All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

That's why you root it, install CM7, then install the Arc Launcher. Win Win Win situation!

 

LOL! What about the design?

Also, can a SIM-locked phone install official, SE-released ROMs, for example, the 3.1 update?

 

Sure the Arc's design is a little more special but IMO the 2X is better value. ^^

 

Yes, but the design is a pretty big factor to me . The 2X is very thick, which kinda feels odd. ( I have holded it ).

And I dislike FroYo, from what I have seen; Gingerbread seems more... Intuitive and "awesome", so to speak.

 

Fair enough (about the hardware), as for the software, I don't see why you are concerned about it. Just put something else on it yourself. I am running 2.3.4 on my Desire HD.

 

Can a SIM-locked update to an unofficial ROM? CM7 seems awesome D:

 

Indeed. I don't buy a phone anymore for the software... the best hardware wins! And it's got to be unlockable or already unlocked, bootloader wise.

 

GSMArena's full review of the Galaxy S2 is up.

 

Doesn't the overall design count on your choices?

 

May I know why you choose like that? Why doesn't the software matter to you?

 

Because you can easily fix the software with a new rom. Hence HAL's definition of good hardware as having an unlockable boot loader.

 

Exactly what mrXniick said... Sure, I want a decent looking device, but internals are much more important to me, as is the bootloader. About device thickness, I'd gladly have a thicker device if it meant a bigger battery... but sadly every OEM is all about the thinnest device at the moment. That bugs me.

Software is something that can be changed to my liking... There are ROM's on top of ROM's on top of ROM's that can be loaded... with almost infinite amounts of customization.

 

...unless you have an Intercept, in which case you're limited to three ROM's, only one of which is compatible with the Virgin Mobile model

 

Which is why HAL stressed that good hardware is key... lol

 

1080p Mobile Screen Slaps Retina Display in the Mouth

Do want

 

Prepares to spend a good hour reading.

I love GSMArena's reviews. Some of the most detailed I've ever come across.

Pocket Now used to be nearly as good, but they changed format a year or two ago and the reviews are much shorter.

 

"4.8 inches [...] it's way too big to be a phone"

I beg to differ!

 

I think that's about perfect for me.
Small enough to fit in my bags/pockets (barely on the pockets, heh), but large enough to be my mobile reader/app center/general time waster.

 

Same here. And I have deep pockets (literally, not financially ).

My main concern would be battery life; I imagine a nearly 5" 1080p display would eat through battery power. And my Intercept's battery life is pathetic as it is; I have to charge it twice a day on most days of normal use (spending about 5 minutes in conversations, answering texts periodically throughout the day), and it's only a 3.2" 420x200 screen.

 

The Intercept's SoC is 90NM... That's why it sucks battery.

Since that panel is LCD it should get decent battery life with a newer dual-core SoC and a good battery. The Atrix has a 1930mAh Li-Po that offers a HECK of a battery life... that's the only thing I like about it really. An S-AMOLED+ at 1080p and 4.8" would suck a car battery dry in about 13.26 minutes. True story.

Offer a 4.8" 1080p handset with Kal-El, an 1800mAh+ battery, and have the panel chemically fused (a la iPhone 4/S-AMOLED) to a Gorilla Glass panel and suddenly China would become a Democracy with unlimited internet. World hunger would cease to be a issue and Clinton would be back in office.

 

Well, when you are buying a locked phone, you can stop thinking about an unlocked bootloader

BTW, a SIM-locked phone CANNOT have the bootloader unlocked, but can it be rooted?

 

uhm.. you are wrong.. on pretty much everything in this post....

 

I know, I have accidentally pressed submit and didn't finish the sentence. It's fixed now.

Also, HAL has mentioned that if I buy a SIM-locked phone, I will not be able to unlock the bootloader. But I want to know if I can root it.

 

You are still wrong with pretty much everything here.

If by "locked phone" you mean sim locked, being sim locked has nothing to do with the ability to unlock the bootloader (unless it is a SE device). Further if by "locked phone" you mean a phone with a locked bootloader.... all phones come with the bootloader locked including nexus devices. It is signed and encrypted bootloaders that create a problem.

 

Oh... So if I get a SIM-locked Xperia Arc, I won't be able to unlock the bootloader, correct? But what about rooting?

 

It doesn't mean that it will be impossible, it just isn't as of right now. As for having root with a locked bootloader it is possible, but I don't follow the arc-- not sure if an exploit has been found yet.

If you want more help with the arc, I would suggest checking out XDA http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=962

 

Ah, great. Thanks!

The arc only has 1 month, so it's pretty normal that people haven't come up with some alternatives...

