Feedback on Behold2 please?

[marstodd]

crud we lost chaos and mars

wish you guys would have gave it a chance and stuck it out with us. I have a feeling its going to get better.
but you guys need to do whats right for you and i understand @ $200 you want to be happy.

Hey Thanks!
I learned how much fun is typing; I love to type! If the BH2 was fun to type on it'd be great. Such great HW and Screen! I hope the HTC keyboard app or another KB app works for this!
All that is needed, is a TRANSPARENT FULL-SCREEN keyboard or some other great trick! (like thin line transparency?) something that types well!
I have no time to program this right now. The cliq keyboard here I come (comes in mail tonight)
T.

 

[derrickps3]

wow thats a huge turn to leave a phone because of no physical keyboard, what made you buy the phone anyway if you know you really want a physical keyboard?

 

[marstodd]

wow thats a huge turn to leave a phone because of no physical keyboard, what made you buy the phone anyway if you know you really want a physical keyboard?

That's a great question! I did not know that I 'REALLY' want a physical keyboard!
I Got the phone, thought "wow great", charged it over night, tried it for 1 hour, then said to myself, "Holy Moses, I can't do this!!!" so I sent it back as quick as I could. Hey I grew up typing on a REAL physical (no electricity, mechanical!) keyboard!

You Live and you Learn!

 

[culo77]

glad you stuck with android even if its the eeeewwwww cliq

I like the virtual keyboard, as it saves weight and room in my pocket.

i do prefeer the key board on my iPod Touch over the beholds anyone know a app for that? (see what i did there?)

 

[marstodd]

I'm sure someone will write a great virtual keyboard app. I don't have time these days to do it. it should be transparent and full screen, with numbers AND letters there. Maybe even just show most likely keys, statistically. Another problem I had was the browser I could not type URL's all that horrible predictive stuff I needed to turn off! (I tried to go directly to TMobile.com, to figure out why my account services/charges were wrong, as listed on the phone).
I'm sure there are better browser apps too with better URL entry. Maybe you can browse the file system in the browser just like IE

 

[Desmodronic]

Hello all,

I just wanted to provide my two cents. I have had the behold 2 for just over a week now and I'm 90% convinced that I will be sending it back soon.

I will say the battery life is far superior to my G1. In fact, it is doing better than that 2600 beast that I had in it. I am a habitual task killer though (G1 made me into this!). You have to be with the behold because it just decides to start apps at seemingly random times.

I don't like the touch-jiz at all. To have a screen that good looking and have those ugly bar icons at the bottom is just unforgivable. Who uses the dialer anyways? It also seems like there are 7 different ways to get to the same place which is just weird. I do not feel like installing something like open home to lay over the touch-jiz which is already laid over android. It chugs enough.

I am having the SD card mounting/unmounting problem with the stock card that came with.

I've noticed that I have more problems getting data, even when it says I'm on 3G. The internet simply won't work. I have also started to see some error after syncing pop up onto the screen.

So far, I haven't been able to figure out how to have separate icons for each email on my home screen. I have 3 gmail accounts and one corporate account that I had on my G1. I also had a different icon for work emails in the notification bar. They are all the same now.

Surprisingly I've adapted quickly to the virtual keyboard. I'm using the one suggested somewhere in this forum. Thanks.

I am also a sportstap user so that hasn't gone over well.

Twice now, while in a phone call, I have not just dropped the call....the phone just made some weird noise and reboot completely.

I was going to root it, but it doesn't seem like it is worth the hassle. I also don't see any way where we will be able to get a stock version of android on this thing anytime soon the way security is panning out.

Overall, I've never been a big samsung fan, but the phone felt like it was built very solid and the screen looked nice. I was really banking on the future of the device which looks bleak now. I do find it really weird that with all the competition out there that they would release a phone which clearly isn't finished, but hey, that is samsung.

You know, I also think it is very weird that the behold isn't represented outside of the corporate store. Not only is there no advertising, they aren't even in the T-Mobile line-up at radio shack. Seems like T-Mobile isn't feeling too good about this thing either.

There is probably something better on the horizon.....there always is with technology. I may just stick it out with my big, ugly G1 for a little while longer.

 

[TaroPsyche]

After my third BH2, its hard to recommend the phone. I don't know if I stick it out and Samsung decided to maybe release 2.0 or jump ship. Motorola seems that they might be listening, after releasing that update to fix battery and screen responsiveness. However they haven't even put out 1.6 so its kinda hard to make a decision on a phone when its possible that other companies might put out newer phones. I really think the phone is a good phone if Samsung wouldn't try to help make Android better (sarcasm). I guess my big thing would be to plead to Samsung to stop customizing android and let the Behold 2 Shine. My number two thing to say to them is to talk to the person that made the camera app and try doing something like that but not to bundle it into the phone but as individual apps to update when ready.

 

[tikiral]

So as I understand it, people don't like the BH2 because of:
1. TouchWiz
2. Messaging Notification lack of compatibility with SMS apps
3. Battery Life

I'm trying to figure out why I like mine so much when others don't like theirs. Maybe its' because I'm upgrading from a BB Pearl. Maybe it's because Panda Home makes the Home / Desktop setup very nice and negates any and all complaints about (1). It could also be because with my usage, battery life is (3) very, very acceptable and I never run out of juice between charges.

