Database Users

My advise don't go for it - you'll regret it.

Greetings,
I am from germany and new on this forum, though I keep peeking in here for quite some time now and today is the time, where I believe I should post my very own impressions about the HTC Prophet.
I was using my old S25 (Siemens) cell for nearly 6 years now and since today I was quite happy about it. It was functional, worked, never let me hung and still works fine (I only changed the service provider to go for the HTC Prophet and let the contract for it run out).
At my new job I met a bunch of people who had that HTC Magician. They primarily bought it for the same reasons as most of us. It was a small device, had PocketPC capabilities, you could listen to sound files, watch movies, navigation, phoning and keeping contacts.
Sadly my reality looks quite differently than I initially had in mind. After some real life scenarios I realized that going for this smartphone was a big and really expensive mistake and I start to regret it now.
I also have a good history of PDA's and PocketPC's (Palm, Casio E125 etc.).
Problems that I have with the HTC Prophet (That I initially never thought about).
Speaker on the back side is the most supid thing that I ever have seen. Sure once you see these little machines you don't think about any problems that it might have.
You get it demonstrated by your colleagues and you see that it's an awesome device (on the first looks). But that thing is simply too silent. Sure loudness is quite a subjective thing and everyone of us hear differently.
But the HTC Prophet with its speaker on the back side is silent. In real life scenarios that thing is either laying on the table (where the speaker will be hidden by the table plate) or laying on a book or on a surface that keeps hiding the speaker. Or you keep carrying it around in that belt case that you receive with that thing. It's too silent.
I was on a trade show not long ago and I kept carrying that thing in that black belt case around my belt. With a smoking jacket around it. The trade show was well visited and therefore quite noisy (not loud but similar as if you go into the mensa at university). The thing is I kept missing one call after another, needless to say that I missed all SMS or schedules that my kalendar kept. I started to look at it at random times only to notices whether I missed something or if new SMS arrived.
A coleague of mine had another smartphone WM5 device carrying around with him, that thing otoh was quite loud. It yelled around that even I could realize it even meters ahead. Also the speaker, microphone and earspeaker was quite boosted.
Then at night during that few days trade show I slept in a motel where I used that device as a alarm clock. It was silent. Luckely I had a quite nervous sleep so I was able to wake up correctly in the morning but the alarm was quite silent. You've been able to hear it but not if you had a well sleep.
Earphone and Microphone. I have big issues listening to the person on the other end and the person has issues listening to my voice and the normal conversation goes on in multiple "pardon can you repeat" sentences. Specailly if you leave the office to go outside on the street for talk (so your colleagues don't need to follow your private conversation) it's even worse. I need to stick a finger in my other ear only to hear the person on the other end.
I think this is quite inacceptable for a device that is sold primary as "phone". I must say that I have the original rom on it, it's as I received it from this german company with the one letter and one number. With all the junk and stuff on it. Nothing touched, it's maximum loud, nothing flashed - as is.
Now a few days ago I went to another colleague of mine and compared his HTC Magician with my HTC Prophet. We set the devices to maximum loudness and played this "alouette.mid" file at the same time. His HTC Magician was drowning my HTC Prophet in all aspects. It was noticable louder than my HTC Prophet. It had better speakers and microphone. Sure it has the speaker on the backside as well but both devices were on the table head at head and his one nearly lifted off of the table while mine was silently sitting there playing "alouette.mid".
I mean, my old Siemens S25 was loud, I was able to hear it even outside of the office room on the floor, or in the kitchen (to jump back to it to pick it up) but this thing (the HTC Prophet) can't be left out of sight. If you move away more than a few meters in a silent office building then you keep missing everything.
I really don't know how this thing can be sold as phone. It misses any quality assurance during manufacturing. From that stupid backside speaker till any real life scenarios. It's more or less a play toy for geeks but rarely something for people doing business or need to keep schedules.
Otherwise that device is quite ok. Sure it has a slow CPU (yes it is slow. There was a few articles I read where people keep saying that it's not slow and that everyone who tells that it's slow are ignorants or something) but take my word. It's slow but it's ok for a phone. It's not the biggest problem since it works smoothly enough as PocketPC for adresses etc.
I started to dig around on many forums after I realized some of the problems on my own and realized that a lot of people complained about silent speakers and microphones and I must confirm this. There are many other problems with that device as well like speaker breaking quickly or the pluging jack for the headphones. I can not confirm this but I bet my pants that these issues are there for real.
I also realized (like on most forums) that people seem to be doing nothing else with it than flashing random XYZ kind of roms onto it in hope something changes (what, most people don't know either - so my impressions - and a few seem to have bricked their devices as well). But can this be ? Can this be the purpose of this device ? To flash it because it sucks in all other aspects ? People who hope to get a new rom version with news inside it, other people who hope that it boots faster (works faster) or whatever their aim is.
But for business people who only want to use the device to keep their contacts, get in touch with people, receive notices and keep schedules it's just a waste.
I started complaining to the new service provider and hope that they're going to replace that device with something that works. No play toy or something. I changed from my old service provider to the new one only for this smartphone and now I regret it. They already informed me that they are going to take it back and fine me what I have paid for it but this is not solving the problem. The problem is that I am stuck with a new contract and no phone to use or no suitable alternative to go. But taking it back without any complaints is just a sign that they might have received plenty of complaints from others.
Anyways that's so far all I have to say. I was new here before I bought the HTC Prophet and I really hope that my little review could help the one or other in making his decisions. Before you blindly jump in buying this HTC Prophet be sure that you go and inform yourself on all kind of forums and news sites. The HTC Prophet is a nice machine - no doubt - but it's useless in a couple of areas and one of them is phoning and getting notices (speaker). This is a big no go for me.
greetings,
Spatzm

