Hi all,
I am from India and while I was in Bangalore I picked this little android phone. I was in a dilemma which phone to pick, my budget was not too good for any 1gig - android phone so I had to pick this one (backflip from moto or wildfire from HTC was my other options -).
From the very first day that first thing I noticed that I am not that satisfied with the phone apart from the fact it's an android( which I needed badly) and (look of the phone -). I felt no one has used/ experienced / tested this phone before releasing. It's like a B-grade hindi movie, you like the title and then you like nothing.
Even they did not pay a little attention to make icons in a same pattern, games are horrible, I cannot access the market or any other app/widgets with manual configured apns (vodafone, india)--- its like worse dream of my life. I myself hate copy paste but I think people from sony (graphics as well as the developers) need to know this copy paste funda. I was very angry and posted all these in "Update on updates" as MINI PRO USER (may be now lost as around 2000 comments are there).
I don't how come they marketed this one with horrible calling feature, when I try to call or receive the call, the screen goes and needs unlock to find somewhere in the screen a tiny rectangle (if u use any other launcher, opps u even can't find it). Then messaging, in my life this is the first phone which takes ages to show the letter when u use the soft keyboard.
And how come they can make they make "CA gold rush" or something like that with a **** like icon? It's unbelievable, no tester with sony ? or HE is non sense.
Anyway I know I can easily download lots of apk's from here and there (as android market does not work) and make things better. But when is it desirable to purchase a Nike shoe and very first day then go to other painter to do some painting???
I really don't get enough time for doing stuff like changing icons or changing colors of the framework-res.apk. then also I had to spend 2 days to find icons like iphone (please iphone hater don't be angry, we all know the pattern of iphone icons are really good and almost every phone-maker tries to make something like that) or some good png icons and put then all the apk's that came with this and other apps that I needed. Now the phone looks like a phone. But I don't know when SONY will come up with a update that will make this a real phone (at least when I will be able to use the GPRS, Market etc and will be able to pick a incoming with minimum effort, those "SOFTWARE GUYS" made a slider with incoming phone that's like picking a needle huh.......b e a u tiful )
phone is nice and fast... works good. i got adw launcher and i rooted it so i could uninstall alot of pre-installed junk...
its fast, smooth im happy with it.
I know, my phone is also rooted and I changed all the icons through out, and using a launcher customized for me (I made a simple launcher for me) some time. I know we can do a lot of things in android that is one the reason I looked for android device, not WM phone. But my point was when someone is selling (marketing) some product, they should test it thoroughly. Why should the users take the pressure to find a decent launcher or call app??
I really like the phone but:
1- SE support SUCKS.
2- Upgrade to Android 2.1 delayed (Sucks)
3- No news about upgrade to android 2.2 (double sucks).
4- Turn on/off problems :
http://talk.sonyericsson.com/thread/3671?tstart=30
http://talk.sonyericsson.com/thread/5957
http://talk.sonyericsson.com/thread/6260?tstart=0
If the phone would work as it should, and the SE updates where in date, it should be one of the best phones for me.
My biggest disappointment, coming from WM, is the Android app market...
Yes: ,000's of android apps, but very few well-developed ones. My X1 is a bit like a Swiss Army Knife (without accelerometer, fast CPU etc etc), but the applications out there are plenty, and well designed. Also the WM apps are pretty expensive, comparatively but at least they exist.
The X10 Mini Pro itself, I'm OK with it. A lot of the minor flaws can be remedied by small apps like the SMS Handcent, adding a launcher, that sort of thing...
Biggest issue for me is the Android-wide problem of not being able to modify font size at system level. What were these guys thinking of?
Seems I have a bigger problem with Android, than with the X10 Mini Pro
I'm very pleased with my little "tamagochi" aka X10 mini
The point is i'm coming from a HTC Hero, and I loved it a lot, but the last time sometimes it got frozen i don't know why. I gave a X10 mini to my girlfriend and i got very impressed about the phone and finally I decided to get another one for me, so she and I have the same mobile.
First of all I have to say that the mobile is REALLY fast. Faster than my Hero on a 2.1 android version. Sony Ericsson has done a very good job about that even it running 1.6 android version. The kernel is very light, but for that reason some things doesn't work (i.e. tethering via root).
Good things: fast, very light, small, excellent camera (even better than other high models), excelent touch response
Bad things: BATTERY! (the worst), Android 1.6 and some stuff like launcher (aaaargh), the contact list, Timescape (I hate it) and the facebook links
For me the display isn't a bad thing cuz if not, it wasn't a small phone, and i like the small phones.
Some stuff inside is bad, but you can change perfectly. I mean the awful keyboard... that's very easy to fix with a keyboard from the market. I'm very happy with "Smart Keyboard pro". Nothing to say about the SE launcher... is totally a CRAP, you have to change it inmediately! "ADW Launcher" for 1.6 (on market) is really really good, once installed it, your phone is a true android mobile . Other stuff i didn't like was the SMS app from SE, so I changed it by "ChompSMS" and it works excellent on my X10 mini.
Other point is that some apps don't appear in the market because of the screen resolution. Anyway, I got most of them via Apktor (Aptoide), and they work perfect... I don't remember now what were them.
I want the update to 2.1 ASAP cuz I hope that SE improves the facebook links to the contacts (they said that in their blog) and also to install some apps that need android 2.0 or above, like Whatsapp and new google stuff.
So that's all, I'm very happy with it !!!
Just loving it !!!
It has got style and design features are so good that it is very easy to communicate with just one hand. It's a basic smart phone, great for the basic user. Internet, music, calls, text, chat, e-mail and apps to pay your bills.
The 5MP camera on the X10 mini performed admirably. It was quick to focus even in low light with very low shutterlag for a camera phone. The flash worked quite well for low light portrait shots. Images showed good colors and satisfactory details.
I just love this phone and really can't think a day without it.
Hope to read good reviews from respected community members about this phone......
Regards
Don Zone
My x10 mini is the best phone i've ever had. I have it since about 3 months now. It does everything I need and is very loveable. I have access to app market with no problem. I use the 3g connection as the much as the wifi, use the gps for driving (with google nav).
