Hi,
I would like to post my feelings about my first experience with an android phone.
I bought the Samsung Galaxy S 4 days ago and I spent a decent time to play with it.
My background : I had the HTC P3600 and then HTC Diamond, HTC HD Mini and Iphone 3GS
As you can see I am a fan of HTC and I switched to iphone just because my company gave it to me.
I used to flash my winphone often in order to get the last update and some customisation.
My iphone had the same treatment
Now regarding the Samsung I must confess I bought this one and not the HTC desire because it was not available on Optus. That's the main reason
And I must confess that for the moment I am higghly disapointed by Samsung and/or android but maybe you could help me to change that
Of course the screen is awesome and the possibility to put easily a divx file and watch is really nice ( I never watched anything with my iphone I prefered to use my archos5)
But the following issues are for me quite annyoing and also I must confess surprising to me :
* the amount of lag. It is not smooth at all for instance when you scroll the app page ( not as smooth as the iphone). I have plenty of delay when I open a mail, when I open facebook, when I open the market, when I use the "go back" button ...
Fortunately this is a 1Ghz cpu !! What would be the result with a slower one ???
* The mail app is not working at all and that's the main issue for me !!! I never had any issue with my mail on windows mobile or iphone. My company is using exchange 2003 and I can't get my mail most of the time. Sometime it works and in this case you can be sure that switching from wifi to 3g or the opposite is going to screw the sync. So I have to reboot, swithc off the wifi ... or even to remove my account and recreate it.
I tested touchdown application so I am sure that the problem comes from the default mail app ( is it samsung or android ?? I don't know)
For the moment I have not been able to get my appointment on the calendar ( I get the one from facebook or gmail but not from exchange)
* Samsung kies ... works only on some desktop / OS ?? I can make it work on my home PC ( vista 64 ) but not at my office ( vista 32) because of a MTP failed error. Looks like it is a godd replacement for itunes .... same crap .. .even worst maybe
*the battery is a joke. I am not using GPS, bluetooth, push, smart backlight ( it is at the minimum) and I try to switch on the wifi as often as possible and it doesn't last a business day ( meaning 8-10 hours).
With the iphonhe or the HTC HD Mini I never had this kind of issue.
Ok I took the phone with one of the biggest screen ... but it is also one of the biggest so the battery could be well sized don't you think ??
The worst thing is when I switch off everything except 3G during the night ... I used to do that with my iphone and lose only 5-10% of battery overnight. With the samsung it is more around 30-40% !! So if I forget one day my plug ... I can forget about using my phone
* minor issues : facebook is crap compared to iphone ( i tested both the samsung app and the android one)
The lack of app is quite annoying. I didn't find anything similar for the moment to FSteam or Sydney Tripview which were 2 of the most used app for me ( tripview is the one I used everyday)
Now I want to keep on trying and thinking that Android could be good.
I have started to download some app like touchdown to back up the flaw of the samsung OS but seriously ... paying 20$ just to get my mail is something I don't get. Funny thing ... I wouldn't mind to pay 20$ for touchdown is the default mail app was working fine just because it add a lot of nice feature. But in this case i would first pay just to be able to see my mail ...
Anyway ... I will keep on digging and trying to fine tune the phone.
I have already flashed twice the phone ( JG1 and JFF) which fix some issues ( but not all the lag ...)
I have already charged my phone completely 4 or 5 times ( in 4 days ...) so the battery should be at its maximum now ... I will see if it's better
Am I the only one who feel that way ?
I really want to conclude at the end that android is better than the iphone but for the moment I must confess I can't and it makes me sad
cheers
Nicolas
I've had my sgs for only about a week but I think i can comment on some of these points.
I thought the lag issue with touchwiz was fixed by the latest firmware? For now just changing to launcher pro and using an auto-kill feature with a taskmanager will fix the issue. It is pathetic imo and the phone shouldn't have been released this way.
Yes kies is a bit unstable and just connecting to a new pc in any way can be a pain sometimes, hopefully samsung will fix this.
My phone says it's been unplugged for 9:28hrs and I'm at 90% battery. It was idling with wifi on. That's pretty good, I use a static wallpaper and use a taskmanager with autokill feature since I was ending up with waaay to many open apps. People keep saying android manages that automatically but my phone gets laggy and low on memory.
The samsung facebook app is crap but what's wrong with the one from the market?
It could be a great phone but right now it's definitely still an unfinished product, but I believe it can and will be fixed in the coming weeks or months.
Well, I am kind of like you: I had an HTC Trinity and an iPhone 3G and 3Gs.
I liked the iPhone, but wanted Flash and got fed up with Steve Jobs' arrogance.
So I paid almost $800 for the 16gb Galaxy S.
Android has come a long way, but 2.1 is definitely not as elegant or as smooth as iOS.
The devil (and Jobs) is in the detail, and the Apple product is almost perfect, and very user friendly. My wife took one look at my Android screen and declared it ugly. And, sadly, the design of the icons, the visual continuity between screens, and the smooth operation of iOS, are just not in Android. Yet, hopefully.
Similarly with of the apps in the Market. Many are poorly designed, compared to the majority of what's in the App Store.
Having said that, I am actually enjoying my Galaxy S. It has a really gorgeous screen. It has much better integration with both Google Voice, and with Phone.com (which I use)
For email, I installed the open source k-9 email client, which, while lacking some visual finesse, is more functional than the regular email client. Get it from here: http://handheld.softpedia.com/get/Internet-Utilities/Email/K9-Android-71552.shtml (it's newer version than in the Market).