I really like my Prophet.
Yes the rear speaker is a problem but it's the only problem. Just wait till it stops working completely. There is a workaround for this. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=281331
Also, yes it was a bit slow but a helpful chap called Ikarus produced an excellent overclock utility which has really helped. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=270751
I will upgrade when the time comes though - maybe a Hermes or an Artemis.

I wrote quite a long post to explain in detail why I seem to disagree with you on almost every point you try to make. But I'd rather keep it short. (and I don't mean this in a nasty way, my experience is just totally different than your 'review')
Speaker: no problem at all for me. I mainly use it in loud areas. Also use it as alarm clock too and it's loud enough (believe me when I say I'm not a light sleeper). I do however use PocketZenPhone for my phone profiles (volume, call volume, ringtone stuff etc etc) and SPB Time (alarm clock).
Upgrading: Have a look on what forum you are here. Most people come here because they seem interested in upgrading the thing with a rom. For possible free extra's. Who doesn't want to have free extra's? (hell, why do people upgrade their computer, their software, their bios? Because it's all crap? I don't think so at all).
There are loads of phones on this forum, from your perspective they are all crap because people are trying to upgrade them? And yes, upgrading is difficult at times and if you do it wrong, you brick your device. Can't blame HTC for those people pusing the upgrade button...
But all with all, I'm sorry to see you are so dissapointed in your Prophet phone. Perhaps the thing just isn't your thing. And it doesn't meet up to your expectations.
For me the thing lived up all too good to my expectations and even more than that.
For me it's loud enough (maybe with the help of some programs I don't care) it's fast enough and even though I have been 100% happy with it all along I even upgraded it with a newer ROM.
I use it for phoning/smsing, calendar/appointments, adresses, car-navigation, games, watching movies, wireless internet etc. etc. and that all works flawlesly for me...

TheBrit said:
I really like my Prophet.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=281331
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=270751
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Thanks for providing these links. I'm a technican myself and am used to many pocketpc's and pda's back in the years. I also did development for those devices so I am skilled enough to know what to do.
But the primary point of mine is differently. My workday looks like this. Starting morning at 7:00 and come back at home around 20:30. A lot of traveling from A to B. Basicly a fulltime job. Now you might imagine that business people don't want to play around with their PDA.
They simply don't have time to do so. They expect that the device they bought "simply works". The terminoloy "simply works" means. You turn it on and you start working with it. There is no time and also no intentions to mess around with the hardware. Like opening it and fix what HTC had failed to solve on their own.
I am also aware of the overclocking utilities that exists but this can't be the point either. But as I said it's probably the last problem that I care for now.
I think that HTC miserabely failed with their products due to bad engineering and bad QS. I only hope that some of their engineers are reading this forum so they can think about the stuff they build.

Re My advise don't go for it - you'll regret it.
RaptorRVL said:
I wrote quite a long post to explain in detail why I seem to disagree with you on almost every point you try to make. But I'd rather keep it short. (and I don't mean this in a nasty way, my experience is just totally different than your 'review')
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Hello RaptorRVL, thanks for your reply. I really appreciate your feedback and I would like to raise a few further points to explain the situation.
First of all, not everyone is a technican. Most people don't know about Registry, they don't know about OmapClock, they also don't know howto flash ROM, they also don't know what AKU is.
They simply want to use the thing they paid money for. I have the feeling that you see everything as the expert kind of person that fully controls his device in all areas like knowing every DLL, knowing every Registry entry, knowing the hardware and much more. But you shouldn't forget those who bought a small device and who wants to use it. We are simply too busy with work rather than having all the time digging in all places to seek for answers where HTC has failed.
Speaker: no problem at all for me. I mainly use it in loud areas.
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But the speaker seems to be a problem by many other people. You only need to fire up Google and search for "HTC Prophet loud" or similar keywords. You can hear a lot of complaints about silent speakers, broken speakers, silent microphone or earphone, broken headphone jacks etc. You can even use search on the whole forum here and find similar complaints by others. I must admit that this is something I initially wasn't aware about but I wished someone would have told me before I was going for it.
And that's why I am here writing my second message on this forum to inform those new readers here who use this forum as a starting point to read about the pros and cons about the HTC Prophet.
Upgrading: Have a look on what forum you are here. Most people come here because they seem interested in upgrading the thing with a rom. For possible free extra's. Who doesn't want to have free extra's? (hell, why do people upgrade their computer, their software, their bios? Because it's all crap? I don't think so at all).
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Yes I am in the forum for general Prophet discussions. The one for Prophet upgrading is one further. This was also one of the first places that I came to before I bought my Prophet to inform myself about it from those who are already using it.
There are loads of phones on this forum, from your perspective they are all crap because people are trying to upgrade them? And yes, upgrading is difficult at times and if you do it wrong, you brick your device. Can't blame HTC for those people pusing the upgrade button...
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No! I was only refering to my HTC Prophet here which I had the chance to compare in real life scenarios on that trade show (noisy area), within the motel (as alarm clock), with the colleagues HTC Magician and with another colleagues HTC (dunno what it was called, it has a knob in the middle and looks more like a real phone).
I don't know whether other devices have similar issues but I think that HTC needs to get in here and do something. You only need to google for all the problems it have. There are plenty of forums existing outside and the more people buy one of these devices the more "similar" problem reports you receive.
If one person complains then this is probably a one time issue but if plenty of people start complaining about the same issues then there's something where HTC needs to fix.
You are right that you can not blame HTC for a bricked Prophet, but you can't blame the users either since they expect that a new updated ROM might solve the one or other problem they noticed.
But all with all, I'm sorry to see you are so dissapointed in your Prophet phone. Perhaps the thing just isn't your thing. And it doesn't meet up to your expectations.
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And here lays the problem. I can not know whether this device dissapoints me or not without having tried it out first. I didn't knew about all the hardware related issues. I also didn't put any weight into other peoples complaints for silent speakers and realize now that I better did pay attentions to it since it really is a huge problem.
Look I and probably others didn't buy it for playing or toying around with it (Random today screen tweaking, overclocking and rom flashing) we bought it for our serious daily needs. As sort of companion that helps doing our daily tasks, keeping schedules and do the thing it has to do. Inform us where our brain leaves us alone since we can not remember everything. Of course the OS side of it does the job but the hardware side is failing here due to weak components used.

