Linux Format forums

Re: your views on android tablets/phone

AndyBaxman — Fri Apr 01, 2011 12:45 pm

Author: AndyBaxman

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 12:45 pm

The only problem with the Blade (aka Orange San Francisco) is that it has an ARMv6 processor instead of the ARMv7 jobbies in higher end phones.

This means there are a number of apps that won't ever run on it (Firefox mobile, Flash, BBC iPlayer, etc), irrespective of the version of Android as these apps depend on features in the v7 instruction set.

Re: your views on android tablets/phone

jamie_tickner — Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:18 am

Author: jamie_tickner

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:18 am

i paid �65 for my zte blade and unlocked it and added a 2.2 rom within ten mins of buying it and i love it

only criticism i have is stability issues with nearly every rom i have tried plus my gf has an android phone and has stability issues (with the phone!!) and she has not done anything to modify it so it is how it would be from the shop

Re: your views on android tablets/phone

leke — Fri Mar 25, 2011 5:16 am

Author: leke

Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 5:16 am

So the prices finally came down enough for me to afford one. I'm waiting to pick this up from the post office:
http://www.expert.fi/haku?searchtext=kendo+m7&searchmode=anyword

It's droid 2.1. The default package is apparently crap, but some hacker has released an image that fixes power and scrolling problems, gives you the official market place and grants you super user access to install pretty much anything you want.

Re: your views on android tablets/phone

nelz — Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:41 pm

Author: nelz

Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:41 pm

That's exactly why I bought a Nexus S. My Motorola Milestone was not tied to a network, but it was impossible to update by anyone but Motorola, who didn't seem interested in going beyond 2.1.

Re: your views on android tablets/phone

AndyBaxman — Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:30 am

Author: AndyBaxman

Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:30 am

The trick when buying an Android phone is to do your research. Network branded or adopted phones are best avoided as they come chock-full of uninstallable foistware and are hard (or impossible) to root or mod. You are also relying on the vendor to update the OS, which they may not do, or, if they do, it may make the phone actually worse. This is certainly the case with my Vodafone HTC Magic. They updated it to Froyo and it now runs with the speed and grace of a geriatric slug.

Probably the best bet would be one of the Google Nexus phones (either the original or the Samsung "S"). These are open by default, run vanilla Android and can easily be updated and modded by a competent amateur.

Re: your views on android tablets/phone

Robert109 — Thu Mar 24, 2011 1:20 am

Author: Robert109

Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 1:20 am

Iv only had a htc hero that i hated it with a passion so I got the dell streak...yes it was fast and seemed nice but doing some research I found out it wont be upgraded past 2.2 ...than I saw the sony experia play (psp phone) and it will be running 2.3 but again its out dated os since the new samsung 8.9 and 10 modles running android 3.0 due before the sony....
than theres silly problems like andorid apps not working well on larger screens
I loved mameo and I always wanted the nokia 900 only reason I didnt buy it was due to built quality being poor,
But hopefully even though nokia has teamed up with windows they will still be releasing 1 meego phone aka nokia 950 (not the n9)
and a meego tablet.

I wont lie I do love the apple ipad for the simpleness of it but Ill hold of till i see something with a proper linux os

Re: your views on android tablets/phone

Rhakios — Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:57 am

Author: Rhakios

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:57 am

ollie wrote:

nelz wrote:

That's not the case here, you can buy HTC phones SIM-free. They are easy to unlock too. I almost bought one, until I tried a Nexus S.

I had been told that the new HTC Desire HD was exclusive to Vodaphone world wide. You can buy the phone outright and get it unlocked but that is through the local Vodaphone dealers.

Even Amazon have it sim-free in the UK. Vodafone probably just have the exclusive rights to distribute it as a network provider.

Re: your views on android tablets/phone

ollie — Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:08 am

Author: ollie

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:08 am

nelz wrote:

That's not the case here, you can buy HTC phones SIM-free. They are easy to unlock too. I almost bought one, until I tried a Nexus S.

I had been told that the new HTC Desire HD was exclusive to Vodaphone world wide. You can buy the phone outright and get it unlocked but that is through the local Vodaphone dealers.

Re: your views on android tablets/phone

nelz — Wed Mar 16, 2011 1:02 am

Author: nelz

Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 1:02 am

There's room for both. For a lot of people, the phone as it comes is all they want. The problem for the others is knowing which are which

Re: your views on android tablets/phone

guy — Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:52 pm

Author: guy

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:52 pm

I hope the Android market flourishes long enough for Darwinian selection to weed out the loser in the battle between the TiVo-ised and crapware-laden approach and the openly rootable download-what-you-want approach.

Can't imagine which will win.

Re: your views on android tablets/phone

AndyBaxman — Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:00 am

Author: AndyBaxman

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:00 am

Anyone had any experience with this:-

http://www.eshopbrokers.co.uk/products/Mobiles-GPS/Mobile-Phones/Acer/Acer-Liquid-mt-smartphone-WCDMA-%28UMTS%29-GSM?prodid=554900

On paper it looks like excellent value.

Re: your views on android tablets/phone

bobthebob1234 — Mon Mar 14, 2011 2:03 pm

Author: bobthebob1234

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 2:03 pm

nelz wrote:

Nexus S.

Nexus S FTW!!!!

I got one and it is quicker and more responsive than win7 on my 6core 8gb ram computer!

Re: your views on android tablets/phone

nelz — Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:19 am

Author: nelz

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:19 am

That's not the case here, you can buy HTC phones SIM-free. They are easy to unlock too. I almost bought one, until I tried a Nexus S.

Re: your views on android tablets/phone

ollie — Sun Mar 13, 2011 11:38 pm

Author: ollie

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2011 11:38 pm

I've had a HTC Desire for a while now. It only took 1 week for it to be "rooted" and an alternate, updated Android installed. I use LeeDroid as available from T-Mod.org. This enabled me to get rid of the phone suppliers crap (who I don't subscribe to anyway) and still have the great HTC Sense interface.

I just wish that HTC (and the other phone manufacturers as well) would stop locking out all but one telco for each model. Surely the market would be bigger with all telcos able to supply every model. Why must you get locked into long term contracts with a telco just to get a new phone, especially when that telco has extremely poor coverage in the area I live?

Re: your views on android tablets/phone

nelz — Thu Mar 10, 2011 9:26 am

Author: nelz

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 9:26 am

The problem is not with Android or the devices, it is the manufacturers that lock down the devices to prevent upgrading. I got bitten with this one on a Motorola Milestone, which is locked down hard and only upgradable when/if Motorola deign to release an OTA update. Phones locked in by carriers too are even worse.

That's why I now have a SIM-free Nexus S - vanilla Android with no restrictions on updates.