Cool. Looks like I’m on 2.3.5 – whatever that gets me.
Really? My Android device is definitely not high end, but the battery seems to work fine, considering that I listen to stored or streamed content for at least two hours every day. This might reduce the charge shown on the battery meter 20% if I start with a full charge. But with my old Windows phone, that amount of use would have almost completely drained the battery. I might notice the problem more if I used the device for actual phone calls more than I do.
I had 2.3.6 the last time I tried a Gingerbread-based ROM. Hmmm…if I can find a 2.3.5-based custom ROM that will work on my phone, I could probably use that. One thing I did like about GB was that it can play back .midi files to sound like the actual instrument; if you do it on Froyo you just get those awful electronic pitch tones.
I know, I withdrew the statement in Post 35.
I’m also a dumb phone user thinking of moving up. But I have to say that reading this thread has made me want to stick with my 7-year old doorstop of a cel phone that can only do voice and texts.
3G this, 4G that, pay extra for data plans and texts and the friggin’ batteries suck? Ugh, let me know when they get this technology worked out. Also, I’m good with computers but this seems like a steep learning curve for not a lot of value.
Add to that the last time I walked into an ATT store and listened to their spiel, their business model made feel like I needed a shower afterward. “How much does that one cost”, I asked.
$150, but there’s a $70 rebate."
“So I send something in and get $70 back?”
“No, you have to sign up for a credit card and it has $70 on the account.”
Seriously? That’s your business plan? It sounds like a pyramid scheme. And I’m already an ATT customer.
So my question to everyone - is this really worth it? I could possibly have some use for being able to send email while mobile, but all the other bells and whistles seem like window dressing. Could it be that smartphones just aren’t for me?
A good friend of mine still has a dumb phone. I’ve been nudging him to buy a smartphone for a while.
He’s getting ready to take a trip to Alaska and go glacier hiking. He was talking about getting a new camera and packing that and his phone and his GPS device and iPod when it occurred to him that he could just bring an iPhone and be done with it.
Don’t let the retail stores get you down. Sign up to use your account on the website. I hadn’t been in a store in about a decade before this October when I went to get my GalaxyS2, and that was only because I knew exactly what I wanted and didn’t want to wait for shipping.
You can browse, compare, and read reviews on all the ATT phones right on the website, renew your contract, choose which data plan, all that without having to talk to any sales people. The prices are clear, and all you have to do is add stuff to the shopping cart if you’re not sure and that will give you the bottom line as you go.
I hate haggling with sales people. Haggling in an antique store, sure, but trying to just get what I want and get out with a new piece of tech, forget it. The only thing you can’t do is “play” with the phone and see how it feels in your hand. If I needed to do that, I would find the models I want to compare in person with the website, note the models, and go to a store just to do that, then order from the website once the final decision is made. If you hate it, ATT gives you a week or two (don’t remember exactly) to send it back for a different one. I did that with some crappy Windows touchscreen-but-not-quite-really-a-touchscreen-here’s-a-stylus-that-might-not-work-so-great thing a few years ago that made me decide on an iPhone, and traded it back with no hassle at all.
I’ve yet to meet anyone who regretted getting a smartphone. I’ve met a few who said the thing changed their life!
What phone do you have?
The really big battery drains, at least as far as I can tell, are:
- 4g
- large, bright screen
- wifi
4 - maybe - dual core processors.
Like I said earlier in the thread I have a Droid Bionic. This thing on minimal usage (without a battery manager) will last about a day on a full charge.
One of my friends has a somewhat older Android phone - HTC, I think, though I can’t remember the model. He got it “free” (meaning it was a bit old already) on a contract renewal in late 2010. He sees the same thing, though not quite to the same extent. He can probably go 1.3-1.5 days on a full charge.
The informational and entertainment value of a smart phone is light years ahead of a dumb phone. If you’re the sort of person who likes to be able to look something up in Wikipedia right now! while walking down the street, you can do that. If you want to carry your whole music library around in your pocket you can do that. If you want to be able to find a business or store near your present location, and add its telephone number to your contacts, you can do that for free instead of dialing 411 at $2.50 a pop, or whatever it costs now. Streaming radio is a significant subset of the worldwide radio market these days, so if you want to listen to stations in other parts of the world you can do that. For me, that was the clincher.
I think that might explain it. Mine’s only 3G, and the screen may be bright but it’s anything but large. On the other hand, when I’m home the wi-'s nearly always enabled.
I forgot to answer this: Sprint Optimus S (actually LG, but it’s branded Sprint).
I have a Droid (original model) and am thinking of switching to an iPhone soon. The only concern I have is the google navigation and google maps feature. The GPS can locate me instantly and give me perfect GPS navigation based on google maps date. In addition, if I google a location and the address comes up, I can just touch the address and it gives me an option for GPS navigation (or plain old directions) to that location.
Does the newest iPhone have a similar functionality?
The newest one does and the three previous to that one did. Not sure about the first iPhone.
If by “GPS directions” you mean “look like a GPS device, with a ‘fly-by’ view while giving you turn-by-turn directions”, then no. If you mean “give me directions that will get me to where I’m going and show a little live-action ‘me’ dot on the map”, then yes.
You are totally correct. There are iPhone aps that you can buy that do this but I haven’t used one.
For me one of the selling points of Android is that you get this capability for free–no paid app to buy, and no monthly subscription.
After three years with the iPhone 3Gs, I was really impressed with the turn-by-turn directions with street-view that was already available on my Android, without having to wade through all the app options. Very nice!
You don’t have to pay for the functionality with the iPhone. But, you do have to find an app that you think will work. It’s not built in like it is with Android.
Even with Android, people have problems with the navigation app, but a large part of this is due to settings that are easily overlooked. Trying to keep it short and sweet, the basic issue is that it’s possible to have GPS working for you as you look at Google Maps on your device, and at the same time have your location blocked to anyone else with the exception of 911 responders. “Anyone else”, in this case, also includes Google’s navigation server.
When you fire up Google Maps, the app reminds you to enable wifi for greater GPS accuracy–but when you try to use Google Navigation, which is a component of Maps, it doesn’t remind you to unblock your location to others. If nothing else, they could do that when they tell you that the navigation component is “Searching for GPS…Searching for GPS…Searching for GPS…”.
I know virtually nothing of iPhone, but my experience with Android indicates that to get the best results from you need to do a significant amount of tweaking and hacking. I think I said it here a few months ago: you need to either be a geek, or have one close to you in your life–either be one, or love one!
There a couple of free ones as well. MapQuest and Waze get lots of good comments.
For paid apps, Garmin, TomTom and Magellan are all there.