Galaxy Nexus Watering Hole

[BabyBlues]

I've searched other threads and just haven't found the info I need. Some people are returning their phones and others don't think it is a big deal...

First of all, I love my GN! I can deal with the issues of button placement, battery drain, heat, speaker volume... Those issues will get resolved with updates or I'll get used to them.

The issue that has kept coming up over the past two weeks is call clarity. I know lots of people don't even use the phone part of a smartphone. I do. I keep having to ask people to repeat themselves - over and over! It is not a volume issue, the person comes across a bit garbled.

Is call clarity an issue that will improve with updates or not? Unfortunately, this might be a deal breaker if it is a hardware issue. Again, I love this phone and want to find a way to keep it - if at all possible. Could this be a defective handset?

Thoughts?

TIA

I will admit I don't use my phone as an actual phone very often but the couple times I have were fine.
Is it happening with everyone?

 

[jbdan]

I've searched other threads and just haven't found the info I need. Some people are returning their phones and others don't think it is a big deal...

First of all, I love my GN! I can deal with the issues of button placement, battery drain, heat, speaker volume... Those issues will get resolved with updates or I'll get used to them.

The issue that has kept coming up over the past two weeks is call clarity. I know lots of people don't even use the phone part of a smartphone. I do. I keep having to ask people to repeat themselves - over and over! It is not a volume issue, the person comes across a bit garbled.

Is call clarity an issue that will improve with updates or not? Unfortunately, this might be a deal breaker if it is a hardware issue. Again, I love this phone and want to find a way to keep it - if at all possible. Could this be a defective handset?

Thoughts?

TIA

My call clarity is excellent, much better than my Inc which I thought was fine. Not quite moto clear, but really good. And this is a big issue for me as use my phone for calls a ton, unlike many here. Try and exchange and see if it helps I'd say.

 

[vandyman]

I will admit I don't use my phone as an actual phone very often but the couple times I have were fine.
Is it happening with everyone?

Phone, What Phone? Its a mini tablet.

 

[altimax98]

Phone, What Phone? Its a mini tablet.

Lol me too... thats how I use mine. But when I do make calls I find myself lowering the volume because it is loud and clear, even in my horrible signal area

 

[sgrinavi]

I have no problem with calls, but my 4g really bites a bit one....

 

[vandyman]

Lol me too... thats how I use mine. But when I do make calls I find myself lowering the volume because it is loud and clear, even in my horrible signal area

^^^^ I have to do the same thing about the volume.

 

[vandyman]

I have no problem with calls, but my 4g really bites a bit one....

Be glad that you have 4G, Some do not have 4G and it may take awhile to get it.

I do not have 4G in the sticks of Jersey, but that did not stop me from getting the Nexus and ICS experience.

 

[sgrinavi]

Be glad that you have 4G, Some do not have 4G and it may take awhile to get it.

I do not have 4G in the sticks of Jersey, but that did not stop me from getting the Nexus and ICS experience.

Network speeds in SWFL are slow anyhow, too slow to do any sort of remote computing or even a decent VPN so I don't expect to get the speeds that I see people in major metro areas are bragging about.

What's frustrating is when the rezound is picking up 4g sitting right next to the GN on 3g... you know?

 

[HanSolo]

My call quality is excellent unless I put the earpiece volume at full blast, then it does get a bit garbled, but it's too loud at that setting anyway.

I think updates can fix radio issues, but I don't think this is a widespread problem.

 

[RazorSharp]

Of interest to Android gamers:

Top Five Graphically Awesome Games of 2011 for Android | DroidGamers

Seriously considering shelling out the $2.99 for Samurai II: Vengeance, looks awesome.

 

[HanSolo]

Btw I just finished season 1 of Boardwalk Empire, all watched on the Gnex. This is an excellent show!

 

[tpags]

Btw I just finished season 1 of Boardwalk Empire, all watched on the Gnex. This is an excellent show!

Just wait, it gets better!!

 

[cggorman]

Report-out

A roadtrip thru rural flatlands and hill-country with the Nexus

I've driven this route down many times and it takes me thru several areas in rural OH,IN, KY, and TN with a wide variety of Verizon coverages. There is a large dead area I drive thru that always rendered the Original Droid useless. The dead region was so large that if used for navigation, I would drive "off the map". It was not just a lack of data, but a total lack of signal. Not even voice. This was true as of late August 2011...my last drive thru the area prior to this trip.

Nexus and Signal
-The dead zone was NOT A PROBLEM FOR THE NEXUS! Not only did I maintain navigation ability at all times, I never lost voice and only lost data for a few minutes. Never long enough to empty the map buffer.
-Vast majority of the route had usable 3G.
-Indianapolis had good 4G as I drove by on I-65 and I-69.

