The Verizon Wireless Megathread: Tears for tiers

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > The Verizon Wireless Megathread: Tears for tiers

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

slackerbitch posted:

I have so much hate for Verizon right now. My original Droid is on its last legs, and I'm due for an upgrade. BUT. I can't stand the Pentile screen for the Droid 3 screen, this unreleased Samsung phone is last year's Sprint phone with an LTE tacked on, and my other option for a keyboard with Android is to go back to a Droid 2.

"Decent screen," "current specs" and "physical keyboard" should not be this unbelievably difficult laundry list of requirements.

The worst thing is that T-Mobile has all kinds of keyboard phones, some of them even rocking 768 MB of RAM, which is a nice bit of future-proofing that I'd appreciate as someone with a Droid suffering from that 256-to-512 gap right now.

So my options are (1) pay an assload of money to break contract and jump ship to T-Mobile -- which has lovely coverage in the rural areas where my extended family lives, but at least has phones I want -- and lose my unlimited data in the process; (2) suck it up and get a phone I hate with Verizon and deal for the next two years without either a decent screen or a keyboard; (3) buy an unlocked phone, again, assload of money, and I feel like that rewards Verizon for not offering decent phones -- why should they bother, people will spring for their own; (4) loving wait and see if Verizon might bother getting more phones in the future and hope my Droid doesn't die in the meantime.

I had all my hopes pinned to the Droid 3, until that whole Pentile poo poo. And now the Samsung one is out. I'm tempted to pay all the money to switch just because I feel like punishing Verizon for not having better phone offerings, which is stupid and spiteful, yes, but how else are they going to realize or care that people are upset?

Wait, that's a stupid question; they're not going to realize or care anyway.

Want a Droid X for $200? I have one in prestine condition I need to sell. That would get you over the hump until whenever Verizon gets a decent phone again.

# ? Jul 20, 2011 06:30

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# ? May 10, 2024 11:28

kbar: Aug 9, 2002

I (still) think the Samsung phones get too much unfair hate. Since they ditched PenTile for the Droid Charge and presumably for its keyboard variant, you're getting the best screen on the market -- that's a given. The SGS guts are last year's, but they're good enough for the Nexus S which is probably still the best all-around phone on any carrier right now (though admittedly, the Samsung-label versions of the device still need a lot of software work, which will come with time). Pretty much any game you throw at this hardware is going to run well because of the GPU on the SoC. And while I can feel your pain on the RAM issue, I don't see the 512 MB limit realistically being a crisis anytime soon. The market's virtually flooded with 512MB phones: we've had 512MB options since the Nexus One and with this high of an install base and this many phones still selling with 512, it seems safe to expect (even if it's via community ROMs) that we'll have enough memory to do what you need to do for awhile longer.

But personally, I don't care about that poo poo the most: as long as the phone's responsive and doesn't feel horribly dated next to dual core offerings (which are incidentally all trainwrecks right now), I'm happy enough. I'm apparently a tiny niche case and part of the 0.001% (or whatever) people that does actually care about the quality of the internal DAC in my smartphone. As it stands today, the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S phones running Voodoo Sound are the only smartphones I've tried that sound good with decent, high-impedance earphones. The SGS phones use a Wolfson WM8994 DAC, and apparently everyone else (Apple excepted) uses actual physical pigshit -- including Samsung itself on the SGS II, which is a real heartbreaker.

The ROM situation is pretty sparse on the Droid Charge right now and I'm bummed that it doesn't include the 16GB of internal storage along with the microSD slot like the HSPA/HSPA+ variants of the SGS, but this poo poo is still easily as good as it gets: best screen possible, best audio fidelity possible, LTE, solid gaming performance, and a decent CPU that you can push harder with an overclock.

The real crime here is that Verizon's getting away with pushing the phone for about $150 more than it's worth (given the hardware's age) simply because they're intentionally overcharging for anything LTE. Then again, these loving Verizon phones depreciate at monster speeds. You'd probably be better off waiting to sign your contract until new iPhone day and flipping an iPhone 5 to buy a QWERTY Droid Charge secondhand (which should have a market value of literally 9 dollars by then, judging historical Verizon smartphone depreciation precedent).

