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A week in the life of an Android user.

Appleaday2566

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Just thought I'd share..........
I use an iPhone 4s here in Canada, been using iPhone since ditching my Blackberry 2 years ago, I travel extensively in the United States and have a Droid Razr Maxx (got it free) on Verizon in the states. I can say the phone is quite exceptional and the battery life is something that the iPhone should strive to duplicate.
Last week there was information online that the Maxx was going to be updated this week to ICS Android 4.0, I was thinking this is great news so I signed up on the Motorola forums to learn more, while on the forums I learned that I could sign up to be a tester for a pre-release of the new operating system, I signed up for this and was sent an invitation to participate in their "soaktest" after receiving the e-mail and following the links to the "private" forum I along with many others were then told it was not ICS Android 4.0 but just an update to a newer version of Gingerbread 2.3 but that is even delayed, no update at all so far. WOW many pissed off Motorola and Verizon customers who were actually expecting this update OTA on April 4th, no comment or explanation as to what happened or when to expect the actual update, what a mess.

I don't want to sound like an Apple fanboy but this further emphasizes how fantastic our products are and another reason why we buy them, not just the hardware but also the software,customer service and support that is available.
 
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AQ_OC

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While I would not mine much greater battery life (who wouldn't want that?), I would not want ot get it by having a big whopping phone. While the Razor Maxx is a beautiful phone, I hope Apple doesn't turn the iPhone into something that big. I think the 4S is the perfect size. If I want something bigger, I use my iPad.

But I so agree with your comments about Android.
 

Seadog

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Everyone is different. I have not wanted an iPhone since the 4 because I do not like the form factor. The 3S form factor is what I would be interested in, but then again I prefer flip phones after an expensive butt dial years ago.
 

Kaykaykay

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While I would not mine much greater battery life (who wouldn't want that?), I would not want ot get it by having a big whopping phone. While the Razor Maxx is a beautiful phone, I hope Apple doesn't turn the iPhone into something that big. I think the 4S is the perfect size.

I doubt Apple will upsize iPhone. I think it more likely that they'd downsize iPad, adding a model alongside the current size.

Bigger phones aren't for everyone, but there's clearly a market for them. The Samsung Galaxy Note 5" phablet has sold to the tune of 5 million worldwide. (In the U.S., sales of Note probably are limited because it's carried by AT&T, and many shun AT&T.) There also are a good number of other phones bigger than iPhone that have sold like gangbusters as well.

As for Android vs. iOS, I buy whatever meets my needs, and companies are welcome to compete for my money. I don't see the need to pledge allegiance to anyone but me as a consumer. I doubt I will commit to any platform, because none has everything I want. Right now, I run Windows, iOS and Android. It's great to have options.
 

mikespe

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It's funny how iPhone users talk about how great their battery life is and how much better iOS is over android. First, the iPhone is 3g...if I put my Samsung Galaxy Nexus on 3g mode I will get JUST AS GOOD battery life as the iPhone. Once the iPhone 5 comes out with 4g it won't be any better than the NExus. 4g is a BATTERY KILLER. Look at the new iPad 4g compared to the wifi model...MAYBE 10hrs of battery as opposed to 2+ days on wifi. All that PLUS having widgets running in the background on the Nexus (something the iPhone is NOT capable of!). PLUS Ice Cream Sandwich on the Nexus is downright AMAZING! My iPhone fanboy friends were SPEECHLESS when I let them play with the Nexus. The Nexus is SO much thinner than the iPhone, JUST as smooth if not smoother.

The ONLY downside to Android is that it is fragmented among too many manufacturers. OF COURSE it's easy to make a smooth efficient OS when you only have ONE DEVICE made by ONE manufacturer. You take most of the variables out of the picture. Problem with companies like Motorola & HTC is they have to brand the operating system with their bloatware which is the MAIN issue. The Nexus is running PURE Android...NO skins or bloat...which is the same with iOS...THIS is what's taking so long in getting ICS out to phones such as the RAZR & Bionic (both GREAT phones mechanically)...If you compare PURE Vanilla Android against iOS you will have a MUCH more pleasant experience and the comparisons would be more equal.

