Google Android catch-all

I'm pretty happy with Simple Mobile. T-Mobile network, 1GB of data at "4G" for $40 (which comes out to slightly above $45 with taxes and fees in my area), 3GB for $50, 5GB for $60.

The website is kind of clunky but my service has been as good as my roomate's T-Mobile (which makes sense, obviously) but for $10 cheaper a month at each tier, with more data. And it's been great for internet access when our cable line went out for a week. If I have a good signal I can easily stream Hulu and whatnot.

I'd overlooked that the Nexus 5 screen was nearly 5" but higher resolution than 1080p. It's...gorgeous. Even if it lacks some saturation when compared directly against the screen of an iPhone, up close it's still hard to see the individual pixels, and at a regular distance the software back button's curve looks unbelievably smooth and text is nice and sharp.

Kurrelgyre wrote:

I'd overlooked that the Nexus 5 screen was nearly 5" but higher resolution than 1080p. It's...gorgeous. Even if it lacks some saturation when compared directly against the screen of an iPhone, up close it's still hard to see the individual pixels, and at a regular distance the software back button's curve looks unbelievably smooth and text is nice and sharp.

Erica Griffin just got her hands on one. I'm expecting some very detailed display tests and charts from her in the next week or so. She's always good for those.

Do you anticipate the lack of a replaceable battery will be a significant issue for you? A friend of mine has a Nexus 4 and swears by the ability to swap out. We've discussed it several times in this thread as well. It's a curious move. I don't have a dog in this fight, but am really intrigued by the nice pricing as I'm facing down the last few months on my Verizon contract.

Kurrelgyre wrote:

A 72 minute long review of the Nexus 4? Yes, please.

That's pretty typical for her in-depth reviews. All top tier devices tend to get one. She should have one for the Nexus 5 in a few weeks.

muraii wrote:

Do you anticipate the lack of a replaceable battery will be a significant issue for you? A friend of mine has a Nexus 4 and swears by the ability to swap out. We've discussed it several times in this thread as well. It's a curious move. I don't have a dog in this fight, but am really intrigued by the nice pricing as I'm facing down the last few months on my Verizon contract.

Yes and no. There are always days when I manage to run down the battery of the Nexus 4 or iPhone 5 completely (today, in fact), but I've never been one to keep a spare charged battery with me when they were replaceable, either. Now that USB charging batteries are readily available and usually for less than an OEM replacement battery, if I was really concerned, I'd just get one of those and use it with whatever device needed it. It's no accident that you can find Lightning and micro-USB cables less than one foot long.

Kurrelgyre wrote:

Now that USB charging batteries are readily available and usually for less than an OEM replacement battery, if I was really concerned, I'd just get one of those and use it with whatever device needed it. It's no accident that you can find Lightning and micro-USB cables less than one foot long.

I think you're mistaken about the cost for replacement batteries. Especially if you'll go non-OEM (after all, the USB battery is "non-OEM"). I've bought two S4 batteries plus an external charger for $12. And if you want an OEM battery off of ebay, they're $11.

I like the ability to swap batteries as much for being able to effectively "refresh" my phone a year plus into it's life to go back to fresh batteries that last all day again.

Verizon pretty much owns my soul at this point. I'm thinking that I'll get the Moto X for my next phone (replacing my Galaxy Nexus). I was a bit bummed that the Nexus 5 will not work on Verizon.

Got a flyer for a sale at Big Lots starting Saturday for a $70 android tablet plus case plus keyboard.

So I thought about it and the first thing that comes to mind is, if I root it, can I get it back to stock?

I know a $70 tablet sounds horrible, but two facts have come upon me: 1) my mom needs a new computer, 2) I merely want my dream tablet (power and stylus of a Surface Pro 2, 10" retina-like display and waterproof - in case you know of any like that :)), what I have use/slight need of is a backup computer for my PC, (cause it's hard to order off newegg when your computer is broken), plus it looks like the one on sale will be a proscan 7, described on amazon as "the cheapest functional tablet" - which is perfect.

RolandofGilead wrote:

I know a $70 tablet sounds horrible

Yes it does.

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1311907/?fwcs=ta444242

You might be able to get a 2012 Nexus 7 for $100. Much better investment I think.

The Proscan doesn't have any community support that I've been able to find (if it's the 7223). I can find no rooting instructions for it.

