Dell Streak Signal booster - Streak 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

http://www.cellularfactory.com/det.jsp?d=1316&c=612330
Anyone try this? Or willing to? A couple of the places that I go, I don't get signal....Such as my brother's, in the mountains, where the closest T-Mobile tower is about 30 miles away, lol... But I'm not sure if it'd actually work...Or does anyone have a way that doesn't look too stupid, to increase the signal?

Snake oil!
Do you really think that if it worked, Dell wouldn't have built this technology into the phone in the first place?!

Uh, yeah. I do think that. Because it isn't made by dell. There are -always- third party items... That's like saying 'If the otterbox commuter was any good, dell would've included it.'
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App

Big time snake oil!
This isn't any different than those annoying signal booster stickers that you would see on late night tv in the late 90's.

The only way I see this working is if it were to touch the current phones antenna. I don't see that happening. I would say give it a try and give us some feedback. I always wondered about these antenna add-ons.

Akuma, I do agree, but at the same time, outside things can interfere with signal... I don't see it being too good for the battery, though... Idk. I might check it out.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App

these probably work the same as those SAR radiation shields.. its proven to boost up to 4dB but the main plus is that u get a lot less radiation exposure, actually up to half the exposure to ur head/brain.. but it all depends on the materials its made of and the placement of the phone... ur hand could interfere and actually make it worse,..

So did you test it?