 

Looking at XDA, it does appear that you can root the arc without having the bootloader unlocked. Check out Stepp666's thread A (beginners?) guide to modding and tweaking the Arc - xda-developers

 

Yep, I read it a while ago

BTW, as Step said, we cannot use SEUS if bootloader is unlocked; can we use SEUS if it's rooted? As root only is a admin-powers giving, does it interfere with anything else? Like can someone detect if I'm rooted?

 

You should not have any issue if rooted.

 

Ah, cool, as rooting only gives admin powers, it shouldn't mess anything, right?

 

[MOD] How to increase your resolution - xda-developers

How is this possible?!

How can you increase resolution if the phone doesn't support it?

 

Its not increasing the resolution, just changing the pixel density. Although it does give the same look. It causes issues with a few apps though which dont display 100% correctly.

Which you can do much easier with a simple app



In other news...




More T-Mobile plan change rumors. these are real though, i got notifacation from T-mobile about it earlier this month

Only thing that sucks is of course, next month is when im going to go down to the $30 plan to save money oh well, after that i will have unlimited

 

Sounds cool!

It's changing the PPI, right?

So, the difference is like having a 720p res and a 1080p res, right?

 

Well no, ppi is a hardware thing, and it cannot change that.

All it does is just makes things smaller on the screen. Which simulates a higher resolution.

 

Oh... Kinda cheating

 

yeah lots of people like it though because it seems to have a higher res.

 

Damnit, now I'm going to have to wait even longer before I buy my next phone...
I could easily make the jump to 4.5" for a 1280x720 screen or 4.8" for 1920x1080, I'm using a 4.2" screen just now and it's absolutely fine size-wise.

Speaking of phones, I'm conflicted.
I've reached the point now where I don't want to stay in my current job but I don't want to lose the perks I get
I don't really want to lose my free Arc

I thought the Atrix's battery life was supposed to suck in spite of the enormous battery?



If we look at the Galaxy S2 as a basis for a 4.8" handset, the CPU, RAM etc take up very little space, most of the back is battery.
If the internals on a 4.8" handset took up equally little space and the body was a flat 10mm thick, all that extra volume could be used to hold a huge- battery.

 

Well, LCD Density isn't permanent, it resets after reboot. Where as editing the build.prop is some what permanent, until you flash a different rom over it.

@Phistachio...You can either edit build.prop on your phone, or you can copy the file to you computer (adb pull), edit it with text editor, then copy it back (adb push). Which ever way you prefer, doesn't take anymore time.

Not at all, it is the same idea as if you right click on your Windows desktop -> Screen resolution -> Make text and other items larger or smaller. Then you adjust that percentage.

Exact same idea, since the phone's display has a much higher pixel density, essentially all the icons and docks on the phone at set it 200%+. 200% relative to your pixel density.

Basically your phone is displaying everything much bigger than it would so the user can actually see the icons. Had everything been at original size, they would have been too small to be readable.

For example, my notebook's display is 147 DPI, which people would consider that as high for a laptop (15.4'' 1920x1200). I have my text/icon size @ 100%, which a lot of people would find small. Now my phone's display is 216.97DPI...which is far higher. Just consider for a second what "100%" would look like on a 216DPI display.

So no, it's not like cheating, instead, it's how it "should" be, whether it's readable on the other hand is a user preference. Like switching from 150% text size back down to 100% text size on your Windows PC. ^^

 

Oh, I see!

But I believe I would need to be rooted to do that editinf, right?

@Step as you own this phone, did you have any trouble with SEUS while rooted? Does rooting interfere in anything?

 

You need root with LCD Density app too.

 

Rooting on its own really can't interfere with anything. All it means is that you have root user access to the Android OS instead of regular user access. It allows you to grant apps superuser access to do things that they normally wouldn't be able to with regular permissions. Those apps can certainly interfere with things, but just the actual state of being rooted will not change anything. Your phone will still run the same.

I might look into altering my pixel density...at 240x400 on a 3.2" screen, every pixel stands out. I swear, my TI-89 calculator looks better than this thing. It's a shame, because from what I've read, the Intercept has a very good screen, but it's kinda wasted on such a low res.

 

I have my bootloader unlocked as well, so I can't use SEUS.
Unfortunately, I unlocked my bootloader before it became known that doing so would prevent the use of SEUS.

Also, technically, I don't own the Arc.

 

Yep, I know that unlocked bootloader = no SEUS. But I am on the limbo about if SEUS is "allowed" to be used in a rooted phone, but locked bootloader.

Well, while you have your job, technically, you HAVE the Arc

 

SEUS should work fine so long as your bootloader is locked and the handset is currently running an official ROM.
Anything else should be insignificant; rooted, not rooted, removed stock apps etc.

 

buying htc sensation this week!

 

AH, great!

Also, could you tell me how's the web browser performance?

 

Nice!

The 4G version?

 

i don't think we have 4g in the u.k. right now, so probably no.

 

I'm surprised, there's less area to cover, it should be easier/faster to