All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

So, I've been taking a look at T-Mobile's no-contract plans. In particular, the $30 plan catches my eye: 100 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data, the first 5GB at 4G speeds. Currently with Virgin Mobile I pay $25 (grandfathered in, the same plan costs $35 for new customers now) for 300 minutes, unlimited messaging, and unlimited 3G data that throttles to 1x speeds after 2GB (new "feature" they added this month )

So, I'd be paying $5 more every month and cutting my minutes down even further, but I think it would be worth it for the much better data package. I barely use my minutes as it is, so even with 2/3 of them knocked off I don't think I'd miss them too badly.

Now, phones. T-Mobile is a GSM network, which I've never used before; I've been on Verizon and Virgin Mobile (Sprint), both CDMA carriers, all my life. From what I hear, phones are much easier to activate with GSM and you're not as stuck with whatever the carrier offers. Looking at the pre-paid phones on T-Mobile's site, the choices are kind of crap; only a handful of lower-end Android models, like the LG Optimus T, Samsung Dart and T-Mobile Sidekick. The best one as far as I can tell is the Samsung Galaxy S 4G, which they are selling refurbished for $350. For reference, my Motorola Triumph was $300 brand new, though I have no idea how the specs compare.

tl;dr - is it possible to activate any phones that are not on this list? And if so, any recommendations?

 

The issue with T-Mobile US is that they use an unusual frequency, so you're limited as to which handsets will give you 3G/'4G' on their network.

Here's a (partial?) list of Android handsets that support the 1700MHz 3G band/frequency.

 

That's still a hell of a list compared to VM's selection...I can literally count those on my fingers, and you can't activate a non-VM phone.

Any recommendations?

 

The Defy's a decent handset that you may be able to get at a reasonable price.
Unfortunately I don't think the Defy+ with the larger battery and faster processor supports the 1700MHz band.

Other than that, without spending too much money, I'd probably say one of the older Nexus handsets.

Obviously, ideally something with a dual-core CPU to make it more future-proof but I think you'd have to spend a fair amount to get something like that.

 

My Ray's lockscreen.
Nice and minimal

 

Great review, makes me want it.
Samsung Galaxy Note review -- Engadget

 

Just been reading that.

Generally very positive, though I agree it's a bit of a shame that it's not running ICS.

 

Yet, This will be one of the first phone to get the update (after the nexus I guess), and it'll run like a charm, given the power of the cpu in that thing!

 

I think Motorola may give Samsung a run for their money with updates but, yeah, it'll get it quick.

It'll also almost certainly get great CyanogenMod support, which is always a plus.

 

Sounds like a good plan T-Mobile's 3G is fast.

If you dont mind used, you can pick up a used (but in mint or nearly mint condition) Samsung Vibrant for $200-250 on eBay. Which is the same as the Galaxy S 4G without the 4G (which you may or not have) and FFC. But even the Galaxy S 4G isnt much higher priced anyway, and definetly beats $350 when the condition is almost the same. I've bought 4 phones like this, never regretted it!

You could also check prices for the HTC Sensation, and Nexus S, but both will probably be $300+

 

More info:

Behind the Glass: a detailed tour inside the Samsung Galaxy Note -- Engadget​

The most important part of which is:

Samsung Galaxy Note uses a Wacom digitizer for precision stylus tracking​

 

LOL "behemoth of a phone (or is it a phablet?)"

Phablet lol

Looks good though

I wonder how big a battery, because that will swallow it up fast.
And 320dpi... holy crap lol, your definetly gonna want LCD Density Changer to make that look a little better Couldnt live without it on my phone

 

I prefer 'phoblet' personally but it's pretty much the same

As for the density, I'm a bit confused - what the difference between that 320dpi figure and the ~285ppi density of the panel itself?