I didn't read every word of every post, but I don't think you state which version of the Prophet you have. That said I have the Jamin with their latest ROM. I have no reason to play with other ROMs. Reliability is important for my usage.
To be honest I DON'T have the majority of the issues you seem to have. Specifically the front speaker is so loud that I have to set the volume to 50% to prevent hurting my hearing on normal phone calls. With respect to the rear speaker the volume is more that sufficient to use as an alarm clock.
The major issue that I have is the CPU performance in stock form is only just adequate. But remember static high clock rates translate into low battery endurance. I'm using Battery Status to perform automatic clock rate scaling and battery life is good or better than stock, while CPU performance is very good.
From reading I'm of the opinion that not all Prophets are created equal, but might be made so by flashing an alternative ROM.
Spatzm said:
Greetings,
I am from germany and new on this forum, though I keep peeking in here for quite some time now and today is the time, where I believe I should post my very own impressions about the HTC Prophet.
[snip]
greetings,
Spatzm
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but I don't think you state which version of the Prophet you have. That said I have the Jamin with their latest ROM. I have no reason to play with other ROMs. Reliability is important for my usage.
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Normally I would write something like "The user don't know anything about Prophet versions - he/she only uses it". But I have an XDA NEO - G4 and this one doesn't have a front speaker (only a really silent ear speaker).
To be honest I DON'T have the majority of the issues you seem to have.
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I have only one issue with it and not "majority" (which implies dozens of issues). The only issue I have is the weak components used for speaker, ear speaker and microphone.
From reading I'm of the opinion that not all Prophets are created equal, but might be made so by flashing an alternative ROM.
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Yes I have the impression myself now. But that shouldn't be the problem of the end users or customers. That's the big problem of HTC for implementing some sort of quality assurance.
I also doubt that flashing an alternative ROM (there is no official alternative ROM that guarantee fully functionality (but more on this later on) that will solve a hardware issue. Flashing a new ROM don't change the position of the speaker from the back side to the front side.
I also think you should start reading my replies more carefully to understand that not everyone has the time or the geek factor to flash "or want to flash" his Prophet to use it.

By front speaker I mean the speaker that used when the phone is on your ear.
I would comment that the Prophet is a platform and Jamin, XDA Neo, etc are products. In fact the user shouldn't even know or be concerned with the underlying platform. He should buy based upon the end user product's features and performance. Note that HTC doesn't necessary have to manufacture each product to identical specifications. And I say this from a OEM's perspective.
With regard to flashing various firmware and debugging a product one purchased, I only can agree with your position. My only point is that what issues you have doesn't necessary apply to all versions of the Prophet.
Dopod released a patch to increase volume. If your product doesn't have this fix (e.g. running the most current firmware) then I would be thinking about getting my money back or Ebay it if that is not possible.
Spatzm said:
Normally I would write something like "The user don't know anything about Prophet versions - he/she only uses it". But I have an XDA NEO - G4 and this one doesn't have a front speaker (only a really silent ear speaker).
I also think you should start reading my replies more carefully to understand that not everyone has the time or the geek factor to flash "or want to flash" his Prophet to use it.
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Silent but loud, slow but fast ?!
I share all comments claiming weakness of Prophet speakers and slowness of its processor and i'd read too much about these before buying one.
Anyways, many claims about the OMAP come from users who did not overclock. At 286mhz the baby is fast enough for me and no serious standby time shortening.
Coming to the speakers, using the oldphone ring, i find it loud enough. Of course there's always individual tastes and feelings. Mines are not so negative.
Finally, don't forget to set sound level to maximum for alarms and disable program sounds. This prevents boring sounds when you use menus.

