Limitations??? - HTC Aria General

Hello-
I was hoping any and all users can giver their 2 cents here. What are the real world limitations of this device? I have done a fair amount of research and this phone seems to fit the bill, but wanted some feedback on it. I know I want an Android based smartphone, and I must stick with AT&T as it's what my company has and it's the ONLY provider in my rural part of Texas.
While the phone has been labeled "mid-spec" it still seems pretty impressive. I also know being tied to AT&T means I'm REALLY limited, and I do not want an iPhone. My wife has one, I've tried it... It completly DIED after 3 months. I know in other posts people have said iPhone still best bang for the buck for AT&T smartphone, but a smartphone that does not work as a phone, doesn't show the net as it really appears, and has updates that seemingly copy Android does not seem too "smart" to me. Yes, iTunes looks pretty, and I could play "Words w/ Friends," but seems like a lot of fluff.
I have found due to hardware Aria cannot run Google Earth, is there anything else it cannot do? I know there is debate about Gingerbread being compatible, but that seems a ways down the road. I'm really torn, as I like the size of this thing: it still looks like a phone and not a flat panel TV, but the car guy side of me thinks "no replacement for displacement" when it comes to a processor.
That would mean getting a Nexus One, but I worry about the trackball popping out like my sister-in-laws Blackberry, and the cost is hard to swallow. The Desire looks AWESOME but if I have read correctly it will not work on 3G for data, only voice, and it is expensive. Then there is the Samsung Captivate which is coming, but it seems HUGE, or does the camera add 10 lbs???. I'd like to limit the physical size to an iphone-esque size at most so it is pocketable. I also have read Samsung can be difficult to work with from a consumer standpoint with respect to updates, etc.
I also like the Sense UI as it seems elegantly simple and worked well while I messed with the phone in the store.
Overall, I want the most bang for the buck phone. A true "dream machine" would be an Aria sized phone, with the Desire specs, that does it all on 3G. What really would be the closest thing to such a device? I'm open to any ideas and suggestions, but again I CANNOT change providers; seriously, AT&T is the ONLY provider with coverage in my area.
Thanks in advance for any and all answers and help!!!

The phone does have some limitations (you have done your homework). If you want a great phone on att, this is a good choice. The galaxy s (coming soon to ATT) may be better if you must have a high end device.

I would say that if you are stuck with AT&T, the Aria may be your phone. I have a had HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and Apple phones and HTC has been the most solid of all of them. I just came from an iPhone and I can honestly say it has better reception, call quality, and adaptability than my 3GS. Phones seem to be almost a matter of taste, some people will deal with the most ridiculous shortcomings if it has a feature they feel is the most important. That being said, I played with a lot of phones and found the Aria to be the best package for a smartphone on AT&T at this moment. That could change as soon as another high end phone hops on but for now, I'm very pleased. I will say this, the battery life takes some getting used to, but its right in the same area and any other smartphone. Also, the speaker phone is quiet but since I never use it, it doesn't even make my list for pros vs cons. Being that it is locked down to certain apps and such is annoying, but coming from an iPhone makes it seem like a walk in the park to get other apps and such on it. I would say read a little more of these forums to see what some complaints are and see if any of them make your list of important features. But otherwise, you have on recommendation here.

Some of the gripes I have with this phone include:
* The screen isn't quite adequate in size for reading ebooks, which I didn't expect I would do at the time of purchase.
* The speaker is pretty crappy. It's not very loud and it sounds irritating at volume - very tinny.
* It doesn't appear to support very many video file formats. In fact, the only format I've gotten to work with Act1 video player are the base h264 and h263 formats. To my understanding, it is up to the manufacturer to include any extra codecs, so you're SOL if you're planning on using this as a mobile media player.
* It doesn't come with live wallpapers or an option to sideload apps. You can enable both of these by rooting the phone (which is a pain in the ass, by the way), but I've found that the processor isn't up to the task of running some of the more complex live wallpapers (like the mario wallpaper). I'm hoping this will be less of a problem with Froyo and the JIT.
* It gets a little warm when you have the gps on in navigation, but not enough to scald your junk if you're keeping it on your lap. It's actually not that big of a deal, just makes me worry about damaging the battery.
* Typing is a bit hard in portrait mode. Some applications seem to crash in landscape mode, like 'better terminal emulator', but I suspect that's more of a problem with the program and not the Aria.
* The camera is a bit mediocre and doesn't include a flash, but to be fair, it's primarily a phone and not a camera (I have yet to see a phone's camera be on par with a midrange point & shoot).
* Sense UI can't be disabled/enabled as an option, like on the Evo 4g.
I was going to test Google Earth for you, but I can't seem to find it in the Market.
Anyway, in summary, it has a few shortcomings, it's a midrange phone after all, but I love it regardless. It's slips into my pocket comfortably and feels solid in the hand. The interface is nice and smooth (unless you have some crazy live wallpaper enabled). It doesn't bog down when you fill the screens with widgets, and the browser experience thus far has been great. All in all, it was definitely worth the $50 I paid for it from Amazon.com.
P.S. I was considering holding out for something higher spec'd to come along on AT&T, but who knows when that will happen? The Dell Aero was supposed to be out months ago. Likewise, we are actually supposed to have 3 HTC phones running Android to choose from right now, and yet we only have the Aria. The Samsung Captivate is supposed to be 'coming in the next few months,' but I've grown to distrust AT&T's timelines. A major part of why I got the Aria was because I was simply tired of waiting for ATT to get their act together.

I went to an AT&T Retail Store here in Corpus Christi, TX to look at it again and see what they could do for me deal wise because I'm mid-cycle in my contract. The Mgr. told me he is suppose to get the "sample" Captivate on Friday, and it's suppose to be on sale the 15th. I guess to go head-to-head with the X??? I'll wait til Friday to see if it true. He claims there is a lot to coming down the pike with Android OS as it's the "next big thing..." (Well, for AT&T I guess....) I've waitd this long, another couple of days won't kill me to see it, and help reduce buyer's remorse...

lonestarmotorcyclist said:
I went to an AT&T Retail Store here in Corpus Christi, TX to look at it again and see what they could do for me deal wise because I'm mid-cycle in my contract. The Mgr. told me he is suppose to get the "sample" Captivate on Friday, and it's suppose to be on sale the 15th. I guess to go head-to-head with the X??? I'll wait til Friday to see if it true. He claims there is a lot to coming down the pike with Android OS as it's the "next big thing..." (Well, for AT&T I guess....) I've waitd this long, another couple of days won't kill me to see it, and help reduce buyer's remorse...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck fighting the urge!

modest_mandroid said:
* It doesn't appear to support very many video file formats. In fact, the only format I've gotten to work with Act1 video player are the base h264 and h263 formats. To my understanding, it is up to the manufacturer to include any extra codecs, so you're SOL if you're planning on using this as a mobile media player.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not exactly. Do a search on 'Rock Player'. It's a media player that's still in Beta, and it expands upon the selection of video codecs that are handled by the standard media libraries.
It plays DivX-encoded videos like a CHAMP.
EDIT: Actually, here's the forum for it: http://www.diffthink.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4
Regards,
Corporate Dog

* It doesn't appear to support very many video file formats. In fact, the only format I've gotten to work with Act1 video player are the base h264 and h263 formats. To my understanding, it is up to the manufacturer to include any extra codecs, so you're SOL if you're planning on using this as a mobile media player.
I was planning on using it as a media player... So, in simple English for my simple mind, what does this mean: that it can only use those two formats? Does it mean it's limited to what can be seen via the internet or does it mean I'm limited to the type of video formats I could directly load from my computer, or both???? Is there a way around these limitations because I want to be able to have infotainment in one device and do not want to drag around multiple devices. (Sorry if this seems like a dumb question but I am FAR from well versed in this field.)
Also, thanks again for the replies and info.. It is GREATLY appreciated!!!

Corporate Dog said:
Not exactly. Do a search on 'Rock Player'. It's a media player that's still in Beta, and it expands upon the selection of video codecs that are handled by the standard media libraries.
It plays DivX-encoded videos like a CHAMP.
EDIT: Actually, here's the forum for it: http://www.diffthink.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4
Regards,
Corporate Dog
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll check it out when I get home, don't have any divx files to play here.
lonestarmotorcyclist said:
I was planning on using it as a media player... So, in simple English for my simple mind, what does this mean: that it can only use those two formats? Does it mean it's limited to what can be seen via the internet or does it mean I'm limited to the type of video formats I could directly load from my computer, or both???? Is there a way around these limitations because I want to be able to have infotainment in one device and do not want to drag around multiple devices. (Sorry if this seems like a dumb question but I am FAR from well versed in this field.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To my understanding, there isn't any "CorePlayer" equivalent. I dunno if you're coming from a Windows Mobile world or not, but CorePlayer could run pretty much anything your desktop computer could.
What I meant by my comment was that the Aria appears to be limited to the .mp4 format for videos (I have not tested .flv). So, if you wanted to toss some movies onto the sd card and use the stock media player or Act1 video player (appears to be pretty popular in the market), then you're stuck re-encoding all your videos to h264 .mp4. The iPhone is limited in this way too, or so I hear.
But, from what I've seen with RockPlayer just now, it's seems to be very bare on options but looks like it can play a very wide range of formats. I just played some mp4 videos I had on my sd card and they run flawlessly. Hopefully this program is in active development and will turn into Android's CorePlayer.

