[johnh1234]

More importantly than that debate, I have some questions. What is the deal with the locked bootloader? I see there is a 'dualboot' solution for the razr which allows installation of custom roms. If you do can do that, then what is the practical issue with the locked bootloader - are you stuck with the stock kernal? If that is so, then does that mean the ics alpha floating around is using a gb kernel?

If I can get a stock looking rom with the razr, with root, and wifi tether, any reason the bootloader should keep from from getting it?

[YourMobileGuru]

More importantly than that debate, I have some questions. What is the deal with the locked bootloader? I see there is a 'dualboot' solution for the razr which allows installation of custom roms. If you do can do that, then what is the practical issue with the locked bootloader - are you stuck with the stock kernal? If that is so, then does that mean the ics alpha floating around is using a gb kernel?

If I can get a stock looking rom with the razr, with root, and wifi tether, any reason the bootloader should keep from from getting it?

This isn't really my area of expertise but as I understand it if the boot-loader is locked it prevents you from loading a full ROM, and yes some things can not be replaced such as the kernel and the stock recovery image.

A locked bot-loader does delay the creation of custom roms but does not prevent it. Almost every phone out there (at least on US carriers) besides the Nexus series and the original Moto Droid have shipped with locked bot-loaders and that hasn't prevented plenty of custom roms from being created for devices like the Thunderbolt. Droid 2 (x2), Bionic, Droid Incredible and many more. .

EDIT: Oh and just FYI to be precise all device boot-loaders ship locked (even a Nexus) but most are shipped encrypted to prevent them from being unlocked via the SDK with the fastboot oem unlock command. Lots of people using in-precise wording out there.

[moosc]

The only thing a locked boot loader does is stop u from swapping kernals. U still get full roms with boot image etc. Currently the razr all ready as a ics rom which is nice. I hear the bionic has a work around for a different kernal. I guess it comes down how tight is the boot loader encrypted. On the DroidX it had a nasty efuse that if u tweaked your phone wrong poof no more X.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk

[piaband]

And what do you think I'm referencing? The source.

According to Dan Morrill @ Google, it's not..

And according to the Google code site, the cdma phones are reference only, not being supported:

They're going to support what they can, but cdma phones aren't guaranteed because of how they handle AOSP. Not a big deal, according to Koush; they'll end up handling apks differently.

Please don't try to tell me I'm not looking @ sources, when you obviously haven't.

[GNex Girl]

in-precise

imprecise.

[guinnkevinr]

I like the Razr phone build better but I like the screen on the Gnex better. After going back and forth with the two for the past couple of months, I've ended up choosing the razr. Over all better phone IMO.

[bbui4]

I also own both phones and I must say that I love the build quality of the razor but the screen is terrible. I am also spoiled from using ics on the gnex. I can't wait for a Droid razr HD or hopefully a Droid razr maxx HD.

[pauliphone5]

I also own both phones and I must say that I love the build quality of the razor but the screen is terrible. I am also spoiled from using ics on the gnex. I can't wait for a Droid razr HD or hopefully a Droid razr maxx HD.

Either of which will still be blurred gingerbread.

[reuben17]

get the nexus

[reuben17]

the nexus is the best

[reuben17]

all hail nexus

[reuben17]

nexus, nexus ,nexus

[reuben17]

gnex is da best

[jroc]

Someone needed 5 post to unlock something? lol.

As far as the screens....I would also say the G Nex had the better screen. I wouldnt say the RAZR's was terrible tho.

What screen I rate as 3rd tho is the Rezounds...too many cons I cant overlook with it for me. Take away Pentile or up the screen res and the RAZR screen is just as good as the G Nex for sharpness. Everywhere else they are too similar to really say one is better than the other.

[merwin10]

Hi All -

Here is my story Samsung vs Droid. My previous smart phone was a Samsung i910. Well after being on Verizon for 3 years with this phone it seemed to be getting weaker at receiving the phone/data signal till it had NO bars and was disconnecting all the time, useless. So time for a new 4G phone came down to Galaxy and Droid RA ZR. Went to my local store and talked to them and told them my issues. They had both phones and I was able to take them home to try! Well the Galaxy got 2 bars while the Razr got a solid 3G 5 bars. Well for my issues the Razr won on the way back to the store the galaxy dropped the signal 4 times while the Razr stay locked on with a minimum of 3 bars. There is just something with the Samsung antennas that does not seem to work in my area. I have several friends with Samsung phones that do not work in my area! While other friends can use their non-Samsung phones for the same spot with the same carriers. Since the reason for even having a cell phone is to stay in contact with others the choice was the Razr.