slow or fast its in your hands only
well in my eyes , i had took the S200 (qtek) or whtever name he have, as base for smartphone app. for security usage. like you i had to choose between the stability , quality and speed. the hardware base had all i need, battery and SD, wifi and BT, and all very steady. yes speed stunt me slow at begining, but with the help of jesterz and one of his coocked Roms, i got it fatser, and for the final battery status gave me real overclock of 247-260 which is more than i need. when i load it with streamin video (mpg-2) no it dose not gag nor crash nor hang. thats more than i had with HP/ASUS/ etc pda on the same level. have more trust in your littel device. remember rule 1.
garbadge in-garbadge out. set it correctly and you'll have only fun.

Not loud enough to wake up?
Although the sound quality is not the best I found my old JAMin loud and strong as an alarm, especially with the LB sound file. In fact I am using the same file on my new SE P990i. I sold the JAMin as a trade-in and bought a P990i a month ago and although I am very happy with the new phone as it improves in all areas where I found the Prophet not so good (built-in support for A2DP, camera, sound quality and so on), sometimes I miss my old phone. What I don't miss though is the SCREEN ALIGNMENT PROBLEM. I am amazed how well the touch screen on the P990i works and how it even lacks an Align Screen function.

abubasim said:
Although the sound quality is not the best I found my old JAMin loud and strong as an alarm, especially with the LB sound file.
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I don't know what a LB sound file is. May you post it please ?
What I don't miss though is the SCREEN ALIGNMENT PROBLEM.
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I never had a Screen Alignment problem with my HTC Prophet but I keep reading about these issues on plenty of other news sites and forums.
So to sum it up these are the most known hardware related problems that come along with the HTC Prophet.
* Backside speaker useless and totally misplaced if the phone is placed on the table.
* Ear speaker quite silent, if you are in a noisy area or street then you need to plug a finger in the other ear to hear the other participant clearly.
* Microphone quite silent, the other part is permanently asking to repeat what's said.
* Headphone plug is causing problems when unpluging there's no sound sometimes (not confirmed by me but found on various places).
* Backside speaker is dying at times (not confirmed by me but found on various places).
* Backside speaker is applied at the backside.
* Misalignment of the touchscreen (not confirmed by me but found on various places).
* Battery life ends with 28% and needs recharging (I have the same problem. The device needs to be recharged).
These are the common problems, that I came along so far. Windows Mobile itself is operating normally so far, but the hardware is causing problems. Every company with name by now would have started a call back to replace the faulty systems. My next device will be from an manufacturer with name, who has skills in doing proper devices - no no-name branding.

* Backside speaker useless and totally misplaced if the phone is placed on the table.
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Not much of a problem for me.
* Ear speaker quite silent, if you are in a noisy area or street then you need to plug a finger in the other ear to hear the other participant clearly.
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Not a problem for me.
* Microphone quite silent, the other part is permanently asking to repeat what's said.
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Not a problem for me.
* Headphone plug is causing problems when unpluging there's no sound sometimes (not confirmed by me but found on various places).
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NOt a problem for me.
* Backside speaker is dying at times (not confirmed by me but found on various places).
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Yes this has happened to me twice not. First time it went for a repair - second time I used a workaround - see my first post in this thread. Has anyone had this on a G4 - maybe it's fixed in that version.
* Backside speaker is applied at the backside.
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Same as first issue on this list.
* Misalignment of the touchscreen (not confirmed by me but found on various places).
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Not been a problem for me.
* Battery life ends with 28% and needs recharging (I have the same problem. The device needs to be recharged).
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Not been a problem for me.

I'm sure some people have problems with the phone, which is in fact not really surprising because it's a stuffed up little machine with lots of sensitive electronics in it (made as cheap as possible to position it in the market for a certain price obviously).
But I must say that when looking at forums and people with problems there, you might not get a good idea of what's really going on with a device.
Forums are usually filled with questions and complaints instead of people searching for the forums to say "Hey! My device is working just properly! cheerios!".
It would be much more interesting to know how many devices have been sold and what % of those had faults/problems. Mind you, the prophet is sold world-wide and is a very popular device, which would increase the number of people with complaints on a forum considerably.
I wouldn't exactly call HTC a no-name manufacturer too. It's just that they are not well known because they have always made their hardware for other companies who put on their own brand and name on the device. Yet still it is a HTC product.
I haven't had a single problem with my device and know a lot of people who don't have problems with the thing too. I know someone who works in a store selling them and he says they don't see loads of the devices coming back with the complaints/problems you write.
For example, I have none of the problems you list up there. If the phones would have been so bad, don't you think I should at least have one of the problems here? Or do you think I'm the exception of having a error free phone and faulty devices are the standard?
So perhaps a somewhat more subtle approach on the subject might not hurt. I could be reading you the wrong way, but it almost seems like because of your dissapointment of your device you are on a small crusade stating the prophet is a very bad device. A device that only works for geeks with too much time on their hands changing roms, editting the registry and repairing the device themselves.
Which is, ofcourse, not the case at all.