At first I thought the battery life was awful, but after uncharging completely and recharging fully 3 or 4 times, now I have 2 days of life. The only problems I have for now is not being able to copy text from sms, and cant find a descent azerty keyboard. I am please to know we will get 2.1 by the end of this month so I didn't take the time to fully customise the start screen with a launcher.
My old phones : htc 9100, touch diamond, htc snap.
Sent from my E10i using XDA App
For the SMS try ChompSMS, it's much better than the native app from SE, you can copy texts and much more, also you can write in landscape, with the original app you can't.
For the keyboard, try smart keyboard pro, I like it a lot, it has a very good algoritm and it can learn words you usually use, etc.
Both of them are in Apktor (Aptoide) for free. I think they are a MUST.
darfito said:
For the SMS try ChompSMS, it's much better than the native app from SE, you can copy texts and much more, also you can write in landscape, with the original app you can't.
For the keyboard, try smart keyboard pro, I like it a lot, it has a very good algoritm and it can learn words you usually use, etc.
Both of them are in Apktor (Aptoide) for free. I think they are a MUST.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
smart keyboard pro Hmm is not free it's a paid app
Hey I'm also from India..I Just love my "little fella"..battery is a big problem though
Take a look to Apktor or Aptoide app on google, I can't say anything else... hehe
I'M also from India.
Now I'm having xperia mini pro.
My dad having xperia x10.
Before this I had HTC tattoo.
I sold HTC tattoo because there is no 2.1 rom with camera working.
Xperia have official update.
Very nice and small size phone.
Nice hardware for that cost.
Really happy with phone.
Waiting for update......
Sent from my U20i using XDA App
I have had the x10 mini for a week and generally I like it. Its compact and lightweight and has many features.
There is a few annoying things that I dont like.
- Low resolution which doesnt look good.
- Cant have homescreen in landscape mode like the pro (this is very annoying)
- When inputting messages in landscape mode it can be quite unresponsive on occasions.
- The back cover of the phone feels very cheap and creaky.
- Battery life needs to be improved.
- Screen is a smudge magnet and is plastic not glass?
X10 Mini is perfect small phone with lots of features
Background data question
Hi,
I'm planning to buy the Mini Pro but I'm worried about battery life issue.. How does the background data and synchronisation system work on Android? If I want an e-mail and some other apps to be automatically synchronised e.g. once in an hour, does it require data connection to be switched on all the time? If I disable background data from the settings, are all the apps able to turn it on when needed (when it's time fo sync)? Just like it works on Symbian devices.. Only 3G connection will be used in my case, not WiFi..
And how about GPS, do I have to manually turn it on before I launch Google Maps? Or does the Maps turn the GPS on automatically when needed?
Related
Hi all, I've been using WM since ages.
The X10 mini pro is tempting me to commit hersy and buy and android phone
May you help me with some questions I have:
- Is a FULL file explorer preloaded ??
- Can I download/EDIT/save office docs ??
- Can I hot auto check my hotmail ??
- A win live mesenger is present ??
- Can I easily change the UI or is it "closed" ?? (sort of the xperia "panels")
THANKS in advance
gtrab said:
Hi all, I've been using WM since ages.
The X10 mini pro is tempting me to commit hersy and buy and android phone
May you help me with some questions I have:
- Is a FULL file explorer preloaded ??
- Can I download/EDIT/save office docs ??
- Can I hot auto check my hotmail ??
- A win live mesenger is present ??
- Can I easily change the UI or is it "closed" ?? (sort of the xperia "panels")
THANKS in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey
1. there is no file manger installed but you can download one from marked
2. you can buy doc to go then you can edit doc
3. you with exchange
4. there is many good msn apps in marked
5. you can use any home's from marked like adw launcher
gtrab said:
Hi all, I've been using WM since ages.
The X10 mini pro is tempting me to commit hersy and buy and android phone
May you help me with some questions I have:
- Is a FULL file explorer preloaded ??
- Can I download/EDIT/save office docs ??
- Can I hot auto check my hotmail ??
- A win live mesenger is present ??
- Can I easily change the UI or is it "closed" ?? (sort of the xperia "panels")
THANKS in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Following on from the previous answer
1) Not pre-installed, but you can easily download and install a free one directly from the Market (i.e from the phone itself) - ASTRO File Manager and ES File Explorer are two good ones, but there are plenty to choose from
2) Again, not pre-installed, but you can download a free app called "Documents to Go" that will let you read office docs. http://www.dataviz.com/ - You'll need to buy the full version (currently $15) to be able to edit docs too
3) Googling suggests that you can probably make it work using pop3 - I don't use hotmail, so I can't try it out
4) Nothing pre-installed, but there are lots on the market. I'm currently using Trillian which works nicely (free beta, will probably become a paid app)
5) Yes - there are lots of alternative launchers, so if you're not happy with the S.E. "4 corners" homescreen, you can easily switch for another one - most of these are free, too
So, it sounds like you might have to fork out some cash to be able to do everything you want
I use maildroid for all my email accounts including Hotmail. Just download it for free in market
Sent from my rooted X10 mini PRO using XDA App
THANKS for your replies.
Let me see if I get it right:
OK so Android looks like a different approach (more iPhone-esque than pocketPC-esque) but able to expand to more advanced capabilities with some investment
(and the market looks pretty ample)
One final Q:
Front camera for video call ??
(I could just check pdadb.net for that one, but sometimes having the phone in-hand brings on some surprises)
No video calling afaik, though I suppose some app could potentially do it via the front camera.
Although the launcher can be changed easily, the OS theming requires the phone to be rooted and a system file to be replaced to change, so you'll have a lot of blue until the phone is rooted.
There are thousands of apps on the market and also around on the web, some are junk, some are great (including a lot of free ones), you shouldn't have too much trouble finding software to fill whatever needs you have.
Android is a pretty fantastic phone OS, I don't think you'll be dissatisfied with it, the user experience is much the same across different phones, so really it's about getting it on hardware that can fill your needs.
front cam ??
so it DOES have a front camera
thanks for the info
good news !!
aPaullyG said:
No video calling afaik, though I suppose some app could potentially do it via the front camera.
