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About to bite the bullet and goto a monthly contract with O2, was trying to get the HTC HD, but they said they wont be getting it within the next three months. Is that because Orange as a timed exclusive? Or because its a direct rival to the iphone?
Anyhoo, think I will be getting the Sony Xperia...i keep reading reviews saying its really slow when switching between panels, the user interface isnt too good etc.
Now, I know you guys here at xda-dev know your $hit and would be the best to ask.
What you think? Yeah or Neigh?
I have a few questions if anybody with an Xperia can answer?
1)
Hows it for video playback? Does it take up the full screen when you switch to landscape?
2)
Does it play full 700mb dvdrips ok via core media player or do you still need to convert them with some encoder
3)
Web browsing with Opera (with Flash)...any good?
4)
Speed of the overall user-interface, is it as slow as the reviews make out? Or if you use one xda-devs custom roms does this get round it?
5)
TV out, i read somewhere on this forum that it might have tv out? Or am i talking $hite
Thanks for any advice and tips folks!
Hey fracmo2000
Welcome to xda-developers.com
Here's a few answers, hope it helps.
1)It obviously depends on the aspect ratio of the video, when using core player i have it set to automatically stretch the video to the screen size and it works perfect.
2) I have been able to play dvdrips via core player, with no lag whatso ever!!
3)Opera Mobile is great, the no scrollbars idea takes quite a lot of getting used to, for example scrolling down to the x1 thread on xda developers takes quite a while.
Sorry I cannot give any feedback on flash
4)This is a fast phone, who has reviewed it to be slow. But yes the custom roms here makes it blazing fast
5)No TV- OUT sorry, just gonna have to live with that
I've had this phone for a month now, was on holiday and didnt really look into customizing it untill recently, so as stock phone it was amazing.
Then i descovered xda-developers.com and havent been able to stop.
Some times i do however regret choosing this phone, but thats only cause its not completely finger friendly, but the people here are working on that and as soon as there's a proper landscape fixed tf3d cooked rom or pointui 2 is released this will be one of the best phones i've ever used, or seen.
Good phone, love it
1. I'm able to watch using all the width in landscape mode
2. I've watch 350mb TV rips using CorePlayer fine.
3. I like Opera, Flash is a bit useless as it supports early versions (but this is the same with all WinMos)
4. Other than the odd time opening Messaging taking 5 seconds, everything else is really fast.
5. No sign of TV out at the mo.
artesea
How is that?
My messaging opens blazing fast, keep it in the background.
How many emails you have??
As for flash, it's great since it supports YouTube.
It's about a one in three when messaging needs to open from scratch. Have no more than 50 emails in the box. Not a massive problem though.
Strange,
I got like 500 in 3 accounts and it's so fast...
Hey there fellow xperia user wannabe.....
I went from noob to pro using xda developers and here is my take on the x1.
1 - Perfect. Yes.
2 -Yous till need to convert them for best results. Core player doesn't support hardware acceleration...YET.
3 - Amazing. As good as my PC.
4 - The reviewers had earlier versions of the phone with unfinished software. The x1 is laggy sometimes but overall its faster than any other machine i had previously owned or touched.
5 - Nope
Let me add that the possibilities of customization are infinite...
Maybe you have to consider this one too. I am very dissappointed ...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=447211
I hope they willfix this but i don't know should i wait couple of months more...
Got myself a shiney new Xperia Whooooooooooo! Wanted it in black, but o2 doesnt do it for whatever reason.
Well pleased with it, only a few gripes but tis all good! Been reading up on the ROMs...does it make that much difference? I read some people where having stability issues?
Never had an Android phone before but plenty of WM ons, (see sig) but feel time is right to jump OS. Desire and Galaxy S seem to be the best 2 around for uk users.
Looking at the specs nearly everything about this phone seems better than the Desire
Pros:
Bigger screen
Super Amoled
Faster CPU
Better GPU (has Desire got one?)