I have an iPad 2 and I like it a lot. But it is plain...I just click an icon and bounce from app to app...which is basically just the app drawer in Android. The Android desktop allows for information to be streamed to it so you can take a quick glance at news, Twitter/Facebook feeds, weather, etc...all without opening an app...
 
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mikespe

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I doubt Apple will upsize iPhone. I think it more likely that they'd downsize iPad, adding a model alongside the current size.

Bigger phones aren't for everyone, but there's clearly a market for them. The Samsung Galaxy Note 5" phablet has sold to the tune of 5 million worldwide. (In the U.S., sales of Note probably are limited because it's carried by AT&T, and many shun AT&T.) There also are a good number of other phones bigger than iPhone that have sold like gangbusters as well.

As for Android vs. iOS, I buy whatever meets my needs, and companies are welcome to compete for my money. I don't see the need to pledge allegiance to anyone but me as a consumer. I doubt I will commit to any platform, because none has everything I want. Right now, I run Windows, iOS and Android. It's great to have options.

AWESOME POST! Each OS offers some great features...when you get locked into one or the other you miss out on great experiences!!
 

Kaykaykay

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I'm still learning my Samsung Galaxy Note, which I got last week. I didn't bother adding music and videos till today, because I didn't have time to mess with it. I'm not that technical.

It turned out to be unbelievably easy: One piece of software, drag and drop, and I've got music and videos on an SD card, which I can now use on my Note and myriad devices. There was next to no learning curve, unlike with iTunes. Now I can back up to any computer and add music, movies, photos, etc., from multiple computers without hassle.

Wow, if Samsung's tablets are this easy, I'm primed for a purchase the next time I'm tablet shopping.
 

AQ_OC

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As for Android vs. iOS, I buy whatever meets my needs, and companies are welcome to compete for my money. I don't see the need to pledge allegiance to anyone but me as a consumer. I doubt I will commit to any platform, because none has everything I want. Right now, I run Windows, iOS and Android. It's great to have options.

I have two Android devices, a Droid Incredible by HTC and an Acer Iconia Tab A500, Android tablet. I had a Nook Color too, but I gave that to my brother. I'll probably give the Iconia to my brother too, once I find the next Android tablet I want to buy.

The DI was a great phone...but HTC made some changes to the OS that resulted in this "low memory" error message that shows up whenever a certain hidden folder gets filled up. This caused me no end of problems and forced me to delete all my text messages, email, and finally to simply scrub the entire phone and reinstall everything. Verizon could do nothing. Google could do nothing, and HTC didn't do anything. Total BS. Phones should just work. This didn't.

As for the Android tablet...it's ok. It has various types of ports, USB, HDMI, microUSB, etc. You can add a microSD card to it, you can plug in a keyboard in it, etc. Easy to transfer music and files...but it still runs Honeycomb and Honeycomb is sluggish. And it force closes all the time. I cant' use it for more than 10 minutes without some app force closing on me. It's hard to love a device like this. It just sits on my desk while the iPad gets the use.

Android has its advantages. I have lots of experience using many OSes over the years, but when it comes to mobile devices, I don't want to always be hacking with them. There is a need to get stuff done. I may try a newer Android device, but it seems that Android is going the same route as Windows did, and it will be on version 7 before it finally becomes bug free enough to a totally reliable OS. I see the need to pledge allegiance to reliable, dependable devices and OSes. That's because I don't want to spend my time hacking with nonsense.
 

Kaykaykay

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I have two Android devices, a Droid Incredible by HTC and an Acer Iconia Tab A500, Android tablet. I had a Nook Color too, but I gave that to my brother. I'll probably give the Iconia to my brother too, once I find the next Android tablet I want to buy.