Current versions of Android don't really capitalize on dual-core, and there's a lot of whispering that Tegra2 isn't as great as people thought it would be. If that rumored Ice Cream Sandwich "Nexus 4G" with LTE and the supposed 720p display somehow hits Verizon in December, all the rest of this poo poo is going to look pretty fuckin' bush league anyway.

Get the lovely LTE Samsung phone, just don't blow a subsidy on it.

kbar fucked around with this message at 06:40 on Jul 20, 2011

# ? Jul 20, 2011 06:35

MidasAg: Oct 28, 2007; The Man of Silver

So is anyone else having issues with the clock app on an Incredible 2 after the GB update? Wife's alarm won't even pull up now and some quick reading online is blaming the update. Any way to downgrade or fix without doing a factory reset. A little pissed as we've had the phone for less than 2 weeks so far.

# ? Jul 20, 2011 07:28

Aurium: Oct 10, 2010

slackerbitch posted:

I have so much hate for Verizon right now. My original Droid is on its last legs, and I'm due for an upgrade. BUT. I can't stand the Pentile screen for the Droid 3 screen, this unreleased Samsung phone is last year's Sprint phone with an LTE tacked on, and my other option for a keyboard with Android is to go back to a Droid 2.

"Decent screen," "current specs" and "physical keyboard" should not be this unbelievably difficult laundry list of requirements.

The worst thing is that T-Mobile has all kinds of keyboard phones, some of them even rocking 768 MB of RAM, which is a nice bit of future-proofing that I'd appreciate as someone with a Droid suffering from that 256-to-512 gap right now.

So my options are (1) pay an assload of money to break contract and jump ship to T-Mobile -- which has lovely coverage in the rural areas where my extended family lives, but at least has phones I want -- and lose my unlimited data in the process; (2) suck it up and get a phone I hate with Verizon and deal for the next two years without either a decent screen or a keyboard; (3) buy an unlocked phone, again, assload of money, and I feel like that rewards Verizon for not offering decent phones -- why should they bother, people will spring for their own; (4) loving wait and see if Verizon might bother getting more phones in the future and hope my Droid doesn't die in the meantime.

I had all my hopes pinned to the Droid 3, until that whole Pentile poo poo. And now the Samsung one is out. I'm tempted to pay all the money to switch just because I feel like punishing Verizon for not having better phone offerings, which is stupid and spiteful, yes, but how else are they going to realize or care that people are upset?

Wait, that's a stupid question; they're not going to realize or care anyway.

While the mytouch 4g is definitely a better offering than any of verizon's keyboard offerings, if you're okay with the G2, you do have an option.

Verizon sort of launched their own G2 analog. It's only available though third parties, and frankly, it's near impossible to find online. You could try a best buy, verizon's press release mentions them by name. Best buy's website doesn't seem to list it though.

Of course, it's binged and, considering how rare info is on it, is extremely unloved. But if your heart is set on a G2 analog on verizon, there you have it.

As an aside, did you look at the D3 screen, or did you just hear it's pentile and go "that's poo poo." It is not the same pentile arrangement as the SGS1. Now, it still bothers some people, and I'm not saying that it won't bother you, but if you haven't actually looked at it you should.

Fake edit: I looked at your previous post and how you disliked the droidx2 screen and said the pixels were very noticeable. The D3 and the Dx2 do have similar screens with the same resolution, but as the D3 has a smaller screen it will also have smaller pixels.

# ? Jul 20, 2011 07:53

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

Here's another sign that the Bionic may be very close to release, Netflix has added support for it (along with the Droid 3.)

# ? Jul 20, 2011 13:35

dominator: Oct 1, 2003; Load Emotion File Happy_Human.bin
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bull3964 posted:

Here's another sign that the Bionic may be very close to release, Netflix has added support for it (along with the Droid 3.)