Thanks for the info and links; you both cleared up the questions I had. I just want to cover every aspect so when my iFamily tells me I made a poor choice I can show them it does EVERYTHING I want it to and more, not what the manufacturer thinks I need it to do or should do...
I just am not seeing where you can go wrong with this thing compared to other devices.....

lonestarmotorcyclist said:
I just am not seeing where you can go wrong with this thing compared to other devices.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the small size can either be a huge plus or killing minus depending on your habits/needs
for me it s a definate plus

lonestarmotorcyclist said:
Thanks for the info and links; you both cleared up the questions I had. I just want to cover every aspect so when my iFamily tells me I made a poor choice I can show them it does EVERYTHING I want it to and more, not what the manufacturer thinks I need it to do or should do...
I just am not seeing where you can go wrong with this thing compared to other devices.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are buying the phone for yourself or are you replacing iphones for your family?

Corporate Dog said:
Not exactly. Do a search on 'Rock Player'. It's a media player that's still in Beta, and it expands upon the selection of video codecs that are handled by the standard media libraries.
It plays DivX-encoded videos like a CHAMP.
EDIT: Actually, here's the forum for it: http://www.diffthink.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4
Regards,
Corporate Dog
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using rock player on my Aria for a while, and I am hoping this is just cause it is still beta, but SD AVI files run like molasses. If there is more than one thing going on on screen the video lags and gets out of sync with the audio. You have to pause the video, wait for it to catch up and play it again.
This is my only gripe about this phone, but it may be the program, not the phone.

Whatever phone I get will be just for me. My in-laws got their 3Gs' about a yr ago and like most, thought they were the greatest thing sinced bread. So then my wife "needed" one. I've played with it and it is nice to be able to access the web, and have music right there, but.... there seemed something lacking. I like the concept, but I also like to tinker with stuff. I'll admit, I LOVED the Droid ad campaign of "Droid Does" and since my phone has died, I started looking to get something new. It just seems better in everyway I can think of, but I want to know all I can to properly inform those who will tell me I'm wrong when I get my new phone. (And there will be a lot, I know...)
I just don't see how they really can be compared. Everyone I know who has an iPhone loves them, but they use them for the web, Facebook, Words W/ Friends, and as an iPod. I think it's great there are 200K apps, but I don't know anyone that uses more than 1% of them and every "cutting edge feature" seems to be copied from Android. I guess there is also the fact that there are a truckload of docks and cases to "personalize" them, but I think I rather personalize the stuff that matters.
In reality, I want to blow their socks off with what it can do and know it inside and out as soon as I get it. (You know, the ones that were excited about folders and backgrounds on iPhones. Does that make me a bad person??? Or just honest???)

My wife has an Aria, I have a Nexus One. I'm REALLY surprised when I use her phone, it's actually smoother than my Nexus. Long lists scroll like butter, the launcher scrolls extremly smooth, apps list, etc... I've never seen the phone slow down, it's all very smooth.
She doesn't watch videos on it, but she will eventually load her iTunes music onto it, but hasn't yet. She loves the smaller size, but you're right that it is a tad touchier to type on.
She raves about how fast the browser is.. And how everything just opens, bam... And her GCal euphoria moment was pretty awesome too; suddenly she can see my entire calendar, add to my calendar, see when I'm in a meeting until 5...
She's really been looking for something to complain about moving from her iPhone and so far I don't think she's found anything.

Just an update on the video playback capabilities in RockPlayer - I tested it with a 320x240 mpeg, 700x500 divx, 640x480 .mp4 and a 720p mkv video. The mpeg and mp4 ran perfectly fine, the divx ran pretty slow (maybe 10fps) and the sound was constantly desychronizing, and the mkv was unwatchable. It didn't scale down to the Aria screen size, and it ran so slow that you could see the individual frames (like 2-4fps).
Considering the speed difference between the .mp4 and the divx, I'm assuming this is a lack of hardware acceleration issue with some codecs?

Related

Been playing with my hero the past 5 days but...