Related

Evo 3d quality control

I'm not trying to bash the phone or troll so please don't violate my thread.
I'm looking to get the Evo 3d tomorrow but reading over this forum, one would think this phone has pretty bad quality control. I've heard about tilted screens, dust under the screen, dead pixels, loose buttons, yellow tinted images etc.
Every phone has its issues and there will always be some phones that should have ended up in the reject bin that somehow get shipped out but I'm worried that the Evo 3d may be worse than usual. Does this seem to be the case or are these issues simply being exaggerated on this forum?
Thanks
poweroutlet said:
I'm not trying to bash the phone or troll so please don't violate my thread.
I'm looking to get the Evo 3d tomorrow but reading over this forum, one would think this phone has pretty bad quality control. I've heard about tilted screens, dust under the screen, dead pixels, loose buttons, yellow tinted images etc.
Every phone has its issues and there will always be some phones that should have ended up in the reject bin that somehow get shipped out but I'm worried that the Evo 3d may be worse than usual. Does this seem to be the case or are these issues simply being exaggerated on this forum?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No loose buttons or anything of the nature on my device , so far so good, and yeah they always find something wrong with the phone , you should been last year for the EVO 4G forums were hammer about it last year, just get the device and judge it on your own terms after 3 weeks if you think is no for you just get another device which most likely will have some problems too, I do recomend insurance tho cause you never know what could happen
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
poweroutlet said:
I'm not trying to bash the phone or troll so please don't violate my thread.
I'm looking to get the Evo 3d tomorrow but reading over this forum, one would think this phone has pretty bad quality control. I've heard about tilted screens, dust under the screen, dead pixels, loose buttons, yellow tinted images etc.
Every phone has its issues and there will always be some phones that should have ended up in the reject bin that somehow get shipped out but I'm worried that the Evo 3d may be worse than usual. Does this seem to be the case or are these issues simply being exaggerated on this forum?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No trolling...
Don't judge a phone by its forums. Simple as that. If you do, every phone looks like its riddled without issues. People go to forums looking for answers about issues with the phone. Just get one. If you happen to have one of the issues (check before leaving the store) just hand it back over and ask for another. It really is that easy. That's what I did. I got one without issues first time though. But I went through a standard checklist I have in my head before leaving the store.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Well the tilted screen is nothing, I am a perfectionist, and Im able to get over the slightly and barely noticable tilted screen. In fact I didnt notice till people complained about it. the loose 2d 3d button is also no biggie. Yellow tinted screen? I dont think you would realize you had it unless its next to a blue tinted screen in which case you may prefer the blue over the yellow, but alone it make no difference.
Unfortunately alot of is true I replaced one for stuck green pixels and this ones screen has a slight tilt , a tiny missing spec of paint bye the menu button and light bleed at the bottom . Lots of folks here would return it for just one of these issues but I can live with it not a big Deal unless your putting it under the microscope .
I say inspect it well before you leave the store and if nothing jumps out at you don't look for it
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
This same issue keeps me from buying one. I am off contract and would like to buy one off of eBay because they run for about 350 NIB there but I am afraid to get a bad one.
But also granted as some posters said the og evo also had problems during release as well. Maybe it's best to wait until they get through the first gen releases
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
it is no worse than any other phone that i have been a part of.. there are always bad eggs in a batch, you just pray you dont get one.. when the hero came out forever ago, it had the dust under the screen issues, i know people that had all kinds of issues with the orig evo.. the problem in the 3d forum is you are getting a lot of very vocal people, all coming from multiple devices.. and there is a lot of ignorace floating around too.. as well as people are looking for things not to like since we dont have permenant root yet..
i personally have no issues with the phone, i know several other people who have it as well, and they have no issues.. i wouldnt worry about it, if you get one with an issue, take it back..
felacio said:
No trolling...
Don't judge a phone by its forums. Simple as that. If you do, every phone looks like its riddled without issues. People go to forums looking for answers about issues with the phone. Just get one. If you happen to have one of the issues (check before leaving the store) just hand it back over and ask for another. It really is that easy. That's what I did. I got one without issues first time though. But I went through a standard checklist I have in my head before leaving the store.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 this.
I'm on my 2nd completely perfect E3D. I went through a bunch trying to find one with a good radio and couldn't. They all suck...but not as bad as the Samsung radios...trust me. It is likely that it is mostly cosmetic in nature anyway.
...and those other ones I had them open up and turn on? All perfect in all of the ways that are typically mentioned as fubar on this forum. The only thing I noticed was vary levels of screen-tilt. Nothing major. I'm anal about stuff like that, but, I didn't even find any of them distracting...though I did make it a point to take one without any.
That's how forums are. When I went looking for a new truck I looked around, 95% of the people there are people who just had **** luck...the other 99.5% of the people who purchased these trucks had none of those problems. But, when you get something and it performs as expected you don't tell everyone about it--but when something is screwed up you tell everybody.