I expect Android 3.0 to be on par, and hopefully better, than iOS.
For the battery I will do a precise test tonight and see what happens after one night idle but your experience ( 90% after 9hours) would be good to me !!
Finger crossed
I will try app like autokiller but I think I have to root my phone ?? As I said I am a newbie for android andI don;t know yet how to do ( it looks like it can be done through odin)
For K-9 I already had a look at it but I think it's only ofr IMAP and POP3 and not for microsoft exchange ??
The default mail app is actually working fine for my hotmail account. I only have problem with the exchange account
This afternoon again I amanged to received 2-3 and when I go the notification I went directly to the app to sync .... " impossible to connect to the server "
EDIT : an other drawback compared to all my other phone : how to correct a typo on a text without a trackball or arrows in the keyboard ?? Answer : by touching the screen 10 times until you reach the correct position ... Nicely done
I was the first one to say that the iphone was crap , that it couldn't handle flash or mms ... but android can't even get my mail !!!
Regarding Touchdown I thought it was the perfect app and I just got an example where the iphone works better. When you forward an HTML mail with an array it is either as an attachment ( crap !!) or you can edit in line and have it in ther mail but you lose the format of the array ... I can tell you that my boss ( a real apple fanboy) was very glad to show me this
For Facebook ... I must confess I spent more time this afternoon on the default one and it's OK. The issue with the Samsung one is that it is continously loading data. When you switch from Home to profille and back to home for instance.
I really think too that this phone could be really good but it is clearly for the geek only. If you take it out of the box it is a real crap.
nicoloco said:
I will try app like autokiller but I think I have to root my phone ??...........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need to root, just use Task Manager from the market it has an autokill feature.
task manager installed ... there are heaps of task manager
I took the one released by apollo software and I might test also the one released by rhythm software ...
I'm not going to troll, so please dont feel bad about my opinion, but for me it looks like you just didnt read enough before you bought your phone, to get to know your upcoming gadget, everyone have to put a lot more effort in gathering intel.
I'd say the prevention of this problem is quite simple: think before you spend your money, so you can spare a lot of tears and painful hours for yourself. I switched from iPhone 3G to Galaxy S and I am definitely happy with it. Lags gone with the update, all the functions I use are good to me - only thing I had to do is rooting cuz hungary doesnt have the full Android Market either, like Finland.
I see what you mean but I have read a lot of reviews before I bought it and honestly when you look at the phones I had there were always bad comments on the reviews but I used to be able to workaround it. Maybe I will be also able to do the same here
Now as I said my main issues are the problem with exchange, the connection from my work desktop to kies or WM11
I am not sure I could have read somewhere that kies would work for my home desktop but not my work desktop ?
Or that the default mail app would not work with exchange and that I would have to pay 20$ just to get mails. And espcially the fact that the connection would be random.
The battery when you read the review is the same for all the smartphone, something like : not great battery but can last 1 day. It was the same for the iphone or all my other phone. But in my case it far from lasting one day even with everything switched off
For the lag, I knew that the out of the box Rom was not working fine but I expected better from the last Rom. It's better but not as good as an other phone with slower cpu
The only thing that I didn't know when I bought the samsung and that I could have known is the lack of trackball to correct a typo. I found this information only yesterday in a review.
but one more time I see what you means ... and I must confess I have been quite motivated by my frustration of apple ( and itune) and my colleague who has a desire working fine
I use the default mail app for exchange and imap. Works wonderfully for me. I get my contacts / calendar / mail from exchange and a few more email acc on imap servers.
To move the cursor you can press and hold the 123 button in the normal keyboard to get arrows to move the cursor (not found a way to do that with the swype keyboard)
For swype... Just swipe between the swype key and the symbol key for arrows, home/end, select/copy/paste etc. works well and is pretty quick.
Do you have the correct admin privileges at work?
Crabby
To the OP, It's ok to be critical, fanboys do nothing but make companies lazy, just look at Apple for example. I say ***** until it's as good as it could possibly be. In the end it's good for everyone
And thanks for the 'Hold the 123 button' trick! One more annoyance solved.
nicoloco said:
task manager installed ... there are heaps of task manager
I took the one released by apollo software and I might test also the one released by rhythm software ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The one from rhythm software looks nicer and is easier to use imo.
About the lags- Flashing to a new firmware reduces the problem, and there's already a solution my MoDaCo.
I just hope samsung implements it in the next firmware.
Either way, the lag problem is not here to stay, we're going to get rid of it soon.
About the battery-
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=716197
After doing some charges/discharges and starting regular use with it, i have to say the battery life is better than any smartphone i had.
About the battery drainage, make sure you go to "About Phone" in the settings menu and check the "Battery use". It will show you what has been using the most battery, and time since you unplugged the phone. My phone drains about 2% overnight in about 8 hours, and when I'm using it it's only really the display and the cell tower that's drawing power, applications shouldn't be consuming huge amounts of power, say above 8-10% unless you really use it a lot. The other day I noticed my phone had drained more battery than usual for some reason and it showed browser at 25% although I hadn't used it much. Make sure you don't have hung applications draining power! The Task Killer should help a lot here
Honestly. As a T-mobile G1 owner, a long time Android user, an Apple hater and someone who is considering purchasing the T-Mobile USA version of this phone soon, I have to admit that I can see where nicoloco is coming from. You expect some things to just work. Although I can understand the need to root my old G1 and use hacks and task managers to enhance its performance, it seem ridiculous that someone need to hack and use task managers to make a state of the art phone with a 1GH processor and 512MB of system memory work without a lag. This means that something is truly wrong! The fact that you need to keep killing processes to make sure you won't drain your battery is a huge problem of Android. You know what, perhaps Apple knows what it's doing with it's solution to multitasking.