TheBrit said:
Not much of a problem for me.
Not a problem for me.
Not a problem for me.
NOt a problem for me.
Same as first issue on this list.
Not been a problem for me.
Not been a problem for me.
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Yes, but it has been a problem for many others. It's as simple as that. If there are a few geeks really happy with it then be it that way. This thing simply isn't the right device for serious people who simply want to do their work. It's that simple.

LB.wav
Spatzm said:
I don't know what a LB sound file is. May you post it please ?
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If you the open the Clock settings and choose the Alarms tab then you can choose the sound file to be played by tapping the bell icon. LB is one of the provided sound files. In case it's missing on your phone then here it is.

Spatzm said:
Yes, but it has been a problem for many others. It's as simple as that. If there are a few geeks really happy with it then be it that way. This thing simply isn't the right device for serious people who simply want to do their work. It's that simple.
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What is quite funny is the fact that you just called everyone who likes their device (or do not agree with you) a geek and apperantly not a serious person.
Like I said in my other post, it might not be a bad idea to take a somewhat more subtle approach to the whole subject, instead of just reading the forums fast and sum up the first 8 problems you come across and state them as facts.

RaptorRVL said:
What is quite funny is the fact that you just called everyone who likes their device (or do not agree with you) a geek and apperantly not a serious person.
Like I said in my other post, it might not be a bad idea to take a somewhat more subtle approach to the whole subject, instead of just reading the forums fast and sum up the first 8 problems you come across and state them as facts.
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Hello,
This wasn't meant as insult or offense. I was just quite fed up with the device when I replied. The thing is that everyone has a right to like his / her device.
For my personal impression this thing is more a geeks toy rather than something for people like me who are deep into all kind of works and need a serious companion.
One that doesn't need tweaking, fixing or worrying. Something that simply works and does its tasks. I depend on connections with other people, it's my work, my business. I can not offend people by telling them to repeat themselves 20 times just because my cell is failing.
No problems with that but we also need to keep an eye on those people who have serious issues with it and the list is getting longer.
You said (or wrote) that people do not agree with me but I already received replies within this thread from people who confirmed parts of the issues raised.
I think it's just fair to light both sides of the medal. It's not fair to only hype this device and ignore or speak all issues it has to death.
So, just because YOUR Prophet is fine, doesn't mean that other peoples Prophet is as well. You are just the lucky one or your service provider bought working branches rather than getting the monday devices.
I don't ask for much and simply hope that some people from HTC are spending some time reading the contents of this forum and get uphold of these issues.
Thailand and probably most other asian countries are known to not supply the same quality standards that europe requires or that we are used too.
Just my opinion and I believe that I speak many people out of their heart here.

Spatzm said:
So, just because YOUR Prophet is fine, doesn't mean that other peoples Prophet is as well. You are just the lucky one or your service provider bought working branches rather than getting the monday devices.
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Well, we can turn this around and talk about how your device is the bad one and how that doesn't mean all the others suck too. I just don't think this is very productive. You don't like it, but others like it.
I for one am very happy with my Prophet, and guess what: I am from Germany too and I also got my phone from o2. I never had to change ROMs or overclock the processor. The only "geek" thing I've done is to abort the installation of the extended ROM.
My device is working just fine and I've never had any problems. No broken speaker, battery working fine, no screen alignment problems. It's fast, it's smooth, it's loud.
And oh yeah (and I really don't mean this in a smartass way), if I'm in a loud environment and can't hear the phone, the vibration massaging my leg lets me know someone is calling. Not a solution for the earpiece problem but at least for the incoming SMS and organizer alarms.
Well, to sum it up: you're not happy, others are. Simple as that. I don't know if it's very smart to keep discussing this.

RaptorRVL said:
What is quite funny is the fact that you just called everyone who likes their device (or do not agree with you) a geek and apperantly not a serious person.
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So...I'm a Geek!
I'm also a serious user. I use the Diary, Contacts, phone, TomTom etc etc. Bubble-Breaker when on the t.....never mind. Syncing the Diary and Contacts with both my home PC and my work PC a great bonus - so simple and so very useful.

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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

Limitations???

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?

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.