Same for my current apartment. I read on all the rental sites and you would think this place was a vermin infested ghetto that had piss-smell in the hallways, ceilings caving in, holes in walls and daily knife fights in the parking lot....even though it they are actually the luxury apartments with every amenity...I have not once seen "garbage in all the halls all the time" that was mentioned, nor have I ever once "smelled them smoking drugs" in the stairwells. The dumpsters are never "over flowing with trash" and not only is the parking lot not "full constantly i have to park a mile away from my house" as stated by many people, there is in fact 4-5 times more parking than tenants....
When I ran a computer repair shop it seemed obvious that compaq couldn't make a computer that ran to save their goddamned life...cuz I only saw the broken ones.
Complainers complain because they got something that doesn't work how they thought it would/is supposed to. You can't blame them for being upset and loud...but the vast majority all got something that does exactly what it is supposed to (for the most part) so has no need to go on and on about it.
Ide do craigslist not ebay ide have to see it my friend at radio shack let me inspect 2 the first time and three the next they all had (dust ?) Under the screen . So I've got the best of five and have the issues mentioned above
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
All valid concerns. I don't think the phone has bad quality control, just some really minor stuff that perfectionists (xda-ists) notice. When you go to the store, ask them to take it out of the box and tell them you want to inspect the screen BEFORE it is activated. Don't let them tell you they can't power it up without activating it. That's not true. If you see it first, you can judge for yourself.
Mike
Here's a tip launch the camera app on 3d and cover the lens to make the screen black . The first one slipped bye because the Green specs where only visible on 3d weird I know . Didn't notice till I watched the stupid green lantern movie
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
Thanks for the responses.
I plan to ask the sprint store to let me inspect the phone before activating. I should be able to check for dead pixels easily along with loose buttons. To be honest I can't even notice the tilted screen from the pictures posted here and I certainly didn't notice it on the evo 3d on display at the sprint store. I hope I get a good unit.
An awesome phone
I guess I'm lucky -- hardware-wise, my 3D seems perfect.
Firmware-wise, I could give you a list of (mostly minor) areas where IMHO the 3D is a step backward from the EVO 4G. However, I acquired my 4G only in January of this year, by which time HTC and Sprint must have ironed out most or all of the issues. With a few more OTA updates the 3D should be unstoppable.
For me, the speed of the new CPU and Sense 3.0 are reason enough to get the 3D. When you go to test the phone, check out the new weather app, for example -- sweet!
jasmithers said:
I guess I'm lucky -- hardware-wise, my 3D seems perfect.
Firmware-wise, I could give you a list of (mostly minor) areas where IMHO the 3D is a step backward from the EVO 4G. However, I acquired my 4G only in January of this year, by which time HTC and Sprint must have ironed out most or all of the issues. With a few more OTA updates the 3D should be unstoppable.
For me, the speed of the new CPU and Sense 3.0 are reason enough to get the 3D. When you go to test the phone, check out the new weather app, for example -- sweet!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'm not too terribly worried about software issues. For that we have HTC which will probably address most issues with OTAs and also the great community here to offer further support.
I am on my second... First one was perfection except 3g reception was non-existent. This one has much better reception, but all the hard buttons are mushy and non responsive and the ****ing 2D/3D button rattles like a banshee. None of these were issues in first one. Looks like I am gonna chance a third try tomorrow.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
Quality control on these phones is aweful. I've been through 3 in 4 days. I would have had my 4th today but I'm sick of returning phones. First phone took green pics. 2nd one took blotchy pics and the cameras were not even close to being centered properly and my 3rd and current one is having problems with the screen becoming unresponsive.
I was the first person in my town to own a EVO 4g and that phone was awesome from day one.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
I agree with what most of you guys have said. To add to that tho, I think with anything tech related, the people with problems are only a small minority, and because they do have problems they're gonna be the loudest, and that's all you'll ever hear esp. on a site like this. It's like eating out at a restaurant. I'm betting money that 9 times out of 10 you're more likely to go out of your way to write a novel online abt a restaurant you got horrible service from, than you are to even think abt reviewing the restaurant at all if you got average service. So I would say that you see more complaint threads because the majority of us with good EVO's don't start threads abt how average our EVO's are. Although if people do have legit problems, by all means they should be allowed to let the world know. It just sucks when their problems come from them being OCD, then it really is like a bad apple spoiling the barrel or however that saying goes.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
Simply put if you get it you'd better check it out before you even leave the store. HTC's QC on this phone was absolutely terrible. How they managed to miss the tons of phones with tilted screens is beyond me.
+10
i agree this tread
Optimus 3d have only battery problem= no problem
It seems like everyone at XDA has something in common. We are all OCD and we will find something wrong with almost everything.
To a normal person, not one issue here would have any effect on them or would they even know what we were talking about.

