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View Full Version : Which Android device to get? Phone/Tablet/PMP



MetalMusicAddict
January 3rd, 2011, 01:49 AM
Ok, so I fingered to death my brother-in-laws Droid X over the weekend and it rocks. But, Motorola are locking their phones down so folks can't tinker. (at least for now :P)

So I'd like to know opinions from fellow Ubuntu users on what Android phones they have and their pros/cons. (including price)


Man I want one. Even if just for the XBMC remote. :D

gmenfan83
January 3rd, 2011, 02:54 AM
Ok, so I fingered to death my brother-in-laws Droid X over the weekend and it rocks. But, Motorola are locking their phones down so folks can't tinker. (at least for now :P)

So I'd like to know opinions from fellow Ubuntu users on what Android phones they have and their pros/cons. (including price)


Man I want one. Even if just for the XBMC remote. :D
let me tell you man i have a droid x since its release and although the bootloader is locked the devs release some major nice roms ....its not even an issue really...the dev following is amazing and i have had mine rooted and overclocked running roms since the begginning,,,my dx experience has been great...that being said if i were you i would wait until about febuary or march ,,there are a few really nice devices coming out in the next wave of releases that feature dual core processors and hopefully an open bootloader and even lte(suppossed 4g).....if i were you i would wait ....htc thunderbolt and nexus s are two of the big dogs to be released and i will be upgrading when they hit stores:guitar:

IWantFroyo
January 3rd, 2011, 03:10 AM
Android is a pretty good OS all right. A normal phone works quite well for anything you'd care to do with android. I have a htc Aria (a tiny little thingamabob) and it does everything perfectly except for the occasional lag on Angry Birds. Look into Galaxy S or Nexus. Just STAY AWAY FROM AT&T!!! They limit 3rd party apps, so you'd have to root the phone (voiding the warranty) to get any apps not in the android market. HTC is a very good brand, if you're okay with not getting the latest updates (we're still on 2.1, though 2.4 is already coming out in April...).

LMP900
January 3rd, 2011, 03:16 AM
Just STAY AWAY FROM AT&T!!! They limit 3rd party apps, so you'd have to root the phone (voiding the warranty) to get any apps not in the android market

No need to root as Android Central provides the Sideload Wonder Machine (http://www.androidcentral.com/sideload-android-apps-all-you-want-sideload-wonder-machine) for AT&T phones. Have a look at their site, it's an excellent resource for Android owners. Personally, I'd wait until after CES before getting an Android device. There will be several new product announcements soon.

maddbaron
January 3rd, 2011, 06:03 AM
I had a G1 and have a Droid 1 and honestly Android is better as a phone without carrier interference but now thats not going to happen. So for me I'm waiting for the Samsung pmp, Samsung's are easy to root... I'm likely going to leave android as my phone b/c the carriers can't seem to keep their hands off it with the crapware, on some verizon android phones they use bing and have no google services...at&t too...only sprint and tmobile seem ok with having pure android phones but my contract is up in nov so that may change...i'm going to wait until nov and decide if i will jump ship, windows phone 7 is looking appealing maybe webOS or trustly blackberry....my general feeling is this smart phone OSes are better in pmp's and tablets, they use soo much power the phones barely last 12 hours on one charge...and carriers are getting insane tryin to turn everything into a smartphone..tmobile has less than 6 regular phones everything else is a smartphone that requires an additional data plan even sprint has hinted they may follow that model in the future...i love android with the carriers mucking up the works if u want the best experience get a pmp or tablet....

Matthewthegreat
January 3rd, 2011, 06:19 AM
I would recommend not getting any android phone right now because duel-core phones are right around the corner. You don't want any buyer's remorse, do you? ;)

3rdalbum
January 3rd, 2011, 07:25 AM
I would recommend not getting any android phone right now because duel-core phones are right around the corner. You don't want any buyer's remorse, do you? ;)

Everything is just around the corner. By the time dual-core Android phones are commonplace, there will be Android 3 "around the corner".

Buy your phone unlocked and not from a carrier. Otherwise you will regret it!

Lucradia
January 3rd, 2011, 08:05 AM
If you just use an android system for checking websites, and have a landline and dedicated computer at home; I suggest the Galaxy tab, or other good Android tablet (Retail price.)

This will run you over 500 USD because the tablet alone is pretty expensive. But it's worth it if you go to places (IE: Libraries) with unsecured wireless networks.

Trolen
January 3rd, 2011, 10:49 AM
Samsung Galaxy 3 - 220 $ (200 EURO)

jperez
January 3rd, 2011, 11:27 AM
I'm surprised the all Linux Nokia N900 wasn't mentioned. It's open (sans a few proprietary features such as phone software, etc.) and it's based on Debian.

Detailed info is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N900

Community for it is currently trying to port over the new MeeGo OS to the N900 to keep it going since Nokia basically abandoned Maemo on this phone not very long after it was released. It's a shame too since the OS is very nice, fast and customizable.

