spectrum ebay purchase

[sq33]

Hi,

I own a Samsung Fascinate (CM10.1) right now and I'm waiting to get a new phone later on in the year, but my Fascinate seems to be failing on me. I would like to buy a used phone until the Xperia Z or GSIV come out later on in the year.
I have been looking at prices and it seems that the Spectrum seems to be the best bang for the buck (~$90 on Ebay) as far as specs go. I see that people originally had problems with the software and battery life when it first came out, but do you guys think the phone is worth it with one of the current ROMs? Any other input would be helpful. Thanks.

SQ

 

[IMUcarmen]

Hi,

I own a Samsung Fascinate (CM10.1) right now and I'm waiting to get a new phone later on in the year, but my Fascinate seems to be failing on me. I would like to buy a used phone until the Xperia Z or GSIV come out later on in the year.
I have been looking at prices and it seems that the Spectrum seems to be the best bang for the buck (~$90 on Ebay) as far as specs go. I see that people originally had problems with the software and battery life when it first came out, but do you guys think the phone is worth it with one of the current ROMs? Any other input would be helpful. Thanks.

SQ

I do. Like you said "bang for the buck".

I don't think you can find a better deal. We are mostly likely going to have official CM10.1 and AOKP42 support soon as well. There are a lot of options for this phone as far as roms go. But really once you have CM and AOKP I don't see much of a need for any other roms since there are literally hundreds of themes in the play store for them and you can constantly make your phone look different. I say pick up the spec if you can get it for under a 100 dollars. Especially considering the Spectrum screen is still really nice even compared to all the new stuff out. Sure it may lag a bit here and there but CM10.1 has really done away with most of that.

 

[stef7]

I use Nova Launcher on Stock and don't notice lag. It's a great phone in my opinion.

 

[sq33]

Thank you for the replies! I will get one. I don't see how a phone with 4.5" 1280x720 screen and dual core processor can be this cheap, but I won't complain.

 

[ortrigger]

Thank you for the replies! I will get one. I don't see how a phone with 4.5" 1280x720 screen and dual core processor can be this cheap, but I won't complain.

A large part of it is that vzw didn't market it very much. They're all about Samsung and Motorola right now.

 

[Yoinx]

I use Nova Launcher on Stock and don't notice lag. It's a great phone in my opinion.

Nova Launcher FTW.

Personally, of all the launchers I've used... I love this one the most.

But to tie this into the thread. This phone is amazing. Its kind of depressing that it's almost a give-away phone when you get a contract with Verizon Wireless now.

My only complaint is battery life. But, that's with any smartphone really. But the extended battery is only like $15 on ebay. It's win/win really.

 

[IMUcarmen]

I like adw ex the most. Nova is good but it's missing a key feature I must have which is the ability to hide labels in the app drawer. Also adw ex has tons of features and runs super smooth.

 

[stef7]

Nova runs super smooth. Nova like Holo also has Unread Count add-ons. Does ADW EX? Now why in the world would you want to hide labels in the App Drawer? :smokingsomb:

That could be requested of the author.

If you get a taste of JB, you want to replace the launcher there. OMG it is almost impossible to manipulate icons in JB.

 

[IMUcarmen]

Nova runs super smooth. Nova like Holo also has Unread Count add-ons. Does ADW EX? Now why in the world would you want to hide labels in the App Drawer? :smokingsomb:

That could be requested of the author.

If you get a taste of JB, you want to replace the launcher there. OMG it is almost impossible to manipulate icons in JB.

Yes adw ex has notifications.

And I hide labels because I know what my app icons are and I don't launch them by reading the label but I look for the icon. And the app drawer looks much cleaner without the labels.

 

[LavaTech]

Thank you for the replies! I will get one. I don't see how a phone with 4.5" 1280x720 screen and dual core processor can be this cheap, but I won't complain.

Good thinking, complaining about quality & performance for peanuts would be rather mindless.

