Where the Droid heads at?
- Thread starter McLabia
- Start date
Looking to get an Android phone sometime soon.
"Rooted HTC Thunderbolt: VirusROM Airborne(Fully desensed), Ziggy 5.3.11 kernel daily running at OC'd to 1.3, Darkhorse custom theme with GOLauncher." Whats all this mean? You've got a hacked kernel on it? What r the advantages?
"Rooted HTC Thunderbolt: VirusROM Airborne(Fully desensed), Ziggy 5.3.11 kernel daily running at OC'd to 1.3, Darkhorse custom theme with GOLauncher." Whats all this mean? You've got a hacked kernel on it? What r the advantages?
McLabia
Member
lol. I love my Bolt. I would recommend this phone to ANYONE. When you decide to buy your phone, I would HIGHLY recommend wirefly. I bought my phone from there MAD cheap. I paid 182 for my Bolt(NO TAX) and that included the first month of my insurance(which has ZERO deductible).
http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/04/15/rooting-explained-top-5-benefits-of-rooting-your-android-phone/
^ Good read about the basics.
Rom: Basically its like the OS of a computer.
Kernel: Basically its like DoS
OC'd means that I overclocked it to 1.3 gigahertz
GOLauncher is basically a GUI for the ROM or OS.
Nice. Thanks for the tips.
I see the Bolt is one of the few LTE phones for Verizon. I'd be interested in using it as a hotspot to give my laptop internet access.
Are you concerned that it's only a single core processor? I also note in the reviews that people tend to complain about the battery life as well... If you were to get another smart phone now, would you still choose the Bolt?
I see the Bolt is one of the few LTE phones for Verizon. I'd be interested in using it as a hotspot to give my laptop internet access.
Are you concerned that it's only a single core processor? I also note in the reviews that people tend to complain about the battery life as well... If you were to get another smart phone now, would you still choose the Bolt?
JiveBanana
New member
I've got an HTC Wildfire ("Buzz"). Out of the box it's awful: it's painfully slow. I rooted it, tried several custom ROMs on it and installed a custom kernel.
Thanks to the custom kernel, the CPU is now running at 691 MHz instead of the default 528 MHz. Together with a different CPU scheduler ("interactive"), the phone is finally usable.
I tried a few different versions of CyanogenMOD, and although they have a few advantages, they really lack in usability. I think HTC Sense is a necessity for Android based phones: I'd like my phone to be easy to use out of the box, I don't want to install third party apps just to make a phone call comfortably.
All in all, the Android philosophy sounds very nice: a smartphone you can customize to your needs. After 8 months with such a phone, I found that a closed source device with a well thought of interface is a lot more practical than a custom one.
Thanks to the custom kernel, the CPU is now running at 691 MHz instead of the default 528 MHz. Together with a different CPU scheduler ("interactive"), the phone is finally usable.
I tried a few different versions of CyanogenMOD, and although they have a few advantages, they really lack in usability. I think HTC Sense is a necessity for Android based phones: I'd like my phone to be easy to use out of the box, I don't want to install third party apps just to make a phone call comfortably.
All in all, the Android philosophy sounds very nice: a smartphone you can customize to your needs. After 8 months with such a phone, I found that a closed source device with a well thought of interface is a lot more practical than a custom one.
McLabia
Member
Yep. I love this damn thing. Its super fast, has a shit load of memory and storage space. Yes the battery life is horrid out of the box, but this thing has a monster screen, and I bought three 1500 mah batteries and a wall charger from ebay for 12 bucks. I only use three batteries total(Mostly only able to go through two in a day) and I stream pandora all day while at work. Ive been reading on my android forums where people are getting 24-32 hours on the 1400 mah battery. I get anywhere between 5-12 on one charge depending on how much Ive been streaming pandora or watching videos on my phone. 4g is redic fast, destroys anything ATT has for service and the upload destroys cable. Theyre trying to do away with tethering all together or make you pay out the nose for it. They do have "Packages" but whats the point of those if you have unlimited data? lol. If youre gunna jump on a new phone and youre a verizon customer, I would suggest you do it before summer. Theyre going to be implementing tiered data which basically means youre no longer going to be paying for unlimited date, but data with a bandwidth cap. You go over and they charge your ass. Dual core phones will go the way of Betamax.
