My GPS issues were never resolved on the Epic for over a year. Froyo fixed nothing. It made other things worse on the Epic. Those are facts.
Now for some personal opinion...
I just got a Motorola Photon 4g. It's light years better in every way from my old Epic. The construction is solid. The software worked properly straight out of the box. It got it's first update just weeks after it's release. And that update actually fixed an issue without messing up anything else.
The Epic feels like plastic junk in my hand. A key snapped off last week from the physical keyboard simply from sliding it open. The micro usb port got loose on that Epic within weeks of owning it to the point that I had to use my old LG Rumor 2 charger to charge the Epic because the Epic would no longer hold the Epic's charger cord long enough to charge. As far as that phone that I owned, I can say that the hardware was crap. That was my second Epic. My first Epic was destroyed from within by a botched Froyo update that they pulled after some of us unlucky Epic owners found that the update created major problems. They made us wait months for the final "fixed" version of the Froyo OTA update. After that first Epic got the second Froyo update, the screen stared to flicker. Then the screen became unresponsive to touch such that the phone was rendered useless.
I decided since there was even a possibility that the Nexus Prime might get produced by Samsung, I would take a pass for now. I got the Motorola Photon 4g after that key snapped off of my Epic for no reason last week and I couldn't be happier.
I can say that I've become biased against Samsung over the past year, for good reasons. I wasted $249 on a crappy Samsung product that caused me to waste my time to try to get my problems fixed on it. This is my experience of Samsung from 2010 to 2011.
Oh, and Epic owners are still waiting for Gingerbread. I'm not sure they'll get it soon or that it will fix anything on the Epic. And Android is moving to Ice Cream anyway. My Photon shipped with Gingerbread and I have confidence that I'll see Honeycomb and Ice Cream.
I sincerely hope that Samsung has gotten it's act together for the Nexus Prime if they are producing it. I'm not banking on it.
Last edited by simcha; September 4th, 2011 at 10:48 PM.
Device(s): My Touch, Moment, Hero, Evo 4G, Epic 4G, Current: Epic 4G Touch!!
Carrier: Not Provided
Thanks: 44
Thanked 90 Times in 62 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by simcha
My GPS issues were never resolved on the Epic for over a year. Froyo fixed nothing. It made other things worse on the Epic. Those are facts.
Now for some personal opinion...
I just got a Motorola Photon 4g. It's light years better in every way from my old Epic. The construction is solid. The software worked properly straight out of the box. It got it's first update just weeks after it's release. And that update actually fixed an issue without messing up anything else.
The Epic feels like plastic junk in my hand. A key snapped off last week from the physical keyboard simply from sliding it open. The micro usb port got loose on that Epic within weeks of owning it to the point that I had to use my old LG Rumor 2 charger to charge the Epic because the Epic would no longer hold the Epic's charger cord long enough to charge. As far as that phone that I owned, I can say that the hardware was crap. That was my second Epic. My first Epic was destroyed from within by a botched Froyo update that they pulled after some of us unlucky Epic owners found that the update created major problems. They made us wait months for the final "fixed" version of the Froyo OTA update. After that first Epic got the second Froyo update, the screen stared to flicker. Then the screen became unresponsive to touch such that the phone was rendered useless.
I decided since there was even a possibility that the Nexus Prime might get produced by Samsung, I would take a pass for now. I got the Motorola Photon 4g after that key snapped off of my Epic for no reason last week and I couldn't be happier.
I can say that I've become biased against Samsung over the past year, for good reasons. I wasted $249 on a crappy Samsung product that caused me to waste my time to try to get my problems fixed on it. This is my experience of Samsung from 2010 to 2011.
Oh, and Epic owners are still waiting for Gingerbread. I'm not sure they'll get it soon or that it will fix anything on the Epic. And Android is moving to Ice Cream anyway. My Photon shipped with Gingerbread and I have confidence that I'll see Honeycomb and Ice Cream.
I sincerely hope that Samsung has gotten it's act together for the Nexus Prime if they are producing it. I'm not banking on it.
I'm Sorry you feel this way about your Epic. My Epic is rooted and running a custom ROM. My GPS actually worked after Froyo (leaked one from last December) it works great, I'm glad I spent the $250, I'm very satisfied with it
__________________ WHAT'S AN APPLE TO AN ANDROID?!?!? (NOTHING)
They already got their acts together starting with SGSII several months ago. Nexus Prime will only get better from that and Google is behind its OS/apps for even more peace of mind.
The Following User Says Thank You to jinwons For This Useful Post:
Definitely getting it. I've had the Nexus One since the day after it came out. Sent to my home not even 24 hours after it's release on next day delivery....the specs on this and it being a Google phone will always draw me in.
