I recently got a Samsung Intercept from Virgin USA and it sucked...I returned it and im debating whether i should switch carriers since Virgin has such good data deals. Are there any new Android phones for Virgin USA coming out in 2011 or should I just switch to another carrier?
Device(s): Samsung Intercept (Virgin Mobile), LG Optimus V
Carrier: Not Provided
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I would also like to know why you think it sucked, because I am thinking about buying this in a few days. Was it lag / sluggishness? Did it freeze up constantly? do you think that if it gets upgraded to Froyo, these problems would be fixed?
I have heard that virgin wasnt going to update it to froyo, because the processor couldnt handle flash. Many apps were very laggy and froze, the notifications bar refused to come down after using the phone for a while and i had to restart the phone, the touch keys also were very unresponsive.
Virgin is almost certainly getting the Optimus S, which will come shipped with Froyo. I'd wait for that. I hated the Intercept and went back to my Curve 8530.
I have heard that virgin wasnt going to update it to froyo, because the processor couldnt handle flash. Many apps were very laggy and froze, the notifications bar refused to come down after using the phone for a while and i had to restart the phone, the touch keys also were very unresponsive.
The Optimus S for Sprint has a product code of LS670. The US Cellular version is US670. There is a phone with the product code VM670 that has been tested here
And ofcourse its been tested by the FCC which the link can be found on the wiki article.
If you are wondering, "what kind of evidence is that?". Well, other LG phones that are on Virgin have "VM" in the product code. This phone IS coming to Virgin. More speculative evidence is when it was asked if it was coming on Virgin's Facebook page, they said that "we haven't released the release date yet, but when we know you will hear it here first". In most cases, they say "no", or "no we don't know of anything". So to say what he said seems to indicate that they have some knowledge of this phonje coming through the pipeline.
The Optimus S for Sprint has a product code of LS670. The US Cellular version is US670. There is a phone with the product code VM670 that has been tested here
And ofcourse its been tested by the FCC which the link can be found on the wiki article.
If you are wondering, "what kind of evidence is that?". Well, other LG phones that are on Virgin have "VM" in the product code. This phone IS coming to Virgin. More speculative evidence is when it was asked if it was coming on Virgin's Facebook page, they said that "we haven't released the release date yet, but when we know you will hear it here first". In most cases, they say "no", or "no we don't know of anything". So to say what he said seems to indicate that they have some knowledge of this phonje coming through the pipeline.
Do you know if the samsung transform is coming to vm aswell?
I have the intercept on Virgin Mobile and think its GREAT but im a big fan of lg phones and have checked out the links above and lg optimus IS coming to Virgin Mobile but would like if someone has a link to WHEN thank you
I recently got a Samsung Intercept from Virgin USA and it sucked...I returned it and im debating whether i should switch carriers since Virgin has such good data deals. Are there any new Android phones for Virgin USA coming out in 2011 or should I just switch to another carrier?
I have had the samsung intercept on VM & i have had 0 problems with it! I love it! Its the best money on a phone i have ever spent!
The Samsung Intercept, is a problematic phone. The store I bought mine from still has them but does not actively push them. If some one asks for it they will sell it. But they have had so many people complain (including my self, seriously the phone sucks) and bring the phones back that they just stopped trying to sell them. The Optimus V is a much better phone and much less expensive.
As for why the Intercept is a bad phone. Look up user reviews. There are a ton of them, and not many are good.
For me. The phones screen was very temperature sensitive, if it was below 40 degrees the screen was almost useless. Would not respond to touch 95 percent of the time, I always had to get back in to my work truck, get the heater going and hold the phone in front of the vent to warm it back up to over 40 deg. The phone a couple times shut itself off, and there was once that the phone screen became unresponsive, ie the phone would not come out of sleep mode. You could plug it in and the screen would light up. Battery not dead, some of the keys on the key board would get a reaction from the phone but not much. Unplug the charger and the phone would go black again. Remove the battery and then put it back in and it would load back up fine.
Some times I would select one app and another would load up. Or I would try to hang up a call and it would open a app. Stuff like that.
It is just a bad phone. Samsung has another slider that has all the same issues but I don't remember what it is. Also I was told by a VM rep that they were getting the Samsung Galaxy this year. After reading user reviews of this phone I have come to the conclusion that Samsung does not know how to make a Android phone work.
LG does a much better job. And if VM ever gets any HTC phones in their line up.
They will probably clean up the market.
Last edited by freedom1911; April 6th, 2011 at 05:46 AM.
I never used Samsung Intercept phone outside so I would not know much about how it operates below 45 Degree temps. A lot of people reported this. So it is true.