Sense SUCKS. Ive totally removed every aspect of sense. 1. Its a HUGE hog on battery and 2. its just fugly, and not to mention, Imo, the wildfire is just a horrid phone to begin with and there was never any hope for it. lol.
Romming isnt so much about making phone calls comfortably, as much as it is to make it your OWN. he problem Ive seen with Cynogen is that it reminds me of Windows. Its never finished. Ive been looking at running it, but I just cant bring myself to it with all of the bugs.
Also, even if i sign an unl data plan before they move to tiered pricing, in two years when i have to re-up with verizon again, wont i be switched to a tiered plan if thats all they have? Or i guess i could be on a month to month plan, but then how do i upgrade my phone?
JiveBanana
New member
I agree the Wildfire is an awful phone. That said, Sense does make Android a lot more usable. The default dialer in Cyanogen/Android is just pathetic. And the same goes for the texting application.
I know these can all be switched to better (often paid) apps, but I don't want to spend days testing every different dialer on the market. And even if I did find the magic dialer for me, integrating it into the ROM requires some tweaking here and there: if you just install the app, you'll still run into the classic dialer every now and then.
I'm considering buying a "real" Android phone, one with a decent CPU and resolution but I don't think that will automatically make the software any better. The Samsung Galaxy S II looks promising: Samsung don't try to prevent you from installing a custom ROM at all, you're just on your own when you do. Which is an approach I like.
Bottom line: read reviews and reserve free time before you buy an Android phone.
elgwedoloco
Member
DROID X
DROID X
Droid X, Liberated(Running Liberty 2.01 ROM), OC'd to 1.22GHz, ADW Launcher EX. I don't know what I would do without this phone now that I have it. Not to mention where I live tethering my phone is my only form of internet. So for now Verizon is giving me 6-10GB of data a month through my phone.
DROID X
Droid X, Liberated(Running Liberty 2.01 ROM), OC'd to 1.22GHz, ADW Launcher EX. I don't know what I would do without this phone now that I have it. Not to mention where I live tethering my phone is my only form of internet. So for now Verizon is giving me 6-10GB of data a month through my phone.
McLabia
Member
I agree the Wildfire is an awful phone. That said, Sense does make Android a lot more usable. The default dialer in Cyanogen/Android is just pathetic. And the same goes for the texting application.
I know these can all be switched to better (often paid) apps, but I don't want to spend days testing every different dialer on the market. And even if I did find the magic dialer for me, integrating it into the ROM requires some tweaking here and there: if you just install the app, you'll still run into the classic dialer every now and then.
I'm considering buying a "real" Android phone, one with a decent CPU and resolution but I don't think that will automatically make the software any better. The Samsung Galaxy S II looks promising: Samsung don't try to prevent you from installing a custom ROM at all, you're just on your own when you do. Which is an approach I like.
Bottom line: read reviews and reserve free time before you buy an Android phone.
I will 100% agree with your bottom line(youtube the phone youre debating on and look for the Wirefly Cellphone Schmackdowns. They compare phones that are ABOUT equal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-3MOvuPFvU Good example), however there are parts of your post I will highly disagree with. First of all your text messaging app issue. I had wondered the same thing so I read up on my android forums. It came down to preference and I went with Handcent sms. Has NOT let me down. Free btw, not a paid app. If you find something youd rather not be ripped off for, check Applanet. Its the free paid market.
Also, I would recomend checking out some of the android forums, namely XDA and Phandroid in the sections designated for your phone. You can QUICKLY read up and see screenshots of what things will look like and get REAL reviews and figure out whats broken and thatll stop you from wasting your time on crap. lol.
