Hi all
My first post on this forum detailed my upgrade options: Samsung GS, iPhone 4, Nokia N8 or Blackberry Torch.
After tons of research, i went with the Galaxy S. I received the phone a week ago. These are my thoughts:
Physical Build
I'd read that it has a cheap feel, is possibly too light, is a fingerprint magnet, and the softkeys should have been actual buttons.
The cheap feel is true, but not as significant as i was worried it would be. The plastic back could have been replaced with a metal one without making the phone too heavy - its very, very light as it is. But i dont use the phone and think "man this is a piece of crap". Thankfully.
Its not a fingerprint magnet. Apart from the screen, which wipes clean FR easier than my Nokia 5800 did.
I love the softkey buttons. When compared to the Xperia 10, the SGS has a much nicer feel IMO.
UI and Homescreen Apps
A summary of what i had read is this: Nothing much wrong with TW3.0 although some people dont like it. Get LP+ or ADW.
I used TW for a few days, and loved it. (I come from a symbian background
). Once i'd familiarized myself with the UI, i installed first LP and then ADW. The enhanced customization capabilities were great, but both made my phone slower, which is #1 offender IMO. Then i tried a few other less-mentioned ones (panda, open) and settled for LiveHome. It has very similar customization options, but doesnt impact the speed of my phone at all. And i prefer the LiveHome dock to the rest. I wonder why the forum monopoly is held so strongly by the likes of ADW while home apps like liveHome remain far less mentioned. I do wonder about the Sense UI, as i've read only good things about it, but really, i dont feel like i'm missing anything.
VERDICT: The usual suspects aren't that great re performance. TW3.0 is great. LiveHome is also great.
Battery Life
After a week of use, i think i can say that my battery has been worn in.
In the beginning it lasted about 6 or 7 hours, which was slightly worrying, although i attributed it to the fact that i was using it non-stop.
Since then i have gotten it up to lasting well over a day (i charge it every night anyways) so the battery no longer even features on my radar. How?
VERDICT: Turn off WiFi when not using it, turn off 3G when you're not planning on responding to stuff (in meetings, driving, etc). Turn screen brightness to lowest when inside. Use advanced app killer to close inactive apps.
Messaging
The biggest challenger to the SGS was the blackberry torch, because of its GREAT reputation regarding messaging. And i might very well have gone with the torach, were it slightly cheaper.
Its all absolute bollocks. Gmail, gtalk, and whats app, the messengers and email client i use, are all push mail, and i'm not spending much more or less on the data than i would on the blackberry service, which in my country (South Africa) is roughly $10. The native keyboard is very intuitive regarding spelling mistakes and wrong keys hit, and after just a week, i'm typing as fast as my previous phone. Swype stole my heart after my first couple uses, however the dictionary very quickly gets swamped with words that you'll never use again, phone numbers, email addresses etc, so i started spending too much time correcting those, deleting words etc, and went back to using the native simple qwerty keyboard, which i prefer to 3rd party apps like swiftkey.
VERDICT: Blackberry Shmackberry.
Apps to Use:
This is a list of apps that i'm using and loving
1. THE STOCK APPS; gmail, gtalk, facebook,
2. INTERNET: I use the native app when connected via wifi - its perfect. When connected via 3G, i use Opera Mini, as it compresses everything, making my limited data package go further. Does anyone know a good app that works on google maps, but allows for caching everything on the SD card for offline use?
3. APP DRAWER
This is possibly the least intuitive and most irritating part of the android system. "Lets bunch over 100 things together so the user can spend his time looking for sh1t". Nice.
Its also been the thing that has been the most difficult to remedy with apps. Folder organizers aren't very intuitive or easy to set up, and require a fair amount of time to sort. AutoAppOrganizer comes closest, except that i ended up having to 'coach' every decision it made, which meant that instead of saving me energy, it was constantly having to be managed. The best solution i have found so far is to go with Apps Organizer. One swipe on my homescreen gives me another homescreen with folders in it (Internet, Organizer, Tools, etc), so i dont really ever hit the apps drawer unless i'm wanting to use an app i hardly ever use.
if anyone has found a solution to this problem, let me know!
4. TOOLS
Ansta - Keep track of my calls, minutes i use, to who, etc.
NetCounter - Keep track of my wifi and 3G usage.
Hello Expense - Keep track of my expenditure
ConvertDroid - AMAZING converter. Ridiculous options.
Unified Remote - Total remote to control your PC. Mouse, keyboard,
system, etc. Works over wifi.
QuickPic - Great replacement for native gallery, which irritated me, even though there's nothing wrong with it.
Dope Wars - For DOS fans and everyone else. Best game out there hands down.
Dialer One - Replacement for dialer. Dialer One is possibly my
favourite app, as it is so intuitive and well designed. Also, this is a
forgotten feature that is used most often.
VoxAlerts - Set reminders quickly and easily.