Before I knew the GSII was not to be on Verizon I lurked on a few UK GSII forums and noted all the firmware updates they were getting to correct a few things so it looks like they have improved on that point, at least in the UK.
I also read a lengthy review with videos on the GPS that seemed to work great. The reviewer did mention how the original GS was lacking in the GPS function and the GSII was much improved.
I'll be willing to give it at least a heavy 13 day workout.
If ICS moves to software buttons, how are they going to prevent the buttons from burning into the screen, assuming they go with an AMOLED type of screen? They're constantly on in Honeycomb.
If the Nexus Prime does actually come to Verizon as the phone that we all expect a "Nexus" to be and it doesn't have LTE, Google and Samsung will have made the most colossally pig-headed mistake in years. I HIGHLY doubt it.
Also, the feeling is that Verizon passed on the SGSII because of a better option down the road. I don't think they were referring to the Vigor. If the Prime isn't LTE, I fail to see what superiority it would have over the SGSII, other than screen.
And judging by the decision to release the garbage screen on the Bionic, they wouldn't pass on the SGSII in favor of a better display.
Nope, I'd bet a foot of my intestines that Prime will have LTE.
The Following User Says Thank You to For This Useful Post:
There's no way...no WAY in hell this thing isn't a 4G phone. I just don't see it happening.
I hear you, and that makes sense on many levels, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. Almost everyone, including me, was so sure that the Nexus S would be dual core, setting the stage for developers to take advantage of dual cores in Android. It made sense for development reference, it made sense time-wise (the Tegra 2 had been in tablets for over half a year, so it was certainly possible to choose Tegra 2 for mobile), and it was all the buzz, so when it was announced and turned out to be the same chipset as the galaxy S lineup, people were really disappointed.
Some reasons I can see them NOT doing LTE is battery life, limited LTE network coverage (especially on at&T) and (unless the new, built in, tiny LTE modem thing is available) I don't think Samsung or Google would want to push a fatter phone when slim phones seem all the rage.
...I'm not saying that I think it won't be LTE either, but after last year's disappointments, I'm just warning you not to get your hopes up!
Device(s): Galaxy Nexus rooted & ROMmed, OG Droid (retired)
Carrier: Verizon
Thanks: 1,940
Thanked 6,104 Times in 2,807 Posts
Would Samsung OR Verizon replace an LTE device with a non-LTE device? Has it been done? Samsung Prime is superceding Droid Charge... so I'm 99.9% sure this will be an LTE phone.
I'm picking up what you're throwing down but until I see facts, this is all speculation. I dont make decisions based upon assumptions.
There's no such thing as certainty. Verizon told us when Bionic would come out, and it sure didn't happen that way. But add me to the list of people who think it's 98% sure it'll have LTE, not least because of Chief's observation that they couldn't possibly follow the LTE Charge w/non-LTE Prime.
Some reasons I can see them NOT doing LTE is battery life, limited LTE network coverage (especially on at&T) and (unless the new, built in, tiny LTE modem thing is available) I don't think Samsung or Google would want to push a fatter phone when slim phones seem all the rage.
I must respectfully disagree.
Putting the Nexus on Verizon would be a major leap forward in expected sales. It will be distributed to the largest, most reliable network in the United States, and visibility will be through the roof, especially if it carries the DROID moniker. Now, if they release it on Verizon without LTE, you can bet your breeches that any expected high sales will falter immediately. An extremely small number of people would choose a non-LTE device sitting on the same floor as a Bionic and a Vigor. Even among us fine tech folk, who want the Prime mainly because of ICS (and most people neither care a bit about ICS nor even know what it is), only a small number would buy it if it had no LTE.
Also, I walked into Verizon yesterday and picked up the Bionic. I mean that most literally; I didn't not buy the horrid thing, rest assured. But upon turning it over in my hand, I will tell you that I was surprised by how thin the bloody thing was! No, it was not on par with, say, an iPhone. But it was thin, I tell you, thin! It was bloody marvelous.
If Samsung cannot do the same with an LTE device, it has no business being in, well, business.
And please forgive the slightly British flavor of this post. I'm rather in a mood after watching a portion of the Lord of the Rings trilogy today. I shall finish it on the morrow, I expect.