TV-out
8GB Internal memory
720p recording
Good camera (even without the flash it seems to take pretty impressive photos/videos)
Cons:
Froyo update (officially yes, but when? Samsung past record doesn't inspire confidence)
Likelyhood of further Android OS updates (such as gingerbread)
Could people who have experience of both please comment on the general speed of the 2 devices. Is the Galaxy faster in real life doing most things,
especially web browsing (including flash video) and playing videos from MicroSD card.
I would be running these apps if I get an android phone:
Slingplayer
Skyfire
Opera mini
myPlayer
Are there any apps/ anything else which isn't working on the Galaxy which runs o.k. on the Desire.
Thanks in advance.
I have both the phones & a Dell Streak up until yesterday. All those apps you listed work fine on both devices except Slingplayer which I don't know about as I don't use it.
I'm having problems with the web brower of the Galaxy in that when I click on a link the web browser shuts down & returns to the home screen. Also I can change the UA string to set the browser to show desktop version but it won't stay. I've already exchanged one unit & the second one still does it.
I use a well known porn site (ahem, testing purposes only :wink) to test the flash & have to say the Galaxy plays the clips without a hitch (though not super smooth) but the Desire just plays the sound, no video.
On specs alone the Galaxy pisses all over the Desire but in actual use there's not much in it. For sure the Galaxy screen is better & the speaker is much louder & better sounding than the Desire but the Desire feels better quality & I prefer the physical buttons.
The Galaxy will be returned for refund tomorrow because my 7 days are up, but I would probably choose it over the Desire if not for the web browser issues.
Thanks for that Zen123.
Probably sensible to wait till Froyo is officially out on Desire and more info about when it will be on the Galaxy but it won't be easy.
I have both.
Galaxy S pros:
Much better at graphics intensive tasks
Better sound quality, output volume
Better music player with EQ
DivX etc out of the box
TV Out (cable + DLNA)
WiFi tether
1.8GB of storage for app installation
More storage with inbuilt storage
Better screen - not only size and display characteristics but also touch and multitouch (most important for gaming, but not entirely irrelevant elsewhere)
Better loudspeaker
Better battery life
Desire pros:
General operation speed is better
GameBoid works
Widget selection is much, much, better
Hardware keys
Better build quality
Browser is better in terms of function, but the extra 0.3inches of the Galaxy negate that advantage for me
HTC music player works with LastFM, Galaxy's doesn't
Off the top of my head those would be the main things.
NZtechfreak, interesting you mention Desire is quicker generally. The difference in browser functionality? Don't they have the same browser?
Got both:
And like the other say both phones are realy nice, but if i had to chose one i would go for the Galaxy. Why?
Galaxy:
Better screen, colors and most off all i can see it better in sunlight.
Ok, it had a small bit off lagg for me when i did open DialPad, but after i got a task killer no more lagg there. Other then that i have not notice lagg in apps/programs like some other have been notice.
Battery last longer on Galaxy then on desire, and that is importent for one like myself.
And like some say they like the build Quality on desire more, i cant say that is wrong But i quite like Galaxy even i guess some should say it is litle "plastic", feeling on it, it is damn light in the pocket.
And if we talk "Root" if both both device use custom roms and the the right chefs make them, Galaxy will be a monster with a custom rom made for it
the other standard things i did see they had already write in other posts here
I had the desire first, returned it and went with the SGS. Why?
-The screen is obviously better, bigger while not too big (in my opinion ofc) and properly registers multitouch (desire has problems when you cross axis with 2 fingers, not a problem in normal usage but very annoying when you try to play a game with 'joysticks' on screen).
Edit: The S-amoled also seems to solve some of the pentile problems I found using my desire, like pink colours where gray shoud be.
-Camera quality is slightly better, however the lack of flash sucks, I enjoyed using the flash as a flashlight.
-The media player is just amazing. Goodbye converters, hello divx playback . Seriously though, it allows me to save 10's of GB on my desktop's harddrive, space I had to use to store those converted files before.
-Audio quality is top-notch, way better than the desire. It also simulates 5.1 playback and plays very HQ music (my flac library sounds better than ever).
-The GPU. You can actually play a game like asphalt on this, while on the Desire the game hangs constantly.
-Storage (this is only for android 2.1 ofc, but this might still be very important during the next couple of months). If you want to keep a few good games on the Desire at the same time, you will need to root/a2sd. Otherwise you WILL run out of storage. On the SGS, you have more than 10 times the app space.
