My first impressions of the phone

[Araliss]

So the dBm on my Epic is showing -91. I'm assuming its a bad signal.

 

[Jedii]

So the dBm on my Epic is showing -91. I'm assuming its a bad signal.

lol. well, its not great signal. haha

 

[Araliss]

lol. well, its not great signal. haha

That's why I'm here, you guys teach me all sorts of neat things.
Hopefully my Fascinate fares better.

 

[eleazar]

My first impression of the phone is that, it's jizzworthy.

That's all I needed to hear.

 

[II Kings 9:20]

Great post and info- this is Nobel Prize material. I am breathing much easier- how foolish, I am not even due for a new phone until Nov! Oh well I'll soldier on with my heavy D1. The Fascinate as you correctly point out is light- needs a case for fingers and to protect. It weighs only 119 grams compared to the light iphone's (IIRC)149gm.

 

[DocHolliday]

I picked this up today as well, and damn it is fast. Full site web pages load extremely quick on this thing. I also dig that I can drag and drop AVI files onto it without having to use rockplayer. It has the best music player on Android as well. Sure I wish it was stock vanilla like my wifes 2.2 Droid but its not too bad.

As far as Bing goes, Google is my homepage, I don't use a search widget, and I can install google maps, so it's not as bad as websites made it out to be.


The only bummer is that it didn't come with headphones.

Spot on about music player!! Has customizable equalizer plus about 8 presets and it is LOUD!!

 

[Araliss]

Another dumb question about the dBm number. What is the range. like 1 to 100? With 100 being worse?

 

[TheAlmightyDrew]

WOW. Just tested the speakerphone and it is absolutely fantastic. I could hear everything very well. Also when I put the phone on the table or bed, the sound did not become distorted or muffled. That would happen frequently with my Droid X. I know when I had my Droid X and I would call my girlfriend (she also had a Droid X), the speakerphone quality left a lot to be desired. That doesn't seem to be the case with the Fascinate. I will give my girlfriend a call later today to test out what it sounds like when I call her Droid X.

Also, you guys talking about the music player are getting me really pumped. I walk from class to class every day, so having a phone that has a great music player is crucial for me. I can't wait till my phone is done charging so I can start with the customizing!

 

[howdy]

Thanks for sharing. I just got mine a couple hours ago and agree with everything you have said.

I also feel that Touchwiz is pretty darn good. I have limited time on it as of now, but I think it's pretty comparable to HTC. I like it considerably better than motoblur. I don't see many people being disappointed in anything about this phone. They are going to sell a ton of these things. Super light, very thin, excellent screen, very fast and smooth. The "feel" and look of quality is much better than my old Dinc (my opinion only as this is very subjective I know).

Motorola must be giving Verizon a lot of money to keep this one quiet. Can't figure any other reason for them being so quiet about it. Best Buy didn't even have one on display yet.

I went to the Verizon store this morning to take a look at the Fascinate. Something unexplainable was going on in my nether regions when I turned on the phone and took my first look at the screen. It is absolutely gorgeous but I am sure you all know that. I think I came a little. But yea the phone is great and runs very smooth. I can't wait for Froyo and for it to get even better. After playing around with it for about 45 minutes, I decided to take the plunge, bite the bullet, pull the trigger etc etc and go to Best Buy and do a hardware swap. I swapped out my Droid X for the Fascinate. The guy I spoke to on the phone was telling the truth, he only got 2. The other one was pre-ordered so I got the only one that was for sale. Sweet! The phone feels great. Very very VERY light in the hand. I had the iPhone 3G for over a year and this feels even lighter. It fits very well in the pocket because of its slim profile. Under no circumstance at all does this phone feel cheap, but hey that is just my opinion. Be advised that this thing is an absolute finger print magnet. So don't let people get their greasy disgusting fingers all over it unless you have observed them washing their hands. All joking aside, GPS actually worked perfectly fine for me after downloading Google Maps. Immediately I stepped out of Best Buy, I downloaded Google Maps. It took about 20-30 seconds because this was the first time I turned on Google Maps on the phone. Once it got going, it tracked my location no problem. As I was driving, it followed my location no problem. I stepped into my apartment, it took a little longer to track my location, but it did it no problem. Honestly, just remember to turn on all the GPS options before using your GPS. That means enabling GPS and enabling VZW Location Services, Standalone GPS services, and Google Location services in the settings menu. The phone does have a Voice Search application which goes through GOOGLE SEARCH not Bing. That was a very refreshing surprise. So all you people out there worrying about Bing Maps, don't worry. I used it and said "Navigate to Starbucks" and it pulled up Google Navigation Beta and proceeded to navigate me to the nearest Starbucks. I said "Starbucks" and it searched Starbucks on GOOGLE not Bing. Bing sucks ass. It really does. Now that I know voice search is there and that it will run through Google, I don't think I will ever touch Bing.