G Pad - a first for me

I collected a G Pad earlier on. It's the first time I've bought a tablet having never actually seen one in the silicon.
I had a Nexus 7 2013 which I was really happy with, but its mobo failed and went off for a three week repair. It came back in a worse-looking state than it went so I got a refund on it. While it was being fixed I used my old 10" Xoom, and I realised how much nicer a bigger screen is. And then I saw a review of the G Pad...
So I wasn't too unhappy when the Nexus was refunded, and based on the balance of reviews and comments here I took the plunge. So far - and I've only had it an hour - I really like it. The Nexus has a brilliant screen and I thought the lower-PPI count would show on the G, but it seems not to. It seems to go bright enough, but I've not tested it in sunlight outdoors. It's not quite Nexus-retina-searing levels but seems to be not far off.
The extra inch of screen makes a surprising difference in its actual size. It's a nice plus.
No sign yet of a blue line either. The speakers are louder than I'd expected having read things on here.
A couple of things that I need to test out though: battery life and SD card compatibility. As long as I get Nexus-ish battery life I'll be happy, but I need to see if apps like Google Music can store to the SD card (well I know it can, but can it without being rooted?) And BBC iPlayer too, some of those videos come in at one gig+ so I hope they can get off on to the card too. Otherwise 16GB is going to disappear pretty quickly, and that will make the tablet useless for that purpose.
I might try a custom ROM but CM 10.2 on my S3 isn't as finished as they'd have you think: for instance, the phone has for some reason stopped ringing aloud in the past few days. Maybe CM 11 is better, I don't know. But the stock ROM doesn't seem that bad at the moment (but anyone on here likes to tinker, so let's see how long that lasts.)
My bigger concern is community support. I really appreciate what the devs are doing, but for products like the G Pad which don't seem to have sold by the million, long-term support is surely not going to be as promising as it is for the Nexus or Samsung devices.
And actually, I'll end by asking what the hell LG are playing at. So far, this looks like a great tablet but there are NONE to be found in electrical stores here in the UK. That's why I had to buy it sight unseen. If they can't get it into stores, how are they going to shift any in reasonable numbers? Especially when this looks like it should deserve to. Equally, they seem to have failed to hit their stride in terms of getting it into the hands of reviewers.
Anyway, I'm off to have a play. From what I've seen, hopefully I can persuade myself to keep it!

Welcome to the club. I love mine too. There are ways to move files and apps to your SD card, but if your like me, my Google Music takes up a ton of space and just moving it to the SD card clears up a lot of space on the internal storage. Google Music has a setting to pick your storage location so just choose your SD card. From my understanding, this may be limited to KitKat only though. If you'reconsidering flashing a ROM, I highly suggest Mahdi. You'll lose your LG apps because it's based on AOSP, but you'll pick up a ton of customization in a buttery smooth ROM.

Thanks clemson77on.
I do like it but I am probably going to return it. It turns out that BBC iPlayer doesn't support downloads to the G Pad, and I doubt it ever will - they only spend time certifying devices that hit the mainstream. I hate to say it but I don't think the G Pad ever will.
I put Mahdi's ROM on and it is far superior to stock. I certainly mean no disrespect to him or any other devs - who are capable of doing far more than me - but I think the Nexus 7 will have a longer support life from the community. I would be very happy to be proved wrong on this in months to come.
Silly little things play on my mind with this tablet, such as the non-standard soft buttons in the stock ROM. Yes you have a selection, but where's the choice for the Android standard? Device manufacturers drive me crazy sometimes. I would actually like to remain unrooted because there are various apps I use that require that; at least with the N7 I will get no bloat and can keep it unrooted.
I really like the knock-on feature, I don't know why some reviews said it was a gimmick.
But ultimately, 16GB doesn't seem to cut it. I have moved what I can to SD but there's only about 2GB free.
Having said all that... on the other hand, the screen size is a significant plus, and having haptic feedback is really nice in a tablet.
I know that's a random selection of thoughts. I am going to have to make my mind up!

astromark said:
Thanks clemson77on.
I do like it but I am probably going to return it. It turns out that BBC iPlayer doesn't support downloads to the G Pad, and I doubt it ever will - they only spend time certifying devices that hit the mainstream. I hate to say it but I don't think the G Pad ever will.
I put Mahdi's ROM on and it is far superior to stock. I certainly mean no disrespect to him or any other devs - who are capable of doing far more than me - but I think the Nexus 7 will have a longer support life from the community. I would be very happy to be proved wrong on this in months to come.
Silly little things play on my mind with this tablet, such as the non-standard soft buttons in the stock ROM. Yes you have a selection, but where's the choice for the Android standard? Device manufacturers drive me crazy sometimes. I would actually like to remain unrooted because there are various apps I use that require that; at least with the N7 I will get no bloat and can keep it unrooted.
I really like the knock-on feature, I don't know why some reviews said it was a gimmick.
But ultimately, 16GB doesn't seem to cut it. I have moved what I can to SD but there's only about 2GB free.
Having said all that... on the other hand, the screen size is a significant plus, and having haptic feedback is really nice in a tablet.
I know that's a random selection of thoughts. I am going to have to make my mind up!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the development support will be quite good for this device, maybe not on par with the Nexus 7, but very good especially with there being a Google Developer Edition model now.
I know nothing about BBC iPlayer, but it looks like it won't download to the device because of being out of the UK. I did notice that there's an app in the play store called Unblock BBC iPlayer that may help you out - I have no idea.
If you need to be rooted for some of your apps to work, there are apps that can hide your root such as Root Cloak.
Also, you can even move your apps to your SD card if you want to. Link2SD works great for that.
As for soft buttons, I changed mine to look like those on my HTC One and made the longpresses the same so it would be more uniform.
Hope that helps.