I dunno about that, user trial still hasn't started for it and those usually go for a month or so? I guess since its so similar to the D3/Atrix they could shorten the testing to two weeks maybe? That would be a pretty big mistake, especially with it being their first LTE phone.

dominator fucked around with this message at 14:10 on Jul 20, 2011

# ? Jul 20, 2011 14:02

Rap Game Goku: Apr 2, 2008; Word to your moms, I came to drop spirit bombs

dominator posted:

I dunno about that, user trial still hasn't started for it and those usually go for a month or so? I guess since its so similar to the D3/Atrix they could shorten the testing to two weeks maybe? That would be a pretty big mistake, especially with it being their first LTE phone.

I don't think the actual app has updated. The market just updated which phones it was compatible with. The "What's new" just says it adds support for Gingerbread and the Droid X; and nothing about the other new phones.

EDIT: It definitely hasn't, the market still shows 1.2.2 while the overview has 1.3.

Rap Game Goku fucked around with this message at 14:43 on Jul 20, 2011

# ? Jul 20, 2011 14:30

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

dominator posted:

I dunno about that, user trial still hasn't started for it and those usually go for a month or so? I guess since its so similar to the D3/Atrix they could shorten the testing to two weeks maybe? That would be a pretty big mistake, especially with it being their first LTE phone.

There has just been so much evidence around the Aug 4th date right now. Multiple computer systems have shown it as the arrival day. Also, 3rd party suppliers are starting to get their accessories in for it.

I'm not sure why you saying it isn't in user trials, there are certainly people on howardforums that have been using the phone for weeks.

Athenry posted:

I don't think the actual app has updated. The market just updated which phones it was compatible with. The "What's new" just says it adds support for Gingerbread and the Droid X; and nothing about the other new phones.

EDIT: It definitely hasn't, the market still shows 1.2.2 while the overview has 1.3.

Yeah, the app on the market hasn't been updated yet. There are a ton of people trying to install it on the Charge and Thunderbolt and it still doesn't work for them. I would suspect the app will be updated sometime today though.

bull3964 fucked around with this message at 14:59 on Jul 20, 2011

# ? Jul 20, 2011 14:52

ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

kalibar posted:

Since they ditched PenTile for the Droid Charge and presumably for its keyboard variant, you're getting the best screen on the market -- that's a given.

I agree with your hardware assessment. Although I do understand folks' disappointment with the SGSII having been out in Europe for sometime now and yet the US carriers are still getting SGS offshoots. The SGSII is a better phone, aside from the shat DAC.

kalibar posted:

(though admittedly, the Samsung-label versions of the device still need a lot of software work, which will come with time).

That's the thing, the software side is no guarantee. The SGS I9000 ended up being The Little Phone That Could, in that despite its Samsung retardedness, it had a stellar development community the pushed the capabilities of its hardware (e.g., supercurio and his voodoo poo poo) and even eventually got official CyanogenMod 7.1 support going. Fortunately, the GSM/UMTS US offshoots were similar enough that the fruits of that labor carried over reasonably well.

But CDMA Samsung is, just, different. So far it's been one-off devices that have been reasonably different from each other and the GSM/UMTS variants, somewhat hardware, but particularly software wise. The development communities are much smaller due to being limited to a single US carrier, and while some devices (Fascinate) have done better than others (Continuum, Indulge, etc.) it's pretty much a crapshoot.

If the Fascinate, Charge, and "Slider" communities can come together and make ROMs and poo poo that work on all three, it might be alright. But if "Slider" ends up like the Epic with mass xda forum drama and an incomprehensible set of ROMs, it's going to be frustrating. Or it could end up being neglected entirely.

Also, there's an amusing irony if "Slider" ships with the Epic's hosed keyboard driver. What was the point of punting on the Bionic (yeah yeah, screen, DAC) if the only hardware keyboard LTE option doesn't actually let you type?

ExcessBLarg! fucked around with this message at 14:59 on Jul 20, 2011

# ? Jul 20, 2011 14:57

dominator: Oct 1, 2003; Load Emotion File Happy_Human.bin
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bull3964 posted:

I'm not sure why you saying it isn't in user trials, there are certainly people on howardforums that have been using the phone for weeks.

Because I'm supposed to be in the trial and don't have my phone yet :mad:

# ? Jul 20, 2011 15:08

Bizarro Kanyon: Jan 3, 2007; Something Awful, so easy even a spaceman can do it!

dominator posted:

Because I'm supposed to be in the trial and don't have my phone yet

How does a person get into user trials? I have always wondered.