If one installs too many Apps on this phone and phone has less than 50 MB free RAM then it certainly lags. It also lags if one plays CPU heavy games. My recommendation is to always keep 50 MB RAM free on this phone. Also, use Android Assistant App from Android Market. Use Quick Boost and Auto Boost to free up the RAM. I use Go Launcher Ex to gracefully close the Apps that I do not need. Also, I turned off Haptic feedback. That helped to solve lag issue to an extent.
If Menu, Home, Back and Search keys are not responding, I press End Call/Power button once and they come back to life. They also come back to life if I slide out the physical keyboard.
If notification bar is not responding, I long press Home key. It displays the Apps that are currently running. Then I press back key. This unfreezes the Notification bar.
If 3G Data connection is not working, I long press End Call/Power button. That brings up Power Menu. In there is an option for Airplane Mode. I select the Airplane Mode (turn on Airplane Mode). The phone Notification bar shows Airplane symbol. I wait 2 minutes after this. Then I press End Call/Power button again. That brings up Power Menu. In there is an option for Airplane Mode. I select the Airplane Mode (Turn off the Airplance mode).
All in all, this phone has decent hardware. It is the Stock Android 2.1 (Eclair) that has a lot of issues. Also, Virgin Mobile USA is releasing Android 2.2 (Froyo) for this phone around 3/25/2011. That should make this phone faster. Plus, we will be able to move many Apps from phone to SD card and that should make a lot of phone RAM free.
Last edited by EdAndInn; March 22nd, 2011 at 10:54 AM.
Reason: Corrections
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Should have gotten the Optimus V if i would have waited on TMo for one month more with the Cliq (wait another month for a better less crappy Samsung Intercept)
I have had the Optimus V for a little over a month now and I love it! I bought it over the intercept bc of negative things I heard about the intercept.I'm glad I did.for the money u can't beat it
I would like new Virgin Mobile USA prepaid phone to have front facing camera, at least 320 x 480 screen, Separate GPU (or 1 GHz CPU), 1 GB RAM and 512 MB ROM, 3.5 Inch screen (4 Inch is big enough), Slideout physical Keyboard is a must, LED Flash, HD Video recording and viewing, EVDO Rev. A, Android 2.3
If not we should get at least Samsung Transform and then next Samsung Epic.
Better phones may be coming. We will just have to be patient.
Just remember, there are other options for android phones at low service prices.
Like android on StraightTalk. It is expensive to get set up, but it does work because people are doing it.
They get the unlimited service and run it on their Android phone.
Just depends on how bad you want it, and how much your willing to spend for that android experience.
i love the virgin mobile price, and call coverage and data seem fine for 3 g... but i would really like a bigger screen. either way, my wife already switched over to VM with an optimus and she seems fine.
i am dropping my verizon plan this month, and switching... the only time i dont feel i need a bigger screen is bc i have a nook color and g tablet...
but a big galaxy S, with front facing camera and big 4 inch screen would be tasty, but probably not 200 bucks either!
I recently heard something on phonedog.com (i think) about the new "superphone" for virgin mobile. It said something about Motorola (looked like a stock launcher, but only three columns for icons)
Not enough variety!!!!!!!!! only decent phone is the optimus V. Needs a bigger screen and FLASH. Anything that doesnt have Flash is now a dinosaur. the only apps you can get (TV) on the market that work without flash are terrible. I paid for them and are very dissapointed. Alot of false advertising! anyone want to know what apps i am talking about? text me. mg342010@hotmail.com. I really dont think 2.2 will help the intercept. i wouldnt wait. trade in for optimus v or hold breathe for maybe I hope an HTC. INTERCEPT takes 4 plus min. to turn on. Always have to reset. (TURN OFF THAN ON) FROZE all the time. LAG is an UNDERSTATEMENT> I was told to remove some of the DATA and that would help with the lag. YEAH thats what i want to do!. The LOFT was not a bad starter phone if u have kids. i like the way the rumor touch displays incoming text msg. i wish the Optimus V displayed incoming msg. like this.(msg. sender I.D and start of MSG.) might have to see to understand. What i didnt like about the rumor touch is that it is boring. No color. Not visually appetizing, but a good upgrade to the LOFT. Problem. is, Where do u go after the RUMOR TOUCH? Skip the INTERCEPT. YES.!!!! Even with the 2.2 upgrade. go straight to the OPTIMUS V.
Last edited by marekg; April 27th, 2011 at 09:05 PM.
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@marekg: I disagree. This phone is deff. better than my old T-Mobile and Motorola Cliq (Android 1.5), as well as T-Mobile service SUCKING in my area, 0-1 bars all the time, nothing higher...