Jesse~

ukripper
January 3rd, 2011, 11:41 AM
I'm surprised the all Linux Nokia N900 wasn't mentioned. It's open (sans a few proprietary features such as phone software, etc.) and it's based on Debian.

Detailed info is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N900

Community for it is currently trying to port over the new MeeGo OS to the N900 to keep it going since Nokia basically abandoned Maemo on this phone not very long after it was released. It's a shame too since the OS is very nice, fast and customizable.

Jesse~

Nokia should have done what google has done with android. Releasing one linux phone won't encourage the crowd.

jperez
January 3rd, 2011, 11:58 AM
Nokia should have done what google has done with android. Releasing one linux phone won't encourage the crowd.

You're right. Our community wished Nokia had made more phones this way, but they didn't. They had the tablets before then turned it into a phone and just kinda dropped it. We're HOPING that with MeeGo they'll fix their mistake and actually make more phones with MeeGo instead of just one, but only time will tell. I really hope they won't pull this rather stupid stunt ever again.

Still, when it comes to open, this phone is quite open, more than an Android phone, by far. Just sucks that the OS was dead before it even was released...

Jesse~

TeoBigusGeekus
January 3rd, 2011, 12:00 PM
Proud owner of an HTC Desire. Highly recommended!

Lucradia
January 3rd, 2011, 05:53 PM
If you just use an android system for checking websites, and have a landline and dedicated computer at home; I suggest the Galaxy tab, or other good Android tablet (Retail price.)

This will run you over 500 USD because the tablet alone is pretty expensive. But it's worth it if you go to places (IE: Libraries) with unsecured wireless networks.

To expand on this, it may be a good idea to wait for Vizio's tablet:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20026964-1.html

Unlike the Galaxy Tab (or any Tablet so far actually), it features Wireless-N and an 8 inch screen.

MetalMusicAddict
January 3rd, 2011, 11:59 PM
Thanx for all the opinions guys! Very helpful. :)

I should mention that I don't need whatever Android device I get to be a phone. If the device I settle on is a phone, great. But I think most of my use will be over wi-fi on a home network.

Kinda a laptop replacement. Basic browsing, SSH, controlling XBMC and MPD. Maybe some kinda of IRC/IM'ing. (like Pidgin for Android or something) I definitely want access to the full Android market.

Thanx again.

Lucradia
January 4th, 2011, 12:23 AM
Thanx for all the opinions guys! Very helpful. :)

I should mention that I don't need whatever Android device I get to be a phone. If the device I settle on is a phone, great. But I think most of my use will be over wi-fi on a home network.

Kinda a laptop replacement. Basic browsing, SSH, controlling XBMC and MPD. Maybe some kinda of IRC/IM'ing. (like Pidgin for Android or something) I definitely want access to the full Android market.

Thanx again.

Then you'll want an android tablet without a 3G thing.

MetalMusicAddict
January 4th, 2011, 12:47 AM
To expand on this, it may be a good idea to wait for Vizio's tablet:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20026964-1.html

Unlike the Galaxy Tab (or any Tablet so far actually), it features Wireless-N and an 8 inch screen.

That looks nice. I'll keep an eye out. ;)

I also saw the Cowon D3 (http://anythingbutipod.com/2010/12/cowon-d3-specs) which seems nice. But I don't know if Cowon is going the Archos route with the app store. (ie: their own limited store)

Price will ultimately be the big thing. I wanna try to stay ~$400US.

gnomeuser
January 4th, 2011, 01:24 AM
I just replaced my piece of crap N900 (and trust me, it really is an expensive unsupported broken brick that fails at even the most menial of tasks) with the Samsung Galaxy S. I really wanted to get the Nexus S but nobody here would order it home nor were any cellcos planning to put it on an affordable subsidy plan.

Regardless it is a really sexy device, the major detractor is that at least in Denmark there are no OTA and the only way to use the official updates is through a Windows-only application which works very poorly.

Luckily there is an active community producing ROMs for the phone, currently I am using Darkyy's ROM and it works very well. Installation was simply downloading two zip files, put them on the phone and restart the phone with a special button combination. Much simpler than the official way.

Lucradia
January 4th, 2011, 03:24 AM
That looks nice. I'll keep an eye out. ;)

I also saw the Cowon D3 (http://anythingbutipod.com/2010/12/cowon-d3-specs) which seems nice. But I don't know if Cowon is going the Archos route with the app store. (ie: their own limited store)

Price will ultimately be the big thing. I wanna try to stay ~$400US.

I should note the Archos is just a cheap-o Best Buy alternative to Galaxy Tab, it should be avoided until more name brands get their tablets out (The Dell "tablet" isn't even a tablet.)

Also note, Galaxy Tab has Wireless-N, it's just not advertised as such on websites like Best Buy. (Though, if it has Wireless-A, it can connect to Wireless-N, albiet slower.)

neoargon
January 4th, 2011, 04:35 AM
Which phone brands provide the updates in time? . As soon as when google release an update ?.

Lucradia
January 4th, 2011, 05:10 AM
Which phone brands provide the updates in time? . As soon as when google release an update ?.