# ? Jul 20, 2011 15:45

dominator: Oct 1, 2003; Load Emotion File Happy_Human.bin
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Bizarro Kanyon posted:

How does a person get into user trials? I have always wondered.

As far as I am aware you have to know somebody at the company and be sponsored. At least thats how it goes at Motorola.

# ? Jul 20, 2011 16:05

tismondo: Dec 14, 2005; Take that, subspace!

bull3964 posted:

I'm not sure why you saying it isn't in user trials, there are certainly people on howardforums that have been using the phone for weeks.

I couldn't find a single thing about it in the android thread. Could you possibly summarize what they're saying or point me in the right direction? I'm curious to see what pre-release opinion is.

# ? Jul 20, 2011 19:34

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

tismondo posted:

I couldn't find a single thing about it in the android thread. Could you possibly summarize what they're saying or point me in the right direction? I'm curious to see what pre-release opinion is.

No one is saying anything because they are under NDAs, we just know that people are using the device.

In other news, netflix finally updated the app to match the description. So, Droid Charge, Thunderbolt, D2, D3, DX2, and Bionic (when it's released) can all use netflix now directly from the market.

This also adds support for the Lenovo Honeycomb tablet so I'm hoping that the ripped APK will finally work on the Xoom.

# ? Jul 20, 2011 19:49

AppleCobbler: Feb 8, 2003; remember that time I was just chilling out and definitely not having a massive meltdown? right guys? guys???

http://twitter.com/!/MDB228

The Bionic's Twitter posted:

The future will cost you. Take precautions.

# ? Jul 20, 2011 20:26

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

AppleCobbler posted:

http://twitter.com/!/MDB228

I'm pretty sure everyone thinks that's a fake account.

They are probably trying to goad moto or verizon into giving us some real info by just spreading rumors.

# ? Jul 20, 2011 21:20

LaptopGun: Sep 2, 2006; All I'm going to get out of him is a snappy one-liner and, if I'm real lucky, a brand new nickname.

I'm glad netflix is on more phones. Does anyone know if Netflix requires the most recent free mobile hotspot-killing update? I ask because I never updated (still trying to figure out if I use the hotspot enough to pay for it). I was overjoyed to be able to install netflix, but was disappointed to discover it didn't play movies. Probably because the right Drm is in that cursed update. Thanks

Edit: Update, I'm just impatient. Netflix pushed another update and now the Thunderbolt is indeed on the Netflix bandwagon. Crisis averted.

LaptopGun fucked around with this message at 01:24 on Jul 21, 2011

# ? Jul 20, 2011 23:11

Ernie Luckman: May 2, 2007; Same as it ever was.

Scipiotik posted:

Time to wrap the droid in bubble wrap and find a religion that works well for keeping cell phones running.

Heh. Wanna talk about bubble wrap and prayer? I'm still using my Samsung Omnia SCH-i910 circa 2009 waiting for that elusive perfect smartphone to come out....

Old cell phones aside, has anyone successfully gone from unlimited on a 3G to unlimited on a 4G post 7/7? I know a lot of people said, all signs pointing to this being doable, but i was wondering if anyone has actually done this since the big day. I'm looking to do this....eventually.

# ? Jul 21, 2011 03:05

jfreder: Feb 27, 2008

Ernie Luckman posted:

Heh. Wanna talk about bubble wrap and prayer? I'm still using my Samsung Omnia SCH-i910 circa 2009 waiting for that elusive perfect smartphone to come out....

Old cell phones aside, has anyone successfully gone from unlimited on a 3G to unlimited on a 4G post 7/7? I know a lot of people said, all signs pointing to this being doable, but i was wondering if anyone has actually done this since the big day. I'm looking to do this....eventually.

My sister did today with no issues.

# ? Jul 21, 2011 03:15

Ernie Luckman: May 2, 2007; Same as it ever was.

Cool, thanks!

# ? Jul 21, 2011 15:11

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

Looks like some stores are setting up displays with the X2, Droid 3, and a "coming soon" spot.