While it'll definitely be nice to see new devices coming VMUSA's way, I've gotta say I've been quite pleased with my Intercept for the week and a half I've had it (with all but about 12 hours of that running the official Froyo update). While I know it's not a "top-of-the-line" Android phone, I don't need one of those. It does everything I need it to do, and at a pretty fair speed, too. Coming from BlackBerries, I've gotta say that, while there are definitely things I miss and that I'm still getting used to, this phone was a huge step in the right direction for my needs.
I only hope that VM follows many of the other carriers and works hard to continue to bring new smartphone options to the party -- though I certainly don't expect something bleeding-edge, and by my reckoning, that's fine. If that's what I wanted, I'd tangle myself in another contract and pay an arm and 3 legs for the privilege. No thanks.
That Motorola does look interesting, but I try not to get too excited 'til I can discover more. For now, though, I'll live in harmony with my Intercept. I'm just sorry some people are having so much trouble with theirs that they become doom-n-gloom-sayers.
Two weeks was about how long I had mine before it started going south.
After a month I just wanted to drive my truck over the stinking thing and be done with it.
Instead I took it back to the store I bought it from and traded it in for a LG OptimusV.
I have always had good experiences with LG phones and this is no exception.
All phones, smart, feature or dumb all have minor issues. No piece of hardware is 100% perfect. But there are some brands that are better than others in my experience.
LG, Nokia and HTC in no particular order have been good brands. The rest Samsung, Motorola.................I think those are the only brands I have ever bought. Samsung and Motorola were expensive failures and I wont be buying them in the future, smart phone or otherwise.
But VM is a decent company, not the best and by far not the worst. Think about staying with them and getting the LG OptimusV. It is much better than the Intercept.
My wifes Intercept is three weeks old, it started out really bad, then got better with 2.2, and is now acting up again... She is switching to the Optimus, like me. I felt really bad for her after playing around with her phone, it was the slowest phone I have ever seen. The responsiveness was horrible too.
I am new to Virgin, and coming from the Evo on Sprint was quite an adjustment, but I really like the Optimus. It is one of the better Android phones out there, and while it will never be an Evo, it can handle it's own. I do like the smaller size, I was getting tired of carrying around such a large phone.
Last edited by TampaShooters; May 3rd, 2011 at 05:59 AM.
I got the Optimus V, and one for my wife, 3 weeks ago. Our first smart phone experience and a good one. These are very fast phones and perform admirably with apps and games. Touch screen is a gem, and as a photog I spend a good deal of time analyzing my screens. This is a very good phone, great low plan from VM too. So far so good. 2 phones and very good experiences. I would get this over the other one they have right now. Better phone hands down.
If you have never used a smart phone, you are in for a treat. Very worth the cheap price and low monthly rate. Virgin upped their game with this phone. I do a lot of my business with this thing. I even have my models sign model release forms on the phone and a pdf file copy is mailed to them instantly. Droid is great and Virgin is too with this phone.
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KEY FEATURES:
· Qualcomm MSM8655 CPU
· 5MP back-facing camera and VGA front-facing camera
· HD video capture and playback in 720p, both on device or over HDMI
· Massive 4.1" display (800×480 WVGA) and ultra-thin at .0.4"
· 1400 mAh battery
· 512MB RAM with 2GB ROM and SD card slot for extended
· Froyo (Android 2.2) with Flash support for enhanced browsing (download from Android Market)
· Soft touch design for comfort in hand SPECIFICATIONS:
· Software Platform: Android – Froyo
· Messaging/web/apps: MMS, SMS, email
· Camera: 5MP AF with flash, VGA front facing
· Video: 30 fps @ 720 p decode
30 fps @ 720 p 14 Mbps encode
· Connectivity: microUSB, 3.5mm , HDMI port
· Browser: Android Webkit Browser
· Bluetooth: BT V2.1 + EDR
· Memory: 512MB RAM/ 2GB ROM, uSD Slot
· Location Services: aGPS
· Form Factor: Tablet
· Experience Category: Media Centric
· Baseband: Qualcomm MSM8655
· Weight: 143g
· Dimensions: 4.8" x 2.5" x 0.4"Display: 4.1" 800 x 480 WVGA
· Battery: 1400 mAh
· Bands/Modes: CDMA 1900 MHz EVDO RevA, 802.11 b/g/
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Device(s): Motorola Triumph CM7
Asus TF101 Running Stock ICS
Carrier: Not Provided
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skratte
MOTOROLA TRIUMPH announced today!!