Most phone brands lag behind Google's update on android sadly. I've seen people complain and force-unlock their Droid X phones, voiding their ability to get official updates (and unable to install future un-official updates due to the complexity of the update process.)

Some "new" phones still run Android 1.5 or older even.

Droid X = Verizon

Carondimonio
January 4th, 2011, 10:11 AM
I've got this device a few days ago:
Witstech A81G (http://www.merimobiles.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MERI0544&Click=3102).

So far I'm pretty pleased with it and there's quite an active community supporting this device. The touchscreen is resistive and doesn't support multitouch, but I can live with it. A big plus (at least for me) in comparison to the majority of tablets out there is the removable battery.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not affiliated in any way or form to the website above.

AllRadioisDead
January 4th, 2011, 10:41 AM
OP, why are you looking to get a new phone now, CES is in 2 days.



Android is a pretty good OS all right. A normal phone works quite well for anything you'd care to do with android. I have a htc Aria (a tiny little thingamabob) and it does everything perfectly except for the occasional lag on Angry Birds.
The HTC Aria isn't a very powerful phone, and that's why your'e experiencing lag, it's the same thing with my old hero.


Look into Galaxy S or Nexus. Just STAY AWAY FROM AT&T!!! They limit 3rd party apps, so you'd have to root the phone (voiding the warranty) to get any apps not in the android market.
>>Buying an android phone
>>Not rooting it
You're doing it wrong.


HTC is a very good brand, if you're okay with not getting the latest updates (we're still on 2.1, though 2.4 is already coming out in April...).

HTC pushes updates just fine, the Aria is an older device that's pretty low end compared to the current generation and I'm surprised it's getting 2.2 at all. Not because it can't handle it, but because it's old. HTC wouldn't push 2.2 for the Hero, yet it runs smoother than 2.1 on my device. Custom ROM's are also usually highly optimized so they perform better than stock firmware any day. In short, if you want froyo, do it yourself. I can't imagine what I'd being doing right now if I was still waiting for Samsung to push out froyo, even though I've had it running on my phone since I got it 4 months ago.

There's no such thing as android 2.4, the current release is 2.3 (Gingerbread) with the next expected release to be 3.0 (Honeycomb), the following release is rumored to be Ice Cream.

MetalMusicAddict
January 10th, 2011, 12:19 AM
So, taking a couple of days to watch the Android world I think I wanna get something with Android 2.3. I'm also gonna go with a phone for now and wait for a table toward the end maybe next year.

What are the best forums for Android users/tinkerers?

Lastly what are you U.S. folks paying for new 2-year contracts in the states? (im in Raleigh NC) I'd like to not have a contract, but it looks almost unavoidable at this point. I would just loose alot of cool functionality without having some connection while out of the house.

Lucradia
January 10th, 2011, 12:47 AM
So, taking a couple of days to watch the Android world I think I wanna get something with Android 2.3. I'm also gonna go with a phone for now and wait for a table toward the end maybe next year.

What are the best forums for Android users/tinkerers?

Lastly what are you U.S. folks paying for new 2-year contracts in the states? (im in Raleigh NC) I'd like to not have a contract, but it looks almost unavoidable at this point. I would just loose alot of cool functionality without having some connection while out of the house.

Just so you know, Honeycomb so far (Android 3.0) seems to be only for Tablets, as phones don't really have large enough screens for Honeycomb to really work well.

if you want Data Only, I suggest going Sprint or Verizon.

mail2345
January 10th, 2011, 01:22 AM
Don't get the cruz tablet if you want flexibility. It doesn't work with the android marketplace, can't be rooted, or even upgraded, and half of the apps I get for it refuse to install.

Lucradia
January 10th, 2011, 01:58 AM
Don't get the cruz tablet if you want flexibility. It doesn't work with the android marketplace, can't be rooted, or even upgraded, and half of the apps I get for it refuse to install.

Does it have 3G Compatible hardware? if so, I suggest submitting a report to google directly and have them re-review it and the apps you try to install.

Google's requirement for the android app market is for your device to have hardware that is compatible with the 3G Networks, and not a plan.

for example, if I buy an HTC EVO From Radioshack for 499USD Retail, I can use ti over wi-fi, and still access the android market.

CptSnork
October 20th, 2011, 08:23 PM
Don't get the cruz tablet if you want flexibility. It doesn't work with the android marketplace, can't be rooted, or even upgraded, and half of the apps I get for it refuse to install.


I found some instructions for T301 and T10x (using windows) on how to root Cruz tablets. Between these 2 posts I could figure it out:

http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/11775-cruz-reader-only-step-by-step-for-update-root-and-setcpu/

http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/21572-guide-cruz-t10x-t301-rooting-dalvik-turbo-removing-bloatware-gapps-market-more/

I just threw $100 at my T103 and don't feel too bad about it. It's not blazing fast but it does what I need it to do > ebook reader, youtube, twitter, rage comix, light browsing.

Hope this helps!