Im now torn on whether to keep it or send it back. I got a brown sim free one delivered on friday morning after.much delibration and hesitation.
The hardware is very nice and solidly built...at least mine was. No gaps or anything of the sort.
Android and sense are both great...love them and I love the market place, which in my opinion is superior to the app store since.most apps are free and policy is less...draconian
I want to keep the device I really do.but its just not polished.enough and i know once the novelty wears off and reality sets in i'll most likely be frustrated when using it daily
I've noticed several issues:
-The keyboard works well for the most part with little lag but the spacebar sensitivity/responsiveness could be better. I still make more errors than I do on my iPhone as it loves giving me a period instead of a space
-During calls there's this annoying hiss that gives me a headache.
-Also during calls, sound gets distorted.if you raise the.volume beyond a.certain point and it makesit impossible to hear the other party properly
-Lags/stutters although mine doesn't seem as bad as others have pointed out. Just 1-2sec lags/jerkiness. However it becomes slightly more apparent when browsing the web and viewing photo albums.
-Finally music playback (which is very important to me) kinda sucks. It stutters even when you're not doing anything at all and sound quality is inferiorto the iPhone, very 'closed', poor 'dynamics', relatively weak max volume and no EQ whichis a big setback as mytracks are all EQ encoded> Now i could get revert to an iPod but that defeats the purpose of.an all-in-one smartphone
Anyway like I said I really wantto.keepthe phone but I wantedto know how HTC handles their updates. Apple is very.much on the ball when it.comes to updates in my experience,they optimize, fix bugs and.add.features so you know you're well covered. Does HTC do.the.same.or doyou have to.suck it up and.live with what is shipped to you
If HTC do it like Apple then i'll keep the phone. Otherwise, it means my switch to Android will haveto wait a while yet
Ps the reason my post reads.funny is because.I'm.typing this from.the device and.going back to fix every error.is a.PITA
Regarding the keyboard, have you tried calibrating it? Press the settings button on the keyboard, -> Text Input -> Calibration tool.
kiz said:
Regarding the keyboard, have you tried calibrating it? Press the settings button on the keyboard, -> Text Input -> Calibration tool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah i have done the keyboard calibration which is why i'm surprised its still finicky. *Shrug*
-Finally music playback (which is very important to me) kinda sucks. It stutters even when you're not doing anything at all and sound quality is inferiorto the iPhone, very 'closed', poor 'dynamics', relatively weak max volume and no EQ whichis a big setback as mytracks are all EQ encoded> Now i could get revert to an iPod but that defeats the purpose of.an all-in-one smartphone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a breaker for me. The purpose of my looking into android phone is to replace my iphone because I'm sick of the proprietary media expience ala itunes and the ipod player. I want to just plug my phone via usb into a puter (or copy to SDcard) and play the music or radio show directly from some file manager. Android does this well for, at least it did on the g1 I tested with no lag. An all in one device should be that...the iphone is that, if you can stand going thru the hoops to do what should be simple tasks.
The hero seems like a decent machine but there are one of two things (maybe both) that make it seem like an unfinished product: the interface shouldn't be laggy as it is and we shouldn't have to be fussing with standard widgets to get it to function smoothly as it should. I can see tweaking to make it run better than normal, but "normal" being laggy and "smooth" being tweaked isn't a good start. I don't know if this is the hardware limitation or a coding issue. HTC should have either done more testing on the software side or should have including better hardware specs than the magic since the hero is suppose to be an "upgrade" from the magic. I was about to get a hero, but there are too many mixed reviews to make it worth $600. I wanna ditch my iphone 2G for android and still have a 3.5mm jack at the top of the device...is that so hard to accomplish? Guess I'm holding out till later this year to see what else is placed on the table. I almost got a 288 magic but for that money, I might as well save for a better phone that has the 3.5mm jack.
If you are really that annoyed by it now and know yourself well enough to know that you'll be really pissed later after daily use, I would just sell it now on ebay or in the XDA market place while the selling is good. Sure, you could hold out to see what the software update is gonna do...but without more details on that update you're still risking afore mentioned buyers remorse.
El Droid said:
sound quality is inferiorto the iPhone, very 'closed', poor 'dynamics', relatively weak max volume
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Click to collapse
Fair enough if you don't like the phone, get rid of it but if you want your music louder than Hero gives you you're gonna have to start thinking about a hearing aid in the future! At least based on my Hero, which is loud!
PS, I trust you'll change your user name to El Pod once you've gone back?
Have you tried typing in landscape mode with 2 thumbs I find it really quick. the portrait mode does suck a bit. also remember there are new updates coming.
megaoptimus said:
That is a breaker for me. The purpose of my looking into android phone is to replace my iphone because I'm sick of the proprietary media expience ala itunes and the ipod player. I want to just plug my phone via usb into a puter (or copy to SDcard) and play the music or radio show directly from some file manager. Android does this well for, at least it did on the g1 I tested with no lag. An all in one device should be that...the iphone is that, if you can stand going thru the hoops to do what should be simple tasks.
The hero seems like a decent machine but there are one of two things (maybe both) that make it seem like an unfinished product: the interface shouldn't be laggy as it is and we shouldn't have to be fussing with standard widgets to get it to function smoothly as it should. I can see tweaking to make it run better than normal, but "normal" being laggy and "smooth" being tweaked isn't a good start. I don't know if this is the hardware limitation or a coding issue. HTC should have either done more testing on the software side or should have including better hardware specs than the magic since the hero is suppose to be an "upgrade" from the magic. I was about to get a hero, but there are too many mixed reviews to make it worth $600. I wanna ditch my iphone 2G for android and still have a 3.5mm jack at the top of the device...is that so hard to accomplish? Guess I'm holding out till later this year to see what else is placed on the table. I almost got a 288 magic but for that money, I might as well save for a better phone that has the 3.5mm jack.
If you are really that annoyed by it now and know yourself well enough to know that you'll be really pissed later after daily use, I would just sell it now on ebay or in the XDA market place while the selling is good. Sure, you could hold out to see what the software update is gonna do...but without more details on that update you're still risking afore mentioned buyers remorse.
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Click to collapse
Agreed and yeah...i'm starting to think this might be the way things end up unfortunately
tatwamasi said:
Fair enough if you don't like the phone, get rid of it but if you want your music louder than Hero gives you you're gonna have to start thinking about a hearing aid in the future! At least based on my Hero, which is loud!
PS, I trust you'll change your user name to El Pod once you've gone back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not my hearing i've never reached the max volume on my iPods/iPhones but frequently have to do so with the Hero. Maybe its specific to my unit.
robboy said:
Have you tried typing in landscape mode with 2 thumbs I find it really quick. the portrait mode does suck a bit. also remember there are new updates coming.
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I typed my post exclusively in landscape mode. I wouldn't even try portrait...unless for short text messages
I will admit that I'm quite confused regarding the lag issues. It does not seem to effect everyone and the ones it does effect consider a problem that if it were solved, the phone would be a fantastic upgrade from an iphone 3g or 2g. At times I hear it is just the live widgets, other times I hear it is just the software in general during media playback and browsing. I honestly don't know what to think and would love to have a means to test a hero as it is now. I'm not gonna upgrade to a 3gs...I'm still considering the hero but I'm going to wait for the software update and to see how things process for it on xda. I really see the potential in android and that is where I would like to stay if all works out..but I'm not so clear about the hero. Given my options and my needs, the the lag can be address with code optimization, then I think the hero is the best choice for me at this point. we'll see. if you're interested in selling it, let know price via PM. If you're any where near south central PA, perhaps I could give the thing a test run first if you don't mind.
I had the Hero, I could wait to get it. I was like a five year old waiting for santa! Anyway, bit dissapointed in it so reluctantly took it back and bought a PAYG iphone 3GS from O2.
Installed redSnow to jailbreak, then ultrasn0w to unlock and now i'm using it on Vodafone. Thank god for the iphone dev team.
The iphone just kicks the ass of the Hero all over the place. Music playback, Video Playback.. signal strength... battery....multitasking...everything. And if you think you might miss out on sense UI check this out:
http://justflikwalk.deviantart.com/art/iVillain-Beta-128791945
http://modmyi.com/forums/attachment...1247179088-beta-release-ivillain-img_0053.png
Jailbroken iphone with 3rd party apps is just unbeatable....game over. iphone wins again! Maybe Android next year?
I agree crappy music playback is terrible. speed is OK, quite laggy compared to an iphone 3G but bearable. Apparantly a rom update will arrive soon.
I'm thinking of returning to an iphone as well. No equalizer is like it's 1999.
mwatson said:
Jailbroken iphone with 3rd party apps is just unbeatable....game over. iphone wins again! Maybe Android next year?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe so but its also piracy
robboy said:
Maybe so but its also piracy
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Click to collapse
....and you have a problem with this?
The iphone just kicks the ass of the Hero all over the place. Music playback, Video Playback.. signal strength... battery....multitasking...everything. And if you think you might miss out on sense UI check this out:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll concede that a JB and unlocked iphone is pretty nice as far as apps and ease of us is concerned but the one thing it needs that it won't ever have is the ability to directly transfer files to the phone and manipulate easily. IE, copy a plain MP3 to the phone and play it in itunes or some 3rd party player without having to sync to itunes. the iphone is meant to appeal to folks that just want it to work and the iphone dev team has designed their stuff to match that philosphy. Unfortunately, the linux on iphone project, which was the great hope of getting android on the device isn't going anywhere fast due to lack of drivers for the hardware and what not. The Hero COULD have been a match but it isn't because it isn't consistently a postitive experience. This is why I'm waiting and am a little disappointed that the hero is in the state it is.
megaoptimus said:
I'll concede that a JB and unlocked iphone is pretty nice as far as apps and ease of us is concerned but the one thing it needs that it won't ever have is the ability to directly transfer files to the phone and manipulate easily. IE, copy a plain MP3 to the phone and play it in itunes or some 3rd party player without having to sync to itunes. the iphone is meant to appeal to folks that just want it to work and the iphone dev team has designed their stuff to match that philosphy. Unfortunately, the linux on iphone project, which was the great hope of getting android on the device isn't going anywhere fast due to lack of drivers for the hardware and what not. The Hero COULD have been a match but it isn't because it isn't consistently a postitive experience. This is why I'm waiting and am a little disappointed that the hero is in the state it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can transfer all sorts of files uising wifi discover. It turns the iphone into a wireless usb stick. If you transfer an mp3 it'll play it on the phone. Thats what i do. There is al alternative to itunes on Cydia. Even if you couldn't do that, the sacrifice is a small price to pay when you concider the iphone 3GS is just so slick.
Why can't other manufactures achieve what Apple has done here? Did they back engineer the iphone from a UFO wreck in Navada? BTW i'm no iphone fanboy. I've had HTC devices from the first orange SPV in 2003 right up to The Hero. There is no getting away from it, Palm, Samsung, HTC whoever just can't get close to Apple right now.
Have you tried using some better quality headphones? The ones supplied are rubbish and the ipod head phones are well......appalling (sound leakage to annoy everyone aroundyou and poor bass reproduction)!. Get some phones with a high sensitivity and no sound leakage you'll be surprised The biggest thing is that you don't need to crank up the volume for them to sound great and your ears will thank you for it
Noise isolation headphones are recommended (Sennheiser, Shure, Ultimate Ears) for the hero and for all mp3 players.
I'm using a pair of Ultimate Ears Metro Fi 220s
rickyb90 said:
Have you tried using some better quality headphones? The ones supplied are rubbish and the ipod head phones are well......appalling (sound leakage to annoy everyone aroundyou and poor bass reproduction)!. Get some phones with a high sensitivity and no sound leakage you'll be surprised The biggest thing is that you don't need to crank up the volume for them to sound great and your ears will thank you for it
Noise isolation headphones are recommended (Sennheiser, Shure, Ultimate Ears) for the hero and for all mp3 players.
I'm using a pair of Ultimate Ears Metro Fi 220s
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I never even took the stock earbuds out of the box. Been alternating between V-Moda Vibe Duos and Bose Quiet Comforts
mwatson said:
The iphone just kicks the ass of the Hero all over the place.....multitasking...
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Multitasking? Are you kidding? That's the reason I never got an iPhone, it doesn't multitask at all.
Plus, music playback is crap on all handsets. I'll always have a stand-alone media player because I care how my music sounds so yes, music playback is crap on the Hero but it's crap on the iPod (and iPhone) too.
And sense UI on the iPhone? Not quite. A few icons copied from the Hero but they aint no widgets.
Each to their own I guess though. I used an iPhone and it just wasn't good enough, too simplified for me. I'm quite techy tho so I like the open source of Android and the customisation etc.
Switchbitch said:
Multitasking? Are you kidding? That's the reason I never got an iPhone, it doesn't multitask at all.
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If you don't count playing music whilst browsing the web or any other task, and background checking your email / calendar sync... but it sure sounds like multitasking to me
And all because you can't choose other apps to have open in the background dosn't mean it can't multitask 'at all'. And lord just look at the Hero (slowwww/laggggg) as a case point why multitasking might not always be the best way to go about a mobile phone operating system.
I don't know if talking about lag is a valid point as I, and many others have experienced no lag at all, even during intense useage.
Personally, I understand that many people are experiencing lag issues but I'm keen to see what happens with this update coming out soon.
And background processing/multitasking is absoultely vital for a smartphone OS.
Switchbitch said:
Multitasking? Are you kidding? That's the reason I never got an iPhone, it doesn't multitask at all.
Plus, music playback is crap on all handsets. I'll always have a stand-alone media player because I care how my music sounds so yes, music playback is crap on the Hero but it's crap on the iPod (and iPhone) too.
And sense UI on the iPhone? Not quite. A few icons copied from the Hero but they aint no widgets.
Each to their own I guess though. I used an iPhone and it just wasn't good enough, too simplified for me. I'm quite techy tho so I like the open source of Android and the customisation etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Goto Cydia > download "Backgrounder" and multitask as much as you want!
I'm a techy too, but the Hero just doesn't impress. Jailbreak an iphone and become a geeky as you want. Widgets on lock screen and the springboard.
The iphone apps are like a 100 years ahead of android! one day android will be great. Just not today.

