Database Users

Tough choice

Hey,
I was planing on getting this phone due to how cheap it is and wanting to try wp7 out.
I read a lot of issues about the phone and kind of discouraged.
The big question I have is should I just wait and see what "if" any newer wp7 phones are coming to Tmobile or should I take the plunge.
Please be honest lol You'll be saving a life if this phone really is a hassel.

the problems with this phone are fixed via new firmware and mango (most likely)
if you waited this long you could wait for the next batch to come out (like the searay)
but if you want a keyboard - this is the phone to get. It is also mad cheap!
i picked one up even tho i already have a w7 phone and i plan to get the new nokia too. (but i'm crazy)

A lot of the problems are reportedly fixed by the new (.212) firmware, which is due out this week! There's a good write-up in the article below.
http://wmpoweruser.com/dell-venue-pro-users-new-fw-report/
My phone is very stable with wifi disabled i.e. no lockups or reboots in over 3 months. The wifi issue is apparently caused by a DMA conflict - the new firmware reportedly fixes this.
It's a very nice phone. I don't regret purchasing mine.
On the downside, the camera is relatively poor. It's also thicker than most phones as it has a (very good) hardware keyboard.
Your decision is whether to get an ageing phone (i.e. DVP) cheap or wait for the next generation devices. This is something you will have to decide for yourself

Great phone...
1. Terrible camera
2. Low (read very) heatset volume
Hence spoils your upload to Facebook fun and also the the zune experience...
I honestly don't recommend this phone
Using .212 .... very stable with wifi

Strange. For me, headset volume has been very good using ue-18 pros. Very powerful at 15/30. However, my DVP is running old firmware(.105) and crashes alot. Like the device, but am still waiting for an update.

mechmouni said:
2. Low (read very) heatset volume
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Click to collapse
As mentioned by aFo3262, the type of headset / earbuds you have can also make a big difference.
I listen to my DVP on the underground using cheap Creative EP-630 earbuds and have never had a problem with the volume being too low. Earbuds that fit inside your ear often give the best volume. They also reduce noise leakage, as long as you have the right size rubber pads, so people around you don't hear what you're listening to.
These are the earbuds I used to use with my iPod. The iPod is louder - however, the DVP goes loud enough that I always leave my iPod at home
Thought I'd mention as I'm not sure how much Dell can / will do to increase the output of the earphone jack.

You should not be using earphones playing music loudly to cover up other loud noises. You will destroy your ears. I am travelling in the UK and I have to agree with magicsquid, on my Skullcandy over-ear headphones the trains and underground seem dull compared to my headset volume of 17/30.

I work outside (very noisy equipment) all day every day and use these:
http://na.audeoworld.com/products/perfectfit/
Highly recommend them.

mechmouni said:
Great phone...
1. Terrible camera
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nod nod to that.
the camera.. even in bright light, is crap!
volume is fine.. but i always keep it maxed. its max is lower than you'd expect. But i'm find with it
running 212 and mango beta 2.

I received mine from the eBay deal 2 days ago. It came with .212 firmware on it and I've had no issues. I put Mango on it today. Performance is good and I have no headphone issues - I'm listening at about 20 (out of 30).

Can someone quickly answer a few questions about the Xoom? Need to make a decision..

I did some research for the Xoom when it first came out months ago and then decided to hold off cause of the pricing. Now I'm in the market to get one.
I bought a Toshiba Thrive just a few days ago. The Toshiba works well out of the box including SDcard, usbhost, hdmi and is blazing fast. BUT, the deal breaker for me is the audio and speakers. It is really bad. I dont know how many people tried it and noticed it but even the headphone audio is jacked and using external speakers (with the same video on youtube) my MT4G puts out way better audio and full loud through a good speaker system than the Toshiba Thrive. Even with external speakers the output is lacking. I use the tablet a lot for music so this is kind of a big deal for me. I'm wondering if the Xoom is a better option.
1) Last I heard the Xoom's sdcard and USB doesnt work. How is it now? Did Motorola release an update for the USBhosting or are there specific ROMs that address the problem? If the solution is rooting+ ROMs, do any of these ROMs have anything missing or lacking capabilities? (For example, the camera doesn't work or GPS or WIFI doesn't work, rotation lock, etc.)
2) How are the speakers and audio on the Xoom? Wouldn't make sense to replace the Thrive because of the bad speakers for a Xoom would bad audio. Does the internal speakers sound very tinny or does it crackle? (cause my thrive does) If you plug in headphones and external speakers how is the output? Is the volume really low?
I did a search I can only find so much specific information. I have till the end of the day to return my Thrive and get the Xoom for equal pricing and it would help me out much if someone could just tell me about it.