Well, I picked up a Bionic to replace my OG Droid (love everything about it, even Blur!, cept the screen of course). My plan was to get the Prime with my wife's upgrade and swap with her (she's already said the Bionic is too big for her, and I said the Prime is even bigger so it should be cool). Anyway, my biggest concern is with Samsungs build qualities. Both my wife and I have dropped our Droids countless times (usually on concrete) and neither screens have a scratch. Neither of us use cases or screen protectors either. Well, she dropped our GT 10.1 (with a Belkin case, no SP) from the bed onto our wood floor. Screen completely shattered. That guy is supposedly sporting Gorilla Glass, but I'm skeptical. I'm just a bit worried about Sammy phones at this point. I hate cases and will never use a screen protector, especially on what is supposed to be a huge phone.
.....Well, she dropped our GT 10.1 (with a Belkin case, no SP) from the bed onto our wood floor. Screen completely shattered. That guy is supposedly sporting Gorilla Glass, but I'm skeptical. I'm just a bit worried about Sammy phones at this point. I hate cases and will never use a screen protector, especially on what is supposed to be a huge phone.
Gorilla Glass protects against scratching, not cracking. For example, if you drop a phone with Gorilla Glass from about 4 feet, it may or may not break. But it won't scratch. I don't know if that makes sense to you. There are just different forces at work. Scratches are different from blunt trauma and will cause different results.
I think, but I'm not sure, that all Sammy high-end phones have Gorilla Glass. I think all of the major manufacturers do nowadays.
Gorilla Glass protects against scratching, not cracking. For example, if you drop a phone with Gorilla Glass from about 4 feet, it may or may not break. But it won't scratch. I don't know if that makes sense to you. There are just different forces at work. Scratches are different from blunt trauma and will cause different results.
I don't think that's true. You're right that scratching and shattering are different forces, but I'm pretty sure advanced phone glass designs are meant to protect against both.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HanSolo
I think, but I'm not sure, that all Sammy high-end phones have Gorilla Glass. I think all of the major manufacturers do nowadays.
It's hard to say, as Corning's GG pages don't mention some devices thought to contain GG. No Droid Charge?
Also, Dragontrail is a new competitor. Weirdly about half their news coverage spells it "Dragontail" which is more intuitive than the real name.
I don't think that's true. You're right that scratching and shattering are different forces, but I'm pretty sure advanced phone glass designs are meant to protect against both..
Not to drag this out, but I can't believe there's anything that is both scratch proof AND break/shatter proof. Although I can't scratch a diamond with a steel awl, I can definitely break the thing with a steel hammer. Diamond is supremely hard and has the ability to scratch all other minerals. It is, however, quite fragile and can be split along a number of directions within the crystal with comparative ease.
I don't think Gorilla Glass claims to be shatter-proof. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong (preferably with a link), but I've never seen that anywhere.
Not to drag this out, but I can't believe there's anything that is both scratch proof AND break/shatter proof. Although I can't scratch a diamond with a steel awl, I can definitely break the thing with a steel hammer. Diamond is supremely hard and has the ability to scratch all other minerals. It is, however, quite fragile and can be split along a number of directions within the crystal with comparative ease.
I don't think Gorilla Glass claims to be shatter-proof. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong (preferably with a link), but I've never seen that anywhere.
CORNING® GORILLA® GLASS | FAQS
"If subjected to enough abuse, Gorilla Glass can break. However, Gorilla Glass is better able to survive the real-world events that most commonly cause glass to scratch, chip, or break."
AGC Dragontrail™
"Thus there has been a demand for glass that does not break or get scratched... Dragontrail is an innovative glass that best suits new generation mobile devices since it has qualities that are superior to glass and plastic in all areas of strength, scratch resistance, and texture."
Nobody's claiming indestructibility, and you're right that ultra-strong materials can also be brittle, but I think GG and probably also DT do provide the robustness to survive most any routine phone abuse.
[Anecdotal evidence: I don't keep keys in a pocket w/my OG Droid, but it's otherwise been roughly handled and the screen remains perfect.]
Well, I picked up a Bionic to replace my OG Droid (love everything about it, even Blur!, cept the screen of course). My plan was to get the Prime with my wife's upgrade and swap with her (she's already said the Bionic is too big for her, and I said the Prime is even bigger so it should be cool). Anyway, my biggest concern is with Samsungs build qualities. Both my wife and I have dropped our Droids countless times (usually on concrete) and neither screens have a scratch. Neither of us use cases or screen protectors either. Well, she dropped our GT 10.1 (with a Belkin case, no SP) from the bed onto our wood floor. Screen completely shattered. That guy is supposedly sporting Gorilla Glass, but I'm skeptical. I'm just a bit worried about Sammy phones at this point. I hate cases and will never use a screen protector, especially on what is supposed to be a huge phone.
Sorry to hear what happened to your tab 10.1. But remember that tablet is much larger and heavier than phone. So even with gorilla glass it can be shattered with such dropping. Even if you dropped Xoom or Eee Pad, it can happen I think.