Although the launcher can be changed easily, the OS theming requires the phone to be rooted and a system file to be replaced to change, so you'll have a lot of blue until the phone is rooted.
There are thousands of apps on the market and also around on the web, some are junk, some are great (including a lot of free ones), you shouldn't have too much trouble finding software to fill whatever needs you have.
Android is a pretty fantastic phone OS, I don't think you'll be dissatisfied with it, the user experience is much the same across different phones, so really it's about getting it on hardware that can fill your needs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gtrab said:
front cam ??
so it DOES have a front camera
thanks for the info
good news !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not seen a front camera on the mini pro, and the one i have has not a front camera
No front camera in mini pro
Sent from my rooted X10 mini PRO using XDA App
Hey gtrab,
I was just like you, I always swore bt WM. And never wanted to try anything new. But while I was on a trip, my dash was bugging out on me and I needed a new phone. I went for the x10 mini pro cuz it was cheap.
Now my view has changed, android took a while to get used to from wm. Not a lot of things were intergrated like wm, I needed an app for every little thing. Just to get a comm manager thing going, I needed to download like 6 widgets for it. And there was no folders to organize the apps. Things weren't in abc order. But installing a new launcher solved it.
The thing about the x10 that is making me stick with android and ditching wm6.5 (maybe untill wm7 comes out) is there is no crashed. Android runs smooth and stable. I havent soft reset my phone in 2 months. Even tho a wm rom was stable it still has issues and I needed to soft reset it once a week just to get something to work again. Even my girl friend likes my phone, she always hated my wm phones cause it was hard to use, and it would always mess up on us when im talking to her over the phone. It would always go like, "the comm manager isnt loading, I need to reset the phone to turn on the bluetooh, ill call u back"
Because of this I think im going to stick with android now.
Sent from my U20i using XDA App
Thanks for your words Ray_Jai
I am 100% sure to go Android as soon as possible, my only concern is "which" phone to choose
The X10 mini pro is an amazing little phone, the only thing stopping me from buying it is the screen res 'cause I do a lot of web navigation, and the older android version (Froyo has flash 10.1 web support)
The newest Desire Z and Moto droid 2 world edition are tempting me
Np,
The small screen is a killer for me too, but I do most of my web reading from RSS readers, so it's ok for me. I only use the phone for email and light web surfing, I rarely play games or watch movies on it. I tried to install some games, but many of the games weren't supported. so if you're into that, it might not be that good. but for everything else, it does a pretty good job.
I HATE mini apps on my Galaxy Tab 10.1...
That feature alone is enough to make me want to return the device.
Seriously? Why would Samsung want to decide for me my what apps I want at my finger tips? Then not only that, they use their own cheesy versions of available apps. I have already found the solutions I want to use through my Android phone. I want to carry over the same apps to the tab so that my experience is a little less fragmented.
The "mini apps" constantly get in the way. I'm brushing against the bottom bar causing the apps to pop up... none of which I ever use, completely unintentionally. Annoying! If I could only decide what apps showed up!
Total pain in the REAR!
Then Samsung loads on a bunch of unnecessary software. I HATE having 5 apps that do exactly the same thing on my device... The abundance of music players is asinine. Having three book programs (none of which you can remove) is stoopid.
Why can't you get a piece of hardware without the software all screwed up by the vendor these days?
Why is root necessary every time I put my hands on an Android device to make it useful?
Why can't I purchase an Android product with a Google backed Vanilla version of the current OS installed?
Why?
Why?
Why?
I'm so pissed that this $600 tablet requires an additional 15 dollars in apps and a good 6-12 (or more) hours of set-up time and research to get it properly rooted and operating the way I like it.
Sorry... that made me feel so much better.
Maybe an ipad would have been a better choice for you. I like tinkering with my toys so I chose the tab.
I HATE mini apps on my Galaxy Tab 10.1... do YOU?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may have opened the mini apps tray 3-4 times unintentionally (in the 10 weeks I have the tablet) and I use the "calculator" mini app quite regularly. So no, they don't bother me but I wouldn't miss them if they were gone either.
SGPMan said:
Maybe an ipad would have been a better choice for you. I like tinkering with my toys so I chose the tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Them there are fighting words...
I enjoy tinkering as well. I have loved customizing my original Incredible and now Incredible 2. They have an excellent following with a lot of very reputable ROM "artists". However, their original UI wasn't that bad to start with. And with the CM nighties, my phone is near perfect.
With the Galaxy Tab 10.1, my initial experience (3 days) I have found it to be laggy and glitchy, which I was shocked about. I want this tab to work for me, but it seems that I'm trying awful hard to make this work. I think it's the fact that my phone is setup so well and runs so well... I figured the tablet would be so much better. I set my expectations high, only to be disappointed so far.
I have rooted and removed a bunch of unnecessary apps, but haven't figured out how to remove that dam mini app bar. As far as custom ROM's go... I haven't loaded any since I am still trying to figure which has the best reputation for stability and speed.
I am trying to figure out something, other wise by Thursday this thing is headed back to Best Buy. Sad thing is... I don't want an apple device, but if that's what is comes to, then I will retire my Android phone as well to keep everything streamlined. Sucks!
gokpog said:
I may have opened the mini apps tray 3-4 times unintentionally (in the 10 weeks I have the tablet) and I use the "calculator" mini app quite regularly. So no, they don't bother me but I wouldn't miss them if they were gone either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Real Calc regularly, a donate (paid) app which can handle higher level math functions. I wish I could just substitute it in place of the basic Samsung/Android version.
Agree with you, mini-apps are boring me every time i wanna play a fullscreen game, like "fruit ninja thd"... This "rolling dock" is not a great feature.
SGPMan said:
Maybe an ipad would have been a better choice for you. I like tinkering with my toys so I chose the tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, the reason most of us choose Android is that we aren't forced into "one man's vision" and have the ability to choose for ourself. The mini-app bar forces us into one company's vision. I have to agree with the OP about this.
We should at least have the ability to turn it off.