A 2012 Nexus 7 is worlds better. It has double the memory (512MB vs 1GB), at least double the space (4GB vs 8GB), and double the processor cores. The battery can easily be replaced. Repairs are easy and parts are readily found. You also won't have to worry about getting the latest version of Android or being stuck without community support for rooting/modification.

The keyboard case that comes with the Proscan can be found for $5-8 online. Quality-wise I think it's awful and I'd rather get a cheap bluetooth keyboard. However, it's all in what you expect.

Okay, late to the party here. Do any of you Note 3 owners read on yours? I currently own an iPad Mini and an iPhone 5. I find myself wanting to read more these days, mostly tech books, which I find easier to read on a tablet. But also just books in general. I can kind of pull this off on the iPhone. I sometimes have the backpack space to carry the iPad or my Kindle.

Today, however, someone at my office came in with a Note 3. I was in love. It was fast, responsive and looked gorgeous. It felt good in my hand and he even had a terminal app with an IDE. I was kind of stunned, having lived in the Apple ecosystem for so long. Now I'm really tempted. I'm curious, though, how it holds up as a reading device for short stints. Not talking about reading for hours on it. I usually read tech books on my laptop since I'm generally coding while working through a tech book. And I plan on still using my e-Ink Kindle for reading books on vacation, at the beach, etc. But for those times when I'm waiting for the doctor, waiting for a movie to start, etc. I can see myself really loving the Note 3. Just curious if I'm alone in thinking about the device like that.

I never read on electronic devices until I got the Note 2, now a Note 3. I've had tablets since the Xoom, but I've never read on it because, like you, I read in short stints. Since I always have the Note in my pocket, it makes that so much easier.

Kindle is great app, but I know some others are going to recommend other reading apps. I've never seen any need to divert from Kindle, or Google Books.

DSGamer wrote:

Okay, late to the party here. Do any of you Note 3 owners read on yours? I currently own an iPad Mini and an iPhone 5. I find myself wanting to read more these days, mostly tech books, which I find easier to read on a tablet. But also just books in general. I can kind of pull this off on the iPhone. I sometimes have the backpack space to carry the iPad or my Kindle.

Today, however, someone at my office came in with a Note 3. I was in love. It was fast, responsive and looked gorgeous. It felt good in my hand and he even had a terminal app with an IDE. I was kind of stunned, having lived in the Apple ecosystem for so long. Now I'm really tempted. I'm curious, though, how it holds up as a reading device for short stints. Not talking about reading for hours on it. I usually read tech books on my laptop since I'm generally coding while working through a tech book. And I plan on still using my e-Ink Kindle for reading books on vacation, at the beach, etc. But for those times when I'm waiting for the doctor, waiting for a movie to start, etc. I can see myself really loving the Note 3. Just curious if I'm alone in thinking about the device like that.

Speaking of the original Nexus 7, get one cheap if you're fast.

I read on my Note 2 all the time. Short stints, whole books, comics, everything. It's just so convenient, and much better than the iPhone 5, due to the size.

The Note 3 is awesome. I just traveled a week for work and it was so incredibly handy. Nice to read off of, and the big form factor let them jam a nice large battery into it.

And the SD slot for additional storage (hello Spotify cache) is great, as is the fact that they jammed an extra GB of RAM in. 3GB of RAM is quite nice for the Android platform, gives everything a lot more headroom compared to the standard 2GB of other top-tier handsets. Should help keep this handset viable for a good length of time.

Also, I must pump up T-Mobile again, whose new free international data (3G speeds) on domestic plans came in handy in Cancun. While my coworkers with AT&T had non-free data ($19/MB! Or $30 for 120MB if you plan ahead of time), $1/min calls, and non-free SMS ($0.50 per send, $0.20 per received), my T-Mobile plan gave me free 3G, free SMS, and $0.20/min calls.

F**k AT&T and Verizon. Never ever again. T-Mobile forever, or at least until they run this sweet service into the ground.

If I uninstall the stock messaging app, and have a third party one, will messaging still work?

Regular uninstall or done via some root tricks? Not too sure you are even able to uninstall the stock app. Afaik it will be in the coming weeks that google will change the way how developers can interact with the sms service (via api), so switching to another sms app should be less weird with notification settings and whatnot.