Gunners - Goooooooooooooners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My first post on this forum detailed my upgrade options: Samsung GS, iPhone 4, Nokia N8 or Blackberry Torch.
After tons of research, i went with the Galaxy S. I received the phone a week ago. These are my thoughts:
Physical Build
I'd read that it has a cheap feel, is possibly too light, is a fingerprint magnet, and the softkeys should have been actual buttons.
The cheap feel is true, but not as significant as i was worried it would be. The plastic back could have been replaced with a metal one without making the phone too heavy - its very, very light as it is. But i dont use the phone and think "man this is a piece of crap". Thankfully.
Its not a fingerprint magnet. Apart from the screen, which wipes clean FR easier than my Nokia 5800 did.
I love the softkey buttons. When compared to the Xperia 10, the SGS has a much nicer feel IMO.
UI and Homescreen Apps
A summary of what i had read is this: Nothing much wrong with TW3.0 although some people dont like it. Get LP+ or ADW.
I used TW for a few days, and loved it. (I come from a symbian background
). Once i'd familiarized myself with the UI, i installed first LP and then ADW. The enhanced customization capabilities were great, but both made my phone slower, which is #1 offender IMO. Then i tried a few other less-mentioned ones (panda, open) and settled for LiveHome. It has very similar customization options, but doesnt impact the speed of my phone at all. And i prefer the LiveHome dock to the rest. I wonder why the forum monopoly is held so strongly by the likes of ADW while home apps like liveHome remain far less mentioned. I do wonder about the Sense UI, as i've read only good things about it, but really, i dont feel like i'm missing anything.VERDICT: The usual suspects aren't that great re performance. TW3.0 is great. LiveHome is also great.
Battery Life
After a week of use, i think i can say that my battery has been worn in.
In the beginning it lasted about 6 or 7 hours, which was slightly worrying, although i attributed it to the fact that i was using it non-stop.
Since then i have gotten it up to lasting well over a day (i charge it every night anyways) so the battery no longer even features on my radar. How?
VERDICT: Turn off WiFi when not using it, turn off 3G when you're not planning on responding to stuff (in meetings, driving, etc). Turn screen brightness to lowest when inside. Use advanced app killer to close inactive apps.
Messaging
The biggest challenger to the SGS was the blackberry torch, because of its GREAT reputation regarding messaging. And i might very well have gone with the torach, were it slightly cheaper.
Its all absolute bollocks. Gmail, gtalk, and whats app, the messengers and email client i use, are all push mail, and i'm not spending much more or less on the data than i would on the blackberry service, which in my country (South Africa) is roughly $10. The native keyboard is very intuitive regarding spelling mistakes and wrong keys hit, and after just a week, i'm typing as fast as my previous phone. Swype stole my heart after my first couple uses, however the dictionary very quickly gets swamped with words that you'll never use again, phone numbers, email addresses etc, so i started spending too much time correcting those, deleting words etc, and went back to using the native simple qwerty keyboard, which i prefer to 3rd party apps like swiftkey.
VERDICT: Blackberry Shmackberry.
Apps to Use:
This is a list of apps that i'm using and loving
1. THE STOCK APPS; gmail, gtalk, facebook,
2. INTERNET: I use the native app when connected via wifi - its perfect. When connected via 3G, i use Opera Mini, as it compresses everything, making my limited data package go further. Does anyone know a good app that works on google maps, but allows for caching everything on the SD card for offline use?
3. APP DRAWER
This is possibly the least intuitive and most irritating part of the android system. "Lets bunch over 100 things together so the user can spend his time looking for sh1t". Nice.
Its also been the thing that has been the most difficult to remedy with apps. Folder organizers aren't very intuitive or easy to set up, and require a fair amount of time to sort. AutoAppOrganizer comes closest, except that i ended up having to 'coach' every decision it made, which meant that instead of saving me energy, it was constantly having to be managed. The best solution i have found so far is to go with Apps Organizer. One swipe on my homescreen gives me another homescreen with folders in it (Internet, Organizer, Tools, etc), so i dont really ever hit the apps drawer unless i'm wanting to use an app i hardly ever use.
if anyone has found a solution to this problem, let me know!
4. TOOLS
Ansta - Keep track of my calls, minutes i use, to who, etc.
NetCounter - Keep track of my wifi and 3G usage.
Hello Expense - Keep track of my expenditure
ConvertDroid - AMAZING converter. Ridiculous options.
Unified Remote - Total remote to control your PC. Mouse, keyboard,
system, etc. Works over wifi.
QuickPic - Great replacement for native gallery, which irritated me, even though there's nothing wrong with it.
Dope Wars - For DOS fans and everyone else. Best game out there hands down.
Dialer One - Replacement for dialer. Dialer One is possibly my
favourite app, as it is so intuitive and well designed. Also, this is a
forgotten feature that is used most often.
VoxAlerts - Set reminders quickly and easily.
Gunners - Goooooooooooooners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
