Root Really! Is it a must you root your phone?

[tiking]

I have been reading a lot about this rooting of the phone just so you can install a fix that will get rid of all the so-called Lag issue. Now, I really like to know why it is a MUST to root your phone just to increase the speed? I do not get it. Aren't there available programs in the market, to shut down unwanted programs? Like Task killer etc. BTW, is this the best program for this issue?

I have ordered a Samsung Galaxy S and hopefully I will be getting it soon. But it worries me that the first thing I have to do is 'Root' my phone because of programs running in the background? Does not sound too logical to me. Has everyone rooted this phone upon receiving it?

Samsung is coming out with a new firmware or update next month, so is it really necessary that I start messing up my phone for something that will be officially available to the public?

Is this lag on every single new Samsung Galaxy S phone on the market?

 

[aci78]

First of all, you don't have to root. It's a very fast phone w/o doing so. That being said, rooting is extremely easy and safe. And completly removable/undoable. I chose to root, and my quadrant score went from 890 to 2260. If you are unfarmiliar with quadrant, this basically means that as soon as I touch my command, it's done. Instant is good. If you wanted to wait, right on. You've waited long enough that the update is coming soon. I got mine on July 15th, and I love to upgrade and maximize my phones potential. I wouldn't buy a superphone w/o intending to do so. Will I unroot and get Samsung's update? Of course. AND I will enjoy the benefits of rooting in the mean time. I hope you enjoy the Galaxy S. Great phone imo.

 

[Eazail70x7]

There is no lag problem with the CDMA variants of the Galaxy S. They use a different type of memory which is much faster and won't cause the same lag as the currently released GSM variants have. So to answer your question about if all are affected by the lag... No.

 

[tiking]

Thanks to both you gentlemen. I appreciate it. One thing I am a little confused about are the acromyns, CDMA and GSM variants. What are they?

BTW, the quadrant thing you mentioned sounds like something I will definitely appreciate, if I have to root. But how much of a nocitable difference of the speed compared to not rooting? A jump to 2260 sounds like a huge difference. What gives it this much jump? Is it the apps? Is is not easier just to remove the apps that causes the low speed?

 

[ari-free]

You don't need to root just like you don't need to overclock your pc, install SLI graphics card and a liquid cooling system just to play games. But there will always be people who will want to push their computer/phone to the edge.

 

[tiking]

Sounds logical.

 

[A.Nonymous]

I haven't rooted my phone and have no plans to do so. Rooting (potentially) voids your warranty. For me, I can do everything I want to do with my phone without rooting it. For me, there's no point to void the warranty just so I can overclock the processor, remove bloatware, etc..... I don't use the bloatware stuff and having it on my phone doesn't bother me. My phone works fast enough for me. All that being said, there are power users out there who don't mind voiding their warranty and like what you can do with a rooted phone. Different strokes is all.

 

[alex51]

I don't root right from the start,I prefer to take some time to learn the features and the general workings of the device,then I choose which apps. I want & load 1 or 2 per day this gives you a chance to determine if like the app.& to determine if the app.causes any other issues(program conflicts),it's a good habit you learn from having Palm os..After a few mo's I determine weather the device is how I want or if root is something I want to do pursue.
For 1st time Android users I firmly believe this is best for sure,give yourself a chance to learn the device first then make the determination, and read & learn about the various mod's out there,how to's and forums like this are excellent sources of info..Always keep in mind rooting voids most warranties so if you root also learn how to unroot,it could save you a lot of $ if you have problems and have to have it repaired or swapped.

 

[tiking]

great advice Alex. I am constantly reading everything about this phone, including tips and issues. I have been doing this for a while now, since I am patiently waiting for my phone to arrive. hopefully the newer update will already be installed, if I get it in september. If not, then I will wait to do it before deciding iof I want to root or not. I do not play any heavy graphic game other then maybe scrabble or some other light game. I do not use GPS from the phone often, maybe just to figure out where I am going if I am on foot. Otherwise, I use my stand-alone GPS for my car.

 

[aci78]

I'm not a heavy gamer on my phone either, that was not my reason to root and install lag fix. I was curious how much of difference this fix would affect my phone after reading about other peoples amazing results. Also after reading about how easy it is to completely unroot, I figured what the hell. There is no comparison from before and after speeds. My advice would be try to find someone who has thier S rooted and the lag fix applied, and try it out. (after you get your phone,of course, so you have something to compare it with) Once you realize how much faster it is, and how safe and easy the back to factory firmware reset is, there is no reason to go back.

 

[vbetts]

Depends on the phone. Quick list of Android phones, not all but some.

HTC G1- In this case yes, since there is no official 2.1 or 2.2 rom.
HTC My Touch- Yes, no 2.1 rom officially.
HTC Hero- Yes, 2.1 stock is terrible on the Hero.
Samsung Moment- YES, so many problems with this phone it's a must to root it.
Samsung Behold 2- Yes, no 2.1 roms at all so the most you can do is busy box and you need to root for that.
Motorola Droid series- No, not needed unless you're having issues with 2.2 with the first Droid.
Motorola Cliq- If there are roms available without motoblur.
Motorola Devour- Same as Cliq.
Motorola Backflip- Same as Cliq
Samsung Galaxy S phones- No, not needed. Fast already.
HTC Evo- Nope, not needed.
HTC Incredible- Nope, not needed.
HTC Desire- Nope not needed.
HTC Aria- Ehhh, I'm gonna say no on this because with how this phone is, there's not much you'll gain from rooting it.
Nexus one- Same as Desire.
LG Alley- Unless there are performance boosters with this phone then no.
Sony Xperia 10- If there were 2.1 roms that required root then yes. But there isn't.