Software Update Fixes the HTC Hero's Only Real Proble, speed

http://gizmodo.com/5340981/software-update-fixes-the-htc-heros-only-real-problem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYV9NNoI8Hc
Well, this changes things. Right after it came out, Matt called the HTC Hero "tragically flawed." Why? Because the otherwise fantastic Sense UI was slooooow. HTC, presumably run by competent, rational human beings, has fixed this.
From the review in July:
The Hero is flawed, though, in ways that are truly depressing in light of its potential and how much it does get truly right: It's often sluggish, which absolutely destroys the user experience. It's a particularly unfortunate affliction as the iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre emphasize speed, making the Hero feel that much slower.
This was all but a dealbreaker, this frustrating slowness. But! Paul at MoDaCo has a preview of HTC's forthcoming update, which was vaguely announced yesterday, without much mention of what it would actually do. Now we know: It's about speed. And as someone who's been using a Hero for a few weeks now, this video makes by fingers tingle, ever so slightly.
Best of all, this update, due in a few weeks, looks like it could be ready before the Hero even shows up on whatever US carrier it's destined for, by which I mean, Sprint. Now, excuse me while I go remove the asterisk from that "Best Android Phone Ever" title. [MoDaCo via Slashgear]
Can I get a 'Hell yeah!'?
awesome
Can't wait. Loving my hero so far, except for the lagginess.
Rebooting helps but that's just a bit too "windows mobile" for my taste
I come from an iphone and i really like the openness.
I've got an unbranded urban brown so i should be able to get the update when they release it.
One thing i've noticed from the video is that the clock widget thingie is no longer animated but is now just a static picture.
It's very un-HTC like to actually release an update so quickly and to actually *gasp* fix things
But OTOH, they really set out to prove something with this phone, they can't afford to screw the pooch on this one.
HTC guys, we deffinately know you read these boards and all i can say is ... if this proves to be true and you keep releasing updates on a regular schedule ... i think you will win a lot of customers and dominate the android market.
Take Care,
-Kevin
does the new update lets HERO play video files encoded at 3p FPS ??
and what about the keyboard messaging speed?? is it better now??
I have no problems running videos at 3 fps. Keyboard text input does get unbearably sluggish at times though.
ghoonk said:
I have no problems running videos at 3 fps. Keyboard text input does get unbearably sluggish at times though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The keyboard can get very slow in webpages I find.
I hope that this update also fixes the missing text messages issue, lots of angry peeps because I don't reply to them!
ghoonk said:
I have no problems running videos at 3 fps. Keyboard text input does get unbearably sluggish at times though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually i meant 30 fps...LOL i made a mistake by typing 3 only...lol 3fps is supported by even the most basic video phone!
thank God...
I really wanted to love the Hero (but the speed problem totally made me reconsider, having had a slow Diamond before) as the UI really is one of the best among the likes of the iPhone, and despite the fact that I am still using WinMo now I must admit that the iPhone UI is just a hell of a lot more out there. The Hero's UI is the first I see on any phone that really does match the iPhone's UI (if not exceed it).
If it actually speeds up so much with the update, it would be absolutely perfect, and I will buy one.
nin2thevoid said:
I really wanted to love the Hero (but the speed problem totally made me reconsider, having had a slow Diamond before) as the UI really is one of the best among the likes of the iPhone, and despite the fact that I am still using WinMo now I must admit that the iPhone UI is just a hell of a lot more out there. The Hero's UI is the first I see on any phone that really does match the iPhone's UI (if not exceed it).
If it actually speeds up so much with the update, it would be absolutely perfect, and I will buy one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I've just boxed/RMAd my Hero for return. I thoroughly enjoyed the time i spent with it but as it is now, its just not practical for me. Plus i dunno how HTC do their updates and if they truly fix anything useful or just random fixes no one cares about, which is why i wasn't willing to gamble.
If the update does improve things significantly then i'll come back or simply wait for the next iteration but in the meantime i'm returning to my trusty iPhone. Yes its UI is dated, yes it sucks at multitasking, yes the app store policy is draconian, yes battery life sucks. However the little things the iPhone does, it does well and is dependable for me.
I'm looking for a phone to buy in the next 2/3 months and if the hero gets as fast as we can see on the video, my choice is done. Otherwise I'll stick with my old phone waiting for a real Iphone competitor...
Speed the only problem?
I'd say that functional shortcomings are even worse. The speed-issue is mostly a feature of true multitasking. Don't expect good performance from a low-end CPU when it's trying to run all the fancy widget applications simultaneously. Optimisation is always appreciated though.
More important issues IMHO are:
Email not able to display messages with digital signatures. Never mind verification of the signature, but there's no good reason why the unencrypted message body can't be displayed. K9mail from the market handles it, as well as the mail-app in a stock android 1.5 dev.kit.
Email has no option to specify the path for IMAP folders. No folders other than the inbox can be read from servers which require the path to be specified.
The currently used 2.6.27.x kernel has serious issues with wi-fi (performance issues, temporary loss of connection). There are good reasons why the entire wi-fi stack was replaced shortly after (see kernel mailing-list) and we should hopefully soon see Android built with kernel 2.6.30 or later.
LEDs and trackball lights have stopped working on some units. It's been claimed that these problems are software related.
The music-player needs more consistent sorting of songs. Now it sorts songs alphabetically when browsing all tracks from an artist, while the default should be sort by album+disc_number+track_number. Similarly when you browse all albums the ordering of tracks within an album seems random. The natural order here would be by track-number.
Fade out-in between music tracks can be more smooth, as can the fade in/out of alarms and phone-calls.
Peep needs fixing so that it doesn't drain the battery when there's no twitter account configured. I don't know what it does, but it certainly can't be idle when it reduces the standby-time to 6-8 hours. Kill Peep, or give it a valid twitter user-name/password and the problem is gone.
The dialler and phone-book could do with some optimisation. This is the only place I've found where lagging actually causes a problem as it sometimes leads to calls being accidentally initiated.
These are just some of the problems I've found. I'm sure people with other priorities and who use the device differently have other issues.
I really would like that person to post a video showing the contacts app THEN we can know if performance issues have been really solved.
Hero lag can't be worse than what the Pre has in just about every program. Looking forward to playing with one in person so I can check it out for myself. Palm has done a terrible job of implementing a good idea.
Aridon said:
Hero lag can't be worse than what the Pre has in just about every program. Looking forward to playing with one in person so I can check it out for myself. Palm has done a terrible job of implementing a good idea.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pre was very zippy/responsive when i played with it
Speaking of terrible jobs of implementing good ideas, how about the fact that despite creating a fancy new UI for Android, including an innovative widget idea, yet again HTC have given us an essentially useless music player. Why on earth didn't HTC learn from the Diamond's problems in order to implement a music player that did not skip during tracks. Unbelievable! I'm so furious about this. And before someone tells me that if I want a music player I should use a seperate player, if the phone cannot perform the most basic function of any music player, which is to play music uninterrupted, it should not be included at all; I am not an HTC tester.
I have a class 6 micro SD card coming soon, if this doesn't help, it's bye bye Hero and hello iphone. It may not multitask and have a bland UI and have a draconian app store (frankly, who cares!?), but what it can do, it does very well indeed.
As for the update, I like many cannot get too excited about this because I am with Orange and their update will no doubt follow in 2015.
What a bum deal.
Yours sincerely,
A fed up HTC customer.
simcarloc said:
Speaking of terrible jobs of implementing good ideas, how about the fact that despite creating a fancy new UI for Android, including an innovative widget idea, yet again HTC have given us an essentially useless music player. Why on earth didn't HTC learn from the Diamond's problems in order to implement a music player that did not skip during tracks. Unbelievable! I'm so furious about this. And before someone tells me that if I want a music player I should use a seperate player, if the phone cannot perform the most basic function of any music player, which is to play music uninterrupted, it should not be included at all; I am not an HTC tester.
I have a class 6 micro SD card coming soon, if this doesn't help, it's bye bye Hero and hello iphone. It may not multitask and have a bland UI and have a draconian app store (frankly, who cares!?), but what it can do, it does very well indeed.
As for the update, I like many cannot get too excited about this because I am with Orange and their update will no doubt follow in 2015.
What a bum deal.
Yours sincerely,
A fed up HTC customer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Hero never skips when playing music not that I do so that often. Its so much better than my Diamond was.
simcarloc said:
As for the update, I like many cannot get too excited about this because I am with Orange and their update will no doubt follow in 2015.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that may not be entirely true.
The Jones - listen more often and you will experience it. Unless of course, it's a problem only affecting certain handsets, in which case there are serious inconsistencies in HTC's manufacturing at work here, I doubt it though.
What audio formats you are using? With mp3 and wma (some are high bitrate) I use both wired and ad2p heastets about 4 hours a day and never experienced stuttering. I have a brown one from mobiles.co.uk with vodafone.
Also, while listening to music usually a few applications such as browser or news readers are being used as well.
Interesting sproxy, mine is also from Mobiles.co.uk on Orange and I get no skipping here either, listened to music loads on the phone over the last couple of days. Mine is also one of the ones with no lag, or screen gap I wonder they had a newer "fixed" batch or something?