Seems pretty unlikely that the display would be going up so soon if the Bionic was still a month away.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 05:42

Endor: Aug 15, 2001

Flyboy925 posted:

Any good recommendations for a case for the thunderbolt. Nothing bulky. I dropped it yesterday on concrete stairs when I tripped, and winged the corner. Now I'm looking for a case.

I switch between two Thunderbolt cases and naked (with a screen protector) depending on my mood.

http://store.androidcentral.com/mobi-products-hard-shell-case/4A123A8207.htm

This one is nice and smooth, slides in and out of the pocket easily, not too bulky. The deep red color version is pretty sweet. Quite thin.

Also have the Seido Surface case in Burgandy: http://store.androidcentral.com/seidio-surface-case/4A123A8059.htm

The Seido is a bit pricy at $28, but I got mine on sale for about $12 which was a much better deal. It has some interior lining to keep the phone's main case from scratching with basic use, but is a bit thicker and "stickier" in your pocket. However, the benefit of "stickier" is that it's less likely to fall out of your hand accidentally.

And if you don't care about the exterior black case getting scratched, a simple screen protector will keep your screen safe while staying as thin as possible. I still hate applying screen protectors though, I always get a drat piece of lint stuck under the fuckers no matter how careful I try to be, and if you don't get the application right on the first time, you may as well throw it away and flush $5-10 down the toilet.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 06:11

MidasAg: Oct 28, 2007; The Man of Silver

Thanks for the response. I already scratched my screen too, so now I'm doubly pissed that I didn't put a screen protector on earlier, or a case. Got a screen protector on there now, and a case real soon.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 07:09

AlexDeGruven: Jun 29, 2007; Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box

So it looks like it's official policy now for Tier2 support to offer you a different phone if you're experiencing missed calls/VMs with no ring on your Fascinate.

I've been seeing this randomly, so I went ahead and took advantage of it. My Charge will be here on Monday.

Since I spend most of my time between the Ann Arbor and Flint areas, it will be nice, since LTE is turned on (speed tests run between 10-22Mbit from what I've seen) in both.

The options on offer are: Charge, Incredible2, and X2.

Edit: If you're thinking of doing this, do it quickly. Samsung has promised a fix at the end of this month, and if they DO manage to get it out the door (yeah, right. I've heard the "We've got an update coming soon that will fix this" line before), then the offer will be pulled (until it's shown that the problem still persists).

# ? Jul 22, 2011 15:33

Codiusprime: Mar 17, 2006

AlexDeGruven posted:

So it looks like it's official policy now for Tier2 support to offer you a different phone if you're experiencing missed calls/VMs with no ring on your Fascinate.

I've been seeing this randomly, so I went ahead and took advantage of it. My Charge will be here on Monday.

Since I spend most of my time between the Ann Arbor and Flint areas, it will be nice, since LTE is turned on (speed tests run between 10-22Mbit from what I've seen) in both.

The options on offer are: Charge, Incredible2, and X2.

Edit: If you're thinking of doing this, do it quickly. Samsung has promised a fix at the end of this month, and if they DO manage to get it out the door (yeah, right. I've heard the "We've got an update coming soon that will fix this" line before), then the offer will be pulled (until it's shown that the problem still persists).

I can't decide whether to do this.

Also I doubt I'm even eligible as I bought my phone off of ebay.

It might be worth a try though as I've actually had the missed call issue a few times. What exactly do you have to say.

Edit: well, got the ball rolling. Called tech support and she had me update my antenna stuff and gave me a number to call if it didn't work, tier 2 I assume.

It's hard for me to pass up dual core but the Incredible 2 seems to have a nice development community good. X2 or Inc2 what do y'all think? If it's even possible.

This decision would be so much easier if I didn't just get my Fascinate to my complete liking.

Codiusprime fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Jul 22, 2011

# ? Jul 22, 2011 15:53

jfreder: Feb 27, 2008

Codiusprime posted:

I can't decide whether to do this.

Also I doubt I'm even eligible as I bought my phone off of ebay.

It might be worth a try though as I've actually had the missed call issue a few times. What exactly do you have to say.

Edit: well, got the ball rolling. Called tech support and she had me update my antenna stuff and gave me a number to call if it didn't work, tier 2 I assume.