The DI was a great phone...but HTC made some changes to the OS that resulted in this "low memory" error message that shows up whenever a certain hidden folder gets filled up. This caused me no end of problems and forced me to delete all my text messages, email, and finally to simply scrub the entire phone and reinstall everything. Verizon could do nothing. Google could do nothing, and HTC didn't do anything. Total BS. Phones should just work. This didn't.

As for the Android tablet...it's ok. It has various types of ports, USB, HDMI, microUSB, etc. You can add a microSD card to it, you can plug in a keyboard in it, etc. Easy to transfer music and files...but it still runs Honeycomb and Honeycomb is sluggish. And it force closes all the time. I cant' use it for more than 10 minutes without some app force closing on me. It's hard to love a device like this. It just sits on my desk while the iPad gets the use.

Android has its advantages. I have lots of experience using many OSes over the years, but when it comes to mobile devices, I don't want to always be hacking with them. There is a need to get stuff done. I may try a newer Android device, but it seems that Android is going the same route as Windows did, and it will be on version 7 before it finally becomes bug free enough to a totally reliable OS. I see the need to pledge allegiance to reliable, dependable devices and OSes. That's because I don't want to spend my time hacking with nonsense.

Unless a hardware maker -- any platform -- makes what I need, I don't buy.

Before I buy, I factor in the time I might have to waste, messing with a gadget. I'm not interested in saving a few hundred bucks and wasting time, because I can make more money, but I can't make more time. I'm not technical and I'm not interested in hacking anything. (I also expect to test drive and return an item if it doesn't meet my needs, despite previous research.) That's why I didn't buy anything Android till Kindle Fire and Samsung Galaxy Note, and why I went with iPod, iPhone and iPad before that.

Android has probs with fragmentation not only among hardware makers, but also among each model even from the same company, and then carrier bloatware on top of that.

From what I've read of Acer, Asus and other tablets, they've not reached enough functionality for a typical user. So far, Samsung has come closest to Apple, and Samsung has its drawbacks as well. For instance, it has a record of leaving users stranded -- discontinued products, old firmware, delayed firmware. Bad customer support in general. For me, Apple's locked-down system has pluses and minuses, too.

Like I said, no company offers everything I want. So it makes sense to me to buy the best that's available, no matter brand or platform, as long as it fits the individual user's needs.
 
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mikespe

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As for the Android tablet...it's ok. It has various types of ports, USB, HDMI, microUSB, etc. You can add a microSD card to it, you can plug in a keyboard in it, etc. Easy to transfer music and files...but it still runs Honeycomb and Honeycomb is sluggish. And it force closes all the time. I cant' use it for more than 10 minutes without some app force closing on me. It's hard to love a device like this. It just sits on my desk while the iPad gets the use.

Android has its advantages. I have lots of experience using many OSes over the years, but when it comes to mobile devices, I don't want to always be hacking with them. There is a need to get stuff done. I may try a newer Android device, but it seems that Android is going the same route as Windows did, and it will be on version 7 before it finally becomes bug free enough to a totally reliable OS. I see the need to pledge allegiance to reliable, dependable devices and OSes. That's because I don't want to spend my time hacking with nonsense.

Running a BUG FREE Ice Cream Sandwich on my A500 and it's JUST as good a the iPad 2 except for bettery...buttery smooth AND CUSTOMIZABLE unlike the ipad 2. My ipad has been downgraded to a $500 TV Remote only because I like the app better on it!
 

zphone

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mikespe said:
Running a BUG FREE Ice Cream Sandwich on my A500 and it's JUST as good a the iPad 2 except for bettery...buttery smooth AND CUSTOMIZABLE unlike the ipad 2. My ipad has been downgraded to a $500 TV Remote only because I like the app better on it!

If by buttery you mean it's as smooth as spreading cold butter from the fridge on a piece of toast. Yes, I find it a bit buttery also. The iPad is much more reactive to input than my iconia.
 

AQ_OC

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mikespe said:
Running a BUG FREE Ice Cream Sandwich on my A500 and it's JUST as good a the iPad 2 except for bettery...buttery smooth AND CUSTOMIZABLE unlike the ipad 2. My ipad has been downgraded to a $500 TV Remote only because I like the app better on it!