I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too.
You DO understand it's a 2.5 week old phone and still has some "childhood problems", right?
Even the Nexus one was a bit of a troublemaker at the start, untill google took care of the various problems that popped up.
Give it a month or so, i bet you'll see those slips disappearing one by one.
nicoloco said:
Hi,
* The mail app is not working at all and that's the main issue for me !!! I never had any issue with my mail on windows mobile or iphone. My company is using exchange 2003 and I can't get my mail most of the time. Sometime it works and in this case you can be sure that switching from wifi to 3g or the opposite is going to screw the sync. So I have to reboot, swithc off the wifi ... or even to remove my account and recreate it.
I tested touchdown application so I am sure that the problem comes from the default mail app ( is it samsung or android ?? I don't know)
For the moment I have not been able to get my appointment on the calendar ( I get the one from facebook or gmail but not from exchange)
cheers
Nicolas
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why sync is working in the Windows Mobile phones but not in the Android phones?
The reason might be licensing. The Exchange mail protocol is propietary by Microsoft. If you like to sync, you have to pay for it. WinMo and iPhone in these days are used by corporate users, those phones include the Exchange license.
There are fewer Android users which need Exchange sync, why to pay, if you don't use? If you need it, you buy the software for syncing.
WOW, I have the Nexus One and my phone is blazing fast, I'm kinda worried about getting the Samsung Vibrant now.
The Facebook app is not the same as the stock Nexus One ? I know most of the Countries outside the US do not have most of the apps the US does and I'm thinking maybe that's why you can't get a good facebook app.
Sorry but pretty UI's and cute transition screens are for girls lol I'll take function any day .
How many time have you charged the phone so far ? your not going to get full performance untill after 4 or so charges.
You also have to remember THIS IS NOT APPLE, Android is an open source platform, any Tom **** or Harry can publish an app, 1 badly written app can kill you battery in 3 hours, you have to make sure you only download highly rated apps and also read the comments, some apps work on some phones better than others.
Thy to press the back button instead of the home button, the back button is more likely to close an app and the home button is more likely to keep the app open.
Turn off "sync data in background" this sync's data like weather, Market place, GPS and things like that, if your not using it turn it off.
Download a 2G/3G switch turn off 3G if your not on the net or downloading something, that's the 2nd biggest battery drainer, especially if you have a weak 3G signal.
Doing all this should gain you at least 8 hours more
Not doing this on my Nexus One running 2.2 I get 10 hours.
Doing this I get 20-28 hours.
For swype... Just swipe between the swype key and the symbol key for arrows, home/end, select/copy/paste etc. works well and is pretty quick.
Do you have the correct admin privileges at work?
Crabby
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure to understand ? What is the symobl key for arrows ?
On my side I have read more carefully the tutorial for the swype and have found some good tip I didn't know ( like double tap on a word to change it). It's definitely a very fast way to write a text or even a long mail.
Yes I have all the privilege at work. I can install whatever I wnat ( even wow ) and do almost anything.
For the classic keyboard .. .thamks for the tip of 123 !!! it's actually the same that what I had on my HTC HD Mini and works well
I use the default mail app for exchange and imap. Works wonderfully for me. I get my contacts / calendar / mail from exchange and a few more email acc on imap servers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lucky you !! Maybe not the same exchange server model ( 2003 ? 2007 ?)
Yesterday I got some mail coming again from the exchange server. I think it's when I was connected to the plug before I select the kind of usb connection I wanted !!
Anyway I have 30 days ( touchdown trial) to find a way to make it work fine
The one from rhythm software looks nicer and is easier to use imo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try this one as I didn't like the one from apollo. I wonder why it shows me so many open app like video player, feeds and updates, navigation .... I never open them since the last reboot. Is there some automatic start for such app ??
WinMo and iPhone in these days are used by corporate users
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dear Elisa ... I guess this is a troll ?? I remember not so long time ago where everybody said that winmo and blackberry are for corporate and iphone for girls and fanboy. Iphone is clearly not designed at the beginning for the corporate user. Especially for the first version of iphone. And yet the synchronisation always worked fine for me
In my company we are 1000 and I can tell you that only the syndey office ( 10 people) got the iphone as we are quite isolated and we can do what things differently. The rest are using only BB or Windows mobile.
Anyway, some people manage to get the sync working with android without paying so your point is not very solid.
As as I said, touchdown is so much nicer than the default app that I wouldn't care to buy it. But right now I am just asking for the basic feature ... just get my mail.
By the way, I didn;t find a way to ask the default app to sync the inbox and some other subfolder ?? Something that I used to do with the winphone, the iphone and can be done with touchdown. Do you know if this is possible ?
One last thing ... how the developper who did this app could have done such a crappy way to handle the inbox tree ??? It transfomed my tree of folder in a flat list ordered alphabetically. How dumb it is !!! So the subfolder of one folder ar e not next to each other ... I will have to change the naming ( put 1,2,3 at the beginning of the folder I guess)
Now for the battery ...
As I said I already did 4/5 full recharge of the battery ( it's kind of quick with a phone which last only few hours )
This morning I have a full battery, no wifi, no push, minimum backlight, no crappy app ....