Meh...it's there, it's unobtrusive, and at least my experience with it is that I really have to try to get it to come up when I want it. Have never accidentally brought it up. Sometimes the calc and the memo pad are useful.
Can't see why people hate it so much.
MMcCraryNJ said:
Meh...it's there, it's unobtrusive, and at least my experience with it is that I really have to try to get it to come up when I want it. Have never accidentally brought it up. Sometimes the calc and the memo pad are useful.
Can't see why people hate it so much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So...
Try a vs party on "Fruit Ninja THD", you'll see ^^
Just hide the status bar with this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1265397
problem solved!!!
I actually don't mind having mini app tray. I use task manager, calculater and memo pad for taking notes from web regularly. The only thing I don't like is accidentally hitting the screenshot button. But I totally agree with the original post. An option to turn it off would be nice.
Personally I like them. Two of them I use on a daily basis. Most of the others occasionally.
JHeal77 said:
As far as custom ROM's go... I haven't loaded any since I am still trying to figure which has the best reputation for stability and speed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Task360/Phantom "In Paris"
v.2 works great for me, but v.4 is coming "soon"(tm)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1284355
Really not a massive fan of them being there tbh, but I don't accidentally press the button (not like the screenshot one...grr!) and I don't use the apps in it. I just ignore it and get on my way.
If there was an option of getting rid of it though, I would.
I found this thread while searching for a way to at least configure this menu bar... unfortunately it looks like the whole thing is embedded in the ROM and the only way to hide it is to patch the ROM and/or completely replace it (thanks for the links in the thread).
I fully agree with the OP on a lot of his rant. This is an awesome peice of hardware that comes out of the box with some insanely bad software. I'm still deciding on what launcher to replace the stock version with, but so far both Go and Launcher Pro are tons faster, more configurable, and better looking than the laggy default version that doesn't even let you use the full display.
The status bar menu is kind of a nice idea, but the execution is terrible. If I could configure what apps and quick commands I wanted on the menu and easily hide it, it would be a great feature.
But as it is, the choices of what to put there seem really bizarre. I can't for the life of me figure out why "screen shot" was deemed important enough for most users to justify space on an "always on" menu. I have to routinely go delete unwanted screenshots taken by accidentally brushing that menu option.
The choices of what to put on the quick launch app menu are even worse. Holding the "home" button on the main menu for a couple seconds pops up the task manager so why do I need a whole other button dedicated to pulling up this app? The world clock is just plain terrible compared to other clock apps. The calander is alright, but there are better widgets out there that serve the purpose better than a quick launch menu. The memo and calculator are again terrible and need to be replaced by 3rd party apps so you should be able to replace them on this menu too. The music player is the only one of the apps that serves my purposes, but again there are better 3rd party apps and you should be able to configure what is on a system wide quick launch bar.
From the perspective of an average consumer the out-of-box experience is fairly poor due to the OEM software rather than the hardware or system software. It should be easy for a user to fix this with simple market based apps and configuration options rather than having to apply warantee voiding ROM patches and rooting the OS. Allowing OEM's to "lock" bad software is a really bad policy. If an OEM wants me to use their software, they should develop or license best in class versions of those apps rather than locking the software on the system and forcing me to root the system to get rid of poor quality software.
You can disable all of these functions with some XML editing if it really annoys you that much
I'd happily do all these changes for you for a little donation of just a couple of quid
Try one of the sweet new cm9 kangs, I'm on the 7500 version. So much better then tw honeycomb.
I Agree!!
hate it so much, but now on overcome rom,
its at least slightly less annoying. just ever so SLIGHTLY.
at least in this rom, a swipe upward wont activate it.
wont disturb me during fruit ninja.
but still sometimes press it when i wana press spacebar.
stupid piece of crap tray.
the motorola xoom already has ICS.
samsung will be the slowest tab to get it cos of this touch widz.
Sometimes i feel sorry for samsung.
i have a hunch there is some kind of conspiracy goin on at the back,
where google force manufacturers to implement their own skin. (why else would samsung waste effort to make rubbish that people dont want?)
and google can sell their overprice nexus device to make money.
just imagine, if samsung can sell or upgrade the galaxy S2 and note with the pure and stock vanilla android, and upgrade them to ICS without touch widz, would anyone buy galaxy nexus?
nexus has lausy hardware. last gen GPU and horrible camera. (not due to the 5MP, but generally a weak camera compare to S2 and note)
Luv'em why we have android
Pop up windows that are independent of screen, getting closer to desktop experience. I would like to swap some out but overall, (calc, note, calendar, calculator, & music player) work great. Allow true multitasking.
I just installed OverSkreen which gives me a windowed web browser on top of screen. I really like them.
I am on an ICS KANG version by Mabalito
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1461240
With this ROM, I don't have a bottom row of mini apps.
I am using GO Launcher EX HD
http://golauncher.goforandroid.com/2012/03/go-launcher-hd-v1-0-beta/
With the launcher, I able to hide the bottom bar whenever I want.
This is awesome when I watch video and play games
just curious if anyone switched back to WM6.5 after trying android on HD2 ? any particular reasons ?
After being an exclusive Windows Mobile user from the Pocket PC days in 2001, I tried Android on my HTC HD2 with great fear and trepidation. After 2 months i am VERY satisfied with Android and can't imagine ever going back.
Good luck with your decision.
never left WM, just run android on SD card
here more statements
I only tried one rom, it didn't work that well, and I hated not being able to customise it how I liked.
I absolutley hate sense/titanium/spb mobile shell... none of them work as well as my setup, I have my phone doing exactly what I want, when I want, and everything I use or need to see at all times is on my today screen. No other UI can currently give me that.
Every OS upgrade has brought less usability at the expense of 'looking nice', I hate having to go through multiple screens to do something as simple as turn on bluetooth and start a media player, one click for me and it's done. Same for many things.
I tried American Android on my HTC HD2. Battery life on all android sucks, so I am back on WM6.5. I am very sad Microsoft switched to WP7 after 6.5 is so cool.
Android must take care of battery management before releasing OS as now it just ruins the pleasure of Android OS. My WinMo6.5 lasts more than 4 days on one charge. I wanna see Android doing this
bbobeckyj said:
I only tried one rom, it didn't work that well, and I hated not being able to customise it how I liked.
