issue while using this for playing videos. I haven't tried any of the games yet, but I imagine that it'd get worse with that.
The lenses on the Gear VR are adequate. Things are relatively sharp in the center, but you do get chroma aberrations on the corners of your field of view (purple fringing on areas of contrast, i.e. the edge of the screen will be slightly out of focus from the corner of your eye, and you'll see a purple hue along it). Not a huge issue, as you're most likely concentrating on the center of your viewing area, and shifting your head towards anything you want to look at, but it's there. I've also noticed that you have to have the headset on just right to have everything in focus top to bottom, left to right. If it is slightly off, then you'll notice that certain areas are not in focus.
Despite all this, it's a great piece of tech. It does transport you from wherever you are to another place, be it a theater, virtual VR tour, Iron Man's lab, etc. It is good enough to allow you to suspend disbelief, and engage in an immersive experience. Occasionally, it will bring you back to reality, sometimes in a jarring fashion, but overall, it does the job pretty well. I've even found myself reaching out my hands to try and touch something, only to remember that it's virtual, and usually laugh at myself afterwards.
All I know is I hope that Samsung continues with it's Gear VR line, and that when my upgrade is due in November, I'll get a new piece of tech that'll surpass what this one can do, primarily the pixelation, overheating, and the quality of the lenses.
My buddy got the Note 5, and just received his Gear VR for his phone. I'll try to snag it soon to give it a try, and I'll let y'all know the differences.
Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll try to answer them the best I can.
kennysp said:
So far, everything checks out. It isn't quite as smooth as when I tried it on my phone while running kitkat...though that may be because I was impatient and did a dirty flash lol (I know, tsk tsk, shame on me, my phone will blow up, yadda yadda yadda. I was impatient! I'll do a clean install in the next few days to update the performance of Gear VR with a properly done flash).
Video player, Netflix, and photos all work well, though slightly laggy (again, dirty flash), and I noticed that the focus wheel isn't quite as smooth as it should be, though I finally got it dialed in.
For those of you that never tried the Gear VR, it does have a fair amount of pixelation, however after watching a movie for a bit you really don't notice it as much. The touchpad, back button, and volume controls all work as they should.
The phone does overheat while using this. I've had a fan directed at my phone while watching movies, and that seemed to help. There are tutorials and write ups on mods you can do, from heatsinks applied directly to the battery, to attaching mini pc-fans to the back of the phone powered by small usb battery packs hooked on the strap by the temple, to plug in fans. I even read about a guy that stuck one of those cold gel eyepatches that women wear between the phone and the faceplate cover to cool down the phone. Whatever you do, know that heat is an issue while using this for playing videos. I haven't tried any of the games yet, but I imagine that it'd get worse with that.
The lenses on the Gear VR are adequate. Things are relatively sharp in the center, but you do get chroma aberrations on the corners of your field of view (purple fringing on areas of contrast, i.e. the edge of the screen will be slightly out of focus from the corner of your eye, and you'll see a purple hue along it). Not a huge issue, as you're most likely concentrating on the center of your viewing area, and shifting your head towards anything you want to look at, but it's there. I've also noticed that you have to have the headset on just right to have everything in focus top to bottom, left to right. If it is slightly off, then you'll notice that certain areas are not in focus.
Despite all this, it's a great piece of tech. It does transport you from wherever you are to another place, be it a theater, virtual VR tour, Iron Man's lab, etc. It is good enough to allow you to suspend disbelief, and engage in an immersive experience. Occasionally, it will bring you back to reality, sometimes in a jarring fashion, but overall, it does the job pretty well. I've even found myself reaching out my hands to try and touch something, only to remember that it's virtual, and usually laugh at myself afterwards.
All I know is I hope that Samsung continues with it's Gear VR line, and that when my upgrade is due in November, I'll get a new piece of tech that'll surpass what this one can do, primarily the pixelation, overheating, and the quality of the lenses.
My buddy got the Note 5, and just received his Gear VR for his phone. I'll try to snag it soon to give it a try, and I'll let y'all know the differences.
Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll try to answer them the best I can.
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Thanks for the update. I got the microsd card today and popped it in my phone, but the touchpad still isn't working. What firmware are you on? I upgraded to the latest 5.1.1 (DOK2), but it's stock. I don't know if that could be the issue or if the Gear VR itself is just defective.