KEY FEATURES:
· Qualcomm MSM8655 CPU
· 5MP back-facing camera and VGA front-facing camera
· HD video capture and playback in 720p, both on device or over HDMI
· Massive 4.1" display (800×480 WVGA) and ultra-thin at .0.4"
· 1400 mAh battery
· 512MB RAM with 2GB ROM and SD card slot for extended
· Froyo (Android 2.2) with Flash support for enhanced browsing (download from Android Market)
· Soft touch design for comfort in hand SPECIFICATIONS:
· Software Platform: Android – Froyo
· Messaging/web/apps: MMS, SMS, email
· Camera: 5MP AF with flash, VGA front facing
· Video: 30 fps @ 720 p decode
30 fps @ 720 p 14 Mbps encode
· Connectivity: microUSB, 3.5mm , HDMI port
· Browser: Android Webkit Browser
· Bluetooth: BT V2.1 + EDR
· Memory: 512MB RAM/ 2GB ROM, uSD Slot
· Location Services: aGPS
· Form Factor: Tablet
· Experience Category: Media Centric
· Baseband: Qualcomm MSM8655
· Weight: 143g
· Dimensions: 4.8" x 2.5" x 0.4"Display: 4.1" 800 x 480 WVGA
· Battery: 1400 mAh
· Bands/Modes: CDMA 1900 MHz EVDO RevA, 802.11 b/g/
OK, maybe a stupid question to all you phone geeks out there, but does this mean the phone will run Flash and/or some of the higher end android games?
Edit: Didn't read carefully enough, I see the flash support (WOOT!) but how does this processor compare with other android phones out right now?
Last edited by Etrogann; June 17th, 2011 at 02:41 AM.
same processor that's in the incredible2 and lg revolution and the htc thunderbolt.
second gen snapdragon processor that is capable of 1.2 Ghz out of the box, but has been overclocked up to 2.0 Ghz stable.
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Device(s): Optimus V (as of today!)
&
Motorola Triumph - late august =]
Carrier: Not Provided
Thanks: 12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Etrogann
OK, maybe a stupid question to all you phone geeks out there, but does this mean the phone will run Flash and/or some of the higher end android games?
Edit: Didn't read carefully enough, I see the flash support (WOOT!) but how does this processor compare with other android phones out right now?
this processor is the same as in the thunderbolt! pretty damn powerful; and we probably wont see its truest form until they push the gingerbread update [hopefully]
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Virgin Mobile USA and Virgin Mobile Canada are two totally seperate companies. Virgin is a licensed name only and Sprint owns it in the USA and Bell owns it in Canada.
You can't even compare or relate the two.
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Virgin mobile's releasing the optimus black lg vm970? (model number may be wrong), probably in december. 4" screen, pretty much same specs as mt, and also on the wifi certified sight, there's an lg vm701, which is most likely the lg gelato; a faster (800 mhtz) lg optimus with a slide out qwerty. Also probably around december. What I want is an htc device, and the wildfire s is rumored, but the only evidence is cdma certification. message htc and virgin mobile on twitter and fb for cooperation!
I would love to see the iPhone come to Virgin Mobile (if it comes to Sprint first, obviously). That would bring so many customers.
One thing you could count on is this. If the IPhone came to VM it would be seriously restricted. What I mean is, they would do the same thing with it that they did when Verizon got it. ATTs version can do WXYZ, but Verizons version can only do XYZ and if VM got it it would probably only be able to do z.
Virgin mobile's releasing the optimus black lg vm970? (model number may be wrong), probably in december. 4" screen, pretty much same specs as mt, and also on the wifi certified sight, there's an lg vm701, which is most likely the lg gelato; a faster (800 mhtz) lg optimus with a slide out qwerty. Also probably around december. What I want is an htc device, and the wildfire s is rumored, but the only evidence is cdma certification. message htc and virgin mobile on twitter and fb for cooperation!
I've heard this all over, but the Optimus Black (P970) is a GSM phone. I haven't been able to find anything other than rumor that there's a CDMA version coming to Sprint/VM. I would think that if they're going to make a CDMA version that they'd give it a new name, at least. Still, looks like a pretty nice phone.
One thing you could count on is this. If the IPhone came to VM it would be seriously restricted. What I mean is, they would do the same thing with it that they did when Verizon got it. ATTs version can do WXYZ, but Verizons version can only do XYZ and if VM got it it would probably only be able to do z.
What exactly is it that W did? All my Apple fanboi friends that have a Verizon iPhone are just as happy with it as they were when it was on AT&T. Most are happier in fact.
The only thing I can think of is the no data and voice at the same time, which was a limitation of the network at the time and not something that Apple or Verizon did to gimp the phone.
Future phones for Virgin Mobile USA?
Intercept Lags when...
Pricing