My phone is unplugged for 2h20 now and it has 80% of battery with 55% coming from the screen (screen switched on 39mn)
Is it the kind of consumption that you have ??
Then 12% from the cell phone and 11%(2h20) from the music (14mn)
I guess I can save some battergy by switching off the 3G
I will see in few battery cycle how it evolves
To conclude on my feeling, if I could have the mail working perfectly , the connection to my computer wokring and the battery lasting a little bit longer I would be already quite happy with my phone.
nicoloco said:
Dear Elisa ... I guess this is a troll ?? I remember not so long time ago where everybody said that winmo and blackberry are for corporate and iphone for girls and fanboy. Iphone is clearly not designed at the beginning for the corporate user. Especially for the first version of iphone. And yet the synchronisation always worked fine for me
In my company we are 1000 and I can tell you that only the syndey office ( 10 people) got the iphone as we are quite isolated and we can do what things differently. The rest are using only BB or Windows mobile.
Anyway, some people manage to get the sync working with android without paying so your point is not very solid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The situation varies through the Globe. Here in Finland where the Nokia has been the biggest in many companies, but in these days many companies uses iPhone (it is easy). We have almost 50 000 employees worldwide and the iPhone is now permitted in our Exchange server,too. WinMo has been allowed in years, but it is... Because of the Android 2.1 and earlier doesn't complete all the security issues in the Exchange, so it is rejected and no one can connect Android's to our Exchange server. This is the real life in the bigger companies.
The Froyo will upgrade this:
- Improved security with the addition of numeric pin or alpha-numeric password options to unlock device. Exchange administrators can enforce password policy across devices.
- Remote wipe: Exchange administrators can remotely reset the device to factory defaults to secure data in case device is lost or stolen.
- Exchange Calendars are now supported in the Calendar application.
- Auto-discovery: you just need to know your user-name and password to easily set up and sync an Exchange account (available for Exchange 2007 and higher).
- Global Address Lists look-up is now available in the Email application, enabling users to auto-complete recipient names from the directory.
Related
Hi all,
I am at the end of my contract term with T-mobile and was potentially waiting for the Compact V (HTC Dimond 2) or the N97 or Iphone 3GS, currently have a Nokia 5800 which was bought on PAYG.
I went past a vodafone shop in town and played with the HTC Magic they had on display and it was really fantastic! I was really suprised how smooth the WEB experience was, the screen was super sharp. I tried typing a text message and the keyboard seemed alot better to use then the Nokia 5800 with a built in spell checked (5800 doesnt have that).
So what do you guys think of the HTC Magic? I can get the phone free on a £30 a month tarrif with 600min and unlimited text which is a pretty good deal.
My main usage for my phone is Music (a2dp) at the Gym and WEB browsing and email. Oh and also as an alarm clock to wake me up (which is actually VERY important!).
I really like the way that Nokia have the today screen which shows Calendar appointments but i dont think this is possible on the HTC Magic right?
Any comments or recommendation would be greatly appreciated
If you use Gmail as your main email account, then the email experience on Android is as good as it gets. If you use something else, then the email experience on Android is pretty second rate. Not horrible, but definitely not among the best experiences out there.
The Web Browser is great, on par with iPhone and Palm Pre. I've got no complaints, just don't expect to watch videos other than YouTube because the browser doesn't support Flash yet.
The music player is pretty bare-bones but I don't have any complaints about it. It obviously doesn't have robust desktop syncing software like iTunes or Zune Marketplace, but if you're just listening to albums and simple playlists then it gets the job done just fine. Just keep in mind that you're going to have to supply your own storage for music. I got a 16gb card for about US$50. Vodaphone may include a memory card with their version, I'm not sure, I'm using the unlocked Google version in the US.
The A2DP compatibility, in my experience, has been really great with a newer set of headphones. When I tried to pair it to an older set (about 3 years old) I had a really bad experience, it was difficult to pair and playing music through them rendered the rest of the system nearly unusably slow. I'm honestly not sure what the difference is between them, so your mileage may vary on A2DP depending on the headphones you're using.
The virtual keyboard is pretty great, I've seen a few reviewers who think it's better than the iPhone, so it's definitely about as good as it's going to get right now. I think the screen is a tad too small to use the vertical keyboard comfortably, but the horizontal keyboard (available almost everywhere except the home screen) is fantastic. It's also super-easy to teach the automatic spell checker new words, just type it in and long-press on the word until the "Saved" message pops up.
Just keep in mind that getting an Android phone without a physical keyboard means certain applications aren't going to work, including a lot of games and game system emulators that require more buttons.
The alarm clock is fine, the speaker is nice and loud and you can set multiple alarm times.
There is an included widget for the Home screen that shows your next calendar appointment, but as far as I know there isn't one that shows multiple upcoming appointments yet. There may be something in the Market, I haven't checked.
Overall, I love mine. I don't have considerable experience with any of the other devices you're considering, but I think you really can't go wrong with the Magic, especially if you're a Gmail user.
thanks for the info, i have a few more questions.
Does the alarm vibrate? As in can you make the device vibrate while playing the alarm?
With Nokia devices, you can set the alarm and turn the phone off and the phone will come on automatically, can this be done with the HTC Magic?
The next question is quite important. I am a GMAIL user however, at present, i sync my 5800 with two Outlook accounts. My home outlook is used to store my contacts (i guess the device will sync this with google contacts) and my work outlook is used to sync work calender appointments. I have read about some issues with syncing outlooking, so can my work laptop be synced automatically with google calendar and thus getting the appointments on my Magic?