What dont you like about the dialer? Ive yet to find fault with it, but then again I use my phone less as an actual phone and more for texting, surfing, cam, and playing games when Im bored. Oh and streaming video and music. Awesome for those nights where I cant get to a TV to watch my Sharks play. As far as installing one goes, theres not much to it. You flash a zip in through a ROM manager and Boom, its installed. The only way you see the old one again is if you dont switch to make it the defualt dialer. I did the ASOP one for a little bit and hated it.
Samsungs are GREAT for anything visual but tend to lack when it comes to processing power. Then again, I dont like Samsung as a brand. I dont think they make a quality product. Theyre like the GoBots of the android world IMO. With ANY phone, the moment you root youre on your own. Motorolla has locked their bootloaders recently and Ive heard HTC is doing it now too. Samsung I guess is more root friendly, but its still nothing that Devs cant easily work around.
Check out the ROM sections of the forums I talked about. Youll find something you like and figure out the issues it has BEFORE you flash it. Always make sure you do a Nandroid backup BEFORE screwing with anything though. lol.Sense...Sense does a couple things well. Annoying the crap out of you, FCing, looking like crap and destroying your battery life. GOLauncher ftw. Ill never run sense again. Sense 3.0 has SOME promise, but not much.
EDIT: The HTC dialer my bad. lol. Thats not actually sense as much as the stock HTC dialer. Its not a part of sense at all.
This is the BEAUTY of only upgrading and RENEWING your contract without changing anything. Dont sign new ones. You get whats called grandfather clauses. ^_^ Ive had my unlimited texting(Not just to verizon but to EVERYONE) for about 6 years now. Not the paid version, but the free version.
Imo the best place to upgrade your phone is through Wirefly. They do renewals not new contracts. Whenever you get a new phone always make sure that you do a renewal if their no longer offering something you currently have on your plan.McLabia, I am intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Does it have GPS and all that good stuff? I like the map feature of my iphone. What else can your superphone do? Sounds like theres not much it can't do...
Google maps for GPS and imo, thats the BEST map program PERIOD and Im an old Thomas Guide guy. My GPS has yet to let me down. The question is never what can your phone do when it comes to Android devices, the question is always what do you want your phone to do. XDA and Phandroid are the best android forums Ive found. XDA is where the development guys post their work. XDA is to phones what ICMAG is to cannabis to put a little perspective on that.
McLabia
Member
I dislike the doucheness of charging people that already have an UNLIMITED data plan to use data. Just seems like theft to me. Imo, get one of the tethering apps and tell verizon to go fuck itself.
How do you like the Droid X? Do you guys have GB yet? Leaked or Official? I have a friend thats wanting to check out GB for her DX. Do you like ADW? Got some SS's of it?
elgwedoloco
Member
I love my X sooo much. Sooo much available for it(rooted that is). I have a homie with a HTC EVO 4G and I like mine better. But with that said he wont let me root his. He is scared.
I agree with you about the doucheness, I have Wireless Tether for Root so like you said....FUCK VERIZON. But they are the only cell phone provider that work where I live. All my friends and family hate coming to my house because none of them get reception. I hate giving Verizon props but I have to for coverage at my place. I love ADW. I used to have another launcher but I couldn't buy the paid version due to technical difficulties.
SS's?
I agree with you about the doucheness, I have Wireless Tether for Root so like you said....FUCK VERIZON. But they are the only cell phone provider that work where I live. All my friends and family hate coming to my house because none of them get reception. I hate giving Verizon props but I have to for coverage at my place. I love ADW. I used to have another launcher but I couldn't buy the paid version due to technical difficulties.
SS's?
McLabia
Member
Re: Where the Droid heads at?
Screenshots. Lol. Meh the evo can lick my bolts empty batteries. It's an alright phone but their 4g is a joke. its the older brother of my bolt. As long as you're not going crazy why buy the tethering package? Just use barnacle. It's free.
Sent from my rooted, ROMMED Bolt with a custom kernel and theme.