Techngro said:
Thanks for the update. I got the microsd card today and popped it in my phone, but the touchpad still isn't working. What firmware are you on? I upgraded to the latest 5.1.1 (DOK2), but it's stock. I don't know if that could be the issue or if the Gear VR itself is just defective.
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I'm on latest as well. If the touchpad isn't working, that's probably a hardware issue with the Gear VR itself. Do you know anybody else with a Note 4 that they can try on your Gear VR? Also, make sure that the micro-usb connection is seated correctly. Sometimes on mine it doesn't push in all the way, and i just lightly press the phone in to make sure it's a firm connection.
kennysp said:
I'm on latest as well. If the touchpad isn't working, that's probably a hardware issue with the Gear VR itself. Do you know anybody else with a Note 4 that they can try on your Gear VR? Also, make sure that the micro-usb connection is seated correctly. Sometimes on mine it doesn't push in all the way, and i just lightly press the phone in to make sure it's a firm connection.
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Yeah, I've been fiddling with it to make sure everything is seated properly. I'm pretty sure it's a hardware issue now. I contacted Samsung, but their customer service is so bad right now. I was almost finished with the RMA process, but their system was down and they couldn't find my serial number. Then while I was waiting for the system to work again, the call got disconnected on their end. They said they would call me back if that happened and took my number, but after 15 minutes of waiting, I called back and had to do the same process again with a different rep. And the system was still down, so she said she would call me back within 24 hours. That was Friday. No call yet.
I have contacted Samsung customer service before, but I don't remember it being that bad.
Anyway, I will call back tomorrow and try to get the RMA finished. If not, I'll have to send it back for a refund. It's sad because I was really excited about the Gear VR.
Bought one thru Amazon last week
After numerous tries to talk with someone in marketing at Samsung and being unwilling to even pay the $199, found the $150 refurbished on Amazon. The one I got appears to be new, all protective stickers in place and not a mark on it. The only thing "missing" was the SD card but not needed as the software install required at first use put everything that is on the card on my phone. So far so good.
Now looking to find the best solution to use Cardboard in addition to Oculus. Anyone?
rgh said:
After numerous tries to talk with someone in marketing at Samsung and being unwilling to even pay the $199, found the $150 refurbished on Amazon. The one I got appears to be new, all protective stickers in place and not a mark on it. The only thing "missing" was the SD card but not needed as the software install required at first use put everything that is on the card on my phone. So far so good.
Now looking to find the best solution to use Cardboard in addition to Oculus. Anyone?
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Unfortunately, I have had such a continued bad experience with Samsung customer service that I have decided to return the Gear VR. I was super excited about it, but at this point it's not worth the aggravation. Three calls, an email, and 6 days and still I can't get them to set up a simple RMA and send me a shipping label despite them telling me everytime that they'll get it done.
Darn Samsung.
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
Got one for Xmas. Fun but overheats.
$99 consumer is back in stock now... just a simple mod to each corner and should work fine on N4. So back this goes to be refurbished again!
Telemachus said:
Got one for Xmas. Fun but overheats.
$99 consumer is back in stock now... just a simple mod to each corner and should work fine on N4. So back this goes to be refurbished again!
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I (and probably a bunch of other people as well) would really appreciate it if, when you make the mods to your Consumer Edition, you'd come back and post pics and instructions on how you did it.
Techngro said:
I (and probably a bunch of other people as well) would really appreciate it if, when you make the mods to your Consumer Edition, you'd come back and post pics and instructions on how you did it.
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http://forum.xda-developers.com/mobile-vr/gear-vr/99-gear-vr-note-4-t3255739
Telemachus said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mobile-vr/gear-vr/99-gear-vr-note-4-t3255739
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Thanks, I was in that thread earlier but didn't know someone had made a post about modding the Consumer Edition.
As posted before.. If you your comfortable Modding, it's now possible to use the New Samsung Gear VR on Note 4.. works great
Cheaper / Better and easier to get
My firmware/model info in signature
The new Gear VR can be made to work with Note 4.. FYI
I had an accident a couple of days ago, where I fell from my bike and my phone dropped on the street, from the phone holder. I didn't realize that immediately and by the time I saw it, unfortunately, it was already run over a truck. I had the original fabric cover on it and visually only the display is broken, but it was switched offline after the accident so I presume there is some more serious internal damage. I have tried to switch it off/on from the power button, to connect it to a PC but there was no indication that it is alive.