clemson77on said:
I believe the development support will be quite good for this device, maybe not on par with the Nexus 7, but very good especially with there being a Google Developer Edition model now.
I know nothing about BBC iPlayer, but it looks like it won't download to the device because of being out of the UK. I did notice that there's an app in the play store called Unblock BBC iPlayer that may help you out - I have no idea.
If you need to be rooted for some of your apps to work, there are apps that can hide your root such as Root Cloak.
Also, you can even move your apps to your SD card if you want to. Link2SD works great for that.
As for soft buttons, I changed mine to look like those on my HTC One and made the longpresses the same so it would be more uniform.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks very much for the reply. I have in fact decided to keep it. The larger screen won out in the end, and the other positives outweighed the negatives. It only cost £230, which is £10 cheaper than the N7 was, but yes that had twice the storage (but no SD slot). The build and overall shape of this tablet is really nice, possibly the best out there for Android.
The battery life seems a bit so so, but I'm getting 5.5 to 6 hours of screen time. I can live with that - I'm never far from power!
More to the point, I keep these things for a year or so before getting a new one and I can happily live with this for a year (til maybe G Pad 2...)
To return to my points, with iPlayer it's not a location thing. It's whether the BBC dev team can get round to supporting this. Understandably they will prioritise better-selling devices - they'll spend their time where the demand is. I would therefore say that anyone in the UK who has one, install iPlayer and use it. Get this tablet onto their stats. They won't even consider it if they don't see it being used.
Root Cloak, good idea. I've tried OTA Rootkeeper which has certainly unrooted it, I just can't use it to root it again!
Haven't tried Link2SD but will give that a blast later.
My thing with the soft buttons is a more general Android annoyance. Different ways for different manufacturers. And even then they just can't stop themselves. Some of the LG mods were quite good - but they kept on adding more and more. They're not alone but feature creep tends not to lead to a better overall experience.

astromark said:
To return to my points, with iPlayer it's not a location thing. It's whether the BBC dev team can get round to supporting this. Understandably they will prioritise better-selling devices - they'll spend their time where the demand is. I would therefore say that anyone in the UK who has one, install iPlayer and use it. Get this tablet onto their stats. They won't even consider it if they don't see it being used.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My G Pad is running the stock LG ROM, is rooted and with the aid of https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amphoras.hidemyroot&hl=en_GB I am able to install and watch material using iPlayer and the BBC Media Player software.

tdodd said:
My G Pad is running the stock LG ROM, is rooted and with the aid of https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amphoras.hidemyroot&hl=en_GB I am able to install and watch material using iPlayer and the BBC Media Player software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does iPlayer check for root? What is disabled on iPlayer if it does detect that you have root?

tdodd said:
My G Pad is running the stock LG ROM, is rooted and with the aid of https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amphoras.hidemyroot&hl=en_GB I am able to install and watch material using iPlayer and the BBC Media Player software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may not have been clear enough. I can also watch iplayer. I cannot download for offline viewing.

astromark said:
I collected a G Pad earlier on. It's the first time I've bought a tablet having never actually seen one in the silicon.
I had a Nexus 7 2013 which I was really happy with, but its mobo failed and went off for a three week repair. It came back in a worse-looking state than it went so I got a refund on it. While it was being fixed I used my old 10" Xoom, and I realised how much nicer a bigger screen is. And then I saw a review of the G Pad...
So I wasn't too unhappy when the Nexus was refunded, and based on the balance of reviews and comments here I took the plunge. So far - and I've only had it an hour - I really like it. The Nexus has a brilliant screen and I thought the lower-PPI count would show on the G, but it seems not to. It seems to go bright enough, but I've not tested it in sunlight outdoors. It's not quite Nexus-retina-searing levels but seems to be not far off.
The extra inch of screen makes a surprising difference in its actual size. It's a nice plus.
No sign yet of a blue line either. The speakers are louder than I'd expected having read things on here.
A couple of things that I need to test out though: battery life and SD card compatibility. As long as I get Nexus-ish battery life I'll be happy, but I need to see if apps like Google Music can store to the SD card (well I know it can, but can it without being rooted?) And BBC iPlayer too, some of those videos come in at one gig+ so I hope they can get off on to the card too. Otherwise 16GB is going to disappear pretty quickly, and that will make the tablet useless for that purpose.
I might try a custom ROM but CM 10.2 on my S3 isn't as finished as they'd have you think: for instance, the phone has for some reason stopped ringing aloud in the past few days. Maybe CM 11 is better, I don't know. But the stock ROM doesn't seem that bad at the moment (but anyone on here likes to tinker, so let's see how long that lasts.)
My bigger concern is community support. I really appreciate what the devs are doing, but for products like the G Pad which don't seem to have sold by the million, long-term support is surely not going to be as promising as it is for the Nexus or Samsung devices.
And actually, I'll end by asking what the hell LG are playing at. So far, this looks like a great tablet but there are NONE to be found in electrical stores here in the UK. That's why I had to buy it sight unseen. If they can't get it into stores, how are they going to shift any in reasonable numbers? Especially when this looks like it should deserve to. Equally, they seem to have failed to hit their stride in terms of getting it into the hands of reviewers.
Anyway, I'm off to have a play. From what I've seen, hopefully I can persuade myself to keep it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a Nexus 7 (2013) for a few months before I decided to buy a G Pad. I very much agree with you the extra inch makes a big difference. At first if you install a custom rom like CM11 and put it side by side with the G Pad at maximum brightness next to the nexus 7 at max brightness there is definetly a difference in the max brightness with the G Pad falling down on that factor.
Also on the note of it not being found in electrical stores in your country, it is hard to find this device anywhere outside of JB Hifi in Australia unless you buy it online - which I did because even though it can be found at JB Hifi here, it is only available in white and I wanted black.
With the lack of developer community, it was hard coming from the Nexus 7 community which is insanely large however this device seems to be pretty good as it is after you flash a AOSP rom. It does lack a large amount of custom kernel's which the Nexus 7 had the upper hand on - especially with devs like Franco who made the battery life increase by a lot.