[Q] HTC Aria ARMv6 vs. ARMv7

I'm a new HTC Aria owner and with all the research I did before my purchase I seemed to have missed the fact that this is an ARMv6 processor. I see now that certain applications require ARMv7 (Google Earth is an example), or seem to prefer ARMv7 (Firefox Fennec).
So here's my question: Should I care that much about ARMv6 vs. ARMv7? Will I end up unable to use most (or perhaps "key") Market-Place applications because of the "old" chip?
I have two weeks to return this device or I'm stuck. And I know I'm sort of asking a loaded question. But I'd like to hear some ranting and raving on both sides of the issue, so I can read, think, and make a better-informed choice.
Let me thank everyone in advance for some useful, civil, discussion! ;-)
The reason I kept my aria was for its size. It fits perfect in my pocket. Other android devices boast screen size but the larger devices feel awkward. I haven't had any issues with what I do on my phone. It really boils down to what you look for in a phone.
Sent from my Liberty using XDA App
wpscully said:
I'm a new HTC Aria owner and with all the research I did before my purchase I seemed to have missed the fact that this is an ARMv6 processor. I see now that certain applications require ARMv7 (Google Earth is an example), or seem to prefer ARMv7 (Firefox Fennec).
So here's my question: Should I care that much about ARMv6 vs. ARMv7? Will I end up unable to use most (or perhaps "key") Market-Place applications because of the "old" chip?
I have two weeks to return this device or I'm stuck. And I know I'm sort of asking a loaded question. But I'd like to hear some ranting and raving on both sides of the issue, so I can read, think, and make a better-informed choice.
Let me thank everyone in advance for some useful, civil, discussion! ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you will regret it... I know I did... the Aria seems fine at the beginning.. but them there come the limitations of an old chip.... and is not fun anymore... so no Full Flash,, no google earth, no firefox.... no cool 3d games... no 720p video recording, etc... I'm waiting for my Samsung Vibrant to arrive tomorrow... so I can sell the Aria....
eortizr said:
Yes, you will regret it... I know I did... the Aria seems fine at the beginning.. but them there come the limitations of an old chip.... and is not fun anymore... so no Full Flash,, no google earth, no firefox.... no cool 3d games... no 720p video recording, etc... I'm waiting for my Samsung Vibrant to arrive tomorrow... so I can sell the Aria....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to each his own
ryan92084 said:
to each his own
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amen.
Honestly, when you are shopping for a phone there are so many choices that it is almost like car shopping. You commit to two years and are basically married to the thing. The reasons why you buy an Aria over a Captivate are because of its size, it's construction, it's form factor (subjective, sure, but this is a DAMN SEXY phone), etc. It can do many dinky doinky things just fine (push email, calendar, yadda yadda). But if your desire is to have something that is more "fully loaded" so that you can run any app, then yes, get something more hard core.
I use DVD Fab on my home PC to rip movie files into WMV format, and with ES File Explorer I can watch "The Godfather" with my stereo bluetooth headset while on the eliptical at the gym. I use an eReader, I social network, and I play all my music while I study/workout/drive somewhere.
These are my reasons for owning an Aria, but every pot has a lid and your mileage my vary.
As it's been said, it's really your own decision, but I thought I'd comment on the few apps you mentioned. The things you said you're missing out on are pretty much Flash, Google Earth, Fennec not being optimized, and maybe some higher quality video support.
Flash is the big one here since on the basic web it does help make browsing a full featured experience. So if you browse the web a ton and make use of Flash then you'll notice it. For me I don't really notice a lack of flash, especially since there's an app for a lot of stuff that would normally use it. Also, more things are going to HTML5 and away from Flash.
Google Earth is honestly just a toy on the phone. I can see having fun with it, but not any practical uses. Firefox Fennec is honestly bloated. Even if it did run well on the phone it's current install is 33mb. That's pretty large for a phone app. I use Chrome and Chrome to Phone to sync bookmarks and the like. As far as video support goes, the Aria doesn't have a high resolution and it's not really a media-centric phone. If you're planning on watching a lot of stuff I'd say go for the Captivate.
Anyway, I love my Aria. It was inexpensive, it's small, yet still powerful, and I think it works great for any practical uses.
I've been using my Aria for 2 months, and I've experienced no "limitations". I watch youtube videos, download market apps, play games, take pictures, record movies, listen to music, browse the internet, post on forums, plan trips.
I haven't found one thing yet that I wanted to do with my phone that I couldn't. I've used a Captivate, and I still prefer my Aria, especially now that we have CM6 w/ FroYo.
But this is just my experience. Your mileage may vary.
Sent from my Liberty using XDA App
I have to agree with the others. I've been an Aria owner for a little over two months so far. This little phone is a quite capable device. I got a chance to fool around with the captivate and idk but it didn't really feel right. Sure it probably has the best hardware atm but in reality, it's still a samsung. Never been really a fan of samsung, sorry.
As for flash 10.1, I read page with a list of all the phones that were to get flash. The Aria was one of the phones listed..I think it was listed on gizmodo or engadget, one of those sites. I thought it was interesting seeing it there. Now I can't seem to find the site but I swear it was listed lol.
Anyways this is my first actual smartphone and I'm quite happy with it. I was in the prehistoric age with my SE W810i lol...I figured this phone will keep me occupied till the dual cores with better battery life come out =P
Edit btw..this thread may be of interest to you:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=767565
well.. I got my Samsung Vibrant yesterday... I have to say... the Vibrant is superior to the Aria in every aspect.
Is so thin,, it fits better in the back pocket that the Aria, after applying the lag fix the phone is extremely fast and smooth. The screen is just amazing when compared to the Aria... ahhh and watching movies is a hole new experience... Now I can play the 3D games I like... like (Let's Golf and Asphalt 3d), now I have Live wallpapers without lags. 720p Video Recording... whoooo... and I can stream those movies right to my TV using DLNA. the Aria is a cute little phone... but is like comparing a Mini S (Aria) vs. Porsche 911 (Vibrant).
Mhyst said:
Amen.
Honestly, when you are shopping for a phone there are so many choices that it is almost like car shopping. You commit to two years and are basically married to the thing. The reasons why you buy an Aria over a Captivate are because of its size, it's construction, it's form factor (subjective, sure, but this is a DAMN SEXY phone), etc. It can do many dinky doinky things just fine (push email, calendar, yadda yadda). But if your desire is to have something that is more "fully loaded" so that you can run any app, then yes, get something more hard core.
I use DVD Fab on my home PC to rip movie files into WMV format, and with ES File Explorer I can watch "The Godfather" with my stereo bluetooth headset while on the eliptical at the gym. I use an eReader, I social network, and I play all my music while I study/workout/drive somewhere.
These are my reasons for owning an Aria, but every pot has a lid and your mileage my vary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't agree more. To me the Captivate is too bulky in comparison, the Aria is quite the attractive phone. While it may not have the size screen the Captivate does, it is still an impressive screen. The previous poster mentioned being able to play 3-D games on the Captivate, but I'm not sure if that was meant to say the Aria can't or...? I don't play a lot of games on my phone, I use it generally more for music, video, organization, etc. but I do have some games, including Let's Golf and while I'm sure it runs better on the Captivate, I don't have any issues running and playing it on the Aria. Also, I never have any issues with LWP lagging. To be honest, in CM6, I never have any performance issues whatsoever, granted I don't do much 3-D gaming, but I did buy it for it's smartphone features, not really to game (obviously you may be more interested in gaming than I).
I had the opportunity to trade my Aria in for a Captivate, with about 2 weeks to think it over, in which time I did a lot of reading and used the Captivate in the store several times, and this was pre-CM6. I 100% do not regret my decision in staying with the Aria. The device is quite capable of majority of what you will throw it's way and it'll definitely do it well. Just to put this out there, I know MANY Droid users that are still using their Droid's today without a single complaint as far as performance, and some of their specs are slightly lower than the Aria. If you want a powerhouse, the Captivate is clearly the better choice, but you shouldn't let lack of power deter you from buying an Aria, because it definitely holds its own. Plus, in MY opinion, HTC > Samsung hands down in countless ways; construction, quality, feel, support, etc.
As a side note, there is a Kernal out there to overclock it. I personally haven't used it but my guess it'll bring you within about 200mhz of the Captivate
Oh, and one last thing. Be sure to not take the comments here as immediate fact (in either direction), not accusing, but it was almost implied that the Aria is not capable of certain things that it really is. Make sure to do some more of your own research before you make that final decision.
As far as flash goes, we may not have it right now, but as someone mentioned there are plenty of apps/mobile versions that I hardly notice it and with a community as great as the Android one I wouldn't be suprised to see flash support on the Aria sometime in the future.
Full flash requires instructions from ARMv7 architecture, so says Cyanogen.
eortizr said:
well.. I got my Samsung Vibrant yesterday... I have to say... the Vibrant is superior to the Aria in every aspect.
Is so thin,, it fits better in the back pocket that the Aria, after applying the lag fix the phone is extremely fast and smooth. The screen is just amazing when compared to the Aria... ahhh and watching movies is a hole new experience... Now I can play the 3D games I like... like (Let's Golf and Asphalt 3d), now I have Live wallpapers without lags. 720p Video Recording... whoooo... and I can stream those movies right to my TV using DLNA. the Aria is a cute little phone... but is like comparing a Mini S (Aria) vs. Porsche 911 (Vibrant).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you bother reading the specifications of the Aria prior to buying one? It really doesn't seem like it judging from your two posts in this thread. I hope you don't end up sitting on your Vibrant
ioft said:
Did you bother reading the specifications of the Aria prior to buying one? It really doesn't seem like it judging from your two posts in this thread. I hope you don't end up sitting on your Vibrant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have both phones right know the Vibrant and the Aria.. so I can compare... been using both for 2 days now(been with the Aria for 2 months) the problem with the Aria is its CPU is old ARMv6 by the end of the year everyone with an Aria will be looking for something else..... Vibrant still ahead... The Aria is good I like it... but is not an entertainment device like the Vibrant is.
I got the Aria for the form factor.
I considered the Captivate but it's a big phone and the display had a blue tint that looked like ****.
By the end of the year we will have phones with dual core cpu's anyway and everyone with a Vibrant will want one.
Sent from my HTC Liberty using XDA App
how do you know thar aria have ARMv6 ?
wildfire what do it have ?
blakerboy777 said:
Full flash requires instructions from ARMv7 architecture, so says Cyanogen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If HTC can make Flash Lite work, I'd put my money on this incredibly talented Android community to do SOMETHING in that field. Not saying that the Aria will receive 100% full Adobe Flash support, but I wouldn't say it'll never get any.
By the end of the year we will have phones with dual core cpu's anyway and everyone with a Vibrant will want one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quoted for truth. To say the Aria isn't an entertainment device is pure slander, it entertains the hell out of me. Just because it doesn't have as big a screen or as great a processor doesn't mean it can't play videos, music, games, the like. Not everyone needs the top of the line device to provide them entertainment or satisfaction.