I absolutley hate sense/titanium/spb mobile shell... none of them work as well as my setup, I have my phone doing exactly what I want, when I want, and everything I use or need to see at all times is on my today screen. No other UI can currently give me that.
Every OS upgrade has brought less usability at the expense of 'looking nice', I hate having to go through multiple screens to do something as simple as turn on bluetooth and start a media player, one click for me and it's done. Same for many things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I particularly like Spb Mobile Shell. But if you've got something that works better for you than it does, I'd be interested to know what that might be. Can you tell me what makes your WinMo 6.x work so well for you?
FWIW I've never tried Android and don't anticipate doing so for quite awhile. Same for Windows Phone. I have too much invested in Windows Mobile Apps to move off it, especially since they do what I need them to do so well.
I came from using the original HTC Touch for nearly 4 years with WM6.5 and promptly went to try Android when I first got my HD2. The 2 most important thing to me on my phone is the email client and the web browsing. I couldn't get used to the native email app or K9 in Android and came back to WM6.5 for about a week.
I then took the dive to go to WP7 Mango and I love the email integration there. The web browsing is not very nice and Microsoft pushing the use of Bing is very frustrating, but the browser itself is decent. So while the battery life is absolutely horrible in WP7, it can still get me through the day on light usage.
So, I tried coming back to WM6.5 but there certainly are many things to like about the current generation operating systems. WM6.5 just feels sluggish comparatively because everything seems several more clicks away for me. There are various things I miss though. Apps I had purchased are a big one, but I can live without it for now. The other is the task manager. The automatic task management concept is a nice idea in Android but I like quick access and control over it (something ICS possibly has addressed). WP7 its not an issue for now because non-native apps don't run in the background.
Overall, I think you at least owe yourself to try Android since it can run alongside WM6.5. Give it a real shot because there are only going to be more and more things that are available to current gen OS that won't be ported to WM6.5
Tref said:
I particularly like Spb Mobile Shell. But if you've got something that works better for you than it does, I'd be interested to know what that might be. Can you tell me what makes your WinMo 6.x work so well for you?
FWIW I've never tried Android and don't anticipate doing so for quite awhile. Same for Windows Phone. I have too much invested in Windows Mobile Apps to move off it, especially since they do what I need them to do so well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess that to me the essence of these new OS, and SPB Mobile Shell is that it puts form over function, to perform any action with those requires a lot more effort than it does with how I've set my phone up, it also seems to work slower.
For a start, I have on my Today Screen the things which I want to use or see most often. SPB Diary, easy today launcher, and alarmToday. I also use wkTask task manager for the tabs. My two soft keys are also customised, one runs WM5NewMenu (which is also run by long hold of the send key), the other runs a script I made with mortscript which closes all open programs, and resets the system settings to my default preferences, such as screen orientation and brightness.
In my WM5NewMenu popup menu, I have shortcuts to all the other things I use most frequently, such as messaging, not to open my inbox, but to open a text or email with the person I'm sending it to pre-defined. So for example if I want to text my wife, it's only 3 clicks from any screen. Note that WM5NewMenu is as quick as pressing right click with your mouse on your desktop, and each submenu is just as quick. I also backup my PIM data every day automatically have a script which sends it via email to myself, so if I have lose my phone or have to hard reset and my storage card get corrupted (or any other worst case scenario) I'll never be without the information I really need.
I also have google mobile in the launch menu, a couple of scripts to start/stop my media player, which will turn on bluetooth, allow me to connect my headset, then set the volume to maximum, offer a playlist selection and then lock the screen etc.
There are quick links to toggle WiFi and BlueTooth and start menu (the hardware buttons are too low for one handed use). I have one which opens my file explorer (apparently missing on WM7) to my IE favourites folder, and after I pick one it will close the file explorer again.
My lock screen is customised with the slider exactly where I find it the most comfortable to use, and the message is my phone number, in a different font, so I can show people easily when they ask and I've forgotten it.
A few other things without dragging on forever -
A Script which programs my work schedule into my diary with as little as 2 clicks for each day's work.
And I don't profess anything but a superficail knowledge of other OS, but the ability to use the same .LNKs and parameters as on my PC is extremely useful. For example, I can make a .LNK to the messaging .EXE, and include any or all of the following, To, CC, BCC, Subject, Content, and attatchments. Examples of use can be if you text the same thing each day, like 'I'm on my way home' would take a maximum of four clicks to send from any screen.
A coreplayer link which also sets the sreen brightness to max.
A lot of my .LNKs have different icons to the default program's
I've removed as much of the HTC customisations as I could find out how to, such as the HTC messaging.
I have a basic keylogging system in place (not a true keylogger, but it logs every time I use any program) so I can check when I did things. This sounds really anal or obsessive but, for example, it's usefull for when I take a break at work and forget when I started my lunch hour, I can just check what time I turned my phone on.
---------- Post added at 11:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:23 AM ----------
Gastaroll said:
I tried American Android on my HTC HD2. Battery life on all android sucks, so I am back on WM6.5. I am very sad Microsoft switched to WP7 after 6.5 is so cool.
Android must take care of battery management before releasing OS as now it just ruins the pleasure of Android OS. My WinMo6.5 lasts more than 4 days on one charge. I wanna see Android doing this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an external battery charger and have often managed to deplete one battery before the other has been charged, but this is while watching a film with a bluetooth headset and the screen brightness at maximum.
Tried Android on HD2 & native device, HD2 soon went back to WM6.5.3 because:
-Better battery life & charging control
-Customization of WM is unbeatable
-Every icon, position, text, background can be what I want
-Fast access to all daily tasks (wifi,tethering,BT,SIM switching,email) all handled within 1 or 2 touches & all status easily viewable
-Better Asian language support
-Better Language suite applications
-Better Office applications
-Excellent Video & music players.
-OS file system is easily handled & integrates & shares better with my Notebook files.
-Stability of my WM custom rom is faultless & backup/contact/file integration to Windows applications I use are not wanting replacing due to cost & time of setup.
bbobeckyj said:
...