I tried to contact Google to see what are my repair options, and unfortunately, on their side, I can only select the type of damage, pay it in advance and send the phone to them. The problem is that I am not sure if it is worth paying close to 150 Euro just to realize at a later stage that this phone is beyond repair and that I have not only broken my phone but poured 150 Euro down the drain. I have tried to explain this to Google's support personnel, but they did very little to understand my situation and in the end, they said they cannot help me any further.
Unfortunately in Germany, there is no other official repair center. This left me quite disappointed with Google and their inflexibility. The other problem is that this is not a common phone, so finding spare parts is difficult and normally those spare parts are quite expensive. The display only in Ali Express costs 160 Euro. I tried to contact a local repair shop and they only told me 300 Euro for the display change and if the new display doesn't work I would need to pay only 30 Euro. I have even contacted iSmash, who is the authorized repair center for this phone in the UK, but they told me that they don't deal with customers outside the UK.
So what do you think, what is my best option. I really don't want to throw away this phone, I really liked it and it would be quite a pity but I don't want to spend money on a lost cause either. For me, the best would be to diagnose somehow what's not working in the phone and then to decide if it makes sense to proceed with the repair or not.
@gstoyanov It's probably not the display since you can't even power it on. Thankfully it doesn't seem like you were seriously injured in the fall. Time to pitch it and buy something you can live with. The 4a, brand spanking new, is only like 300 Euro or the 4a 5G if you want that is maybe 100 Euro more. It's unfortunate but sh*t happens to these devices when they fall but you can live to bike another day. Just my 2 cents, I'm sure others have opinions too. And then again it will depend on your finances of which I have no idea about so take it with a grain of salt.
bobby janow said:
@gstoyanov It's probably not the display since you can't even power it on. Thankfully it doesn't seem like you were seriously injured in the fall. Time to pitch it and buy something you can live with. The 4a, brand spanking new, is only like 300 Euro or the 4a 5G if you want that is maybe 100 Euro more. It's unfortunate but sh*t happens to these devices when they fall but you can live to bike another day. Just my 2 cents, I'm sure others have opinions too. And then again it will depend on your finances of which I have no idea about so take it with a grain of salt.
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Yes, this is also what I suspect, I have now a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge running Pixel Experience ROM, which is exactly like my Pixel, but the battery is dying really quickly, and have some problems with the charging. Apart from that, all is working more or less fine. I think I will wait till Pixel 5A. I really wanted to save the Pixel 5 though.
Oh, and it is all good with me, just got two superficial bruises, but nothing serious, there were some road repairs in the bike lane and I needed to go almost to the middle of the streets, where there were tram rails. I got pretty scared at the beginning because I didn't know where exactly on the street I fell and went to the side of the street really quickly, afraid that I might get hit by a car. Only after about a minute, I have realized that my phone is missing and the bloody cover was blending really well with the road, so it took me really a while to spot it. Only a truck and a car passed by during this time, but considering the damage, I would say that the truck run over my phone.
gstoyanov said:
Yes, this is also what I suspect, I have now a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge running Pixel Experience ROM, which is exactly like my Pixel, but the battery is dying really quickly, and have some problems with the charging. Apart from that, all is working more or less fine. I think I will wait till Pixel 5A. I really wanted to save the Pixel 5 though.
Oh, and it is all good with me, just got two superficial bruises, but nothing serious, there were some road repairs in the bike lane and I needed to go almost to the middle of the streets, where there were tram rails. I got pretty scared at the beginning because I didn't know where exactly on the street I fell and went to the side of the street really quickly, afraid that I might get hit by a car. Only after about a minute, I have realized that my phone is missing and the bloody cover was blending really well with the road, so it took me really a while to spot it. Only a truck and a car passed by during this time, but considering the damage, I would say that the truck run over my phone.