 

To those interested in the Galaxy Note:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OSYgjDzPVaxzUIEOrc1RrPL2sWLJ5PziyEVt6Q7KeUs/edit?pli=1

 

Correct me if im wrong here, but...

ppi is the physical number of pixels on the screen. (Pixels Per Inch)

DPI is DOTS per inch, the way i see it is that its how many dots are displayed per inch (unlike the number of pixels which you cannot change). Either way, you can change the dpi to make things smaller or larger, basically simulating a higher or lower resolution!

Though the resolution on it is pretty high, with such a big screen sometimes things are too big in some people's opinion. On my 4.53" SGSII, granted the resolution is already low for that size, is 800x480. I think things are huge and i make the resolution (by changing the dpi) 936x561 instead (closer to qHD). Even on my 800x480 4" SGS, i made the resolution higher.

Its a matter of personal preference, but if your a high resolution person, I'd check it out!

Heres an example with my phone...

Spoiler

DEFAULT DPI (240dpi / 800x480)








MY DPI (205dpi / 936x561)

 

My GOD. Sprint has a LOT of signal bars! That must mean they have better signal than everyone else. Which reminds me, I need to get some i7 stickers for my C2D Vaio... makes it run faster.

Yea, I usually run at 190dpi. Anything below 200dpi will break the market. Most apps are set to require device DPI values over 200, and if you're running below 200 the market will show a yellow banner that says something like "this app isn't compatible with your device.."

 

Hahahaha yeah I actually prefer it to the normal 4 bar though , more accurate I dont like the mods that put it to 4 bars

Yeah I actually like 200dpi flat better than 205. But it seems anything under 205 makes the signal bars/3G icon look a bit weird for the tiny difference 205 is fine for me.

Also, do you notice anything wrong with my battery?!

 

Then I take it you don't like CM7? 190dpi with Sprint's amount of signal bars, the bars would be 1px wide. LMAO.

That's why I dropped to 190 flat. On 190dpi with the ICS theming, the signal bars/wifi signal look perfect, just much smaller than normal.

Hmmm.. 205dpi is funny. In the first one you have full WiFi and full cell signal and a battery on charge. The next one you have no WiFi and no cell signal, with no charger connected. How far apart were those taken?

 

LOL yeah they would.

No i love CM7, Signal bars really arent that important to me But no CM7 yet for my phone :cry:

Nice nice

Hahah only a minute apart, check the times. The battery craziness is because of the charging animation it shows the % rapidly going up to 100 and then back down to your acctual % haha. And also when changing my dpi it does a soft reboot, which disconnected the Wifi and 3G/Phone for a few seconds while i took the shot

 

Except the thing with the locked bootloader. Still a lot of Motorola phones are unsupported by CM.

 

Is there a way to set it up so that responding to forum posts and emails says something like "writing to you from my android tablet" or something like that? Just to excuse the poor grammar and punctuation lol.

 

How do you guys modify DPI? Would I be able to do it with an 800*480 screen (HTC Desire) or do I need at least the qHD ones?

 

Finally got Gingerbread onto my Thunderbolt. Along with 4G added to my local area a month ago I'm fairly happy.

 

Ok, it is clearly far too early here because I'm still not getting a couple of things.

Firstly, whilst I understand that you can change the apparent density of the display, I don't get why it ships with a dpi that doesn't match up to it's ppi.

Secondly, how does lowering the dpi increase the effective resolution?
Surely to increase the effective resolution you have to increase the density as well?

I know.
I didn't say I think that Motorola's handsets are likely to get widespread CM7 support ( though the unlockable bootloader will surely help) just that they seem to be focused on rolling out official software updates in a decent time - 6 weeks for ICS is going to be pretty competitive IMO.

 

A coworkers has offered me a SGII slightly used (about a month) for $300, should I take it?

 

If you had a lesser phone I'd say do it, but I don't think that its worth it since you have a Galaxy S.

 

Absolutely, $300 is a steal even if you don't play on keeping it. As long as the screen is in perfect condition (scratches wise), and everything works as it should. You can sell it locally for $450~$500. Of if you decide to keep it, you can sell the Vibrant for $200~$250. Yes, I keep up with local prices (in our area) on a daily basis.