It's hard for me to pass up dual core but the Incredible 2 seems to have a nice development community good. X2 or Inc2 what do y'all think? If it's even possible.

Droid-Life tweeted yesterday that 2nd-init was coming soon for the X2 which would enable CM7/MIUI on it. I am not really aware of the state of things for the Inc2 but you say the development community is decent. Personally I'd get an X2 but that's because I'm pretty happy with my X (even though I can't run CM7 because the froyo kernel causes me to have constant reboots) plus dual core and I've gotten used to a 4.3" screen.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 16:40

AlexDeGruven: Jun 29, 2007; Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box

jfreder posted:

Droid-Life tweeted yesterday that 2nd-init was coming soon for the X2 which would enable CM7/MIUI on it. I am not really aware of the state of things for the Inc2 but you say the development community is decent. Personally I'd get an X2 but that's because I'm pretty happy with my X (even though I can't run CM7 because the froyo kernel causes me to have constant reboots) plus dual core and I've gotten used to a 4.3" screen.

No FFC and locked bootloader immediately put the X2 out of the running. I like the DInc2, and was actually set on getting it, but as soon as I saw the non-pentile SAMOLED+ on the Charge my brain melted and I knew there was only one decision that could possibly have been made.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 17:00

Codiusprime: Mar 17, 2006

jfreder posted:

Droid-Life tweeted yesterday that 2nd-init was coming soon for the X2 which would enable CM7/MIUI on it. I am not really aware of the state of things for the Inc2 but you say the development community is decent. Personally I'd get an X2 but that's because I'm pretty happy with my X (even though I can't run CM7 because the froyo kernel causes me to have constant reboots) plus dual core and I've gotten used to a 4.3" screen.

Called up and talked to the nicest guy. My X2 should be here Monday. I'm super excited and my fiance is super bitter, she is still using her OG Droid waiting on her X to get fixed.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 17:02

Codiusprime: Mar 17, 2006

AlexDeGruven posted:

No FFC and locked bootloader immediately put the X2 out of the running. I like the DInc2, and was actually set on getting it, but as soon as I saw the non-pentile SAMOLED+ on the Charge my brain melted and I knew there was only one decision that could possibly have been made.

They didn't actually offer me a Charge, I wasn't going to push it though. The guy I was talking to was really knowledgeable though so I just played dumb. Plus he offered it to me first thing. I hate Samsung less, he made it sound like I had them to thank for my new phone.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 17:14

jfreder: Feb 27, 2008

I have no use for a front facing camera so that wasn't real important to me. For what it's worth, Droid-Life has now said that the X2 has full 2nd-Init support.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 17:28

AlexDeGruven: Jun 29, 2007; Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box

Codiusprime posted:

They didn't actually offer me a Charge, I wasn't going to push it though. The guy I was talking to was really knowledgeable though so I just played dumb. Plus he offered it to me first thing. I hate Samsung less, he made it sound like I had them to thank for my new phone.

Ahh... My tech actually recommended the Charge because 4G is lit up in both of the areas I spend most of my time in (Ann Arbor and Flint)

# ? Jul 22, 2011 17:31

Codiusprime: Mar 17, 2006

jfreder posted:

I have no use for a front facing camera so that wasn't real important to me. For what it's worth, Droid-Life has now said that the X2 has full 2nd-Init support.

gently caress. Yes.

This rules and makes me pretty happy with my Choice. Yea FFC is of little use to me right now.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 17:32

AlexDeGruven: Jun 29, 2007; Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box

Codiusprime posted:

Yea FFC is of little use to me right now.

I have young kids, so the FFC is perfect for when I go away on training or to CES/E3.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 17:32

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

I would like to say right now that I really wish it was easier to use a data device "sometimes" on Verizon.

I have a Verizon Xoom. I wouldn't have bought the one with the cellular radio in it, except that I managed to get it for the wifi version's price. I don't know why they don't make it easier to add and suspend service on the device on an as needed basis.

99% of the time I use it on Wifi and have no use for cell data on it. But, if I was going on a longer roadtrip or taking a vacation, I could easily want data enabled on the device. Too bad right now they assume you either want it always or don't want it at all. Yeah, you can go through the trouble of suspending service after you establish it, but it's not really something that's all that user friendly.