TouchWiz is not that bad. Not the greatest selection of widgets, but I do like the on-board Task Manager, Buddies Now and the Feeds and Updates widgets. Oh well, I plan to get Launcher Pro on this thing in a few minutes anyways.

The phone runs as smooth as hot butter on a baby's bottom. I don't even think I'll need to do a lag fix cause this thing is a screamer. Call quality is great. I gave my brother a call and it was crisp and clear, and on his end he has an iPhone 3GS. My first impression of the phone is that, it's jizzworthy. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

[Jedii]

Another dumb question about the dBm number. What is the range. like 1 to 100? With 100 being worse?

Well the actual range is 100 to -100. (Thats the technical range).

You should only see it from -45 to -100. Sometimes your phone will read -100 to -110.

The lower higher the number, the better. Example: -65 is better than -95

 

[Jedii]

Thanks for sharing. I just got mine a couple hours ago and agree with everything you have said.

I also feel that Touchwiz is pretty darn good. I have limited time on it as of now, but I think it's pretty comparable to HTC. I like it considerably better than motoblur. I don't see many people being disappointed in anything about this phone. They are going to sell a ton of these things. Super light, very thin, excellent screen, very fast and smooth. The "feel" and look of quality is much better than my old Dinc (my opinion only as this is very subjective I know).

Motorola must be giving Verizon a lot of money to keep this one quiet. Can't figure any other reason for them being so quiet about it. Best Buy didn't even have one on display yet.

Haha. So many people have asked that. All i know, since Big Red isnt doing heavy marketing on it, you can actually go to a store and get one without the crazy long wait period!

 

[nunyabizness]

Something unexplainable was going on in my nether regions when I turned on the phone.

OK, I literally not just LOL'd, but SOL'd (snorted out loud!) at work when I read that! Makes me even more excited for mine to get here. As bad as I want it, it's probably a good thing that it's not here yet, as I foresee my productivity plummeting upon its arrival. Due to arrive within the next 50 minutes! Is it weird that I have little butterflies in my tummy?! I guess it's no weirder than a phone causing Little Drew to rise to the occasion though, right?!

 

[cadon69]

This is weird, when I use the Voice Search built into the phone it goes to Bing. I have Google Maps installed, but cannot find any google search anywhere on the phone to even use. Maybe I missed something.

 

[TheAlmightyDrew]

OK, I literally not just LOL'd, but SOL'd (snorted out loud!) at work when I read that! Makes me even more excited for mine to get here. As bad as I want it, it's probably a good thing that it's not here yet, as I foresee my productivity plummeting upon its arrival. Due to arrive within the next 50 minutes! Is it weird that I have little butterflies in my tummy?! I guess it's no weirder than a phone causing Little Drew to rise to the occasion though, right?!

Not weird at all. Not weird indeed.

When I was using this phone, I had this feeling. This feeling of joy and happiness and security. A feeling that tells me that this is it. This is the phone that I was looking for. It is a feeling that I haven't had since I got my iPhone 3G -- I certainly didn't feel that way when I had the Droid X and Droid 2. When I had those phones, I was like "Yea, this is great but there are big problems that I have with it personally"

 

[Jodiuh]

What didn't you like about the D2? I'm having the signal issues. They sent me another phone, but it's busted. I'd like to go in and swap for the Fascinate, but apparently if I do this, I'd be stuck with it. No more returns.

 

[rushmore]

I went to the Verizon store this morning to take a look at the Fascinate. Something unexplainable was going on in my nether regions when I turned on the phone and took my first look at the screen. It is absolutely gorgeous but I am sure you all know that. I think I came a little. But yea the phone is great and runs very smooth. I can't wait for Froyo and for it to get even better. After playing around with it for about 45 minutes, I decided to take the plunge, bite the bullet, pull the trigger etc etc and go to Best Buy and do a hardware swap. I swapped out my Droid X for the Fascinate. The guy I spoke to on the phone was telling the truth, he only got 2. The other one was pre-ordered so I got the only one that was for sale. Sweet! The phone feels great. Very very VERY light in the hand. I had the iPhone 3G for over a year and this feels even lighter. It fits very well in the pocket because of its slim profile. Under no circumstance at all does this phone feel cheap, but hey that is just my opinion. Be advised that this thing is an absolute finger print magnet. So don't let people get their greasy disgusting fingers all over it unless you have observed them washing their hands. All joking aside, GPS actually worked perfectly fine for me after downloading Google Maps. Immediately I stepped out of Best Buy, I downloaded Google Maps. It took about 20-30 seconds because this was the first time I turned on Google Maps on the phone. Once it got going, it tracked my location no problem. As I was driving, it followed my location no problem. I stepped into my apartment, it took a little longer to track my location, but it did it no problem. Honestly, just remember to turn on all the GPS options before using your GPS. That means enabling GPS and enabling VZW Location Services, Standalone GPS services, and Google Location services in the settings menu. The phone does have a Voice Search application which goes through GOOGLE SEARCH not Bing. That was a very refreshing surprise. So all you people out there worrying about Bing Maps, don't worry. I used it and said "Navigate to Starbucks" and it pulled up Google Navigation Beta and proceeded to navigate me to the nearest Starbucks. I said "Starbucks" and it searched Starbucks on GOOGLE not Bing. Bing sucks ass. It really does. Now that I know voice search is there and that it will run through Google, I don't think I will ever touch Bing.