i only had my xoom for 2 months. and its rooted running tiamats latest rom. honestly audio is great for me and the custom rom fixes any usb and sd card issues without adding any bugs

kettlecorn said:
I did some research for the Xoom when it first came out months ago and then decided to hold off cause of the pricing. Now I'm in the market to get one.
I bought a Toshiba Thrive just a few days ago. The Toshiba works well out of the box including SDcard, usbhost, hdmi and is blazing fast. BUT, the deal breaker for me is the audio and speakers. It is really bad. I dont know how many people tried it and noticed it but even the headphone audio is jacked and using external speakers (with the same video on youtube) my MT4G puts out way better audio and full loud through a good speaker system than the Toshiba Thrive. Even with external speakers the output is lacking. I use the tablet a lot for music so this is kind of a big deal for me. I'm wondering if the Xoom is a better option.
1) Last I heard the Xoom's sdcard and USB doesnt work. How is it now? Did Motorola release an update for the USBhosting or are there specific ROMs that address the problem? If the solution is rooting+ ROMs, do any of these ROMs have anything missing or lacking capabilities? (For example, the camera doesn't work or GPS or WIFI doesn't work, rotation lock, etc.)
2) How are the speakers and audio on the Xoom? Wouldn't make sense to replace the Thrive because of the bad speakers for a Xoom would bad audio. Does the internal speakers sound very tinny or does it crackle? (cause my thrive does) If you plug in headphones and external speakers how is the output? Is the volume really low?
I did a search I can only find so much specific information. I have till the end of the day to return my Thrive and get the Xoom for equal pricing and it would help me out much if someone could just tell me about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Audio is great. Speaker dock works well. People who use other external speakers have said it sounds great. Headphone sound is very good.
SDcard and usbOTG both work with HC3.2 but rooting and flashing the most recent Tiamat rom Hammerhead or just the Tiamat Tachi kernel will add lots of functionality and even more smoothness. HC3.2 has a few more or less minor bugs (e.g. default app chooser window) but these are easily remedied.
I bought wifi Xoom at almost full price back in the Spring and couldn't be happier.

I am pretty happy with the audio output of the Xoom. The speaker dock works very well and the audio output is fine for headphones or external speakers.
One thing I would suggest is an app called "Equalizer". As you can guess this is an EQ. It can auto detect the type of music and change the EQ to one of the default presets. I use it to tweak the volume up a bit if needed.
The built-in speakers are a bit tinny and since they are rear facing that just makes it worse. The EQ application can help a bit here, but if you overdrive everything it will really sound horrible.

Thanks. Is the xoom with 3.2 stock going to be able to read and write microsd and usb with external harddrives and usb flash drives? I would hate to give up the Thrive if it didn't have this capability.

bluetooth soundbar

Was thinking about buying one of these and wanted to get someone's opinion on it besides my own its a little pricey at 200 bucks.....tell me your thoughts and if you think it will work and/or any other bluetooth soundbars
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/e803/

gears177 said:
Was thinking about buying one of these and wanted to get someone's opinion on it besides my own its a little pricey at 200 bucks.....tell me your thoughts and if you think it will work and/or any other bluetooth soundbars
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/e803/
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Click to collapse
I expect they will work. But the price seems extreme.

Any suggestions on lower priced ones.... I'm worried since it has a mic input and acer hates Bluetooth devices with mics

It works with Creative D100 wireless speakers, and the sound is OK:
http://us.store.creative.com/category/55641245001/1/D100.htm
Best regrads, maris

Look at the Jabra Jambox series, they have gotten great reviews for their sound and design.
http://jawbone.com/speakers/family

I got tired of playing with cheap stuff that didn't sound good or didn't work well.
Altec Lansing InMotion Air Universal Wireless Speaker
Bought it a few months ago and it has been GREAT.
features are manyfold, sound and battery life are great

strider_mt2k said:
I got tired of playing with cheap stuff that didn't sound good or didn't work well.
Altec Lansing InMotion Air Universal Wireless Speaker
Bought it a few months ago and it has been GREAT.
features are manyfold, sound and battery life are great
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
anychance on getting a link?