As for launchers.... I've of course used stock LG and won't again, Go launcher for many months, Apex for about 1

 

[sq33]

So I ordered the phone on ebay, should get it by Saturday. Which ROMs do you guys recommend? I will probably install Quatt CM10.1 or Icy Fusion and fiddle around with both of those.

 

[ortrigger]

So I ordered the phone on ebay, should get it by Saturday. Which ROMs do you guys recommend? I will probably install Quatt CM10.1 or Icy Fusion and fiddle around with both of those.

Both are good. Icy Fusion is a very nice stock-based rom. Cm10.1 is super smooth and it's a jelly bean rom. Give them both a shot and see what you think.

 

[IMUcarmen]

So I ordered the phone on ebay, should get it by Saturday. Which ROMs do you guys recommend? I will probably install Quatt CM10.1 or Icy Fusion and fiddle around with both of those.

we also have AOKP42 now. Personally that's what I'm running ATM though it does have a couple minor bugs. If you want the smoothest android experience on this phone then CM10.1 beta 4 is the way to go, not the cm10.1 preview version, for whatever reason it doesn't run as smooth as tdm's beta 4 version. I also had some stability issues with the preview version and never had any on beta 4. AOKP42 doesn't run as smooth as CM10.1 beta 4 but of course being AOKP it's loaded with features and customisation options. also it's important to note that CM10.1 and AOKP42 are based off the latest version of Android which is 4.2.2

 

[sq33]

Hi

So I got the phone today in the mail and it was stock Factory OS so I updated it. It now has ICS ZV8 software version. The Pwnage tool I see works with ZV7 I see. Is this compatible? Don't want to do anything bad.

 

[Frisco]

Both are good. Icy Fusion is a very nice stock-based rom. Cm10.1 is super smooth and it's a jelly bean rom. Give them both a shot and see what you think.

Agreed. ^

Compare with your own usage over bit of time.

 

[ortrigger]

Hi

So I got the phone today in the mail and it was stock Factory OS so I updated it. It now has ICS ZV8 software version. The Pwnage tool I see works with ZV7 I see. Is this compatible? Don't want to do anything bad.

There pwnage tool works with zv8 also.

 

[sq33]

Ok got everything working. Installed Quatt 10.1 and it's working great so far. Thanks everyone for the help! Would there be any advantage installing the CM10.1 nightly that just came out?

 

[IMUcarmen]

Ok got everything working. Installed Quatt 10.1 and it's working great so far. Thanks everyone for the help! Would there be any advantage installing the CM10.1 nightly that just came out?

The nightly has a more stock kernel which can't be overclocked. I haven't run the nightly but I know the preview; which was a preview to the nightly was not as smooth as the quat beta 4 cm10.1

One advantage with the nightly is direct ota updates from the Rom itself.

 

[Nokoko]

The nightly has a more stock kernel which can't be overclocked. I haven't run the nightly but I know the preview; which was a preview to the nightly was not as smooth as the quat beta 4 cm10.1

One advantage with the nightly is direct ota updates from the Rom itself.

The nightly is much smother than the preview was, I've been messing with it all day and will be keeping it for my DD. Hard to tell in one day but battery seems better too. Just FYI

 

[PrinceCorwin]

You've convinced me to give adw a try. And I also agree that the spectrum is a great deal.

 

[IMUcarmen]

You've convinced me to give adw a try. And I also agree that the spectrum is a great deal.

what in the world does adw have to do with this thread LOL

I mean it's a great launcher, I've bought three 15 dollar launchers and still prefer adw ex over all three, but really...that just seemed way random.

 

[PrinceCorwin]

I like adw ex the most. Nova is good but it's missing a key feature I must have which is the ability to hide labels in the app drawer. Also adw ex has tons of features and runs super smooth.

You must not remember this post earlier in the thread. It was my mistake not to quote it in my previous post, though.

 

[IMUcarmen]

You must not remember this post earlier in the thread. It was my mistake not to quote it in my previous post, though.

my bad, now I remember talking about it. I just popped in this thread and saw your post and thought to myself how random it seemed.