A coreplayer link which also sets the sreen brightness to max.
....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you do that? I haven't checked, but does Coreplayer have command line options that will allow you to start with max screen brightness?
Tref said:
How do you do that? I haven't checked, but does Coreplayer have command line options that will allow you to start with max screen brightness?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mortscript.
I thought that might be it. I haven't messed with mortscript for a couple of phones now. I once wrote a long script I used to report on calls, minutes and data, but it's been awhile.
Thanks
u can always boot Android from SD card and be certain that it won't mess up your WM...i've successfully ported gingerbread, froyo, honeycomb and ics on my HD2 and i'm very satisfied...have fun!
though, NAND versions are faster, more stable and have better development
no , but we wish that we can boot wm6.5 from nand / dual boot winmo and android like wph7 and android in that way maybe we boot winmo because i miss some apps there
..
When I able to do this from my HD2 on android will switch on it until then wm 6.5 is my love hehe. Stupid microsoft and metro sh...t!!!!!!!!
Do not want to miss my tethered sync with Outlook
rabilancia said:
After being an exclusive Windows Mobile user from the Pocket PC days in 2001, I tried Android on my HTC HD2 with great fear and trepidation. After 2 months i am VERY satisfied with Android and can't imagine ever going back.
Good luck with your decision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I keep with WinMo6.5 because I want to do everything locally. I just don't like the buzz about putting everything on third party servers and airtime communications.
My mails are on my own servers and those of my company. When I sync my mails& contacts I use only my own electrons flowing through my private USB cables.
Neither Apple, nor Google, nor Microsoft need to know what I am doing, who i have as contacts and where I curently am located.
Additionally I am traveling frequently abroad and don't want to pay horrid sums per MByte on roaming fees.
I don't like androids behavior to start applications without asking me and there is no way to stop that, so I will keep using WM. Suck it android!
Yes and No
I got my phone in July 2010 and loved it. Battery life was bad and a lot of tweaks had to be done (thanks XDA). I got the courage to flash a custom WinMo rom by November 2010. Heard so many things about Android and tried it in 2011 and hated it. It was still shabby with Gingerbread and I missed Microsoft Office on the phone and exchange services. I ran back to WinMo after some days and didn't look back.
The world seemed to pass by and with no interest in Winmo, app development ceased (except here). WP7/7.5/8 just looked like a giant leap backwards and never tickled my fancy. Blackberry was a no. Iphone seemed overpriced. Ubuntu not out yet. That left Android, the most like the WinMo we all love. I don't like being stuck in the past, and my phone will be changed as soon as I see a decent one. The great phones now are all android. Why not seize the opportunity the HD2 afforded us to try everything?
Feb 2013, I flashed Android on NAND with Jelly Bean 4.1.2. It really has matured as an OS and I found out the best things about my Winmo UI are almost all incorporated into the ROM without much modding/tweaking. Since then, I have been happy with the phone. It can once again do things 95% percent of phones can't do. Battery life is still bad, thanks to Google syncing the lives of millions needlessly.
I really prefer avoiding storing personal information on Google servers like someone noted. There should always be options for offline methods as a backup. Maybe I am getting old and should follow the trend?
This ended up quite long, but bottom line is Android on my HD2 is a necessary step in the evolution of technology for me. Thank you and God bless.
So I've recently swapped over from an Ipod Touch 3 to a Samsung Galaxy Player 5. There are things I love and things I hate about my new device, since I used my Ipod touch primarily as a smartphone whenever it was on wifi. Here are some of my observations and things I've found along the way that might help people make the switch:
~~ VOIP Calling ~~
I've tried several of the VOIP apps (gtalk, grooveip, etc) and they all share a common problem: there is a large delay on the line. When I had my ipod touch, I used to use an app called Talkatone and it worked beautifully with no delay whatsoever. Turns out, you can get it on android (although not through the market). Had to really dig to find this one, but boy is it worth it!The app is incredible and works out of the box with no configuration. No delay at all, no echo, each party can hear the other without a problem. And it's free (for now)!
RECOMMENDATION: Talkatone (google: "talkatone apk" and find the link to the official site. Sry I can't post the link )
~~ Texting ~~
Use the official google voice app for now and throw a widget on your home screen. I got so spoiled by bitesms/google voice integration on my ipod, but for now this is about as good as it gets. Eventually, chompsms or some competitor will integrate google voice so you can quick-reply to texts without leaving the app you're in. They say it's in the works, so keep your fingers crossed!
RECOMMENDATION: Google Voice App (market)
~~ Calendar ~~
Using lockinfo on my ipod really spoiled me as far as keeping track of my upcoming events goes, but android gives us a similarly simple solution in the form of Pure Grid Calendar Widget. Toss a 4x4 XL widget on your homescreen and have fun never opening your calendar app again
RECOMMENDATION: Pure Grid Calendar Widget (market)
~~ Music: Desktop Syncing ~~
Coming off of itunes is tough, as I'm sure you all know. I decided to use windows media player on my desktop to sync my music, since it allows easy syncing to external SD (important, since I have more than 8GB of music) and is easy to use, despite being ugly and clunky. To listen to music on my computer, I'll be using Zune (soooo much better than itunes!), since playlists and ratings should sync right over to windows media player and therefore, my android. Still playing around with this, though. Will update as time goes on.
RECOMMENDATION: ?
~~ Music: Your device ~~
If the stock music player had a widget that worked, I would have used that, but since it didn't and there seem to be no good widgets for it in the market, I swapped over to PlayerPro. So far so good, but still don't have much experience with this, so will update over time.
RECOMMENDATION: ?
~~ Browser ~~
Currently I'm using the stock browser, since it is relatively zippy and works with flash player. Tried opera mini, and love the speed, but compatibility is shaky. Still not sold on this one.
RECOMMENDATION: ?
~~ File Explorer ~~
Use ES File Explorer. Don't ask questions. Just do it. When/if you decide to root, it gets better. Before you root, it lets you change file extensions (stock does not). It's also free with no ads.