Now with that said, the Desire has it's perks as well, like the sense ui (it's a lot more elegant than touchwiz), tweaked browser with flash Lite and the overall better experience (I feel the Galaxy S has a tendency to slow down over time, while I didn't have this experience on the Desire, might be that I play more games on the SGS tho).
However, I do feel samsung is putting a lot of effort in this phone and I really believe that we're gonna see some good firmware tweaks very soon. The fact that they are offering some quality apps with the phone, like the tweaked layar version, and the "samsung app store" which offers free stuff like the full asphalt game (which costs 5€ in the gameloft store).
Assuming that the Galaxy S is released on T-Mobile UK, this is going to have to be a decision I make as well. I was going to go for the Desire, but since hearing about the Galaxy S I've all but decided to go for that instead. Just a pity the build quality isn't so good, it has a PenTile screen and it doesn't have a flash (though that's a minor complaint) - pity that there isn't a high-end Android phone available without any real drawbacks!
A bit puzzling that it would seem slower than the Desire when the hardware should be as good or better - that must be software, and software's fixable, hopefully.
TMobile UK seem to have confirmed that its coming next month
I'm currently using HTC Hero, but thinking of getting the SGS.
The GUI is a big turn off for me. But like on the Hero, i'm using Launcherpro from the Market. And i'm hoping this would also work on this phone.
Have anyone testet if it works on SGS?
See no reason why it shouldnt
http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-fede-launcher-Ezxp.aspx
Running launcherpro here on the SGS, works fine. You can still use the samsung notification bar functions like enabling wifi/bluetooth and setting ringer volume and brightness while using it. Combined with the fancy widget, it looks very nice.
Cooki3s said:
Running launcherpro here on the SGS, works fine. You can still use the samsung notification bar functions like enabling wifi/bluetooth and setting ringer volume and brightness while using it. Combined with the fancy widget, it looks very nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Came in buckets. thnx is what i want to hear
Phone is now purchased online
The Desire and Galaxy S have the same amount of RAM, though I believe, not 100%, that the Galaxy S kernel is lacking High Mem support, which if it's anything like the Nexus prior to gaining the support, means it only has access to around 190MB of RAM. The HTC kernel has High Mem support iirc, which bumps accessable ram to 390MB or so.
The fact that the Galaxy S comes out of the box with flac support and wifi tether negates my major reasons for really needing root...but having root and switching between roms more times than I shower is all part of the fun!
LadFromWales85 said:
The Desire and Galaxy S have the same amount of RAM, though I believe, not 100%, that the Galaxy S kernel is lacking High Mem support, which if it's anything like the Nexus prior to gaining the support, means it only has access to around 190MB of RAM. The HTC kernel has High Mem support iirc, which bumps accessible ram to 390MB or so.
The fact that the Galaxy S comes out of the box with flac support and wifi tether negates my major reasons for really needing root...but having root and switching between roms more times than I shower is all part of the fun!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
meaning? where is the rest of the RAM being used at (if your claim is right)?
So the verdict is the SGS is better than the HTC Desire, basically..
Hi
I own both phones and the conclusion is ready. Galaxy I9000 is much better than nexus or desire. Very fast, sped, screen, games, internal storage, sound.. Is my point of view as developer for android
Flash question
I am slightly confused about the flash support for the 2 phones. If you read GSM arena review, they say Galaxy S doesn't have any, other than the youtube videos through a dedicated youtube player. HTC's own website says the Desire comes with flash support. They are both running Android 2.1.
What exactly does the stock Desire have in terms of flash, some version of flash lite? If so can't the Galaxy S be upgraded to the same level through installing an application?
Interested in Galaxy...or Desire
Currently running an iPhone 3GS . Was tempted(briefly) by the iPhone 4 , but not enough of an upgrade as far as Im concerned.
I must admit to loving my 3GS.OK the UI may be boring,but it does what its meant to do good enough.
Had never read anything about the Galaxy s until last night.I didnt even know Samsung made an Android phone!It does look really nice though.The screen looks great.