 

[aci78]

Thanks to both you gentlemen. I appreciate it. One thing I am a little confused about are the acromyns, CDMA and GSM variants. What are they?

BTW, the quadrant thing you mentioned sounds like something I will definitely appreciate, if I have to root. But how much of a nocitable difference of the speed compared to not rooting? A jump to 2260 sounds like a huge difference. What gives it this much jump? Is it the apps? Is is not easier just to remove the apps that causes the low speed?

To keep it very simple, they are two different signal technologies. Verizon and Sprint use CDMA and T-mo and AT&T use GSM.All these companies of course use different frequencies.
Cdma is probably better just because their signal is triangulated from at least 3 different towers, where as GSM uses single line of sight to recieve signal from nearest tower. That is a very basic interpretation. If you wanted to learn more, search the forums here. There is a great article depicting the history of cell phone technology, even back to analog signal. I think its called something like " why cdma signal is better". Don't remember who wrote it, but they knew their stuff.

 

[A.Nonymous]

I don't root right from the start,I prefer to take some time to learn the features and the general workings of the device,then I choose which apps. I want & load 1 or 2 per day this gives you a chance to determine if like the app.& to determine if the app.causes any other issues(program conflicts),it's a good habit you learn from having Palm os..After a few mo's I determine weather the device is how I want or if root is something I want to do pursue.
For 1st time Android users I firmly believe this is best for sure,give yourself a chance to learn the device first then make the determination, and read & learn about the various mod's out there,how to's and forums like this are excellent sources of info..Always keep in mind rooting voids most warranties so if you root also learn how to unroot,it could save you a lot of $ if you have problems and have to have it repaired or swapped.

I don't entirely agree with this. If my understanding is correct (and someone will correct me if it's not) then each Android app runs in it's own virtual machine so there's little if any chance that they'll conflict with each other.

 

[maverick777]

There is no lag problem with the CDMA variants of the Galaxy S. They use a different type of memory which is much faster and won't cause the same lag as the currently released GSM variants have. So to answer your question about if all are affected by the lag... No.

Can you tell me where you got the information about the different memory in the CDMA variants? This is the first I've heard of this and I'd like to find out more.

Thanks.

 

[vbetts]

As far as I know, the only real difference in the cdma and gsm varients are the radios inside of them, not the memory either.

 

[exwifeusesiphone]

GSM pluses: most of the rest of the developed world uses it (Europe, Africa, a lot of Asia). Simcards. Phone broke? Pop the sim in a new one. Going to Europe? Take your phone and get a pay-as-you go sim chip. Also, GSM can do voice and data at the same time.

CDMA: theoretically better signal, best carrier in the US uses it (Verizon.)

For all practical purposes GSM is better, but AT&T makes it look bad. No doubt the CDMA folks will beg to differ, but the US just happens to have crap GSM networks, in Europe very few people have had iPhone problems for instance, because the networks are more built out and generally more advanced (since Europe is smaller geographically but has a much greater population density, of course the networks are better.)

 

[AriaDroid]

Depends on the phone. Quick list of Android phones, not all but some.

HTC G1- In this case yes, since there is no official 2.1 or 2.2 rom.
HTC My Touch- Yes, no 2.1 rom officially.
HTC Hero- Yes, 2.1 stock is terrible on the Hero.
Samsung Moment- YES, so many problems with this phone it's a must to root it.
Samsung Behold 2- Yes, no 2.1 roms at all so the most you can do is busy box and you need to root for that.
Motorola Droid series- No, not needed unless you're having issues with 2.2 with the first Droid.
Motorola Cliq- If there are roms available without motoblur.
Motorola Devour- Same as Cliq.
Motorola Backflip- Same as Cliq
Samsung Galaxy S phones- No, not needed. Fast already.
HTC Evo- Nope, not needed.
HTC Incredible- Nope, not needed.
HTC Desire- Nope not needed.
HTC Aria- Ehhh, I'm gonna say no on this because with how this phone is, there's not much you'll gain from rooting it.
Nexus one- Same as Desire.
LG Alley- Unless there are performance boosters with this phone then no.
Sony Xperia 10- If there were 2.1 roms that required root then yes. But there isn't.

Just curious why you feel that way about the Aria? I have one and am considering rooting it to be able to eliminate ATT apps I don't use.

 

[mcatdtDROID]

I figure I'm going to eventually, root my phone and then wonder why I didn't do it sooner. For me, even though everyone says it's easy, it's not.... it's very confusing if you have never done it, don't know anyone who's done it or can walk you through it.

Eventually, I will find someone who will be able to walk me through it and I'll be set. Until then, I'll keep reading how easy it is, but get confused.

I tether my inet through the Droid, so I run into that complication of, if I screw something up, I can't just log in and figure out where I screwed up....

 

[tiking]

Thanks for the all the responses guys. Great info. I have read the How-to to root and I think it it seems easy to achieve.