RECOMMENDATION: ES File Explorer (market)
~~ Keyboard ~~
I'm personally really liking Swype, but it does take up a lot of memory and the keys are very small in portrait when typing things you can't swype (usernames, passwords, email addresses, slang, etc). Not sold on this, but definitely better than stock.
RECOMMENDATION: Swype ?
If you guys can think of anything I've missed as far as decisions about android you have to make, please let me know so I can update this. Still relatively new to android. Thanks!
Hi,
I haven't tried it yet (using Sipdroid + GV + pbxes.com, currently), but here's a link for Talkatone.com and Android:
http://www.talkatone.com/android-preview.html
Jim
Thanks, that's the link I'm not allowed to post! Do you experience any lag when talking on the phone with sipdroid? I had really bad lag, but may have set it up incorrectly. Want to make sure my info's right. Thanks, again!
xxBrun0xx said:
Thanks, that's the link I'm not allowed to post! Do you experience any lag when talking on the phone with sipdroid? I had really bad lag, but may have set it up incorrectly. Want to make sure my info's right. Thanks, again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
No, I haven't noticed any lag using Sipdroid+GV+pbxes.com on my SGP5. The only thing I've found is that I think it won't go into speakerphone mode on the SGP5. Works fine holding the SGP5 up to your ear, like a "real" phone .
I haven't tried it with the earbuds (suppose to have a mic on them already) or with a Bluetooth headset yet.
FYI, I downloaded the talkatone APK. It installed ok on my SGP5, and at first I couldn't call out. But I changed the compression to "none WIFI" and I think it worked ok after that.
However, whenever I pressed the "Speakerphone" icon, the talkatone app would FC, so it looks like they have some work to do (I know it's an "alpha"). I've uninstalled it from my SGP5 for now, since Sipdroid seems to work ok, plus the talkatone app puts up a ton of ads while it's running (like a new ad every couple of seconds?).
Later,
Jim
I find GrooveIP works pretty good, but will try Talkatone, thanks! Texting GV for sure.
edit: Trying Talkatone, not nearly as good UI as GrooveIP (no access to Google favorites, no contact pix), does seem to make calls fine. Speakerphone crashes app. Sticking with GrooveIP for now, until they officially release this thing.
I had Boat Mini as my browser for a year on my phone, but jus switched to Dolphin HD on my 5.0, very nice, especially the RSS section (Webzine). I have now eliminated Pulse because of it.
I really like the built in calendar, use Smooth Calendar Widget with it.
Don't listen to music a lot, but find Google Music nice (use it on my PC at home and work). For off-line I use Cubed, very nice UI and widgets, here'sthe link, it's hard to search for: http://www.appbrain.com/app/³/org.abrantix.rockon.rockonnggl
FX File EXplorer is great unrooted, but since I have File Expert on my phone, I'm using it on my 5.0, love this theme:http://www.appbrain.com/app/file-expert-dream-bubble-theme/com.geek.filexpert.theme7 My ONLY issue with it is it does allow reverse sorting (by date ends up newest last, which sux), but favorites pretty much solved that.
+1 Swype.
Like Any.DO for lists/google tasks sync.
Like Jango for radio/streaming favorites.
Like BMW and PowerTudor for pinpointing power issues.
Like this for weather (only beacuse it was a free Amazon app).
Like this for screenshots (at least for the 1st 14).
Like this for putting different pictures on screens.
And GO Launcher, Dropbox, Quickpic, and K9 are all better than stock.
My favorite game: http://www.appbrain.com/app/super-stickman-golf/com.noodlecake.ssg
xxBrun0xx said:
So I've recently swapped over from an Ipod Touch 3 to a Samsung Galaxy Player 5. There are things I love and things I hate about my new device, since I used my Ipod touch primarily as a smartphone whenever it was on wifi. Here are some of my observations and things I've found along the way that might help people make the switch:
~~ VOIP Calling ~~
I've tried several of the VOIP apps (gtalk, grooveip, etc) and they all share a common problem: there is a large delay on the line. When I had my ipod touch, I used to use an app called Talkatone and it worked beautifully with no delay whatsoever. Turns out, you can get it on android (although not through the market). Had to really dig to find this one, but boy is it worth it!The app is incredible and works out of the box with no configuration. No delay at all, no echo, each party can hear the other without a problem. And it's free (for now)!
RECOMMENDATION: Talkatone (google: "talkatone apk" and find the link to the official site. Sry I can't post the link )
~~ Texting ~~
Use the official google voice app for now and throw a widget on your home screen. I got so spoiled by bitesms/google voice integration on my ipod, but for now this is about as good as it gets. Eventually, chompsms or some competitor will integrate google voice so you can quick-reply to texts without leaving the app you're in. They say it's in the works, so keep your fingers crossed!
RECOMMENDATION: Google Voice App (market)
~~ Calendar ~~
Using lockinfo on my ipod really spoiled me as far as keeping track of my upcoming events goes, but android gives us a similarly simple solution in the form of Pure Grid Calendar Widget. Toss a 4x4 XL widget on your homescreen and have fun never opening your calendar app again
RECOMMENDATION: Pure Grid Calendar Widget (market)
~~ Music: Desktop Syncing ~~
Coming off of itunes is tough, as I'm sure you all know. I decided to use windows media player on my desktop to sync my music, since it allows easy syncing to external SD (important, since I have more than 8GB of music) and is easy to use, despite being ugly and clunky. To listen to music on my computer, I'll be using Zune (soooo much better than itunes!), since playlists and ratings should sync right over to windows media player and therefore, my android. Still playing around with this, though. Will update as time goes on.
RECOMMENDATION: ?
~~ Music: Your device ~~
If the stock music player had a widget that worked, I would have used that, but since it didn't and there seem to be no good widgets for it in the market, I swapped over to PlayerPro. So far so good, but still don't have much experience with this, so will update over time.
RECOMMENDATION: ?
~~ Browser ~~
Currently I'm using the stock browser, since it is relatively zippy and works with flash player. Tried opera mini, and love the speed, but compatibility is shaky. Still not sold on this one.
RECOMMENDATION: ?
~~ File Explorer ~~
Use ES File Explorer. Don't ask questions. Just do it. When/if you decide to root, it gets better. Before you root, it lets you change file extensions (stock does not). It's also free with no ads.