The only thing that would yet be a disappointment is (2), but that's something so small and so trivial, not to mention something that can and probably will be fixed by a small software patch, that it doesn't make much of a dent in the positives the phone features.

I've tested out the various other phones as well, and while I can certainly understand waiting for another phone, perhaps the Nexus, I didn't find any of the other phones nicer. I don't like any slide out keyboard, not because I don't like typing, but I'm paranoid that the slide will eventually wear over time and become loose, so the Cliq and Droid are out. The Hero/MyTouch simply don't look as nice or aren't as responsive as my BH2, and I can't stand the itty bitty little buttons at the bottom of them. Has anyone noticed any other issues with the BH2 that perhaps I haven't run into yet or am missing?

 

[dan0zone]

What is with you guys and the android notification system . I love that I can stream music to my S9 while browsing the web and my status bar lets me know I got message ,and from who and what they said in it .,,.,.., now i know if I really have to stop what i'm doing to reply or just ignore it .,.,.,., WHAT other system does this ???? remember guys this is a android behold and not the behold you know ,..,,.,.

 

[tikiral]

Ah. You don't know what the notification issue is. It isn't that people dislike the idea of the notification or necessarily the text that shows as well, but rather that when you install one of the SMS apps (Handcent, chompSMS), accessing the notification items and clicking your message brings up the application (when set as default) but doesn't get rid of the notification.

Again, it's not the notification itself, it's that the expected functionality would be that when you access the SMS referred to by the notification, that the notification icon would go away, just as it does using the Messaging app.

 

[dan0zone]

I know of it , I love handcent , but there is no way to turn off the default messaging app's notification , which is why you get 2 icons .,.., This i do hope they fix , because i want to start using handcent again .,., but there are a few that don't like the status bar notification , for what ever reason , and want it changed .,

 

[fallenturtle]

So as I understand it, people don't like the BH2 because of:
1. TouchWiz
2. Messaging Notification lack of compatibility with SMS apps
3. Battery Life

I'm trying to figure out why I like mine so much when others don't like theirs. Maybe its' because I'm upgrading from a BB Pearl. Maybe it's because Panda Home makes the Home / Desktop setup very nice and negates any and all complaints about (1). It could also be because with my usage, battery life is (3) very, very acceptable and I never run out of juice between charges.

The only thing that would yet be a disappointment is (2), but that's something so small and so trivial, not to mention something that can and probably will be fixed by a small software patch, that it doesn't make much of a dent in the positives the phone features.

I've tested out the various other phones as well, and while I can certainly understand waiting for another phone, perhaps the Nexus, I didn't find any of the other phones nicer. I don't like any slide out keyboard, not because I don't like typing, but I'm paranoid that the slide will eventually wear over time and become loose, so the Cliq and Droid are out. The Hero/MyTouch simply don't look as nice or aren't as responsive as my BH2, and I can't stand the itty bitty little buttons at the bottom of them. Has anyone noticed any other issues with the BH2 that perhaps I haven't run into yet or am missing?

I too am running PandaHome and it pretty much has canceled out my biggest gripe with this phone: TouchWiz. This is my first Android phone, but overall I'm pretty happy with it and I'm hoping most of my issues will be sorted out with either the 2.0 upgrade or by rooting once a good ROM is released. Basically I'd like to be able to map the Cube button to another function and I'd like to be able to uninstall some of the factory installed apps that I don't use (it's BS that I'm forced to keep a demo of Diner Dash 2 on my phone).

I've found the battery life to be much better once I turned off GPS and Wifi when not in use.

 

[marstodd]

Mine was fine except I could not use the Keyboard, maybe the HTC download would've been better. I felt lost with Samsung software; but Now that I am more used to an Android Phone I'd probably be able to use the BH2 better, but I still like a real keyboard.

 

[mikenick42]

I wouldn't say I dislike the phone. But that doesn't mean I'm a fanboy, blind to its faults either.

1. Touchwiz is (IMO) a disaster that needs to removed. It's laggy, the interface is inconsistent (handcent still uses the original contacts list), and the multitude of settings menus/options that are gone or moved for no reason is just aggravating.

2. The double notification when using alternative is slightly annoying, but should be an easy fix. Would disabling the notification for Handcent fix it?

3. The battery is somewhat touchy. It seems like we should be getting phenomenal life since the battery is larger than the other android phones and the amoled screen should help preserve life. At work today with light use I was at 13% when I left to go home (about 10hrs total unplugged). When I'm at home I seem to be able to get about a day pretty easily even using CardioTrainer while walking the dog and using MythRemote to control the tv.
I used the Antennas program and found that the tower my phone uses at work is on the wrong side of not only the brick building I work in, but also at least one aircraft hangar that I'm sure wreaks havoc on any RF signals trying to get by it.

I'll throw in the fact that my phone will occasionally reboot itself for no apparent reason and there's no way to know when it does if I don't see it because the uptime doesn't get reset by it.

 

[defiantbeast]

My work around to the notification issue with handcent is to use tonepicker to set the default phone notification tone to a silent tone i created. Now i only hear the notification from handcent but i still get the notice in the bar (which i just clear), however the draw back is no phone notification, but it works for me because all the things i use like google chat and gmail have their own tones.