But phone is much lighter and smaller, so chance of it getting shattered is much less. I saw someone testing durability of original SGS last year with a lot of dropping, throwing and even scratching with ball pen and he couldn't make even a tiny damage to SGS gorilla glass. He could make scratch only with sharp knife. So I'm not worried on screen durability of high end samsung phones.
Following the Bionic forums, it seems like 15+ hours in 4G claim by Yoda was totally fake. He claimed Moto has refined firmwares, LTE radio chip over and over and finally it's getting superior 4G battery life than other LTE phones. Realistically it's more like 8 hours under moderate usage and nearly half of that under heavy use. I hope Samsung does better job than that in Prime.
I hope Samsung will have better battery life, but we also have to remember that running a full HD screen will eat up some life. Also, we probably won't see any huge leaps in battery life improvement until the Krait 28nm chipsets come out next year.
If I can get 12 hours under moderate use with the Prime, I'll be one happy camper. If it's less than that, I think the HD screen and ICS will more than make up for it. Extended batteries will be my friend.
Device(s): Galaxy Nexus rooted & ROMmed, OG Droid (retired)
Carrier: Verizon
Thanks: 1,940
Thanked 6,104 Times in 2,807 Posts
I'm near my trusty laptop most of the day, so it can stay on the USB charger there. I don't think battery life will be an issue for me at all. With all the features and benefits Prime offers, there will have to be a trade-off and battery life will be it. If that's the only downside to the phone... I can live with that
Following the Bionic forums, it seems like 15+ hours in 4G claim by Yoda was totally fake. He claimed Moto has refined firmwares, LTE radio chip over and over and finally it's getting superior 4G battery life than other LTE phones. Realistically it's more like 8 hours under moderate usage and nearly half of that under heavy use. I hope Samsung does better job than that in Prime.
Its no better than any of the other LTE phones on verizon.. the only upside is that it does it with a faster SoC. Although, I think that's little consolation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HanSolo
I hope Samsung will have better battery life, but we also have to remember that running a full HD screen will eat up some life. Also, we probably won't see any huge leaps in battery life improvement until the Krait 28nm chipsets come out next year.
If I can get 12 hours under moderate use with the Prime, I'll be one happy camper. If it's less than that, I think the HD screen and ICS will more than make up for it. Extended batteries will be my friend.
If Prime is OMAP4460 as is strongly rumored, the LTE chip will still be 45nm discrete (whether it be Qualcomm or Motorola) and probably draw a lot of power.. barring a huge battery (we're closing on 2000 mAh at this point) or major battery life improvements in ICS (unlikely).. Prime will not be much better than the current crop of LTE, in my opinion.
I'm thinking if the battery life is the same on the Bionic and Prime the Sammy will still be the one to get eh?
As I laugh like But-head and Beavis.
Even if battery life is close to Bionic, I will choose Prime for several other reasons. I think ICS will bring some improvement in power management if not major. Realistically we can't expect major power efficiency improvement in current LTE radios until next generation integrated SoC LTE radios come. I will probably keep 4G radio off most of time and use it only for big downloads, streaming, etc.
I'm near my trusty laptop most of the day, so it can stay on the USB charger there. I don't think battery life will be an issue for me at all. With all the features and benefits Prime offers, there will have to be a trade-off and battery life will be it. If that's the only downside to the phone... I can live with that
I have the same application usage as you in I have a Proclips power cradle in the vehicle and hope they will make one for the Prime too, but do have a Pioneer receiver with a USB port also.
I rarely tax the battery. But I still have best wishes.
Until the next Gen LTE radios come out next year we are looking at less than favorable battery life on handsets across the board. This time next year we will start to see much better LTE handsets but until then it is what it is......
If it's pure vanilla, almost definitely. If it's bloated and has LTE, probably not, because we haven't seen any LTE phone on current generation LTE hardware have decent battery life.
If it's pure vanilla, almost definitely. If it's bloated and has LTE, probably not, because we haven't seen any LTE phone on current generation LTE hardware have decent battery life.
Wish the soc was dual core Exynos and ram 2 gb.
Like others mentioned, we won't see any major improvement in battery life of LTE phone until middle of next year when 2nd gen SoC LTE arrives. But Samsung Charge does better than other LTE phones in battery from what I saw. And if you see recent Sprint SGS2 review videos, its screen is moving super smooth with touchwiz 4.0. So I don't mind Prime getting TW either. If you still don't like it, just get rid of it.
Id like a vanilla experience on the Prime but I'm still on board with TW. Samsung will get my money on this handset regardless of a manufacturers UI or not.