IMPROVING RADIO SIGNAL 3g

MOD EDIT: This modification may very well harm your phone. Read this post for more details, read the entire thread, and most importantly, proceed with caution.
Okies guys heres the breakdown on reception, seems that Nexus S 4g's have antenna ports under battery cover, which seem to be ill placed. Your hand is over them all the time lol. One labeled G this is gps , w1 and w2 on volume side are for wifi and 4g, and r1 is 3g. Do these mods at your own risk, i take no responsibility for damages incurred. Take bread ties that is in your kitchen drawer strip back 1/8th to bare metal, ensure that it is straight before inserting it by the center of r1, use tape to hold in place. This gave me from a no bars 3g to solid 3bars. good luck, tell me if it works for you enjoy !!!
Nexus S 4g 2.3.4 OpenSoju 0.2.6, D720SPRKE5 radios for grj90 update
Data faster?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
If this works, you're my hero. That's my only qualm with this phone...
Can describe what you see visually re: data speed improvement?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App
This is just my opinion. Nobody has to believe me. I am not an electronic engineer, but I do hold a radio license that is recognized by the FCC. This mod may very well work, but I think it could do more harm than good. I don't know for sure but these ports could be test points for factory tuning and repair. Adding a random or guessed length of wire to it "could" help the radio. There is also a good chance that you could fry the RF output final transistors in the phone. If the radio was strictly receiving through that port then maybe it wouldn't hurt the phone. If the phone transmits at the same frequency, this random length wire could throw the output section of the phone out of tuning. This wouldn't change anything except the input impedance from the output finals and the internal antenna. This circuit was designed to work together with a specified impedance, that we don't know the value of, and putting a better antenna on it from just guessing how long it needs to be at the frequency the phone is TX/rx is a risky thing. We don't know what the impedance of the antenna is supposed to be nor do we have the proper tools to measure antenna impedance between the transmitter and antenna to get the lowest standing wave ratio for the desired frequency. Also, what I have learned in testing antennas in a much lower frequency range than this phone is that low swr doesn't mean that the antenna will perform well. As they say in a hobby I have participated in is that you can make a wet noodle resonate but that doesn't mean you're going to "get out" with it. I'm already explaining things in a way that would go over the heads of many a lay person if they weren't into and studied in the hobby of amateur radio.
I'm not saying I know better or am better than anyone here. To make a long story short, if you don't have the right equipment, knowledge, and skill to do stuff like the mod is about, then I would HIGHLY suggest you not trying it. There is a very good chance that you could burn up the RF output transistors in the phone and then essentially you would turn the phone into a receive only radio like your FM radio. Putting a random (guessed) length wire on a receiver isn't going to hurt the electronics inside it, it will just make it receive better or worse. With a transceiver (a radio that can transmit and receive), this experiment has the possibility of burning out components inside the phone on the transmit side. I've blabbed enough. This is only my opinion on this, that's all...
All I have are plastic thingies that keep my bread soft and fresh...
You don't do the spin and tuck?
thats the best way
oscarthegrouch said:
You don't do the spin and tuck?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
oscarthegrouch said:
You don't do the spin and tuck?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only do that when I'm down to the last few slices..
So.. any updates to this mod?
Sounds like Oscar knows what he's talking about... OP, please keep us updated on whether or not your phone blows up. I would like to try this but don't know if its worth the risk... I wish we didn't have this issue...
bearsblack said:
Sounds like Oscar knows what he's talking about... OP, please keep us updated on whether or not your phone blows up. I would like to try this but don't know if its worth the risk... I wish we didn't have this issue...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bad bad bad idea, it messed up my 3G radio antenna,no data at all data goes in and out, it won't let me update profile, sprint can't fix the problem w a hard reset of data.. gotta go in and get a new phone... told em didn't want the nexus anymore and im getting the Evo 3D.
This phones radio just sucks period! From what a rep at sprint told me... its not sprints data its the radio antenna itself poorly made.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
okies this is an update to whether phone has blown up or wot . lol no it hasnt not gone to waste and yes mr radio expert Ocsar is correct in knowing bout rf and antenna length this is a test port to plug in antenna or equipment at a shop and test for tuning its is a direct connect to the transmitter/reciever, if u open ur phone u will see that the port actually goes down under the main board to the build in wire that is on pcb.The wire was cut in progression to get best reception, data rate improved slightly will have s/s of data after more testing
soz bout ur phone lucky, sounds like u may have pushed it down and in to port hard and broke the flat copper piece away that lies right under the port. good luck with your evo tho they rock
Diagram of mod
This is a simple diagram of mod,
luckylui said:
Bad bad bad idea, it messed up my 3G radio antenna,no data at all data goes in and out, it won't let me update profile, sprint can't fix the problem w a hard reset of data.. gotta go in and get a new phone... told em didn't want the nexus anymore and im getting the Evo 3D.
This phones radio just sucks period! From what a rep at sprint told me... its not sprints data its the radio antenna itself poorly made.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take it with a grain of salt but phonedog's review of the 3d wasn't good when it comes to data and radio performance. I'm just sharing what I read. http://www.phonedog.com/2011/06/23/htc-evo-3d-review-by-aaron/
lol... the best part of this mod is that the 6 feet of scotch tape you used to attach the bread ties to the back of your $500 phone
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
I tried this today. Made a very slight improvement in my case. Not enough to keep it modded though. Just removed it.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App
mikeinghilterra said:
lol... the best part of this mod is that the 6 feet of scotch tape you used to attach the bread ties to the back of your $500 phone
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LMAO mike didnt say it was pretty just trying ideas to help reception.
Honestly I never really suggest hardware mods, they usually do more harm then good..