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That's really good to hear. I bike a lot and know what falls are like, they're not fun and they are scary. So that's the good news. Now for some (possibly) bad. The 5a is larger, plastic, and from what I understand not available outside the US and Japan. It is 5G but probably not in the EU. Should be coming out within a few weeks so you can wait and see. What's the status of 5G by you? I see all these threads about bypassing the 5G restrictions with root but I don't really follow it since I get it here by default.
Since you do have a phone that's working perhaps you can try to take the 5 apart and see if you can tell what's broken inside. What if it's only a connector or something simple then you can replace the screen. Just to tinker around, they have videos I'm sure of how to get the phone open. Once the 6 comes out the prices on Swappa for the 5 will drop at least 100 Euro so if you can wait... Once those batteries go on the Samsungs it's lights out. I know I had one way back and finally the darn thing damn near exploded and popped the screen up off the body and that was it. Bottom line, you're ok. The phone can be replaced.
Sure, my idea is to wait and see what the new phones would be and eventually buy a new phone. Right now is not the best time to invest in a new phone, I think the best is around autumn when all the new models are released. I was thinking of opening the phone, I have some experience, already trying to open and exchange the motherboard of a Nexus 5, with another apparently faulty motherboard. I have the tools as well, the problem is that due to the fact that this is not a very popular model, finding spare parts for it would be really difficult. As I said, only the display on Ali Express costs 160 Euro. Opening the phone and finding that the problem is trivial would void my warranty and I would end up trying to put a new display with dubious quality on my phone for a high price.
I am just a bit losing hope in Google. A friend of mine got a Pixel 4a 5G because I have recommended generally the 4a line as a good deal for the money and she is complaining that the touchscreen in the lower part is completely unresponsive. Apparently, this is a known issue, which was supposed to be fixed by Google with an SW update and there was a big thread in their product forums. Now the thread is deleted from there and Google is refusing to take a look at her phone under warranty because she had dropped it once and according to them this is enough of an excuse.
I really like the SW experience of the Pixel phones, but this behavior is hard to tolerate. So this autumn, I will think really hard whether to buy a Google phone or buy a phone from another vendor.
@gstoyanov I've only had pretty good experiences with Google replacements but that was before the pandemic when you could reach a CSR on the phone and even a supervisor. I don't think that's the case now. And then I'm in the US and we are a nation of laws or so I've been told. lol j/k. Do you have 5G there and is it quick? It's kind of sketchy here, hit or miss on speeds vs. LTE. Because if you don't then the 4a without 5G is a steal imo, at least for a temp phone until November.
But what I was thinking is that if you have experience in pulling it apart then why not try it without purchasing an expensive replacement screen and see if you can get it to boot. Well unless the screen is so cracked that it's pointless. But if you can bring it back to life then you can decide if you want to spend the money or run it as is until you get what you want. Just a thought. Actually, I'm curious what is really wrong with the phone haha.
In terms of the 4a 5G screen I'll bet it's been fixed in later builds. Same thing happened here with a gap on the Pixel 5. Early, EU adopters had this wicked gap around the frame but by the time it shipped in the US that gap was gone.
Edit. NVM looks like the 4a 5g is discontinued.
yes, we have here 5G, but I am not so much sold on the whole 5G bandwagon. It would definitely take a hit on the battery life and the 5G network is still not dense enough for this to really matter. As a matter of fact, GSM coverage in Germany is pretty bad, I am coming from an East European country where Internet access is leaps and bounds better than in Germany, not to mention that it also comes for a fraction of the price here.
The screen is totally broken, I don't think that it would fire up. So if I open it, I would need to try it on a screen, meaning that I would need to purchase a replacement and eventually hope that I can return it for free. The problem is that if I order the display from China, there is a good chance to be stopped at the customs, and I would need to go there and pay some additional money and this is a bit overkill maybe.
@gstoyanov Yeah, not worth it when you put it that way. Oh well, eye out for the 5a 5G, keep it pristine and sell it on Swappa when the 6 comes out in November. ;-) That's my plan with the 5. But full disclosure or trade in with Google. Oh as a side note I dropped my P5 on the cement face down 7 days after purchase. Smashed to smithereens. Brought it into UBreak and it was their first one and it cost me $220 just for the screen replacement which is all that shattered. Not even a nick on the body. They did a flawless job and it is as good as new. I made an insurance claim and got the full $220 back surprisingly. Suffice it to say I handle it with an iron grip or two hands now. One handed only when over carpet. haha.