I have owned Samsung phones in the past, few years back now.And was always disappointed with volume.Is the Galaxy loud?If I leave the phone in my coat pocket downstairs am I going to struggle to hear it ring?(Not talking miles away here).
Also, the 3GS does feel like a quality bit of kit in the hand.Looks as good now as it did when I bought it 12 months ago.The build quality of the Samsung worries me slightly(from what I have read about it)
J-Hop2o6 said:
meaning? where is the rest of the RAM being used at (if your claim is right)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always thought this was something comparable to 64bit OSes, you just can't go above a certain amount (around 3.5gb, but for android 256mb) since the os doesnt support it. I guess it's a bit different with linux, but the comparison remains the same.
There was a line in the 2.2 features description on developer.android.com before, saying "HIMEM support, enabling access to more than 256mb of ram on devices", but I can't seem to be able to find it now.
Edit: http: //developer.android.com/sdk/android-2.2-highlights.html see platform highlights
billu said:
What exactly does the stock Desire have in terms of flash, some version of flash lite? If so can't the Galaxy S be upgraded to the same level through installing an application?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Desire has Flash lite 4, it's good enough to see some movies and some content like banners, but things like games and high quality/bandwidth movies are very sluggish.
Dunno if it can be ported that easily to the SGS, I think the browser needs to support it aswell, but not sure there.
camera photos comparison
can anyone post a photo(s) taken by these handsets (same object if possible)? will be upgrading tomorrow, and i feel these 2 handsets are pretty even for what i am after, the camera (photo & video) will be the deciding factor.... can anyone post pleeaaasssssseee??? i have less than 24 hours to decide!
Hi people. Haven't been here in ages though I used to visit this forum on a daily basis in the past.
Anyway, I came back for old times' sake and see that people are still using this phone. It's a rather old model.
It's a rather cool phone at that time, waited a long time and got it with my first paycheck. Turned out to be a rather horrible experience and now I am happily with iPhone and considering changing to WP7 because MS > Apple. ^^
Anyway, back to the thread title. Why are you guys still using this phone?
is a good phone even if it has wm6.1
I got a x10 and the other is with my dad, it really keeps working flawlesly
The best model ever. it's exclusive and beautiful
Still lovin' & using this
VSJ said:
exclusive and beautiful
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
phone.
No demand for a new one...
i'm still using it - it may be about the 10th different handset but its still the X1! but i used the Hd7 in a shop yesterday and its just so smooth compared to x1! the only reason i've stuck with it is that it does what i need it to do and i have no money for a new one :/
comeradealexi said:
the only reason i've stuck with it is that it does what i need it to do and i have no money for a new one :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same lol.. But I love HTC surround... too bad it's not in Malaysia anytime soon
It's great - once you learn how to drive it.
Love the optical mouse & the slide out Keyboard.
I've found an app to suit my every purpose (TomTom, SPB News for RSS, & Pocket Player, & G-Alarm).
Currently using the Sony Ericsson Panel, which displays all the info I need; two analogue clocks, weather for two cities (only current temp and conditions - don't need a five day forecast on my home screen), calendar, messages etc.
I've tried a couple of different ROMs, but have gone back to basics with the 6.1.
^ which is why I like the look of the new Windows Phone 7. Good simple layout.
The home screen is really important to me - which an iPhone doesn't even have.
I will consider the WP7 if the tile screen can be customise to what I want… & if the handsets are any good.
1. Keyboard
2. Multiple ROMs can be flashed
3. Stability
4. Price (I can afford it )
because I am the boss of my SD cards and can put you want
because it is small and has a great battery
because some things are done with a custom rom that you can not even I win7
because I do not like iPhone
because the phone has a hardware button on phone off
simply because it has nothing on this planet
perhaps X2 but it does not have hard spl
Would like to have a new phone, but they are too expencive. Dont want to give a mobile phone lot of money anymore.
'Tron said:
It's great - once you learn how to drive it.
Love the optical mouse & the slide out Keyboard.
I've found an app to suit my every purpose (TomTom, SPB News for RSS, & Pocket Player, & G-Alarm).
