Team-BHP - Android Thread: Phones / Apps / Mods

And that wanders into tablet territory. Frankly when you need to use both a phone and a tablet in one device it also gives away a geek image. Now many people who are indeed geeks would not want to have that image. I mean "Oh I am so addicted to all the social media doo dads and my games that I am not embarassed to carry a pencil box for it", I mean I can perfectly understand why companies would want to market this product because of the higher margins that they can make from such devices and also I can understand the desire for people to be updated at all times on various social fora but do they want to be publicly outed doing so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lurker (Post 3259382)

Do you realize that you are publicly insulting millions of people who buy such phones? Do you realize that there are use cases of a smartphone other than calling? Do you realize that some people have preferences/opinions that do not match with yours?

Kudos to Android OEMs for providing a *choice*.

Guys. I want to buy a good quality Micro USB charge cable. I have used many cheap ones and they do not charge at the required rate. Any suggestions? I am using the Note 2 and it has a 2 amp charger.

I have explained my problems with the charge cable a few pages back. I need a cable which can charge at 1700 mah. The ebay cheap cable I brought and many others charge around 700 to 1000 ma.

I am looking at this :

http://www.flipkart.com/capdase-hcbb...5-7c71eed3b86e

Its a Capdase case and they say that its of very high quality. Any suggestions ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kimified (Post 3259516)

Guys. I want to buy a good quality Micro USB charge cable. I am using the Note 2 and it has a 2 amp charger.

I have explained my problems with the charge cable a few pages back. I need a cable which can charge at 1700 mah. The ebay cheap cable I brought and many others charge around 700 to 1000 ma.

I am looking at this :

http://www.flipkart.com/capdase-hcbb...5-7c71eed3b86e

Its a Capdase case and they say that its of very high quality. Any suggestions ?

Charging from USB port will always be slow irrespective of the cable used.
I have seen Laptops charge the phone compared to desktops. All depends of the quality of PSU that a desktop has, rather on the USB cable.

This is my understanding, I am yet to a see a USB cable which has a higher rating.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lurker (Post 3259382)

Tablet is a different device and has a different use case altogether. Along with the Note 2, I personally use a Tab 2 mainly for eBook reading and an iPad 2. Carrying my Note 2 in my jeans pocket doesn't seem weird to me but carrying Tab 2 does. So both are different territories IMO. FYI, I was a previous iPhone user. You can call me geek/pencil box user/social media freak or anything that you want, I simply don't care as long as I am comfortable doing so :) I don't use FB or any other social media on my mobile nor am a serious gamer. My voice calls are limited to under an hour per day but I need to reply mails on the go. I even connect my office VPN to handle some emergency server situations from my mobile device. I am not one of those techies who carry their work laptop even when they go party! My meeting notes entirely lies on my mobile device and on the cloud. Telling all these just to let you know there are multiple use cases for a bigger screen/stylus equipped device than just social media/gaming. If someone just need to do voice calls, they don't need a pencil box nor a cigarette box nor a match box. Just a Nokia 1100 will do lol:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gandhi (Post 3259408)

Completely agree with that. Android means choice and that's simply the reason why the penetration is so high and getting higher. Hats off to android. Apple makes you live the "apple" life when android gives you that freedom. Both strategies share a WIN-WIN situation since there are different kinds of people. For each, there own!

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhp_maniac (Post 3259641)

Telling all these just to let you know there are multiple use cases for a bigger screen/stylus equipped device than just social media/gaming.

Yes, with better processors and 2GB RAM, some large screen phabs have aquired a certain level of number crunching abilities as well. Maybe used for remote system administration or some coding etc as per need. But once a group of geeks has built up a lifestyle around a phablet, there are going to quite a bit of emulators as well. That is where an issue crops up, for the spectator i.e, a visual issue that creeps up in above scenario is that not everyone is comfortable keeping a 5 inch+ screen in the trouser pocket or a holster for extended periods of time because of certain amount of discomfort that they could experience in walking or sitting. And that entails that people will more often than not walk around holding this pencil box in their hands. Now people will always say that they do not care what other people think & so on but peer group pressure can work in ways that can inhibit technology adoption. It's not yet there, but it may come around in future when large screen phones become more common. Just imagine somebody carrying a 6 inch device and holding it to their ears. What next ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gandhi (Post 3259408)

+1. Take my example. I have a Micromax A116HD being used for editing excel files/playing RPG games/browsing and seldom used to call people. At the same time I dont want a bulky tablet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OHCVtec (Post 3256956)

I am still using the phone and got a new battery for it. I will flash 4.3 soon after your feedback. Only issue is, the screen of my Defy has developed few black spots and it is increasing gradually. Any clue where/how we can get the screen fixed/replaced.