The Droid Razr was a learning curve from what I was use to in the i910 but it seems to do everything I want except for one thing. If you are big into Microsoft Office applications the i910 was a seamless MS environment. I could edit, create, print and do anything I could do on my computer with auto sync. I have yet to find a application that allows this on the Razr and the connection between the Razr and computer leave something to be desired.

IMHO the android Razr is the one to go with!

Mike -

[j3ck3lr]

i just bought my first android phone off ebay. i went with the razr for reasons im having a hard time remembering now, and boy am i ever regretting it. i live in canada and i didnt realize it was the xt912 i was buying so now i have this lovely piece of plastic sitting next to me, which is even almost too light to be used as a paperweight, making it completely useless. this makes me a bit upset with motorola, for making so many devices with similar names and specs and designs, and then making one of them cdma and locking it to a specific carrier. they all look the same to me. had the seller mentioned anything at all to do with that i wouldnt have bought it of course but he didnt give a model number or show any images of the back of the device where it said xt912. seriously what is the point of motorola doing something like this though? oh right. money. so now i have a phone i cant use and they said they wont do anything about it. a phone locked to verizon is so bad even motorola wont give me a trade for it. the phone is in mint condition i dont see why its such a big deal for them to trade me for one that will actually work in canada. youd think if you buy a phone from a company, for that kind of money especially, the customer support would be a bit better. i cant really see them losing anything out of it. im the one that would have to pay shipping for 3 directions. hopefully samsung wont give me as many problems. first things first, i have to get rid of this razr.

[pauliphone5]

Can you sell it again on Ebay?

[YourMobileGuru]

i just bought my first android phone off ebay. i went with the razr for reasons im having a hard time remembering now, and boy am i ever regretting it. i live in canada and i didnt realize it was the xt912 i was buying so now i have this lovely piece of plastic sitting next to me, which is even almost too light to be used as a paperweight, making it completely useless. this makes me a bit upset with motorola, for making so many devices with similar names and specs and designs, and then making one of them cdma and locking it to a specific carrier. they all look the same to me. had the seller mentioned anything at all to do with that i wouldnt have bought it of course but he didnt give a model number or show any images of the back of the device where it said xt912. seriously what is the point of motorola doing something like this though? oh right. money. so now i have a phone i cant use and they said they wont do anything about it. a phone locked to verizon is so bad even motorola wont give me a trade for it. the phone is in mint condition i dont see why its such a big deal for them to trade me for one that will actually work in canada. youd think if you buy a phone from a company, for that kind of money especially, the customer support would be a bit better. i cant really see them losing anything out of it. im the one that would have to pay shipping for 3 directions. hopefully samsung wont give me as many problems. first things first, i have to get rid of this razr.

I agree with Paul just resell it on ebay. It's still a hot device right now and as long as you keep the asking price under $650 USD it should sell.

Also, CDMA devices are not "locked" to specific carriers they way GSM devices are. The way CDMA works is that a device MEID must be in their system in order to activated it. There is nothing preventing another carrier (Sprint for exampla, or any of they CDMA carriers in Canada) from activating the device on their network (as long as they use the same frequencies) but they choose not to. It's not some evil trick by Motorola, it's just how CDMA is and as for Samsung they Verizon and Spring Galaxy Nexus phones are exactly the same way.

Motorola isn't supporting you because you are not the original purchaser of the phone. Return policies and manufacturers warranties on cel phones only extend to the original purchaser of the phone. Again this isn't Motorola, Samsung is the exact same way.