Screenshots. Lol. Meh the evo can lick my bolts empty batteries. It's an alright phone but their 4g is a joke. its the older brother of my bolt. As long as you're not going crazy why buy the tethering package? Just use barnacle. It's free.
Sent from my rooted, ROMMED Bolt with a custom kernel and theme.
Alright, i'm starting to get more of an idea of what this is all about.
I'm leaning towards the TB superphone route a la Mclabia. Sounds like this phone will do everything i want it to do and then some. The contract renewal and wirefly tips are also very good to know.
So ive been searching for when VZ will put tiered data plans in this summer, and rumor has it it might not be till late june or july, when the iphone 5 is announced? Anyone have any more concrete news on this, or is it like a Reservoir seeds drop, you'll only know when it's announced?
I'm leaning towards the TB superphone route a la Mclabia. Sounds like this phone will do everything i want it to do and then some. The contract renewal and wirefly tips are also very good to know.
So ive been searching for when VZ will put tiered data plans in this summer, and rumor has it it might not be till late june or july, when the iphone 5 is announced? Anyone have any more concrete news on this, or is it like a Reservoir seeds drop, you'll only know when it's announced?
McLabia
Member
Its exactly like a Res seed drop. lol. The Bolt was SUPPOSED to be released in November(Yes, I had been waiting since then for it) and Best Buy even opened their preorder list back in February. Phone didnt drop till the end of March. What you mostly need to take into account though is what you want your phone for. Look at that FIRST before you make the leap to any new phone. Also for all thats unholy and good in this world, stay AWAYfrom anything with that apple brand on it.
Yeah, I was sucked in by the Apple hype, but im looking to expand my horizons. 
Although i am somewhat interested in what the iphone 5 will be like...
All I really need my smartphone for is: web surfing (android will play flash, so thats not a problem), email (can have 2 accounts on the TB, but if I root it can i have more email accounts?), GPS mapping, music (40gb of storage), text and talk of course, the wifi tethering (again, not an issue if i root the phone), and uh.... that's about it? I dont use a bunch of apps like a lot of people, but it's nice that they're available if i need something specific....
Although i am somewhat interested in what the iphone 5 will be like...All I really need my smartphone for is: web surfing (android will play flash, so thats not a problem), email (can have 2 accounts on the TB, but if I root it can i have more email accounts?), GPS mapping, music (40gb of storage), text and talk of course, the wifi tethering (again, not an issue if i root the phone), and uh.... that's about it? I dont use a bunch of apps like a lot of people, but it's nice that they're available if i need something specific....
McLabia
Member
Yeah, I was sucked in by the Apple hype, but im looking to expand my horizons.
All I really need my smartphone for is: web surfing (android will play flash, so thats not a problem), email (can have 2 accounts on the TB, but if I root it can i have more email accounts?), GPS mapping, music (40gb of storage), text and talk of course, the wifi tethering (again, not an issue if i root the phone), and uh.... that's about it? I dont use a bunch of apps like a lot of people, but it's nice that they're available if i need something specific....
When it comes to email they make a TON of apps that will pull all kinds of email. I have six email accounts currently hooked up on my phone. Granted, thats all that I have, but I could do more.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.fsck.k9&hl=en <--Awesome app.
The 40 gig storage isnt all its cracked up to be. Its more like 36 or so gigs available. You have the whole SD card, but only about 4 gigs or so is actually useable. Even after root. Still a healthy chunk of space to work with though. lol. i know I could go a week or so on my 8 gig mp3 player without hearing the same song twice. Granted I couldnt fit my 130 gig music library on it, but 130 gigs would be a bit obsessive...haha.
Youll use more apps when you find them. I was the same way. I never thought Id use a ton of apps then you find em, try em and play with em. Some you keep, some you dont. Also, Amazon has a free paid app every day. They mostly do new releases but I picked up trillian for android that way and I was happy about that.
meh, isheep hopefully(but I know it wont) fails. lol.
i just got a galaxy s through t mobile......
any cool things i can do?
any cool things i can do?