Are there any turn by turn navigation softwares out for the HTC Magic? I guess this isnt a deal breaker but would be nice to have some navigation
Oh, one last thing, my Nokia 5800's browser vibrates slightly everytime a URL is clicked, can this featuure be present on the HTC Magic?
Thanks
-c
You can easily sync your Outlook Calendar to Google Calendar (2-way if you want) with the Google Calendar Sync tool.
chefgon said:
There is an included widget for the Home screen that shows your next calendar appointment, but as far as I know there isn't one that shows multiple upcoming appointments yet. There may be something in the Market, I haven't checked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I have checked, and there is only QuickCalendar that, while nice, is far from being a complete solution.
The lack of possibility to show upcoming appointments on Home screen is what still keep me away from Magic, otherwise a great device.
Sad thing is that I read quite a few people, most coming from Windows Mobile, missing this very same feature.
It should be implemented by default, but nonetheless I would pay to have it and get a Magic.
ceanth said:
thanks for the info, i have a few more questions.
Does the alarm vibrate? As in can you make the device vibrate while playing the alarm?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can make it vibrate with the alarm if you want to.
With Nokia devices, you can set the alarm and turn the phone off and the phone will come on automatically, can this be done with the HTC Magic?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It goes off when the phone is on silent. Not sure about turned off though.
Are there any turn by turn navigation softwares out for the HTC Magic? I guess this isnt a deal breaker but would be nice to have some navigation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes there are free ones in the Market. Try AndNav (and AndNav2) and Nav4All.
Oh, one last thing, my Nokia 5800's browser vibrates slightly everytime a URL is clicked, can this featuure be present on the HTC Magic?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. The browser has a lot of settings but that isn't one of them!
yes it has widgets for weather calender stock etc that you can download from the android market and put on your homescreen...but if you want to get the best out of your magic..root and put the superhero rom on it..it has a flash player, multitouch (yes pinch zooming like the iphone), custom htc widgets that look brilliant, great music player (alot better than the default android one and much more
Are you still considering this phone ?
You can get, I think, a cheaper offer if you get it online.
Also note that this phone has only 192Mb of RAM compared to unbranded HTC Magic that has 288Mb of it!
This could severly impact the Sense UI if it ever comes out for this phone.
Non-Sense UI ROMs run very nice, though...
You can have the alarm vibrate.
But it looks like it doesn't work when the phone is off, which is a real shame!
Aniello
ceanth said:
My main usage for my phone is Music (a2dp) at the Gym and WEB browsing and email. Oh and also as an alarm clock to wake me up (which is actually VERY important!).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be aware that Vodafone currently has a 500Mb Fair Use Policy on their 'unlimited' internet package, which makes using it for streaming music somewhat impractical
Anybody got a view on this phone, mine arrives on Monday and just wondered what any current owners think.
also... Woohoo first post in the Tattoo forum!
james194zt said:
Anybody got a view on this phone, mine arrives on Monday and just wondered what any current owners think.
also... Woohoo first post in the Tattoo forum!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not an owner but I'm not too fond of all the buttons it has..... The layout mostly.... But overall I think that this is a great entry-level smartphone to buy. Especially since it runs android. Low Cost, powerfull, and it will appeal to a wide variety of people.
Congrats on the purhase.
i want one too~
I have been using my magic about half a year now...
i love the phone, but the wifi problem that it has annoys me too much~
i think is about time that i switch to the new tatoo..
by the way.. where did you get the phone and how much was it?
I have had a Magic now for about 4 months, has been a great phone especially love the ability to hack it to bits! Just want Rosie and the Tattoo looks like a great phone with it installed natively.
I am looking forward to the Tattoo just a bit worried about the QVGA screen and its support of current applications, other than that it is the perfect Android phone. Especially love the 3.5mm jack on it for my car!
Vodafone UK have it available now, I have had to wait a week for it to appear on Vodafones Business user tarriffs but our account manager confirmed it on Friday and shipped us a couple out.
I have the tattoo and i gotta say i like it. I was worried about the small screen and lack of apps but the screen is very responsive and the phone is running great atm, no freezing ect. There's been about 30-40 new apps added to the store since i got it so i guess more will follow. All in all im happy with it
adwin said:
I have the tattoo and i gotta say i like it. I was worried about the small screen and lack of apps but the screen is very responsive and the phone is running great atm, no freezing ect. There's been about 30-40 new apps added to the store since i got it so i guess more will follow. All in all im happy with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen a few videos and the screen looks really responsive. Almost more responsive than my TD2. With that said Resistive screens have come a long way since the TD2. And the TD2 is really resistive. I'd love to compare the 2 screens.
With Andoid 2.0 aren't all apps supposed to be able to support all resolutions?
No real complaints yet
I have had mine for 3 days now and so far not had any real issues. Going from a LONG TIME as a Windows PDA user to a new OS & way of doing things is always going to be interesting, but for the most part very intuitive and good fun!!
So far there are a few things I have found to be a bit annoying;
- I cannot seem to access files / folders directly on the SD Card or the phone itself. The media player picks up any music put on the card automatically as does the picture album app, but if I want to save text files / PDF's etc. and view later that isn't much help.
- The on-screen keyboard isn't as good as some I have used, especially for those of us that have fat fingers. turning it sideways brings up a bigger keyboard in landscape mode but I have had to revert to using an old stylus on the screen if I am writing anything particularly long.