[Q] for all the HTC fanboys & girls.

Since I went android, I've had nothing but HTC phones. I loved my Eris, incredible, & now thunderbolt. I've been following up on all these tech news, and I am starting to get curious of other phones. So my question to you all is, what phone would you guys consider outside of HTC? I've been following up on the 5" Samsung galaxy q that we only have rumors about, mainly because it has a bigass screen and I currently don't own a tab. If it had usb host mode then it would be a no brainer for me. I'm sold. But I looove HTC tho. I wish they could make a 5" phone/tab.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
iflip said:
Since I went android, I've had nothing but HTC phones. I loved my Eris, incredible, & now thunderbolt. I've been following up on all these tech news, and I am starting to get curious of other phones. So my question to you all is, what phone would you guys consider outside of HTC? I've been following up on the 5" Samsung galaxy q that we only have rumors about, mainly because it has a bigass screen and I currently don't own a tab. If it had usb host mode then it would be a no brainer for me. I'm sold. But I looove HTC tho. I wish they could make a 5" phone/tab.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
5" phone = even worse battery life than the 4.3" ones.
yareally said:
5" phone = even worse battery life than the 4.3" ones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More screen to hide a REAL battery beneath though. Still, I'm not a fan of looking like a world-class dork holding a phone nearly the width of a 2x4 to my head for a call. Not to mention it probably looks about as garish as a Desert Eagle strapped to your side beneath a shirt or jacket. Who was it that made that phone/tab thing that was just HUGE? Dell, I think it was. Too massive to be a good phone, too dinky to be a good tablet... The only thing to out-class it in "WEIRD..." is that frankenphone Kyocera makes with the unfold-expand-"I'm a Nintendo DS Android!" thing.
That said, I'm a Samsung fan in all reality. Up until I went BlackBerry, that's all I would buy. And then Samsung met Android and began gene splicing with... SOMETHING... and I do NOT like it. It's the digital equivalent of a butterface. It's all sexy and smooth inside and out, but then you look at the screen and say "oh dear... there's NO way I'm gonna live with that hook-nose, acne-scarred, Jay Leno chinned monstrosity of a UI. The ONLY thing worse than AOSP and it's mutant launchers, in my opinion, is WizTouch, or whatever it's called. That would disappear from any Samsung I owned within hours.
As for Motorola... I'll quote myself. "There's some boner-inducing devices". Quirky TI CPUs that leave you asking "Where's the GHz?", pale and pasty screens, Motorola's world-famous garbage radios, E-Fuse, and a LONG history of making some of the worst phones ever. Any Motorola is the last device I'd own.
LG... At least they didn't try to be original and fail. Looks like ADW on AOSP mostly. More junk radios though.
I'm sure most didn't see it coming 5 or 6 years ago, but HTC does seem to be where it's at, with Samsung on their heels. Now if Samsung would just ramp up capacity on those AMOLED screens and outsource them again, little puppies wouldn't have to die.
Have you guys actually played with a Dell Streak?
As soon as I did, I understood the following...
5"=too big for phone unless you ALWAYS use bluetooth
Absolute_Zero said:
Have you guys actually played with a Dell Streak?
As soon as I did, I understood the following...
5"=too big for phone unless you ALWAYS use bluetooth
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I might be wrong, but I thought there was already a 5" samsung on ATT. If so I would agree you better try holding up to your ear and putting in your pocket before you sink money into buying it. Trying it there right now would be a good sign whether you should forget about buying it whenever it comes to verizon.
I'm guessing none of you are big guys, I'm 6'2" and I have large hands and 4.3" phones are a little small when in landscape and typing. Another 1/4-1/2" would be perfect for me, while others still think a 3.7" screen is the sweet spot. Also you have to keep in mind that the rumor is that these new phones with larger screens have smaller bezels.
eraursls1984 said:
I'm guessing none of you are big guys, I'm 6'2" and I have large hands and 4.3" phones are a little small when in landscape and typing. Another 1/4-1/2" would be perfect for me, while others still think a 3.7" screen is the sweet spot. Also you have to keep in mind that the rumor is that these new phones with larger screens have smaller bezels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm 6'4 so a little on you . However, I use swype so typing in landscape works okay for me. Normally do it with just my thumb. Other keyboards that use touch typing, well...results may vary
yareally said:
I'm 6'4 so a little on you . However, I use swype so typing in landscape works okay for me. Normally do it with just my thumb. Other keyboards that use touch typing, well...results may vary
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha im 6ft5.5
Sent from my HTC Thunderfart
Just keep getting bigger, I'm 7'2" and weigh 650 so the 10 " tab is a great phone size for me.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
lol I call bull****
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
I didn't "choose" to come to a Thunderbolt. I wanted a Samsung Charge, but couldn't find one to trade my iPhone for, so I SETTLED for the Thunderbolt. Believe me, I wouldn't be on this thing if I didn't have to be.
ibsk8 said:
Just keep getting bigger, I'm 7'2" and weigh 650 so the 10 " tab is a great phone size for me.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol. U guys are a trip. I'm 6"2 but I do feel like my thunderbolt is kinda adequately sized. But I'm a photographer, I like to view my images on something other than my camera when I'm nowhere near my imac. I don't own a laptop. And the tablet market has not caught up with the multimedia market yet. But I'm aware some phones and tablets have usb hosting mode. So a phone/tablet would be ideal. 5.3" screen would be an adequate in-between size for tablet and phone use imo. But the idea of usb host is what would sell me on something like that. It may not even be a possibility for that matter so... Well just have to wait n see.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
ibsk8 said:
Just keep getting bigger, I'm 7'2" and weigh 650 so the 10 " tab is a great phone size for me.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Big show?
Sent from my G2X
kwiggington said:
Originally Posted by ibsk8
Just keep getting bigger, I'm 7'2" and weigh 650 so the 10 " tab is a great phone size for me.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Big show?
Sent from my G2X
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He would make an awesome sumo wrestler at that height/weight.
loonatik78 said:
More screen to hide a REAL battery beneath though. Still, I'm not a fan of looking like a world-class dork holding a phone nearly the width of a 2x4 to my head for a call. Not to mention it probably looks about as garish as a Desert Eagle strapped to your side beneath a shirt or jacket. Who was it that made that phone/tab thing that was just HUGE? Dell, I think it was. Too massive to be a good phone, too dinky to be a good tablet... The only thing to out-class it in "WEIRD..." is that frankenphone Kyocera makes with the unfold-expand-"I'm a Nintendo DS Android!" thing.
That said, I'm a Samsung fan in all reality. Up until I went BlackBerry, that's all I would buy. And then Samsung met Android and began gene splicing with... SOMETHING... and I do NOT like it. It's the digital equivalent of a butterface. It's all sexy and smooth inside and out, but then you look at the screen and say "oh dear... there's NO way I'm gonna live with that hook-nose, acne-scarred, Jay Leno chinned monstrosity of a UI. The ONLY thing worse than AOSP and it's mutant launchers, in my opinion, is WizTouch, or whatever it's called. That would disappear from any Samsung I owned within hours.
As for Motorola... I'll quote myself. "There's some boner-inducing devices". Quirky TI CPUs that leave you asking "Where's the GHz?", pale and pasty screens, Motorola's world-famous garbage radios, E-Fuse, and a LONG history of making some of the worst phones ever. Any Motorola is the last device I'd own.
LG... At least they didn't try to be original and fail. Looks like ADW on AOSP mostly. More junk radios though.
I'm sure most didn't see it coming 5 or 6 years ago, but HTC does seem to be where it's at, with Samsung on their heels. Now if Samsung would just ramp up capacity on those AMOLED screens and outsource them again, little puppies wouldn't have to die.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to use an AT&T phone for work so I chose the Atrix...it's pretty decent since it got updated to 2.3.4 but the UI is absolute garbage. It's snappy like I want it to be, but you are exactly right about the colors on the screen being incredibly muted. At the end of the day though I am quite happy to switch to my bolt.
I have been a bit curious about the Bionic that seems like it may actually be coming out soon-ish. If they did something about the terrible color quality it could potentially be worth looking into. My wife just got a Droid 3 because she refuses to have a phone without a physical keyboard...it's not terrible. Haven't played with it too much, but from what I have played with I wasn't too disappointed with.
I'd still want to stay away from Moto phones for a while. Any influence google will have over them probably wont happen until the generation after the next so whatever comes out later this year will probably be similar to what Moto has done in the past.
yareally said:
I'd still want to stay away from Moto phones for a while. Any influence google will have over them probably wont happen until the generation after the next so whatever comes out later this year will probably be similar to what Moto has done in the past.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well damn....I am curious to see what comes out of Google buying them.
mynameisfyl said:
Well damn....I am curious to see what comes out of Google buying them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'd say most of what is in the bionic is already set other than some software tweaks they may do. Hopefully it wont have blur on it, but I wouldn't hold my breath since it's a phone that's been in the works for a while.
yareally said:
I'd still want to stay away from Moto phones for a while. Any influence google will have over them probably wont happen until the generation after the next so whatever comes out later this year will probably be similar to what Moto has done in the past.
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yareally said:
Yeah, I'd say most of what is in the bionic is already set other than some software tweaks they may do. Hopefully it wont have blur on it, but I wouldn't hold my breath since it's a phone that's been in the works for a while.
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Some people just want the best hardware build quality and for that you have to get Motorola. As long as the bionic gets rooted I want it. I'm trying to hold out on a replacement phone until it comes out because I won't use LG or Samsung and this is my 4th thunderbolt so my next replacement they will replace with a different 4g phone. The thunderbolt has good software, with its bugs but all phones do, and the BAMF roms are great but the poor build quality of these phones is something I'm not gonna deal with anymore. I've played with a incredible and it seemed much better in terms of quality so I wouldn't write off HTC phones like I have LG and Samsung, I just think its because they rushed to get a 4g phone out.
eraursls1984 said:
Some people just want the best hardware build quality and for that you have to get Motorola. As long as the bionic gets rooted I want it. I'm trying to hold out on a replacement phone until it comes out because I won't use LG or Samsung and this is my 4th thunderbolt so my next replacement they will replace with a different 4g phone. The thunderbolt has good software, with its bugs but all phones do, and the BAMF roms are great but the poor build quality of these phones is something I'm not gonna deal with anymore. I've played with a incredible and it seemed much better in terms of quality so I wouldn't write off HTC phones like I have LG and Samsung, I just think its because they rushed to get a 4g phone out.
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Sorry man... I'm just gonna have to disagree with you on the whole Motorola build quality thing. I've gone though so many of those phone it's not even funny. The electronics and radios they use are garbage. My dad had a thing for Motorola for some ungodly reason and had these things laying around all over the place. Every time I activated one to give to someone it either buzzed so loud you couldn't hear anything, the mic would just randomly die, the controls didn't work/respond, the displays looked like crap, and without a single exception, NONE of them had a radio in them worth a damn. I couldn't even call into customer service to complain because the POS wouldn't work on the switchboard! Totally and completely worthless devices that couldn't so much as hold a signal to receive a text while I'd be on my Samsung chatting away. They sold those POS Razr's like crack to addicts, but they were garbage! Now my buddy has a DX that flips on and off, hangs up in calls, just stops responding, and goes and does stuff all by itself. Surprised? I wasn't. Pretty par for the course given what I've seen Motorola crank out for the last 6 years. I told the last guy who tried selling me on a Motorola that he'd have an easier time selling condoms in a convent. It's not often I hate on a product or company this much, but honestly, if they were giving Bionics away for free I STILL wouldn't activate one on one of my lines.