Currently using the Sony Ericsson Panel, which displays all the info I need; two analogue clocks, weather for two cities (only current temp and conditions - don't need a five day forecast on my home screen), calendar, messages etc.
I've tried a couple of different ROMs, but have gone back to basics with the 6.1.
^ which is why I like the look of the new Windows Phone 7. Good simple layout.
The home screen is really important to me - which an iPhone doesn't even have.
I will consider the WP7 if the tile screen can be customise to what I want… & if the handsets are any good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My reasons mirror Tom's exactly. I'm lazy. My X1 works, it has music, navigation, activesync, and office available to me, and I can't be bothered right now to make sure that whatever I upgrade to has alternatives for everything I use.
I'm not even using a custom ROM anymore. I just use the panels to change the face whenever I get bored or need a task specific homescreen (like On-the Road Panel when I'm driving or Skype Panel when I'm abroad).
My X1 is a lot faster and more stable than when I was running 6.5 on the phone. As for switching to another platform... in good time. I had an iPhone and gave it away... this was before decent navigation apps and multiasking were available on the iPhone.
There is no alternative isnt there? Win7 sucks. There are some other devices with the same CPU so not really a step up. There is just no 1ghz hardware keyboard Win Mobile device available. So why shouldnt people still use the X1?
Well actually I'm using it the whole time because it helps me with all the things I do, from work e.g. remote desktop w/c WP7 doesn't have yet, video call calling love one's from abroad WP7 doesn't have, music to help me relax,easy chat with the hardware keyboard, i could also watch movie with it after i downloaded it from the internet without converting it (.avi), using it as a modem (HSDPA) if i want to connect to the internet when i'm not at home ( connecting it to a laptop) and last is that i could connect to any WIFI hotspot. I'm just sad that i can't play flash games anymore now that skyfire stop the support. If anyone knows a new browser that support flash kindly share it thank you.. =)
thinking that im still using x1 one more year then swap to WP7 because ATM WP7 is damn expensive and at introduction stage, with little game, application. by the way, x1 still does a really good job for day-to-day basic tasks
I love this phone. The screen is still very good when compared to other models on the market, watching a movie in 800 X 480 on your mobile is an impressive experience. The hardware keyboard is very useful for communicating vià messenger or for writing long emails. I had to clean it once and know it's just as when the phone was new. I enjoy the freedom of Windows Mobile 6.1 compared to the other operating systems on the market, the ability to side load apps and tweak the phone in every way I'd like to. Those and some other reasons make me believe that the best I can do know is to stick with the Xperia X1 and to see how Android and Windows Phone 7 are developing. Man I really hope that someone will be able to crack open WP7 or Microsoft will come to the decision that it's necessary to loosen the restrictions on WP7.
easy: it has a hw-keyboard. i want that.
so far there hasn't been a device to which i would upgrade. there was the milestone, but turned out it's locked, and i don't want to be dependant from the manufacturer for updates.
i'm now waiting how the desire z turns out and what comes with wp7.
The only reason I left the X1 was because of the camera and video camera. I have the cutest baby daughter so I always want to capture spontaneous pictures and video, often in low light conditions. I switched to the Nokia N8, which isn't as bad as you might think. Text input is atrocious, but everything else is pretty nice. I just predicted that no manufacturer will put a xenon flash 720p camera on a QWERTY slide-out keyboard phone, so I might as well swallow the bitter pill of converting to a capacitive keyboardless phone now.
Otherwise, the *only other* unfixable flaw with the X1 was the sluggishness (overclocking never worked). So, all-in-all, X1 is a great phone; I just wish Sony had taken the next step and made a hard-core upgrade that could compete against the Droid 2 Global and the HTC Desire Z.
ring-bearer said:
Otherwise, the *only other* unfixable flaw with the X1 was the sluggishness (overclocking never worked). So, all-in-all, X1 is a great phone;
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^ yeah, in the weekend I was using the X1 one to listen to music, while taking pictures, & navigating using Google maps.. + email was active syncing. It was all a bit much for the X1 & was forced to soft reset.
I don't have experience with any other smart phones, but I'm hoping the new WP7 can handle doing all that and more.