- There seems to be no Task Manager program built in, though the TasKiller app is fantastic and does a good job, that should have been something that was built in. It would also be nice to be able to say which programs are allowed to run at start-up and so on.
All in all a very good phone, my iPhone loving friends have been very impressed, especially when I told them how cheep it is!! I know the Android OS is still very young compared to some of its rivals, but there are a few important things that it seems to be missing and I am loosing that functionality.
Hope this helps
Rob
I got one. It's really nice. The only problem is the market.
Since market 1.6 they created flaggs for the screensize (or it refers to it anyway, I think they're id'ing by phone, not screen). Unless you compile your app with the latest sdk and added the small screen flagg the app will NOT be visible in the market for tattoo's.
You'll have to get those apps in another way.
Imo very bad advertisement for the android os and a really big precedent but what can you do.
Had my Tattoo for a week now. I have only a couple of issues.
1. No Auto focus, so apps like bar code scanner do not work (though the 2d codes work?)
2. Not as many apps on the store due to 1.6 OS and QVGA screen
The Tattoo is brilliant compared to my WM based HTC Diamond.
My Tattoo is 5 days old now.
In short .. I love it. I love how fast the Android is.
But I furious to know that my Tattoo is not came with Market apps. I think I have to re-flash the ROM with another Tattoo ROM.
Pretty good but.....
james194zt said:
Anybody got a view on this phone, mine arrives on Monday and just wondered what any current owners think.
also... Woohoo first post in the Tattoo forum!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got my girlfriend one on Orange (I Have a Hero).
1. Most noticable difference is screen quality. Nothing to do with it being resistive, its just smaller with a lower resolution.
2. There is something strange going on with the Market. There are loads of apps missing that should be there. Not sure if this is a Donut, Orange, Google problem. I have heard that there have been similar issues with other new devices on release. Is it a screen size issue? That would suck.
3. Orange (cos they're daft) have removed the Gmail app (anybody got an .apk that'll work on the tattoo) from they're version! Hard to believe I know, incredibly there is no way to sync your Gmail account or read your Gmail (ok I know you can use HTCs widget but I find the exchange support for Gmail to be a bit flaky). Proper google account sync is a key feature of an android device and Orange have removed it!
Anyway rant over. GF seems happy with it but she deffo wants access to the same apps as I have on the Hero.
Had my Tattoo now for a few days and i love it... Much more smooth running and quicker then the Diamond or the Touch HD (blackstone)...
Good value for the pricetag.....
hp1 said:
2. There is something strange going on with the Market. There are loads of apps missing that should be there. Not sure if this is a Donut, Orange, Google problem. I have heard that there have been similar issues with other new devices on release. Is it a screen size issue? That would suck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the screen issue. Tattoo came with 240x320 screen resolutions while almost all the application in the market was set to higher resolutions. Just wait, I think they will update it to support lower android resolutions like Tattoo.
IN regards to the email, I just set up new IMAP account (not exchange) for my gmail, and it works perfectly,
hp1 said:
3. Orange (cos they're daft) have removed the Gmail app (anybody got an .apk that'll work on the tattoo) from they're version! Hard to believe I know, incredibly there is no way to sync your Gmail account or read your Gmail (ok I know you can use HTCs widget but I find the exchange support for Gmail to be a bit flaky). Proper google account sync is a key feature of an android device and Orange have removed it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have setup IMAP on my gf's Tattoo and it works ok but still Orange are complete muppets for removing the Google Mail app (and Google talk and Youtube!).
...I have been using the HD2 for a little over three months now. While I really enjoyed the phone and all its gizmos in the beginning, I am becoming more and more disappointed by its performance in everyday life:
SMS:
HTC can say what they want, there still is some kind of bug with the SMS texting. Replying to someone's message will miraculous highlight the last received message. You always have to select the texting area before you see what you are typing.
Twitter:
This is currently one of my biggest gripes. The built in twitter client is a major pain...it will repeatedly ignore my settings and download twitter messages whenever it wants and how many it wants. Sometimes I end up downloading some 200+ twitter messages at a time. During the downloading process, the entire phone will start to lag - to the point where I have to wait up to a minute before I can use the phone again. I really wished that there was a way to replace Peep with another twitter client, while maintining the SenseUI interface tab. Also, an option for "push"-twittering would be nice. The 5 minute refresh rate just doesn't cut it for me; not that I have gotten the phone to actually refresh twitter every 5 minutes. And as I think of it, the twitter alarm tone also goes off whenever it feels like it.
Online Updates:
The settings I have made for updating the Stocks, Twitter and Weather tabs all get ignored by the phone. For instance, I have set the weather tab to refresh every 3 hours... Just checked the phone - last refresh was over 23 hours ago. Same with twitter. Twitter is set to update every 5 minutes. Last update was about 2 hours ago. Not sure what's going on here!
Bluetooth Devices:
Even though I love SenseUI, getting to the Bluetooth device list is just hideous. You virtually have to click and swipe yourself through several screens, just to get to the settings. Why couldn't they just activate the Bluetooth icon on top of the screen to directly take you there.
Volume Settings:
What's with that weird "three-steps at a time" volume slider when pressing the volume sidekeys? Isn't there a more sensitive way to adjust the volume using the sidekeys? I do realize that I could fingerswipe the screen, but I really don't want to get the phone out of my pocket everytime I feel like adjusting the volume levels.
Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to trash this phone! I just think that these are some fundamental problems on a 600€ phone that HTC should have worked out before release. Would love to hear some feedback from you guys!! Appreciate any help you can give.
bashulaojia said:
Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to trash this phone! I just think that these are some fundamental problems on a 600€ phone that HTC should have worked out before release. Would love to hear some feedback from you guys!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well actually they are fundamental problems Microsoft should have sorted out, Windows Mobile 6.5 is an absolutely ****e OS, and I think HTC did a bang up job modifying it for the HD2. What with all the cabs flying about here it doesn't take much to get your phone working well.
Although I will say, the SMS thing would be one of the few grips I have,
To be honest I think that HTC serious believe that what you call the SMS bug is a "helpful" design feature (I'm not kidding). It is a pain in the arse, along with vidually counting every yexy in the conversation.
Kalavere said:
Well actually they are fundamental problems Microsoft should have sorted out, Windows Mobile 6.5 is an absolutely ****e OS, and I think HTC did a bang up job modifying it for the HD2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Errr... every single issue he raised is with Sense. Not one single issue there is related to WM.
well nearly the end of the first full day with a new phone and a new OS having come from a TP2 and win mob so here goes
phones is the best i have ever had fast, fluid feels good to hold and to use
android while still learning i have seen enough to see its way better than win mo
so for you seasoned android users heres my niggles and im sure they will be easliy sorted
hate not been able to close an app down i feel likeit may still be running all the time
hate that i now have all my facebook friends phone numbers in my contacts and birthdays in my calender
would like a quick toggle app to turn on and off things like wifi/ BT/GPS
still not sure if my phone connection is correct yet to see a 3G logo
thats all after about 4 hrs of playing around so its dam good
thanks for any help
there are toggle widgets for the desktp to enable and disable wifi, mob data, gps ect....
you can go to accounts and disable facebook calender syncing
google have an indepth document about how android handles multitasking i believe it will answer you questions but for the most part 'most' applications when closed get their states saved but the program shuts down but 'processes' continue to run. similar to windows
some apps however will continue to run untill they are idle for a set period of time or ram is filled such as the internet.
i cant be more specific on where to find things as i currently dont have any phone let alone android cause i sold it to buy the DHD
combat goofwing said:
hate not been able to close an app down i feel likeit may still be running all the time
hate that i now have all my facebook friends phone numbers in my contacts and birthdays in my calender
would like a quick toggle app to turn on and off things like wifi/ BT/GPS
still not sure if my phone connection is correct yet to see a 3G logo
thats all after about 4 hrs of playing around so its dam good
thanks for any help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) If you are not using an app then it isn't running. While it may still be in memory it shouldn't be using any CPU cycles which would be what slows the phone down
2) Not used that feature, I imagine you can turn it off.
3) SwitchPro on the market is exactly this
4) that'll depend on location, you may only see H which is better.
Glad you are enjoying Android. Everyone always does.
Hi there,
my dad sold his iPhone 3GS for a Samsung Galaxy S i9000. Coming from an iPhone, I first had to show him the amazing richness of possibilities you have on Android compared to an iPhone and after he overcame his old knowledge of "one button, one app", he was quite pleased with some of Androids merits. However, all in all, he's missing some important features he used to have on his iPhone and he has some problems:
A) Most important of all, pretty much a deal breaker if he can't get it fixed soon: SIP. We tried several different clients, and for example we even tried the latest (non-market) version of csipsimple and we found bug reports for the Galaxy S and adjusted the mic/speaker volumes accordingly but it's still really bad: For local calls the quality is reasonable. It's a bit stuttery at times but people can talk. It's much worse than on his iPhone though. But what's really annoying him is the fact that calls to foreign countries are a no-go. The added quality drop to long distance calls make it very hard for the other party to hear him (All over wifi btw). Please, does anyone know a sure-fix, exact-settings-listing for some SIP app for Android?
B) Also a very important thing to him is a calendar. But both the Samsung calendar as well as the original Android one don't have a good week-view. The original one doesn't have one, the Samsung one doesn't show titles on tasks. I find it ludicrous, it's just boxes without titles... Ideally, he wishes to have a week view similar to what I have on my N900:
Sorry, can't embed the image because I'm a new user:
h t t p ://login.icu.uzh.ch/~archer/Screenshot-20101116-182459.png
There's more but especially the SIP is really bugging him. He absolutely needs it to work reliably or he'll need to sell the device.
Thanks.
TB2 said:
Hi there,
B) Also a very important thing to him is a calendar. But both the Samsung calendar as well as the original Android one don't have a good week-view.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. Try Calendar Pad from the market in week view
What exactly is SIP? According to wiki, it's just a voice over internet protocol. Can you not use skype?
my wifi signal on 2.1 and 2.2 are the same. cellphones are not the same as laptop that has higher power to transmit data far away and and large space for antennas for receiving signal. if you look at wifi routers they got huge antennas. i don't think you can fit that in a phone.
i read a few months ago that iphone has problems on signal bcause of bad design : )
if you want software you've got a lot of choices in the market.
Try Sipdroid.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/sipdroid-voip-video-calling/org.sipdroid.sipua
all off topic comments trashed
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=9283203
Um... Poor daddy? Sorry cheeky I know but sgs is for people who like to tinker and find cool mods even simple apps like the plethora of gre calendar apps he could use right now. Seasoned iphone users especially of the older generation often don't get, the nerdy thrill that we do with the customisations and work necessary to fully realise the potential of sgs and andriod in general
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
TB2 said:
Hi there,
...................