Removing with Titanium Backup. I uninstalled some apps yesterday, and now Messaging is always FCing. Handcent works fine though.

EverythingsTentative wrote:

If I uninstall the stock messaging app, and have a third party one, will messaging still work?

There isnt really a reason to remove the stocl one. In settings you can ignore stock app notifications.

Okay, one thing I'd like to do and I'm afraid I can't is to control which music app voice control launches. I love this device a lot, but it may lose me if I can't figure out some of the stuff that apple does right. On my iPhone I can use Siri to launch a podcast or a song, album, etc.

DSGamer wrote:

Okay, one thing I'd like to do and I'm afraid I can't is to control which music app voice control launches. I love this device a lot, but it may lose me if I can't figure out some of the stuff that apple does right. On my iPhone I can use Siri to launch a podcast or a song, album, etc.

"OK Google, launch Amazon MP3". Or launch Pocket Casts. Etc. You can launch any app that way from the search/Google Now screen. Either by touching the mic button, or saying "Ok Google" followed by your command.

Same thing for playing music. "Play Black Keys", or "Play When the Lights Go Out".

Either it's really simple, or I'm confused as to what you're trying to do.

Well, the Note 3 comes with its own voice control. It doesn't appear that I can get it to launch a specific podcast within DogCatcher or a specific song within Google MP3 Player. Or if it does I'm not sure how.

DSGamer wrote:

Well, the Note 3 comes with its own voice control. It doesn't appear that I can get it to launch a specific podcast within DogCatcher or a specific song within Google MP3 Player. Or if it does I'm not sure how.

I disabled that Samsung stuff as much as I could on my S4. I think I've gone back and forth freezing the app entirely, but I think I have it now only on a long center button press, and I never do that. I have my launcher set to use the menu button to go to Google search/Now.

Just use what Google gives you. Vastly superior.

MannishBoy wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

Well, the Note 3 comes with its own voice control. It doesn't appear that I can get it to launch a specific podcast within DogCatcher or a specific song within Google MP3 Player. Or if it does I'm not sure how.

I disabled that Samsung stuff as much as I could on my S4. I think I've gone back and forth freezing the app entirely, but I think I have it now only on a long center button press, and I never do that. I have my launcher set to use the menu button to go to Google search/Now.

Just use what Google gives you. Vastly superior.

I'll play with it. So far no luck getting it to launch a podcast within DogCatcher. Google's MP3 player is really nice. Gorgeous photos. What's the quality of MP3s you download to the device?

Part of this is also just replacing stuff that just worked with iTunes. For example, we automatically pile every photo into iPhoto when we get back from a vacation. Then we add select photos to a set and that set syncs via iTunes. I don't even know what's a good photo service these days as a result. In terms of something I could easily organize and "sync" from my desktop.

I really like the device, but there is a bit more work in switching from the Apple ecosystem. Nevermind ever movie, etc. that I can't watch.

DSGamer wrote:

Part of this is also just replacing stuff that just worked with iTunes. For example, we automatically pile every photo into iPhoto when we get back from a vacation. Then we add select photos to a set and that set syncs via iTunes. I don't even know what's a good photo service these days as a result. In terms of something I could easily organize and "sync" from my desktop.

It's easy to set Android to auto backup to Google+ private storage, which works to allow you to organize from the desktop, enhance photos, etc.

I think "stuff just works", but differently than you're used to.

As to the Google Play Music player, I think if you mirror your own MP3s to their cloud, it will vary depending on settings in the menu. I always assumed that "High" would be based on my original, but I haven't actually looked into the local device cache of songs I've pinned to verify.

So there's no way to get the original back on the device? At least not through that app? Looking to avoid copying files directly to the device, but I will if I have to. The appeal of the Google player is the promise of continually moving purchases into the cloud so if my wife buys an album on iTunes I'll have access to download it. So far that's the closest thing to a seamless transition.

Success! I was able to listen to the GWJ podcast in bed on my new cheap-ass tablet. Space bar on the included keyboard even worked to pause playback.
It should work as a nice baseline, if I can write an app that works on this, it'll work on anything reasonable.
I bring you this gem from the manual:

13) When CPU in high-speed operation, especially in 3D games or in long time playback high-definition video, the fuselage will have the phenomenon of fever.

I've also discovered at what point a keyboard becomes too small for me.