astromark said:
I may not have been clear enough. I can also watch iplayer. I cannot download for offline viewing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK. Maybe I misunderstood. Now I get it. Yes, the G Pad is not on the download compatibility list. Quite why the Beeb needs such a thing is beyond me.

tdodd said:
OK. Maybe I misunderstood. Now I get it. Yes, the G Pad is not on the download compatibility list. Quite why the Beeb needs such a thing is beyond me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a shame isn't it. Presumably it has to do with compatibility testing, user experience checking or more likely rights agreements. Rights rule the roost.
It is clearly technically capable of doing it, it's the iplayer bods having to put the work in to confirm that. And as I say. they'll prioritise by usage. Low usage = low priority = low chance of getting downloads approved.

astromark said:
It's a shame isn't it. Presumably it has to do with compatibility testing, user experience checking or more likely rights agreements. Rights rule the roost.
It is clearly technically capable of doing it, it's the iplayer bods having to put the work in to confirm that. And as I say. they'll prioritise by usage. Low usage = low priority = low chance of getting downloads approved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure that DRM is the issue. Probably, the Beeb thinks if you have root, you might find some way to get around their DRM and distribute the downloaded programs. Not a big deal for me, because I generally stream rather than download.

astromark said:
It's a shame isn't it. Presumably it has to do with compatibility testing, user experience checking or more likely rights agreements. Rights rule the roost.
It is clearly technically capable of doing it, it's the iplayer bods having to put the work in to confirm that. And as I say. they'll prioritise by usage. Low usage = low priority = low chance of getting downloads approved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about that old prop editing? Finding a phone or tablet device that has approval from BBC and then just jot that in it's model numbers into the build.prop on the V500? Perhaps the BBC player will then check up against that and allow the downloads? Then just unroot again after? :d I always say this, but it's worth a try, isn't it? Unless it's been done before of course.

woody1 said:
I'm pretty sure that DRM is the issue. Probably, the Beeb thinks if you have root, you might find some way to get around their DRM and distribute the downloaded programs. Not a big deal for me, because I generally stream rather than download.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've always found iPlayer works regardless of root state. Just tried it on my rooted S3 and it's fine, and it works on my Xoom which was rooted on day 1! I find it handy to have downloads to watch in the gym. Passes the time...
CuraeL said:
How about that old prop editing?.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good idea - haven't thought about it before now. Never tried anything quite that involved. Flashing ROMs and then unbricking is as far as I've gone! I might look into this tomorrow. I assume it's not too tricky. Is it something in the prop that specifies the device?

astromark said:
Good idea - haven't thought about it before now. Never tried anything quite that involved. Flashing ROMs and then unbricking is as far as I've gone! I might look into this tomorrow. I assume it's not too tricky. Is it something in the prop that specifies the device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I don't remember the exact entries in the build.prop. But aquire root, download rom tool box and edit the build prop. Go to your iPlayer enabled device and look for all entries with something like "model" and any variable set ro device number and such. Then just insert them into the V500. After root, it's strictly typing required. And finding the right entries of course. I'm in Denmark and I don't believe I qualify for BBC Player, but I dunno otherwise I'd try it myself. Go with Nexus 5 or Galaxy S4 build.prop or something. It must be around here, somewhere..
Would be a nice fix if that's how the app checks. Some apps does this, yes, by the way.

CuraeL said:
Well, I don't remember the exact entries in the build.prop. But aquire root, download rom tool box and edit the build prop. Go to your iPlayer enabled device and look for all entries with something like "model" and any variable set ro device number and such. Then just insert them into the V500.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works - changing
ro.product.model=LG-V500
to:
ro.product.model=Nexus 7
brings it on. Excellent idea, thanks.
Now I need to read up about how to treat a directory on the external SD card like one on the internal-SD as iplayer has no support for external storage.

astromark said:
It works - changing
ro.product.model=LG-V500
to:
ro.product.model=Nexus 7
brings it on. Excellent idea, thanks.
Now I need to read up about how to treat a directory on the external SD card like one on the internal-SD as iplayer has no support for external storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's good news.
I believe theres apps for fixing external saving instead. There's some threads on it given the trouble with SD cards compatability and stuff. Go read up on those. App2SD and such I think, link2SD or something. Kinda like linking a harddrive path over to another harddrive, still keeping the app believing that it saves to in this case the internal storage, when it's really not. I'm not too sure, cause I've had no need or issues with this myself. But good luck and awesome that we fixed one of your troubles.

astromark said:
It works - changing
ro.product.model=LG-V500
to:
ro.product.model=Nexus 7
brings it on. Excellent idea, thanks.
Now I need to read up about how to treat a directory on the external SD card like one on the internal-SD as iplayer has no support for external storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try the free FolderMount app, available in the Play Store.