It looks like your LCD is dying. I had this with my Panasonic camera. Just living with it, since it does not affect the optics in any way.

I am not sure what would be the best option for you, but ebay sells replacement LCD (original) for around . How do you get that to India is up to you to figure out.

4.3 is very stable. I have only one issue, which I cannot get rid off.
Downloads from playstore get stuck in between. Then I have to switchover to 3G to finish them.
No one else is facing this issue, so something wrong with my phone I guess.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5hadow (Post 3256972)

Hi,

Query - Is your OS stable? If yes, is it worth the effort? If yes, where to get
it, xda?

There is very minimal effort to upgrade from 4.1.x to 4.3 and definitely worth it.
Just download the ROM and the gapps from
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=2385250

Wipe cache, dalvik cache and data.
Flash the ROM, apply the gapps file and reboot.
Should take less than 10 minutes if you know what you are doing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rajcs (Post 3257364)

Motorola Defy run over by a truck - Need inputs for another phone.

I inserted the battery back and was surprised to see the phone was still working. The Defy definitely lived upto its reputation:thumbs up

Feels bad and good at the same time. That was an awesome test for the phone.

Quote:

Now I have three options

1. Repair the phone - with display and speaker smashed could be a tall order.

Look around on ebay and aliexpress for parts. Also checkout the procedure to disassemble the phone. Is it worth the effort?

Quote:

2. Buy another Moto Defy - available in flipkart for about 10K. While I am happy with the phone, I will not be able upgrade from Android 2.3.

I am running 4.3 and it the best ROM I have used so far. Tip: Get a second hand phone, for around 6-7K if you are going for custom ROM.

Quote:

3. Buy another Android phone - this is where I need inputs from anyone who loved the Moto Defy and upgraded. I want the same ruggedness, voice quality and practicality but am not looking for anything more fancy - least of all snob value. Budget limited to about INR 20K.

I think Moto X is the best bet for those who are not mad about paper specs.
Perhaps you need to wait for some time to get that phone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 3257566)

Sorry to hear about your phone. It's a sad accident leading to unwanted expense.

You would be able to upgrade, albeit probably voiding your warranty, using eg Cyanogenmod. It was this thread that encouraged me to do that, even though I waited for warranty expiry. I much prefer it to the Moto offering,

Quote:

Originally Posted by S_U_N (Post 3260292)

Feels bad and good at the same time. That was an awesome test for the phone.

Look around on ebay and aliexpress for parts. Also checkout the procedure to disassemble the phone. Is it worth the effort?

I am running 4.3 and it the best ROM I have used so far. Tip: Get a second hand phone, for around 6-7K if you are going for custom ROM.

I think Moto X is the best bet for those who are not mad about paper specs.
Perhaps you need to wait for some time to get that phone.

Thank you both for the feedback.

Went ahead and bought a Nexus 4 on a whim. Paid 25.2 k, a little over the budget. Was avalilable for a little less on amazon, but preferred to buy it over the counter for faster availability. Now that Nexus 5 is likely to be released by end of the month, prices would come down I guess.

Android Thread: Phones / Apps / Mods-image.jpg

Apart from all the good reviews on Nexus 4 on this forum and elsewhere, what I liked about the phone is the neat and robust hardware and great software. It runs on Android 4.3 which is perfect in most ways.

I had my contacts on google while I was with Moto Defy and my workouts on Cardio trainer and titbits on Evernote, so as soon as I logged on to Nexus 4 I was good to go. Great:D

Phone is super fast and able to handle multitasking with ease.
User interface is intuitive and 4.3 has great new features over 2.3 I was using all the while.

What I didn't like are
No memory card. 16 GB internal memory seems adequate for now.
Large form factor. Too big for the palm.
Battery not removable.
No fm radio. Sometimes it's good to listen local radio without relying on data connection.