Why smartphones suck

I have a Galaxy S from Bell. It was great for a while, but now its degraded into something barely above a brick. The lag is so bad that I can't answer phone calls sometimes because the screen is unresponsive.
I've had a few smart phones so far, original iPhone, iPhone 3G, Nexus One and now the Galaxy S. I really want to get away from the Galaxy S because of the combination of quality (ie. the complete lack of it) and the ridiculous timelines Samsung, and then carriers take to upgrade a handset to the latest version of android, if at all. But when I look at the options out there, they all suck.
The iPhone is decent, if you don't mind living in a walled garden. But I'd like a few more options than Apple is willing to provide such as removable battery, drag and drop files, something akin to native support of flac and divx/xvid. I really don't feel like playing my mp3s with one player and then flac with another. I also don't feel like converting movies to mp4, a standard which clearly sucks by virtue of the fact that no one would use it if apple didn't force them to.
With Android I have to deal with constantly waiting for the latest OS, usually 6 months or longer after Google has released it, and then it's been shat all over by the manufacturer and/or carrier. So that leaves pure Google phones, of which there's the Nexus One and the Nexus S.
I had the Nexus One, good phone, except for the screen. Constantly looking for shade so I can see the screen in the sun is a pain. The Nexus S fixes that, but no microSD slot? Are you f-ing kidding me? You couldn't put that in there? It's available on pretty much EVERY other smart phone that isn't the iPhone. And no 32GB option. Basically, it's a Nexus One with a curved screen (that may or may not introduce display issues according to Engadget). I mean, NFC? You give me NFC, but no microSD? I think running into a 16GB space barrier is going to happen way more often than me trying to share contact info with someone through NFC.
Can someone please make a phone that supports common media formats (mp3/flac/xvid/divx, etc), decent processor (dragons, birds, dogs, I don't care), a screen I can see in sunlight and either 32GB non expandable or better yet a microSD slot. Stick a camera on there if you feel like it. I don't even care if there's a front facing camera, because no one is walking around making video calls.
Smartphones suck.
What about installibg jpu?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
The lag shouldn't be that bad, I used the phone for a while with no lagfix and it wasn't that bad.
Do a factory reset, and maybe even install the JPU firmware if you're willing. The lag is no longer a problem with JPU.
Maybe the upcoming LG Optimus 2X will finally give us a smartphone to beat all smartphones. Hard to imagine LG being much better than Samsung though.
wipe phone,
install JK4,
flash hardcore k10,
Done.
Stop being such a *****
guys is it a lag when ever after i install app from market and back to my home screen all the apps n widgets on the homescreen lost for a while and i need to wait a minute before all the apps and widgets on my homescreen to appear and running smooth????
nazrazr said:
guys is it a lag when ever after i install app from market and back to my home screen all the apps n widgets on the homescreen lost for a while and i need to wait a minute before all the apps and widgets on my homescreen to appear and running smooth????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rough english, but I think I understand.
Are you running 2.2? And what build?
I agree with the Nexus S having no micro SD slot comment you made. wtf WERE they thinking?
Seriously???
Legion6789 said:
I have a Galaxy S from Bell. It was great for a while, but now its degraded into something barely above a brick. The lag is so bad that I can't answer phone calls sometimes because the screen is unresponsive.
I've had a few smart phones so far, original iPhone, iPhone 3G, Nexus One and now the Galaxy S. I really want to get away from the Galaxy S because of the combination of quality (ie. the complete lack of it) and the ridiculous timelines Samsung, and then carriers take to upgrade a handset to the latest version of android, if at all. But when I look at the options out there, they all suck.
The iPhone is decent, if you don't mind living in a walled garden. But I'd like a few more options than Apple is willing to provide such as removable battery, drag and drop files, something akin to native support of flac and divx/xvid. I really don't feel like playing my mp3s with one player and then flac with another. I also don't feel like converting movies to mp4, a standard which clearly sucks by virtue of the fact that no one would use it if apple didn't force them to.
With Android I have to deal with constantly waiting for the latest OS, usually 6 months or longer after Google has released it, and then it's been shat all over by the manufacturer and/or carrier. So that leaves pure Google phones, of which there's the Nexus One and the Nexus S.
I had the Nexus One, good phone, except for the screen. Constantly looking for shade so I can see the screen in the sun is a pain. The Nexus S fixes that, but no microSD slot? Are you f-ing kidding me? You couldn't put that in there? It's available on pretty much EVERY other smart phone that isn't the iPhone. And no 32GB option. Basically, it's a Nexus One with a curved screen (that may or may not introduce display issues according to Engadget). I mean, NFC? You give me NFC, but no microSD? I think running into a 16GB space barrier is going to happen way more often than me trying to share contact info with someone through NFC.
Can someone please make a phone that supports common media formats (mp3/flac/xvid/divx, etc), decent processor (dragons, birds, dogs, I don't care), a screen I can see in sunlight and either 32GB non expandable or better yet a microSD slot. Stick a camera on there if you feel like it. I don't even care if there's a front facing camera, because no one is walking around making video calls.
Smartphones suck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guess its time for you to change your phone and move on to a less smarter phone.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
fulcrum1971 said:
Guess its time for you to change your phone and move on to a less smarter phone.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice said, thants what i fought then I looked at this thread
+1
Sent from my bad-ass i9000
BlackDino said:
rough english, but I think I understand.
Are you running 2.2? And what build?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sory English is not my 1st language and rarely spoken...heeeee
I am running Froyo 2.2 JPO not lag fix....is it has something to do with it?
yes flash jpu and never look back, no lagfix needed.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
Docs JPU Rom, voodoo lagfix. Nuff said.
If you are *****ing about it so much and can't sort the issues you should go back to an iphone so Steve can tell you how you should use your phone.
It's not about my technical ability to apply a rom or a lagfix. It's a.) I shouldn't have to, I'm not trying to do something with the phone that the manufacturer didn't intend, and therefore I shouldn't have to apply these things; b.) The only reason I haven't done those things is because I've read on these forums that a lot of people have had the internal sd card fail after flashing, and don't feel like leaving my phone with Bell for 6 weeks for repair. Although at this point, the phone's performance is so abysmal the scale is tipping.
And Bynar, why the implication that I'm some apple fan boy, did I not say that I also didn't like the iPhone? I like how I'm somehow not worthy of a galaxy s if I don't relish the idea of flashing roms and lagfixes just to answer the phone when it rings.
+1 for this smart phone rant. I loved to read it. Some valid points
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Never had that kind of issue with my phone, im lucky to get a non laggy phone!
If you just use your phone for call why not just get a cheap throw around phone for that function?
I've been using SGS from bell since october with original JH2, no lagfix and haven't got massive lag so many are talking about.
Using JK4 since 2 weeks and it's even more fluid. No lagfix what so ever...battery holds up couple of days, no FC, no lags (installing apps is realy fast compared to JH2), I reboot the thing now and then and that's it.
Only thing I did, when I got the device, I had to hard reset the thing then worked great. Same thing when I got JK4, Hard reset before and after.
On the other hand, I use the thing as it is: a pretty descent sum of many technologies. Great gaming, but not as a standalone gaming platform; great camera but not as a high end standalone camera; good GPS but not as good as hi end standalone GPS; it's pretty fast but not as much as a standalone computer; great browsing but not as much as on a computer...
Catch my drift? If you want something that can do everything and still hold on your hand, smartphone are great. But as a cost... If you want blasing fast like on a Core i7 laptop, get a core i7 laptop!
I'm not looking for Core i7 in a smartphone, just enough performance listen to music and watch movies in formats like xvid and flac. The galaxy s can do this with the caveats that with my handset in particular it lags so badly that at times I can't answer the phone and it hiccups during flac playback. Both of these issues I believe are due to problems with the internal sd card.
No it's not, I can do all those things easy with mine.
When I run with the device, I have Mp3 playing over bluetooth stereo player (controls works fine alors), sporty pal, Tracker booster and I can receive call (or make em' when I hit the right button on my earphones)
My advice: Hard reset+clear all thoses caches in recovery mode then reinstall everything one by one.
Legion6789
Agree with most of your points, rather I believe these phones sound better if called 'Tech' phones.The major letdowns for me is the software within than the hardware.
How 'smart' are they when they don't do the basic intended function Out of the box reliably ...24X7X365....without rooting/lagfixing/modding..(wow lost track of these........ ).
Google may market android as 'Open, mk dir android;cd android....' and so on but how many consumers would want to do that and how many hardware OEM's would allow them to.
Android for me, is way below the hype and hoped and has to evolve beyond the 'Google' syndrome. Has a long way to go.
Having seen all the so called 'smart' OS out there, the iOS, RIM, Maemo 5, Android, Symbian .... I don't see much light in each of them.
The closest I could sense a potential was maemo 5, but the creator screwed it up with a ugly hardware and dropping it mid way for Meego...Would have to wait and see.
Now as a true 'consume'r...our choices have to be made on compromises that no perfect thing exists and chug along and play our major role in this so called 'Smart phone revolution' as chief financiers ever exploring for the near perfect one.
Apple to me, tried creating the near perfect one but as highlighted by you they only succeeded in locking down users within the walled garden. But to give them credit, the iphone(3gs/4) creates a consistent,reliable experience within the constraints it has. (Have never experienced a 'lag' 'force close' or equivalent in my experience of 1 year)...hmm hate being called a 'fan' boy
So to put it in simple words, did the 'smart' phone make my life simpler...Yes in some aspects but at a very important downside 'Time'(or money)...
- the time taken to root,
- time taken to lagfix,
- time taken to track all the JPO/JP6/JPU...and don't know how many more releases,
- time taken to flash,
- time taken to follow XDA....
Oh all these in already crowded day to day life to make my 'Smart' phone being 'smarter' !
Legion6789 said:
I don't relish the idea of flashing roms and lagfixes just to answer the phone when it rings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's total exageration, and from my experience, far from fact.. I don't recall lag ever impacting my ability to make calls.
The iPhones also have numerous problems. And honestly, the lag isn't THAT bad in my opinion. It's possible to make any phone start swapping, and I can cause lag on my computer too. It would be nice if it was reduced though. It's still a very productive phone though.