I just need to be patient & wait for the prices to come down.. and for more live tile apps to be developed.
'Tron said:
^ yeah, in the weekend I was using the X1 one to listen to music, while taking pictures, & navigating using Google maps.. + email was active syncing. It was all a bit much for the X1 & was forced to soft reset.
I don't have experience with any other smart phones, but I'm hoping the new WP7 can handle doing all that and more.
I just need to be patient & wait for the prices to come down.. and for more live tile apps to be developed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Greetings to fellow Wellingtonian!!!
I got my Xperia flashed, updated and optimized to the hilt with everything I can possibly need, had GPS setup, voice control, other bits and pieces, selected the voices I liked and became very happy with what I have. The keyboard is a frustrating quality control muck up, but I mostly use my Xperia for internet anyway, so not a huge deal. It's just one of the handsets I use on a regular basis, have no intentions of sticking with it forever, of course, but then the only one I intend to stick forever with is my HTC Universal, an old and reliable beast that may lack in specs, but more than makes up in design.
Speaking of WP7. I had a lovely WP7 UI ported to Xperia and was very pleased with result, just waiting for it to be properly tweaked and kitted out and for me to get sick and tired of Cookie's offerings. Otherwise is was running rather well, so will potentially be my next thing.
sonus said:
My reasons mirror Tom's exactly. I'm lazy. My X1 works, it has music, navigation, activesync, and office available to me, and I can't be bothered right now to make sure that whatever I upgrade to has alternatives for everything I use.
I'm not even using a custom ROM anymore. I just use the panels to change the face whenever I get bored or need a task specific homescreen (like On-the Road Panel when I'm driving or Skype Panel when I'm abroad).
My X1 is a lot faster and more stable than when I was running 6.5 on the phone. As for switching to another platform... in good time. I had an iPhone and gave it away... this was before decent navigation apps and multiasking were available on the iPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just gave a new X1 to my wife. She likes its looks but complains its too slooooow. Any suggestions for speeding it up without using a custom ROM?
Thanks!
I have a friend thinking of getting one of these phones and I wanted to get some opinions whether this is a good phone or a peace of junk
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA Premium App
The games that are made for the xperia play are crap but you can run a lot of emulators on it that work really great with the hardware keys.
yes the emulators are great on the play
with a great gamepad
the games on the xperia play are just as good as on any other android phone
while there are better spec phones out there
the games for them can run just as good as on ours with chainfire3d
Lol ya except they cam play them without staring at fingers ad thumbs and only being able to see a small portion of the screen. Seriously though tell your friend if he likes game he will destroy everyone who doesnt have a play in multiplayer.
Sent from my R800a using XDA Premium App
If you play games at all, get the Play. If you don't play games at all, then get whatever the hell looks cool, i dunno, iPhone cause why not, everyone and their mom has one.
I'd recommend this phone for serious gamers only.
Especially those who love old school emulators.
Red_Kop said:
I'd recommend this phone for serious gamers only.
Especially those who love old school emulators.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree and also disagree . This phone has a nice big screen and playing the touchscreen games off the droid market works as well as on any other phone out at the minute. The game pad is just an added extra for me. I enjoy/play with the emulators & fpse alot but even if you forget the gamepad it is still a good phone.
After rooting mine and freezing the bloat. Nothing i have thrown @ the phone has caused it any trouble apart from some fpse games, but thats the same with most phones even dual cores ones. Nothing is perfect but this phone does an above average job as a normal phone with the added bonus of amazing game play on emulators or any game that supports the game pad.
Mozza2k11 said:
I agree and also disagree . This phone has a nice big screen and playing the touchscreen games off the droid market works as well as on any other phone out at the minute. The game pad is just an added extra for me. I enjoy/play with the emulators & fpse alot but even if you forget the gamepad it is still a good phone.