http://www.amazon.com/LG-LSB316-Wireless-Subwoofer-Bluetooth/dp/B004OFHCSK

I have the Monster Clarity HD bluetooth speaker and it works like a champ, and the sound quality is good. Its also a lot cheaper.
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-MBL-C...352&sr=8-1&keywords=monster+bluetooth+speaker
I haven't had any issues with the built-in mic messing things up, and all the other controls(play, pause, FF, Rew, etc.) seem to work well.

karlkarloff said:
I have the Monster Clarity HD bluetooth speaker and it works like a champ, and the sound quality is good. Its also a lot cheaper.
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-MBL-C...352&sr=8-1&keywords=monster+bluetooth+speaker
I haven't had any issues with the built-in mic messing things up, and all the other controls(play, pause, FF, Rew, etc.) seem to work well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im lookin for one that can do base and lows really well...can it?

gears177 said:
im lookin for one that can do base and lows really well...can it?
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Click to collapse
Considering how small it is, it does a really good job. It has a built-in passive subwoofer that fires from the top. Its not gonna blow you away with earth shaking lows, but the bass notes are there and very clear. I am running Flexreaper ROM on my A500 at the moment and using the equalizer app thats included I get the lows dialed in pretty damn well. Keep in mind that I mainly listen to pretty lo-fi punk rock so the bass is fairly minimal anyway. But when I do listen to something with heavy bass, it sounds good.

thanks ill look into getting one then just bought a case with keyboard built in ;-)

Thanks
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app

[Q] Low volume (Bluetooth and headphone)

I thought my GNEX had crappy volume output, but this thing is even worse. I love the phone, but I listen to podcasts and audiobooks all day and through my BT and headphones they are really difficult to hear if anything else is going on around me. In my car I used to have the stereo set to 18/40 (with GNEX) to be able to hear the spoken word, now with the 4 I'm cranking it up to 35 which introduces some hiss and distortion. Any ideas how to boost the volume? I've looked into a few apps but none seem to work with JB. Any suggestions would be awesome. And just to note I know it isn't just me. At my brothers house parties music is supplies via a 3.5 plugged into speakers. Everyone's ipods/iphones sound so much louder than my phone, which bums me out.

Agree fully. I use Sony XB500 headphones and coming from my Xperia Arc S + Power amp to e Nexus 4 and power amp, the loudest volume setting is pathetic. It's so frustrating. Is there any way we can get a flashable mod to address this issue? Anybody else experiencing the same issue?

The AUX out is an issue and has been posted and discussed a lot on XDA and Google's pages. It's a problem with the Nexus 4 not just individuals phones. Whether it's hardware or software I don't think I've seen it determined yet.
Bluetooth and headphones shouldn't be that big of a problem. I agree it's a bit quieter than my Gnex but these are still very much usable.

asawoszc said:
The AUX out is an issue and has been posted and discussed a lot on XDA and Google's pages. It's a problem with the Nexus 4 not just individuals phones. Whether it's hardware or software I don't think I've seen it determined yet.
Bluetooth and headphones shouldn't be that big of a problem. I agree it's a bit quieter than my Gnex but these are still very much usable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its usable yes, but for me it's simply not loud enough, even when tweaking around with Poweramp's settings. There are probably a handful of apps on the Play Store which will attempt to ifx it but surely changing the DB (decibel) parameters in the software is something simple to do? That's my train of thought. Just disappointed is all Music is vital for me when working because it blocks the world out for me but I can hear little distractions now.

Hi Res BT audio?

Hey guys, looks like this forum is pretty quiet for the Axon 7 mini but if you see this, I'm considering getting one as a media player (mostly music) in compliment to my Axon 7 which is my daily driver phone. Does the mini output bluetooth audio at hi res like it's big brother? I know it has an AKM DAC for the 3.5mm socket but I mostly use BT either in my car or on headphones now, so that is very important.
If not, I may as well just use my wife's old Oppo F1f when her new phone arrives. Performance is similar but not hi res audio.

Decided to get one anyway, so cheap, AU$149 new in box from retail store, grey one too, not keen on gold. I'll put my 128Gb card from the Axon 7 in it as I put a 256Gb in that recently.
My Axon 7 is stock and used for work but the mini can be anything I want

So, as to stock ROMs, what is the latest one you can root ok? I'm downloading 7.1.1 B15 for my G variant, it doesn't find any OTA updates from it's old original global ROM which is ZTE B2017G APV1.0.0B01
In Australia.