I haven't seen any other vanilla device flying by on Verizon. Prime it is.
The Following User Says Thank You to cereal killer For This Useful Post:
Id like a vanilla experience on the Prime but I'm still on board with TW. Samsung will get my money on this handset regardless of a manufacturers UI or not.
I haven't seen any other vanilla device flying by on Verizon. Prime it is.
I agree. As long as it ships with ICS I can deal with bloat and Touchwiz. LauncherPro will replace TouchWiz and I'm hoping CM will be on the ball in terms of CM8.
Device(s): HTC Droid DNA, iPAD 3 (yes I know :-) , I have a XOOM too)
Carrier: Verizon
Thanks: 93
Thanked 220 Times in 143 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by cereal killer
Id like a vanilla experience on the Prime but I'm still on board with TW. Samsung will get my money on this handset regardless of a manufacturers UI or not.
I haven't seen any other vanilla device flying by on Verizon. Prime it is.
I am with you. I actually prefer some of Samsung's UI tweaks anyway (status bar widgets, etc). I will likely also purchase either way...
What's going to happen is it will release with ICS then the JellyBean rumors will start. Shortly after people will begin to throw fits wondering if they are going to get the update. Flooding Verizons and Samsungs FB pages asking "are we getting jellybean?" It will be met with silence of course and that will trigger page long rants by customers who demand answers and how they should never have bought a Samsung.
What's going to happen is it will release with ICS then the JellyBean rumors will start. Shortly after people will begin to throw fits wondering if they are going to get the update. Flooding Verizons and Samsungs FB pages asking "are we getting jellybean?" It will be met with silence of course and that will trigger page long rants by customers who demand answers and how they should never have bought a Samsung.
It truly never ends...
Jelly bean is so next year. I heard Key Lime Pie is going to be touch-less. All you have to do is focus your eyes on the button and squint!
I will be on board also. I must say I feel battle hardened after waiting for the Bionic and then resisting.
I will however wait to read what you guys have to report on it. Call me chicken, but you guys are one hell of a resource to not take advantage of.
Unless you guys get ambushed by some anomaly I don't think I can wait out a price drop.
Who sponsored the Costco bundle deal on the Bionic anyway? Verizon, Motorola?
Gapi I'm on this handset on release day.....I will have waited over 410 days to use an upgrade. I'm way past Battle hardened, I have the 1000 yard stare
Gapi I'm on this handset on release day.....I will have waited over 410 days to use an upgrade. I'm way past Battle hardened, I have the 1000 yard stare
I have you beat...I have been waiting to upgrade since I passed on the original storm...
There's no way a coveted phone like the Nexus is released "exclusively" on a carrier that's been pushing its LTE network and the phone is offered without LTE.
There's too much to gain by having the first ICS phone run on the only LTE network...and thus too much to lose by not having lte on the phone.
Well I have not upgraded my phone since my Verizon Razr V3c when it first came out. I had to buy a droid A855 to get grandfathered in. Still waiting for the Nexus. I was going to buy the Bionic then I heard the Nexus will be out. Ince that comes out I will be mad that quad core 2.5 cell phones will be coming out. Decisions Decisions
I have been eligible since "Upgrade at Discounted Price + $100 Credit.
Eligible for New Every Two on 08/29/2007.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cereal killer
......and the "Longest wait for a new phone" trophy goes to?.....
Well I have not upgraded my phone since my Verizon Razr V3c when it first came out. I had to buy a droid A855 to get grandfathered in. Still waiting for the Nexus. I was going to buy the Bionic then I heard the Nexus will be out. Ince that comes out I will be mad that quad core 2.5 cell phones will be coming out. Decisions Decisions
I have been eligible since "Upgrade at Discounted Price + $100 Credit.
Eligible for New Every Two on 08/29/2007.
Wow..loooong time
I personally think a good dual core with a nice gpu will be a better choice for overall performance until the software and applications can take advantage of a quad core. Its a little over kill. Not to say that a quad core doesn't have a place in a phone but I think it will be some time before hardware, software and apps become cohesive.
There's no way a coveted phone like the Nexus is released "exclusively" on a carrier that's been pushing its LTE network and the phone is offered without LTE.
There's too much to gain by having the first ICS phone run on the only LTE network...and thus too much to lose by not having lte on the phone.
The rumor is;
There will be two phones. The GT-i9250 is for European release and the SCH-i515 is for Verizon with LTE. There has not been much chatter for the other US carriers.
The Galaxy Nexus is the third official phone contracted by Google and the first phone to come with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Specs include a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16/32GB of internal storage, a 4.65 inch 720p HD Super AMOLED... Read More