GPS Road Test after ICS

OK, so I tried the unit in the car and placed on the passenger seat. It received a signal but keep losing it. I then moved it closer to the dash by the radio and it kept the signal much better. The third scenario was I placed it lying down on the dash and it kept the signal with no problem, or loss of signal.
Conclusion on the GPS is that it is definitely better with ICS update but a stand alone GPS it is not, unless it is mounted on your win shield with some type of Mount. Problem is that it then blocks a good potion of your view.
Here is a link to the video I shot this afternoon during my drive to test the GPS function. Please dont atempt this on your own... I am a profesional http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCFoo_jMWOE&feature=youtu.be
Standing in my yard it locks on a signal within 20-30 seconds and grabs 11-13 Sat's and locks on 10-12 of them.
Now that GPS does work it makes it much more difficult to return, except that it has some minor screen bleed on the upper right side of the screen. Other than that the tablet is amazing with the update. Desisions, desisions
Two observations...
1) Your route was a short straight line. There are algorithms in most GPS s/w to compensate for signal loss. A straight line doesn't show how well the Prime was actually keeping up with the satellites.
2) The jumping and stuttering of the arrow signifying your position would indicate loss of signal.
There are some videos posted of a G-Tab using CoPilot. You'll see the difference.
Who on earth would use their tablet for a turn for turn navigation? Dont you have a smart phone? The only thing I would want GPS for is weather etc which probably wouldnt need too much of a signal
DroidHam said:
Who on earth would use their tablet for a turn for turn navigation? Dont you have a smart phone? The only thing I would want GPS for is weather etc which probably wouldnt need too much of a signal
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I do. And I'm tired of people that don't questioning why anyone else would. You do whatever you want. Nav s/w makers wouldn't be offering tablet-ized versions of their products if people weren't buying them.
It was meant to show people that the tablet did lock a signal. It wasn't a trip to Canada. I had absolutely no lock on Satellites before the update not in my yard and most defiantly not in my car. Now it locks without any issues, both in my car and in my yard. Some my find the information useful while others may not. Do with it as you wish.
BarryH_GEG said:
I do. And I'm tired of people that don't questioning why anyone else would. You do whatever you want. Nav s/w makers wouldn't be offering tablet-ized versions of their products if people weren't buying them.
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So your telling me you put your tablet on your dash and look at it? What kind of phone do you have? And how is your vision?
I don't use it as to Navigate, it was just to demonstrate that after the ICS update I was able to lock on to a signal. Before the update I had Nada.
DroidHam said:
So your telling me you put your tablet on your dash and look at it? What kind of phone do you have? And how is your vision?
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Its turn by turn with voice prompt. Turn left on XXX. In 1/4 mile turn right onto xxx. You do not have to actually watch the screen. I do not see what issue people have with the concept of someone using a Tablet for GPS. When I had a Xoom I put it on the passenger seat and listened to the prompts.
BarryH_GEG said:
I do. And I'm tired of people that don't questioning why anyone else would. You do whatever you want. Nav s/w makers wouldn't be offering tablet-ized versions of products if people weren't buying them.
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Barry, you are a vast minority. Face it. If you have such issues, deal with it. Sick of you incessantly *****ing, over about your issue. Thread after thread after thread. Please return it and move along.
I could give 2 craps about my GPS, but it works fine for me. My 4.6" screen on my phone is fine, when I don't want to use the nav in my car. 10" is ludicrous for my need as an in car van unit.
Thank you OP for your test that was summarily dismissed by some certain people.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
rz22g said:
Its turn by turn with voice prompt. Turn left on XXX. In 1/4 mile turn right onto xxx. You do not have to actually watch the screen. I do not see what issue people have with the concept of someone using a Tablet for GPS. When I had a Xoom I put it on the passenger seat and listened to the prompts.
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What kind of phone do you have?
DroidHam said:
So your telling me you put your tablet on your dash and look at it? What kind of phone do you have? And how is your vision?
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I use it when I travel, both here and in Europe.
Here are the reasons:
1) The larger screen real estate gives you a greater view of where you are and what's upcoming.
2) Tablet nav s/w has a split view making turns and expressway exits easier to navigate.
3) The tablet's battery will go five times longer than my i9100's.
4) Tablets have better GPS chips and antennas than phones and (not in this case) get and keep a signal better.
5) My phone's free to use as a media player and to take BT calls.
6) I don't drain my phone's battery.
I have a stand for it with a thin bean bag bottom and it sits on the passenger seat unless I'm with someone and then they hold it.
I'm not justifying myself to you, but some might be curious what the benefits are. And I really don't care whether others use their phone, stand-alone GPS, a compass, a sextant, or Citgo maps.
NO problem, thanks for your input.
Bimboy said:
Barry, you are a vast minority. Face it. If you have such issues, deal with it. Sick of you incessantly *****ing, over about your issue. Thread after thread after thread. Please return it and move along.
I could give 2 craps about my GPS, but it works fine for me. My 4.6" screen on my phone is fine, when I don't want to use the nav in my car. 10" is ludicrous for my need as an in car van unit.
Thank you OP for your test that was summarily dismissed by some certain people.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
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If it's unimportant to you, why are you so hell bent on convincing other people that it should be unimportant to them too? Granted, people using tablets for navigation are a minority but it was important to enough people that they returned their Prime's over it. People trying to convince others that it's unimportant are as bad as what you're accusing me of.
Very cool. Thanks for putting this together to show what is indeed possible. I think this is the first video we have seen of a working navigation while driving. I understand results will vary, but you give us hope.
Is that co-pilot?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Very cool. Thanks for putting this together to show what is indeed possible. I think this is the first video we have seen of a working navigation while driving. I understand results will vary, but you give us hope.
Is that co-pilot?
No, I used Sygic, I have Copilot also, was gonna test it on Co Pilot tomorrow, but based on all this back and forth I'm not sure I will.
BarryH_GEG said:
If it's unimportant to you, why are you so hell bent on convincing other people that it should be unimportant to them too? Granted, people using tablets for navigation are a minority but it was important to enough people that they returned their Prime's over it. People trying to convince others that it's unimportant are as bad as what you're accusing me of.
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I am not hell bent on anything. From reading past posts of yours, you are not unintelligent. Here is somebody who took the time and ingenuity to satisfy the whims of people just like you to show that his GPS works, and you can't get off your ass to do the exact same test, using your imposed parameters, but instead just bash the person for showing their results. Seriously.. wtf. Jeesh.
Think.. you can do it.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
I'd get a 3g A-GPS enabled tablet if i'd really rely on its GPS and would want it to use as my main navigation device. It really helps alot when driving through tunnels and stuff.
Bimboy said:
I am not hell bent on anything. From reading past posts of yours, you are not unintelligent. Here is somebody who took the time and ingenuity to satisfy the whims of people just like you to show that his GPS works, and you can't get off your ass to do the exact same test, using your imposed parameters, but instead just bash the person for showing their results. Seriously.. wtf. Jeesh.
Think.. you can do it.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
You mean like these three 10 minute videos showing multiple different scenarios using two different types of nav s/w so people would have something to benchmark against?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1428404
lmfao. lets not start a war over GPS. Barry doesn't even have a Prime, I think. He just adding what he knows from experience with tablet navigation.
demandarin said:
lmfao. lets not start a war over GPS. Barry doesn't even have a Prime, I think. He just adding what he knows from experience with tablet navigation.
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And if you re-read my response to OP, it wasn't negative. It was simply pointing out some observations based on his testing. If it came off that way, especialy to OP who took the time to post his results, I'm sorry. And demandarin, is right. Since I am a heavy tab nav user (a minority) I'm just trying to share what I know from experience.

