[Gllug] OT smartphone advice

[T Menezes]

I have been using the HTC Desire for about 4 months now. I was able to get a
good deal now that the Desire Z and HD are out.

Hacking it has not been on my priority list, but otherwise I would say I am
very happy with it. It is very fast and smoothly switches between
applications. The screen is large enough to do email/sms/browsing, and even
watching a film (if you're really desperate).

With modest usage, I can make the battery last 2 days (but no longer), which
I think is pretty good for a smartphone.

If this is your 1st smartphone and you haven't used a USB dongle, beware
that there are quite a few no-3G spots. Browsing the internet then is
virtually impossible. Obviously, your mileage will vary because it very much
depends on your location/network.

The phone works a treat over wi-fi though.

My wife has recently got a Nexus S. The screen is a little larger, and is
very good. But the phone has a plasticky feeling to it. The user interface
is pretty similar (obviously) but I prefer HTC's Sense UI. In my opinion
it's slicker that that of the Nexus.

You may find this site useful:
http://www.mobile-phones-uk.org.uk/

TM

On 14 April 2011 12:00, <gllug-request at gllug.org.uk> wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
>
>   1. OT smartphone advice (Dylan)
>   2. Re: OT smartphone advice (Christopher Hunter)
>   3. Re: OT smartphone advice (Steve Parker)
>   4. Re: OT smartphone advice (James Holland)
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Dylan <dylan at dylan.me.uk>
> To: gllug at gllug.org.uk
> Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:28:43 +0100
> Subject: [Gllug] OT smartphone advice
> Hi All,
>
> Anyone fancy sharing advice or opinions on the current crop of smartphones?
>
> What's the word on Android vs. whatever else is out there (NOT iphone -
> don't
> want anything from Apple)?
> How is the internet service from the various providers?
>
> Cheers
>
> Dylan
>
> --
> " '... but there is so much else behind what I say. It makes itself known
> to
> me so slowly, so incompletely! ...' "
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Christopher Hunter <cehunter at gb-x.org>
> To: Greater London Linux User Group <gllug at gllug.org.uk>
> Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:20:05 +0100
> Subject: Re: [Gllug] OT smartphone advice
> On Wed, 2011-04-13 at 16:28 +0100, Dylan wrote:
> > Hi All,
> >
> > Anyone fancy sharing advice or opinions on the current crop of
> smartphones?
> >
> > What's the word on Android vs. whatever else is out there (NOT iphone -
> don't
> > want anything from Apple)?
> > How is the internet service from the various providers?
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > Dylan
> >
>
> Mrs H and I both use Samsung Galaxy S' on Orange.  Superb results,
> pretty fast web browsing when mobile, and sensible charges.  They also
> can now use the T-Mobile network (since their recent amalgamation), so
> their coverage is fantastic.
>
> The SGS is far and away the best phone I've seen so far, and it's well
> worth playing around with the OS - it's pretty much entirely open.  I
> flash upgraded from Android 2.1 to 2.2, and have briefly flirted with a
> pre-release version of 2.3 (that was a bit rough around the edges).
> It's an interesting platform to experiment with!
>
> Other friends use (and swear by) the HTC Desire and the latest Google
> offering.  Both seem very good, but the HTC is a bit bigger than the SGS
> and I haven't really played with the Google one yet.
>
> So - my vote is for Samsung Galaxy S on Orange.
>
> Chris
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Steve Parker <steve at steve-parker.org>
> To: gllug at gllug.org.uk
> Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:56:11 +0100
> Subject: Re: [Gllug] OT smartphone advice
>  On 13/04/11 16:28, Dylan wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> Anyone fancy sharing advice or opinions on the current crop of smartphones?
>
> What's the word on Android vs. whatever else is out there (NOT iphone - don't
> want anything from Apple)?
> How is the internet service from the various providers?
>
> Cheers
>
> Dylan
>
>
>
>  >From my trusty old Nokia 6230i, I upgraded to the Google Nexus S a month
> or so ago. So far I'm very happy with it; it crashed a few times in the
> first few days, but has been stable since.
>
> Opera Mini seemed very good at first, but regularly came up with just a
> black screen whenever I clicked on a link. I've gone back to the native
> browser which seems okay, if not quite as good.
>
> Vodafone's internet service is as good on this phone as on others; my 3G
> Vodafone connection from the phone is not always as good as the 3G
> connection from Three that I have via a USB dongle for the laptop.
>
> Occasionally I find that with the on-screen keyboard, I press the spacebar
> when I want to press the letter "c". You can spin the phone around for a
> wider keyboard, but then it is too wide to be comfortable.
>
> The Nexus S seems to be fully hackable; I have not had the time to play
> with that yet, <plug class="shameless" attr="see signature">I'm writing a
> book at the moment</plug> which is taking all of my time, but I am really
> looking forward to hacking it both within the provided Android system and by
> replacing it with a custom Android build. That level of openness doesn't
> seem to be at all available on the iProduct.
>
> Steve
>
> --
> Steve Parker
> steve at steve-parker.org
> Author of the Shell Scripting Recipes <http://steve-parker.org/recipes/>book, due out August 2011
> http://steve-parker.org/ / +44(0) 789 777 2100 / steve at steve-parker.org
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: James Holland <holland.james at yahoo.co.uk>
> To: Greater London Linux User Group <gllug at gllug.org.uk>
> Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2011 11:54:59 +0100
> Subject: Re: [Gllug] OT smartphone advice
> On 14/04/11 00:56, Steve Parker wrote:
>
>>  >From my trusty old Nokia 6230i, I upgraded to the Google Nexus S a
>> month or so ago. So far I'm very happy with it; it crashed a few times
>> in the first few days, but has been stable since.
>>
>> Opera Mini seemed very good at first, but regularly came up with just a
>> black screen whenever I clicked on a link. I've gone back to the native
>> browser which seems okay, if not quite as good.
>>
>
> Dolphin seems to be the most popular browser. It seems better than the
> native one.
>
>  Vodafone's internet service is as good on this phone as on others; my 3G
>> Vodafone connection from the phone is not always as good as the 3G
>> connection from Three that I have via a USB dongle for the laptop.
>>
>
> I bought a cheap sim free Android 2.2 phone off a Chinese website for £80
> primary so I could play with Android. I'm really pleased with it as it has 2
> sim slots so I can use my normal sim and a giffgaff sim for cheap data use.
> It even has analogue TV with an extendible aerial.
>
> Unfortunately it only does gprs but I use BTFon wireless which is faster
> than 3G in most places.
>
>
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