I just don't know why I can't have the device associated with my VZW account with the ability to just prepay data for a specified period. I would kill to be able to just click once, buy like 2gb of data for $30 to use on the device while on vacation for a week, and then just have it stop working once the data is used up.

I know in their minds they want people on a constant data plan, but I really think they are losing out a lot on the market. I'm not ever going to use the data feature on the device because it's not easy to do so for occasional use. As it stands, I'll probably just end up using the mobile hotspot feature on the phone to supply the Xoom with data which is really just fine, but I would rather not have the extra battery drain on the phone.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 17:40

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

Since no one has brought it up, Amazon has given us the best look of the Bionic so far.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B005C31EKA/ref=dp_otherviews_z_1?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&img=1

I'm digging it. I'm also digging the fact that it does NOT have the center power button that the X2 and the Droid 3 have. Off to the one side is much better.

So, we have the car and desk dock on amazon, displays are going up in verizon stores, the manual goes public on the FCC website on Aug 7th.

I think the Aug 4th date is a pretty good bet at this point.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 18:04

wandler20: Nov 13, 2002; How many Championships?

bull3964 posted:

I would like to say right now that I really wish it was easier to use a data device "sometimes" on Verizon.

I have a Verizon Xoom. I wouldn't have bought the one with the cellular radio in it, except that I managed to get it for the wifi version's price. I don't know why they don't make it easier to add and suspend service on the device on an as needed basis.

99% of the time I use it on Wifi and have no use for cell data on it. But, if I was going on a longer roadtrip or taking a vacation, I could easily want data enabled on the device. Too bad right now they assume you either want it always or don't want it at all. Yeah, you can go through the trouble of suspending service after you establish it, but it's not really something that's all that user friendly.

I just don't know why I can't have the device associated with my VZW account with the ability to just prepay data for a specified period. I would kill to be able to just click once, buy like 2gb of data for $30 to use on the device while on vacation for a week, and then just have it stop working once the data is used up.

I know in their minds they want people on a constant data plan, but I really think they are losing out a lot on the market. I'm not ever going to use the data feature on the device because it's not easy to do so for occasional use. As it stands, I'll probably just end up using the mobile hotspot feature on the phone to supply the Xoom with data which is really just fine, but I would rather not have the extra battery drain on the phone.

I couldn't agree more with you. I was on the road for about 20 hours over the past week and I would have loved to have my Xoom activated but it's just too much of a hassle to get it activated. If they did what you suggested I think they would sell more and get plenty of business.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 18:10

wandler20: Nov 13, 2002; How many Championships?

So what's the deal with the Samsung Galaxy II for Verizon? I haven't heard much lately so I don't if it's worth waiting for with the Bionic right around the corner.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 18:11

jfreder: Feb 27, 2008

wandler20 posted:

So what's the deal with the Samsung Galaxy II for Verizon? I haven't heard much lately so I don't if it's worth waiting for with the Bionic right around the corner.

No one knows anything about it or if it's coming or whether or not it will have 4G (most people think it won't). The most that's know is that the SGII should show up in the US in August.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 18:13

bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

I doubt it will have 4G and I bet it doesn't show up till around thanksgiving on Verizon where it will be nothing special by that point.

Really, aside from the screen, I can't think of a compelling reason to get a GSII over the Bionic anyways. The new blur is so much better than touchwiz and Moto actually seems to know what they are doing with CDMA devices (unlike Samsung.)

# ? Jul 22, 2011 18:18

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# ? May 10, 2024 11:28

Kyrosiris: May 24, 2006; You try to be happy when everyone is summoning you everywhere to "be their friend".

bull3964 posted:

Since no one has brought it up, Amazon has given us the best look of the Bionic so far.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B005C31EKA/ref=dp_otherviews_z_1?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&img=1

I'm digging it. I'm also digging the fact that it does NOT have the center power button that the X2 and the Droid 3 have. Off to the one side is much better.

Hrm, seems to be 404-ing.

# ? Jul 22, 2011 18:51

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > The Verizon Wireless Megathread: Tears for tiers

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