Has anyone had luck with antenna boosters? (Like the ones you put inside the battery)

Just started a new job, and my service really sucks here. I have a microcell, but I'm not at the point of being able to hook it up at work without a legitimate business need.
I'm about another month on my Thunderbolt before I move on to something else, but honestly, I'm not sure I'll keep Verizon if my phone won't work at the office.
Any ideas?
Oh, and I'm running the HTC extended battery.. I haven't had issues with the case before, but I guess I don't have a comparison yet with the stock cover..
dbornack said:
Just started a new job, and my service really sucks here. I have a microcell, but I'm not at the point of being able to hook it up at work without a legitimate business need.
I'm about another month on my Thunderbolt before I move on to something else, but honestly, I'm not sure I'll keep Verizon if my phone won't work at the office.
Any ideas?
Oh, and I'm running the HTC extended battery.. I haven't had issues with the case before, but I guess I don't have a comparison yet with the stock cover..
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Click to collapse
I know exactly what you're talking about. I remember they used to actually work with those older flip phones, but not too sure about how it would work on a Thunderbolt.
If you're rooted, I would just recommend flashing a few radios to see if that improved your signal at all.
Sent from my ADR6400L using xda premium
Yeah.. understood.. I'm running the only radios I can run on my ROM right now.. so.. just wondering if anyone had any other luck. I know the 4G antenna is specialized, so, improving that, probably not going to happen. But, I can maybe send one text with every 5 or 6 tries, so.. I might just have to bring my micro cell in and give it a try.
AFAIK, Antenna boosters do very little. Why not try some aluminum foil under the battery cover and see if that helps? You can copy one of those you see online.
NOTE: Glue or tape the foil to a bit of paper or plastic so it can't move around and short something out.

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