RECOMMENDATION: ES File Explorer (market)
~~ Keyboard ~~
I'm personally really liking Swype, but it does take up a lot of memory and the keys are very small in portrait when typing things you can't swype (usernames, passwords, email addresses, slang, etc). Not sold on this, but definitely better than stock.
RECOMMENDATION: Swype ?
If you guys can think of anything I've missed as far as decisions about android you have to make, please let me know so I can update this. Still relatively new to android. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally use Google Voice for texting, and Firefox for browsing. The new release is pretty slick.
First, I think we need separate threads for some of these since there could probably be entire discussions on each. Just a thought. And thanks to Bruno for starting this one.
I've just installed groove IP and tried it out a little. There is a lag plus folks on the other end report bad call quality. I have not played with the settings at all yet. Hope to do that tonight. I'll look at Talkatone once it hits beta or so. Going to look into Jim's solution tonight too as that sounds interesting.
If there are any folks who have been through the Groove IP setup on the YP-G70 already I'd appreciate hearing how your settings ended up!!
My Groove settings:
Audio settings: Echo nothing, Speaker "0", MG -6
Troubleshooting: KSO check, AP check, SV check, HiPerfWifiLock check
All others not checked or default. I don't talk much, but it seems to work. There is a number you can call that repeats back what you say so you can keep testing different settings: 909-390-0003
Mrktmind said:
First, I think we need separate threads for some of these since there could probably be entire discussions on each. Just a thought. And thanks to Bruno for starting this one.
I've just installed groove IP and tried it out a little. There is a lag plus folks on the other end report bad call quality. I have not played with the settings at all yet. Hope to do that tonight. I'll look at Talkatone once it hits beta or so. Going to look into Jim's solution tonight too as that sounds interesting.
If there are any folks who have been through the Groove IP setup on the YP-G70 already I'd appreciate hearing how your settings ended up!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're willing to give up the cloud-acceleration try Opera Mobile instead of Mini: it has good compatibility and Flash support, while still being pretty fast, so it doesn't lose any features from the default browser, making it an excellent alternative.
Thanks tcat. I'll try those setting tomorrow.
With regards to which browser I know that the Dolphin browser was very popular but was found to be tracking your surfing and phoning home - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1319529&page=31
In the above thread the Boat Browser seems to be the only privacy safe browser on Android. I am trying the Firefox browser right now.
Hey, just an update on this a few months later: Returned the galaxy player and got myself an optimus V from Virgin Mobile and WOW. Having internet everywhere was awesome Then I upgraded to a Triumph, and soon I'll be on Straight Talk (AT&T) using a Droid Razr. I traded my Ipod Touch straight up for the Triumph and it was basically brand new. Also, don't even want to tell you how cheap the razr was. Craigslist rocks. After playing with true phones, I can't honestly recommend the galaxy player 5 to anyone. It's simply too much money. You could pay a little more and get a galaxy nexus, which blows the player 5 out of the water in terms of specs, and if you decide you want a data plan, you can buy a sim card from straight talk and just use it for that, no monkeying around with voip apps. It costs more, but it is absolutely worth every penny, imo.
edited out reply
Can i use GrooveIP in Europe for free?or is calling only for USA numbers free?
Sent from my Samsung Toaster via XDA - If i helped ,click the Thanks button
Is there an app for international calling? From outside US or Canada to outside.
I did the opposite, went from an Optimus-V to the Player5.0, and use my V only about once per month. Now there are rumors that HTC 3D is coming to VM, if so I'll buy it. I don't like carrying 2 devices, and having data 24/7 is a big plus. I do have wifi at home and work, so the Galaxy is really all I need. GrooveIP works for me 90% of the time (since I get no cell signal at home, it's a must). But the 4.3" screen of the HTC at a much higher resolution will cause me to get rid of this wonderful Player to help pay for the HTC.... my grandfathered $25 unlimited is a deal that's hard to get rid of.
xxBrun0xx said:
Hey, just an update on this a few months later: Returned the galaxy player and got myself an optimus V from Virgin Mobile and WOW. Having internet everywhere was awesome Then I upgraded to a Triumph, and soon I'll be on Straight Talk (AT&T) using a Droid Razr. I traded my Ipod Touch straight up for the Triumph and it was basically brand new. Also, don't even want to tell you how cheap the razr was. Craigslist rocks. After playing with true phones, I can't honestly recommend the galaxy player 5 to anyone. It's simply too much money. You could pay a little more and get a galaxy nexus, which blows the player 5 out of the water in terms of specs, and if you decide you want a data plan, you can buy a sim card from straight talk and just use it for that, no monkeying around with voip apps. It costs more, but it is absolutely worth every penny, imo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@tcat007 Another solution that might help would be to try either Wifi Ruler or WiFi Jumper apps. These apps make your YP-G70 auto-connect to the nearest best wifi signal without any interaction just like a cell phone auto connects to the nearest cell tower.
Haven't tried them extensively yet but I'm thinking they will help bridge the gap between wifi phone and cell phone.
gVoice works best for me. no setup to do
After trying all the apps in this thread, I've found SIPdroid+pbxes works best for me. Audio delay is the smallest out of all of them, even though the interface isn't as pretty.
Thanks
Thanks for the recap
Hi everybody,
I switched back to Sony and got myself a Xperia 1.
A few years back, when I had a Z2 and a Z3 I was a huge fan of the performance and the launcher and Sony add-ons.
Unfortunately Sony decided to go towards stock Android-ish (a bit too much in that direction).
What I am missing severely is:
1. to make a scrolling screenshot and then editing it with a pen or my finger to comment or whatever. Like any Samsung, LG, Huawei, xiaomi etc does.
Is there any way to do that on the Xperia 1?
Or is there an app you can recommend, that does not come with adverts and respects privacy?
2. I am missing to switch off network connection for apps seperately (like one plus allows)
3. A functionality to clone apps (like any chinese phone does). Having a dual Sim phone this is really mandatory in my point of view.
At the moment I use island and app cloner, but they both have their limits.
Thanks a lot for any help and suggestions.
Joe