After rooting mine and freezing the bloat. Nothing i have thrown @ the phone has caused it any trouble apart from some fpse games, but thats the same with most phones even dual cores ones. Nothing is perfect but this phone does an above average job as a normal phone with the added bonus of amazing game play on emulators or any game that supports the game pad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do agree it is a good phone but they should have put a much nicer screen on it. My Iphone 2G had a nicer screen. The Play's screen is impossible to use in sunlight. It's just a bit of a shame. Other things lacking would be HD video recording and a top of the range camera. But don't get me wrong, it's still good and I love it.
ps. what have you froze mate, just rooted myself cos I was sick of the phone stuttering and general choppiness on the likes of Gameloft games. Looking for ways to improve performance.
Red_Kop said:
I do agree it is a good phone but they should have put a much nicer screen on it. My Iphone 2G had a nicer screen. The Play's screen is impossible to use in sunlight. It's just a bit of a shame. Other things lacking would be HD video recording and a top of the range camera. But don't get me wrong, it's still good and I love it.
ps. what have you froze mate, just rooted myself cos I was sick of the phone stuttering and general choppiness on the likes of Gameloft games. Looking for ways to improve performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed in full on sunlight its not the best but indoors i thinks it is really a fully decent screen.
About what i have froze i followed the safe apps to remove thread here. Just froze most on the list i dont use and froze some not sure about to test if the phones ok after freezing (still figuring out what i want to be frozen as well). Mainly tho the following;
Moved all gameloft/preinstalled games to sd via titanium backup (free)
Anonymous useage stats
Iplayer
chinese keyboard
both the digital clocks
everything facebook related
google maps
media server
postcard
retail demo
setup guide
store
street view
support
talk
anything timescape related
twitter extension
+ a few others i have forgot
But i have not filled my phone full of crap i dont use. Just kept the stuff i use regularly and will install others as i see fit. Currently Internal Memory: 161mb used / 219mb free. Ram: 120mb used / 254 mb free.
The Good -
- Hardware Buttons work GREAT with emulators. Honestly this is an emulators fan dreams come true.
- Hardware buttone work GREAT with Gameloft games. You think they are good on the iphone? They are 100 times better on the Play.
- Android Market Games are starting to work pretty good with the Play. Lots of games support the D Pad even if they dont mention it.
The Bad -
- Auto Brightness still cant be disabled as a stock feature.
- Low RAM means sometimes games stutter a little bit. (This is hardly an issue, but if you look close you can see it in some games, so it's worth mentioning)
- More games need to start appearing
Conclusion -
I personally hate using touchscreen for games. My finger prodding on the glass gets completely agitated to the point it drives me insane. The hardware buttons as controllers is an awesome feature.
You get all the Android software working excellently as you would on any Android phone.
It is a solid gaming phone, but does have room for improvement. The screen has an excellent display, but it's not as good as some phones. The auto brightness is a part of this reason.
Battery Life is decent. However it's unlikely you can last 2 days without charging. You will need to charge every night.
Speakers are very decent. The loudest on a phone i have ever heard.
Gameloft games are cheap and plentiful. Forget almost every other developer though, decent games other than Gameloft games are almost non-existent.
Basically if you love gaming and enjoy Gameloft + Emulators, then this phone is most definatley for you. If you dont care about gaming onphone and just want a quick touchscreen game every now and again, then go for something else. Either an iPhone or a powerful Tegra 2 chipset.
Gamer's Phone
The obvious reason to get this phone is the controls.
Basically, if you game on your phone, get the Play. If not, get something else. It really is that simple.
The controls rock. Emulators are perfect. Nothing better than playing old school NES or Sega games. The gameloft games run great, and lots of games in the market have support but dont mention it. I sit at work and play all day long.
The analogs work better than you think they would although it takes some getting used to. I
As a phone I have no issues. Its just like any other android I've had. Dont let the specs fool ya, its pretty quick, camera is good enough for me and I've only used the front facing camera once. It was fine. Mine came with a class 2 sd card so I bought a class 10. Made a little difference. Noticeable at least.
I like it.
Red_Kop said:
My Iphone 2G had a nicer screen. The Play's screen is impossible to use in sunlight.
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Click to collapse
I beg to differ, the iPhone 2g had an inferior screen.
The Play's screen may not be good in the direct sunlight, but it's still far from the worst. I have no troubles reading stuff in direct sun. Sure, colors go to ****, so pictures and videos suck, but as a phone it's still completely usable.
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.