Did you go over the Google Repair center from the Google Store? There you can select the type of damage to your phone and usually get a better price than directly contacting their authorized repair centers. It is really convenient, the only problem being that you need to pay upfront, and this in my case is not the greatest option.
This is the first time I am cracking the screen, but nowadays all the phones are so slippery. I kind of missing my Oneplus One for which I never bought any cover. Making the back grippy of that phone was such a good idea.
Take it apart and have a look.
A connector may have come loose... maybe the battery.
gstoyanov said:
Did you go over the Google Repair center from the Google Store? There you can select the type of damage to your phone and usually get a better price than directly contacting their authorized repair centers. It is really convenient, the only problem being that you need to pay upfront, and this in my case is not the greatest option.
This is the first time I am cracking the screen, but nowadays all the phones are so slippery. I kind of missing my Oneplus One for which I never bought any cover. Making the back grippy of that phone was such a good idea.
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The Google repair center is mail in only and 7 - 10 days turnaround. The authorized repair walk-in is UbreakIfix which is where I brought it and it was repaired within about 3 hours or so. I can't imagine it would be under $200 even if I sent it in to Google. I'd have to go thru the whole process just to get a price. Any idea what they are charging for cracked screen only?
The quotes me
bobby janow said:
The Google repair center is mail in only and 7 - 10 days turnaround. The authorized repair walk-in is UbreakIfix which is where I brought it and it was repaired within about 3 hours or so. I can't imagine it would be under $200 even if I sent it in to Google. I'd have to go thru the whole process just to get a price. Any idea what they are charging for cracked screen only?
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they gave me a price in GBP, which was close to 150 Euro and that in USD is around 180. So I presume it is slightly better than what you paid, but not significantly. You can actually check it for yourself, just go to https://store.google.com/repair put the EMEI on your phone, select a cracked screen and you will see it. I presume it might be cheaper because here the taxes are pretty high.
gstoyanov said:
The quotes me
they gave me a price in GBP, which was close to 150 Euro and that in USD is around 180. So I presume it is slightly better than what you paid, but not significantly. You can actually check it for yourself, just go to https://store.google.com/repair put the EMEI on your phone, select a cracked screen and you will see it. I presume it might be cheaper because here the taxes are pretty high.
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If they were worth anything >they< would give you a repair estimate for little or nothing.
Denon Electronics does. That's customer service.
Google just sucks. A local repair shop can do you better.
Having enjoyed many biking excursions myself like you I know you're wishing the hardware healed as easily as the body
Carry on.
gstoyanov said:
The quotes me
they gave me a price in GBP, which was close to 150 Euro and that in USD is around 180. So I presume it is slightly better than what you paid, but not significantly. You can actually check it for yourself, just go to https://store.google.com/repair put the EMEI on your phone, select a cracked screen and you will see it. I presume it might be cheaper because here the taxes are pretty high.
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$188 for cracked screen + tax in USD. So not much different than I paid. Comes to a little over $200 and I paid $30 more for same day service. Since I don't have a replacement device that wouldn't have worked for me anyway and the fact I got reimbursed, even though unbeknownst to me at the time, made it a good deal. You gonna wait for the 5a?
bobby janow said:
$188 for cracked screen + tax in USD. So not much different than I paid. Comes to a little over $200 and I paid $30 more for same day service. Since I don't have a replacement device that wouldn't have worked for me anyway and the fact I got reimbursed, even though unbeknownst to me at the time, made it a good deal. You gonna wait for the 5a?
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The problem being any impact that breaks the display can easily cause deeper damage.
The chipsets themselves can be destroyed by high G impacts alone with no direct contact. A fall from 4 feet onto concrete can generate enough G force to do this. This why using a case is important as it decreases the G force spike to tolerable levels.
The multilayered mobo traces (with internal traces) and solder joints are vulnerable to PCB flexing. Solder joints themselves are a relatively weak, with no lead solder they are downright brittle. Most phones hopefully still use leaded solder, if not even exposure to cold can crack them... no lead solder is not your friend
Never use it on repairs!!!
When a phone is literally run over mobo damage is very probable but doesn't always happen. The other pcbs are also at risk.