 

If you are in to buy my SGS I am open to offers
Thanks for the input, Ill try to get to price down to $250.

 

Lol, it'll be easy to find buyers on Kijiji if you offer it up for $200. Trust me, $300 is already a bargain price, don't risk pushing your luck.

 

Don`t worry there is no risks.
My SGS has some pretty bad dent on it though, I dropped it half a dozen times

 

It's nice, but a little too "minimal" IMO.

Could you pass me that wallpaper please?

 

Apparently all the SGSII batteries arent the same?!

http://www.amazon.com/Anker-x1900mA...urpose/dp/B0058SJ5Q4/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Emails, yes. it's right in settings in the Gmail/Email app

Forums, yes if they support Tapatalk or have an app (like XDA) NBR has neither unfortunetly

You can do it on any screen

Here you go: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.wemobs.android.lcdresolution&feature=search_result

Well DPI is how many dots are displayed per inch, PPI is pixels per inch. If it matched, I believe things would be TOO small to see. Because the density default say on my phone is 240. Thats 240% DPI. things get small at 190% DPI. Just imagine 100% dpi, it would be way too small.

Think of it the same way it works on your computer, check its DPI settings, youll see how it works The higher you make the DPI the bigger things are, the lower the smaller things are. It's because its actually based on percent. 100% is normal on laptop screens, but since phones are so small, they come defaiult at a very high % (such as 240 and 320) they just dont have the % sign when you change them on the phone for some reason, so I guess that makes it more confusing to understand.

 

Lol, 6 months ago I mentioned all these DPI changing stuff. Everyone seemed to have rejected the idea at the time (other than HAL).

¯\_(ツ _/¯

 

I know lol I didnt get it at first, I've learned now

 

What's all of your take on repairing/fixing a smartphone (android) that got dropped in a toilet and quickly grabbed? I don't know exact model of it yet, but I told my sister I would try to clean it up and see if I could get it working. I've done numerous laptops successfully, but phones are probably a different story.

 

Take out the battery and throw it in with a bag of rice, thats about the best you can do. Maybe a hair dryer but not for too long, dont wanna melt the phone.

 

Looks great thanks!

 

Been there, done that.

Seriously, follow AHL's tips, that's what you wanna do.

So I should be getting the SGS II later this week if the guy does not change his mind.
Worse case scenario; I stick with my SGS Vibrant..

 

Sounds pretty good either way Cant go wrong.

 

I'm still struggling to get my head around this pixel density thing...

With you so far...

Skip to the end...

Ok, yeah, that makes it a tad easier to understand.

However this middle bit I still don't get:

If I have a screen with 100ppi and I have my dpi set to 100(%), giving me an effective 100dpi - so a 100x100 image takes up 1" x 1".

If I then set the dpi to 200(%), that would give me an effective 200dpi - so my 100x100 image now takes up 0.5" x 0.5" surely.
But you're saying the higher the dpi percentage, the larger stuff gets.

That just seems the wrong way round to me



Sorry to ask such stupid questions, I am genuinely trying to understand this but it's not happening.

 

Same with Windows. Windows is set by default at 96dpi. Raising the DPI makes everything bigger.

As Wiki says, there's a "logical PPI" and a "physical PPI".

Try reading this and see if it makes sense. I understand it (barely) but I can't really explain it...

Dots per inch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Well if the percent goes up, it should be bigger I dont understand exactly how PPI relates to it, if it does at all.

It is odd and complex. But it definitely does work!

 

Witchcraft.

 

Microsoft devised the idea up in the 90's... so you aren't too far off.

 

Hahahah

 

This makes me pleased

 

What app are you using to graphically display your usage?

 

Android phone all have those graphs. Settings - About phone - battery use.

 

You just have to double-tap the graph to expand it up.

 

Question for the experts. If I were to unlock my Samsung Galaxy Prevail would it increase battery life? Can I uninstall programs I don't need i.e. ubersocial, Layar and others.

I actually use my smart phone for 4 things:

1) Calls
2) Voice Mail
3) Maps
4) Browser