Nexus is one hard worker
The Nexus was always doing at least double duty as navigator and media server. Most of the time it was doing triple: nav, music, & torrent.

At one point the Galaxy Nexus was simultaneously giving spoken turn-by-turn nav, streaming music thru bluetooth, downloading 4 movies, and wirelessly tethering internet to both an iPod touch and a laptop PC!

While the sheer amount of data moving thru the poor thing was enough to occasionally cause the music to skip briefly and the data was split into a near-useless streams, the phone never overheated, rebooted, or FC'd any app. Every function remained completely stable and usable.

Nexus for the long haul
At one point I managed to go 27 hours without a charge. CDMA only, but LTE was all I sacrificed during that stretch. Obviously, this was essentially all idling. A few texts and time-checks during that, but not else. Regular use was worry free and without restriction thanks to one extra battery and external charger. Even with the heaviest phone use the charger could easily refuel a spent battery before I needed to swap.

Device details
LTE Nexus
GummyNex 0.3.0
Apex 1.35 kernel using the default voltage
4.0.3 baseband
Nova Launcher Beta 5
No other mods or tweaks.

 

[HanSolo]

My laptop is crapping out. Can anyone recommend a good website for refurbs? I need something that will be good with gaming but won't break the bank.

 

[RazorSharp]

Dammit, accidentally held the down button while turning on my phone and it booted into Odin Mode. I forget, is there anything special I need to do? Do I just leave it alone? It says "Downloading.. Do not turn off target!" on the screen.

 

[HanSolo]

As far as graphics on a laptop is concerned, is this good?

The only games I'm interested in playing is Skyrim and The Old Republic (also Sith Lords, the 2nd game in that series, that I wasn't able to run on my crappy laptop).

• 8GB DDR3 SDRAM
  For multitasking power, expandable to 16GB.
• Multiformat DVD

 

[HanSolo]

Dammit, accidentally held the down button while turning on my phone and it booted into Odin Mode. I forget, is there anything special I need to do? Do I just leave it alone? It says "Downloading.. Do not turn off target!" on the screen.

Pull the battery and reboot. It's safe to do that while in this mode.

 

[RazorSharp]

Pull the battery and reboot. It's safe to do that while in this mode.

So.. it's not actually downloading anything? How long will it stay like this if I leave it alone?

 

[BabyBlues]

Be glad that you have 4G, Some do not have 4G and it may take awhile to get it.

I do not have 4G in the sticks of Jersey, but that did not stop me from getting the Nexus and ICS experience.

I'm not in the sticks and don't have it by my house. Couple miles east and I do, and less than that in other directions I can get it. It taunts me.

 

[RazorSharp]

Ah, okay, seems to be rebooting by itself now.

EDIT: On a separate note, decided I'm gonna leave the case off for a while. The Diztronic is about as thin as it gets, but nothing really compares to having the phone bare.

 

[HanSolo]

So.. it's not actually downloading anything? How long will it stay like this if I leave it alone?

No, it's some weird thing that puts it into a "download mode" or something. I forget what it is. But I've done it myself a few times by accident. You can try pushing the power button a few times, but I think it will just stay that way unless you do something.

 

[CaptainRon]

Btw I just finished season 1 of Boardwalk Empire, all watched on the Gnex. This is an excellent show!

how do you encode TV shows for the Gnex? Or did you do it from a dvd?

 

[HanSolo]

how do you encode TV shows for the Gnex? Or did you do it from a dvd?

My friend let me borrow the first season, and I'm not sure what he encoded them from, but they're .mkv files. And they're definitely HD.

I did a bit of research online and found out that the first season isn't available until January 2012 on blu-ray.

I think it's best that I don't ask how he got them.

 

[HanSolo]

EDIT: On a separate note, decided I'm gonna leave the case off for a while. The Diztronic is about as thin as it gets, but nothing really compares to having the phone bare.

I thought about getting a screen protector and a case for it, but decided not to. I don't like having a case on it, especially since I'm swapping out the battery for a fresh one at least once a day.

My OG Droid's screen was pristine before I caved it in with a hammer yesterday. I'm always really careful to place it in my inner jacket pocket (silk lining, nothing else in there), or my left pants pocket with nothing else in it.

I did the same with the OG Droid for more than a year, so I think I'll be okay.

 

[BabyBlues]

No, it's some weird thing that puts it into a "download mode" or something. I forget what it is. But I've done it myself a few times by accident. You can try pushing the power button a few times, but I think it will just stay that way unless you do something.

It is Odin Mode. Pull the battery. Then power up. Try to keep your fingers away from the volume rocker when powering up.