TouchWiz is not that bad. Not the greatest selection of widgets, but I do like the on-board Task Manager, Buddies Now and the Feeds and Updates widgets. Oh well, I plan to get Launcher Pro on this thing in a few minutes anyways.

The phone runs as smooth as hot butter on a baby's bottom. I don't even think I'll need to do a lag fix cause this thing is a screamer. Call quality is great. I gave my brother a call and it was crisp and clear, and on his end he has an iPhone 3GS. My first impression of the phone is that, it's jizzworthy. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

I agree. IMO, the Fascinate is a better device than X:

1. Better display
2. MUCH better sound quality from 3.5mm jack
3. Feels better in hand (than X)
4. Even better video codec support

Both the Fascinate and X are hurt a bit with Blur and Wiz, so same difference there. Compared to my Inc- better screen, more codec support and even better sound (Inc is good though).

I would pick the Fascinate over the Inc if released same time. But since the Fascinate will not get 2.2 and Flash until the end of the year, I go by the formula:

(Inc + 2.2) > (Fascinate + 2.1)

Of course there should be a root rom option for 2.2, but will there be? Assuming and being are not the same.

The one thing I do not agree with is the smoothness. Seems Wiz is holding it back and not as quick as my Inc. Seems like an iPhone interface knock-off to me.

 

[blueyce28]

This is weird, when I use the Voice Search built into the phone it goes to Bing. I have Google Maps installed, but cannot find any google search anywhere on the phone to even use. Maybe I missed something.

Same here. I am still trying to figure out what Drew did to where it used Google search.

 

[Vihzel]

My first impressions... WOW

 

[fegriffith]

Yeah...using the dedicated search button uses Bing...and what was REALLY irritating was that you had to accept Bing's tos just to see what you would get, and THEN before it gave decent results it is tellling me to update it, which I'm afraid to do 'cause maybe it's a conspiracy and will lock my phone to Bing only.

I'm not happy about the hard button not being user defined.

Holy crap...I've never paid attention to permissions. Bing wants permission to read OR write contact data, modify OR delete SD card contents...

Uh...not liking that. Does Google ask for the same permissions?

 

[Jodiuh]

Wtf? I just got a bing invite from fegriffith. I don't even know a fegriffith.

 

[cadon69]

Same here. I am still trying to figure out what Drew did to where it used Google search.

Oh good I'm not alone LOL! I just got back from lunch and left the phone on the charger so I haven't been able to play but now I will continue to play and see what I can do.


****Edit****

Ok so I just found out there is 2 different Voice "search" options. One is called Voice "Commands" that one goes to Bing automatically. Then there is another one called Voice "Search." I only found it by swiching the app "drawer" to list view, but once I went back to grid I saw it there also. I must have missed it the first time around in grid view. DUH ME!

 

[TheAlmightyDrew]

My first impressions... WOW

Is that a good "wow" or bad "wow"?

 

[jroc]

Yea to find out about reception I recommend any phone u wanna get try it in a bad reception area. I found out the hard way that every phone doesnt have the same reception.

I also work in a bad reception area. In my building I get between -88 and -120. (on the top floor, the 6th, reception is better, I work on the 3rd floor. I'm basing the -88 on the 3rd fl.)

Under my desk I can get -120. Certain areas in the hallways is -120. On top of my desk I can get -98. In the hall on the 3rd fl is -88.

So yea, try these phones in a bad reception area to get a better test of their reception.

 

[Jedii]

Yea to find out about reception I recommend any phone u wanna get try it in a bad reception area. I found out the hard way that every phone doesnt have the same reception.

I also work in a bad reception area. In my building I get between -88 and -120. (on the top floor, the 6th, reception is better, I work on the 3rd floor. I'm basing the -88 on the 3rd fl.)

Under my desk I can get -120. Certain areas in the hallways is -120. On top of my desk I can get -98. In the hall on the 3rd fl is -88.

So yea, try these phones in a bad reception area to get a better test of their reception.

Thats the rapid signal changes i was talking about earlier! Thanks for the post. Its crazy how often the signal changes with seemingly no reason.

 

[Jodiuh]

I can make that number go up or down depending on how many times I wink @ my DROID 2. It has to be in the same spot for it to work though.