RobboW said:
Hey guys, looks like this forum is pretty quiet for the Axon 7 mini but if you see this, I'm considering getting one as a media player (mostly music) in compliment to my Axon 7 which is my daily driver phone. Does the mini output bluetooth audio at hi res like it's big brother? I know it has an AKM DAC for the 3.5mm socket but I mostly use BT either in my car or on headphones now, so that is very important.
If not, I may as well just use my wife's old Oppo F1f when her new phone arrives. Performance is similar but not hi res audio.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No hi-res bluetooth. Just aptX. If you install the one.

So far I tried three ROMs, cannot update it.
Buyers remorse kicking in.......
Maybe stuck like those variants in GB and Canada.
Edit: thinking about the process of updating Axon 7, maybe there is a road map for updating the mini too. Been searching the different ZTE support pages around the world and downloading some different ROMs. Found a later MM ROM to try before going N. Hoping that is the answer.
Edit: Looks like it's stuck on this very old ROM, the A in the version name is looking like the problem. A for Australia, and no updates for Australia. Booooo!
Can they be recovery forced? But then brick? I guess it would just refuse.
Edit: Did MM B12 update by recovery so got it to global rather than Australia. Now it's on the update road via SD method Going N B13 now, what's the latest I should go that can be rooted ok?

So once I got it away from the really old Aus ROM via recovery to MM B12 it all went very easy. Now on N B16.
For AU$149 new in box, the A7 mini is a bargain!

Guys, I think there's a myth I can dispell straight away between Axon 7 and Axon 7 mini. Having both now, I can tell you straight up, despite both having an AKM DAC the big brother absolutely destroys the mini with 3.5 jack output into a line in device. It's a MUCH louder amp. Could easily drive it's output directly into car hifi amp system without a HU.
Going between the two with a pair of decent 32 ohm buds is not quite as clear cut though, the A7mini has a nice and more balanced, clear sound, decent volume but the A7 still punches harder, it brings more depth into the bottom end so feels bigger and that's how I prefer it.
As to that crazy output to line in devices like a portable speaker with the A7, it's actually a bit too much and have to cut the volume level back at least two steps so for this purpose the mini is more sensible, but if you're driving cans, go A7 every time, especially if they're higher impedance than the normal 32 ohm stuff.
I still like the mini, it's a very nice phone and at the current runout price point nothing else gets near it, especially with that gorgeous AMOLED screen and premium external finish.

RobboW said:
Hey guys, looks like this forum is pretty quiet for the Axon 7 mini
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Click to collapse
Hi. This forum is quiet, but there is a lot of useful things about Axon 7 mini on the Russian 4PDA forum. http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=891109&st=1100#entry85892739
You can just use a google-translated version of this, I suppose.

nikaiako said:
Hi. This forum is quiet, but there is a lot of useful things about Axon 7 mini on the Russian 4PDA forum. http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=891109&st=1100#entry85892739
You can just use a google-translated version of this, I suppose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that, I'll have a look when I have some spare time, see if there's anything that takes my interest. I have to decide if I'll mod this phone to a custom ROM as we know it will never get another update from ZTE. Mine is on N B16 so that's end of the line.
I guess the biggest thing is if custom ROMs have the audio performance as good as with stock. I use mine in the car to play music through the 3.5mm jack. Got Next Track app to skip tracks back and forward with screen off by volume rocker. Works well. Sounds pretty good on bluetooth even, because Dolby Atmos does work and combined with gentle equalisation in Poweramp makes for a fairly well defined sound. My headunit doesn't do Hi Res bluetooth so this phone is ideal for the car. Despite the stock headunit, I've built a kick ass hifi off of it.

Liking the A7 Mini, doing much better on battery than expected. It idles quite efficiently. With light use I get it to go for two days on a charge. I ended up taking my personal SIM out of my Axon 7 and put it in the mini. Just my work SIM in the A7 now. That improved battery life on the A7 too.
Considering the better than expected battery range I'm not even looking at rooting or modding it.
Even got my brother an A7 Mini to replace his iPhone 6S which got the latest iOS update and made it useless..... Good one CrApple