[j3ck3lr]

i can try to sell it again (thats the main reason im here, but i cant even post any ads for 30 days). i just sent verizon the meid to see whether or not the phone is clean so i can try to resell it in good conscience. i still blame motorola for making something like this. at least give it a more unique name and look so it doesnt get confused by people like me that dont know anything about these devices. they shouldnt have made it in the first place since they already have the xt910. im sure people send phones back all the time. companies are always reselling brand new electronics as refurbished simply because someone hated it and sent it back. im sure they have plenty of spares and god knows theyre all going to wind up in the landfill at some point anyways. so i just dont see why they wont do anything to help. with the money theyre making on these devices.. i mean its not like theyd be losing anything from me. id just be swapping a phone they made for another one that i can actually use. verizon wont swap it for me either. people break their phones and need replacements all the time so its not like they wouldnt be able to hand it off to someone else. to me it just seems weird when a company selling a product isnt even willing to take it back. from now on im going to refer to the xt912 as the "hot potato". either way ive been hearing bad things about the razrs. phones not saving things or removing things or reverting back to older states on their own. problems with ota etc. im not even going to bother reading into ota, otherwise i probably just wont get a new phone at all. i read a few forums about trying to unlock the phone to see if i would be able to get any use from my phone and all attempts have, for the most part, failed. everything on the phone is locked up good. that is one more thing that bothers me. if i were going to try to root my device or something id like to have that option. if i buy the phone i think thats my choice whether i can do that or not, but the phones keep resetting themselves apparently. the cdma only thing is the main problem though. all the carriers here are pretty much gsm now. i put in my sim card and it gives me an error that wasnt even listed by motorola/verizon for sim card faults, which made me even more confused about what the problem was at first. the whole experience has taught me something anyways. its just a very expensive lesson that i cant really afford right now. plus now i have to go double my loss so i can get a phone i can actually use. i might just save myself the hassle and get a phone on a plan rather than from some random person so if something goes wrong i can let the carrier deal with it.

[YourMobileGuru]

Actually the Verizon one DOES have a unique name it is the only one called the Droid RAZR, the international one is called the MOTO RAZR.

The issue has nothing to do with being "locked" it has to do with the radio frequencies the device was designed to use. Even if you were able to get the device "unlocked" (and as I said it is not SIM locked -- if you put an AT&T or Rogers micro SIM card in it it would ask for a subsidy code if it were) you wold need a carrier that uses CDMA and LTE on the same frequencies as Verizon and there are none.

Checking the MEID with Vrizon is a good idea before you sell it good you are doing that.

[j3ck3lr]

they are both motorola, both droids, boths razrs, but yes the xt910 is just motorola razr, but its a droid.. with basically the same specs, just without verizon. verizon told me that the phone is not on any negative lists, but they wouldnt unlock my phone since its not currently under their service. either way with all he things i read about people trying to root the phone and all the things that have happened when they tried, i think im going to look at the htcs and samsungs a bit more in depth. i dont want to pay a fortune, and the new samsung should be out soon so hopefully there will be a price drop on their other models.

[j3ck3lr]

for the record i ended up with the galaxy note :P

[Bond32]

I bought the razr on release day back in November (not sure exact day). Initially got a phone that turned into a purple tint on the display. Returned it as defective and walked out with the gnex. Initially I was pleased, I felt the gnex was slightly better but I really liked the size of the razr and the build quality was much better. After months with the gnex I just felt disappointed with it (battery life mainly). I didn't like the screen on the gnex, despite all reviews stating it had a top notch screen. To my eyes the razr screen looks just as good if not better (yes I know there's pixalation). Finally traded for a rezound and was pretty happy with it.

Just this past week traded the rezound for the razr. I feel much happier about it, perhaps ICS made the difference not sure. The razr is a great phone. Battery life is better than the rezound, screen isn't quite as good as the rezound but I found myself NOT watching movies like I thought I would so the razr screen is sufficient. Just got the otterbox defender for the razr and now I am really happy.

Seems there is a lot of favoritism towards the gnex. I based my purchases solely on reviews but turns out I should have kept the razr. The gnex was a let down for me as I tried every possible rom/kernel out there and nothing was any different to me from when I took it out of the box. The razr works great for me, size is great, and even battery life works for me. I am happy with it.

[YourMobileGuru]

Seems there is a lot of favoritism towards the gnex..

Yes there is. That's normal to a degree with high end phones but this mediocre phone is being hyped to the degree that I have not seen outside of the iPhone.

[Bond32]

Yes there is. That's normal to a degree with high end phones but this mediocre phone is being hyped to the degree that I have not seen outside of the iPhone.

I don't get it either. I mean its a good phone but not light years ahead of everything like people say. I used it for months and was disappointed.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2