Asus Transformer: second thoughts

This may be a slightly different post, since most of the users are big fans or / and happy users of Asus Transformer, but hear me out. For haters of long post – a brief summary of my post: the honeymoon’s with my tablet over, considering what to do now…
About 3 months ago I’ve sold my trusty Asus EEE PC 701 to replace it with Transformer, which I currently own. This was done after careful consideration and study of my needs and available products at the time. When choosing a replacement for EEE PC, my priorities were (beginning with the most important):
1. Fast browsing (waiting for EEE PC to boot became a headache) and emailing.
2. Similar productivity capabilities (I mostly work in Google Docs environment with occasional editing of normal documents and spreadsheets)
3. Occasional movies (EEE PC couldn’t handle 720p)
4. Showing pictures to friends (rare occasions)
5. Games, when there’s no work in sight.
When considering a replacement, I took into the account other devices – a better netbook, a smartphone, a normal laptop and, of course, a tablet, which I eventually chose (Transformer + dock keyboard). The start was pretty nice, until I’ve experienced full “features” of Android Honeycomb…
1. Browsing is not what I expected. In PC’s most browsers work the same, render pages in the same fashion, offer similar capabilities. In Android, most browsers are like day and night in some areas. E.g. only in 1 of 5 browsers I tried I was able to move between cells in Google Spreadsheets with my keys on the keyboard (other browsers moved the scroll bar). I’ve constantly encounter(ed) sites that recognized my tablet as a phone, redirecting me to a low resolution version. And by the way – without internet (I’m using the version without 3G) it’s rather useless.
2. Enough to say that a tablet is not meant to be used for a document editing. It’s basically a pain in the arse. Polaris app is more a WYSIWYG html editor than a document app, “Documents to go” app is let’s say a bit expensive. I’ve also did not know how hard it is to use copy-paste mechanism. I do use this in my editing a lot.
3. Movies also are a pickle. While PC can decode almost any format (by choosing a right decoder), Android can’t offer such capabilities. I have 5 different players, which I use to decode movies. Till now I didn’t encounter any movie that can be played in all 5 players, usually 1-2 players (sometimes – none) can open the movie. Subtitles (I watch anime sometimes) are also a headache. Didn’t know that earlier.
4. Picture showing is, let’s say, ok. But only after one update when Gallery app started to act properly, i.e. show pictures in an ascending fashion (before that I had to scroll to the end of the gallery to start showing pictures from the start).
5. Games… Well, what I found out that I simply hate trivial / casual games and the market is full of them. Angry birds / fruit ninja entertained me for one day only.
To make things worse, Google still doesn’t offer a separate search for tabled optimized apps and, most importantly, the market does not offer capabilities of filtering crapware. I found out that there are websites, rating apps in a proper way, but this is still a nightmare.
After this, I’ve tried to search for answers to solve the mentioned problems, but it seems the Android platform is still very young and it will take some time for it to become mature in the software area. By that time the hardware will be different and my current tablet will be let’s say pretty much useless. So keeping it and waiting for a miracle (I’ve thought that Android 4.0 could be a solution) may be not a viable solution… Unless you’ll convince me otherwise.
Rants aside, I’m considering to sell the tablet and buy a smartphone (maybe a HTC Desire S ?). Of course I won’t be able to edit documents or have a big screen for movies, but I hope having a great time with phone optimized apps, blazing fast boot times, better internet availability (I mean 3G).
Your opinions and suggestions about the current situation are very welcome. For me, it's a hard (and maybe an expensive) decision.
P.S. I’ve also considered buying a Windows 7 tablet (which would suit my needs), but found out that the user interface is still VERY hard to control with touches. I’ve also thought about waiting for a Windows 8 tablet, but it seems it won’t be able to run x86 programs, meaning an Android-like situation with little availability of useful software.
No offense, but after reading your post carefully I decided any reply I have is futile. You got the transformer with the wrong attitude. You've been using it with the wrong attitude. And you've been expecting things with ALL the wrong attitude.
It's best that you stick with a win 7 netbook or notebook.
PS - I have not touched my laptop since April. Between my PC at home and my transformer on-the-go, I have no complaint whatsoever. I see your complaints comparable to the complaints of someone who got a motorcycle intending to use it like a car.
goodintentions said:
No offense, but after reading your post carefully I decided any reply I have is futile. You got the transformer with the wrong attitude. You've been using it with the wrong attitude. And you've been expecting things with ALL the wrong attitude.
It's best that you stick with a win 7 netbook or notebook.
PS - I have not touched my laptop since April. Between my PC at home and my transformer on-the-go, I have no complaint whatsoever. I see your complaints comparable to the complaints of someone who got a motorcycle intending to use it like a car.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for an oppinion. Yes - my expectations were "something resembling a netbook with a hint of phone". But it's neither a phone, nor a netbook and the tasks I wanted it to do were very limited by the software, which I didn't take into account when considered buying a tablet...
i agree more or less. i owned a 701 too btw. i now own among others an eeepc 1015pem. but i use my transformer all the time. google editing is a bit awkward yes, especially with large docs, but google has his own application for that. it eases the pain a bit.
copy and paste, yes editing is not that easy. i own docs to go, but the user interface is not that intuitive. polaris seems to saves not always that good (it cant be opened with all others wordprocessors). open document format is not very easy to use.
but still i prefer transformer at work for all sort of reasons:
* battery, i can use the transformer (with dock) all day long, with no other hussle.
* it is cool
* boy is the transformer silent - i like that way more than i anticipated.
* the touchscreen, although not always that easy, i love it.
* being more in the cloud (dropbox with 50gb), gmail, and polaris/docs to go, calendar, google contacts, it all works together: fast and easy. i like that too.
* i like the looks, and the way the transformer feels.
* at work with dock, at home: mostly tablet: reading, viewing, surfing
btw i am used to use linux on my netbooks, win 7 moves like a snail.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium
I have to agree with GoodInte tions over there; which is ironic because the EeePC 1015PE Netbook that I havent touched since September, was bought in April .
For your needs Android is not effective, for me it is almost as effective as BSD or GNU/Linux; where you use gdocs I use programs that I can run in a Debian chroot or I use a PC, rather than try and use LibreOffice locally with X/VNC.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
For someone who took the time to write that thorough analysis, I would have thought you researched the TF with the same level of thoroughness. Everything you point out in your dissertation has been discussed in detail on this forum.
Yes.. exactly what Rumbleweed said. You said you bought this 3 months ago; then you got it around September, which was about 2 months after I got my transformer (if you got it right at the start). When I first got my tablet, I didn't look through any of the online stuff, but I did start about a week after getting it (to know how else I could improve it further, but I was pretty lucky as my B5 had no problems except for a slight creakiness on one side).
Anyway, by around 4.5 months ago, I already knew several points:
-browsing rendering had some issues, some of which was solved by hardware acceleration, etc. (although, I didn't really notice this as an issue until I looked online because my laptop is old and slower by far)
-document editing is a little flawed because typing lags behind the physical typing
-movies.. well, I saw lots of threads about not being able to play 720p except in Dice Player or something, but I don't really watch HD stuff often except maybe for tennis (btw, espn 360 worked perfectly and looked great for streaming)
-there are a lot of trivial games (I was disappointed with this one too, but I found the emulators soon after, so I haven't played much other trivial games except for the more addictive looking tower defense ones)
tl;dr: I don't understand how you didn't know this by the time you got it as you seem pretty thorough (as per your post). Good luck though, I wanted a Windows 7 tablet before in the past, but they're either expensive as hell or ugly looking as hell.. We just need Google and other tablet-making-companies to realize that tablets are for more than entertainment.
asdfuogh said:
I was pretty lucky as my B5 had no problems except for a slight creakiness on one side).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OT but I always thought it was just me and my B50 with that, on the right/starboard side. Just happy to have none of the serious problems I read about here lol.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Honestly, why not root and stick Ubuntu on there? I realize this would destroy the Android flavor, but that's obviously not what you're looking for.
Specifically:
1. How is not having 3G any different from your EEE PC with wifi? If you wanted the TF with 3G, there's a 3G version. Otherwise, I'm sure your mobile carrier will happily sell you a hotspot device and plan.
2. Do you have the dock? Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+X all work for me on the dock. As for an office suite, how about using GDocs? I know it's not as slick as MS Office or LibreOffice, but it's pretty functional.
3. Yeah, I've found that anime can be something of a pain at 720p and decoders aren't brilliant on Android. It's what happens when the majority of the population uses iTunes, Netflix and Hulu for their media, manufacturers get lazy. I really wish VLC would come to Android, with proper codec support (especially with ICS' per-app hardware acceleration capabilities).
4. You know there are non-Gallery photo viewer apps, right? That's the beauty of Android, EVERYTHING (especially if you have root ) can be replaced.
5. Have you looked at the TegraZone? Or some websites for game reviews? It's honestly like trying to find a game for PC, there's a lot of crap to wade through, even in non-casual games.
laikinasis said:
1. Browsing is not what I expected. In PC’s most browsers work the same, render pages in the same fashion, offer similar capabilities. In Android, most browsers are like day and night in some areas. E.g. only in 1 of 5 browsers I tried I was able to move between cells in Google Spreadsheets with my keys on the keyboard (other browsers moved the scroll bar). I’ve constantly encounter(ed) sites that recognized my tablet as a phone, redirecting me to a low resolution version. And by the way – without internet (I’m using the version without 3G) it’s rather useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried using Polaris Office with GDocs syncing? I know Polaris has some Google Docs support. Does the Android app for Google Docs work at all for you? As for the internet comment, how was your Eee PC any different? The TF and PC are the same in that regard. This isn't a Chromebook or anything...
laikinasis said:
3. Movies also are a pickle. While PC can decode almost any format (by choosing a right decoder), Android can’t offer such capabilities. I have 5 different players, which I use to decode movies. Till now I didn’t encounter any movie that can be played in all 5 players, usually 1-2 players (sometimes – none) can open the movie. Subtitles (I watch anime sometimes) are also a headache. Didn’t know that earlier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had no issues with media playback since Dice Player came out. It handles all of my 720p or smaller video no problem. Even scenes that were always an absolute ***** on my tablet, like high bitrate Big Bang Theory intro (that always raped it) run great in Dice.
laikinasis said:
4. Picture showing is, let’s say, ok. But only after one update when Gallery app started to act properly, i.e. show pictures in an ascending fashion (before that I had to scroll to the end of the gallery to start showing pictures from the start).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say better than okay, I love how it syncs pictures between all of my devices with Picasa.
laikinasis said:
5. Games… Well, what I found out that I simply hate trivial / casual games and the market is full of them. Angry birds / fruit ninja entertained me for one day only.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So keep looking. There are plenty of pretty featured RPGs. Go look at Gameloft games. Most of them are kinda crappy, but definitely more than angry birds.
laikinasis said:
After this, I’ve tried to search for answers to solve the mentioned problems, but it seems the Android platform is still very young and it will take some time for it to become mature in the software area. By that time the hardware will be different and my current tablet will be let’s say pretty much useless. So keeping it and waiting for a miracle (I’ve thought that Android 4.0 could be a solution) may be not a viable solution… Unless you’ll convince me otherwise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uhh.. just because Tegra 3 is coming out doesn't make tegra 2 any worse... the TF 1 is still amazing hardware.
laikinasis said:
Rants aside, I’m considering to sell the tablet and buy a smartphone (maybe a HTC Desire S ?). Of course I won’t be able to edit documents or have a big screen for movies, but I hope having a great time with phone optimized apps, blazing fast boot times, better internet availability (I mean 3G).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't currently have a smartphone? I'm far more productive with both. It's easy to pull out the phone for 5 minutes and check my email, read news, etc, but as soon as I need to reply to a client, the phone is absolutely useless and I pull out the TF. I tether my TF to my phone for 3G/4G anywhere. If I need to open a large PDF, spreadsheet, ppt, etc it's a pain to do it on the phone, but so much better on a tablet. Ebooks are also great on the TF, as is videos.
Other pros: super thin, battery life is simply *amazing* (I can be on it for 14 hours a day and it doesn't need a charge), quiet, no heat, great audio output for music/video with voodoo sound, touchscreen that lets me take complex math notes that would be hard to type quickly, allows me to draw out theories and ideas anywhere I am (I used this all the time for solving puzzles in video games, working out the answers to the google nexus twitter challenges), plus it turns into a freaking TABLET when you disconnect it (call it a gimmick all you want, it's still badass).
Sent from my Transformer TF101
asdfuogh said:
Anyway, by around 4.5 months ago, I already knew several points:
-browsing rendering had some issues, some of which was solved by hardware acceleration, etc. (although, I didn't really notice this as an issue until I looked online because my laptop is old and slower by far)
-document editing is a little flawed because typing lags behind the physical typing
-movies.. well, I saw lots of threads about not being able to play 720p except in Dice Player or something, but I don't really watch HD stuff often except maybe for tennis (btw, espn 360 worked perfectly and looked great for streaming)
-there are a lot of trivial games (I was disappointed with this one too, but I found the emulators soon after, so I haven't played much other trivial games except for the more addictive looking tower defense ones)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the silimilar time I did not know about:
1. Google market search (how it's hard to find a decent app or a tablet optimized app)
2. Copy paste issues (ctrl+c / ctrl+v is STILL not supported in many apps)
3. Video playback. It's rather annoying to use ~5 video players. 720p by itself is not an issue. Almost all players support native (hadware) decoding. I had more problems trying to open lower resolution movies in, I presume, less common containers / codecs.
4. Page rendering in browsing. I mean that different browsers may render the same page differently. This was an issue in pc world loooong time ago and it's now almost non-existent.
asdfuogh said:
We just need Google and other tablet-making-companies to realize that tablets are for more than entertainment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an interesting thought that I do relate.
Gary13579 said:
Have you tried using Polaris Office with GDocs syncing? I know Polaris has some Google Docs support. Does the Android app for Google Docs work at all for you? As for the internet comment, how was your Eee PC any different? The TF and PC are the same in that regard. This isn't a Chromebook or anything...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't know about Polaris GDocs support, thanks. It works rather how I expect it to work... Speaking about Google Docs - the most common task I do is writing grades to studens in a spreadsheet. In normal PC's, you click a cell, write something, click on another. In Google docs (and most browsers I tried on Android, except one, that is REALLY slow) you click a cell, edit it and must press "SUMBIT". It's a big setback, when you consider larger amounts of editing.
Gary13579 said:
I've had no issues with media playback since Dice Player came out. It handles all of my 720p or smaller video no problem. Even scenes that were always an absolute ***** on my tablet, like high bitrate Big Bang Theory intro (that always raped it) run great in Dice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use that player too. Lots of unopened files, like with other players. Again, it's not about the smoothness of the playback, it's about supporting different codecs / containers.
Gary13579 said:
I'd say better than okay, I love how it syncs pictures between all of my devices with Picasa.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you suggest an app, which would work like default Gallery app, but support inner folders ?
Gary13579 said:
So keep looking. There are plenty of pretty featured RPGs. Go look at Gameloft games. Most of them are kinda crappy, but definitely more than angry birds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe me, I am looking
Gary13579 said:
You don't currently have a smartphone? I'm far more productive with both. It's easy to pull out the phone for 5 minutes and check my email, read news, etc, but as soon as I need to reply to a client, the phone is absolutely useless and I pull out the TF. I tether my TF to my phone for 3G/4G anywhere. If I need to open a large PDF, spreadsheet, ppt, etc it's a pain to do it on the phone, but so much better on a tablet. Ebooks are also great on the TF, as is videos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought about owning both of them. Maybe it's the solution I'm looking for, but now it seems that phone may replace most of the tablet functions.
Thanks for your answer.
I have to say, i bought the TF with the premise of getting a tablet that was at least as good as an iPad, without paying Apple Tax. After three months, I am also quite disappointed with the tablet.
I think what a lot of members on this specific website seem to forget, is that many people want to buy a tablet to just use, not to have to tweak and hack to get it to work.
I still cannot play live streamed 30fps 480p flash videos without juddering.
Apps (especially games) for Android simply are not up to the same quality as iOS - this is obviously due to developers not bothering with the platform. And compatibility issues is probably the biggest joke I have ever seen. Even Windows doesn't have that problem.
My own opinion is that HC was simply developed quickly to try and compete with tablet iOS, and was rushed out. I don't know how much of a difference ICS will make - that remains to be seen.
My biggest issue however, is as I said earlier. While I and most people on this website don't mind tinkering and tweaking with their tablet, the vast majority of customers looking for a tablet want it to just work - and HC doesn't. And the hard truth is, iOS does. Except flash, obviously.
Kaltern said:
I think what a lot of members on this specific website seem to forget, is that many people want to buy a tablet to just use, not to have to tweak and hack to get it to work.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Recheck the title of this website. XDA Developers. Kind of like buying a 1968 GTO based on a recommendation in Hot Rod magazine then complaining that it doesn't get 35 mpg like a 2011 Prius. If you are looking for a " tap and play" tablet get an ipad.
Hey there,
hope nobody metioned it before, but why didn't you try installing ubuntu on your TF?
Well in my opinion its an even better os than windows and you get a bunch of free software with ease.
There is a thread over in the qa-forum from lilstevie giving you a pretty easy way to install ubuntu (as long as you got sbk1 at the moment)
It got no hardware graphics acceleration at this point but it didn't sound as you would need it.
Maybe this can save you a few bugs
Greets, coni
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
A lot of your cons will be fixed with the Android 4.0 update.
When I first bought my transformer, I fully agreed with everything you said. I even wanted to sell it because I felt I had wasted my money. But I have to say it is growing on me, for two different reasons.
1) Problems are getting fixed. Better software is coming out or I'm finding solutions to the problems I had. Just the other day I updated flash and started using stock browser to for tudou.com (Chinese youtube), and the videos played flawlessly. Astro made a update recently that greatly improved my file management experience. Granted solving these problems/waiting for updates is still a pain in the ass. But progress is being made.
2) I'm finding things I can do on the transformer that I couldn't do on a laptop. I was taking short notes during an evaluation of one of our teachers. I used evernote with swype (no dock), and it was a great silent experience with no laptop screen blocking my view. Reading books on the transformer is also great. It even got me to start reading comic books, The Walking Dead is a freaking awesome series. I never would have known about were it not for the transformer. And pictures, I feel you on the backwards order thing. But you can't compare sharing pictures on the transformer with a laptop. It's so much better on the transformer.
I still agree that 99% of the games are just terrible. If they can get playstation emulation working a good bit better graphics wise, I'll be happy. Speaking of which, I need to check to see if there have been any recent improvements to the sixaxis app and the emulators.
I like the simplicity of the iPad with the complexity of Android. Minus HC. Not a fan. I have this and the OC Ipad. I like games like Madden 12 and the new NFS and Riptide. Lots of nice graphics. One thing that frustrates me is there are Tegra 3 games out that will not work on Tegra 2. And there is not a huge offering for T2. So Will that mean T2 games will be obsolete?
I find Polaris and Docs to Go are just fine for preparing reports and simple spreadsheets. The 16 X 9 screen is great for movies as well as the nice IPS screen on the Pad. I give the speaker quality to the ipad. Not a fan of the speakers on the Transformer.
Hardware wise, the Transformer blows the Ipad away. Better camera, more RAM, the dock, USB and the sdcard to add on. I think if you are creative then you are using a net book. Plus I can wireless print.
I don't think there is anything wrong with wishing for that perfectly fined tuned device and it will come in time.
To the OP I would recommend the Samsung galaxy note coming out early next year. 5.3 inch screen. IPS screen, dual core processor, phone, and great note taking ability.
I don't like Apples scam of upgrading every year and the costs are incredible. I'm praying for ICS and continued tweaking of problems.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Really, what video formats has Dice been unable to open? It has opened *every* file I've thrown at it.
Sent from my Transformer TF101
Rumbleweed said:
Recheck the title of this website. XDA Developers. Kind of like buying a 1968 GTO based on a recommendation in Hot Rod magazine then complaining that it doesn't get 35 mpg like a 2011 Prius. If you are looking for a " tap and play" tablet get an ipad.
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Exactly the sort of reply I'd expect.
This site began as a Developer's site, but has since grown into a site for non-devs to get help and information.
You are basically saying that unless you know what 'sudo' means, you shouldn't buy anything other than an ipad, and you shouldn't be on this site.
Which is arrogant and well, not unexpected.

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