How I'd you get ICS on the a500?
 

mikespe

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If by buttery you mean it's as smooth as spreading cold butter from the fridge on a piece of toast. Yes, I find it a bit buttery also. The iPad is much more reactive to input than my iconia.

Typical fanboy! Your loss!

AQ_OC...It's the TegraOwners ICS ROM. Ice Cream Sandwich is the game changer when it comes to comparing iOS to Android. I also have a Galaxy Nexus phone running ICS and it's like night & day when comparing older versions of Android to this. All kidding aside it is smoother than my friend's iPhone. He could NOT believe an Android device could be like that. Battery life isn't as good as the iPhone BUT the iPhone is 3g...4g just EATS batteries and will do the same on the iPhone 5 (look at the 4g iPad compared to the WIFI iPad & see the difference)

The A500 is supposed to get the OFFICIAL OTA sometime this quarter and Acer is actually quite good at pushing out updates...unlike Motorola which takes FOREVER! If you're into rooting & can't wait for the OTA then try the TO ROM (Thor is the developer managing the rom). He even incorporated something called Cornerstone which is an addon for Android...kind of a sidebar that you can add 2 apps you frequently use into the windows...basically like having 2 windows open in Windows! But he also has a version without cornerstone...

I can't reiterate enough that BOTH OS's have a lot to offer & I am so sick of people bashing one or the other (and from my perspective most of the bashing comes from Apple fanboys than Android users...yet Android DOES have it's share of bashers.)...People are really missing out by not embracing both OS's...it's like ONLY using Windows or Mac...learn both & take advantage of what both have to offer...you can NOT say one is better than the other...it's all relative to the task you need to do.
 

zphone

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mikespe said:
Typical fanboy! Your loss!

AQ_OC...It's the TegraOwners ICS ROM. Ice Cream Sandwich is the game changer when it comes to comparing iOS to Android. I also have a Galaxy Nexus phone running ICS and it's like night & day when comparing older versions of Android to this. All kidding aside it is smoother than my friend's iPhone. He could NOT believe an Android device could be like that. Battery life isn't as good as the iPhone BUT the iPhone is 3g...4g just EATS batteries and will do the same on the iPhone 5 (look at the 4g iPad compared to the WIFI iPad & see the difference)

The A500 is supposed to get the OFFICIAL OTA sometime this quarter and Acer is actually quite good at pushing out updates...unlike Motorola which takes FOREVER! If you're into rooting & can't wait for the OTA then try the TO ROM (Thor is the developer managing the rom). He even incorporated something called Cornerstone which is an addon for Android...kind of a sidebar that you can add 2 apps you frequently use into the windows...basically like having 2 windows open in Windows! But he also has a version without cornerstone...

I can't reiterate enough that BOTH OS's have a lot to offer & I am so sick of people bashing one or the other (and from my perspective most of the bashing comes from Apple fanboys than Android users...yet Android DOES have it's share of bashers.)...People are really missing out by not embracing both OS's...it's like ONLY using Windows or Mac...learn both & take advantage of what both have to offer...you can NOT say one is better than the other...it's all relative to the task you need to do.

Say what you will but the iconia that I bought prior to the iPad is nowhere near as smooth. That's not just my opinion but my experience and other forum posters say the same thing. There is just a certain lag that I have seen on all android devices that I do not see on iOS. Again not bashing. Just stating what my experience has been.
 

mikespe

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Say what you will but the iconia that I bought prior to the iPad is nowhere near as smooth. That's not just my opinion but my experience and other forum posters say the same thing. There is just a certain lag that I have seen on all android devices that I do not see on iOS. Again not bashing. Just stating what my experience has been.

But you need to read what I wrote...I said my A500 RUNNING ICS! Totally different than Honeycomb! Ask anyone with a Galaxy Nexus phone & they'll tell you the same. ICS is leveling off the playing field. Now it will only be a matter of what format you prefer...not which is BETTER or SMOOTHER.
 

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