A) Most important of all, pretty much a deal breaker if he can't get it fixed soon: SIP. We tried several different clients, and for example we even tried the latest (non-market) version of csipsimple and we found bug reports for the Galaxy S and adjusted the mic/speaker volumes accordingly but it's still really bad: For local calls the quality is reasonable. It's a bit stuttery at times but people can talk. It's much worse than on his iPhone though. But what's really annoying him is the fact that calls to foreign countries are a no-go. The added quality drop to long distance calls make it very hard for the other party to hear him (All over wifi btw). Please, does anyone know a sure-fix, exact-settings-listing for some SIP app for Android?
......................
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Sipdroid and VYKE as SIP provider. No echo, no cutting and only 30 seconds to set up. Can use WiFi or 3G. I do not use any PBXes.
the latest custom ROMs are really showing Pro
and performances are very quick
I'll recomend installing the DOC's ROM for SGS and use SipDroid for the voice chat
there are tons of Calendar options in the market, just take your time to review which one you like best
TB2 said:
Hi there,
..................
B) Also a very important thing to him is a calendar. But both the Samsung calendar as well as the original Android one don't have a good week-view. The original one doesn't have one, the Samsung one doesn't show titles on tasks. I find it ludicrous, it's just boxes without titles...
..............
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Egg 'n stone CalWidget. You can customice as You like. Size the Widget 4x1, 4x2, 4x3, 4x4......, choose a calander to view (MyCalendar, Google Calender.....), how long time ahead, layout and colors as You like, transparancy, and it's free.
I guess if Your father is a former iPhone user, he does not know how a widget work, try to explain to him.
Allright thanks everyone for the suggestions!
Dad's pleased with CalendarPad. Nice overview and the widget does a good job as well.
We installed sipdroid today and for local calls it seems to work well. Will check soon if we have the same problems as with csipsimple regarding long distance calls.
By the way... What is it with the "want an iphone, get an iphone" attitude in this forum. I clearly mentioned that he likes some of Android's merits and I asked two specific questions which I think I can expect from any modern smartphone, not just the iphone (working SIP and flexible calendar), the second of which btw is a downside of the iPhone because of all the sandboxing going on on an iphone. Anyway, you seem to be pretty quick on the "it's an iphone-loser" button.
Anyway, I've got a third and fourth question:
C) Is it normal that the battery lasts about 1.5 days with no IM or SIP services running? Only a calendar and the shipped-with weather widget. Is there some hack to improve battery life beyond just turning all the features off?
D) He's having serious stability issues at times. It happens that the device freezes when plugging it into USB or at different random times. At those times, the button lights would stay on with the screen being black. Long-pressing the power button fixes it. At different times it's a bit jerky. For example you would unlock the screen (gesture code) but then the screen would remain black for a few seconds and maybe the lock screen would show up again. Is this normal on android in general or has it to do with what Samsung pushed into its distro? Btw his mobile is branded by Orange and ships with some additional crap. Could this cause the problem? What's the easiest way of getting a fresh and simple Samsung or pure Android distro on it? I see there are lots of "mods", but I think we don't need any sort of mod, just a plain and stable OS.
Thanks.
To improve battery life, try turning off "Wireless location" in settings. However the battery life, even with various optimizations, is nowhere as good as iPhone 4.
The delays and stuttering you are experiencing is probably due to file system lag. Samsung uses RFS which is their own version of file system based on FAT32. Unfortunately that causes the phone to lag from time to time, usually when opening new applications or performing multiple I/O tasks. This can be fixed by installing one of the many lag fixes available. I use "One click lag fix" which you can download from the Market, but you will need to root the phone to apply it. There are several other alternatives which you can find in the "Development" forum.
Jamm59 said:
Try Egg 'n stone CalWidget. You can customice as You like. Size the Widget 4x1, 4x2, 4x3, 4x4......, choose a calander to view (MyCalendar, Google Calender.....), how long time ahead, layout and colors as You like, transparancy, and it's free.
I guess if Your father is a former iPhone user, he does not know how a widget work, try to explain to him.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What exactly is google calendar, cant find it in the market. It would be great to have a calendar sync with my google account like my contacts as I've missed a couple of appointments when switching to a new phone and having no backup on calendar...
TB2 said:
Allright thanks everyone for the suggestions!
By the way... What is it with the "want an iphone, get an iphone" attitude in this forum.
C) Is it normal that the battery lasts about 1.5 days with no IM or SIP services running? Only a calendar and the shipped-with weather widget. Is there some hack to improve battery life beyond just turning all the features off?
D) He's having serious stability issues at times.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, glad CalenderPad worked out for your dad.
At times, android lovers seem to suffer from the Calimero effect
Your battery life could be a bit better, but not much. 1,5 days is considered normal, most of us have the goal to get through a full working day (and tinkering evening...) with one charge.
The stability issues are 90% Samsungs fault, because they did a less than perfect job on the software. HTC does a better job out of the box software wise. Indeed, a lagfix will most probably cure the symptoms, i have good experience with the Voodoo Lagfix. Instructions are easy, and can be found at project-voodoo.org.
To get rid of the Orange branding, you could flash an unbranded stock Samsung Rom from samfirmware.com (Link, you need to create an account for the link to work). The first time i flashed a ROM, it was nerving. But as long as you know how to get into recovery mode (and checked that Recovery Mode is available!) you should be fine. Just remember to disable/revert any lagfixes before flashing another ROM or Kernel to be safe.